It comes with a built-in gridline pattern that enables you to easily cut the paper to perfectly fit any size pan. If you're using a handmixer, room temperature/slightly softened butter is best. Thanks! Going to gift them to music friends tomorrow. Origin - This recipe was found on the internet somewhere and again tweaked a bit to suit the CBG's particular taste for all things yummy and checkered!. Have you tried others? Mixing red with blue to get lavender did not work (gray). Form each of total four portions into a rectangle, wrap individually in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to a day. 2 tbsp cocoa powder. Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Brush log with a thin coat of egg white and roll or sprinkle in sanding sugar. Mine seemed to grow! The colored sugar on the sides bled out a bit in the oven, so perhaps not quite as cute as Debs but still SO CUTE!!! Beat in egg yolk and vanilla until blended. You'll make two doughs - vanilla and chocolate. You can give these away as little gifts or just feast on them with some milk in front of a fire, either way youll be happy! The recipe below makes an enormous amount of cookies. Thanks for always inspiring us home cooks! google_ad_width = 300; I may have misunderstood instructions, but I ended up with 4 logs that were roughly 1 X 10, They are super tiny, but cute! These are delicious, but a bit tricky; my logs ended up shaped more like a pork tenderloin than a log (I did the marbled version cause that seemed more doable for my skill level than the checkerboard). Before proceeding, take one portion of the chocolate and one portion of the vanilla dough and let them sit on the counter for about 15-20 minutes to soften slightly. Checkerboard Cookies: 1/3 cup (45 grams) ground almonds 2 tablespoons (15 grams) unsweetened Cocoa Powder (regular unsweetened or Dutch processed) 2 teaspoons coffee (optional) 2 1/2 cups (325 grams) all purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) salt 1 cup (225 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar When I asked on Instagram, she said she would try to write it up, but I would love to bake these with my kids tomorrow (oops, today! Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. it doesnt mention anything either its salted or unsalted butter. i bought the wrong one last night. Alternately place dark and white quarters side by side to form checker design. Do I need to bump up any other ingredients to get them to work, or just leave out the extra 1/4 c later in the recipe? She was precise in her baking. Then I again flipped to the parchment bottom and measured & marked the 1/4 increments on both short ends and cut the strips. After reading through the comments I was obsessing about reserving the 1/4cp. Sliced it into strips and stacked it, instead, for checkerboards, then, squished the scraps into a cylinder for marbled slice and bakes. I love the ease of icebox cookies, keeping various logs in the freezer and baking a few at a time to suit whatever flavor whims I have at the moment (I live alone, so baking an entire batch at once is dangerous). I cant wait to share them with my BFFs at our Holiday luncheon. I found the step-by-step instructions and the photos to be immensely helpful! Anyone else out there do that? Beat in the one egg, the coffee, espresso powder, vanilla, and salt until combined. This made it easy to make them ahead of time and easily pull them out, let them warm up for a few minutes, roll in sanding sugar & then slice with a sharp knife and bake. I was so happy to see this. Perhaps I misunderstood until smooth in the mixing, but they are a big crumbly mess. Continue from To finish cookies: instructions above. Whats the trick? Your email address will not be published. 6 months ago: Chickpea Pan Pagnat Put sugar in a small plastic bag, add a few drops of food coloring and knead and toss and it comes out perfectly. If you are looking to deliver a sweet treat to a friend or loved one, consider ordering birthday cookie bouquets online! A favorite meal. The two. Beat until mixture is combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. I used a mix of salted and unsalted (what I had on hand) and they are tasty! My teen & tween were making cookies, and I had 2 more sticks of butter sitting on the counter looking lonely, so I thought why not. Would love to try this with peanut butter cookie dough! Tips: We used a pizza cutter to slice the dough. You really taste the chocolate and vanilla here, which is what I hoped for! This is great! I also came here to ask this about the heart