Chocolate Sugar Cookies
I couldn’t let Valentine’s Day pass without attempting some more cookie decorating. I almost gave up on the idea, especially when I realized how busy my weekend was going to be. But once I saw the chocolate cookies decorated for Valentine’s Day on Annies-Eats, I knew I needed to try some of my own.
I used the same cookie recipe as Annie, which comes from Martha Stewart. The cookies are chocolately and soft and perfect for decorating. I used my favorite icing recipe (from Amanda at I Am Baker) and experimented with some new techniques to get the designs you see in the pictures. I still clearly need to work on piping a border on circular cookies – mine end up looking more like ovals, but I was happy with the way the hearts turned out. The process gets easier each time I do it, and it really is a lot of fun.
Mike loved the chocolatey cookies and hung around watching me decorate, waiting for me to give the ok that he could eat the decorating rejects. 🙂
Chocolate Sugar Cookies
Ingredients:
¾ cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup confectioners’ sugar
1 large egg
½ tsp. vanilla extract
Directions:
Whisk together the four, cocoa poweder and salt in a small bowl. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Blend in the egg and vanilla. With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. Form the dough into a disc, wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, 1-2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 325 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough out to about ¼-inch thickness. Cut out desired shapes and place on the prepared baking sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until just set. Let cool on the baking sheet about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Decorate as desired.
adapted from Martha Stewart, as seen on Annies-Eats