Cocoa Snowflakes

By shygirl

Delicious,bite sized chewy brownie cookies with a pretty, lacy white top,perfect for holidays. Fun for kids to make, even more fun to eat. We haven't found anyone yet who doesn't love these cookies.

Ingredients

• 1 Cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 5 tbsp. butter
• 6 tbsp. cocoa powder (Natural or Dutch)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 2 extra large eggs
• 1/2 cup finely chopped nuts (optional)
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar (for rolling)

Preparation

Step 1

In a medium bowel, sift flour, baking powder and salt, set aside. In a small heavy saucepan,melt butter over low heat,add COCOA POWDER,blend well until smooth. Remove pan from heat,stir in sugar until combined (it will be dark brown at this point). Transfer to a large mixing bowl,add PURE VANILLA EXTRACT,then eggs one at a time,stirring well after each addition. Add flour mixture and nuts if desired (skip the nuts if baking for children,as most don't seem to enjoy them),mix well. Cover the dough with plastic wrap,refrigerate until chilled (at least 2 hours). The dough never gets really stiff,but it won't roll into nice balls if it's warm. Preheat oven to 400 deg. Grab a handful of dough,enough to fill a cookie sheet leaving the rest in the fridge. Roll each hunk of dough into 3/4-inch balls and then roll in powdered sugar. It's easier to roll the dough into balls if you coat your hands with powdered sugar (kids love doing this). Place the sugar coated balls onto a greased cookie sheet, 2" apart. Bake cookies for 8 minutes at 400 deg., let cool a minute,and then remove from pan. Store in an airtight container to maintain the soft and chewy texture of these cookies. If you like a crisper cookie,bake a minute longer (be careful not to burn the bottoms).

Prep time 15 minutes plus 2 hours chilling time
Baking time: 8 minutes per pan
Yield: 50-60 cookies