shape in the middle! Theyre perfect for when you want something showier, and the flavors and texture were lovely. Maybe its because this was my first time making something this complicated (I normally bake much easier cookies, no slicing, thrice freezing etc). I did a rainbow of sugar colors but the best by far was a coarse gold deco sugar with the marbled rounds. My slabs were very crumbling when I took them out of the freezer . Cover work surface with plastic wrap. Its essentially a slice and bake cookie recipe that is pretty foolproof if you follow my steps. Flour - all purpose flour (Btw, since you can measure the length of the serving dish in the top photo, you can probably estimate the dimension of the baked cookie.). I would also wonder if the dough was mixed enough when first made, or if too much flour was added. Place the pieces on the prepared baking sheet. These Checkerboard Icebox Cookies are another fun variation on classic sugar cookies. Wrap each spiral in parchment, pressing the dough into a firm log. Shape the dough into a rough square and wrap it loosely in plastic wrap. I imagined checkerboard cookies would be a hideous amount of work for something that looked cute but probably didnt taste like much, the dark portions chocolate in color, not flavor. This sort of cookies is a good choice for a holiday gift. , Apologies the two does not belong there. Thank you :). But I really love Reynolds Kitchens Parchment Paper with Smart Grid and heres why: Heres a tip that I love and learned from my friends at Reynolds Kitchens: Measure out your amount of parchment paper and then tuck the flap of the box back inside the box, holding the piece in place. Finish the mixing with your hands or a wooden spoon. Slide both slabs of dough onto a cutting board or tray and freeze for 10 to 15 minutes, until firm like cold butter but not quite frozen solid. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. You just went for color instead? :) ). It says roll each into two 4-5 x 10 inch rectangles. Good to know for the next time. Repeat this with the remaining dough. How would they keep in a plastic lock-tite container? A powdered sugar + flour shortbread would work well here. We love seeing what you made! Repeat process for second log, reversing color pattern. Im glad you figured it out and hope they were a hit. With a sharp, thin knife carefully cut the cookies about 1/4" thick. Very impressive cookies that were pretty easy to make! Remove baking sheet from oven, and let cookies cool 2 minutes. The flavor of this cookie is far beyond what you would expect. Slice dough into 1/8-inch pieces and place on ungreased cookie sheet. I love the pattern that really pops on your plate. Quick question- did you use sanding sugars or coarse sugar crystals? These cookies turned out beautifully! YouTube I still have a baby marbled log I made out of the scraps and I cant wait to see how those look to. Uena, Im not familiar with buttercup, but any butter will work, even salted. This recipe may be a bit above my pay grade! There are also some fun variations of chocolate and vanilla cookies in a book called Wacky Cakes and Kooky Cookies by Gerhard Jenne. Hi Flo! Add the vanilla extract and egg yolk. Pinterest The butter cookie is often categorized as a "crisp cookie" due to its texture, caused in part by the quantity of butter and sugar. Square the corners. Cover with plastic wrap or parchment paper and refrigerate until firm, at least for 2 hours. google_ad_slot = "0219516597"; Remove cookie dough from the fridge. Store airtight for up to 5 days. Store the checkerboard cookies, well wrapped, at room temperature for several days; freeze for longer storage. Make sure both are the same size. I love this feature because it takes the guess work out of making sure it fits the pan! Add butter pieces and pulse until dough resembles small crumbles. Apparently AJ can only listen to Dean Martin sing "Baby it's Cold Outside" for about a month before. of flour for the vanilla dough, only to discover that I was following the instructions for the food processor as I added all my ingredients into my stand mixer! Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Neha!!! Very excited to make these! With the vanilla dough underneath/forming the outer ring, roll each half of dough into a tight spiral. The kids especially were wildly impressed and so excited when they saw the checkerboard patterns. You might want to check out the comment guidelines before chiming in. Bake 10 minutes. The do ahead tip indicates that cookies will keep for 3 weeks in a tin. BTW, my Christmases have become a Smitten Kitchen affair as I first made your Yule Log 2 or 3 years ago (with dark choc bark and meringue mushrooms) and now it is expected every year. I am really proud of myself. 