What would be the safest and most secure setup for a cold wallet? I am now unsure how to transfer from cold wallet to an online address without compromising security.
Would it be possible to transfer BTC from cold wallet to another cold wallet and then send from that secondary cold wallet to an online address? That way my original cold wallet isn't connecting to the internet or being directly exposed?
Get a hardware wallet. Or a SeedSigner device.
...Or set up both your cold storage and companion watch only hot wallet with Electrum on laptops with cameras, hence allowing you transfer those transactions (unsigned and signed) as QR code images.