Chess Cookies on the Tasty Blog

      Recipe preparation:

       Source: https://www.vkusnyblog.com/recipe/shaxmatnoe-pechene/Notes on ingredients:

      Butter. You can use butter with a fat content of 72% and above. However, keep in mind that with higher fat butter, the dough will be crunchier. So 80-82.5% will still be optimal.

      Sugar. For this recipe, you need white sugar as fine as possible, as it dissolves better in the dough. You can even use powdered sugar for a smoother texture.

      Eggs. This recipe uses a medium-sized egg – S-1 or M. By weight, this is about 50-55 g without the shell. It’s better if the egg is at room temperature before adding to the dough. If you have eggs from the fridge, you can slightly warm them by placing them in hot tap water.

      Cocoa powder. I use alkalized cocoa, but regular cocoa powder will also work. The difference will be that it will give a less intense color than alkalized. Nesquik and similar soluble cocoa drinks are not suitable here.

      Flour. Since the dough in this recipe is shortcrust, you need flour that is not too strong. Regular premium flour with a protein content of about 10% is suitable. Even better is cake flour with 8-9% protein. Using stronger bread flour will result in a tougher dough.

      Lemon zest. Needed for flavoring the dough. If you don’t like the citrus aroma in baked goods, you can omit it.

      Now let's move on to the preparation.

      Beat room temperature butter with sugar until creamy. The sugar will not completely dissolve, which is normal.

      Add the egg, vanilla sugar, and zest, and beat again. Add the sifted flour with salt and knead a homogeneous, pliable dough.

      Divide it into 2 parts. In one part, add cocoa.

      Knead until the color is uniform.

      Roll both pieces of dough into sheets of equal thickness and length. I also trim the edges with a ruler to minimize scraps.

      Carefully wrap the sheets in parchment and place them in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to firm up the dough. You can speed up the process by placing the dough in the freezer.

      Remove the dough from the refrigerator, slightly trim the wide sides so that the cut is even, with a right angle. Cut both sheets into 5 strips of equal width each. It’s easiest to do this using a ruler as a guide.

      Lay out three strips in this order:

      Then another 3 on top in this order:

      And finish with strips in the order of the first layer.

      Combine the remaining light strip and all scraps and knead.

      Roll into a thin rectangle and wrap this layer around our chess construction.

      Wrap the preparation in plastic wrap and place it in the freezer for 40 minutes.

      Then remove, cut into slices about 8-10 mm thick, and place on a baking sheet.

      Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 12-15 minutes. The light part of the cookie should change color very minimally.

      Completely cool the cookies and serve.

      Enjoy your tea!



       This chess cookie recipe has been tested and prepared by chef Tatyana Nazaruk - author of the Tasty Blog.

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