3 Preheat oven to 350F. I forgot to mention, I dont recommend freezing them with sanding sugar on them. A tad fussy but so adorable! Checkerboard cookies were one of the recipes she demonstrated. Turned out great! Beat reserved egg white until just loosened. 100 g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar. The logs were 1 X 10, so the sliced cookies were roughly 1 X 1 X 1/4. baking powder; 1/2 tsp. Pinwheels were my favorites! Id say 99% but its actually higher, which is an astounding number for the web. Can I freeze the formed cookies, and bake off as needed? Thank you for a wonderful recipe! Or is this just a perfect recipe and why mess with it? Will update! Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Would gluten free flour work with this recipe? Well, Like Flo in the comments, I also cut my dough in half. Wrap assembled log in plastic. This post may contain affiliate links. I already started baking for Christmas and I must say my freezer is half full of cookies. Add the dry ingredients and mix until incorporated and the dough is smooth. Gently smooth the surface with a rolling pin, and refrigerate until cold. You can taste the difference between the cocoa and vanilla bits and they have a beautiful texture. Do you think it would be possible to take a rolled cookie recipe (say, for example, your pretzel linzers from SK Every Day) and icebox it instead of rolling and cutting? Sprinkle cocoa powder over one of the halves. Although Maida Heatter did not weigh the two doughs (she divided it in cups,) it is an important step to have the chocolate and vanilla come out evenly. Ill try to double the recipe and use my stand mixer. How did you make those beautiful red hearts on the checkerboard cookies? Slice the chilled dough and bake. Slice each log into 1/4-inch-thick slices; place cookies on baking sheets. On parchment paper (preferred) or a lightly floured surface, using a floured rolling pin, roll one portion of the vanilla and one portion of the chocolate dough (separately, of course) into -inch thick rectangles, with the sides about 12 x 5 inches long. I wasnt as pleased with the texture when I tried the Zebra shortbreads, so I think this will be better. Also have to agree with Sara who just posted, please stop posting wonderful recipes that I need to make asap! Add icing sugar and beat until fluffy. Let cookies rest on tray for 5 minutes, so they firm up a little, before transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling and crisping up. If youre doing it between two parchment sheets, you can just lift off the top one, cut away any chunk thats extending outside the rectangle you want to use, and drop it into the area where your rectangle isnt filling out. Next to do more: there is only blank space. Does anyone have thoughts on a workaround for this? The comment form collects your name, email and content to allow us keep track of the comments placed on the website. It works the same way as you would with a bag of open brown sugar. Eureka! The dough is simple and the step by step process is very straightforward and actually fun to do. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Every recipe that pops up on my subscription from you is literally a recipe that I say, well I need to stop everything and make that now Pat together, wrap with plastic wrap or waxed paper, then refrigerate. The recipe says unsalted butter, see note (I cant find any note regarding butter!) 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened. Return to the freezer for one last 10-minute stint, until solid to the touch. //-->, 2022 Baking Obsession Powered by WordPress, Chocolate Zabaione Torta with Grappa-Soaked Cherries, Creamy desserts (custards, mousses, etc. The formed logs can be wrapped tightly, frozen for up to a month, and baked later as you need them. Put the top parchment back on and roll like nothing happened. Theyre not a sugary cookie so they dont brown too quickly, you can afford to bake them out fully. There was no way to stack them into neat squares. Instructions. Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes, or just until the edges are slightly browned. Sables can be tricky to slice when cold, but the dough shouldnt be crumbly otherwise. Before You Begin! Thats very helpful! Divide dough in half. They are delicious! New here? You will have 18 strips total. I will also add that I bake weekly, so its not inexperience. I know sabls can be tricky; is it a fools errand to attempt making them without any special equipment? Preheat oven to 350F (177C). As a result, I have about 80 1 x 1 elfin cookies. Hi Deb, Im a beginner baker and I havent mastered getting a tight spiral (or much of a spiral at all) but theyre still cute and highly delicious! Handling the strips delicately, form two checkerboard logs alternating the chocolate and vanilla strips (see the photo of the finished cookies). Divide the dough in half. Im excited to make these cookies! Roll the finished log from side to side to form sharp corners. Then sieve the flour into the pastry mixture so that it's easier to mix the whole content into a dough. Great, thank you! Ive got an old recycled tin from TJ. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until combined. Gently press the two strips together. 15 years ago: Winter Panzanella. Absolutely and no, I dont think you need to adjust the baking time much because the cookies are small and thin. With a sharp knife, cut the dough into 3/8" by 6" strips; you should have 8 strips. Once baked, I tasted them and was surprised they were not sweet hard to believe since these are nearly 20% sugar. These will freeze well the logs will keep for easily a month, if not longer. Are you the Flo Miller who used to live in Montpelier?! Or do they need the extra sweetness? I had the same idea and ended up with a sticky, melted mess because the candy canes melted easily luckily I only did half of them in candy canes and left the rest plain. Just made these for my Christmas gifts. :(. To form the checkerboard pattern you lay 3 strips of dough in alternating flavors onto a cutting board. Trim any excess dough from the ends and add to the wrapped trimmings. Everyone loved them! But its easier to work with a fair amount of dough. seems like there must be a catch? 6 years ago: Date Breakfast Squares, Parsley Pecorino Biscuits and Potato Kugel The gridline is also fantastic because it makes it visually easy to spacing cookies out evenly for better results. How do you make checkerboard cookies? Will the sugar stick to the outside of the logs right out of the freezer or do you recommend thawing the dough a bit before rolling them? 13 years ago: Mushroom and Barley Pie, Mustard-Roasted Potatoes and Walnut Tartlets Cut into two stacked sections and squeeze each into a rough log, fold it over, and mash the log, kneading it once or twice. Arrange on the lined baking sheets. I also wish I had reduced the salt a bit to adjust for my salted butter. Repeat the process with the other dough. I too am wondering about making the dough and forming ahead of time and storing in freezer until ready. Unwrap first checkerboarded log. These were so much easier than I expected. You mean you didnt give them your potato chip treatment? Mix until evenly combined. The best cookies are the freshly baked ones! Tender and just sweet enough, and very buttery. Thanks for letting me know. baking, checkerboard cookies, chocolate, dessert, ice-books cookies, recipe, vanilla. Bake the cookies for about 12 to 16minutes, until the bottoms (looking at the vanilla dough) are a light golden brown. Will try! I doubled the recipe, as I wanted to have enough to make it worth all the effort. It sounds like when people have tried to use sprinkles or non pareils instead of sanding sugar, it made the colors bleed. :), I made these this afternoon and wow are they delicious! I didnt have any colored sugar, but I did have white sparkling sugar and that worked well. I assume you just used the vanilla dough. Just substitute the regular old all purpose flour out for equal amounts of your favorite gluten free flour. forming two approximately 210-inch rectangles) and stack the halves, forming one long, striped slab. Super excited to try this recipe for a cookie exchange! Stack the long pieces into checkerboard patterns. Roll the final piece of dough on plastic and en-robe the stacked dough. These extra cute cookies are easy to make and you get to enjoy a chocolate and vanilla cookie in one! Chill in freezer for 15 minutes, until solid but not frozen hard. Makes about 50 cookies. It is useful to many. Facebook Set aside; youll be using them when you assemble the cookies. 