Fudgy Football Cookies: The Ultimate Game Day Dessert for Super Bowl Celebrations
Get ready to score a touchdown with these irresistible homemade Football Cookies! Perfect for your next game day party or Super Bowl bash, these soft and fudgy chocolate sugar cookies are expertly decorated to resemble miniature frosted footballs. They’re guaranteed to be a top scorer on your dessert table, delighting fans of all ages with every chocolatey bite.
As football season fills the air with excitement and anticipation, there’s no better way to celebrate than by staying on theme with these delectable chocolate football cookies. Crafted from a soft, buttery, cut-out chocolate sugar cookie dough, each cookie is generously topped with a creamy, homemade chocolate frosting. The result is a melt-in-your-mouth experience that is both rich in flavor and delightful to look at. They are surprisingly fun and easy to whip up using just a few basic pantry staples, making the decorating process even more enjoyable. Follow along to learn how to create these festive and fun football cookies, ensuring you’re perfectly prepared for the big game!
Why You’ll Love These Game Day Football Sugar Cookies
These chocolate football sugar cookies aren’t just a treat; they’re a game-day essential! Here’s why they’re sure to become your new favorite:
- Perfect Texture Every Time. Achieve consistently soft and chewy cookies with delightfully crisp edges. Our unique dough recipe is incredibly forgiving, easy to work with, and best of all, requires absolutely no chilling time! This means you can go from craving to cookie much faster, perfect for last-minute party preparations.
- Extra Chocolatey Goodness. While you could certainly make classic vanilla sugar cookies and decorate them like footballs, we believe a rich chocolate base truly elevates these treats. These cookies are irresistibly sweet and fudgy, offering a deep chocolate flavor that perfectly complements the frosting. Plus, their natural dark brown hue provides the ideal canvas for frosting, making them look just like real footballs even before decoration.
- Incredibly Versatile for Any Occasion. These football cookies are not just for the Super Bowl! Serve them as a festive and easy dessert alongside all your favorite party snacks on any game day, birthday party, or sports-themed gathering. They are also incredibly make-ahead friendly, allowing you to prepare them in advance and enjoy stress-free entertaining.
Essential Ingredients for Chocolate Football Cookies
Crafting these delicious chocolate football cookies requires a handful of simple, easy-to-find ingredients. Below is a quick overview to help you gather your supplies. For the precise measurements and complete recipe details, please be sure to scroll down to the comprehensive recipe card located at the end of this post.
- Butter: Essential for that rich, tender texture. Always ensure it’s properly softened to room temperature before you begin, as this allows it to cream smoothly with the sugar and prevents the cookies from spreading too much during baking.
- Granulated Sugar: Provides the sweetness and contributes to the cookie’s structure and crispy edges.
- Egg: Acts as a binder, adding moisture and richness to the dough. Using a large egg is standard for most baking recipes.
- Milk: Adds essential moisture to the dough, helping to achieve a soft and pliable consistency for rolling and cutting. Any type of milk (dairy or non-dairy) will work.
- Vanilla Extract: A key flavoring agent that enhances the chocolate notes. Opt for real vanilla extract for the best, most authentic flavor profile.
- All-Purpose Flour: The structural backbone of our cookies. Make sure to measure it correctly, either by weight or by the “spoon and level” method, to avoid dry or dense cookies.
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder: This is what gives our cookies their deep chocolate flavor and signature brown color. Natural unsweetened cocoa powder is recommended for the best results and taste. You’ll also need a little extra for dusting your work surface.
- Baking Powder: Our leavening agent, ensuring the cookies have a slight lift and a soft, tender crumb.
- Salt: A crucial ingredient that balances the sweetness and brings out the full depth of the chocolate flavor.
- Chocolate Frosting: I’ve included my favorite Easy Chocolate Frosting recipe in the recipe card, which is perfectly creamy and delicious. Alternatively, for a quick shortcut, you can use your favorite store-bought chocolate buttercream.
- White Frosting or Decorating Gel: This is for piping the iconic white laces onto your footballs. A simple vanilla buttercream or a convenient white decorating gel will work perfectly.
Mastering the Art of Making Football Cookies
Creating these adorable and delicious football sugar cookies is surprisingly straightforward. One of the best parts? There’s no need to chill the dough, which means you can get to baking and decorating much faster! Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you make them:
- Prepare the Cookie Dough with Precision. Begin by creaming together the softened butter and granulated sugar until the mixture is light, fluffy, and pale in color. This step incorporates air, which contributes to the cookies’ tender texture. Next, beat in the milk, real vanilla extract, and egg, mixing until all wet ingredients are fully incorporated and smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, rich cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add these dry ingredients to the wet mixture, mixing on low speed until just combined. Be careful not to overmix, as this can lead to tough cookies. The dough should come together into a soft, uniform brown color.
