King Me - I win!!

Last night I tried Checkerboard Cookies. It was a surprisingly simple recipe with results that look complicated. The only reason it was time consuming (and it really wasn't) was because the dough needed to be chilled twice.

I was a little nervous trying these. I always get nervous when I try something that "looks scary" and these were pretty intimidating. Just looking at their alternating pattern and the fact that I needed to mess around with two different flavored doughs out of the same batch. How was I going to do that?! I only have 1 mixer!

Luckily it wasn't as terrifying as I had made to be in my head. It required 1 mixer, 2 bowls, and a wooden spoon. Easy. Chocolate-Vanilla Checkerboards were on their way!

I divided the initial dough into two equal parts

To one bowl, I added and additional teaspoon of vanilla extract. To the other I added 1 ounce of melted semi-sweet chocolate and 2 teaspoons of cocoa powder.

Then I flattened each dough into a squarish-circle, wrapped it in plastic wrap and set them in the fridge to firm up a bit.

Once the dough was chilled I pulled it out and sliced each one into 6 strips. Then each strip was rolled into a snake roughly the same length and width. Remember, I said roughly.

Then I started layering. Vanilla, chocolate, vanilla. Squished together. Brushed with some foamy egg white. Chocolate, vanilla, chocolate. Brushed with egg white. Squished together. I repeated this until all of my snakes were attached. I did not brush the top layer with egg white.

When everything was layered I trimmed the ends so that they were even.

Wrapped it up in plastic wrap and it went back into the fridge to firm up.

An hour later it came out of the cold and on to a cutting board. With a really sharp knife I cut 1/4" thick cookies.

 

I baked them at 350 degrees for 11 minutes and ended up with a lovely cookie.

 

 

The recipe:

1/2 cup of butter at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped then melted
2 teaspoons of cocoa powder
1 large egg, separated
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Cream the butter and sugar until smooth. About 3 minutes in the mixer. Add the egg yolk and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. Gradually add this to the mixture in the mixer.

Melt the chopped semi-sweet chocolate. I used the microwave but the original recipe called for the use of a double boiler. Let it cool a little.

When the dough is combined, divide it into 2 equal parts. In one part add 1 teaspoon of vanilla - I used a wooden spoon to mix the vanilla. In the other bowl add the melted (and slightly cooled) chocolate and the cocoa powder. I used the mixer for the chocolate dough.

Take the divided parts and form as close to a square as you can. Wrap them separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate no less than 45 minutes.

Cut the chilled dough into 6 strips (you'll end up with a total of 12 strips) and roll each strip into a snake roughly 7 inches long.

Beat the egg white with a fork or a small whisk until foamy.

Start layering your strips, 3 per layer, in alternating fashion (Chocolate, vanilla, chocolate). Smoosh them together so they stick to each other. Brush lightly with the egg white. Continue this layering process, alternating the colors so you get a checkerboard look. Do not brush the top layer with the egg white.

Trim your layered dough so that the ends are all the same. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and return to the fridge. Let it chill for no less than an hour.

Remove from the fridge and cut 1/4" cookies with a sharp knife. Bake at 350 degrees for 11 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before moving them to a rack to completely cool.

Store in an airtight container.

Now who is up for a little game of checkers?

FatCat