I was flipping through my vast cookbook collection, looking for a new recipe to try. I’m getting pretty bored with my usual lineup so it’s time to get creative. I came across a recipe for chocolate cookies with a touch of cayenne pepper in The Doughmakers Cookbook
The recipe only calls for 1/4 tsp. of cayenne pepper which doesn’t seem like a lot in the grand scheme of things. I baked a test cookie to see if I wanted to make any changes to the flavoring before I continued. After the first bite I didn’t even taste the pepper. I was about to add more pepper to the batter. How can I call them spicy and not deliver a spicy cookie?! Then I ate the rest of the cookie and there it was. A subtle but detectable hint of heat in the back of my throat. I’m glad I didn’t add more!
An ice cold glass of milk pairs well with these cookies. It helps with the spiciness as well as the rich chocolate explosion. Look how fudgy they come out.
These cookies are chewy, sweet, and chocolaty with a mild kick at the end. They actually remind me of those red hots candies. This recipe is also good for people on a diet because it is hard to eat a lot of them in one sitting! Here is my altered recipe. The original recipe called for butter, but I tweaked it so that it would be dairy free.
- ½ cup (1 stick) margarine, melted
- 4 Tbs. vegetable shortening, melted
- ⅔ cup cocoa powder
- ¾ cup plus ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup packed brown sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 cups flour
- 1½ tsp. baking soda
- ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
- ¼ tsp. cinnamon
- ¾ tsp. salt
- ¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Measure the cocoa powder and place into the bowl of an electric stand mixer.
- Melt the margarine and shortening and carefully pour into the cocoa powder.
- Using a paddle attachment with the mixer on low, mix the cocoa, margarine, and shortening until smooth.
- Add in ¾ cups of each granulated and brown sugars.
- Mix on low until incorporated.
- Add in the eggs and vanilla.
- Once the mixture is smooth, add in the flour, baking soda, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, and salt. Mix well.
- Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Form the dough into 1 inch balls and roll in the ⅓ cup sugar.
- Place the cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes until the tops are cracked. They will be soft, don't overbake!
- Let the cookies cool completely before transferring to a cooling rack or the cookies will break.
These are 
These are reminiscent of a classic lollipop, but in cookie form. I baked round sugar cookies on lollipop sticks. Then I iced them in royal icing. The white lollipops were iced in white royal icing and immediately covered in clear crystal sugar. The silver pops were also iced with white royal icing, but they were sprinkled with silver sugar. The purple pops were iced with royal icing I tinted purple and sprinkled with clear crystal sugar. I love how glittery these look! Both of these cookies are great for any party because they can be made in any size and color. These cookies also make a great gift! I would wrap each cookie in a treat bag and tie it with a cute bow. Arrange them in a cute basket or flower pot and you will look like a pro!
Here is the rear view of the minivan cake complete with a windshield wiper. The licence plate reads “happy birthday” for a very special husband, father and grandfather. Willy loves his charity work and uses his broken down minivan to do it. The family thought it would be great to replicate his charity-mobile in cake for his birthday. He loved it!
I covered the cake in 2 layers of fondant. Then I airbrushed the cake a pearl blue to match the actual minivan. After the car was dry to the touch, I cut out the windows and windshield. Then I painted the windshield and front windows with silver color and the rear windows in black to match the tint. I made a “Chevy” logo out of fondant and painted it gold. Nice touch!
I made little boxes filled with bagels and cookies because the van is always filled with food being delivered for charity.
Here are some chocolate chip cookies and some oranges all made out of fondant.