2 year ago: Cider-Glazed Bacon-Wrapped Dates To finish cookies: Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper, or discarded parchment from your cookie slabs. Repeat this once more, so you have a square log. Thanks! The first 500 people who click the link in the description will get 2 free months of Skillshare Premiumhttps://skl.sh/animeimpulseThis video was sponsored by. Holy crumble! Cut the dough into 1/4 inch thick slices and place on a parchment paper lined sheet pan. Join master baker Jeffrey Hamelman as he demonstrates how to make Checkerboard Sabls from start to finish. I tried the food processor method a couple of days ago and totally failed overmixed the dough into oblivion. Thats one thing I love about my recipe! If they were crumbling, yes. I am using my phone (iphone7) and cannot find the print/email links. And neither should you! As it happens, though, thats a good thing because theyre pretty rich. You could easily leave the mint dough plain or replace the peppermint extract with strawberry extract and a drop of pink/red food coloring instead. Place 3 strips of dough on plastic, alternating white and chocolate strips. Apologies for any confusion. Free shipping for many products! Was thinking about making these for an office holiday party next week then remembered my apartment has no counter space to roll them out Anyone have a good solutions for this? Once your dough is chilled, slice each log into 9 equal strips. Hey you beautiful bakers out theremay salted butter be used? I made these with my daughter and they were very delicious (chocolaty) and impressive. I needed to get these done for Christmas plans that next day, so had to slice them as thick as seen in the photos. This looks Nice and Delicious. Checkerboard cookies christmas Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Now slice the dough into cookies about 1 each and place on parchment lined cookie sheets. The Martha Stewart team aims to teach and inspire readers daily with tested-until-perfected recipes, creative DIY projects, and elevated home and entertaining ideas. I froze them as checkerboard logs wrapped in wax paper. Hoping to make these and have a similar question. Love liver and onions! Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Using a sharp knife and a ruler, slice each square into nine 3/4-inch-wide strips. I had found a similar refrigerator log cookie recipe w/ marbled chocolate-mint and vanilla. Update: I sketched a little diagram explaining the process of assembling the cookies. Please read and accept our website Terms and Privacy Policy to post a comment. So pretty! Directions. Note: I am always inspired by Susan Spungens expert cookie styling, and was here too in both the colorful edges she uses in these Zebra Stripes and the marbling technique she uses in her Marbled Tahini Shortbread. No, I got 16 to 20 cookies per log. I am happy to follow your recipe. Of course, I dont have colored sanding sugar now, but I now where I can get some. Just finished my first batch and on to second. Definitely a classy upgrade to the usual Christmas cookie swap. With a very sharp knife, slice the wrapped rectangle into cross-sections every 1/4 inch. Using medium speed of an electric mixer, beat butter until creamy. These cookies, as Deb outlines, do require several bouts in the freezer, and some careful measuring and slicing. How amazing to hear from you here in the cheerful depths of a Smitten Kitchen comments section. Basically like moving puzzle pieces around. I used to carefully nibble and rotate. Hi! WatchEpisode 11of the Isolation Baking Shownow. Fresh Sourdough Starter and Glass Sourdough Crock Set, 10 1/2 tablespoons (149g) unsalted butter, cold. Wrap each in a piece of parchment paper and press it firmly into a long, squared-off log, adhering the layers. I am very proud (not that I have much to do with it) that SK comments are such a civil place. Do ahead: Baked, cooled cookies keep for 3 weeks in a tin at room temperature. Even though I am geometrically challenged (round pie dough rolls out rectangular, rectangles roll out round), I decided to make these cookies. Why Do You Use Parchment Paper When You Bake Cookies? Is the checkerboard log supposed to be 1 inch square in cross section? These festive holiday Strawberry Chocolate cookies are an updated take on the classic checkerboard cookies! Place one green rectangle over a red rectangle. Repeat with the remaining dough. Yet it always surprises me how people react when I offer them the cookies (or maybe they are just easily impressed here :) Kids simply go crazy over them. Put one-half of the dough in a separate bowl and stir in the orange zest. Have you tried that or can imagine it would work well? Going to make them again, in fact. