Chocolate Diablo Cookies

from Tacofino in Canada

Now this is my kind of cookie!  Chocolate, cocoa, ginger, cayenne, a touch of cinnamon and sugar, a dash of mischievousness topped with flakey salt.  This is definitely not a batch you plow through mindlessly while watching your favorite program and suddenly realize you’ve eaten your weight in an innocent looking snack.  These cookies have serious character.  They’re not too sweet, they definitely have some heat and a lovely crunchy outside with a fudgey like center.  These little beauties demand respect!  Be sure to have your favorite chilly beverage accompaniment at the ready – you’ll need it.

makes 12 big cookies or many smaller ones

Dry ingredients:

1 ½ cups of all purpose flour

1 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon of ground cayenne pepper

1 cup chocolate chips

Wet ingredients:

1 cup light brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

½ cup canola oil

2 eggs

3 tablespoons fresh squeezed ginger juice or freshly grated ginger root, peeled

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°F

Sift all the dry ingredients into a large bowl and add the chocolate chips mixing until well incorporated.

In another bowl whisk all the wet ingredients until very well combined.

Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredient bowl and mix thoroughly.

Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray.  Press balls of dough mixture onto the cookie sheet until each is about ½ inch thick.  I used walnut sized pieces and flattened them, but the original recipe uses fist size balls.  Sprinkle with white sugar and rock salt or a finishing salt – I used Maldon’s.  Bake for approximately 11 minutes or until the cookies just begin to crack at the edges or feel slightly firm on the outside  (it’s unlikely that a toothpick would pull cleanly from these as they have a soft center).  Cool on a rack for a few minutes if you can manage the restraint.  Worth every bloomin’ calorie!