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Vanilla and chocolate cookies in marble, flower and checkerboard designs

Easy Vanilla and Chocolate Cookies – 3 Ways

One simple buttery cookie dough turns into three beautiful designs: marble, flower, and checkerboard cookies. These cookies are lightly sweet, flavored with vanilla and cocoa, and require no electric mixer.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Chilling Time 15 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Servings: 18 Small cookies
Course: Dessert
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

For the Cookie Dough
  • 1½ cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup butter softened but not melted
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Chocolate Dough
  • 1 –2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ½ –1 tablespoon sugar additional
  • Up to 1 tablespoon milk only if needed

Method
 

Make the Cookie Dough
  1. Cream the butter and sugar by adding the softened butter and sugar to a mixing bowl. Whisk by hand until well combined, smooth, and lighter in color. Add the vanilla extract and mix again.
  2. Add the flour and baking powder. Mix gently just until a soft dough forms. Do not overmix.
Make the chocolate dough
  1. For marble or flower cookies, remove about ¼ of the dough. For checkerboard cookies, divide the dough approximately in half.
  2. Add the cocoa powder and additional sugar to the portion being made into chocolate dough. Mix gently until combined. If the chocolate dough feels dry or crumbly, add a little milk as needed, up to 1 tablespoon.
Chill the dough
  1. Cover and chill the prepared dough for 10–20 minutes. This makes the dough easier to handle and helps the cookies hold their shape. About 15 minutes works well.
  2. For the checkerboard version, after assembling the log, if it becomes soft from handling, you can chill it again briefly before slicing.
Shape the Cookies
  1. For Marble Cookies: Take small pieces of vanilla and chocolate dough and gently bring them together. Roll into a ball without fully mixing the colors, then lightly flatten with your palm.
  2. For Flower Cookies: Make small balls from both doughs. Place one chocolate ball in the center and arrange six vanilla balls around it. Keep them touching, then gently press the flower to flatten it slightly.
  3. For Checkerboard Cookies: Roll the vanilla and chocolate dough into rectangles of roughly the same size and thickness. Trim the edges and cut into even strips. Arrange alternating vanilla and chocolate strips, then add another layer with the colors reversed. Gently press together to form a rectangular log. Chill until firm enough to slice cleanly, then cut into even slices.
Bake
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Arrange the cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
  2. Bake for 10–12 minutes, checking at 10 minutes. Remove them when the edges and bottoms are just beginning to take on a little color while the tops remain fairly pale.
  3. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

Notes

These cookies are intentionally mildly sweet. For a deeper chocolate flavor, use closer to 2 tablespoons cocoa powder. Cocoa can make the chocolate dough slightly drier, so add milk only if needed. For the cleanest checkerboard slices, chill the assembled dough until it is firm enough to cut without losing its shape.