Eggless Espresso Cookies ~ Bake and Share

Hello and happy Monday ! As we all know Cookies are Santa’s snack of choice. It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of a good cookie too. For me, giving and receiving cookies is a delicious and inexpensive way to share the holiday spirit with friends and family. So we decided to have cookie swap party? Last week, my kitchen was devoted to testing, baking, and sampling cookies for Cookie swap party (bake cookies, go to party with cookies, swap cookies with other attendees who baked cookies, come home with an assortment of cookies). Each Person baked two dozen cookies and in return, you received two dozen of assorted cookies. I decided to bake Espresso cookie for this event.Ingredients:

• 1 cups all purpose flour
• ½ tbs instant espresso powder
• 2 tbs boiling water
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1¼  tsp baking powder
• 1/3 cups + 1 tbs unsalted butter at room temperature
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1½  tbs oil
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 24 chocolate covered espresso beans

Directions:

1. Stir together the espresso powder and boiling water in a cup. Set aside to cool.
2. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
3. Place the butter and sugar in a larger bowl and beat together with an electric mixer on medium high until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add Vanilla, oil and espresso mixture and beat until smooth. Beat in the flour mixture on low until just incorporated.
4. Roll the dough on the wax paper and press it flat on four sides, into squared off log about 8 inches long. Wrap the dough in plastic and freeze it for 2 hours.
5. Place the dough on the counter top and let it stand until softened slightly about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to350⁰ F.
6. Slice the dough into1/3 inch thick squares, rotating the dough often so it doesn’t become misshapen as you cut. Place the cookies at least 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
7. Bake the cookies for 10 minutes and then remove from the oven and carefully press an espresso bean into the center of each cookie. Continue to bake until they are lightly golden around the edges and just dry on top, 3 to 4 minutes more. Let them stand on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and then remove them to wire rack to cool completely.
8. These cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days.

Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

Sending this to Surabhi  event