UT Checkerboard cookies

By Ksteve10

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt,
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 & 1/4 cup flour
• Yellow and red food coloring
• Egg wash (1 egg, whisked together with a splash of water)
• Extra flour for sprinkling

Details

Servings 2

Preparation

Step 1

1.In a bowl, cream butter and sugar together using a mixer for about 2 minutes, until light and fluffy.

2.Mix in vanilla and salt.

3.Mix in flour, a little bit at a time, until you have a crumbly looking dough:

4.On a floured surface, dump out the dough and knead until it comes together. If you find it too sticky, add more flour as you see fit.

5.Split the dough into two equal pieces.

6.Taking one 1/2, make a well in the middle and add 6 drops yellow to 2 drops red. Knead the dough until the color is distributed. To obtain the ideal color orange, I added 18 drops yellow and 6 drops red.

7.Roll out one half of the dough into a 7 inch x 7 inch square about 3/8ths of an inch thick. Do the same for the other half.

8.Wrapping each half in plastic wrap, place in the fridge or freezer to cool. This will make it easier to cut.

9.Once chilled, use a ruler to mark 3/4 in wide strips and cut each of the halves accordingly.

10.Place 4 strips of dough together, colors alternating (ie orange strip, white strip, orange strip, white strip). Press lightly together and brush with the egg wash.

11.Alternating colors, place 4 more strips on top, ensuring that you are setting a different color on top of the bottom layer, creating a checkerboard effect. Lightly press all the strips together and brush with egg wash.

12.Repeat until you have a block 4 strips wide, and 4 strips high.

13.Wrap the dough block in plastic wrap and place back in the freezer for 10 minutes so it will firm up and be easier to cut.

14.Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400.

15.After the dough has again chilled, use a sharp knife to cut the block into cookies about 1/4 inch thick.

16.Place the sliced cookies on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper and bake for10-12 minutes. Be careful, they will start to brown pretty quickly.

17.Remove the cookies from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.

18.Eat while listening to Rocky Top.