Preheat oven to 400° F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

With mixer on low, slowly add flour mixture to the bowl. The dough is ready when most of it sticks to the paddle. When touched, it has a little give, but does not stick to fingers.

Flour the work surface and roll dough to about 1/4-inch thick, using flour for dusting as necessary (flour will dissolve and not show up on the cookies). Use cookie cutters to cut cookies and place on prepared baking sheet. Gather scraps and reroll dough when necessary.

Bake for 7 to 8 minutes, rotating halfway through. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Melt the chocolate in a medium bowl set over a saucepan of almost-simmering water (see tips for melting chocolate here). Remove from the heat and set aside. Bring the corn syrup and the water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the melted chocolate, confectioners' sugar and vanilla until combined.

Place 2 large wire racks on top of parchment paper or newspaper. Using a small offset metal spatula, spread the icing on the cookies. If necessary, run the spatula around the edge of the cookie to scrape off excess icing. Place the cookies on the wire rack and allow the icing to completely harden, about an hour.

Melt white chocolate wafers in the microwave on 50% power level. Stop to stir every 15 seconds until melted. Transfer melted white chocolate to a frosting bag with a small round tip.

Pipe melted white chocolate on top of chocolate icing to make cookies look like footballs. Pipe two vertical curved white lines on both ends of the cookie. Pipe one horizontal curved line in the center and add a couple small vertical lines for the laces. Dry completely before serving.