Today is National Cat Day! I don’t think my cat would forgive me if I forgot to celebrate today, so in addition to spoiling her with love and treats (as if that’s different from any other day, haha), I’m celebrating with these dark chocolate Binx cookies! Inspired by the cat from Hocus Pocus, these purr-fectly delicious cookies are made with black cocoa and melted chocolate, and decorated with a little bit of royal icing.
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For these Binx cookies, I again used black cocoa powder, which I got from King Arthur Baking. I wanted the cookies to have a deep chocolate flavor and have a black color to best represent Binx’s fur color. In addition to the black cocoa, I used melted bittersweet chocolate to add a more traditional chocolate taste.
To make the dough, first combine the flour, black cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Set aside. Place the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave at 50% power, stirring every 30 seconds, until melted. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, beat the butter until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Then, add the egg and beat until combined. Next, add the vanilla extract and the melted chocolate and beat until well-incorporated. Gradually add the flour mixture and beat until combined.
Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a flat disk. Wrap both halves in plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator until the dough is firm, about 4 hours. You can also make it the night before you want to use it and let it chill overnight. Make sure to let the dough rest at room temperature for 30 minutes before rolling it out.
When you’re ready to make the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 F and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Place 1 disk of dough between two pieces of wax or parchment paper. Roll dough to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thickness and cut out using cat shaped cookie cutters. I used a few different cookie cutters, including some from Ann Clark, Nordicware, and Wilton. There are tons of different ones available, so definitely pick whichever you like best!
Once the cookies are cut out, transfer them to the prepared baking sheets. If you don’t want the cookies to spread out while baking, place the baking sheets with the cookies into the refrigerator for 10 minutes or so. There is something kinda cute about the puffy cat shaped cookies, though, so you can also just go ahead and bake them right after cutting them out. Bake cookies for 9-12 minutes, until the top of the cookies are firm and the edges are slightly darker in color. Cool the cookies for a couple minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
While the cookies are cooling, prepare the icing. For these cookies, I just used a little bit of royal icing to add Binx’s green eyes. The cookies are also tasty plain so if you don’t want to make the icing, you don’t need to. You could also add other cat features, like whiskers and a mouth if you would like.
To make the icing, whisk together the powdered sugar and meringue powder in a small bowl. Add the warm water and beat until the icing is glossy and holds stiff peaks. If the icing feels too stiff, add a little bit more water and beat until well combined. To make the light green color, I added a couple drops of green gel food coloring and yellow gel food coloring, both from Americolor. Transfer the icing to a piping bag. Once the cookies have cooled, pipe two green eyes onto each cat cookie.
Enjoy these Binx cookies! Happy National Cat Day!
Binx Cookies
Ingredients
Chocolate Cookies
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup black cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Royal Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 ¼ teaspoons meringue powder
- 2 tablespoons warm water
- green gel food coloring
- yellow gel food coloring
Equipment
- various cat shaped cookie cutters
- piping bag
Instructions
Chocolate Cookies
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Combine the flour, black cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Set aside.
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Place the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and heat in the microwave at 50% power, stirring every 30 seconds, until melted.
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In a separate bowl, beat the butter until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the granulated sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
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Add the egg and beat until combined. Add the vanilla extract and melted chocolate and beat on low speed until combined.
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Gradually add the flour mixture, beating until incorporated.
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Divide the dough in half, shape into a flat disk, and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator until firm, about 4 hours.
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After firm, let the dough rest at room temperature for 30 minutes before rolling out.
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Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
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Place 1 dough disk between two sheets of wax or parchment paper and roll out to ¼ to ½ inch thickness.
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Cut out cookies using the cat shaped cookie cutters. Transfer to the prepared baking sheets, placing them about 1 inch apart. Place the baking sheet with the cookies in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.
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Gather the dough scraps, re-roll, and cut out more cookies. Repeat until desired amount of cookies are cut out.
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Bake until cookies are firm on top and slightly darker around the edges, about 9-12 minutes. Cool cookies for 1-2 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Royal Icing
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In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and meringue powder.
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Add the warm water and beat until the icing is glossy and holds stiff peaks.
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If the icing feels too thick, add more water a little bit at a time, beating to combine.
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Add a couple drops of green and yellow gel food coloring and beat until color is evenly incorporated.
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Transfer icing to a piping bag.
Assembly
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Pipe two eyes onto the cat cookies. Let rest until the icing is set.
Recipe Notes
adapted from Dorie Greenspan