Dorrie Greenspan‘s most famous recipe, World Peace Cookies, screams chocolate; yes, screams!  It’s a roll-and-slice dough made with lots of chopped bittersweet chocolate. The texture of the cookie approaches that of shortbread, but it’s not as crumbly.

Roll-and-slice cookies are a bit bothersome to work with. There’s that whole chilling step to deal with.  Then there’s the slicing, and this dough crumbles when sliced. It’s easy enough to squish the dough back together and reform the cookie, but it’s annoying to have to hassle with it. I do like the fact that one roll of the roll-and-slice dough can be refrigerated, or frozen, to be baked later though 🙂

I made a mint version of this cookie by stirring in 3/4 teaspoon mint extract in with the vanilla (I then rolled the roll in green decorating sugar to distinguish it from the pure chocolate cookie).  The mint version tasted like Mint Chocolate Girl Scout cookies! I loved them.

In 2025 Dori Greenspan updated this cookie to World Peace Cookies 2.0 to include rye flour, freeze dried raspberries and cayenne pepper, which sounds interesting, but I haven’t tried them yet. I have included the recipe below in case you’d like to try them.

World peace anyone? I do love the name of this cookie!

World Peace Cookies 1.0

INGREDIENTS

• 1¼ cups all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 11 tablespoons (1 stick plus 3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt (can use any type of salt)
• 5 ounces extra-bittersweet chocolate—not to exceed 85% cacao—chopped with no pieces bigger than 1/3 inch

DIRECTIONS

1. Sift flour, cocoa, and baking soda into medium bowl.
2. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth but not fluffy.
3. Add both sugars, vanilla, and salt; beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
4. Add flour mixture; beat until just blended—mixture may be crumbly.
5. Add chopped chocolate; mix just to distribute—if dough doesn’t come together, knead lightly in bowl to form a ball.
6. Divide dough in half. Place each half on sheet of plastic wrap. Form each into a 1½” diameter log.
7. Wrap each in plastic; chill until firm, about 3 hours.

DO AHEAD: Can be made 3 days ahead. Keep chilled.

1. Preheat oven to 325°.
2. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
3. Using thin sharp knife, cut logs crosswise into ½” thick rounds. Space 1″ apart on prepared sheets.
4. Bake 1 sheet at a time until cookies appear dry, they will not be firm or golden at edges, 11-12 minutes.
5. Transfer to rack; cool. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

World Peace Cookies 2.0

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (135g) All-Purpose Flour
• ½ cup (53g) King Arthur Organic Medium Rye Flour
• 1/3 cup (28g) Dutch-Process cocoa—this can be Hershey’s DARK, Guittard or Ghirardelli brands-don’t used the regular Hershey’s cocoa powder.
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 11 tablespoons (155g) unsalted butter, cut into chunks, at cool room temperature
• 2/3 cup (142g) light brown sugar or dark brown sugar, packed
• ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon fleur de sel/sea salt OR ¼ teaspoon salt
• Pinch of cayenne OR piment d’Espelette
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 5 ounces (142g) semisweet chocolate or bittersweet chocolate, chopped (chip-size pieces)
• 1/3 cup (40g) cocoa nibs OR just add in 40g more of chopped chocolate)
• ½ cup (15g) freeze-dried raspberries, coarsely chopped or broken
• Maldon or other flaky sea salt for sprinkling, optional

DIRECTIONS

1. To make the dough: Sift together the flours, cocoa powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
2. Working in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter and both sugars together on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes.
3. Beat in the salt, piment d’Espelette OR cayenne, and vanilla.
4. Turn off the mixer, add the dry ingredients all at once, and pulse to start the blending. When the risk of a flour storm has passed, beat on low speed until the dough forms big, moist curds—this can take a couple of minutes, so don’t be afraid to keep mixing.
5. Toss in the chocolate pieces, nibs, and raspberries and mix to incorporate. Note: Sometimes the dough comes together and cleans the sides of the bowl and sometimes it crumbles—it’ll be fine no matter what.
6. Turn the dough out, gather it together and, if necessary, knead it a bit to bring it together—divide the dough in half.
7. To shape the cookies: Shape each half of dough into a log 1½” in diameter. The length will be between 7” and 8”, but don’t worry about it—it’s the diameter that counts here. If you get a hollow in either of the logs, just start over.
8. Wrap the logs and freeze them for at least two hours, or refrigerate for at least three hours. If you’d like, you can freeze the logs for up to two months; let stand at room temperature for about 15 minutes before slicing and baking.
9. To bake the cookies: Preheat the oven to 325°. Lightly grease two baking sheets, or line with parchment paper.
10. Using a chef’s knife, slice one log of dough into 1/2″-thick rounds—don’t worry if they crack, just pinch and squeeze the bits back into the cookie.
11. Arrange the rounds on the baking sheet, leaving about 2” between them. If you’d like, sprinkle the tops sparingly with flaky salt.
12. Bake the cookies for 12 minutes—don’t open the oven door to check, just let them bake. They won’t look fully baked and they won’t be firm, but that’s the way they’re supposed to be.
13. Transfer the sheet to a rack and let the cookies cool until they’re only just warm or at room temperature.
14. Repeat with the remaining log of dough.
15. Storage information: Packed airtight, the cookies will keep for five days at room temperature (they’ll get a little drier, but they’re still good); or for up to two months in the freezer.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today!