Soft, chewy, no-chill Chocolate Chip Cutout Cookies are a fun twist on chocolate chip cookies. They hold their shape when baked and taste just like your favorite chocolate chip cookies. No spreading, no chilling, no cornstarch. Perfect for decorating (or not!) for Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter, or any holiday.
For cutout cookies in more fun flavors, try Sugar Cookie Cutouts, Lemon Cutout Cookies, Red Velvet Cutout Cookies, and Chocolate Cutout Cookies.
❤️You're Going to Love These
- Soft, chewy cut-out version of everyone's favorite cookies
- Dough is soft, sturdy, and easy to roll and cut into fun shapes
- No-chill cut out cookies with no spreading and no cornstarch.
- Perfect plain or decorated for holidays, birthdays, and special occasions.
- Great for make-ahead baking—dough and baked cookies freeze well.
If given the choice, I’ll always pick a chocolate chip cookie over any other. So, I had to create a cut-out version of a chocolate chip cookie recipe that’s just as soft and chewy as a classic chocolate chip cookie, but holds its shape when baked with no chill time. These chocolate chip sugar cookies are fun and easy to make for any holiday or celebration, and just as delicious plain as they are decorated with a drizzle of melted chocolate and festive sprinkles.
🎉Decorated Chocolate Chip Cookies For Every Holiday
Use this one cookie dough for all your favorite holidays. I like to drizzle them with a little melted chocolate -- hello, chocolate on chocolate! -- and so you can tell they're chocolate chip cookies. Or try my buttercream frosting that hardens, cream cheese frosting for cookies, or even a simple maple icing for something a little different. Or, of course, classic royal icing. Add festive sprinkles and you’re all set!
Valentine's Day Chocolate Chip Cut-out Cookies
Easter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate Chip 4th of July Cookies-- or Memorial Day or Labor Day
Chocolate Chip Christmas Cut Out Cookies
🍪Ingredients
See recipe card at the bottom of the post for the full list of ingredients and exact amounts.
- Unsalted butter. You'll need two sticks of room temperature butter. It should leave an indent when you press with your finger, but not soft and squishy. If you use salted butter, omit the salt.
- Brown sugar. I use dark brown sugar because I love the deep molasses flavor. Light brown sugar also works.
- All-purpose flour. Be careful not to add too much flour or the cookies will be dry and tough. Stir the flour in the canister or bag, then spoon it into the measuring cup, and level off the top with a butter knife. Read more about how to measure flour here.
- Semi-sweet mini chocolate chips. Mini chocolate chips are recommended to make cutting the dough with cookie cutters easier. You could also use finely chopped chocolate bars.
🥣How to Make Chocolate Chip Cutout Cookies
Step 1: Cream butter and sugars. Mix in egg and vanilla.
Step 2: Sift the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients (or whisk in a separate bowl). Mix on low until just combined. The dough will be soft, but look crumbly.
Step 3: Mix in the mini chocolate chips until distributed through the dough. Form the dough into a ball and divide it into two portions.
Step 4: Roll each portion to ¼" thickness between sheets of parchment paper or on a lightly floured surface. Use dowels or rolling pin guides for even thickness.
Step 5: Cut the dough with 2" cookie cutters and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Step 6: Reroll and cut the scraps. To avoid marbling chocolate throughout the dough, instead of pressing the scraps into a ball and rolling it out, piece the scraps together and roll -- it only takes a couple of rolls, too.
Step 5: Bake at 350 for 6 minutes until set and puffy. They should not be golden brown. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then on a wire baking rack.
Step 6: If desired, decorate cooled cookies with a drizzle of melted chocolate wafers and colorful sprinkles. Allow chocolate to fully set before storing or freezing.
👉Top Tip: Roll the dough to about ¼ inch thick, especially for intricate shapes -- thinner dough bakes more evenly. You can go thicker for simpler shapes.
☑️Tips
- Roll dough to an even thickness using dowels, thin cutting boards, or a rolling pin with guides (I’ve linked a highly recommended one in the recipe card).
