-
1
Preliminaries part 1 Sift the flour and baking powder together.
-
2
Preliminiaries part 2 Sift the cocoa powder and sugar together, separately from the flour.
-
3
Bring the butter and egg to room temperature.
-
4
Mix the soft room temperature butter well in a bowl.
-
5
Add the white sugar to the butter in several batches, and cream well until the mixture is pale.
-
6
Add the beaten egg to the butter-sugar mixture in several batches.
-
7
Mix well until pale and well blended.
-
8
Cut and fold in the flour with a spatula, until the dough comes together.
-
9
Cut the flour in, don't knead it.
-
10
Add the vanilla essence here too.
-
11
When the dough comes together in one mass, set aside a small amount of it, and mix the cocoa powder into the rest.
-
12
(The plain dough is used for the ears and mouth part only, so you only need to set aside a small amount. )
-
13
Take out a little of the cocoa dough, and add more cocoa powder to it.
-
14
(This darker dough is used for the eyes, nose and mouth parts, so you only need a little.
-
15
Do make it as dark as possible with the added cocoa though.)
-
16
Wrap each piece of dough in plastic wrap, and rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
-
17
The first stage is complete.
-
18
^^ Take a break, then keep going.
-
19
Line a cutting board and an oven baking sheet with kitchen parchment paper.
-
20
Roll the main cocoa dough about 3 to 5mm thick, and cut it out with the bear shaped cutter.
-
21
Place the cut out pieces on the lined baking sheet.
-
22
Roll out the plain (white) dough and the dark cocoa dough about 3mm thick also.
-
23
Cut out the parts from each dough, and use egg white as glue to stick the parts on half of the face shaped base cookies.
-
24
Bake the cookies in a preheated 180 C oven for 10 to 12 minutes.
-
25
Please adjust the cooking time, or switch the position of the baking sheet to the top rack etc.
-
26
while keeping an eye on how the cookies are baking.
-
27
Take the baked cookies out and put them on a cooling rack.
-
28
Stage 2 is done.
-
29
^^ There's just a bit more work left to complete the cookies.
-
30
Chop up the chocolate roughly and place it into a bowl.
-
31
Melt the chocolate by suspending the bowl over a pan of hot water.
-
32
Spread the melted chocolate on the base cookies that don't have the face parts, and put the face-decorated cookies on top.
-
33
Line up the cookies on a shallow tray or similar, cover with plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator until the chocolate filling has set.
-
34
Done.
-
35
Variation: Cutting out the middle is cute too.
-
36
The cookies are not-so-sweet and delicious plain, without the chocolate filling.
-
37
^^ Add more sugar to taste to the dough if you prefer.
-
38
I added some Rilakkuma cookies in an assorted gift box.
-
39
They are a highlight and make the gift so cute.
-
40
The Rilakkuma in the front row are taking a nap.
-
41
Their relaxed sleepy faces are so comforting...