A long time ago in a kitchen far, far away there existed a mysterious group of delicious furry creatures named Wookie cookies. Made of chocolate, chocolate, frosting, and more chocolate, these linguistically inclined individuals were found to be easy to cook and devour.

Here is an easy step-by-step on how to make a nice batch of Wookie cookies!

Step 1: Ingredient List

The ingredients for these cookies can be broken down into two groups, one for frosting and another for the cookie making:

Frosting:
1 container of black food coloring
1 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cookie:
1 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cups packed (10½ ounces) light brown sugar
2 large eggs
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
8 ounces semisweet chocolate bars
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoons instant coffee or espresso powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Step 2: Frosting Mix

Making the frosting can be done either before or after the cookies are made but I thought it would be good to put first because it's so easy. The frosting will be used to create the ammo belt that Chewie always wears. A little black frosting could also be used for a little Wookie face but I didn't have any toothpicks around to do detailed frosting so I skipped that part.

Steps:

1) In a large bowl, mix together the confectioners' sugar and shortening until smooth.
2) Gradually mix in the milk and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth and stiff, about 5 minutes.
3) Split the frosting into two equally sized groups keeping one group white and dying the other group with drops of black food coloring (I used about fifteen or twenty but you could use more to get the frosting even darker). Set the frosting bowls aside for later.

Step 3: Cookie Step 1

Now the actual cookie making will start. For the first step, mix the baking powder, cocoa, flour, and salt together in a bowl and set it aside for later. This is simple and doesn't require any stirring.

Step 4: Cookie Step 2

Chop up the chocolate bars into small pieces and nuke them in the microwave to melt the chocolate down to a liquid.

If you've never melted chocolate in the microwave before, here's a quick rundown of how to do it. Set the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl that will not conduct too much heat after a few minutes of cooking in the microwave (that means you should be able to take the dish out with your hand and not get burned). Put the microwave power on about 40-50% to keep from burning the chocolate (I've never done this but I've heard that it makes the chocolate taste terrible). For this dish you'll want to run the microwave for about 3 minutes although the exact time may vary by 10 or so seconds because not all microwaves cook with the same amount of power. MAKE SURE to open the microwave about once a minute to check on how the chocolate is cooking. It is also good to stir the chocolate around with a spoon each time the microwave is opened to ensure that the chocolate is melting evenly.

Step 5: Cookies Step 3

In a small bowl, beat the eggs with a fork. Then add vanilla and sprinkle the coffee powder over the mixture. Put this aside for later too.

Step 6: Cookies Step 4

This step is really important and kind of big so I'm going to break this into sub-steps so it's easier to follow.

1) With an electric mixer on medium speed beat the butter until it is smooth and creamy, it should take about 5 seconds.

2) Mix the sugars in and then reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the the egg mixture from the last step until everything is evenly distributed, about 45 seconds.

3) Add the chocolate in a steady stream and beat until combined, about 40 seconds. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to get all of the chocolate out of the bowl.

4) With the mixer at low speed, add the flour, cocoa powder, and salt from step cookie step 1 and mix everything until evenly distributed. Try not to over-beat the mixture.

5) Pour in the chocolate chips.

6) Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until the consistency is scoopable and fuge-like, about 30 minutes. Start pre-heating the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit (or 177 Celsius if you like that more) while you wait.

Step 7: Cookie Step 5

Now that the mix is ready to go, lay down some parchment paper over the baking sheets you're going to use. Grab a little chunk of dough and get ready to start making Wookies! Start by molding the dough into a big ball. Then do a little pinch on the top to form a head and four bigger pinches for each of the arms and legs. This might take a couple tries because the dough is a little chunky with all of the chips but try channeling the force to make it all end up nice and smooth. Alternatively, if you have a cookie cutter for gingerbread men or some person-shaped cookie you could probably cheat and use that but you'll miss out on some of the fun of the Wookie making.

Space the Wookies about 1 inch apart on the parchment paper.

Step 8: Cookie Step 6

Bake until the edges of the cookies have just begun to set but the centers are still very soft, about 10 minutes. Rotate the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom about halfway through baking process. Let the cookies cool about 10 minutes. Slide the parchment with the cookies onto wire racks, and let cool to room temperature. Cover one cooled baking sheet with a new piece of parchment paper. Remove cooled cookies from the parchment with a wide metal spatula.

Repeat cookie step 5 if there's more dough to be cooked!

Step 9: Give the Wookies Some Clothes!

After the cookies are done cooling grab the two frosting batches to make belts for the Wookies. To get this done right it would be easiest to use a toothpick, but if you don't have one lying around just spread the frosting with the tip of your finger (I hope you washed your hands before cooking : D). First, make the base layer for the belt by spreading a line of black frosting diagonally across the chest of the Wookie. Try to keep this as smooth as possible, removing any excess globs of frosting that are sticking out. After the black layer, add three little square dabs of white frosting on top of the black line to emulate the ammo pouches.

Step 10:

Good job, you've just finished making your first batch of Wookie cookies! Now it's time to eat all the leftover frosting with a spoon (lol) and enjoy your cookies!