Think Mexican hot chocolate with cayenne pepper and cinnamon but in a cookie form.
About the recipe
Our family loves Mexican hot chocolate. That creamy hot chocolate with cinnamon and a hint of cayenne pepper – yummy 😋! So when I came upon a hot chocolate recipe in the May issue of Martha Stewart Living Magazine that took the flavors of Mexican hot chocolate and transformed it into a cookie, I had to try it.
I followed the recipe as directed and these cookies turned out perfect, just perfect. The cookies are crunchy outside from the turbinado sugar and soft inside from over two cups of dark semisweet chocolate chips.
What makes these Mexican hot chocolate cookies taste scrumptious is the lovely fragrance of cinnamon and the delicate hint of cayenne pepper. The cinnamon flavor actually becomes accentuated the day after these cookies are baked.
Because I love to add edible flowers in my sweet treats, to give these dark cookies a pop of flower color I added edible chrysanthemum petals.
Mexican hot chocolate cookies
from Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies on Martha Stewart Living
Ingredients list:
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 stick unsweetened butter
1 cup dark-brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
12 oz semisweet chocolate (61 percent cocoa), chopped – about 2 1/3 cups
1/2 cup turbinado sugar
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds.
Step 1: In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down side of bowl. Add eggs and beat to combine. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture and beat until combined.
Step 2 In a small bowl, combine remaining 1/4 cup sugar, chocolate chips, cinnamon, and chili powder (if using). Using heaping tablespoons, form balls of dough and roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture.
Place, about 3 inches apart, on two parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until cookies are set in center and begin to crack, about 10 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through.
To add chrysanthemum petals, gently press the petals onto the dough before rolling in the turbinado sugar, and then bake as instructed.
Alternatively, once the cookies are out of the oven gently sink the petals into the warm cookies.
The petals keep their glorious color even after the cookies are baked and the flower color lasts for as long as the cookies do.
Let cookies cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to racks to cool completely. (Store in an airtight container, up to 1 week.)
