Something Spicy--Mexican Chocolate Cookies

This weekend I went a little south of the boarder, and in honor of this, I decided to make a sweet treat to go with the meal. I found this recipe in a book I'd checked out of the library, Everyday Baking, by CookingLight I did make it a little lighter by using some sugar substitute and egg substitute. These are small cookies, but have a really good chocolate flavor, with just a little kick of spice. They give you that happy yummy feel.

Ingredients:
5 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chopped
3.3 oz all purpose flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
dash of freshly ground pepper
dash of ground red pepper
1/2 c sugar
1/3 c stevia baking substitute
1/4 c egg substitute
1/4 c butter softened
1 tsp vanilla extract

First get the oven heated to 350, and then melt the chocolate in the microwave. I ended up using half unsweetened chocolate and half semi-sweet, of a really high quality chocolate. Since this is so chocolate centered I wanted to highlight the chocolate flavor.

The dry ingredients are sifted into a bowl. The trick with this recipe is that a dash of the black pepper and hot pepper could be different each time--this time it was just right, a pretty generous sprinkle of both.

In a second bowl, the butter and sugars are creamed. I'm getting better at this and creamed it together for the 5 minutes the recipe suggested, until it was good and fluffy. Then the egg substitute and vanilla are beat in until smooth. At that point the chocolate should be room temperature--if not the butter will melt and the egg will cook, so don't put warm chocolate in! Fold it into the batter, and then gently fold the dry ingredients until just mixed.

This made a really thick batter--almost like a fudge, so it would be good to use a small scoop to portion out of about one tablespoon. They didn't spread much, so I was able to fit them all on two pans. They bake for about 10-11 minutes, and then set on the pan for another two minutes to set. I found them to be pretty soft, so you could possible cook a bit longer.

The Verdict: YUM! Just a hint of spice, just a hint of heat, the dark luscious chocolate is satisfying in just a small amount. I'm looking forward to enjoying these as part of my south of the boarder feast!