Homemade Fudge Stripe Cookies

Ingredients (~24 cookies)

• 1 cup + 7 tablespoons (2 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 3/4 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
• 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

Prepare the Shortbread Dough

Combine the butter and vanilla in the standing mixer with the paddle attachment until well blended.

Add the powdered sugar and salt into the mixture and mix on low until it is just merged together; scrape down sides of bowl.

Carefully add the flour to the mixing bowl and mix on low until the dough is a soft ball. If it looks too crumbly, press it with your hands to create cohesion.

Chill and Prepare the Dough for Rolling

Put the dough in a zip-top plastic bag, squeezing as much air out as possible before sealing bag.

Roll out the bag with the rolling pin to create an even thickness of dough of approximately 1/4″.

Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Create Cookies and Bake

Preheat oven to 350F; line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Remove dough from the refrigerator and place it on a lightly floured surface.

Using a round cookie cutter that is approximately 2-1/2″ to 2″ in diameter, cut as many cookies as possible.

Use either a small piping tip or the point of a kitchen knife to punch a small circle in the centre of each cookie.

Collect the excess dough, reroll it, and keep cutting until you have used all the dough. Add more flour as necessary if the dough is sticky.

Place cookie rounds on the baking sheet. Cook for approximately 10 minutes until the bottoms are light golden but the tops remain pale.

Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes prior to placing on wire rack until they are cooled completely.

Add Chocolate Coating and Stripes

Melt chocolate pieces in a microwave-safe bowl in 30-second intervals, stirring well between each interval until completely melted.

This usually requires two to three intervals; be careful not to scorch chocolate.

Dip the bottom of each cooled cookie into melted chocolate, allowing excess to drip off before placing onto a wire rack or parchment-lined tray. Place in the refrigerator for approximately 10 minutes to set chocolate.

Place melted chocolate into a piping bag fitted with a small round tip (e.g. #5 writing tip) and stripe cookies back and forth across the entire surface.

Return cookies back into refrigerator for 5 minutes until the stripes are completely hardened.