Chocolate Doughnut Cookies

• Doughnut Cookie:  
• Preheat oven to 350°F
• Cream margarine, shortening, and sugar.
• Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Add baking powder and salt and mix again. 
• Stir in the cocoa until well blended. 
• Add flour, 1 cup at a time. If you’ll be making cookies right away, add 3 1⁄2 cups flour. If you are going to “chill” the dough or just wait for another day to make your cookies, stop at 3 cups. Roll out cookies, as indicated in image on the right, on lightly floured surface. 
• Bake at 350°F for approximately 8-10 minutes. 
• Basic Royal Icing:
• In a clean, grease-free bowl of a stand mixer, use whisk attachment and beat meringue powder with warm water at low speed until frothy.
• Add cream of tartar and mix. Then add flavorings.
• Pour in sugar and combine slowly until mixture is smooth and pasty. Scrape side of bowl with rubber spatula.
• Increase speed to medium; beat until soft peaks form, about 5-7 minutes. Icing should be stiff enough that a spatula inserted is able to stand upright without wobbling to the side!
• Divide icing in covered containers, based on the number of colors you will be using. Tint icing with desired food colorings; keep surface covered to prevent drying out.
• Add a small amount of water to thin the icing, enough to create a yogurt-like consistency. To test consistency, take a spoonful of icing and drop it back into the bowl. It should take between 10-16 seconds for the icing to smooth itself out.
• Pour icing into squeeze bottles or piping bags fitted with a round tip. Ziploc bags snipped at the corner can work, too.
• Pipe icing onto cookies and decorate with your favorite toppings. 

Recipe originally published in Joy of Kosher with Jamie Geller Magazine Winter 2014 Subscribe Now