Description
These Mushroom Sugar Cookies are thick, soft slice-and-bake cookies featuring a rich chocolate outside and a charming mushroom design in the center. Convenient and easy to make, they are perfect for holiday treats or a cozy cottagecore vibe. Bake fresh cookies by slicing dough as needed or prepare a batch to freeze for later enjoyment.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Dough
- ¾ cup butter (barely softened - not too soft!)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 large egg (room temperature)
- 2 cups all purpose flour (240g)
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder (dutch processed)
Decorations
- Red gel food coloring (as needed)
- White round pearl sprinkles
- ⅓ cup coarse sugar
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- Green gel food coloring (as needed)
Instructions
- Prepare the Dough: In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and granulated sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the salt, vanilla, and egg, and mix until well combined.
- Add Dry Ingredients: Sift together the all-purpose flour and cocoa powder, then gradually incorporate into the wet mixture until a dough forms.
- Shape and Color the Mushrooms: Divide a small portion of dough and tint portions with the red and green gel food coloring as desired to create mushroom caps and stems.
- Assemble the Design: Roll out portions of plain dough and colored dough, layering and shaping to form the distinct mushroom motif with red caps, white spots (use pearl sprinkles), and green stems.
- Coat and Chill: Roll the assembled dough log in coarse sugar to coat, then wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or until firm.
- Slice and Bake: Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Slice the chilled dough into approximately ¼-inch thick cookies and place on a lined baking sheet.
- Bake: Bake for 10 minutes or until the edges are just beginning to brown.
- Prepare Icing (Optional): Mix powdered sugar with 1-2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream and tint with green gel food coloring to create a subtle decorative icing for stems if desired.
- Cool and Decorate: Remove cookies from the oven, cool on a wire rack, and decorate with icing as preferred.
Notes
- These cookies are slice-and-bake, so you can freeze the dough and bake fresh cookies whenever you like.
- Use Dutch-processed cocoa powder for a richer chocolate flavor and darker cookie dough.
- Be careful not to over-soften the butter; dough texture is key for shaping.
- Adjust gel food coloring amounts gradually to achieve desired vibrant colors without affecting dough consistency.
- White pearl sprinkles are perfect for mushroom spots; avoid using too many to maintain balance in design.
- The cookie dough benefits from chilling to make slicing easier and to keep the shapes intact during baking.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 186 kcal
- Sugar: 15 g
- Sodium: 97 mg
- Fat: 8 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2.4 g
- Trans Fat: 0.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 26 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 30 mg
