Mexican Chocolate And Pepita Shortbread Stars Recipes

MEXICAN CHOCOLATE AND PEPITA SHORTBREAD STARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F. Grind pepitas in coffee grinder or blender until coarsely ground. Set aside. Stir chocolate in top of double boiler set over simmering water until melted and smooth. Transfer chocolate to large bowl. Cool slightly.
• Add butter, 1/2 cup sugar, ground cinnamon and salt to melted chocolate. Using electric mixer, beat until well blended. Add flour and ground pepitas and stir until just blended.
• Roll out dough on floured surface to -inch thickness. Using 3-inch star cookie cutter dipped into flour, cut out cookies. Transfer cookies to ungreased baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Reroll dough scraps; cut out additional cookies and place on baking sheets. Brush cookies with egg white; sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Bake cookies until just firm to touch, about 18 minutes. Cool 5 minutes on baking sheets. Transfer to rack; cool.

CHOCOLATE PEPPERMINT STARS

Steps:

• Make Cookies:
• Make Buttery Sugar Cookie dough as directed, but reduce the flour to 1 1/3 cups and add the cocoa. Whisk the flour and cocoa together.
• Halve dough and wrap each half in wax paper, shaping each into a flattened rectangle, then store each half in a resealable plastic bag. Chill dough until firm, at least 2 hours.
• Heat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
• While oven heats, roll out 1 piece of dough (keep remaining dough chilled) between two large sheets of wax paper to slightly less than 1/4 inch thick. (If dough becomes too soft to roll out, quick-chill on a baking sheet in the freezer or chill in the refrigerator until firm.)
• Peel back top sheet of wax paper and cut out as many cookies with cutter as possible. Transfer cookies, as cut, to a lined baking sheet, arranging them 1 inch apart. (If dough becomes too soft to remove the cookies, quick-chill on a baking sheet in the freezer or chill in the refrigerator until firm.)
• Gather, reroll, and chill scraps to form more cookies.
• Freeze or chill cut-out cookies on baking sheet until firm before baking.
• Bake cookies, one sheet at time, until edges are a shade darker and centers are set, 9 to 12 minutes. For picture-perfect cookies, use cookie cutters while cookies are hot from the oven to trim edges. (Keep trimmings for snacks.) Transfer cookies with a metal spatula to racks to cool completely. Make more cookies with remaining dough. (Cool baking sheets and use fresh parchment between batches.)
• Decorate Cookies:
• Using the offset spatula or a small rubber spatula, spread cooled cookies with a thin layer of melted chocolate, then sprinkle with some crushed candy canes.
• Let cookies stand at room temperature until the chocolate has set, about 1 hour.