Poker Chip Cookies - Part 2

To see the dough recipe for these cookies, click here.

To Make the Poker Chip Cookies

*For each color poker chip, I used 2/3 a recipe white dough and 1 recipe colored dough. Keep  the dough that is not in immediate use in the refrigerator.

1.       Roll about 3 oz of colored dough into a log approximately 6” long and 1” in diameter

2.       Roll about 3 oz white dough into a sheet about 6” by about 3” and wrap it lengthwise around the colored dough.

3.       Roll another 3 oz of colored dough into a sheet about 6” by about 3.25” and wrap it lengthwise around the log.

4.       Put the log into the refrigerator and repeat steps 1-3.  Place the resulting log in the fridge as well.

5.       Roll out the remainder of the colored and white dough into 6” by about 9” rectangles, as shown. 

6.       Cut each rectangle into 24 strips as shown.

 

7.       Make a new rectangle by alternating 6 colored and 6 white strips and wrap the resulting rectangle around one of the refrigerated logs. Repeat with other log.

8.       Carefully roll and stretch the resulting log to adhere all layers and until it is the desired diameter.  If desired, cut into manageable lengths, and wrap in plastic wrap.

9.       Place dough rolls in freezer, using a slit paper towel roll to keep the shape if desired, for at least one hour.

10.   To Bake the cookies:  Adjust oven racks to the upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 350⁰.  Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.  Using a chef’s knife, slice dough into ¼-inch thick rounds, rotating the dough so that it won’t become misshapen.  Place cookies 1 inch apart on baking sheets.

11.   Bake until cookies are slightly browned around the edges, about 15 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through baking.  Cool cookies on the baking sheet about 5 minutes; using a thin metal spatula, transfer cookies to a wire rack and cool to room temperature.

12.   Stack ‘em up and place your bets!  The original recipe says cooled cookies can be stored between sheets of parchment paper in an airtight container for up to 1 week, but I’ve got some extras that are still good three weeks later.

Poker Chip Cookies - Part 1

Every year, our neighborhood has a poker tournament to raise money for our summer block party.  About three years ago, I had the idea to make some cookies that looked like poker chips for the event.  I did a little brainstorming and designing, found a sugar cookie recipe online that looked like it would work and baked up three different colors of poker chips.  They looked like this:

So they were cute, but spread too much so they didn’t actually look like poker chips and worst of all they tasted terrible.  I learned two lessons: 1, never bake a ton of cookies with a recipe you’ve never actually baked up and 2, I needed some better food colors – part of why the cookies tasted off was the large quantity of food coloring in the dough.

This year, I found a better recipe – one I made at Christmas – and decided to try again.  I picked this recipe for its minimal ingredients, its versatility, and the fact that the spread of the dough during baking is almost undetectable.  I also decided to do a different flavor with each color chip this time.  Below are the recipes for the flavors I made, but you can try different varieties.  I made two recipes of the white dough and one recipe of each colored dough.

French Butter Cookies – Plain Dough (for the white dough) *

Ingredients

1              large egg

10 T        (1 ¼ sticks) unsalted butter, softened

 1/3 c      plus 1 T granulated sugar (2 ¾ oz)
¼ t          salt
1 t           vanilla extract
1 ½ c      unbleached all-purpose flour (7 ½ oz)

Instructions

1.       Place egg in small saucepan, cover with 1 inch water, and bring to a boil over high heat.  Turn heat to low, cover, and let sit 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, fill a small bowl with ice water.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer egg to ice water and let stand 5 minutes.  Crack the egg and peel off the shell.  Separate the yolk from the white; discard (or eat) white.  Press yolk through a fine mesh strainer into small bowl.

 

2.       In bowl of stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, sugar, salt, and cooked egg yolk on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl and beater as needed.  Turn the mixer down to low, add vanilla, and mix until incorporated.  Stop mixer, add flour, and mix on low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds.  Using a rubber spatula, press dough into a cohesive mass.

 

French Butter Cookies – Vanilla Dough (for the blue dough)  Same as plain, but increase vanilla to 1 T and add blue gel food coloring with the vanilla.

French Butter Cookies – Mint Dough (for the green dough)  Same as plain, but add 1 T peppermint extract and green gel food coloring with the vanilla.

French Butter Cookies – Chocolate Hazelnut Dough (for the black dough)

Ingredients
1              large egg
10 T        (1 ¼ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 c      plus 1 T granulated sugar (2 ¾ oz)
¼ t          salt
1 t           vanilla extract
2 t           hazelnut extract
2-3          drops black gel food color (optional)
1 1/3 c   unbleached all-purpose flour (6 2/3 oz)
¼ c          Dutch-processed cocoa (1 oz)
1/3 c      finely ground toasted hazelnuts

Instructions

1.       Place egg in small saucepan, cover with 1 inch water, and bring to a boil over high heat.  Turn heat to low, cover, and let sit 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, fill a small bowl with ice water.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer egg to ice water and let stand 5 minutes.  Crack the egg and peel off the shell.  Separate the yolk from the white; discard (or eat) white.  Press yolk through a fine mesh strainer into small bowl.

2.       Whisk flour, cocoa, and hazelnuts together in a small bowl and set aside.  In the bowl of stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, sugar, salt, and cooked egg yolk on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl and beater as needed.  Turn the mixer down to low, add vanilla and food coloring, and mix until incorporated.  Stop mixer, add flour mixture, and mix on low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds.  Using a rubber spatula, press dough into a cohesive mass.

For Assembly Instructions, Click Here

*Original Recipe Source: Cook’s Illustrated November 2008