Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies

When I went to see the Martha Show for to tweet at her cookie special, one of the cookies she made were Mexican Hot Chocolate cookies. The boyfriend (who was most certainly not there) could not stop talking about them. When I tried them at the show, they were good, but there was nothing really Mexican about them, no kick, and I am pretty sure that they left out the chili pepper, because a large crowd, not everyone likes chili, etc. So I made them my way, and they were fantastic! You can't really taste the chili, but it has a little bite to it. The cookies remind me so much of a glass of hot chocolate, I think it's the texture. They were a big hit as part of my Christmas Cookie tray and definitely my favorite of the bunch!



Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies:
1 cup of unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar, divided
2 eggs
1 tsp of vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups of flour
1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp of cream of tartar
1 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of instant coffee
3 tsp of cinnamon, divided
1 1/2 tsp of chili powder, divided

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees, position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, cream together butter and 1 3/4 cups of sugar until smooth and creamy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until combined. Add the cocoa, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, coffee, 1 tsp of cinnamon, 1/2 tsp of chili powder, and 1/4 cup of flour. Mix until everything is incorporated. Add additional cup of flour, and mix until flour is incorporated, repeat with last cup of flour. In a small bowl mix remaining sugar with 2 tsp of cinnamon and 1 tsp of chili powder. Scoop dough by tablespoon, roll it into a ball and roll it in the sugar mixture, then place on the baking sheet, repeat. Place the cookies about 3 inches apart, they spread. Put the first cookie sheet in the oven on the upper level and bake there for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, repeat the cookie assembly process and fill another cookie sheet. When the first set of cookies has been in the oven 5 minutes, transfer that sheet to the lower portion, rotating the tray and place the unbaked tray on the upper rack. Bake for 5 minutes, then remove the lower sheet from the oven and move the upper sheet to the lower rack. Allow cookies to cool a few minutes before removing from sheets. Repeat this process until the dough is all gone. (recipe adapted from Martha Stewart)

Here is a picture of the Christmas Cookie Tray, the Hot Chocolate Cookies are at the top right, my sea salt chocolate chip cookies are right below that, The Ginger Bread Men recipe is from Martha, they are really spiced! And those biscotti will be coming soon to a blog near you...



Happy Eating.