Up until a couple of years ago the day after Thanksgiving was not Black Friday in our house. It was Baking Day. I would get up early and bake every Christmas cookie in one day.
I don't do that anymore. I now spread the baking out over a few days, even a few weeks. My deadline for all cookies to be completed this year is December 12. I have my trusty ingredient spreadsheet filled in. You can download your own copy here-
Today I started with one of the more time-consuming cookies. The Striped Cookie. It is a Martha Stewart recipe that I have been baking since 1995 or 1996. It is one of my husband's favorites. It's really a simple recipe. It just takes time to construct the cookies. The recipe says it makes 6 dozen cookies. I have close to 10 dozen. But I do make my cookies small...
The recipe uses two dough. There is a vanilla dough and a chocolate dough.
Make the vanilla dough first.
Vanilla Dough-
4 sticks of butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
3 3/4 cups bread flour
Place the butter, vanilla, sugar, and flour in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until well combined. It is a good idea to drape a dish-cloth over the mixer so the sugar does not fly everywhere. Do not leave the mixer unattended during this process.
Then you will need to work the dough with your hands to form a large ball. Divide this ball into 4 equal balls. If you have a food scale each ball should be about 290 to 305 grams.
Chocolate Dough-
4 sticks of butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
3 3/4 cups bread flour
1/3 cup Dutch-process powder
Same procedure as the vanilla dough. Place the butter, vanilla, sugar, cocoa, and flour in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until well combined. It is a good idea to drape a dish-cloth over the mixer so the sugar does not fly everywhere. Do not leave the mixer unattended during this process.
You need to then work the dough with your hands to form into a large ball. Divide this ball into 4 equal balls. If you have a food scale each ball should be about 290 grams.
Once you have your 4 balls of vanilla and 4 balls of chocolate you need to follow these instructions.
Roll each ball of dough into 3 1/3" by 12" rectangles. Once rolled out place on baking sheets. Do this for all the dough.
Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Stack the rectangles, this year I did 3 layers. Trim the edges evenly. Press the layers lightly so they adhere. Cut into 1/2 slices. Place on baking sheets and bake for 10- 12 minutes, or until the bottom starts to turn golden brown. Cool on baking sheet for about 5 minutes and then move to wire rack.
Place cooled cookies in ZipLock bags and store them in cookie tins. You can find cookie tins at Walmart or Target or JoAnn Fabrics. Or of course there always Smile.Amazon.com.
Now I always end up with extra dough. So I used the extra to make Bull's Eye Cookies and Swirl Cookies. We do not let any dough go to waste.