I have a paper copy of Real Simple Magazine’s Spicy Chocolate Cookies, but couldn’t find it online to share it with you. So here you go. My holiday gift to you.
It uses our home-grown cayenne pepper, as well as pantry staples like cinnamon and black pepper. You can freeze the dough for later, or bake them up today for a Christmas treat.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 1/8 to 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (we made our own)
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick) – softened
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Method
In a medium bowl, whisk the first 6 ingredients together.
In a larger mixing bowl (or your stand mixer bowl – much easier!) beat the butter and brown sugar together until they are creamy. Then add the egg and vanilla extract and beat on high speed until fluffy – about 1 minute.
Set the mixer on stir, and slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture until just incorporated.
Dump the dough on to wax paper or parchment and use the paper to shape the dough into a log 1 1/2 -2 inches in diameter and 10 inches long. Twist the ends of the paper and refrigerate for 45 minutes. At this point you can freeze the dough for quick baking later on.
Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
Remove parchment/paper from roll of dough and slice into 1/4″ thick rounds (thaw the dough 5 minutes if frozen before slicing). Position the rounds 1″ apart on an ungreased baking sheet (we used parchment) and bake 8-12 minutes, depending on how crisp you like your cookies. Don’t overbake. They are (IMHO) better at 8 minutes than 10 or 12.
Cool completely on a wire rack. Makes 2 dozen cookies.
