Gear up for holiday baking with Cooking Channel. Your favorite chefs & Food People have opened their kitchens to share their best cookie recipes. From mini Red Velvet Whoopie Pies to Chuck’s Maple-Pecan Shortbread, we’ll keep you baking all season. Visit our All-Star Cookie Swap, then head over to FoodNetwork.com for great takes on holiday baking from Food Network chefs.
The first time I came across Schwarz-weiss Gebäck cookies, I thought they were gorgeous — and slightly intimidating. The German cookie, otherwise known as the checkerboard cookie, seemed like the sort of thing that master pastry chefs or factory machines created (not your average person). I mentioned my curiosity to a friend, who scoffed at my hesitance. They are quite easy to make, she insisted, and she often bakes them as her zone-out-in-the-kitchen “zen” project. I was still incredulous: She also happens to be a professional food stylist who has worked for celebrity chefs and on TV shows.
After attempting the cookies myself, I realized she’s actually right. Making two doughs might be a little fussy, but the cookies themselves are quite easy to assemble. Don’t believe me? Follow my step-by-step photos below for the easy how-to and you’ll be impressing your friends and family in no time. To give the classic black-and-white checkerboards a holiday riff, I subbed lemon dough for vanilla and gingerbread dough for the traditional chocolate, which yields a sweet-spicy-tart cookie that tastes, quite simply, like the holidays.
Lemon Gingerbread Checkerboard Cookies
Active Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 3 hours, 30 minutes
Yields: About 48 checkerboard cookies, plus 20 round marbled cookies
Ingredients
Lemon Dough:
2 sticks (225g or 1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar
1/3 cup (70g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons lemon extract
1 large egg
2 1/2 cups (315g) all-purpose flour
Gingerbread Dough:
1 1/2 sticks (170g or 3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup (60g) confectioners’ sugar
1/3 cup (75g) packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup dark molasses
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 large egg
2 1/2 cups (315g) all-purpose flour
Directions
Make the lemon dough by placing the butter, sugars and salt in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream the butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes on medium. Add the vanilla extract, lemon extract and egg and beat until incorporated, an additional 30 seconds or so.
Add the flour in three portions, beating to incorporate between additions, scraping down the sides with a large spatula. Once the flour is blended in, divide the dough in half and pat the dough down into a 6 by 6 inch square that is 1/2-inch thick. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm (about 30 minutes or overnight). Repeat with the second half of the dough.
Make the gingerbread dough by placing the butter, sugars, molasses, salt, baking soda and all the spices in the same bowl that you made the lemon dough (don’t bother cleaning it or the paddle attachment). Cream the butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes on medium. Add the egg and beat until incorporated, an additional 30 seconds or so.
Add the flour in three portions, beating to incorporate between additions, scraping down the sides with a large spatula. Once the flour is blended in, divide the dough in half and pat the dough down into a 6- by 6-inch square that is 1/2-inch thick. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm (about 30 minutes or overnight). Repeat with the second half of the dough.
Once the dough has chilled preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and take the dough out of the refrigerator. Brush the top of one of the lemon dough 6- by 6-inch squares with water. Place one of the gingerbread dough squares on top of it, and press down firmly to adhere to the dough. Brush the top of this gingerbread dough with water and place the remaining lemon dough square on top of that, pressing down firmly.
Finally brush the top of this lemon square with water and place the remaining gingerbread dough on top of that, pressing down firmly. You should have a 2-inch-thick stack of 6- by 6-inch square dough, alternating in layers. Wrap with plastic wrap and place back in the refrigerator for 30 minutes until firm.
Once the dough has firmed up, trim the edges of the square to make a completely square piece of dough. Set the trimming aside for marbled round cookies (instructions to follow).
Cut a 1/2-inch strip from the square. Place one strip flat, and then brush the top of it with water.
Cut another 1/2-inch strip from the square and rotate the strip 180 degrees so it alternates with the bottom strip. Place on the strip brushed with water and press firmly down. Repeat with the remaining cookie dough, chilling the dough as needed if it warms up and becomes sticky.
Slice each double stack of dough into 1/2-inch-thick cookies.
(To make marbled round cookies, brush the top of one trimming with water and place another trimming on top, alternating dough strips. Repeat until all the trimmings are placed on each other. Flatten and twist the trimmings together, turning clockwise with one hand, while counterclockwise with the other. Roll out the dough to a 12-inch length. Form the dough into a thick 1 1/2-inch roll pressing firmly down to make sure the different doughs stick together. Wrap with plastic wrap and chill while you bake the square checkerboard cookies.)
Line two baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper. Places the cookies on the baking sheet, about an inch apart (keep the extra cookies chilled until they get baked). Bake in the oven for 12 to 14 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies start to brown ever so slightly. Cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before moving them to a wire cooling rack. Repeat with the remaining cookie dough. Once you have finished baking the checkerboard cookies, place the marbled round cookies on the sheet and bake for 12 to 14 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before moving them to a wire cooling rack.
