Chocolate Dinosaur Brownie Cookies

OK, yours don't have to be dinosaur shaped. But that's what really made them for me. It's been a long time since I've made roll and cut cookies, probably because they're more work than drop cookies and I'm lazy. But they're also more fun than drop or bar cookies, and when my roommate brought me a set of dinosaur and farm animal cookie cutters, and then I came across this recipe for brownie roll out cookies in my new Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, I knew it was meant to be.

 

The dough for these is pretty simple, and once it's chilled for a hour you can start rolling and cutting to your heart's desire. If dinosaurs aren't your thing, perhaps pigs, horses and sheep are?

Once we'd tried out our new cookie cutters, we brought out the whole stash and got creative. Because cutters are just suggestions, right?

We even ditched the dinosaurs for humans at one point - not just any humans though. Half well-dressed, half missing heads or limbs - our chocolate army was ready for anything.

But in the end, isn't it all just about love?

You can roll the dough out to about 1/4 of an inch to get thick, chewier cookies or about 1/8 inch for thinner, crisper ones. Or do half the batch one way, the other half the other way. Either way, you'll have fun and end up with some delicious cookies (that freeze well, if you're not into eating them all immediately).

Recipe: From the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook
1 cup (2 sticks/220g) butter or margarine, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa, sifted

Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, three to five minutes. Add in the eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth and uniform.
Add in the four, salt, baking powder and cocoa and mix until incorporated and smooth, with no remaining flour streaks.
Wrap the dough in plastic and chill for at least an hour.
Roll the dough out to 1/4" for thicker cookies or 1/8" for thinner ones. Cut shapes, transfer to a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake on 350 F for about 10 minutes.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool.