What can I say about this recipe!! It is delicious and so easy to put together. It is adapted/amended from a NYT Cooking recipe. This is a wonderful addition to my sweet table with loonie/toonie sized cookies. The original recipe called for cutting the logs into what looked like sawed wood, but it is not the most conducive for giving so I changed how it was cut.  I will tell you mine do not look as glamorous as the original, but tasty, oh yes! Remember,  recipes are guides, I’m adapting it for my needs to give you another 2024 Christmas Treat – Bouche Noel Cookies!

So there are no tricky parts to his recipe. Make/chill the dough, make the filling, roll out the chilled dough, spread the filling onto the dough leaving 1” at the top clear and roll up jellyroll style. Slice and bake! If you haven’t made this kind of cookie before, it can seem daunting, but fear not, it is doable. Some tips for you to make the rolling out of the dough and the rolling up of the dough into a log easier. After you make the dough, half or third the dough to make smaller amounts which are easier to manage. Place each onto a piece of plastic wrap and using your fingers flatten it out into a 3” x 11” rectangle. This makes the rolling out easier as the shape is already set and beyond this you really are only rolling it a couple more inches each way.

Have faith that the filling will thicken up as promised, it doesn’t seem like it will at first, but within seconds comes together. Use the parchment paper or plastic wrap as a guide to help you both roll and keep the roll tight. The tighter the roll, the cleaner looking the cookie – loose or tight, this cookie tastes the same :). All the components of a true Bouche de Noel are there, the cake part, the filling, the rolling.

Try this take on a classic Christmas dessert! The instructions below are for small cookies, dimensions will be different if you decide to cut the dough into 2 pieces. I would keep the length at around 11 – 12” and the width around 6 – 7”. Regardless of the size, everyone will enjoy it!   As always – enjoy!

Ingredients:
For the Dough
2½ cups/320 grams all-purpose flour
1 cup/110 grams powdered sugar
3 tbsps unsweetened cocoa powder
½ tsp kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
12 tbsps/170 grams unsalted butter, cut into pieces, chilled
1 large egg
2 tbsps sour cream
2 tsps vanilla extract

For the Filling:
4 oz/113 grams semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
6 tbsps/85 grams unsalted butter
2 tbsps powdered sugar
1 tbsp all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1 large egg, yolk and white separated
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
Add the flour, powdered sugar, cocoa powder and salt to the food processor and pulse a couple of times to combine and aerate
Add the butter pieces and process until the butter breaks down into very fine bits
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, sour cream and vanilla until smooth – using the drip spout on your processor, slowly add the egg mixture while it is on – the dough will ball up and come together around the blade
Scrape the dough onto a piece of plastic or parchment and cut into 3 equal pieces if you want small cookies as I tend to like at this time of year, and 2 if you want larger cookies. The instructions below are based on small cookies – the process is the same (but bigger cookies result)
Roll each portion into a 9″ log (approximately), and using your fingers, flatten and press each portion into an 11-by-3-inch rectangle, wrap and chill.
Repeat with the remaining piece – chill for at least 1 hour
When the dough has properly chilled, make the chocolate filling by melting the butter and chocolate in a heat proof bowl in the microwave – do this in 30 second bursts, it should take between 3 and 4 bursts – stir to mix (or do it using a double boiler)
Add the powdered sugar, flour, egg yolk and vanilla, and whisk until completely smooth – set aside, stirring occasionally until cooled but still loose 
Remove a piece of dough from the refrigerator, unwrap and place on a long piece of lightly floured parchment paper.
Dust the dough’s surface with flour and roll into a thin 15-by-6-inch rectangle, lifting the dough and adding flour as needed to prevent sticking
If you want small cookies like I did, cut the dough at about 3” all the way across leaving you with 2 strips of 15” x 3” dough
If you have jagged edges, just trim these off using a knife or pizza cutter, press the cut pieces into other jagged portions to square them off
Spread about 1/3 of the melted chocolate mixture onto the dough and spread all the way to the edges of 3 sides, leave about 1” without any chocolate (one of the long ends)
Starting at the long side with full chocolate coverage, use the parchment to help you roll the dough away from you into a long, tightly coiled log, dusting away any excess flour as you roll
Transfer the log to a baking sheet seam-side down and set aside, then repeat the rolling and filling process with the remaining dough
Place the logs on the same baking sheet, transfer to the refrigerator, and chill until firm, 20 to 25 minutes.
As the dough chills, arrange an oven rack in the center position and heat to 350f. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment – set aside.
Transfer one log at a time to a cutting board and use a sharp knife cut into ¼” slices
Repeat the slicing process with the remaining logs and place on the same baking sheet, spacing them evenly – they won’t spread much so you can put them close together
Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake until the cookies are puffed and firm to the touch, 20 to 25 minutes
Let them cool completely on the baking sheet

Notes, Tips and/or Recommendations
I gently rolled the cut cookie dough into a cinnamon sugar mix – I used 1 tsp cinnamon and 4 tbsp sugar
You can also roll the entire log before cutting into the same mixture or another flavor – some type of vanilla sugar
Add some white chocolate to the filling  (just split the quantity half dark/white) to lighten up the color and make it more distinguishable