Chocolate Covered Sugar Cookies - 'Portal' Themed

Cookies!  Sugar cookies to be precise.  From an American recipe that came with the cutters so they are quite chewy.  The cutters were a present from the fiancé and are related to a video game called 'Portal' of which I am rather fond.  When I saw these cutters I knew I had to have them.  So how nice it was that I got them for my birthday.  It's only now though that I had a chance to use them.

All the cookies are covered in milk or white chocolate, with a tiny touch of strawberry chocolate where I needed some pink.  The orange and blue is just tinted white chocolate.  I love my blossom tint powder!  Not the neatest icing job I admit.  I only piped the pink.  Everything else was dipped, or spread on with butter knives and skewers.  It all still took me over an hour to do them all.  The Companion Cubes (the squares) were the trickiest since they had lots of little pieces to be dipped and stuck on without losing half the chocolate.

They are very yummy!  Quite soft but still delicious, especially with the chocolate.  The Turrets (the little three legged robots) are my favourite I think.  The fiancé keeps wanting to eat more of them and is having to restrain himself.

Recipe - adapted from the recipe that came with the Portal 2 Cookie Cutters

Makes 2-3 dozen cookies, depending on the size and shape of your cutters 

• 390g/13.8oz plain flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 185g/6.5oz unsalted butter
• 250g/8oz caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 1.5 tsp vanilla extract

1. Sift the flour and salt together in a small bowl and place to one side.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until it is really creamy. (You can do this by hand but it will take a while).
3. Slowly add the sugar whilst still beating.  Remember to scrape down the edges of the bowl occasionally. 
4. When the mixture is pale and fluffy, add the egg and vanilla extract and mix in.
5. Add half the flour and beat slowly until all the flour is absorbed.  
6. Add the remaining flour and beat until a dough forms.  (My hand mixer couldn't take this step so I had to do it with a spoon and then scoop the dough together with my hands at the end).
7. Divide the dough into two halves, flatten each half into a disk and then wrap in clingfilm.  Refrigerate for at least 2 hours (mine was in there for about 6).
8. After the 2+ hours, remove from the fridge and let sit for 5 minutes.  Meanwhile, flour a work surface and preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.  Line baking trays with greaseproof paper.
9. Roll out the dough so it's about 0.5cm/0.25inches thick.  Cut out your shapes and place on the baking tray.  Scoop together any scraps and roll out again.  Repeat until it's all used up.
10. Bake the cookies for 10-15 minutes until the edges are a slight golden brown. 
11. They will be soft when removed from the oven but they firm up as they cool.  Transfer to a cooling rack once out of the oven.
12. Decorate as you please.  To decorate these specific cookies, I used about 100g/3.5oz white chocolate, 75g/2.6oz milk chocolate, 25g/0.8oz strawberry chocolate (and used the leftovers to make a bunch of tiny hearts from a mould), and orange and blue blossom tint.