Mug Hugger Cookies Recipe

If you like dipping cookies in milk or coffee, you’ll love these vegan dark chocolate mug hugger cookies. Make a cookie that can hang on the side of your cup.

Table of Contents

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• Recipe
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Ingredient Substitutions
• Contact Me with Questions
• Similar Recipes

This is the same chocolate cookie dough that I use for my Nightmare Before Christmas cookies. These chocolate cookies can have an even darker chocolate flavor by adding a bit of black cocoa powder like I did in my stained glass window sprinkle rattle cookies.

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Ingredients for Devil’s Food Cookie Recipe

(jump to the substitutions section to see ingredient details and suggestions for substitutions)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup dutch cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoons cornstarch
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon non-aluminum baking powder
• ½ cup vegan butter or margarine
• ½ cup organic palm shortening
• 1 cup organic or vegan sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ¼ cup nondairy milk

How to Make Vegan Chocolate Mug Hugger Cookies

Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl: 2 cups flour, ½ cup dutch cocoa powder, 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder or cornstarch, ¼ teaspoon salt, and 1 tablespoon baking powder. If you bought dutch cocoa powder just for this recipe and you have some left, try making my oreo cheesecake brownies.

Mix the ½ cup vegan butter, ½ cup vegan shortening, and 1 cup sugar together on a fast speed using a stand mixer or a handheld electric mixer for like 5 minutes. Turn to low.

Add the ¼ cup nondairy milk and 2 teaspoons vanilla while mixing.

Sift in half of the dry ingredients and mix until incorporated. Sift and mix in the rest.

Divide the dough in half and wrap each half in cling wrap to chill for 3-4 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350° once the dough is done chilling.

Line two baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper and remove one dough ball from fridge.

Place the dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper to roll it out.

Roll as thinly as possible. Remove the top piece of parchment paper and cut out as many shapes as you can, dipping your heart shaped perched cookie cutter into dutch cocoa powder when needed to keep it from sticking.

Trade the dough remnants with the ball that’s in the fridge. Keep cutting until the cookie sheets are full of cut outs.

Bake for 8 minutes.

Cool on trays for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to cooling rack.

I thought the star cutters left too big of a gap for an average cup. When I was little, my sister made some cups in pottery class that these would have fit perfectly on. Oh, those indestructible pottery cups.

The heart shaped perched cookie cutter had the perfect sized gap. If you don’t have a heart mug hugger cookie cutter, you can just use any cookie cutter you have and use a butter knife to cut out the gap from each one before baking.

If you’re feeling fun, you can spread buttercream frosting on one and stick another cookie on top to make a cookie sandwich.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to buy the special cookie cutter for this mug hugger cookie recipe?

If your cookie cutter drawer has already reached its max capacity, you can use a cookie cutter you already have and just cut a notch out of the cookies before baking them.

Ingredient Details and Substitutions

• Flour: I use unbleached organic all-purpose flour because it’s cheap at Costco, but you can use other kinds of flour for these. Whole wheat pastry flour is a slightly healthier choice without making the cookies taste different. To make these cookies gluten-free, just replace the all-purpose flour with a gluten-free flour blend.
• Dutch Cocoa: You can’t substitute natural cocoa powder for the dutch cocoa powder in this recipe without making some adjustments to the baking soda. Most people following this rule when making the substitution. If the recipe calls for Dutch-process cocoa powder and baking powder, substitute the same amount of natural cocoa but replace the baking powder with half the amount of baking soda.
• Cornstarch: I always buy organic or non-GMO cornstarch because corn is typically a genetically medified ingredient. You can also sub arrowroot powder for the cornstarch using a 1:1 ratio.
• Salt: I always buy pink sea salt because it has a lot of minerals that I know are good for me. You can use any kind of salt you have. You can also omit the salt if you’re trying to watch your sodium.
• Baking Powder: I always use non-aluminum baking powder, just in case it helps my memory at all. Baking powder does lose it’s effectiveness as it ages, so make sure you replace your baking powder every year.
• Vegan Butter: I prefer the organic whipped Earth Balance. If you avoid soy, buy the soy-free Earth Balance.
• Palm Shortening: I buy spectrum sustainable organic palm shortening because it’s sustainably harvested. You can use any plant-based shortening. You can also replace the shortening with additional vegan butter using a 1:1 ratio.
• Sugar: I use organic sugar because it’s cheap at Costco. You can use any number of sugars, as long as they’re vegan: vegan sugar, sucanat, coconut sugar, raw sugar, or organic sugar. If you’re not sure if your sugar is vegan, you can contact the company and ask, but basically, just avoid conventional white sugar or granulated sugar, and you should be ok.
• Nondairy Milk: You can use any variety of plant milk. If you don’t have any, replace it with water or coffee.

Comments or Questions?

If you make this vegan devil’s food cookies recipe, I would love it if you’d snap a pic, post to instagram, and tag me @vegandollhouse. It seriously makes my day/week/month!

Please message me (instagram or email) if you have any questions or feedback about the recipe.

Similar Recipes

If you like cute vegan cookies, check out my vegan cookie recipes category.

For other recipes that use dutch cocoa powder, check out my oero cheesecake brownies recipe. It can be made with or without the cookies, and it’s good both ways. My Brooklyn blackout cupcakes also use dutch processed cocoa powder.

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I use mostly organic ingredients when I cook. I realize that not everyone has the disposable income to buy only organic ingredients. So, I only specify organic on the ingredients that matter: when buying the organic version is the only way to ensure that an item is vegan.

This post links to items I mention. If you click on one, you will go to a website (like Amazon) where you can buy the product. Sometimes, the store you purchase from (Amazon, Etsy, etc.) will pay me for referring you. This costs you nothing extra, and I would never recommend a product that I don’t use. These affiliate programs help me buy ingredients to create recipes for you. Read more about this in my privacy policy.

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