Kristina's Chili Lime Chocolate Cookies

[mer]

Have I posted this before? There is no way to explain their awesomeness. These cookies JUST WORK.

Chocolate Chili Cookies

Kristina says: "This recipe is from Maida Heatter’s Book of Great Chocolate
Desserts. I tried to give the cookbook away to a friend who loves
to make chocolate desserts but he forgot to take it home. Then I
discovered the Chocolate Chili recipe, and this book’s not going
anywhere now. I was in search of the perfect chocolate/lime
combination in a dessert, and by adding lime juice to the
cookies, I think I’ve found it."

Sift together the flour, cocoa, salt, pepper, cayenne, and
cinnamon and set aside. In the large bowl of an electric
mixer cream the butter. Add the vanilla and sugar and
beat to mix thoroughly. Beat in the egg, then on low
speed gradually add the sifted dry ingredients,
scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula and beating
only until mixed.

Shape the dough into a cylinder about 10 inches long and
about 2 inches in diameter.

Wrap the dough in wax paper and place it in the freezer
until firm. Or it may be kept frozen.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. With a sharp, heavy knife
cut it into slices 1/4 inch thick.

Bake 10 or 11 minutes, reversing the sheets once during
baking. Watch them carefully to make sure they do not
burn.

Let them cool for a few seconds on the sheets until firm
enough to be moved. Then, with a wide spatula, transfer
cookies to racks to cool.

Rub the top of each cookie with lime juice.

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
Pinch ground black pepper
Pinch cayenne pepper
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 sticks sweet butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup sugar
1 egg
Lime

It's the lime that makes the magic happen--it ties the chili and the chocolate together in a way that I find lacking in every other combo of chili and chocolate (with one exception: the Cacao Royale at Espresso Royale--that doesn't need lime).

Comments

[penmage.livejournal.com]

Important cookie-related question: do you really add the lime AFTER the cookies are baked? How long do you let them cool before adding it? And don't they get soggy?

(We are on the verge of baking, so this is time-sensitive!)

[merriehaskell.livejournal.com]

Yikes! Well, it's probably WAY late now, but you just rub the lime over the (maybe half) cooled cookie. It's not a strong taste, and the cookies don't soak in the lime juice or anything. The not-completely cooled aspect allows the lime juice to kind of bind with the sugar of the cooling cookie, making it extra yummy.