Description
These Halloween Chocolate Cookies are rich, dark, and decadently chocolatey treats perfect for spooky celebrations. Featuring black cocoa powder for an intense dark color, these soft cookies are topped generously with bright orange M&Ms for a festive flair. Easy to make and irresistibly delicious, they make an excellent seasonal dessert or party snack.
Ingredients
Scale
Dry Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (180g) all purpose flour
- ¼ cup (20g) black cocoa powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
Wet Ingredients
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup (99g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (107g) brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Topping
- Orange M&Ms
Instructions
- Preheat Oven: Preheat the oven to 350ºF to ensure it’s ready for baking the cookies at the correct temperature.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a mixing bowl, combine the all purpose flour, black cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; whisk or stir until evenly mixed.
- Cream Butter and Sugars: In a separate mixing bowl, cream together the softened unsalted butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar using a mixer on low speed until well combined and fluffy.
- Add Egg and Vanilla: Beat in the large egg and vanilla extract on low speed until fully incorporated, creating a smooth batter.
- Combine Mixtures: Gently add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing on low speed or folding by hand just until the dough comes together; avoid overmixing.
- Scoop Dough and Add Toppings: Use a cookie scoop to drop dough balls onto a silicone mat lined baking sheet spaced 3 inches apart. Press orange M&Ms generously onto the tops and sides of each dough ball for a festive look.
- Bake Cookies: Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 13 minutes. If any cookies have bare spots without M&Ms, press additional candies into those spots immediately after baking while cookies are warm.
- Cool: Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes to firm up, then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely before serving.
- Bake in Batches: Bake one cookie sheet at a time for best results, ensuring even baking and cookie quality.
Notes
- Black cocoa powder imparts a deep black color and intense chocolate flavor. If unavailable, substitute with natural unsweetened cocoa powder but expect a lighter cookie color.
- To compensate for the lighter color when using natural cocoa powder, consider adding black gel food coloring to the dough for a darker appearance.
- Pressing extra M&Ms into the dough before and immediately after baking ensures a colorful, candy-covered exterior.
- Use a silicone baking mat for easy cookie removal and even baking.
- Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet before moving to cooling rack to prevent breakage.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 150 kcal
- Sugar: 13 g
- Sodium: 110 mg
- Fat: 7 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 20 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 30 mg
