Chocolate Bon-Bon Drops

By EricS52

Tender, deep-chocolate cookies with a rich, sweet vanilla glaze, these bite-sized beauties are perfect for a holiday cookie tray or hostess gift. Topped with a chocolate pearl, or bright red cherry, each cookie is a jewel to the eyes and a gem for the tastebuds.

Ingredients

• Chocolate Cookies
• 12 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1/4 cup Double-Dutch Dark Cocoa or Dutch-process (European-style) cocoa
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• Vanilla Glaze
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 1/4 cup heavy cream OR half and half OR milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
• _____________________________________________________________________
• Tips from our bakers
• When making the glaze, heavy cream will give the richest, most creamy results. The creaminess of the glaze is a perfect counterpoint to the crisp, shortbread-like consistency of the cookie.
• While you can choose to skip the chilling step for these cookies, they'll bake up flatter, and not as nicely domed as when chilled.
• For festive chocolate-peppermint bon-bon drops, replace the vanilla bean paste in the glaze with 3 drops of peppermint oil, and garnish each cookie with a sprinkling of peppermint crunch or crushed candy canes.

Details

Preparation time 10mins
Cooking time 20mins
Adapted from kingarthurflour.com

Preparation

Step 1

) Place all the cookie dough ingredients in the bowl of your stand mixer. Beat on medium speed until a soft, smooth dough is formed. Remove from the bowl, and shape into a 3/4" thick disc. Wrap well in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes, or as long as overnight.

2) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Shape the dough into small balls, about the size of a large gumball (a teaspoon cookie scoop is a huge help here). Space evenly on the cookie sheet, leaving about 2" between cookies. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes. Watch the cookies carefully to avoid scorching the bottoms.

3) Remove the cookies from the oven and allow to cool slightly on the pans while you prepare the glaze. For the glaze, blend the sifted confectioners' sugar with the heavy cream and vanilla bean paste. This glaze will be thick, almost icing consistency. If you use half and half (or milk) and vanilla extract, the glaze will be much thinner and not as rich.

4) Using a teaspoon, portion the glaze over the barely warm cookies. You can pipe the glaze from a piping bag or zip-top bag with a corner cut off as well. Top with chocolate pearls, slivers of maraschino cherry, or chocolate sprinkles. Store any leftovers at room temperature for up to a week.