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets. Slice sugar-coated log into 1/4-inch-thick cookies, and arrange on prepared baking sheet with 1-inch space between them (they expand slightly). Like your recipe. Transfer dough to a lightly floured service. Its good to have plenty of it to wrap the checkerboard logs around with rather than trying to patch small pieces together or rolling the dough thinner that its supposed to while sweating profusely during the process. You will never get a jagged tear if you follow this trick! Bake: Line two baking sheets with a Silpat baking mat or parchment paper. Cinnamon? The plain ones turned out picture perfect! Next time I will plan to double the recipe or adjust the slicing to make larger cookies. I love the texture and visual and especially that they were flavorful and not too sweet. Your email address will not be published. And I dont think theres a season for cookies. Thank you! Remove the cookies from the oven, and transfer them to a rack to cool. I was so confused and wondered if there was an issue with my oven temperature. Arrange in checkerboard by alternating 6 cylinders of chocolate and vanilla dough, contrasting each time to six. In a large bowl combine butter, shortening, and peanut butter. Doesnt look like I can add a photo here, but they looked just like Debs! Delicious. 1 ounce (square) bittersweet chocolate, chopped; 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour; 3/4 tsp. I was considering making checker-board cookies and now youve provided the impetus encouragement and a recipe I know will be good! Oh, Thank you so so much!! I made these and, well, I guess I cant follow instructions, because I wound up with striped cookies. Required fields are marked *. Press the layers gently, to adhere them, and return this to the freezer for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until its very firm but not fully frozen. Thank you, Would it be okay if I doubled the recipe? there are many links to this online? Pulse until the dough comes together. So heres my recipe which I shared with you about 6 years ago with updated photos and content. This post brought me SO MUCH joy. Remove from oven and cool for at least 10 minutes. Great way to fill a rainy afternoon, and the cookies were festive and delicious!!! Im making these now because they are beautiful and quick, but accidentally put all the flour in at once. How to Make Checkerboard Cookies Recipe | Just Cook! The pictures makes them look big! Then you end up with the two slabs called for in the next step, rather than four as it currently instructs. The best would be to leave the formed cookie log in the refrigerator overnight. Form each dough into a squared off log, 2- inches tall and 6- inches long. Checkerboard Cookies Servings: 30 to 36 cookies Time: 1 hour 15 minutes Source: Smitten Kitchen If you're using a stand mixer or food processor, you can begin with cold butter, cut into cubes. Bake cookies: For 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden brown underneath. Add in the cocoa powder to the remaining dough in the mixing bowl and mix until incorporated. Thank you and Happy New Year! Mine almost looked exactly like your pictures. Thanks to Flo I was able to rescue the recipe before going crazy:). Yet it always surprises me how people react when I offer them the cookies (or maybe they are just easily impressed here :) Kids simply go crazy over them. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (176 C). Line a baking sheet with a Silpat baking mat or parchment paper. Im not sure how folks manage to make that happen. so was wondering if I could double everything? I might try this weekend w/ your cookie base :). Also, probably took me more like 2 hours. Place the baking sheets in the freezer until firm (about 5 minutes). Ive never made checkerboard cookies, so my family oohed and aaaahed over them. What does anybody think? Is this based on Chris Moroccos marbled shortbread with sanding sugar? I like a more refined, small cookie. Thank you for supporting the brands that make this website possible! Im also wondering about adding peppermint to the dough! Preheat the oven to 350F. Ooh, is that why my sanding sugar melted? Thank you so much for putting weight measurements for the salt and extract! Question: Would these be OK without the sugar on the edges? Get 5 Baking Secrets That Will Change Your Life! I have put four slabs in the freezer and now Im realising it says to put both slabs in the freezer. I found the dividing of the dough and beating it separately with flour / cocoa fussy, and also found the rolling of the dough into a rectangle quite tricky. But overall these were so cute and tasty, and will definitely become a Christmas tradition.