Mexican Chocolate Chip Cookies

You should know that I don't say "Mex-ee-can," I say "Meh-ee-can." It's just something I picked up in clase de espanol back in high school. Gracias, Senora Heidebrecht. (Obviously, I never learned how to make an n with the squiggly line, an "en-yay." How do you describe the inability to write a letter in the alphabet when you can't make the letter in said alphabet?)

Anyways, my dear, sweet (naked in the picture over on the left) friend Michelle called me and raved about these cookies.

No really, she raved, and then gave me the recipe...from her memory. Who memorizes a recipe? Weirdo.

I love spicy and sweet. LOVE. Love. Love. If you haven't tried it, you should. Because it's amazing. Unless you're allergic or some other such nonsense. Cayenne, you are a delight.

And cinnamon? Warmth. That's what cinnamon is. Winter and warmth and home. Did your mom use cinnamon mostly in the winter too?

My mom has a prejudice against cinnamon and chocolate. She hates them together, thus I never really tried them until I left the nest. Flew the coop. Spread my wings.

These cookies have a lot of cinnamon. The dough completely changes color from the cinnamon.

I guess I should get on with it. The recipe. The cookies. The deliciousness.

Yes, black pepper. I recommend the kind from a can. I used freshly ground and the pepper is good, but when you get a partial peppercorn stuck in your tooth after eating a cookie it is not so tasty. And I added an additional 1/4-1/2 cup of flour. Then the consistency was more normal. I used about 3/4 of a teaspoon of cayenne which was a good quantity, not too much but not too little. A little extra warmth in the back of your throat.

Honestly, they were good. I'd make them again. I just prefer a chewier cookie....or a crispier cookie. These were cake-like: light, fluffy, spicy, warm, sweet, chocolate-ly. Perhaps I should have left out the extra flour? Maybe next time.

Thank you divinity students for eating them.