Chocolate Ornament Cookies

23/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

1 cup sugar

11/2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled

1 large egg

1 egg yolk

1 tablespoon milk

21/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

21/4 cups powdered sugar

71/2 teaspoons meringue powder

1/4 cup water

Decorating sprinkles or sugar

Special equipment

3-inch ornament-shaped cookie cutter

Piping bag with narrow tip

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the butter and sugar. Use an electric mixer to beat on medium-high speed, scraping the bowl as needed, until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Reduce the mixer to medium and add the melted chocolate.

Add the egg, egg yolk, milk and vanilla, then mix on medium speed until fully incorporated. Reduce mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients 1/4 cup at a time, mixing until fully incorporated.

Divide the dough in half. Place each half between 2 sheets of waxed or parchment paper. Roll out each dough to about 1/4-inch thickness. Refrigerate the dough discs (it's fine to stack them) until cold and slightly firm, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or coat them with cooking spray.

Remove 1 dough disc from the refrigerator and lift off the top sheet of parchment paper. Use the cutter to cut cookies from the dough, gathering and rerolling scraps as needed to use up all the dough.

Carefully transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 11/2 inches of space between each cookie. If the cookies are too soft to move, place them (still on the bottom sheet of parchment) in the freezer for 5 minutes.

Bake the cookies, rotating the sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through, until set at the center, about 10 minutes. Use a spatula to transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Repeat this process with the second piece of dough.

Once all of the cookies have been baked and cooled, make the icing. In a medium bowl, combine the powdered sugar, meringue powder and water. Use an electric mixer with the whisk attachment to whip for 10 minutes.

Transfer the icing to the piping bag. Pipe decorative designs on each cookie. As you finish each cookie, sprinkle it with candy sprinkles or decorating sugar. Let the cookies set for at least 5 minutes, then gently tip to remove excess sprinkles.

Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.

Makes about 30 cookies.

Associated Press