It's Cookie Week! Cookie #1 Vanilla-Chocolate Wafers

Fire up your ovens, people, it's holiday cookie week.  We're into the home stretch here with Christmas less than a week away, so time is of the essence.  All week, beginning today, I'll be giving you cookie recipes that are both delicious to eat and uncomplicated to make, so if you haven't started your holiday baking, get ready!

Every December I go through a ritual that I like to refer to as "The Great Magazine Purge."  I page through stacks and stacks of magazines accumulated throughout the year, ripping out items of interest with reckless abandon.  Sometimes I wonder if I'm really saving myself any trouble at all as I often end up with as big a pile of gleaned information as I'd have had if I'd just kept the magazine in tact.

As you can imagine this yielded LOTS of cookie recipes, so I figured what better time to try them out than now.  One item ripped from the pages of a Martha Stewart Living magazine was this recipe.  It looked good, fast, and easy, so seemed the perfect way to start the week.

The magazine page in question.

Lined up on parchment and ready for the oven.

As easy as they are delicious, this recipe is a keeper.  Be sure to come back tomorrow for another holiday cookie recipe.

Vanilla and Chocolate Wafers

Makes about 4 1/2 dozen.

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface

1/4 teaspoon salt

14 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1 large egg yolk

1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder

Sift flour and salt into a medium bowl; set aside. Put butter and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Reduce speed to low. Mix in egg yolk and vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture; mix until just combined, about 1 minute.

Remove half of the dough; set aside. Add cocoa powder to remaining dough; mix on low speed until well combined. Turn out chocolate dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Roll into a 10-inch log, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Repeat with reserved vanilla dough. Wrap each log in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until slightly firm, at least 30 minutes.

Press handle of a long wooden spoon into side of chocolate log, making an indentation along its length. Roll handle into and then away from log, creating an apostrophe shape. Repeat with vanilla log. Fit logs together; press lightly to seal. Gently roll into a 2-inch-diameter log. Wrap in plastic wrap, and freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut log into 1/4-inch-thick rounds; space 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. If dough becomes too soft to slice cleanly, return to freezer until firm.

Bake until firm to the touch, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to wire racks; let cool. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.

From Martha Stewart Living, January 2006