Chocolate Cinnamon Letter Cookies Recipes

CHEWY CHOCOLATE-CINNAMON COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Spray cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
• Beat butter until creamy.
• Add brown sugar and 3 tablespoons granulated sugar; beat until blended.
• Add egg, baking soda, corn syrup and vanilla; beat well.
• Stir together flour and cocoa; beat into butter mixture.
• If batter becomes too stiff, use wooden spoon to stir in remaining flour.
• Cover; refrigerate about 30 minutes, if necessary, until batter is firm enough to shape.
• Shape dough into 1-inch balls.
• Combine 1/4 cup granulated sugar and cinnamon; roll balls in mixture.
• Place balls 2-inches apart on prepared cookie sheet.
• Bake 9 to 10 minutes or until cookies are set and tops are cracked.
• Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.
• Cool completely.
• 40 cookies.

CHOCOLATE-CINNAMON COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 2 baking sheets.
• Mix flour, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Add melted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar; beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Add egg and vanilla; beat until combined. Mix in cocoa powder until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips and cinnamon.
• Drop hazelnut-sized balls of dough 2 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets.
• Bake in the preheated oven until edges are firm, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

CHOCOLATE-CINNAMON LETTER COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375°F (350°F for nonstick cookie sheets). Line cookie sheets with cooking parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
• In large bowl, mix cookie mix, butter, egg, cocoa and cinnamon, using electric mixer or your hands, until a dough forms. Dough should be soft but not too sticky. Add 1 tablespoon flour if needed.
• Sprinkle flour on work surface. Roll dough 1/4 inch thick. Cut with large letter-shaped cookie cutters. Place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets.
• Bake 7 to 9 minutes or until set. Cool 2 minutes; remove to cooling rack to cool completely.

CHOCOLATE-CINNAMON SKELETON COOKIES

Steps:

• Make the cookies: Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Beat the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla until creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to low. Gradually add the flour mixture and beat until combined, about 2 minutes. Divide the dough in half; pat each piece into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, 1 hour.
• Roll out each dough disk between 2 sheets of parchment paper until 1/4 inch thick. Refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.
• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Cut the dough into shapes using a 4 1/2-inch gingerbread man cookie cutter and arrange 2 inches apart on the prepared pans. Reroll the scraps and cut out more cookies. (If the dough is too soft, freeze 10 minutes before cutting.) Refrigerate until firm, 15 minutes. Bake, switching the pans halfway through, until the cookies are set but still soft, 15 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes on the pans, then transfer to racks to cool completely.
• Make the icing: Beat the confectioners' sugar, meringue powder and water in a bowl with a mixer on high speed until smooth and thick. Transfer to a resealable plastic bag and snip off a corner. Pipe skulls and bones onto the cookies. Let set 30 minutes.
• To decorate the cookies, first make the outline of the skull, eyes, nose, mouth and bones. Then thin some icing with a little water and pipe into the outline of the skull; use a toothpick to help.

ALPHABET COOKIES

Steps:

• Whisk together flour and salt in a small bowl.
• Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes in a standing mixer (preferably fitted with paddle attachment) or 6 minutes with a handheld, then beat in egg and vanilla. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture, mixing until just combined.
• Form dough into 2 balls and flatten each into a 6-inch disk. Chill disks, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.
• Roll out 1 piece of dough (keep remaining dough chilled) into an 81/2-inch round (1/4 inch thick) on a well-floured surface with a well-floured rolling pin. (If dough becomes too soft to roll out, rewrap in plastic and chill until firm.) Cut out as many cookies as possible from dough with cutters and transfer to 2 ungreased large baking sheets, arranging about 1 inch apart.
• Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until edges are golden, 10 to 12 minutes, then transfer with a metal spatula to racks to cool completely.
• Gather scraps and chill until dough is firm enough to reroll, 10 to 15 minutes. Make more cookies with remaining dough and scraps (reroll only once) in same manner on cooled baking sheets.
• For each color (you can make up to 7), transfer 1/4 cup icing to a separate small bowl and tint with food coloring. Snip off 1 corner of each plastic bag to create a 1/4-inch opening, then spoon each color icing into a bag, pressing out excess air. Twist each bag firmly just above icing, then decoratively pipe (or spread) colored icing onto cookies. Let icing dry completely (about 1 hour, depending on humidity) before storing cookies.
• *Wilton Paste Food Coloring available at wilton.com.
• **Available at some bakeware shops and Sweet Celebrations (800-328-6722).