Description
Effortlessly fill your holiday cookie tins with these versatile slice-and-bake treats that use two master doughs to create four unique flavors. From warming chai spices to rich dark chocolate and cherry, these wholesome cookies offer a beautiful variety of textures and natural ingredients for any festive gathering.
Ingredients
- Unsalted butter, softened
- Light brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Vanilla bean paste
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Unsweetened dark cocoa powder
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground cardamom
- Ground ginger
- Ground allspice
- Dark chocolate, chopped
- Dried cherries, chopped
- Hazelnuts, chopped
- Peppermint extract
- Coarse sparkling sugar or raw sugar
- White chocolate, melted
- Crushed candy canes
Instructions
- Cream together the softened butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until pale and fluffy.
- Stir in the vanilla bean paste and salt, then gently mix in the flour until a tender dough forms to complete the vanilla base.
- Divide the vanilla dough into two portions; fold the cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and allspice into the larger portion, and fold chopped dark chocolate and dried cherries into the other.
- Prepare the chocolate dough base by creaming butter and sugar, then mixing in vanilla, salt, flour, and dark cocoa powder until no dry pockets remain.
- Split the chocolate dough in half, folding chopped hazelnuts into one part and peppermint extract with chopped dark chocolate into the second part.
- Shape each of the four flavored doughs into logs about 8-9 inches long, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
- Roll the chai logs in a cinnamon-sugar mixture, the cherry logs in raw sugar, and the hazelnut logs in finely chopped nuts before slicing all logs into 1/2-inch thick rounds.
- Bake the rounds at 350°F (175°C) for 15-18 minutes until the tops appear matte, then remove from the oven to cool completely.
- Finish the peppermint cookies by dipping them in melted white chocolate and sprinkling with crushed candy canes.
Notes
To maintain a perfectly round shape while chilling, place your wrapped dough logs inside empty cardboard paper towel tubes that have been slit lengthwise. This prevents the bottom of the log from flattening against the refrigerator shelf. For the cleanest slices, use a very sharp chef’s knife or even unscented dental floss to cut through the chilled dough without compressing it.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 18 mins
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American