How to Make Chocolate and Mint Christmas Cookies

• Let’s start by melting the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave; once done, set it aside and let it cool briefly. Meanwhile, in a bowl, using electric whisks, whip the butter with the sugar. Only when the mixture is fluffy and light can we incorporate the egg and the melted chocolate (warning to the navigators: this mixture is delicious! Don’t eat it all…). Finally, add the flours and the cocoa, kneading until you obtain a classic cookie dough.

  Form a flat and wide block and place it in the fridge for a few minutes: ten will suffice. Then take it out of the fridge, and roll it out evenly between two sheets of parchment paper. Cut out all the cookie shapes you need, and transfer them to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (the one we used before), re-rolling the scraps until you completely use up the dough.

  To have perfectly shaped cookies, cool again, until you have a compact, hard, and cold dough. Then bake at 350°F for 20 minutes. After baking, let the cookies cool completely. Only then can we glaze them.

• Mix two tablespoons of powdered sugar with a few drops of water and a drop of essence. We will obtain a water glaze, rather fluid, that we will use to completely brush the Christmas cookies. This simple operation will give the cookies a semi-matte, icy appearance, on which we can draw and that will slightly increase the mint flavor, balancing the dark chocolate.

  While the cookies dry, prepare the glaze by mixing the egg white with the sugar, which should be added two tablespoons at a time until the right consistency is obtained. Then add a drop or two of essence, but sparingly, to avoid producing a too strong mint flavor (to be sure, you can only try, sacrificing the ugliest cookie to perfect the glaze).

  And now… let your imagination run wild! Decorate the cookies as you like, using the white glaze as is or coloring part of it with natural food coloring.
  Have fun! This mind-clearing task is very enjoyable and relaxing.