Chocolate Cutout Cookie

By mirelsonp

Cut-out cookies don’t have to be vanilla. This year, try a deep, dark chocolate version. Dust your cutting board with cocoa powder to preserve the color and flavor.

Recipe source: Southern Living | December 2016

Ingredients

• COOKIES:
• 3/4 cup butter, salted
• 1/2 (4-ounce) 60% cacao bitter- sweet chocolate baking bar, finely chopped
• 2 (1-ounce) unsweetened chocolate baking squares, finely chopped
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa, divided
• ICING:
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon meringue powder
• 4 to 5 teaspoons water
• Red liquid food coloring
• Green liquid food coloring
• ADDITIONAL INGREDIENTS:
• Red sparkling sugar
• Green sparkling sugar

Details

Servings 40
Preparation time 15mins
Cooking time 165mins
Adapted from southernliving.com

Preparation

Step 1

Prepare the Cookies: Combine butter, bittersweet chocolate, and unsweetened chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl, and microwave on HIGH until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth, about 1 minute, stirring every 15 seconds.

Beat chocolate mixture, granulated sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until well combined, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla, and beat until incorporated.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and 3/4 cup of the cocoa in a bowl. Add flour mixture to chocolate mixture; beat on low speed until well combined, about 2 minutes. (Dough will be very soft.) Transfer half of dough onto plastic wrap, and wrap tightly, shaping into a disk. Repeat process with remaining half of dough. Chill dough 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 325°F. Let 1 dough disk stand at room temperature 10 minutes. Sprinkle work surface with 2 tablespoons of the cocoa. Unwrap dough disk, and roll to 1/4-inch thickness on cocoa. Cut with a 2 1/2-inch round cutter, re-rolling scraps once. Place cookies 2 inches apart on parchment paper-lined baking sheets.

Bake in preheated oven until just set, about 8 minutes, switching pans top rack to bottom rack halfway through baking. Cool on pans 5 minutes; remove cookies to wire racks, and cool completely, about 30 minutes. Repeat process with remaining dough disk and 2 tablespoons cocoa.

Prepare the Icing: Beat powdered sugar, meringue powder, and 4 teaspoons of the water on medium speed until well combined, 3 to 4 minutes. Add up to 1 teaspoon more water, 1/4 teaspoon at a time, and beat until desired consistency is reached. Divide icing between 2 bowls. Stir in food coloring, 1 drop at a time, until icing reaches desired shades of red and green. Place icing into piping bags, and pipe trees onto tops of cookies. Sprinkle with sparkling sugar.