On a daily basis I get an email from Martha Stewart as part of her Cookie A Day distribution. Generally, the cookies are seasonally appropriate and I’ve been tempted to try many of them. When this recipe for chocolate-espresso snowcaps arrived in my inbox, I decided to test it out as I thought these cookies would be fun to include in my holiday baking.
Unfortunately, I didn’t end up loving these cookies. They’re fairly simple to make though you will definitely wind up with chocolate hands when you roll the dough. The double roll in the confectioners’ sugar does produce a very nice looking cookie. For me, the espresso flavor was just too strong but I should mention that I don’t like coffee so that probably played a role. Others who tried these thought they were just ok. I’m glad I tried them but I probably won’t make them again.
As an aside, I didn’t intend to include only the recipe for the coconut macaroons posted below. In fact, I didn’t even realize I’d done that until Shane pointed it out a day later. The macaroons were incredibly easy to make (gotta love cookie dough made in the food processor) and got rave reviews. Shane brought them into work, and at his company Christmas party a few days later, several of his coworkers mentioned to me how much they loved the macaroons! They look cute too….kind of like little snowballs. I definitely intend to use the recipe for my Christmas cookies this year..
By Tracey
Chocolate-Espresso Snowcaps
from MarthaStewart.com
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 4 teaspoons instant espresso
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 4 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, for coating
Directions:
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, espresso, baking powder, and salt. With an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg until well combined; mix in cooled chocolate. With mixer on low speed, gradually add dry ingredients; beat in milk just until combined. Flatten dough into a disk; wrap in plastic. Freeze until firm, about 45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place confectioners’ sugar into a medium bowl; working in batches, roll balls in sugar twice.
Place balls on prepared baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies have spread and coating is cracked, 12 to 14 minutes; cookies will still be soft to the touch. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Yields 18 cookies.
