Cream together the softened butter with the granulated sugar until light and fluffy.
Add one egg and mix until fully incorporated.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then stir in the vanilla extract, kosher salt, instant coffee and cocoa powder. Last, mix in 2 cups of all-purpose flour until fully incorporated.
Scoop the cookie dough out onto a large sheet of plastic wrap, form into a flattened disc, wrap tightly and refrigerate the dough for one hour.
When an hour has passed, break off a chunk of dough (about ¼ of the dough) from the disk and leave the rest of the dough in the refrigerator. Place the dough you are working with between two large pieces of parchment paper and roll the dough out to about ¼ inch thick.
Using a 2-inch biscuit cutter, cut out as many cookies as possible. Place the unbaked cookies on a cookie sheet that’s been lined with parchment paper, pierce the cookies with a fork and bake the cookies for 15 minutes at 350 deg F, rotating the cookie sheet halfway through baking.
Remove the cookies from the oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then place them on a wire rack to cool completely.
Repeat the process of rolling, cutting and baking until all of the dough has been processed. You’ll end up with about 56 cookies, give or take.
Tips: (1) While working with the dough, keep it as cold as possible so that it doesn’t turn sticky on you. If you need to flour your biscuit cutter, spatula, etc., use cocoa powder to do so. However, if the dough stays cold, you shouldn’t need the cocoa powder. (2) You do not necessarily have to pierce the cookies with a fork. I happen to like the look, but you can omit this step if you would prefer a smooth cookie. (3) These cookies would be great dipped in dark chocolate. I didn’t bother because I wanted a simple cookie but let me know if you end up going this route! (4) Life is short. Eat cookies for breakfast.
