Iced Cocoa Cut Out Cookies

COOKIE DOUGH: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until smooth and creamy. Add sugar to the butter and beat on medium-high speed until mixture is light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat into the mixture until fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl.

Place a sifter in a separate, large bowl and add the flour and cocoa powder to the sifter. Sift flour and cocoa together to remove clumps. Whisk in the cinnamon, nutmeg, espresso powder, baking powder and salt into the cocoa mixture.

Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, with the mixer on low. Mix until just incorporated. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and use a rubber scraper to ensure all ingredients are incorporated.

Divide the dough into two equal parts. Sprinkle a tiny amount of flour on a strip of parchment paper and roll dough out to 1/4-inch thickness. Set aside. Repeat method with second portion of dough.

Cover both doughs completely in parchment paper and transfer dough onto a cookie sheet. Stack the second rolled out dough on top of the first, and chill in the fridge for at least an hour (I chilled overnight).

After dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 350-degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove dough from the fridge, one slab at a time, and use desired cookie cutters to cut out your shapes. Place cut cookies on cookie sheet and back into the refrigerator to chill for 10-minutes. Repeat process with the second slab of dough.

Bake cookies in 350-degree oven for 10-minutes (time may vary on how large your cookies are and how thin or thick you rolled your cookies out to).

Let cookies set on baking sheet for 15-minutes, before transferring to a wire baking rack to finish cooling. After cookies have cooled, prepare royal icing.

ROYAL ICING: In a small mixing bowl, combine sugar, milk, corn syrup and vanilla extract. Use a fork to stir the mixture together. Add additional milk if needed to thin out the consistency. Likewise, you can add additional powdered sugar to stiffen up the mixture if it is too loose for your needs. Add food coloring if desired. Use a spoon or knife to ice the cooled cookies. Let cookies set. Icing will harden up.