Thursday, January 27, 2011

...have cookies, will travel...

































mexican hot chocolate...one of my favoritest cozy drinks to make of all time...in a small saucepan over a low flame, stir in 1 cup of your favorite chocolate broken into small pieces with 1 1/2 cups of half&half...faithfully stir...once the chocolate has melted & combined with the half&half, add the tiniest pinch of sea salt, & a sprinkle of chili powder...grate nutmeg& cinnamon in next...give it a few more stirs...it will be thick & very rich, so I suggest serving it in espresso/demitasse cups atop mismatched saucers...lightly dust the top with more cinnamon...you have your delicously cozy mexican hot chocolate...I was inspired to turn this drinking chocolate into cookie form...I had been promising friends that I would bake & mail them cookies for some time...so this seemed like the perfect chance to make it happen...I found a few simple sugar cookie recipes to have a basic template...I tweaked some of the ingredients & added my own spin on it...I can honestly say these cookies are the best cookies I have ever baked in my entire life...for serious...I fervently hope they travel well & taste as good when they reach their destinations...los angeles, oakland, & baltimore...
recipe is as follows...
...using a bright red kitchenaid mixer (<3) mix together 2 cups of softened&salted butter with 2 1/2 cups of sugar...you can use regular white sugar, but the golden brown raw sugar works well too...once mixed, add 3 tsp of vanilla & 2 eggs...
…in a separate bowl, mix together 3 cups of flour, 1 cup of cocoa powder ( I like Trader Joe’s!), 2 tsp of baking powder, 1 tsp sea salt, 1tsp of cayenne pepper, 2 tsp of grated nutmeg, 2 tbsp of grated cinnamon…once combined, slowly add to butter/sugar mixture while mixer is on a slow speed…
…once mixed amazingly well, roll the dough into tiny 1 inch balls, and place on greased cookie sheet…bake in a 375 preheated oven for 8 to 12 minutes….make sure to check on the cookies every few minutes to your desired level of baked <3

2 comments:

  1. That sounds like a lot of nutmeg and cinnamon. Looks like it makes a lot of cookies! I love your creativity!

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  2. gail! you can start with less nutmeg & cinnamon & then add more after you taste the dough...i love fresh spices & the cocoa powder balances them out well! miss you!

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