- Roll and Cut Out Your Football Shapes. Lightly dust a clean, flat work surface with extra cocoa powder (using cocoa powder instead of flour helps maintain the beautiful brown color of your cookies). Roll out the cookie dough to an even thickness of about ¼ inch. Using a football-shaped cookie cutter, firmly press down to cut out your shapes. Carefully transfer these cut-out cookies to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, leaving a little space between each. Any leftover dough scraps can be gently re-rolled and cut.
- Bake to Perfection. Preheat your oven to 400ºF (200ºC). Arrange your cut-out chocolate sugar cookies on a baking sheet. Bake for 6-8 minutes, or until the edges are just set and the tops appear dry. It’s crucial not to overbake them if you want soft, chewy cookies. Overbaking can result in a dry, crumbly texture. Once baked, let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes to firm up before carefully transferring them to a wire rack. Allow them to cool completely before moving on to the decorating phase.
Creative Decorating for Your Football Cookies
Once your chocolate sugar cookies have completely cooled – and this is a crucial step to prevent melting frosting – they are ready to transform into festive footballs! You have a couple of options for decorating: you can either pipe the white laces directly onto the cooled chocolate cookie, or you can create a quick and easy chocolate frosting base before adding the laces. The latter method adds another layer of rich chocolate flavor and a smoother canvas.
- Whip Up the Perfect Frosting. If you’re making your own chocolate frosting, combine all the frosting ingredients in a large bowl. Beat them together with an electric mixer until the frosting is wonderfully smooth, creamy, and easily spreadable. You might need to adjust the amount of powdered sugar or milk slightly to achieve your desired consistency – thick enough to hold its shape but soft enough to spread effortlessly.
- Frost and Detail Your Cookies. Using a small offset spatula or the back of a spoon, spread a thin, even layer of your creamy chocolate frosting over the top of each cooled cookie. Aim for full coverage to create the “football skin.” Once the chocolate base is applied, it’s time for the signature laces! Fill a piping bag fitted with a small round tip (like a Wilton 3 or 4) with Vanilla Frosting or white decorating gel. Carefully pipe a straight line down the center of each cookie, then add three to four smaller perpendicular lines across the center line to create the football laces.
- Prepare for Enjoyment (or Storage!). Your beautifully decorated football cookies are now ready to be devoured! If you plan to store them, make sure to let the frosting harden completely at room temperature for at least 30-60 minutes, or until it’s firm to the touch. This prevents the cookies from sticking together and smudging the designs when stacked. Once set, store them in an airtight container to maintain their freshness.
Expert Tips and Creative Variation Ideas for Success
To ensure your homemade football cookies turn out perfectly every time, keep these easy tips and tricks in mind. Plus, explore some fun ideas to customize your cookies!
- The Importance of Room-Temperature Butter: This is a golden rule for many baking recipes, and especially crucial for both the cookie dough and the chocolate frosting in this recipe. Softened butter doesn’t just combine more smoothly with other ingredients; it also helps to create a uniform emulsion, which prevents your sugar cookies from spreading excessively as they bake, ensuring they maintain their neat football shape.
- Measuring Flour Correctly: For the best texture, always “spoon and level” your flour. Instead of scooping directly from the bag (which can compact the flour and lead to too much being used), lightly spoon flour into your measuring cup and then level it off with a straight edge. This prevents dry, crumbly cookies.
- For a Deeper Darker Cookie: If you desire a richer, darker brown color for your footballs, consider dusting your work surface with dark or Dutch-processed cocoa powder before rolling out your cookie dough. These types of cocoa powders are processed differently, resulting in a deeper, more intense color and often a smoother flavor.
- Avoid Overmixing the Dough: Once you’ve added the dry ingredients to the wet, mix only until just combined. Overmixing develops the gluten in the flour, which can lead to tough, chewy cookies instead of the desired tender and soft texture.
- Don’t Overbake for Optimal Softness: For soft, wonderfully chewy sugar cookies, be diligent about taking the cookies out of the oven once they are just set in the center and appear slightly underbaked. The residual heat on the baking sheet will continue to cook them slightly as they cool. Overbaking is the primary culprit behind dry, hard, and crunchy cookies.
- Enhance Flavor with Extracts: While vanilla is classic, you can easily change up the flavor profile of these cookies by incorporating different flavoring extracts. In place of or in addition to vanilla, consider a hint of peppermint extract for a festive twist, almond extract for a nutty depth, or even a touch of rum extract for a more sophisticated taste. Espresso powder added to the cocoa powder can also intensify the chocolate flavor without adding a coffee taste.
