Checkerboard Cookies are called Schwarz-Weiss-Gebäck in Germany. They're the same thing, basically butter cookies with some cocoa and a really fancy look.
I have always admired them, but never made them. Until today. And, they're actually not that tricky to make! Plus, they look impressive and taste so good; like a cookie for kids, like a Marmorkuchen or the Italian Abbracci cookies.
Get yourself a glass of milk to dunk them in for the nostalgic cookie voyage!
However, you never fail with the classic combination of chocolate and vanilla, and I find them simply beautiful.
To make them, all you need is a bit of patience, a big knife and a ruler.
Recipe (adapted from this one. makes about 40 cookies)
125 grams soft butter
95 grams golden cane sugar
210 grams flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of salt
seeds of half a vanilla bean
1 egg
15 grams cocoa
Mix butter, sugar and vanilla for some minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix until smooth.
Combine the flour, baking powder and salt and add to the dough little by little. Mix until combined.
Take 250 grams of dough and add the cocoa, kneading with your hands until combined. If it gets too dry, add some drops of milk or water.
Shape the dough into two disks, wrap them in clingfilm and leave to rest in the fridge for at least an hour.
Roll out the two portions of dough separately into rectangles, each inside a freezer or ziploc bag (that makes it easier to actually get at least two straight sides). They should be 1 cm thick and 4 cm (vanilla dough) / 5 cm (cocoa dough) wide (I ended up making two of each). Then cut them lengthwise in 1cm wide strips.
Next assemble your checkerboard: one vanilla strip between two cocoa strips in the first row, then two vanilla one cocoa, and the third row like the first one. Wrap it in clingfilm and press the sides slightly against a flat surface to adjust the shape. Leave to rest in the fridge for half an hour.
Preheat your oven to 160º C fan. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and cut your dough into 5 mm slices. Place them on the sheets and bake for 15 minutes, rotating them once. They should be only slightly darker than before baking.
Leave to cool on a cookie rack and store in an airtight container for up to two weeks.
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