This year leave some Naughty Coal Cookies out for Santa! Deep, dark chocolate cookies studded with bittersweet chocolate look like lumps of black coal! Recipe yields 36 lumps… I mean cookies.
Do you think Santa would Mind if he was left a plate of coal cookies?
Does he have a sense of humor? Would he let out one good ho-ho-ho, take a bite (fall in love) and then poof! drops an iPad under the tree for me?!
Seriously though, these cookies are all kinds of fun. More fun than getting real coal in your stocking but not as fun as silly putty, orange flavored chapstick and a Teen Bop magazine.
If you know, you know.
To Make These Naughty Coal Cookies you Will Need:
- unbleached all-purpose flour – Gives structure to the cookies.
- black cocoa powder – Gives these cookies that dark coal-like color. (see notes below)
- baking powder – Will create lightness in the batter, which makes it rise.
- unsalted butter – Adds moisture, richness and flavor.
- granulated sugar – Adds sweetness and flavor.
- dark brown sugar – For a touch of sweetness and caramel-y flavor.
- eggs – Lends richness and flavor.
- pure vanilla extract – Gives warmth and enhances all of the other flavors in this recipe.
- chocolate chips – Adds little pockets of melty chocolate.
In a mesh sieve set over a bowl, measure and add 1-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, 1-1/4 cups black cocoa and 1 teaspoon baking powder.
WHAT IS BLACK COCOA POWDER?
Black cocoa has a distinct and mild chocolate flavor and is processed in a way that makes it darker in color. It is lower in acidity, which allows its distinct flavor to shine. Love Oreos? That’s probably because of the black cocoa powder (and the cream filled middle!).
I have seen recipes where black cocoa powder is used to color the black velvet cake. However, since I based this recipe from my red velvet cake recipe, I used food coloring to give it the rich black color.
Gently sift the ingredients into the bowl below. Set this off to the side for a moment.
In the bowl of your stand mixer, add 2 sticks (1 cup) softened unsalted butter with 1 cup granulated sugar, 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar and 1/4 teaspoon fine salt.
Next, mix on medium-low speed for about 2 to 3 until light and fluffy. With that being said, this cookie dough ends up being pretty dense so a hand mixer might not be able to do the job.
Then, with the mixer on low add one egg at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Add in 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract with the last egg.
Scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as you go.
Next gradually add in the dry ingredients.
Continue to mix, pausing to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Next, add 1-1/2 cups chocolate chips. For this recipe, I’m using bittersweet 60% cacao and slowly mix them in.
Chill the dough for 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 400°.
Now you’re ready to make some coal. Use a 2 tablespoon scoop to measure out 12 of the coal-dough-balls.
Arrange them on a lined rimmed baking sheet. Slide the pan into your preheated oven for 6-8 minutes.
Once out of the oven, use a drinking glass to cover the cookie and make a swirling motion. This will correct any imperfect edges, yielding a perfectly round cookie.
Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for about 5 minutes before using a spatula to transfer them to a wire rack and finish cooling.
And there you have it! Coal cookies. The color can be a little shocking.
But yes these extremely black cookies are edible. Just because they look just.like.coal doesn’t mean they taste like coal. Only a gazillion times better because, chocolate! I think they taste like chocolate chip Oreo brownies.
Merry Christmas!
Enjoy! And if you give this Naughty Coal Cookis recipe a try, let me know! Snap a photo and tag me on twitter or instagram!
Naughty Coal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1¼ cups black cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/4 kosher salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1½ cups chocolate chips, I use bittersweet, but pick your favorite!
Equipment
- Nordic Ware Natural Baker's Half Sheet (2 Pack)
- Silpat Silicone Baking Mats (set of 2)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°. And line a rimmed sheet pan with a silicon liner or parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa and baking powder and then set off to the side.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer add butter, both sugars and salt. Mix on medium-low until combined. Add one egg at a time and mix after each addition.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl before gradually adding the dry ingredients. Mix until thoroughly combined. Add in the chocolate chips and mix by hand until incorporated.
- Using a 2 tablespoon scoop, place 12 rounded balls of dough onto prepared sheet pan. Bake in preheated oven for 6-8 minutes. If still soft after 8 minutes, bake for 1 minute increments. (in my oven 8 minutes is perfect)
- Immediately once out of the oven, use a drinking glass to cover the cookie and make a swirling motion. This will correct any imperfect edges, yielding a perfectly round coal cookie.
- Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Repeat with remaining cookie dough.
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The color is stunning. I love the deep, dark black hue. Yeah, chocolate! Pinned.
Now those are awesome! I know of some little stinkers who could use some “coal”. Thanks for the fun post!
I couldn’t help but follow the link and buy the black cocoa. Hope you get some kind of credit for that from king Arthur Flour. I’ll share my order number if it helps you get a kick back! Can’t wait to eat these…hoping I get them baked first.
What FUN!!!! I know a couple of my girls that could have gotten them.. Where was this recipe when they were little??..LOL
These look awesome! I’ve got two nephews to try these on. =)
One other recipe I’ve seen said that adding dark purple food coloring (from cake decorating) to cocoa will give you a black color. There’s another option you can try.
Amazing!!!! The same dark cocoa as Oreos—-now that is a recommendation! I can’t believe how dark these did turn out.
In fact I am laughing. I love it!!!!
These look amazing. I need some of that cocoa powder! I’m heading up to VT over the weekend and plan on stopping at KAF, they best have it in stock!
These were perfect! I made them yesterday and the only sub I had to make was using Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder since I couldn’t find the Black Cocoa powder. They turned out FANTASTIC!! The batter was delicious and the cookies were so black and tasted like chewy oreos- thanks for sharing such a fun recipe!!
Hi. Correct me if I’m wrong 1-1/2 means 1 and a 1/2 cups, correct?
Correct! Enjoy!
Great recipe. I’ll be making these tonight. Thanks for posting it.
Oh my gosh, I can taste the rich, chocolatey perfection of a cookie already!
I wouldn’t mined receiving this coal at all!!
I made these and they were awesome!! I subbed out the dark chocolate chips for Andes mint chocolate chips. They tasted like a chewy thin mint. A real crowd pleaser!! Thanks for the recipe.
These cookies are as delicious as they are shocking to look at! Decadent chocolate flavor without being too sweet. I will definitely add these to my Christmas cookie repertoire. A fun gag gift and easy to make.
This is a great recipe! I’ve made it multiple times and it’s always worked well. For some variation, I’ve also chopped up white chocolate to add instead of chocolate chips. The cookies don’t look like coal when I do that, but they taste good.
What happened when you used baking powder? I read that for black cocoa one should use powder not soda. Also your pic shows powder. I have made these twice now – great taste and presentation. I have been adding a pinch of baking powder for lift.
Hi Alexis! After receiving your comment I decided to make a batch of these cookies (twist my arm). It had been 10 years since this recipe was first posted and I couldn’t remember why I shot the recipe with baking powder and wrote baking soda ♀️. So I updated the recipe, photos and instructions to be more clear and concise. The result? While baking soda can be used, it is indeed baking powder. Thank you for your comment! Merry Christmas!❤️