Sunday, August 13, 2006

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.

13 comments:

Chicky said...

OMG-I am SO obsessed with the chocolate/cinnamon/chile combo...can't wait to try these...you have some great recipes...I am SO adding you to my blog-unless you object...please don't object...I am considering a move to sell baked goods in my area too-focusing on local B&B's, cafes, etc...

Chicky said...

BTW-I put you right under Alton Brown-right where we all wish we could be, right? ;)

Joy Bugaloo said...

Object? How could I? I briefly checked out your blog (and will happily read more), and the first post confesses a Big Brother obsession which I completely and unabashedly share, and another post title makes a reference to "The Breakfast Club," a film that I love so much that I show it every semester in one of my communication classes. And if you also share my passion for AB, well, we were clearly separated at birth! Thanks for blogrolling me, and I will return the favor ASAP!

--Gina

P.S. My blogger pal, Anna, just made the Mexican Chocolate cookies, and she cleverly suggests sandwiching them together with Dulce de Leche ice cream. YUM!

Anonymous said...

So we discussed (over gazpacho, gruyere and emmental fondue, and corn on the cob)how fabulous those mexican icebox cookies sound. I think I'll aim for a weekend hit on those (yesterday was all about dill pickles, naps, and planting fall greens and vegetables). Can't wait to try. Keith wishes to extol the virtues of the tomato/tarragon/taleggio or fontina galette and urges you to throw one together post haste. I can vouch for the fact that it is one of the ultimate and sublime realizations of the September tomato (especially if you sprinkle the crust with coarse sea salt...). These tomatoes of which you go on about; are they your own or are you purchasing them? We're getting lots of cherry tomatoes and a few Oregon Springs, but the rest are still awaiting even their blush. Pray for us Oregonians. In hindsight, I suppose all this bit about tomatoes should have been posted to your previous blog, but oh well; what the hell. I'd never be able back out of here and reproduce it in a new window and I don't do neat and tidy very well anyway. Love to you. Damn the new job that gives me little to no vacation so that I could be in tomato nirvana next to you in your kitchen. Keith and the girls send their love.

Joy Bugaloo said...

Oh, no, no! We also just have cherry and grape tomatoes at present (and bushes laden down with green fruit), and we had strangely cool/autumnal weather this week, too. It has been nice for sleeping, but it makes me worry about my harvest! [fingers crossed]

I wish you were here, too, because I want to take you with me on my next market adventure in Montreal (see next post)! Miss you, GJ!

--Gina

Anonymous said...

It is Julia Child's birthday today. Perhaps we should indulge the Dungeoness crab, butter and lots of wine!

Joy Bugaloo said...

Oops! Correction! Anna sandwiched the cookies with actual Dulce de Leche, jnot ice cream. (And yet, wouldn't the latter also be divine?)

--Gina

kitchenmage said...

Sweet! Those looke perfect for a party next week. How long will the keep *after* baking? I'm making a mini-dessert buffet and I need to bake some stuff a day or two ahead.

Skimming comments:
(beavis)heh heh she said "under alton brown"(/beavis)

dulce la leche! I have some in the cupboard, now to figure out how to thicken it enough to make sandwich filling...you may have saved me from having to tackle macarons!

finished comments...she just used
dulce la leche? really? this gets better... wonder how that would hold for 6-8 hours...

~km

Joy Bugaloo said...

Hi, Beth! Ok, I have kept the cookies on the counter in a Tupperware-type container for a couple of days to no ill effect.

Now, the dulce de leche that Anna used was a dessert topping, probably found near the hot fudge and caramel sauces. I'm not sure of the product's thickness/viscosity, but as it turns out, Anna baked a little of the dulce de leche INSIDE of the cookies, as opposed to sandwiching them as I previously thought. (Maybe I'll finally get my story straight, huh?)

--Gina

Anonymous said...

Perhaps the "virgin" Mary would like these?

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Anonymous said...

These are wonderful! Next time we are going to cut them a bit thinner. Thanks for the recipe!

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