Get the Printable Recipe Here.
Irvin Lin is a graphic designer and art director turned photographer, writer and baker. His nationally recognized blog, Eat the Love, has been featured on Bon Appetit’s Daily Links, Saveur’s Sites We Love, PBS Food, the U.S. MasterChef magazine as well as nominated for Saveur’s 2011 Best of the Food Blog Awards under the category of Best Baking and Dessert Blog. A self-taught baker, Lin has won numerous baking awards and developed recipes for clients such as Kroger, Peanut Butter & Co. and Good Eggs. He resides in San Francisco with his partner of 11 years, where he continues to bake and blog.
Its hard to find good help…
I am regularly proclaiming that its difficult to find good help, but here is…
Title…
[...]Every when inside a when we choose blogs that we read. Listed below are the most recent web-sites that we opt for [...]…
Visitor recommendations…
[...]one of our visitors recently recommended the following website[...]……
You should check this out…
[...] Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a few unrelated data, nevertheless really worth taking a look, whoa did one learn about Mid East has got more problerms as well [...]……
You should check this out…
[...] Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a few unrelated data, nevertheless really worth taking a look, whoa did one learn about Mid East has got more problerms as well [...]……
Superb website…
[...]always a fan of linking to quality articles that I like but don’t get a lot of link love from[...]……
Read was interesting, stay in touch……
[...]please visit the sites we follow, including this one, as it represents our picks from the web[...]……
CheaP Oakley DisPatch…
Hi, its pleasant post on the topic of media print, we all be familiar with media is a fantastic source of information….
Blogs ou should be reading…
[...]Here is a Great post You Might Find useful that we Encourage You to see[...]……
Sites we Like……
[...] Every once in a while we choose blogs that we read. Listed below are the latest sites that we choose [...]……
Title…
[...]just beneath, are several absolutely not related sites to ours, nevertheless, they may be surely really worth going over[...]…
Online Article……
[...]The information mentioned in the article are some of the best available [...]……
Recommeneded websites…
[...]Here are some of the sites we recommend for our visitors[...]……
Superb website…
[...]always a fan of linking to bloggers that I love but don’t get a lot of link love from[...]……
Title…
[...]that would be the finish of this write-up. Here you’ll locate some web pages that we believe you’ll value, just click the hyperlinks over[...]…
Websites worth visiting…
[...]here are few links to websites that we link to because we think they are worthed[...]……
Read was interesting, stay in touch……
[...]please visit the sites we follow, including this one, as it represents our picks from the web[...]……
Websites we think you should visit…
[...]although websites we backlink to below are considerably not related to ours, we feel they are actually worth a go through, so have a look[...]……
Read was interesting, stay in touch……
[...]please visit the sites we follow, including this one, as it represents our picks from the web[...]……
Blogs ou should be reading…
[...]Here is a interesting post You Might Find useful that we Encourage You to visit[...]……
You should check this out…
[...] Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a few unrelated data, nevertheless really worth taking a look, whoa did one learn about Mid East has got more problerms as well [...]……
You must see this website ……
we came across a cool web-site that you just could appreciate visiting ……
Gems form the internet…
[...]very few websites that happen to be detailed below, from our point of view are undoubtedly well worth checking out[...]……
Title…
[...]always a big fan of linking to bloggers that I enjoy but don’t get a great deal of link really like from[...]…
Title…
[...]one of our guests a short while ago advised the following website[...]…
Check this out…
[...] that is the end of this article. Here you’ll find some sites that we think you’ll appreciate, just click the links over[...]……
yRxXENPG…
Lemon and Gingerbread Cookies Recipe, Checkerboard-Style | Devour The Blog: Cooking Channel’s Recipe and Food Blog…
lDVYWVwK…
Lemon and Gingerbread Cookies Recipe, Checkerboard-Style | Devour The Blog: Cooking Channel’s Recipe and Food Blog…
nluYgcpG…
Lemon and Gingerbread Cookies Recipe, Checkerboard-Style | Devour The Blog: Cooking Channel’s Recipe and Food Blog…
cKwiWLpF…
Lemon and Gingerbread Cookies Recipe, Checkerboard-Style | Devour The Blog: Cooking Channel’s Recipe and Food Blog…
Title…
[...]very couple of internet sites that take place to become detailed beneath, from our point of view are undoubtedly nicely worth checking out[...]…
Title…
[...]Here is a superb Weblog You may Obtain Interesting that we Encourage You[...]…
Check this out…
[...] that is the end of this article. Here you’ll find some sites that we think you’ll appreciate, just click the links over[...]……
Awesome website…
[...]the time to read or visit the content or sites we have linked to below the[...]……
rhythms palang…
asiandragons szulinapot skickar spracuj worksrunning familywho konsumer….