Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies
I first had Mexican chocolate while vacationing with my family in Mexico. As a teenager, I did not appreciate the intense flavor profile of this chocolate. Luckily, my palate has evolved and I have since learned to appreciate this beautiful marriage of sweet and spicy.
The history of chocolate takes us to Mesoamerica and the Aztecs. At that time, the cocoa beans were roasted and made into a chocolaty drink that was prepared with cinnamon and other spices. This was the start of “Mexican Hot Chocolate”. 🙂
I was asked to make cookies for a Fiesta themed birthday party and I wanted to incorporate chocolate and spice. I played around with the ingredients and did a lot of research. After fine tuning several recipes, I came to this one! It was adapted in part from Martha Stewart.
These cookies have a complexity that leaves your taste buds guessing. At the first bite, your taste buds are excited with a sweet chocolaty and creamy note. You are then left with a nice warmth in the back of your mouth. Its truly a beautiful experience. Which is why you should make these cookies 😀
Thank you to Fred Meyer Stores for sponsoring this post!
Here is my recipe:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
- 4 oz dark chocolate
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Place chocolate in a bowl. Melt butter and pour it over the chocolate. The heat from the butter will melt the chocolate.
- In a stand mixer, cream together sugars and eggs. Add in melted chocolate and butter mixture. Slowly mix in flour, baking soda and spices.
- Using a spatula, fold in chocolate chips.
- On a parchment lined cookie sheet, drop cookie dough using a small ice cream scoop (about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough per cookie).
- Bake for 12-14 minutes.
- Cool on cookie rack.
- Enjoy!
This is what the chocolate melting process looks like 😀
