These are my ultimate comfort cookies. I love their texture: They lie in the crossroads between soft, crispy, and gooey. I love their flavor: The cinnamon and black pepper add complexity while making my taste buds buzz with delight. I love the memories they give me.
Whenever I make these cookies, I'm immediately taken back to my senior year of college. I was living in the attic of a run-down house with my best friend and our apartment-mate, Mandy. (And a huge cat, Charlie). Mandy had recently returned from a semester abroad in Chile, where she had tasted a dessert with chocolate and black pepper. We were always cooking and baking in our micro-kitchen, and one evening Mandy decided to re-invent the flavors she had tasted. What resulted from her experiment were these amazing cookies. We ate them immediately and made a batch almost weekly. They're lovely warm when the temperature heat can enhance the peppery heat in the cookies, and the cinnamon in the dough makes me always think of Mexican Hot Chocolate. mmm.
I hope that you'll enjoy this recipe and will make your own memories surrounding these delicious cookies!
Mandy's Mexican Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
Original Recipe by my lovely friend, Mandy
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (or more for your liking)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper (optional)
1/4 pound, coarsely chopped good quality dark chocolate
1/2 cup (one stick) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1. Pre-heat oven to 335 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl set over simmering water (or double boiler), melt the chocolate and butter together. Let cool slightly.
4. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, cream the butter/chocolate mixture with the sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Then, add in the vanilla extract.
5. Reduce speed and gradually add the flour mixture. Fold in the chocolate chips.
6. Roll the dough into balls just a little larger than a golf ball. Place on the parchment paper, with 2-3 inches between the cookies.
7. Bake the cookies in the oven for 17 minutes. It is important to not over cook. Remove the cookies from the oven (they will be very soft), and slide the parchment paper (with cookies on it) onto a towel on the counter/table. Allow the cookies to slowly cool on the parchment for 10 minutes before attempting to remove them.
8. While the first batch of cookies are cooling, you can place another piece of parchment on the cookie sheet and put a second batch in the oven.
PS - Check out this awesome set up my best friend - and fellow Mexican Double Chocolate Chip Cookie lover - got me for Christmas! Now I can try to take more professional photos for the blog. :)
