Black ‘n’ White Christmas Cookies are pretty common here in Germany I’d say. A classic Christmas cookie so to speak. They look great and people are normally impressed when you present them along with other homemade cookies at a Christmas gathering. Nevertheless, these cookies were on my baking Christmas baking list year after year but I never made them because I always thought they were too much work and too complicated to prepare. Well… after making them once (finally), I realized I was completely wrong ;P
Well… you should never judge a book by its cover, right? These cookies might look complicated, but they are actually easy-peasy to make. I really thought for quite a while that cookies like these here are too much work to do when you are already busy with all the Christmas stuff you got to do anyway each year… why making it more complicated than necessary, right? Well… this is coming from someone that can spend hours making Little Santa Cookies or a Halloween Haunted Gingerbread House, for example ;P
These Christmas cookies are really easy to prepare. You make the dough, color half of it with cocoa powder to get a dark brown dough, then you roll them out, place one on the other and roll it up to create a log with a swirl in the middle – that’s all! Well… you got to cut off slices to get the cookies, but that is as easy as slicing bread ;P
With this dough, you can also make checkerboard cookies. For that, you roll out the dough, cut it into strips and place the two colors alternating next to each other for the first layer, then you create a second, third, etc. layer – alternating the colored dough – and there you got your checkerboard. Easy as that! Well… these cookies need a bit more attention and precision than the ones with the swirl, but still pretty easy to do ;P
Anyway. I love the black and white contrast and these cookies appear now each year on our Christmas cookie plates and everybody loves them…
INGREDIENTS / ZUTATEN
- English
- Deutsch
(about 30 cookies)
2 1/2 cups (300g) all-purpose flour
3.5 oz. (100g) confectioners’ sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 cup (120g) butter, softened
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 tbsp. cocoa powder
1 tbsp. milk
(ca. 30 Cookies)
300g Mehl (Type 550)
100g Puderzucker
Prise Salz
120g weiche Butter
1/2 TL Vanille Extrakt
1 Ei (L)
1 EL Kakao
1 EL Milch
Schokolade, geschmolzen (optional)
DIRECTIONS / ZUBEREITUNG
- English
- Deutsch
1. Add the flour, confectioners’ sugar, and salt to a large bowl and mix. Add the softened butter, vanilla extract, and egg and mix/knead until you get a nice and smooth dough – try to work quickly so the dough and butter do not get too warm. Wrap half of the dough in plastic wrap. Add the cocoa powder and milk to the remaining dough and mix until well combined. Wrap in plastic as well and place both doughs in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
2. Roll out the two colored doughs to rectangles of about 12×8 inches (30x20cm) and place on top of each other. Press together and roll up from the longer side of the rectangle. Roll up tight so you don’t get any air bubbles in the layers. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. If you move the roll from time to time you avoid a flat side where the roll sits on a surface.
3. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a baking sheet with baking parchment and set aside. Cut the dough roll into 0.2 inches (5mm) thick slices and place with some space in between on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Take out of the oven and let cool down a bit on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool down completely. Repeat with remaining dough.
4. If you want to decorate the cookies a bit you can melt some chocolate and dip the cookies on one side into the chocolate and let them dry.
1. Das Mehl mit dem Puderzucker und Salz in einer großen Schüssel vermischen. Die weiche Butter, Vanille Extrakt und das Ei dazugeben und alles zügig zu einem glatten Teig verkneten. Den Teig halbieren und eine Hälfte in Klarsichtfolie einschlagen und in den Kühlschrank legen. In die zweite Portion den Kakao und die Milch einarbeiten, bis ein glatter Schokoladenteig entsteht – diesen dann ebenfalls in Klarsichtfolie einschlagen und mit dem anderen Teig etwa 1 Stunde im Kühlschrank kühlen.
2. Die Teige jeweils zu einem Rechteck mit etwa 30x20cm (12×8 inches) ausrollen und aufeinanderlegen. Noch einmal darüberrollen mit dem Nudelholz und dann von der kurzen Seite her eng aufrollen. Diese Teigrolle erneut in Folie einschlagen und noch einmal mindestens 30 Minuten in den Kühlschrank legen. Wenn ihr die Rolle zwischendurch noch ein paar Mal kurz rollt und dann weiterkühlen lasst, bleibt sie runder und bildet keine flache Seite/Druckstelle.
3. Den Ofen auf 180°C (350°F) vorheizen. Ein Backblech mit Backpapier auslegen. Die Teigrolle in etwa 5mm (0.2 inches) dicke Scheiben schneiden – nach jedem Schnitt die Rolle etwas drehen, damit sich keine Druckstellen bilden. Die Scheiben mit etwas Abstand auf das vorbereitete Blech setzen und dann für 10-12 Minuten backen. Aus dem Ofen holen und erst auf dem Blech etwas abkühlen lassen, dann auf einem Kuchengitter komplett auskühlen lassen. Mit dem restlichen Teig wiederholen.
4. Wer die Plätzchen noch etwas dekorieren möchte, kann etwas Schokolade schmelzen und die Plätzchen dann an einer Seite in die Schokolade tauchen und dann trocknen lassen.
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Here is a version of the recipe you can print easily.
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- Author: Bake to the roots
- Prep Time: 00:30
- Cook Time: 00:12
- Total Time: 02:30
- Yield: 30
- Category: Cookies
- Cuisine: German
Description
Classic German Christmas cookies: Black ‘n’ White Christmas Cookies aka. Schwarz-Weiß-Gebäck.
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups (300g) all-purpose flour
3.5 oz. (100g) confectioners’ sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 cup (120g) butter, softened
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 tbsp. cocoa powder
1 tbsp. milk
Instructions
1. Add the flour, confectioners’ sugar, and salt to a large bowl and mix. Add the softened butter, vanilla extract, and egg and mix/knead until you get a nice and smooth dough – try to work quickly so the dough and butter do not get too warm. Wrap half of the dough in plastic wrap. Add the cocoa powder and milk to the remaining dough and mix until well combined. Wrap in plastic as well and place both doughs in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
2. Roll out the two colored doughs to rectangles of about 12×8 inches (30x20cm) and place on top of each other. Press together and roll up from the longer side of the rectangle. Roll up tight so you don’t get any air bubbles in the layers. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. If you move the roll from time to time you avoid a flat side where the roll sits on a surface.
3. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a baking sheet with baking parchment and set aside. Cut the dough roll into 0.2 inches (5mm) thick slices and place with some space in between on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Take out of the oven and let cool down a bit on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool down completely. Repeat with remaining dough.
4. If you want to decorate the cookies a bit you can melt some chocolate and dip the cookies on one side into the chocolate and let them dry.
Notes
Enjoy baking!
Tags:chocolate christmas cookies holiday
