Spicy Mexican Hot Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Every year around the holidays I make decorated cookies. I love art/creating and love cooking/eating so it’s the perfect pastime for me to get both in one! I usually make a basic vanilla type sugar cookies for the base of my decorating but this year since the theme for our family’s holiday gathering is Mexican Fiesta I thought I’d formulate a recipe for spicy Mexican hot chocolate cookies. Yesterday I made my Greek Wedding Cookies, which are very similar to Mexican wedding cookies…so two cookies done, check!

These have rich cocoa powder in it and a touch of espresso to bring out the flavor even more. Some other spices it includes is cinnamon, chili powder, cayenne pepper, and nutmeg…and for the flavoring, instead of just regular vanilla I used Mexican vanilla. The chili powder and cayenne give you a little hint of spiciness at the back of your tongue and throat a minute after you take a bite.

When making this recipe you can smell the goodness in the dough once you mix the dry ingredients in with the wet, and they smell wonderful when they come out of the oven. Once these are done you can give them a basic decorated look with just some melted white chocolate and crushed peppermints, or you can go all out and make royal icing (I use Wilton’s recipe and then thin it out as needed), or a simple and quick icing version that uses corn syrup instead of any special ingredients that you may not have at home (like meringue powder). Give this recipe a try and let me know what you think!

You will need:

For the cookies

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons corn starch
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon chili powder (depending on the tingle you want)
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoons Mexican vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon espresso coffee powder diluted in 1 teaspoon of water

For the icing

• 1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons light corn syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (or your flavoring of choice)
• 1 1/2-2 tablespoons milk, water, or fruit juice (or more depending on the consistency you want)
• food coloring of your choice

Alternate decorating method

• melted white chocolate
• crushed peppermint candy

Steps:

1. For the cookies, sift the flour, cocoa , corn starch, cinnamon, chili powder, cayenne, nutmeg, and salt in a bowl and set aside.
2. Cream the room temperature butter and sugar until combined, about a minute, then add in egg, vanilla, and coffee and combine well (about another minute).
3. Add flour mixture in two batches. Mix until it comes together. Don’t overmix.
4. Cut two sheets of parchment paper and plop the dough onto one and press down to a semi-rectangle then top with second piece of parchment.
5. Roll out the dough that is in between the parchment to 1/4 inch thickness and then stick in the refrigerator for at least an hour, to firm up.
6. Take out and release the parchment from one side so it is not sticking and then lay it back onto the cookies and turn the dough around and release the other side and leave it off so you can cut the cookies.
7. Cut the cookies into any shape you like and lay them on a parchment lined cookie sheet (use the parchment you already have cut).
8. Bake cookies for about 9-12 minutes (plus or minus depending on how large/thick you make the cutouts) in a preheated 350 degree Fahrenheit oven, remove and completely cool before icing.
9. For the icing, combine sifted sugar, corn syrup and extract.
10. Add in half of the milk and stir well, then add other half in to get the consistency you desire.
11. Lastly, separate your icing into smaller bowls, depending on how many different colors you want, and start decorating 🙂 .
12. Alternatively, you can decorate with melted white chocolate (melted in 30 second intervals until 75% melted then stir until the rest is melted), by dipping a portion in the chocolate and/or drizzling chocolate over cookies and sprinkling of crushed peppermint candies, for the holidays.

Kali Orexi!