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