Chocolate Christmas cookies

Sprinkles of chopped candy cane make these plain chocolate biscuits pop with festive charm.

Taste.com.au

Photography by Andrew Young

• Ingredients

• 250g butter, softened
• 3/4 cup (155g) caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
• 2 cups (300g) plain flour
• 1/3 cup (35g) Dutch cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 12 small peppermint candy canes, coarsely chopped

Chocolate icing

• 1 1/2 cups (230g) icing sugar mixture
• 1/4 cup (30g) Dutch cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup (60ml) boiling water

• Method

1. Step 1
   Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 2 oven trays with baking paper.
2. Step 2
   Use an electric mixer to beat the butter, sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl until pale and creamy. Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and stir to combine.
3. Step 3
   Roll tablespoonsful of mixture into balls and place on the lined trays, allowing room for spreading. Use the palm of your hand to gently flatten.
4. Step 4
   Bake in preheated oven, swapping trays halfway through cooking, for 15 minutes or until firm to the touch. Remove from oven and set aside on trays to cool completely. Transfer biscuits on a wire rack over an oven tray.
5. Step 5
   To make the chocolate icing, combine the icing sugar and cocoa in a medium bowl. Add the water and stir to a slightly runny paste. Spread icing over each biscuit and sprinkle with chopped candy canes. Set aside for 30 minutes to set.
   Taste.com.au - October 2012
   Recipe by Sarah Hobbs