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These are the mushroom cookies I used to decorate the yule log cake in the last post. They are made with a vanilla cookie dough and vanilla glaze and are glued together with melted chocolate or extra whipped chocolate ganache that was used to frost the yule log cake. Aren’t they cute?! Pretty tasty too!
The cookie itself is made from a simple vanilla sugar cookie type dough. Paired with the melted dark chocolate the flavor reminds me of a Milano cookie.
I think these are perfect for the winter holiday season. Just imagine the smiles they would bring to your holiday cookie box recipients. They are also perfect woodland decorations for a festive yule log cake.
The cookie dough needs to chill a bit and can be made the night/day ahead, which is nice for planning out your holiday baking schedule. I like to make varying sizes of the mushroom caps and stems to they have an organic natural feel, like you’ve just picked them from the forest floor.
To shape the caps simply rolled the dough into balls in your hands. Gently press them on the baking sheet to make a flat bottom. They will puff up into domes when baked.
The stems are shaped by rolling pieces of dough into varying sizes of logs, some short and wide, some skinny and long. They will flatten out a bit on the bottom side when baked but still give a rounded stem effect. Make a few extra stems in case one breaks.
It’s important to scoop out the caps while they are still hot, just out of the oven, or they will be too firm and will crack if you try to do it after they have cooled.
I like the effect dipping them in a vanilla glaze followed by a light dusting of coca powder created. You can get creative here. Dip them in red colored white chocolate and top with white pearl sugar or sprinkles to look like toadstools. Or dip them in melted chocolate and top them with chopped nuts if you like.
I used some of the extra whipped coconut milk ganache to stick the stems to the caps when I made the yule log cake. For this batch, I used melted chocolate. Just simply melt some dark chocolate and dip the bottom of the caps into it then turn them upside down and attach the stems. If the melted chocolate is very liquid the stems might lean or fall over, but as the chocolate starts to set just stick them back upright and they will stay in place.
The ganache was a little neater than the melted chocolate but I don’t mind rustic decoration. You might have some little drips and smudges with the melted chocolate.
These were so fun to make. I hope you give them a try, and please let me know if you do!
Happy baking!
xx Kaity
Vanilla and Chocolate Mushroom Cookies
- Total Time: 1 hours 19 minutes
- Yield: 12 cookies 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Mushroom cookies made from vanilla sugar cookie dough and dark chocolate look like they are were picked the forest. Perfect for a Yule Log!
Ingredients
- 180 g (1 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
- 90 g (3/4 cup) powdered sugar, sifted
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 70 g (5 tablespoons) softened butter or plant butter
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg at room temperature
Glaze
- 60 g (1/2 cup) powdered sugar
- 4 teaspoons milk or non-dairy milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
cocoa powder for dusting
140 g (5 oz.) dark chocolate, melted
Instructions
- Sift flour, powdered sugar, and baking powder together set aside.
- Cream together butter, vanilla, and salt in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, about 1 minute.
- Add the egg and beat to combine for about 1 minute.
- Add the sifted dry ingredients and mix on low then medium speed until the dough comes together into a ball, about 2 minutes. The dough should be soft but not sticky. If it is sticky then mix in more flour by the tablespoon until the right consistency is reached.
- Form the dough into a disc and wrap it in parchment paper then refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes. At this stage, the dough can be chilled overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F/175˚C and line 1 half-sheet pan and 1 quarter sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Unwrap the dough and divide it into 2 pieces, one about 2/3 of the dough and the other about 1/3.
- Working with the larger piece of dough divide it into 12-15 pieces and roll them into balls between your palms. I like to do varying sizes, some smaller and some larger so that I will have different sized mushroom caps.
- Arrange the balls on the half sheet pan and gently press them with your palm.
- Bake this tray at 350˚F/175˚C for about 8-10 minutes until the cookies puff up and the bottoms just start to turn golden brown.
- While the mushroom caps bake shape the stems. Hand-shape pieces of the remaining dough to make the mushroom stems. I like to make them different lengths and thicknesses. Arrange the stems on the quarter sheet pan.
- When the caps are done take them out of the oven and place the tray of stems in the oven and bake for 6-8 minutes until they are puffed and the bottoms just start to turn golden brown.
- While the mushroom caps are still warm scoop out the center of their bottoms with a 1/4 teaspoon. This must be done as they come out of the oven and are still hot/warm or they will become too firm as they cool and will crack.
- Remove the stems from the oven when they are done and transfer them to a cooling rack.
- Mix the glaze ingredients together in a small bowl. The glaze should have a thin/runny consistency
- Dip the top of the caps into the glaze and place them on a cooling rack to let the glaze drip down the sides.
- Before the glaze has set, gently dust cocoa powder over the caps through a small sieve/strainer.
- Let the glaze set fully then dip the bottom of the caps into the melted chocolate and place them chocolate side up on the cooling rack.
- Fill the scooped out centers with more melted chocolate and stick in the stems. The stems may fall over if the chocolate is very liquid. Just set them back up and as the chocolate cools and sets the stems will stay upright. You can also use chocolate ganache that has been cooled and whipped like a frosting to stick the stems on. This what I did for the yule log cake.
- Once the chocolate has set the cookies are ready. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Best eaten within a few days. Store them in a lidded container at room temperature.
- Prep Time: 35 minutes
- Cook Time: 14 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: mushroom cookies, sugar cookies, christmas cookies, dark chocolate, vanilla, glaze, winter
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