- Use Parchment Paper: Lining your baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats not only prevents sticking but also helps the cookies bake more evenly and makes cleanup a breeze.
- Cool Completely Before Frosting: This cannot be stressed enough! Applying frosting to warm cookies will result in melted, messy frosting. Ensure your cookies are entirely cooled to room temperature for at least 30-60 minutes before you begin decorating.
- Adjust Frosting Consistency: If your frosting is too thick, add milk a teaspoon at a time until it reaches the desired spreadable and pipeable consistency. If it’s too thin, gradually mix in more powdered sugar until it stiffens up.
Can I Make Drop Cookies Instead?
Absolutely! If you don’t happen to have a football-shaped cookie cutter on hand, you can still make these delicious chocolate treats as drop cookies. They won’t have the distinct football shape, but they’ll taste just as incredible and be perfect for a less formal game day treat. For best results, use a cookie scoop to ensure uniform size, which helps them bake evenly. Adjust the baking time to 10-12 minutes, as drop cookies are generally thicker than cut-out cookies and will require a slightly longer baking duration. Simply bake, cool, and then frost with the chocolate frosting and pipe on the white laces to give them a football resemblance.
The Perfect Game Day Spread: What to Serve With Football Cookies
It’s football season, and in our house, that calls for an epic spread of delicious SNACKS! These fudgy football cookies are a sweet grand finale, but they also complement a fantastic array of savory game day appetizers. Here are some easy and fun food ideas to serve alongside a platter of your beautifully frosted football cookies to complete your ultimate game day feast. And don’t forget to wash it all down with an ice-cold Beer Margarita!
- Bacon Cheddar Ranch Dip: A creamy, savory dip packed with bacon and cheese – perfect for chips, veggies, or crackers.
- Chili Cheese Dip and Homemade Tortilla Chips: A hearty, cheesy, and spicy dip that’s a crowd-pleaser, especially with crispy homemade chips.
- Stuffed Mushrooms: Elegant yet easy, these savory bites are always a hit, offering a delicious counterpoint to the sweet cookies.
- Philly Cheesesteak Sliders: Mini versions of the classic sandwich, these savory sliders are incredibly satisfying and easy to eat while watching the game.
- Bacon Wrapped Smokies: A perennial favorite, these little smokies wrapped in bacon are addictive and disappear fast!
- Boneless Chicken Wings: Customizable with your favorite sauces, these wings are a quintessential game day snack.
Storing Your Football Cookies for Freshness
Proper storage is key to keeping your delicious football cookies fresh and tasty for as long as possible. If you’ve opted to frost your cookies, it is absolutely essential to allow the frosting to harden completely at room temperature before you store them. This prevents the cookies from sticking to each other or to the container, preserving their beautiful designs. There’s no need to refrigerate these sugar cookies; they actually fare best at room temperature. Simply place the cooled and set cookies in an airtight container on your kitchen countertop, and they will stay fresh and delicious for up to 1 week.
Can I Freeze Chocolate Sugar Cookies?
Yes, these football cookies are excellent candidates for freezing, making them a fantastic make-ahead option! You can freeze them either frosted or unfrosted, depending on your preference and how much prep work you want to do in advance. For best results, arrange unfrosted cookies in a single layer on a baking sheet to flash freeze for about 30 minutes, then transfer them to an airtight freezer-safe container or a heavy-duty freezer bag, separated by parchment paper to prevent sticking. If freezing frosted cookies, ensure the frosting is completely hardened before layering them with parchment paper. They will keep beautifully in the freezer for up to 2-3 months. When you’re ready to enjoy them, simply thaw the cookies at room temperature for a few hours before serving.
Can I Make the Cookie Dough Ahead of Time?
Absolutely! Preparing the cookie dough in advance is a brilliant way to get a headstart on your football cookies, especially if you’re planning for a big game day event. To store the chocolate sugar cookie dough, simply prepare it as directed in the recipe. Once mixed, wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap, pressing out any excess air, and then place it in the refrigerator. It will stay fresh and ready to use for up to 2 days. This is perfect for splitting your baking tasks over two days. For longer storage, you can also freeze the prepared dough for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to bake, transfer the frozen dough to the refrigerator to thaw overnight, then allow it to come to room temperature for about 30 minutes before rolling it out and cutting your football shapes. This flexibility makes game day baking a breeze!
