Cookie Cutter Chocolate Cookies Recipes

CHOCOLATE SUGAR COOKIE CUT-OUTS

Steps:

• Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl and set aside.
• Put the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or a large bowl if using a hand mixer) and beat on medium-high speed until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl and paddle as needed, about 4 minutes more. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth. Add the melted chocolate and beat until smooth.
• Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low and add the flour mixture in two batches, scraping down the sides of the bowl and paddle as needed. Mix until incorporated.
• Divide the dough in half and shape into two flattened disks. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm at least 1 hour and up to 3 days. Remove the dough from the refrigerator for 20 to 30 minutes before rolling, to soften.
• Position oven racks to the upper and lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Now flour parchment for rolling: Dust a piece of parchment with flour, place a disk of dough on it, dust the disk with flour, then cover it with a second piece of parchment. Roll out the dough about 1/4 inch thick. Cut out shapes with 11/2- to 2-inch cookie cutters. Gather up the scraps, re-roll and cut out. (Chill the scraps if the dough becomes too soft.) Roll and cut out the remaining disk of dough. Working in batches, arrange the cookies 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets.
• Bake the cookies until the tops look dry and no indentation is left when pressed with your finger, 10 to 12 minutes. Let the cookies cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets, then use a metal spatula to transfer them to a rack to cool completely.
• Decorate with royal icing as desired. Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
• Combine the confectioners' sugar, meringue powder and 3/4 cup water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or in a large bowl if using a hand mixer). Mix on medium-low speed until pure white and stiff enough to form peaks.
• Add up to 1 tablespoon food coloring if using and mix with a rubber spatula until the color is uniform. Store at room temperature, covered, with plastic wrap on the surface for up to 2 days. Re-whip until smooth before using.

BEST EVER CHOCOLATE CUTOUT COOKIES

Steps:

• Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; set aside. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg. Gradually stir in the sifted ingredients to form a soft dough. Divide dough into 2 pieces, flatten and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/8 inch in thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Dough is sticky so be sure to add more flour to the rolling surface as needed. Place cookies 1 1/2 inches apart onto cookie sheets.
• Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

CHOCOLATE CHIP HEART COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375°F. In medium bowl, stir cookie mix, flour, butter and egg until well blended. Roll into 1 1/4-inch balls.
• Spray cookie cutter with cooking spray; place on ungreased cookie sheet. Press dough ball evenly into cutter. Remove cutter; reshape dough if necessary. Continue making heart-shaped cookies, placing 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Spray cookie cutter as needed with cooking spray.
• Bake 6 to 8 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet.

CHOCOLATE CUTOUT COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture., Divide dough in half. Shape each into a disk; cover. Refrigerate 30 minutes or until firm enough to roll., Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion of dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with floured 3-in. cookie cutters. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets., Bake 10-12 minutes or until set. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely., In a large bowl, combine confectioners' sugar, water, meringue powder and cream of tartar; beat on low speed just until blended. Beat on high until stiff peaks form, 1-2 minutes. Keep unused icing covered at all times with a damp cloth. If necessary, beat again on high speed to restore texture., Using pastry bags and small round tips, decorate cookies as desired. Let stand at room temperature until frosting is dry and firm., Freeze option: Freeze cookies, layered between waxed paper, in freezer containers. To use, thaw before serving.

COOKIE-CUTTER CHOCOLATE COOKIES

Steps:

• Strain together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
• In a big bowl of a stand electric mixer with paddle attachment, mix the butter on medium-low speed until it is cream and lightened in color.
• Add in the sugar in a steady stream, mixing for 2 minutes to combine.
• Mix in the egg, vanilla, and espresso powder.
• Scrape down side of bowl, as needed, then mix in the melted chocolate.
• Decrease mixer speed to low and blend in the dry ingredients in two additions, mixing only to combine after each addition.
• Remove the dough from the bowl and divide in half; form into two 3 x 4 inch rectangles and wrap in plastic.
• Refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm (the dough may be frozen at this point for up to 1 month).
• Position oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven.
• Preheat to 350°; dab the corners of the cookie sheets lightly with butter and line with baking parchment.
• Sprinkle a pastry cloth and rolling pin with powdered sugar, rubbing it well into the weave.
• Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll it into a rectangle 3/16 inch thick.
• Cut into desired shapes; place cutouts on the cookie sheets.
• Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until the cookies feel set on top.
• To ensure even baking, toward the end of baking time, rotate the sheets from top to bottom and front to back.
• Let cookies rest on the sheet for 2 minutes before loosening with a thin metal spatula.
• Decorate as desired; store in an airtight container, layered between strips of waxed paper, for up to 3 weeks.
• May be frozen undecorated .

