It’s time for cookie baking to enter a new era. The New Cookie: Creative Takes on the Classics You Love by America’s Test Kitchen is a must-have collection that features the flavors of today and classic indulgences. This cookie cookbook builds on ATK’s bedrock baking techniques to deliver induglent cookies that work every single time, like these easiest-ever marbled butter cookies. Here’s what the team has to say:
Marbled Butter Cookies: Why This Recipe Works
We’re quite enamored with these cookies: The marbling is hyper-realistic, the black and white scheme is sophisticated, and the chocolate-vanilla flavor is as great as the cookie’s good looks. But most of all, we’re in love with these cookies because we discovered a method that—unlike every other complicated marble cookie recipe out there—is dead simple.
Using the mixer to marble the chocolate and vanilla doughs makes a complicated-looking cookie super simple to execute—we give the two just a quick mix. The “black” part of the marble is achieved through a combination of black cocoa powder and melted chocolate, so that the dough has great cocoa taste without being dry. The baked cookies are incredibly tender yet crunchy, with a long shelf life for gifting.
If you’d rather achieve a colorful marbled look, you can substitute gel food coloring for the melted chocolate chips and cocoa powder in step 2. We like the classic flavor of vanilla here, but you can use ¾ teaspoon coconut extract or 1 teaspoon almond extract instead. Black cocoa powder produces the darkest color chocolate dough, but you can substitute Dutch-processed cocoa.
Photo credit: Kritsada Panichgul, © 2025, America’s Test Kitchen, LP. All Rights Reserved
Find more recipes here from American Cake Decorating.
Easiest-Ever Marbled Butter Cookies
Description
The marbling is hyper-realistic, the black and white scheme is sophisticated, and the chocolate-vanilla flavor is as great as the cookie’s good looks.
Ingredients
- 2¼ cups (320 grams) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 16 tablespoons (228 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup (149 grams) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (57 grams) confectioners’ sugar
- 2 large egg yolks
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons black cocoa powder
Instructions
- Whisk flour and salt together in bowl. Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, beat butter, granulated sugar, and confectioners’ sugar on medium speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes, scraping down bowl as needed. Add egg yolks and vanilla and continue to beat until well incorporated, about 1 minute longer. Reduce speed to low; add flour mixture; and mix until cohesive dough forms, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove half of dough from mixer and set aside.
- Microwave chocolate chips in bowl at 50 percent power until melted, 1 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add melted chocolate and cocoa to remaining dough in mixer and beat on low until fully combined and no streaks remain, about 1 minute, scraping down paddle and bowl halfway through. Break reserved blond dough into a few pieces and add to mixer; beat on low speed until dough is swirled but not homogeneous, about 5 seconds.
- Transfer dough to counter and divide in half. Roll each piece of dough on lightly floured surface into 1½-inch-wide log, about 10 inches long. Wrap logs tightly in plastic wrap and twist ends tightly to seal; refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or up to 3 days. (Dough logs can be frozen for up to 1 month. Thaw overnight in refrigerator before slicing and baking.)
- Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 325 degrees. Working with 1 dough log at a time, trim ends of log, then slice crosswise into ¼-inch-thick rounds, rotating dough as you slice to prevent any flat edges from forming; space dough rounds evenly on 2 parchment paper–lined baking sheets (30 per sheet). Bake until just beginning to turn light golden and firm to touch, 18 to 20 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking.
- Let cookies cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and let cool completely before serving.
Notes
Storage: 10 days at room temperature
ACD Staff
The staff of American Cake Decorating magazine is passionate about celebrating the artistry, innovation, and community of cake decorating. The ACD team is dedicated to educating and connecting decorators of all skill levels. With decades of combined experience in publishing, baking, cake design, and sugar artistry, the staff works closely with talented artists and educators from around the world to bring readers the best in cake decorating inspiration.
