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.
cookbook. The recipe is non-dairy and calls for oil instead of butter. I realized that the oil is causing the cookie dough to be too sticky so I replaced the oil with vegetable shortening and was so happy that I did! The dough was perfect, no need to refrigerate it before working with it.
Look how fudgy they are. Yum! My son Charlie couldn’t get his tiny hands on a cookie, but he did get a hold of this cute ribbon…
Will you try this recipe? It’s non-dairy, easy and delicious!
The last step is to add the buttons and bow tie. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a tiny round tip and fill with melted chocolate. Pipe three buttons and two triangles for a bow tie.