COOKIE CUTTER COOKIES

Steps:

• In an electric mixer cream the butter with the brown sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs one at a time, mix well. Sift together the flour and salt, add it to the wet ingredients beating until just incorporated. Place the dough in a 1 gallon size plastic bag. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours and up to 8 hours. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. On a lightly floured board roll the dough to approximately 1/4 inch thick. Remove rolled dough to a lightly floured board and using any shape cookie cutter cut the dough into shapes. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 7 to 10 minutes (depending on the size of the cookies). Remove to a rack and cool before decorating. Place the rack with the cookies over another pan to catch the excess chocolate. Put the chocolate in a quart size plastic bag. Place the bag with the chocolate in a saucepan with hot water. Allow the chocolate to melt, squeezing the bag to mix occasionally. Snip one of the corners off and drizzle chocolate over the cookies. Allow chocolate to set before serving.;
• To decorate: 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped.

THE BEST CHOCOLATE BUTTER COOKIES

Steps:

• Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa and expresso powders; stir until mixture forms a smooth paste. Set aside to cool, about 15 minutes.
• In bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix remaining 16 tablespoons butter, sugar, salt, and cooled cocoa mixture on high speed until well combined and fluffy, about 1 minute, scraping sides of mixing bowl once or twice with rubber spatula. Add yolks and vanilla and mix on medium speed until thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds. Scrape sides of bowl. With mixer running on low, add flour in 3 additions, waiting until each addition is incorporated before adding net and scraping bowl after each addition. Continue to mix until dough forms cohesive ball, about 5 seconds. Turn dough onto work surface; divide into 3 4-inch disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate until dough is firm yet malleable, 45 to 60 minutes.
• Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Roll 1 dough disk between 2 large sheets of parchment paper to even thickness of 3/16-inch. (If dough becomes soft and sticky, slide rolled dough on parchment onto baking sheet and rechill until firm, about 10 minutes.) Peel parchment from one side of dough and cut into desired shapes using cookie cutter(s) Use a thin metal spatula to transfer the cookie shapes to the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 1 inch apart. Gather dough scraps and chill to use again.
• Bake about 10-12 minutes. The cookies will offer slight resistance to the touch when done. If they yield too easily, they are underdone. If they begin to darken on edges they have overbaked. Rotate the baking sheet halfway through baking time. Cool for 5 minutes, then, using the spatula, transfer them to wire rack and cool completely,.
• VARIATIONS:.
• Instead of forming dough into disks, you may form it into logs about 2 inches in diameter and 12 inches long. Wrap with plastic wrap to make a nice cylinder. Chill until very firm; then simply slice dough into 1/4-inch slices as you would refrigerator cookies. Continue as above.
• Cookies may be served plain or dusted with sifted powdered sugar. The logs of dough may be rolled in sanding sugar or chopped nuts just before slicing.
• Make a glaze by melting 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate with 4 tablespoons unsalted butter and whisk until smooth. Add 2 tablespoons corn syrup and 1 teaspoon vanilla land mix until smooth and shiny. Use back of spoon to spread scant teaspoon glaze to edge of each cookies. It may be necessary to reheat glaze to keep it spreadable. Allow glazed cookie s to dry at least 20 minutes.
• Mexican Chocoate Butter Cookies: Combine 1/2 cup sliced almonds, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne in a medium skillet. Toast until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Allow to cool; then process in a food processor until very fine, about 15 seconds. Follow recipe above for Chocolate Butter Cookies, whisking nut mixture into flour before adding flour to dough in step 2. Proceed with recipe. Roll dough into log and roll the log in 1/2 cup sanding sugar.
• Glazed Chocolate-Mint Cookies: Follow recipe above for Chocolate Butter Cookies, replacing the vanilla extract with 2 teaspoons mint extract. It is nice to melt 1 cup white chocolate chips and drizzle over glazed cookies. Let dry at least 20 minutes before serving.

CHOCOLATE COOKIE CUTOUTS

Steps:

• Sift together flour, cocoa, salt, and cinnamon. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until pale and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, and beat to combine. Reduce speed to low. Gradually add flour mixture, beating until just combined.
• Divide dough in half; flatten each half into a disk, and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour (or overnight). Dough can be frozen, wrapped tightly in plastic and placed in a resealable plastic bag, up to 3 months; thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using.
• On a lightly floured work surface (or a piece of parchment paper), roll out one disk of dough to just under 1/4 inch thick. Transfer to a baking sheet; freeze until firm, about 15 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. Using a 3-inch cookie cutter, quickly cut out shapes from dough (if dough begins to soften, chill in freezer 5 minutes), and transfer shapes to parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart, as you work. Reroll scraps and cut out more shapes. Brush off excess flour. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes. Repeat with remaining disk of dough.
• Bake cookies until crisp, about 8 minutes, firmly tapping down sheets once and rotating them halfway through. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks before decorating as desired.