One fine day as I was playing chess with my friend an idea struck me. I asked her what if I make something which has the pattern of chess on it. Then I looked and search the internet,and found this interesting checkerboard cookie’s recipe. It was just like ” Great minds think alike”.Although I didn’t follow the exact measurement , I will tell you the accurate measurements if you believe in perfection. But for the time enjoy cooking and sharing your experiences.I am sharing the eggless version of these cookies.

Ingredients:
1. All purpose flour or cake flour(maida) – 2 and ¹⁄₂ cups
2. unsalted Butter Sticks -2 (1 cup) IF you are using salted then skip salt
3. Sugar – 1 cup
4. Cocoa powder(sweetened) – 3 Tbsp
5. Vanilla essence- ¹⁄₄ tsp
6. salt -¹⁄₄ tsp
7. baking powder – ¹⁄₂ tsp
8. Lemon juice – ¹⁄₄ tsp
9. baking soda – ¹⁄₄ tsp

Method:
Making Dough—>
1. There are 2 ways of making dough for the cookies.In the first method you divide the whole ingredients in 2 parts except cocoa powder and then make the 2 doughs in 2 bowls.
2.a)Following the 1st method , take 1st bowl and add melted butter and sugar in it.
b) Similarly take another bowl beat the sugar and butter first and then add the remaining ingredients in the same manner. Here add the cocoa powder 3 tbsp to the mixture.Now sift in the cake flour and form a soft dough with a spatula or using your hands.

1. In the 2nd method, don’t divide the ingredients but beat the melted and cooled butter with the sugar to form a frothy creamy mixture.Then add salt, baking soda,baking powder,lemon juice and vanilla essence in the mixture. Now sieve in the whole flour and keep mixing with a spatula or with your hands with slight kneading. Then divide the dough into two equal parts. In the 2nd part add cocoa powder and mix well till it gets evenly incorporated in the dough.

2. Next step is to wrap them in plastic wrap and keep in the refrigerator for at least half an hour. The advantage here is you may keep the dough in the fridge for 1-2 days and then bake the cookies or you may store it in the freezer and use it after several weeks to bake the cookies.

Shaping the dough:
1st way–>
1. After ¹⁄₂ hour, remove the dough from the fridge and plastic wrap.Now give it a cuboid shape ,same as that of butter stick by pressing gently on the plastic wrap and tapping the corners lightly. If you are using it after a long time the dough needs to be thawed.
2. Place them on the chopping board or your counter,and try to shape them as equal in length,width and height as possible with your hands.Since the dough is soft,so be careful and gentle.You might have to pick up the broken pieces every now and then,to bring it in a shape.
3. Now take the vanilla dough first and cut three strips out of it lengthwise of nearly equal size with a sharp edge knife.Similarly cut three chocolate strips from the chocolate dough.
6. Now place the vanilla strip on the bottom ,stack chocolate strip on it and then vanilla strip again.Similarly
take the chocolate strip on the bottom , then stack the vanilla and finally the chocolate strip.
7. Again cut three rows lengthwise from the 2 doughs each. So this is what you get.
8. So you have two kinds of strip now V-C-V and C-V-C strips – 3 each. Now again swap each set the same way,i.e. at the bottom V-C-V,middle C-V-C and top V-C-V . Similarly at the bottom C-V-C,middle V-C-V and the top C-V-C.

1. Now again wrap the dough nicely in plastic and keep in the fridge for 15 mins.
   
   

2nd way —>
1. Take 2 parchment papers and draw 15″ by 5″ rectangle on them with a scale and a marker.
2. Turn the paper upside down, now unwrap your vanilla dough.First of all roll the dough with hands within the plastic.
Try to give it a rectangle shape with hands on the counter or the chopping board.
3. Next keep the dough on the rectangle on the parchment paper and shape it according to the rectangle by gently pressing it .Take a rolling pin and smoothen out the dough in the exact shape.
4. Similarly shape the chocolate dough .
5. Now wrap the doughs in their parchment papers ,place them in the baking sheets and keep them in the refrigerator for 2 hrs.
6. Take them out and unwrap them .Now take a ruler and mark ¹⁄₂ inches calibrations on the width of the rectangle.You need 9 equal strips of each vanilla and chocolate.
7. Now assemble them by placing vanilla strip in the left,then chocolate strip in the middle and then the vanilla strip at the right.Now layer the chocolate strip on vanilla ,vanilla on chocolate and again chocolate on vanilla.Finally layer the top most layer by keeping vanilla-chocolate- vanilla on the top.Wrap these strips in plastic and again keep them in refrigerator for 1 hr.

1. After this time , take out the dough. Line the baking tray with parchment paper or wax paper. Set the oven at 338 degree F or 170 degree C .For setting an analog oven which has the divisions of 25 Degree F ,set it in the mid-point of 325 and 350 degree F.
   
2. Cut square checkerboard slices from the dough slowly and line them in the tray leaving some gap between each of them.
   
3. Bake in the oven for 15- 20 mins. It depends on the oven. If the oven is preheated it will take 15 mins only. Also it depends on the thickness of cookies you have cut.
   
4. Check them after 15 mins.Once you start getting the nice vanilla aroma and see light darkening of vanilla squares, they are cooked.
   

5. Take them out and let them cool to the room temperature else they might break. Now take them out slowly and keep them in air-tight container.Enjoy.