Chocolate Christmas Cookies Recipe

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and  sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract.  In another bowl, combine all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, Dutch-processed cocoa powder, and regular cocoa powder.

Slowly add dry mixture to wet ingredients until dough is formed.

Place dough in between 2 sheets of parchment paper and roll out until 1/4 inch thick. Cut dough with a 3-inch round cutter, and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

Bake for 8 minutes or until fi rm. Let cool on a wire rack. Place stencil on top and use a fine-meshed sieve to dust with confectioners' sugar. Carefully lift stencil and shake off excess sugar.