Dark Chocolate Sugar Cookie

*
*1/2 cup Butter, room temperature

*1/4 cup Butter Flavored Shortening

*1 cup granulated Sugar

*1/2 cup Brown Sugar, packed

*1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract

*3 tablespoon Honey

*1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt

*1 Egg

*1 Egg Yolk

*1/2 cup Whipping Cream or canned Evaporated Milk

*4 cups All-purpose Flour, sifted

*2 teaspoons Baking Powder

*1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

*pinch Cayenne Pepper

*2/3-3/4 Hershey’s Dark Chocolate Cocoa Powder

In a stand mixer on medium speed with paddle attachment cream together; butter, shortening, sugar and brown sugar until light texture.

*
Add to the creamed mixture: Vanilla, honey, sea salt, egg, egg yolk adding eggs one at a time while mixing and cream or evaporated milk. Mix on medium low until combined.

*
Sift together the dry ingredients: Flour, Cocoa, baking powder,cinnamon and cayenne. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture until completely mixed together. Dough mixture will look sticky but it will form a soft smooth ball easily.

*
Divide the dough into thirds. Using plastic wrap place balls of cookie dough onto 3 separate pieces/strips of the plastic wrap and press the dough into flat round disk and refrigerate the dough 2 hours.

*
Remove one disk of dough from the fridge using a rolling-pin, roll out dough 1/4-1/2 inch thickness using plastic wrap to help the surface stay smooth.

*
Use cookie cutters of your choice and cut out the cookies and place on a Silpat covered 1/2 baking sheet. Bake the cookies in a pre-heated 350*F. oven for 8 minutes for medium-sized cookies. Remove cookies from oven and let cookies cool on baking sheet before removing.

*
Makes 4 1/2 dozen medium-sized cookies.

*
Large cut out cookies bake for 10 minutes.

*
Small cut out cookies 6 minutes.

*
Frosting

*

*1/2 cup Butter or Butter Flavored Shortening or use White Shortening if you want white frosting 
*1 teaspoon Butter Flavoring if using shortening
*1 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
*1-2 teaspoons Cherry Flavored Extract
*1 teaspoon Almond Extract
*4 cups Powdered Sugar, sifted
*1/3 cup milk or use 3 tablespoons cream 3 tablespoons milk
*Food Coloring, pink or color of your choice

 

Combine together in a stand mixer the above ingredients except for the powder sugar and milk/cream.   

*
Slowly alternate adding the powder sugar and milk/cream. Add more milk or powdered sugar if needed for desired consistency.

*
Spread on frosting using an off set spatula onto cookies. Add a Ju Ju Heart to the center of the cookie if desired.

*
Note: If you want to pipe frosting on cookies see Soft Glaze Icing recipe.

Hint:  If you want to pipe the frosting/glaze onto your cookies see the above soft glaze recipe for piping.

When piping allow the first  piped glaze heart layer to dry for 1 hour before adding the dots if you want them to be raised on the top of the first cookie glaze layer.  

Enjoy!

Lindy