Receta Checkerboard Cookies
Checkerboard Cookies
October 10, 2014 by Linda 12 Comments
Some weeks back I made a variety of cookies for Vacation Bible School. I know it has been a while but I did not want to miss these eggless vanilla and chocolate flavored Checkerboard Cookies. I am excited to show you a new method of assembling the checkerboard suggested by August, a fan of Roti n Rice. August went to great lengths to send me diagrams of how it can be done. You can see his detailed comment in this Matcha Checkerboard Cookies post. Many thanks to him for sharing it with us.
The traditional method calls for nine strips of dough for the assembly. August’s method is uses fewer cuts and bigger pieces of dough inspired by watching his grandma cutting fabric when making quilts. I found it to be much simpler as I got to work with slabs instead of strips of dough. I will definitely use this method in the future.
For the dough, I used basically the same ratio of ingredients as my Matcha Checkerboard Cookies but changed the flavorings. I also realized that I did not really need the egg wash to glue the pieces of dough together as they are quite pliable and can simply be pressed together. Since no egg is used, the dough can be a little soft. Please make sure to chill the dough sufficiently so that you can work with it comfortably.
Checkerboard Cookies Ingredients Vanilla Dough
- 1 stick (½ cup/113g) unsalted butter, softened ⅓ cup (75g) granulated sugar 2 tsp vanilla extract 1¼ cups (190g) all-purpose flour Chocolate Dough
- 1 stick (½ cup/113g) unsalted butter, softened ⅓ cup (75g) sugar 2 tbsp cocoa powder 1¼ cups (290g) all-purpose flour Instructions
For vanilla dough, cream butter and sugar together in a large bowl until well blended, about 2 minutes. Beat in vanilla extract.
Gradually mix in flour on low speed.
Knead dough to bring it together. Turn dough onto a clean working surface. Shape into a rectangle. Wrap with plastic and chill for about 30 minutes.
For chocolate dough, cream butter and sugar together in a large bowl until well blended, about 2 minutes.
Beat in cocoa powder. Gradually mix in flour on low speed.
Knead dough to bring it together. Turn dough onto a clean working surface. Shape into a rectangle. Wrap with plastic and chill for about 30 minutes.
Prepare 4 sheets of parchment or wax paper. Draw a 7-in x 7-inch square in the middle of 2 of the 4 sheets of parchment or wax paper. When both types of dough are chilled, remove from refrigerator. Place a sheet of the parchment paper with the drawn side of the 7-in x 7-in square facing down on your work surface. Unwrap dough and place in the middle of the 7-in x 7-inch square. Then place another sheet of parchment paper (not drawn) on the top of dough. Roll out dough to the outline of the 7-in x 7-in square. Use a knife or spatula to push dough into the square so as to minimize wastage. Trim dough if necessary. Remove the top parchment paper and cut dough into three slabs of equal width. Do the same for the other flavor of dough.
Place three slabs of dough, alternating vanilla and chocolate dough one on top of the other. Gently press the slabs together.
Cut each slab lengthwise into 3 strips of equal width.
Rearrange the strips of dough to create 2 slabs forming 9 small rectangles cross-wise.
Wrap each slab with plastic and refrigerate for another 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Remove dough from refrigerator. Unwrap the dough and slice each log into ¼ inch thick slices cross-wise.
Place onto non-stick baking sheet and bake for about 12 minutes per batch. Remove and let cookies cool for 5 minutes before transferring onto a wire rack to cool completely. 3.3.2998
Do give these Checkerboard Cookies a try. They are well worth the effort.
Enjoy…..and have a wonderful day!