September 16 Fiesta - Spicy Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies

The 16th of September hits mid-week this year, and I wanted to make chiles en nogada for The Colonel. It's way too much work for mid-week, survivable only by drinking a lot of wine during the lengthy production. 

Remember? I made the full menu, with Mexican Flag Rice. The Colonel loves, loves, loves rice dishes. I started early on Saturday and got the pork going. I have fallen a little out of love with Food City. The 5 pound bone in pork shoulder I thought was such a great deal turned out to contain 3 pounds of fat to be removed. So the first step took twice as long as usual. But once that was rolling and I got the chiles under the broiler, things went swimmingly, with chopping and peeling and organizing filling ingredients while pork and chiles cooked. 

I had decided to make Mexican cookies and wanted to look at Frida's Fiestas for inspiration, but I really wanted a Mexican chocolate cookie with chile powder. That book didn't have any, so I turned to the Interwebs. Voila!

The next challenge was finding unsweetened baker's chocolate. We were looking for a file cabinet and had hit Target and WalMart, figuring we could get groceries there as well. We were let down in both cases. We were passing by Food City, but were denied again. After Stop 4 of the morning, we got it at Safeway. Ay, caramba.

The chiles and rice came out beautifully, although I had to go with packaged pomegranate arils because it's too early out here for pomegranate season. And the cookies? Divine!

Mangia!

http://chimangiabenevivechronicles.blogspot.com/2014/11/dias-de-los-muertos-and-pomegranate.html

Spicy Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies

Courtesy: The Cooking Channel

INGREDIENTS

1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter

4 ounces good-quality unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

In a heatproof bowl set over simmering water, melt the butter and chocolate together, whisking until glossy and smooth. Alternately, the butter and chocolate can be melted in the microwave (in a microwave-safe bowl) in 25-second increments, whisking between each interval. Cool the chocolate mixture to room temperature.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a hand-held mixer), beat the brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla extract and eggs on low speed until well combined. Pour in the cooled chocolate and continue to mix until the ingredients are evenly distributed.

In a medium bowl sift together the flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, chili powder, baking soda, salt and cayenne pepper. Add the dry ingredients to the chocolate batter and mix on low speed until just combined and no visible flour remains. Fold in the chocolate chips with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon.

Working in two batches, scoop 12 balls of dough (preferably using a small ice cream scoop with a spring handle, about 1 1/2 tablespoon size) onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, leaving at least 1 1/2 inches of space between each cookie. Bake the cookies, one pan at a time, for approximately 14 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through cooking time. The cookies should be puffy and still fairly soft when removed from the oven.

Immediately slide the cookies, still on the parchment paper, onto a wire cooling rack. Cool just a bit before serving, 5 to 10 minutes. Cookies can be stored in airtight container for up to three days, but I prefer them on the day they are baked.