I can’t help it, these days the Christmas spirit invades me, at least in its pastry version. I love baking little treats and making packets to give away throughout the month, and I was looking forward to swapping out the Swiss cookies for something more chocolatey. The great Nigella Lawson came to my call with these rich and very easy christmas chocolate cookies.
The recipe is included in one of my favorite Christmas books, Nigella Christmas, and will appeal to anyone who appreciates a good and simple chocolate cookie.
They have a powerful cocoa flavor and to highlight it more I have reduced the amount of sugar a littleI also wanted to leave the decoration very minimalist. Simply with a little icing sugar they would already be great, but nothing prevents you from preparing a chocolate coating.
Preheat the oven to 170ºC and prepare a couple of trays with a silicone sheet or with non-stick greaseproof paper. Arrange the tempered butter in a container with the sugar and beat well with a wire mixer. When it is fluffy, add the cocoa and beat a little more.
Incorporate the flour with the yeast, the bicarbonate, the cinnamon, the vanilla, the decaffeinated coffee and the orange zest, and beat or mix until you have a homogeneous dough, without lumps. Must be moist but malleable, that stains a little but without creating very sticky disasters.
Take approximately walnut-sized portions and shape into a rounded shape with slightly moistened hands. Distribute on the trays, slightly apart, and flatten a little with your fingers. Add decorations to taste, if used, and bake for about 12-15 minutes.
Wait a little out of the oven before move to a rack to cool completely. Keep in an airtight container.
The Nigella’s Chocolate Cookies They last perfectly up to almost a week without losing qualities, after that time they will continue to be rich although with a little less flavor and texture. Very chocolatiers will enjoy dipping them in a cup of hot chocolate, but with milk or a vegetable drink they are also very tasty.
More Christmas recipes
Directly to the Palate we love these parties and we have thousands of recipes for you to be sure to hit your Christmas meals.
Don’t miss our special with the 215 best Christmas recipes and 16 special menus. And if you need ideas for specific dishes, here is a good starting point:
Directly to the Paladar | Very crunchy fine almond cookies. Christmas recipe
Directly to the Paladar | Orange, spice and almond muffins. Recipe for Christmas breakfasts