More Easy and Delicious Cookie Recipes
If you loved making these football cookies, you’ll definitely want to check out these other fantastic and easy cookie recipes perfect for any occasion:
- Pilgrim Hat Cookies
- Classic Frosted Sugar Cookies
- Festive Pumpkin Sugar Cookies
- Decadent Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
- Warm and Spicy Snickerdoodle Cookies
Homemade Fudgy Football Cookies
Erin Sellin
15 minutes
8 minutes
23 minutes
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Ingredients
-
1
cup
butter
,
softened to room temperature -
1
cup
granulated sugar
-
1
whole large egg -
3
Tablespoons
milk
,
any kind -
1
teaspoon
vanilla extract
,
pure -
2 ½
cups
all-purpose flour
,
spooned and leveled -
½
cup
unsweetened cocoa powder + more for dusting -
1 ½
teaspoon
baking powder
-
½
teaspoon
salt
For the Creamy Chocolate Frosting & Decorating
-
½
cup
butter
,
softened -
3-4
cups
powdered sugar
,
sifted -
¼
cup
unsweetened cocoa powder
-
¼
teaspoon
salt
-
1
teaspoon
vanilla extract
,
pure -
3
Tablespoons
milk
,
or more as needed for consistency -
¼
cup
white frosting,
or decorating gel, for laces
Instructions
-
Preheat your oven to 400ºF (200ºC). Prepare baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper for easy release.
-
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream together the softened butter and granulated sugar until the mixture is light, pale, and fluffy, typically for 2-3 minutes. This step incorporates air, vital for soft cookies.1 cup butter,
1 cup granulated sugar -
Add in the milk, pure vanilla extract, and the large egg. Mix on medium speed until everything is fully incorporated and the mixture is smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.1 whole large egg,
3 Tablespoons milk,
1 teaspoon vanilla extract -
In a separate bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), unsweetened cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add these dry ingredients to the wet mixture, mixing on low speed until just combined and an even brown color is achieved. Be careful not to overmix the dough.2 ½ cups all-purpose flour,
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder + more for dusting,
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder,
½ teaspoon salt -
Lightly dust your clean work surface with cocoa powder (to keep the cookies brown) and roll out the dough to about ¼ inch thick. Use a football-shaped cookie cutter to firmly cut out your desired shapes. Carefully place the cut-out cookies onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving about 1 inch between them.
-
Bake for 6-8 minutes, or until the tops appear dry and the edges are just set. To ensure soft, chewy cookies, avoid overbaking.
-
Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the cookies cool on the pan for 5 minutes. This allows them to firm up before carefully transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
-
While the cookies cool, prepare the chocolate frosting. In a large bowl, combine the softened butter, sifted powdered sugar, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla extract, and milk. Beat with an electric mixer until creamy and well blended. Adjust the milk (add more for thinner) or powdered sugar (add more for thicker) to achieve a smooth, spreadable consistency that is also suitable for piping.½ cup butter,
3-4 cups powdered sugar,
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder,
¼ teaspoon salt,
1 teaspoon vanilla extract,
3 Tablespoons milk -
Once cookies are completely cool, spread a layer of chocolate frosting over each cookie. Then, using a piping bag fitted with a small round tip (or simply a zip-top bag with the corner snipped), pipe on the white laces with the white frosting or decorating gel. Alternatively, for a simpler approach, you can just pipe the laces directly onto the cooled chocolate cookies without the chocolate frosting base.¼ cup white frosting
-
Allow the frosting to harden at room temperature before storing the cookies in an airtight container to prevent smudging and keep them fresh.
Notes
- If you don’t have a football-shaped cookie cutter, you can easily make these as delicious round drop cookies. Use a cookie scoop for uniform size and bake for 10-12 minutes, depending on their thickness. Let them cool completely before frosting.
- To maintain the rich brown color of your chocolate cookies, always dust your work surface with extra cocoa powder instead of all-purpose flour when rolling out the dough. For an even darker cookie, consider using a dark or Dutch-processed cocoa powder for dusting.
- Ensure butter is at perfect room temperature for optimal creaming and to prevent cookies from spreading too much.
- Avoid overmixing the dough once flour is added to prevent tough cookies; mix just until combined.
- Cool cookies completely on a wire rack before frosting to ensure the frosting sets beautifully and doesn’t melt.
Nutrition
Calories:
282
kcal
|
Carbohydrates:
51
g
|
Protein:
2
g
|
Fat:
8
g
|
Saturated Fat:
5
g
|
Polyunsaturated Fat:
3
g
|
Cholesterol:
26
mg
|
Sodium:
133
mg
|
Fiber:
1
g
|
Sugar:
43
g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Additional Info
Erin Sellin
15 minutes
8 minutes
23 minutes
Cookie Recipes, Dessert
American
282
chocolate sugar cookies, football cookies, game day dessert, Super Bowl cookies
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