Mexican Chocolate Cookies

Hey all! It’s my first recipe post!

Two words: chocolate and caramel. What is more decadent and indulgent than that? How about Mexican chocolate and caramel? These spicy Mexican chocolate cookies have a luxurious brownie-like texture and are slathered in caramel sauce that is guaranteed to pull you out of any slump!

Just take a look and try not to drool.

Yes, please.

There is something so magical about combining cinnamon and chocolate; simple, but it really takes any food to a whole new level of flavour. I absolutely love how cinnamon tastes with chocolate and I put it in everything from cookies to coffee. I have even tried a Mexican chocolate chili dish; call me crazy, but it was actually amazing. This recipe was a combination of many of my favourite flavours, namely chocolate, cinnamon and caramel. And while I usually save these flavours for fall and winter baking, I had an especially nagging craving that summer foods could not satisfy.

Mexican Chocolate Cookies:

Makes about 2 dozen large cookies

Ingredients:

4 ¼ cups flour

½ cup cocoa

4 ½ tsp. baking powder

¾ tsp. salt

1 ¼ tsp. cinnamon

1 ½ cups sugar

3 large eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 ½ cups butter

Method:

1.      In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

2.      In a large bowl or bowl of mixer, whisk butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Add in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add in vanilla and mix well.

3.      Slowly add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and stir gently until incorporated. The dough should not stick to the bowl very much at this point. Cover dough and refrigerate for 1 hour.

4.      When you are ready to bake the cookies, turn oven to 350 F. Spoon out about two Tbsp. of dough and form into a ball in the palm of your hand. Place on cookie sheet with parchment/baking paper and flatten slightly. Place cookies about 2-3 inches apart.

5.     Bake for 10-12 minutes. You want the cookies to be a little underdone in the middle to give them that chewy texture.

These delightfully delicious sweets are incredibly easy to make and a perfect complement to a steaming hot cup of coffee, although they hardly require coffee as an excuse to eat!

In addition to the cookies I made the caramel sauce as well, with a slight twist of course. I find that unless I am specifically baking with heavy cream, I don’t tend to just have it on hand to cook with. So, as you may have guessed, this is a cream-less caramel recipe. No, it doesn’t make it any healthier, but I can always hope! If you have any spare caramel you can store it in an airtight container in the fridge. It tastes great on pretty much anything from coffee to ice cream. 

Savvy-girl Caramel Sauce:

Makes approx. 1 cup

Ingredients:
1 cup white sugar

1/4 cup. milk

2 Tbsp. butter

1 tsp. corn flour/starch

Method:

1. In a saucepan over low heat, cook sugar until it is melted, whisking consistently. It should be clear and light caramel in colour.

2. Add butter and continue to whisk. It will froth up a bit but just keep whisking until it is incorporated. Add milk and whisk to blend, should be frothy and caramel in colour. If it turns dark brown or black, it is burnt. 

3. Remove from heat immediately and stir in the corn flour. I like to mix my corn flour in a separate cup with some of the mixture and then adding it to avoid lumps, rather than dumping it all in at once. Stir occasionally, it will thicken as it cools. If it turns out too thick, add a little more milk  until it is the consistency you desire.

You can either drizzle on the caramel, or just dunk them right in it! And there you have it, Mexican chocolate cookies with caramel sauce! Enjoy!

xoxo  Jenn