I made both the plain and chocolate versions of these cookies for Valentine’s day.  The nutmeg makes these cookies special, so don’t forget it, and while the icing is optional, it sure is good!  Enjoy!

Cookie Ingredients

2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted and slightly cooled (not chips, but chocolate squares)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. cream or milk
1/2 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg

Icing Ingredients

4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
4 Tbsp. butter, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
2-3 Tbsp. raspberry juice (optional)
Sprinkles (optional)

Instructions

  • Combine the flour, baking powder, cocoa, and nutmeg
  • Using a mixer, cream the butter, shortening, and sugar until light and fluffy.
  • Add the eggs, cream, and melted chocolate.  Beat well.
  • Add the flour mixture, about 1/3 of it at a time.  Beat after each addition of the flour, scraping the sides of the bowl with a spatula to make sure the flour is completely incorporated.
  • Form the dough into a disk and wrap it with plastic wrap.  Chill for the dough for 20-30 minutes.
  • When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it warm up enough to roll it out.  If you don’t want to bake all the cookies at once, cut off part of the dough to use and refrigerate or freeze the remaining dough for another day.
  • Roll the dough into a sheet about 1/4 inch thick.  Using a cookie cutter, cut cookies into the desired shapes.
  • Use a spatula to transfer the cookies to a parchment-lined baking sheet.
  • Bake the cookies 7-10 minutes.
  • Using a spatula, transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and let them cool.

Note:  If you want plain sugar cookies instead of chocolate ones, just omit the cocoa powder and semisweet chocolate.

Icing Instructions

  • Using a mixture, beat the cream cheese and butter until well combined.
  • Add the powdered sugar and beat well.  Be sure to start the mixer on low to prevent the powdered sugar from flying out of the bowl!
  • If you want pink icing, add raspberry juice and beat the icing until the color is evenly distributed.  You can use a few drops of red food coloring for the same effect, but it won’t have the yummy raspberry flavor.
  • Using a small knife or offset spatula, ice each cookie.  Be sure the cookies are cooled before you ice them.
  • If desired, add a few sprinkles on top.

Remember that you will need to keep these cookies refrigerated if you ice them with the cream cheese icing!