World Peace Cookies

I’ve been on the lookout for cookies to make for Christmas this year, and this was a recipe that I wanted to try. Refrigerator cookies can be your best friend during busy times because it takes just a few minutes to put the dough together and takes just a few minutes to slice and bake once they’ve been refrigerated. I have a couple of chocolate cookie recipes that were possibilities for Christmas, so I thought that I would give these a try.

The dough for these cookies is very dry and crumbly. I did add a touch too much flour, but I’m not sure how much of a difference that would have made. It was a bit of a struggle to form the dough into a log since all it wanted to do was fall apart! I did finally get it together. I think my logs were a little bigger than the 1-1/2 inch in diameter that the recipe recommends. I hoped that the dough would come together completely during the chilling time.

When I sliced the cookies, they were still very crumbly. I squished them back together when they fell apart and hoped that they would turn out. After baking they looked pretty good. I wasn’t sure if cutting them ½ an inch thick was correct, since that is a lot thicker than I’m used to with other refrigerator cookies. I gave it a try and it turned out ok. I didn’t measure every slice but I tried to keep it as close as possible.

These have a great chocolate flavor and didn’t use any unusual ingredients. I’m not sure if I will make these for Christmas or not. They were a bit of a pain to form in to logs, and with all the holiday baking that I will likely be doing, I’m not sure if I want to fiddle with crumbly dough. Maybe I will give them another try, as they were a great chocolate cookie.

1-1/2 cups flour

1/3 cup cocoa

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 stick plus 3 tablespoons butter, softened

2/3 cup brown sugar, packed

¼ cup sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

¾ cup mini chocolate chips

Mix the flour, cocoa, and baking soda together, set aside. In a large mixer bowl, mix butter until soft and creamy. Add both sugars, the salt and vanilla and beat for 2 minutes.

Pour the flour mixture into the mixing bowl and cover the edge of the bowl with a towel. Pulse the mixer at low speed about 5 times, a second or two each time. If the flour mixture is not mixed in yet, pulse a couple of times more. Continue mixing on low speed for 30 seconds. Add the mini chocolate chips and stir until just combined.

Turn the dough onto a work surface and shape the dough into 2 logs, about 1-1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least three hours.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line baking sheets with silicone baking mats. Slice the cookies into ½” slices with a sharp knife. The cookies may crumble as you slice them; just press them back together if that happens. Bake for 12 minutes. They won’t be firm or look done. Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack.

Recipe from Baking from My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan