Lately, I have been a little overwhelmed with everything going on in my life. I feel like there is always so much to do and I don’t ever have a second to sit down and just breathe. But luckily for me, when I get into the kitchen, all my stress seems to disappear.
So this week, I decided to get into the kitchen and create something bright and colorful (that always seems to make me feel better). I took a simple shortbread base and just added a little food coloring to mix things up. I know the checkerboard pattern makes these cookies look a little complicated, but don’t be intimidated! All you need is a ruler and sharp knife (or bench scraper) and you are good to go!
The best part about these cookies is that you can make the dough up to a week in advance – you just have to store it in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake them off! So next time you are feeling a little overwhelmed with life, these cookies are sure to brighten your day!
COLORFUL CHECKERBOARD COOKIES
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg yolk
- Pink, purple and green food coloring
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a baking sheet with parchment.
- In a food processor, combine flour, sugar and salt.
- Add butter pieces and pulse until dough resembles small crumbles.
- Add the vanilla extract and egg yolk. Pulse until the dough comes together.
- Transfer dough to a lightly floured service. Shape dough into a round and divide it into four even portions.
- Put a small amount of food coloring in the center of one section. Knead the dough until the color is evenly distributed.
- Using your hands, work each section of dough into a long rectangle. Place in the fridge for 20 minutes.
- Using a knife and a ruler trim the edges to be 1" high, 1" wide, and 9" long.
- Place the dough back in the fridge for another 20 minutes.
- Press press the strips together to form one large block.
- Using a knife, cut dough into 1/4" slices. Bake for 12 -15 minutes.
- Remove baking sheet from oven. Let cookies sit for 2 minutes and then transfer to wire rack to cool.
