Daily Dose: Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies

It's amazing the variety of cookies you can make once you have a solid, basic dough.  This Snickerdoodle recipe was modified for both yesterday's and today's post.  Yesterday's modification came from extract.  Today's comes from the addition of traditional Mexican hot chocolate (which really deserves it's own post - it's THAT good!).  These cookies aren't overly chocolaty and the addition of cayenne gives them a very deep, complex flavor.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tablet Mexican hot chocolate, grated

Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cups granulated white sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
(NOTE:  the hot chocolate is pretty sweet, so if you want, you can reduce the sugar to keep things balanced.  I like them just the way they are, of course!)

Coating:
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of cayenne pepper, to taste (optional)

Directions:

Combine flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl.

Cream together butter and sugar.  Once smooth, add the egg and mix.  Add the chocolate and mix. Scrape down the bowl and add the vanilla extract. Mix to incorporate.

Mix in the dry ingredients, one-half at a time.  The dough will be soft, so refrigerate for an hour or two to allow it to firm up.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Form the dough into 1 inch balls.  In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for the coating.  Press each ball into the coating, then transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.  Remove to a cooling rack.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tablet Mexican hot chocolate, grated
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cups granulated white sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Coating:
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of cayenne pepper, to taste (optional)

Directions:

1.  Combine flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl.
2.  Cream together butter and sugar.  Once smooth, add the egg and mix.  Add the chocolate and mix. Scrape down the bowl and add the vanilla extract. Mix to incorporate.
3.  Mix in the dry ingredients, one-half at a time.  The dough will be soft, so refrigerate for an hour or two to allow it to firm up.
4.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Form the dough into 1 inch balls.  Press each ball into the coating, then transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet.
5.  Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.  Remove to a cooling rack.