“Music City Mocha Chip Cookies”
(developed for The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2011)
This chewy cookie is subtly bold with a hint of heat… it is familiarly cozy in its chocolatey-ness, but is that coffee I smell? Hmmm….molasses?
As my cookies were to be mailed out to three fellow food bloggers scattered around the country it was important to me to use as many local ingredients as possible to share a taste of Music City. Chewy, chocolatey (Olive & Sinclair) with a hint of coffee (Bongo Java) and a little unexpected “bite” via hot pepper was what I settled on as the flavor profile. I made about 3 recipes before I got to the one you see here. They were all tasty, but I was just dancing around until I came up with my “Music City Mocha Chip Cookie”, a cozy little cookie that is great with a glass of milk for Santa….
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (White Lily or Martha White) mixed with 1/2 tsp baking soda & 1 tsp sea or kosher salt
8 ounces unsalted butter, room temp (Farmer’s Market)
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1 generous Tbsp Sorghum Molasses (Tennessee)
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temp (Farmer’s Market)
3 Tbsp finely ground coffee (Bongo Java “Mystic’)
2 cups chopped semi sweet chocolate (Olive & Sinclair chocolate)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper + more to garnish if desired
1/2 cup cocoa powder
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream butter, brown sugar & granulated sugars together until fluffy using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment.
3. Add in eggs one at a time. Scrape down sides of bowl often. With mixer on low add in ground coffee & vanilla extract.
4. Add the flour mixture until well blended. Sprinkle in cayenne pepper & cocoa & mix well.
5. Stir in chopped chocolate until fully incorporated. Chill dough for 1 hour before baking.
6. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper about 2 inches apart after dipping tops of dough balls in decorative sugar crystals.
7. Bake until cookies are puffy & the surface starts to “crack”. About 10-12 minutes. Sprinkle on more decorative sugar & extra cayenne if desired, cool on wire racks. Cookies will keep for up to one week stored in airtight containers with waxed paper between layers.
The dozens of cookies were baked, cooled and readied for mailing. I wanted my cookies to arrive at their destinations in good shape, in fun packaging, something a bit special and Holiday-like. I found great sturdy tins & mailing boxes at The Container Store. My tags I made using imagery from my many Christmas catalogs. I used a Christmas tree rubber stamp I made last year to decorate the outside of the mailing box. I inserted more catalog imagery into the top of the tins and constructed ingredients list envelopes using art paper scraps & cardboard…I really had to make myself stop…those boxes had to get in the mail!
Bon Voyage “Music City Mocha Chip Cookies”, Bon Voyage.
Thanks to Julie (http://thelittlekitchen.net) and Lindsay (http://loveandoliveoil.com) for organizing this fun event.
Here are the cookies I received:
….bake, share & have a very, very sweet holiday….
fantastic, i hope there are some left.
I have fresh dough waiting for your return from Amsterdam!
I’ll be by at lunch time to pick up my dessert!!
Bravo to using our local companies and as soon as I saw the salt I knew these were winners. Somebody is getting very blessed when they receive your package.
I want to be you for a day! They look so delicious, I might have to make these 🙂
I assume that the streets of Heaven are paved with these cookies….. YUM
All my favorite ingredients in one cookie!
My sweet tooth is begging for some of these cookies.
A cookie swap, what a fantastic idea 🙂
With ingredients like that, these look like very special cookies!!
Happy Holidays guaranteed 🙂
You are so amazing! Those cookies are fabulous, and with your descriptions and photos, I can almost taste them.
Did you try chunks of fleur de sel instead/along with the crystal sugar?
I bet that would taste great.
Hey Nancy D. The first batch I made I used chunks of fleur de sel..but they were just tooooo salty…I never thought of combining the salt & sugar…I am making some more tomorrow so I shall try your very good idea. BTW…when would be a good time…depending on flights…I am working up until the Friday before Christmas and have a job on the 30th…otherwise a visit from you would be fab..I miss you.
yummy…..these look amazing….will have to try them!!! just made the most outrageous coconut macaroons, dipped in chocolate…we love cookies!!!
Barbara, I love macaroons very much but have not made them very much…so I would love your recipe if you would share…or better yet…I will send you some of my cookies and you can send me some macaroons and we can have our own “family” cookie swap…which is not a bad idea for families to do if I do say so myself…what do you think…I am thinking I really would like one of your macaroons right now…I am awaiting Wouter’s return from Amsterdam tonight..Happy, happy B’day to Johan…do plan a visit here in May…it is beautiful…we can discuss more.
please send me TWO tins of your cookie: channukah and my birthday. thank you!
That is exactly what you are getting for both holidays mi amiga especial. Miss you.
Plus some switches, coal chunks and perhaps a thorn or two!
Teresa, thank you for your lovely note. I’m glad everyone enjoyed the biscotti. Your cookies are gorgeous–I love chocolate and chiles. We’re heading into party season, so I’ll be making them soon. I love the suggestion in the comments about topping them with sugar plus salt. I have some pink Himalayan salt that would do nicely.
In my former life I was an art director, and one of my favorite things to do was to go to a photo shoot. You do beautiful work.
I just love chocolate, so I can’t wait to try this Mocha Chip Cookie recipe. They look absolutely amazing. Thanks for sharing this recipe
What fun, that you participated in the great food blogger cookie swap. T’is the season for cookie baking and sharing, and the possibilities are endless! I just made some cream cheese crescents. Yours look so so good. x N.
Not only do they look delicious but they have MOCHA flavor! Could a cookie get any better? I think Mom and Dad deserve cookies this year along with Santa!
Not only are your cookies beautiful and extremely tasty sounding, you then topped it off with the lovely packaging. Wonderful.
how cute are you Teresa?? i love the “local” take on your cookies – it’s something that foodies think about with respect to other courses but rarely do you hear someone taking that task on for sweets so good. on. you.
i also adore your packaging! i just wanna hug you! well done re-using materials – and they’re friggin adorable.
PS. cookies look good too 😉
These look so wicked! Yummy!! Can you send some of these my way? Sweet:)
Wonderful sounding cookies, I love the idea of the cayenne pepper. GG
WOW these look and sound delectable. Found your blog through the cookie swap!
Oh my God, those cookies were fabulous!! MMMmmmmm.
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