Hello! Happy Friday and happy Chinese New Year! It’s the year of the Dog and the Dog is the eleventh of all zodiac animals. According to one myth, the Jade Emperor said the order would be decided by the order in which they arrived to his party. Monkey, Rooster and Dog were in another country, helping a god defeat evil spirits. After, they set off to the party together. Because they arrived at the same time, the Jade Emperor went by the order they met the god in the other country. Thus, Dog became eleventh. (Source: https://chinesenewyear2018.com/zodiac/dog/)
Personally, I’m a rabbit in terms of the Chinese Zodiac, but I do love dogs! Which is why I made these chocolate – orange shortbread cookies shaped like a dog! More specifically, my dog ajax, who is a standard schnauzer. I originally bought these cookie cutters with the intent of making him homemade dog treats….but yea….never got around to that. Maybe I will in the future!
Anyway, on to the cookies!
Ingredients:
- 3/4 lb (3 Sticks) Butter
- 3 Cups Flour
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1 Cup Powdered Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Orange Extract
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp butter flavor
- 1 tsp orange zest
- 1/2 Cup Semi Sweet chocolate
In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Follow with the cup of powdered sugar. Start on low speed and mix to combine.
Add the extracts to the butter/sugar mix & combine.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and orange zest. Add to the butter/sugar mixture on low speed and mix until combine (i.e. no dry spots).
Turn out the dough onto plastic wrap, wrap it up and flatten into a disk. Place in your refrigerator for 15-30 minutes to firm up.
Pre-heat your oven to 350F. Turn out the dough on a surface dusted with powdered sugar. Roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick & using your cookie cutter, cut shapes & place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
Poke the cookies with a fork (so that they don’t puff too much in the oven) and bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove to a cooling rack and cool completely. Drizzle, dip or shmear melted chocolate (I used 1/2 semi-sweet chocolate melted in a microwave safe bowl for 1 minute.)
Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Enjoy and happy Chinese New Year!
See ya next time!
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