Chocolate Snaps Sugar Cookie Recipes

Steps:

• Melt chocolate chips over heat and let cool. Combine flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. With an electric mixer set at medium-low speed, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add vanilla, corn syrup and egg and continue beating until well combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in melted chocolate. Add flour mixture and continue beating until well combined.
• Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Shape dough into approximately 1 inch balls and roll in additional sugar. Put on ungreased baking sheets about 1 inch apart. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) until edges are lightly browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Let stand on baking sheets 1 minute before removing to wire racks to cool.

Steps:

• Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt margarine. Stir in cocoa, remove from heat and set aside to cool. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, 1 cup white sugar and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the cocoa mixture and the vanilla. Blend in the sifted ingredients to form a soft dough. Cover dough and refrigerate for at least an hour or two.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Roll chilled dough into 1 inch balls, roll them in the remaining sugar and place them 2 to 3 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
• Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Beat in the molasses, water and gingerroot. Combine the flour, cocoa, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in chocolate. Cover and refrigerate until easy to handle, about 2 hours., Shape dough into 1-in. balls; roll in sugar. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. , Bake at 350° until tops begin to crack, 10-12 minutes. Cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks.

Steps:

• Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl and set aside.
• Put the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or a large bowl if using a hand mixer) and beat on medium-high speed until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl and paddle as needed, about 4 minutes more. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth. Add the melted chocolate and beat until smooth.
• Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low and add the flour mixture in two batches, scraping down the sides of the bowl and paddle as needed. Mix until incorporated.
• Divide the dough in half and shape into two flattened disks. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm at least 1 hour and up to 3 days. Remove the dough from the refrigerator for 20 to 30 minutes before rolling, to soften.
• Position oven racks to the upper and lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Now flour parchment for rolling: Dust a piece of parchment with flour, place a disk of dough on it, dust the disk with flour, then cover it with a second piece of parchment. Roll out the dough about 1/4 inch thick. Cut out shapes with 11/2- to 2-inch cookie cutters. Gather up the scraps, re-roll and cut out. (Chill the scraps if the dough becomes too soft.) Roll and cut out the remaining disk of dough. Working in batches, arrange the cookies 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets.
• Bake the cookies until the tops look dry and no indentation is left when pressed with your finger, 10 to 12 minutes. Let the cookies cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets, then use a metal spatula to transfer them to a rack to cool completely.
• Decorate with royal icing as desired. Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
• Combine the confectioners' sugar, meringue powder and 3/4 cup water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or in a large bowl if using a hand mixer). Mix on medium-low speed until pure white and stiff enough to form peaks.
• Add up to 1 tablespoon food coloring if using and mix with a rubber spatula until the color is uniform. Store at room temperature, covered, with plastic wrap on the surface for up to 2 days. Re-whip until smooth before using.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees and line baking sheets with silicone baking sheets or parchment paper.
• In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or by hand, cream together the butter, shortening and sugar at medium speed, about 3 to 5 minutes. (The mixture needn't be fluffy.) Scrape down the sides with a silicone spatula and mix in the eggs, vanilla, baking powder and salt. Combine well. Scrape down the sides and stir in the cocoa until well blended. Add the flour, and mix until the flour is completely incorporated and the dough comes together into a ball. At this point, you can refrigerate the dough up to 2 days or freeze it up to 3 months, tightly wrapped in plastic. (The dough will seem soft, but that's O.K. If you are going to roll out the cookies and bake them immediately, mix in the other 1/2 cup of flour.)
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/4-inch thickness and use cookie cutters to cut into shapes, rerolling dough scraps as necessary and arranging shapes 1/4 inch apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes. Smaller shapes will cook more quickly. Because these are chocolate, it can be hard to determine when they are done. Err on the side of underbaking. You can tell the cookies are ready when the surface changes from wet- or glossy-looking to dry. Remove cookies to a rack and allow them to cool completely before decorating.

Steps:

• Microwave butter, unsweetened chocolate, and milk chocolate in a microwave-safe glass or ceramic bowl for 15-second intervals, stirring after each interval, until butter is melted, about 2 minutes. Remove from the microwave and stir until chocolate is melted and combined.
• Stir 1/2 cup white and brown sugar into the melted chocolate mixture until well blended. Stir in egg and vanilla extract until completely blended.
• Mix together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Add chocolate mixture to flour mixture, mixing until well combined. Place dough in the refrigerator to cool for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Place remaining 1/4 cup white sugar in a small, shallow bowl.
• Remove dough from the refrigerator and roll into 1-inch balls; knead dough before shaping if too firm. Roll balls in sugar, place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets, and flatten with the bottom of a glass or a spatula.
• Bake in the preheated oven until cookies are set, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.
• In a large bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar, egg, water and vanilla. Beat on high speed for about 1 minute.
• Stir in the flour mixture until just incorporated.
• Chill dough for at least an hour.
• Preheat oven 350 degrees F.
• Roll 1/8 inch thcik. Use a round cutter to cut 2 1/4 inch circles. Place circles on lined baking sheets and bake for 17 minutes or until they start to smell and appear done.