Around this time last year I made a few different kinds of cookies that Bogdan took to work. Honestly, these chill-chocolate cookies were included as sort of a last minute afterthought. Now, a year later, I had to really dig deep to remember the other types because the chocolate-chili Mexican cookies were by far the crowd favourite. You see those ones on the end? They’re cream cheese frosted pumpkin spice cookies. The ones on the other side are lemon & walnut shortbread. I still don’t get why the chili-chocolate were so much more popular!
I’m noticing more and more lately that people won’t necessarily be impressed by whatever I think is most exciting. For example, a little while ago I posted my Harvest Biryani With Chickpeas, Dried Cranberries, and Pepitas and my Pumpkin Spice Steel Cut Oat Brûlée (again, as an afterthought) at the same time on Instagram (see my feed to the right!). I thought people would like the Harvest Biryani way more…the pictures were striking, it had much more going on and was (relatively) a bit more complex than the Oat Brûlée.
Wrong.
The Oat Brûlée was way more popular.
Back to a year ago. There were a few requests for this recipe at the time. One, in particular, was from one of Bogdan’s co-workers. Bogdan reminded me so.many.times. The conditions just weren’t ever right: I was in exams, I didn’t have the right vanilla, or cocoa powder…it was summer and too hot to bake spicy chocolate cookies….
Finally, a whole year later, this post is dedicated to you, patient coworker. I’m sorry for delay but it had to be perfect!
I changed the recipe up a bit to make the cookies a little more moist. The chocolate is now inside of them instead of on top but you could easily drizzle more chocolate on top if you like. Also, I used white and bitter-sweet chocolate because it was what I had on hand. I think if I were to do this again I would try bitter-sweet and milk chocolate. Up to you how you do it. The white was really good too.
These cookies are really chocolatey and fudgey with enough spice to really make them pop. I also recently picked up some Vietnamese cinnamon from the girls at Dirty Girl Farm. It has a very bright and rich cinnamon flavour compared to conventional cinnamon. Makes a big difference. Definitely recommended if you can get your hands on some.
Ingredients
115 grams / 4 oz / 8 TBSP (one stick) salted butter (softened)
64 grams / 2.25 oz / 1/2 cup granulated sugar
32 grams / 1.12 oz / 1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract (my go-to is vanilla bean paste)
1 egg
160 grams / 5.6 oz / 1 + 1/4 cups AP flour
1 tsp baking soda
32 grams / 2oz / 1/2 cup cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
90 grams / 3 oz / 1/2 cup each of white & bitter-sweet chocolate chips
1.5 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground cinnamon (my favourite is Vietnamese cinnamon)
32 grams / 1 oz / 2 TBSP granulated sugar with 1/2 tsp cinnamon for edges (optional)
Method
In a large bowl cream together the softened butter and sugars until smooth.
Add egg and vanilla and mix until incorporated.
In a separate bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt.
Use a spatula to fold the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until incorporated.
Add the chocolate chips and mix.
The dough should be chilled before baking. I recommend taking out a sheet of plastic wrap, piling your dough on in a rough log shape and then fold over the plastic wrap and shape it into a nicer log. Place in freezer for about 15-20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 F / 175 C.
Mix the cinnamon sugar to coat the edges on a plate and then remove the log from the freezer. Slice into 1 cm thick pieces and run the edges through the cinnamon sugar, then place on a parchment lined baking sheet. You can also cut the log first into larger pieces and run the entire thing over the cinnamon sugar and then cut into 1 cm thick segments. Up to you.
Bake for about 10 minutes or until the centres of the cookies are still soft but not jiggly. The ideal amount of time for me is 10 minutes for fudgey soft cookies, but conditions can be different so keep an eye on them the first time you make them. If you prefer your cookies crisp bake an additional 2-3 minutes. I also like to bake a test cookie before baking all of them just to make sure it’s to my liking. You could start with less spice, bake a test cookie, and add more if you wanted. If you do bake a test cookie just remember that the cooking time will be different for one cookies versus an entire pan full. Reduce time by 1-2 minutes.
PS: Bogdan’s favourite joke now is that he has to put in requests for things a year in advance. Ha ha.
