Tombstone Cookies

Total Time: 25 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons cocoa nibs (or cacao, see notes)
• 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar, plus extra
• sugar, for sprinkling cookies
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• melted semisweet chocolate

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 400°. in a blender, whirl cocoa nibs until each is about the size of a grain of rice.
• 2 in the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and 1/2 cup sugar until creamy; beat in egg and vanilla.
• 3 in another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa nibs; gradually add to butter mixture, blending thoroughly, to form a soft dough.
• 4 divide dough into thirds, cover each portion tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm (at least 1 hour), or up to 3 days.
• 5 on a floured board, roll out dough, a portion at a time, to a thickness of 1/8 inches (keep dough refrigerated when not in use).
• 6 with a sharp knife, cut out free-form tombstone shapes (about 1 1/2 by 3 in.; cut bottom edges at an angle to make them easier to poke into the pots de crème), and place slightly apart on ungreased baking sheets. sprinkle generously with sugar.
• 7 bake cookies until edges are lightly browned, about 8 to 10 minutes. transfer to racks and let cool completely before handling.
• 8 using a pastry bag with a very fine tip, pipe the letters "rip" in chocolate on at least 8 of the cookies. stick these cookies into the dark chocolate graveyard pots de crème and serve the rest of the cookies alongside.