Chocolate Checkerboards from Ghirardelli
Happy New Year! I hope that everyone had a really great holiday. Lots of relaxing and lounging around, but now it’s time to get back into things!
I received three cookbooks for Christmas and was excited to try some recipes out, so my sister and I decided to bake cookies from The Ghirardelli Chocolate Cookbook that my friend Andrea bought me. The cute pattern of these Chocolate Checkerboards made them the top-pick. We started baking the cookies late last night without reading the recipe all the way through. By the time the dough was made, we realized it needed to chill in the fridge for three hours (oops). I know sometimes you don’t always have to follow that rule, but given the checker shape that you needed to form the dough into, we decided it was a non-negotiable.
So, this morning we unwrapped the dough and baked cookies for breakfast. How decadent. Along with a cup of dark coffee, they were a wonderful treat. The balance of the bittersweet chocolate and the vanilla shortbread is perfect and I really liked the simplicity of these cookies. Easy to follow, this recipe yields four logs of slice-and-bake cookies ready for after-dinner desert (or breakfast). As you can tell, a perfect checker pattern is harder to achieve than the directions led us to believe. Instead of the straight lines in the book, ours are more of a Dali-inspired checker. Could be because we sort of disregarded the tedious dimensions included in the instructions… Oh well.
Chocolate Checkerboards from The Ghirardelli Chocolate Cookbook
3 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
4 oz. Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate baking bar, broken into 1-inch pieces*
1 1/4 c. (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 c. white granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 tsp. instant espresso powder
2 tbs. boiling water
3 tbs. Ghirardelli unsweetened cocoa
(*Editor’s Note: I used 72% cacao bittersweet)
Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
Melt the bittersweet chocolate pieces in the top of a double boiler or in a heatproof bowl, over barely simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream the butter with an electric mixer on medium to low speed until smooth, about two minutes. Mix in the sugar and beat for an additional two minutes. Add the egg and vanilla, mixing well until combined. Reduce the speed to low, and add the flour mixture in two additions, mixing until just incorporated. Separate out half of the dough and set aside.
Dissolve the espresso powder in the boiling water and set aside to cool. Once cool, mix the espresso and cocoa into the remaining dough until the dough is uniformly colored. On low speed, add in the melted chocolate, mixing until throughly combined.
Divide the dough into four equal pieces, two of each flavor. Shape each of the four pieces into a rectangular log 10″ long, 3″ wide, and 3/4″ thick. Wrap each log tightly in parchment paper and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Cut each log into four quarters lengthwise, giving you 16 strips that are 10″ long, 3/4″ wide, and 3/4″ thick. To form a checkerboard rectangle, place a chocolate strip and a vanilla strip side by side, and then place another vanilla strip on top of the chocolate strip and another chocolate strip on top of the vanilla strip. The checkerboard log should be about 10″ long, 1 1/2″ wide, and 1 1/2″ thick. Repeat with the other 12 strips to make three more logs. Chill the dough for at least three hours.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Make sure the dough is firm enough to slice, and use a sharp knife to slice each rectangle into 1/4″ squares and place 1″ apart on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 12 – 13 minutes, making sure not to brown the edges too much. Remove the cookies from the oven, and let stand for one minute. Transfer to wire racks and let cool completely.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week. Yields 160 cookies.
(Thank you again to my brother Dan who’s helping with photos while the usual LD photog is off globetrotting)
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Cookies for breakfast? Why not?? Reminds me of Bill Cosby’s old routine about serving his kids chocolate cake for breakfast because eggs and milk were in the cake–and that’s nutrition! All was well in the Cosby household–until his wife walked in!!
Damn, those look cute and delicious. Sorry I couldn’t be there to photograph these. Prague and the Mediterranean are calling!
Nothing says Merry Christmas like homemade butter cookies !!
Darling!