Bourbon Chocolate Sugar Cookies

By Bruce McIntosh, Chef at the Country Club of Asheville

Ingredients:

1 ¾ Cup All-Purpose Flour

¾ Cup Dutch Process Cocoa Powder, sifted

½ TSP Baking Soda

¼ TSP Baking Powder

½ TSP Kosher Salt

½ Cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature

½ Cup (8 tablespoons) Unflavored Vegetable Shortening, room temperature

1 Cup Granulated Sugar

¾ Cup Packed Light Brown Sugar

1 Large Egg

1 Large Egg Yolk

3 TBSP Bourbon (optional, replace with 1 TBSP Vanilla Extract)

3 OZ. grated or very finely chopped dark or Semisweet Chocolate

1 Cup Raw/Turbinado Sugar

2 TSP Bourbon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter until no longer chunky. Add shortening and beat on medium-high speed until smooth and uniformly mixed. Add sugar and brown sugar and beat for 1 to 2 minutes until light and fluffy.

Add egg and egg yolk, and mix until incorporated; scrape down the sides of the bowl and the beater as necessary. Slowly mix in bourbon.

Add dry ingredients in two additions, mixing on low speed until just incorporated. Mix in finely chopped chocolate. If your dough is particularly soft you can refrigerate it for 10 to 15 minutes or so to make it easier to roll.

To make bourbon sugar, combine raw sugar and 2 teaspoons bourbon in a pint-sized mason jar. Screw on lid and shake the heck out of it, until sugar is evenly moistened and looks something like wet sand. Pour into a shallow bowl or dish.

Scoop dough into 1 3/4-inch balls (the size of a medium cookie scoop). Roll into a smooth ball, then roll into bourbon sugar until evenly coated (the moist sugar will clump, but that’s the effect we’re going for!)

Arrange on parchment lined cookie sheets leaving approximately 2 inches of space between cookies.

Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until cookies have settled into shallow domes. They will be set around the edges but still puffed in the middle (they will flatten when they cool). Let cool on pan for 10 minutes, then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

To store, spread any leftover bourbon sugar in the bottom of an airtight storage container; arrange cookies in layers on top and tightly cover. Cookies will keep at room temperature for up to 5 days.