INGREDIENTS

Cookies

1 ½ cups all purpose flour, plus 1 tablespoon 

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder 

1 teaspoon baking powder  

½ teaspoon salt 

¾ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

1 cup Wholesome Organic Fair Trade Cane Sugar

1 egg, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Icing

2 large egg whites

4 cups Wholesome Organic Fair Trade Confectioners Sugar, sifted 

1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 

Food Coloring

Speckles

1 ½ tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder 

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

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INSTRUCTIONS

Cookies

1. Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside. 
2. In a large bowl of a standup mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until smooth and creamy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat on high speed until completely smooth and creamy, about 1 minute more. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again until combined. 
3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined.
4. Divide the dough into two equal parts. Roll out each disc of dough to about 1⁄4 inch thickness on lightly cocoa dusted parchment paper. Place the rolled-out doughs of parchment on a cookie sheet and place them in the refrigerator to chill before cookie cutting. Can stack the doughs with parchment in between to conserve space. 
5. Using an egg shaped cookie cutter, cut out cookies. Can re-roll excess dough and make more cutouts with the scraps. Use cocoa powder to prevent dough from sticking. 
6. Bake on parchment for 9-10 minutes, until edges are set. Rotate trays halfway through if necessary. 
7. Cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack and allowing to further cool before decorating.

How to Make Icing

Beat the egg whites until stiff. Add sugar and lemon juice and beat for 1 more minute. If the icing is too thick, add more lemon juice. If the icing is too thin, add more powdered sugar.

How to Ice the Cookie

1. Divide icing up into 3 (or however many colors you want!) small bowls. Add a very small amount of a different color food coloring to each bowl and mix well. Less than a drop is needed to make pastel colors. Pink, blue and green were used in this recipe. 
2. Put each icing into a pastry bag with a tiny tip, and make a border along the edges of the cookies. Flood the inside with icing and fill to the outside border. Continue doing this with all the colors. 
3. Allow icing to set for an hour.

How to Speckle the Cookies

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the cocoa and vanilla extract until a thin, watery slurry forms. 
2. Using a small paint brush, dip the tips of the brush in and pull back the bristles to splatter the cookies with the cocoa to create a speckled look. Continue doing this until all your cookies are speckled!