Dominoes

Part cookie, part craft project. These chocolate cookies are cut into small rectangles, scored with a line down the center, and decorated with piped buttercream dots to look like actual domino tiles.

The cookie itself is a straightforward cocoa shortbread. Butter, sugar, egg, and flour sifted with cocoa powder and salt. The dough gets rolled between two sheets of wax paper, which keeps everything clean and prevents sticking without adding extra flour that could toughen the cookies. Cut precise rectangles (about 1¼ by 2¾ inches) and use a skewer to press a line across the middle of each one before baking.

The vanilla butter frosting pipes on the domino dots. Keep the consistency firm enough to hold its shape but soft enough to squeeze through a small round piping tip. A few drops of hot water loosens it if it’s too stiff. You can sandwich two cookies together with frosting for a thicker treat, or keep them single.

Kitchen Tips

• Chill the dough if it gets soft. Rolling between wax paper helps, but if the butter warms up, the rectangles won’t hold clean edges. Ten minutes in the fridge fixes this.
• Score before baking, not after. The skewer line needs to be pressed into raw dough. After baking, the cookies are too brittle and will crack.
• Use a ruler for the rectangles if you want them uniform. Dominos look best when they’re all the same size.
• Let cookies cool completely before frosting. Warm cookies melt the buttercream and the dots won’t hold their shape.

Variations

• Color coded: Tint the frosting different colors for each number group to make an actual playable set.
• Sandwich version: Spread a thin layer of raspberry jam between two cookies along with the frosting for a fruity chocolate combo.