Staff Pick! Divine Button Cookies

Empowerment of people, women's equality, environmental sustainability, living wages and fair labor laws, social and economic justice- where else can all of these concepts and practices be combined besides through fair trade? The current economic system we have that encourages companies to produce as much as possible as cheaply as possible for the most profit at the expense of people and the environment is not benefiting 99.9% of the world and is unsustainable. A system that makes trade a fair and equal exchange of ideas and products between people is much better! Divine's type of fair trade, that allows farmers to be the investors in their own company and receive a cut of profit for social community programs, on top of the regular fair trade price, is a great model. Through my work in George Washington University Students for Fair Trade, I have had the privilege of hearing farmers speak from one of the cooperatives Divine works with in Ghana, and their work is innovative. I am excited to be involved in this recipe contest and this movement and to see its values become increasingly popular with each year. Social justice is scrumptious with Divine Chocolate!

Preparation time:

10 minutes

Cook time:

20 minutes

Recipe yield:

Makes 25 servings

Ingredients

1/2 lb. (2 sticks) butter (or non-dairy substitute)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup corn starch
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons Divine cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
7 oz. Divine Milk Chocolate- cut into 1/2 inch squares
(optional) Divine Hazelnut Milk Chocolate instead of plain chocolate and 1 cup crushed hazelnuts

Steps

In a bowl, mix softened butter, sugar, and vanilla extract until whipped. (If you don't have enough butter, some cream cheese works too.)
Gradually mix in flour, salt, corn starch, cocoa. (If you add the cocoa now the color of the dough will be even. For a marbled effect, as pictured, add the cocoa after the dough is mixed.)
Form into one-inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet.
Make an indentation on the top of each ball and place a square of Divine Milk Chocolate in each indentation. Shape the dough around the chocolate as desired.
Bake for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees or until the cookies are firm.
(Optional) while the chocolate is still melted, sprinkle crushed hazelnuts on each cookie. This works best if you used Divine Hazelnut Milk Chocolate!