These Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies are the absolute best way to kick off the holiday baking season! Loaded with cozy warming spices and rolled in sugar with a pinch of cayenne, they have the perfect kick to them and taste delicious with a warm cup of coffee!
Alright, y’all, I think it’s apparent to all the readers of my blog that you know I love the Mexican Hot Chocolate or Mexican Mocha flavor.
For me, there is something so wonderful about pairing the delicious flavor of chocolate with something that’s warm and spicy. It helps balance out the sweetness and gives it such an amazing depth of flavor that’s not found anywhere else!
These cookies are absolutely delicious! They are fudgy in the middle (I actually based this recipe on my Fudgy Brownie Cookies recipe so you know they’re extra fudgy!), crispy and chewy on the outside and are the perfect blend of sweet and a little bit spicy.
Why These Cookies are the BEST:
First off, hello chocolate! These are loaded with the BEST chocolate flavor – they use a combination of both melted semi-sweet chocolate, unsweetened cocoa powder and extra chocolate chips in them. Combining these three make for the yummiest chocolate flavor you could ever dream of!
Next, hello spices! If you didn’t know (which you probably already do…) but Mexican Hot Chocolate means that you combine chocolate with other cozy spices like cinnamon, maybe nutmeg and definitely something spicy like ground cayenne pepper.
These cozy spices mixed with the chocolate make the perfect warming sensation in each bite. You get the sweet – but you also get a little bit of a kick with the spice!
Like I said above – these cookies are SO SUPER FUDGY. I swear, fudgy cookies are one of my all time favorite things in life. There is just nothing like biting into a soft and chewy cookie and it being gooey in the middle. SO good.
I even took these cookies an extra step before I baked them by rolling them in raw sugar, cinnamon and of course, an extra pinch of cayenne! This brings them completely over the top!
They bake up so easily and they are extra yummy when they are eaten warm and of course, with a cup of your favorite hot beverage!
Ingredients You Need:
- All purpose flour
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Salt
- Baking powder
- Espresso powder
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate
- Salted Butter
- White Sugar
- Brown Sugar
- Room temperature eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Chocolate chips
- Cinnamon
- Cayenne
- Nutmeg
Best Baking Tips:
First off, make sure that you melt the chocolate until it’s lusciously smooth. It will look something like this:
And I promise you’ll want to just eat this with a spoon but you must save it for the cookies themselves! Ha 😉
Make sure your butter is softened before you mix the brown sugar and granulated sugar with it! Cream it together until it’s fully combined and then add in the eggs – which should be room temperature!
If you’ve never heard me say before – a quick trick to get your eggs to room temperature is just to add them to a bowl of lukewarm water for about 10 minutes.
A hugeeee tip I have is to let your dough chill in the fridge! Let it sit, uncovered in the bowl that you mixed it in, for about 45-60 minutes. Don’t skip this step! I know it can seem tedious at times but it will make sure the cookies will cook perfectly!
Once the dough is chilled, scoop them into 1.5-2 tbsp worth of dough and roll it in your hands to form a ball.
Next, mix together raw sugar, cinnamon and a pinch of cayenne. Coat the ball of dough in this mixture and bake away!
These bake for about 11-12 minutes. The middles might still look a little bit under-done but that’s okay! Let them cool on the pan for 10 minutes and then remove to a cooling pan. Or, if you’re like me, just eat it straight from the pan after it’s cooled for a bit. Ha!
These are so so delicious and my new favorite Christmas cookie. I hope you all enjoy them! They’re perfect for a late night snack, mid morning pick me up or dessert.
Did you enjoy this recipe? Here are a few others you might like:
Fudgy Peppermint Mocha Brownies
White Chocolate Cranberry Shortbread Cookies
Thank you so much for following along here, friends! Want to see more? Be sure to follow ourbalancedbowl on Instagram and tag me with your photo if you end up making a recipe! You can also post a photo of your recipe to the Our Balanced Bowl Facebook page! Like a recipe that you saw? Follow me on Pinterest here! I always love to see your re-creations! If you do make a recipe, it would make my whole day if you were to rate and comment so I can get your feedback! Lots of love! – Haylie
Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies
These Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies are the absolute best way to kick off the holiday baking season! Loaded with cozy warming spices and rolled in sugar with a pinch of cayenne, they have the perfect kick to them and taste delicious with a warm cup of coffee!
Ingredients
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp cayenne
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp espresso powder
- 8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 5 tbsp salted butter, softened at room temperature
- 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
- 2/3 cup brown sugar, tightly packed
- 2 large room temperature eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips (for folding into the batter)
Spicy Sugar Mixture to Roll Cookies In
- 2 tbsp of granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp raw sugar
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- pinch of cayenne
Instructions
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Add your 8 oz. of semi-sweet chocolate to a microwave safe bowl. Melt the chocolate in 20-30 second increments until it's smooth, stirring thoroughly each time you take it out to check. Set aside.
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In a large bowl, combine your softened butter with your brown and granulated white sugar. Beat with your mixer until creamy - about 1 minute. Add in your 2 room temperature eggs and your vanilla extract and beat until super smooth and creamy. To that mixture, add your melted chocolate. Mix until fully incorporated.
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Using a sifter over the bowl, add in your flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, espresso powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cayenne and pinch of salt. Using your mixer one last time, mix these gently together on low speed (so you don't spill it everywhere!)
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Once your dough is fully incorporated, gently fold in your chocolate chips using a rubber spatula.
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Let your dough sit, uncovered, in the fridge for 45-60 minutes. About 15 minutes before you take your dough out of the fridge, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper of silicon.
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In a small bowl, mix together the spicy sugar mixture - the granulated sugar, raw sugar, cinnamon and cayenne.
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Once your dough is ready, it will be a little bit hard. I suggest using a tablespoon to scoop it out (about 1.5-2 tbsp worth of dough) into your hands and then rolling them into large balls.
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Drop the balls of dough into the sugar mixture and use your hands to make sure it is evenly coated.
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Place each ball of dough on the cookie sheet - I was able to fit 8 on one cookie sheet.
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Bake at 350 degrees for 11-12 minutes. The middles should still be slightly gooey. Once you've taken them out of the oven, let them cool on the pan for 10 minutes then move them onto a cooling rack. Eat while warm with a pinch of salt on top!
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These can keep up to 3-4 days in a sealed container at room temperature.
Recipe Notes
These can be as spicy or as NOT spicy as you make them - it all just depends on the amount of cayenne you choose to use! Make sure to only use a pinch when you add cayenne to the sugar you roll the dough in 🙂