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Dark Chocolate Halloween Cookies make a spooky and tasty treat! The dark as night chocolate cookies are the perfect backdrop for the pumpkin orange candies. Serve these chocolate Halloween cookies at your Halloween party, or give them to friends and neighbors to say Happy Halloween!
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Dark Chocolate Halloween Cookies
Hello my Ghoulish friends! It’s time for another tasty Halloween treat! No tricks, I promise! Please tell me you are a chocolate lover like I am. You kind of have to be one because these cookies are so scary chocolatey!
When I say chocolatey, I’m talking triple chocolate! Starting with dark cocoa powder, then add in dark chocolate chips. If that isn’t enough, add in some chocolate candies with a bright Jack-o’-Lantern orange coating!
Dark Chocolate Halloween Cookies are super yummy! They are rich, slightly crisp around the edges, and soft and a little chewy in the middle! That’s a lot going on in this fearfully festive Halloween cookie!
I did say no tricks, but I couldn’t resist just one… a little trick that really makes the chocolate flavor pop. Instant Espresso Powder (affiliate). Just a little goes a long way in this darkly delicious chocolate cookies recipe!
A few helpful tips to make these truly terrifying Halloween Cookies
- Use a stand mixer if you can. This dough gets really thick! If you want a good arm workout, use a wooden spoon!
- Have your eggs at room temperature. If you forgot to take them out of the fridge, crack them into a dish to warm up while you gather everything you need.
- Butter also needs to be at room temp. If it is cold, you can microwave it on the defrost setting for fish. Only do about 30 seconds, then check it. Do another 15 seconds if you need to. Don’t let it get too soft!
- Line your baking sheets. You can use parchment paper or silicone baking mats. It’s so much easier to get the cookies off! The pans stay cleaner, too!
- For the darkest cookies, be sure to use dark cocoa powder. If you want them black, use some charcoal (food grade) or black food coloring.
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Dark Chocolate Halloween Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 sticks Unsalted Butter (1 cup) room temperature
- ¾ cup Brown Sugar, packed
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 lg Eggs
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour
- ¾ cup Dark Cocoa Powder (such as Hershey's Special Dark®)
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Instant Espresso Powder (optional)
- 1 cup Dark Chocolate Chips
- 1 ¼ cups Orange Colored M&M's® (or other orange candy coated chocolate candies)
Instructions
- I like to use my stand mixer for this recipe as the dough gets very thick.
- In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugars.
- Mix in the eggs and vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, add the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and espresso powder, if using. Mix together well.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well.
- add the dark chocolate chips and mix them in.
- Add the M&M's® and mix them in gently so they don't break. If a few break that's fine.
- Line 2 cookie baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Use a 2 Tbsp ice cream scoop to scoop the dough onto the cookie sheets. Don't press them down, just leave them like that. Make 3 rows of 4. You should get 24 cookies.
- If you need to, gently press extra M&M's onto the cookies before baking so that bright orange candy shows!
- Bake in a 350° (F) oven for 8-10 minutes, or until the cookies are done/firm around the edges when pressed. They will still be soft in the middle and just a little puffed up.
- Remove from oven and cool cookies in the pans for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I was wondering, if you can put the orange chocolate candies on top the cookies right after they are baked?
Because mine were darker after baking & not bright orange, like yours in the pictures.
Yes, I always do that.
Do these taste like dark chocolate?
Yes, but sweeter. Not so much like a dark chocolate candy bar.
Have you ever tried making these gluten free? Wondering if it would work with just substituting gf flour??
I haven’t, but the GF flours these days are really good. Many of them are a 1:1 sub.
Can you use a Dutch processed dark cocoa instead of the hersheys?
Yes
These are amazing chocolate cookies!
I made these and they taste like a professional cookie 😍😍 these are my new staple.
Do I have to use Hershey’s special dark cocoa powder or can I just use unsweetened Hershey’s cocoa powder?
If you want dark chocolate cookies, use dark cocoa powder. You can use milk chocolate but they will not be dark.
Loved it. Kids loved it. Neighbours loved it! Overcooked the first batch though.
Deeelish! Thanks!
Just finished making these and me oh my are they ever wonderful!!! What a perfect recipe. I used Reece’s pieces as I could not find orange m&m’s for the life of me! Cannot wait to offer these to my guests at our costume party tomorrow!! Wouldn’t change a thing in this recipe!