These Checkerboard Holiday Cookies are flavored with vanilla, matcha and strawberry powders. These festive red and green Christmas cookies are perfect for the holiday season!
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The base dough recipe is adapted from Takes Two Eggs. I added in strawberry to incorporate red in some of the dough for a holiday look.
These were inspired by my love for an impressive-looking cookie that is actually simple to make, like my Saint Patrick’s Day Tie-Dye Cookies or my Lemon Meltaway Cookies.
Ingredients
Matcha and strawberry are the star flavors of these checkerboard cookies, achieved through matcha powder and freeze-dried strawberries.
- all-purpose flour
- baking powder
- kosher salt
- unsalted butter
- powdered sugar
- granulated sugar
- eggs
- vanilla extract
- matcha powder
- freeze-dried strawberries
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Here’s how to assemble the dough logs:
Roll out each dough portion into a 5×8-inch rectangle, ½-thick. Cut ½-inch strips.
Alternate dough strips in trios, brushing egg whites on top to adhere each strip to each other.
Place the second trio on top of the first. Brush top with egg white glue.
Finish with the final trio. Wrap tightly in plastic and chill before slicing and baking.
Good to know: Gently press the strips together to minimize any air pockets, without ruining the shape.
Variations
Here’s how to customize these cookies to your liking:
- No matcha — feel free to skip the matcha completely and just use green food coloring instead.
- No strawberries — feel free to skip the freeze-dried strawberries and use strawberry essence or omit the strawberry altogether.
- Red and green together — Skip the vanilla dough altogether and alternate red and green strips together.
Do you have any other variation suggestions? Let me know in the comments!
Equipment
I used two pieces of scrap wood as levelers for rolling out the dough, but you can use fondant levelers instead.
This is my favorite French rolling pin that I used to roll out the dough.
Storage
Store unbaked dough (wrapped tightly) in the refrigerator for 3-4 days or in the freezer for 3-4 months.
Top tip
Use a kitchen scale to measure out ingredients for the most accuracy.
Lastly, if you make these Checkerboard Holiday Cookies be sure to leave a comment or give this recipe a rating. I love to see when people make my recipes, so please tag me @youthsweets on Instagram if you post!
📖 Recipe
Checkerboard Holiday Cookies
Ingredients
Cookie Dough
- 5 cups all-purpose flour (630g)
- 3 teaspoon baking powder (16g)
- 2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups unsalted butter room temperature (452g)
- 2 cups powdered sugar sifted (238g)
- ½ cup granulated sugar (110g)
- 2 large egg + 2 large egg yolk save the whites for later
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract (10g)
- 6 teaspoon matcha powder (12g)
- 1 oz freeze dried strawberries ground to a powder and sifted
Instructions
Do ahead
- The dough can be made the day before. Keep it in the refrigerator until needed.
Make the dough
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
- Beat the butter using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or with hand beaters for 3 minutes. Add the granulated sugar and sift in the powdered sugar. Beat for 2 minutes to cream together.
- Add eggs, egg yolks and vanilla, beating to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients and beat just until all the dry ingredients are incorporated. Do not overmix.
Divide the dough
- Divide the dough into four equal portions. I used a kitchen scale to measure the full amount of dough and divided it by four, but you do not have to be this exact.
- Form two of the portions into a rectangle and wrap (separately) in plastic. Take the other two portions and place them in separate bowls.
Flavor the dough
- Sift matcha powder onto one of the portions. Mix in the matcha with a rubber spatula.
- Sift freeze-dried strawberry powder into the other portion. Mix it in with a rubber spatula. Add in red food coloring, if desired. I mixed in the food coloring with my hands (with gloves on) to make it easier.
- Form the matcha and strawberry doughs into separate rectangles and wrap in plastic. Place all wrapped dough into the refrigerator to chill for at least one hour or overnight.
Roll out the dough
- Using two ½-inch tall levelers, roll out each dough into 5×8 rectangles that are ½-inch thick.
- Slice into ½-inch strips.
Assemble the checkerboard pattern
- Using the reserved egg whites, use a pastry brush to swipe a bit of the egg white on the sides of a vanilla dough strip. Sandwich this vanilla strip in between two matcha strips.
- Brush the top of this trio with more egg white “glue”.
- Sandwich a matcha strip in between two vanilla strips. Place this trio on top of the first one. Brush the top of the trio with the glue.
- Repeat the first trio and place it on top of the second one.
- Repeat with the rest of the doughs to prepare a matcha and vanilla checkerboard log and a strawberry vanilla checkerboard log.
- Wrap each log tightly in plastic, gently pressing the strips together to minimize any air pockets, without ruining the shape.
- Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or freeze for 30 minutes.
Prepare to bake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Cut each log into ½-inch thick slices. Place cookies 2-inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets.
- Bake for 13-14 minutes or until the edges are just lightly golden brown.
