Ay-yi-yi! Mexican Chocolate Icebox Cookies

Today there was more baking just to please me, and these little gems are incredible! They're easy to make, they can be frozen almost indefinitely until you're ready to bake them off (if you have that kind of willpower), and they are DELICIOUS--like a spicy little brownie bite! The exotic flavor combination of chocolate, cinnamon, cayenne and even black pepper make for a sophisticated dark chocolate cookie for grown-ups. They are simple, but elegant enough to serve for guests. You simply must try these at once!

Note to John and Keith: These would be perfect to bake in a toaster oven. ;-)

Mexican Chocolate Icebox Cookies
(Source: Maida Heatter's Great Book of Chocolate Desserts)

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup quality Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa
3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoons cayenne
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 egg
12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Whisk the flour, cocoa, cinnamon, cayenne, salt, and pepper together in a medium bowl and set aside. Put sugar, vanilla, and egg into a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer on high speed until thick and pale, about three minutes. Add butter and continue to beat on high speed until smooth, about three minutes more. Using your fingers (I added the dry ingredients a little at a time on low speed in my stand mixer), work flour mixture into butter mixture until dough is just combined (in other words, do not overwork the dough). Divide dough in half and roll each half into a 9-inch log. Wrap each log in parchment paper, twisting ends tightly to make a uniform cylinder. Freeze dough logs for at least eight hours and as long as overnight.

Preheat oven to 350˚ F. Unwrap dough and slice each log into rounds 1/3-inch thick. Place rounds one inch apart on parchment paper-lined (I used Silpats) cookie sheets. Bake cookies until slightly puffed and tiny cracks appear on surface, about eight minutes. Transfer cookies to a rack to let cool. Makes about four dozen cookies.