- There is no need to chill the dough unless it is too soft to easily work with.
- To avoid marbling the chocolate throughout the dough when rerolling the scraps, instead of pressing the dough into a ball and rolling it out, gently piece the scraps together and roll them flat. It only takes a couple of rolls to flatten the dough, and results in more uniform cookies.
- Drizzle with melted chocolate for a pretty finish that still shows off that they're chocolate chip cookies.
🎁Storage & Freezing
- Store plain chocolate chip cut out cookies or chocolate covered cookies once the chocolate has set in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator for about one week.
- Freeze chocolate chip cookie dough (in a ball or rolled out) in a freezer bag for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator.
- Freeze plain cut out cookies for up to 3 months, thaw at room temperature.
- Freeze decorated cookies once the chocolate has set in a freezer-safe container in a single layer between sheets of wax paper or parchment paper. Thaw at room temperature.
📅Make Ahead
The dough can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. Let chilled dough sit at room temp until soft enough to roll.
🎆More Cut Out Cookie Recipes
❓FAQs
This dough is designed to hold its shape without spreading, so you don’t need to chill it. But if your kitchen is warm or the dough gets soft, a quick chill before baking can help keep the cookie shapes sharp.
No. This is a no-chill cookie dough. You can roll, cut, and bake right away. But if the dough becomes too soft while you're working with it, pop it in the fridge for a few minutes to firm it back up.
Roll the dough to about ¼ inch thick for soft, chewy cookies that hold their shape well. This thickness is best for any shape, including more intricate cookie cutter designs. For simpler shapes, you can roll the dough a little thicker.
Mini chocolate chips work best—they spread more evenly throughout the dough and don’t interfere with cutting out shapes like full-size chips can.
Roll the dough between two sheets of parchment paper or lightly floured wax paper to prevent sticking. You can also dust your rolling pin with a bit of flour if needed.
Yes! These cut-out cookies hold their shape without any added cornstarch. The dough has the perfect balance of ingredients to bake up soft and chewy with clean edges.
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📖 Recipe
Chocolate Chip Cut Out Cookies
Equipment
- Rolling Pin with dowels or thickness guides for evenly thick dough
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar, light or dark
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
- optional, for decorating: melted candy wafers or chocolate chips and sprinkles I used Ghirardelli white and dark chocolate melting wafers in the photos
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugars on medium to medium-high speed until well combined and fluffy, 1-3 minutes. Mix in the egg, then the vanilla. Mix well.
- Sift in the flour, baking powder, and salt (or whisk together in a separate bowl). Mix on low speed until just combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Do not overmix. The dough will be soft, but loose and won't form a ball. Add the chocolate chips and mix on low just long enough to incorporate them throughout the dough.
- Gather the dough together with your hands and form it into a ball. Divide it into two portions. One at a time, flatten each portion into a disc, and roll it out to about ¼" thickness between layers of parchment paper or on a lightly floured surface. Cut into shapes with 2" cookie cutters. Re-roll and cut the scraps* (see notes).
- Place cutouts onto a prepared baking sheet. Bake for about 6 minutes or until the cookie is set and puffy. Remove before they turn golden brown. Cool cookies on the pan for 5 minutes. Carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool the rest of the way.
- Enjoy chocolate chip cutout cookies as-is or drizzle cooled cookies with melted chocolate and decorate with festive sprinkles.
Notes
- Roll dough to an even thickness using dowels, thin cutting boards, or a rolling pin with guides (I’ve linked a highly recommended one in the equipment list above).
- Roll the dough to about ¼ inch thick, especially for intricate shapes -- thinner dough bakes more evenly. You can go thicker for simpler shapes.
- There is no need to chill the dough unless it is too soft to easily work with.
- *To avoid marbling the chocolate throughout the dough when rerolling the scraps, instead of pressing the dough into a ball and rolling it out, gently piece the scraps together and roll them flat. It only takes a couple of rolls to flatten the dough, and makes more uniform cookies.
- A drizzle of melted chocolate is a pretty finish that still shows off that they're chocolate chip cookies.
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