These coffee-cinnamon cookies
with creamy chocolate and crunchy walnuts would make a great
sweet finish to a Mexican meal, especially with a scoop of vanilla
ice cream or mango sorbet.
Mexican Mocha
Cookies
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons instant coffee powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup unsalted butter or margarine
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Combine flour, instant
coffee powder, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a medium mixing
bowl; set aside.
In a separate, larger
mixing bowl, cream butter with sugar and brown sugar. Mix in
egg and vanilla; beat until well combined. Carefully add dry
ingredients, stirring until incorporated, then fold in half the
walnuts.
Wrap dough in wax paper
and refrigerate thoroughly for at least two hours. Finely chop
the remaining walnuts; set aside.
Once dough has chilled,
preheat oven to 350°F.
Remove dough from refrigerator
and, using rounded teaspoonfuls of dough, shape into balls and
place 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet.
Bake 12 to 15 minutes.
Remove the baking sheet from the oven, and working quickly while
cookies are still soft, place 3 to 4 chocolate chips in the center
of each hot cookie. When the chocolate has softened, smooth over
the top and distribute the finely chopped walnuts among the cookies.
Cool completely on wire rack.
