Chocolate Chip Cut Out Cookies

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Soft, chewy chocolate chip cut-out cookies that hold their shape with no chill time, no spreading, no cornstarch. Perfect for Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter, or any celebration. Easy to roll, fun to decorate (or enjoy plain), and great for make-ahead baking and freezing.

Prep Time20

Cook Time6

Total Time26

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 73kcal

Author: Cara Lanz

Equipment

Parchment paper
Various holiday cookie cutters
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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