Chocolate-Dipped Espresso Stars Recipe

Excerpted from ‘Zingerman's Bakehouse Celebrate Every Day: A Year's Worth of Favorite Recipes for Festive Occasions, Big and Small’ by Amy Emberling, Lindsay-Jean Hard, Lee Vedder and Corynn Coscia

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Published November 30, 2023

star-shaped cookies with half of each star dipped in chocolate

EE Berger

Makes 24 to 36 cookies

We first created Espresso Stars for our Fancy Schmancy Holiday Cookies class, at the suggestion of Nikki Lohmann, one of our BAKE! instructors. They proved to be such a hit that, for a time, they made it into our regular lineup at the Bakeshop, Zingerman’s Coffee Company, and Zingerman’s Roadhouse. They are perfect as a small treat with a warm drink or at the end of a meal.

We flavor these shortbread cookies with freshly ground coffee beans, making them a rather adult addition to the dessert lineup, both in terms of flavor and the little jolt of caffeine. We like the added help staying awake until the celebratory ball drops at midnight in New York City’s Times Square on New Year’s Day, but if you’d prefer less of a burst of energy, feel free to use decaf beans. (Just don’t be tempted to swap in instant espresso powder, which is designed to dissolve; we want both the flavor and the texture from the freshly ground coffee to be front and center.) To make them look as festive as they taste, we partially dip them in chocolate and make the effort to find gold luster dust or gold leaf to garnish them.

Ingredients

½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ tsp fine sea salt
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 tablespoons espresso beans, finely ground
1 cup semisweet chocolate, chopped
Gold luster dust or edible gold leaf (optional)

Directions

book cover with words zingerman's bakehouse, celebrate every day, a year's worth of favorite recipes for festive occasions, big and small; amy emberling, lindsay-jean hard, lee vedder, corynn coscia

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Preheat the oven to 300°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, and salt until the sugar is well mixed in. Add the flour and ground espresso beans and mix until the dough holds together. If necessary, use your hands to gently knead the dough together into a ball.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1∕4 inch thick. Cut out cookies using a 1½ to 2 inch star cutter. You can reroll scraps and cut out more stars, but take care not to overwork the dough. This cookie will be delicious in many different sizes and shapes, so use whatever shape cutter you prefer and what you’re able to find. If you choose a much bigger cutter, roll out the dough a little thicker. If they are large and too thin, they will break easily.

Carefully place the cut cookies on the prepared baking sheet, evenly spaced about 1 inch apart. Bake for 30 minutes. The tops should look dry and the cookies should be slightly browned. Cool on the baking sheets for five minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely to room temperature.

Melt the chocolate slowly in the microwave or over a double boiler until just melted. This is a bit of a shortcut. By very gently melting the chocolate, it’s possible that it will maintain its nice shine and not need to be tempered.

Dip one-third of each cookie into the melted chocolate, then place onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. If using gold leaf, use a couple of small pieces as garnish and apply them to the soft chocolate.

Let the cookies sit at room temperature until the chocolate hardens. If desired, lightly brush gold luster dust over the hardened chocolate. Store in an airtight container, with parchment paper between layers of cookies, at room temperature for up to one week or in the freezer for up to two months. Thaw frozen cookies at room temperature before enjoying. If thawing cookies with luster dust, do so gradually, moving them from the freezer to the refrigerator, and then to room temperature.