On Saturday Dan and I ran a 5k race around Lake Harriet in Minneapolis. It was a breezy 1F (-20C) when we set off and most of the experience was spent trying to ignore the burning in my lungs and the numbing of my chin. Actually, it was really fun, as slightly extreme experiences like that tend to be, and we had a great time. But still – it was chuffing cold.
So I came home from the race and had a very long, very hot shower and a gorgeous fresh bagel and then set about making these cookies. Nothing soothes like a huge batch of chocolate-y, spiced cookies on a frigid day. Or any of the many days to follow…
The inspiration for these cookies came from David Lebovitz’s recipe for Mexican hot chocolate. I’ve started putting cinnamon in my hot chocolate and love it. Furthermore I’ve had a recipe for chipotle flour-less chocolate cake bookmarked for an ungodly amount of time. All of these ideas morphed in my mind until I decided that these cookies should come into existence.
I based the cookie recipe here on my chocolate cookies with sea salt (a perennial fave in the E4E household and one of the most popular posts on this blog) but added cinnamon and chile powder. I also omitted the sprinkling of sea and used half dark chocolate and half milk chocolate. I might use cayenne pepper next time in addition to or instead of chile powder. You can certainly taste the spice but it’s not overwhelming and the cinnamon is definitely the dominant flavour after chocolate, so adjust as you see fit.
Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon chile powder
- 4 oz dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa), 2 ounces coarsely chopped and 2 ounces cut into 1/4-inch chunks
- 4 oz milk chocolate, 2 ounces coarsely chopped and 2 ounces cut into 1/4-inch chunks
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Directions
- Preheat oven to 325F. Combine 2 ounces coarsely chopped dark chocolate with 2 ounces coarsely chopped milk chocolate with the butter and melt the two together in a pan. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly while you move onto step two.
- Sieve into a bowl and then whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and chile powder; set aside.
- Put chocolate mixture, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a bowl and mix until combined. Gradually add in the flour mixture. Fold in the remaining dark and milk chocolate chunks.
- Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto parchment-lined (or Silpat-lined) baking sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies are flat and surfaces crack, about 15 minutes (cookies should be soft). Let them cool on parchment on wire racks. Cookies can be stored between layers of parchment in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days. Or, just invite some friends over and watch them disappear. Makes about 2 dozen large cookies.
