Dark-Chocolate Skeleton Cookies

I saw this idea in Cooking Light magazine last month, and I knew I had to make them. Mine didn't turn out as cute as the ones in the magazine (I need to work on my piping skills), but they were so much fun to make. Not to mention, they tasted amazing, too! I kept telling my husband that they taste like chocolate ice cream. They are probably some of the most delicious cookies I've ever tasted. The batter doesn't produce very many cookies, so double the recipe if you'd like to make more. I made about 12 cookies with this batch and mailed them to my cousin. It will be a miracle if they made it without any broken bones.


Dark-Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 batch Royal Icing

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325-degrees F.

Whisk the flour, cocoa, and salt together in a bowl. In another bowl, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture, beating to combine. Shape dough into 2 disks (I only did one disk), wrap in plastic, and freeze until firm, about 15 minutes.

Working with 1 disk at a time, roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Using a gingerbread cookie cutter, cut out shapes. (Return dough to freezer if it softens.) Space dough shapes 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes (oops... I forgot to do this, and they turned out fine). Brush off excess flour.

Bake cookies, rotating sheets once, until edges are firm, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer cookies, on parchment, to a wire rack, and let cool completely.

Use royal icing to decorate the skeletons.

Source: Martha Stewart