Chewy Chocolate Cookies

Cookies:
2 cups + 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
¾ cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1¼ cups (2½ sticks) butter, at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Frosting:
½ stick (4 TBS) butter softened
4 oz cream cheese softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2-4 TBS cold milk

 Directions:
Mix the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt  together in a bowl and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer on medium speed beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, roughly 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until combined, then reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add in the flour mixture. Beat until just combined.
Form the dough into a disk and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about an hour until firm.
Preheat the oven to 350°. Shape the dough into 1¼ inch balls and roll each ball in the sanding sugar. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the cookies are set. They will still look a bit gooey when removed from the oven. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes then remove from the cookie sheet and cool completely.

For Frosting:
Whip together butter and cream cheese. Add sugar, vanilla, and only 1 TBS of cold milk at a time until you reach the spreading consistency you desire.

As you can see from the photo above I left some unfrosted, frosted some, and some with the frosting I added about a  ½ tsp of crushed up candy cane. They all got gobbled up at a Christmas party we went to. Enjoy!