As seen on WGN9 Lunchbreak.

These Christmas Checkerboard Cookies are some of my favorite cookies to make for the holidays. They’re made with chocolate and vanilla dough, that look like miniature Christmas gifts when I pipe on a little icing bow. They are so cute! At first glance, these festive cookies might look a little tricky, but don’t get discouraged: this checkerboard cookie recipe is easy. You’ll start by making a vanilla dough and dividing it into four pieces. This is when things get exciting! The red checker is flavored with maraschino cherries, the green one is made with finely chopped pistachios, and for the white one I like to use orange zest and leave the dough a neutral color. The best part is the brown checker: cocoa powder and Kahlúa come together for a rich, adult flavor that everyone will devour.

Here’s a tip: anyone can do this! To make a seamless checkerboard, all four flavors of dough are combined to make a log. Just roll each dough quarter out into a long strip and stack them in pairs to make one big log. Here’s another tip: refrigerate the dough after you assemble the log for perfect checkers. It’s too soft to slice at room temperature. When the log is firm, you can slice, bake and serve