Mexican Hot Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

Mexican Hot Chocolate Sandwich Cookies recipe with dark chocolate, cinnamon, almonds, ancho chile, and cajeta. Easy holiday, Christmas, or anytime cookie.

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Mexican Hot Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, an easy holiday and Christmas homemade cookie recipe with dark chocolate, cinnamon, almonds, ancho chile, and cajeta. Welcome to cookie #4 of my holiday cookiepalooza! Today’s cookie is my Mexican Hot Chocolate Sandwich Cookies. These cookies are one of my favorites and full of dark chocolate, cinnamon, vanilla, almonds, and cajeta (caramel).

I used my homemade cajeta, but you can use store-bought or a thick caramel. If you’re new to Snappy Gourmet, I’ve been taking the dough from my favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe and using it to make different kinds of cookies.  So easy taking one dough and making a variety of cookies!   I’m all for saving time especially this time of year! These Mexican Hot Chocolate Sandwich Cookies are also great if you just want drop cookies and don’t want to make them into “sandwiches” with a filling.  Hope you enjoy them!

I LOVE dark chocolate, cinnamon, vanilla, almonds, and cajeta together!!  Mmmmmm…..Sometimes I also add a little pepper such as ancho chili pepper but decided not to with these cookies.  You could certainly add a dash or two to the cookie dough!!  I figured I was going to get enough strange looks with my Elvis Inspired Cookie Cups and didn’t want to push my luck!!  If you like these Mexican flavors you may also like my Adult Mexican Hot Chocolate  or my Tex-Mex Sheet Cake.

Be sure to read my post for my Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe that I posted last week for a better overview of the dough. To quickly summarize once again, I’m going to use the same basic dough for these cookies that I used for the chocoltae chip cookies. I used an unbleached all-purpose flour with 10% protein and weighed the flour.

I also do not suggest substituting margarine or anything else besides real butter and I also do not suggest using a whole egg rather than the egg yolks. If you do any substitutions, just know that your results will vary greatly. Baking is a science and if you change one thing, everything else can be off. You can double or multiply the basic dough recipe and make several different kinds of cookies that I have already posted or will be posting this week. Just divide the basic dough between bowls then add your add-ins and other ingredients.

Again, I will highly recommend refrigerating the finished cookie dough for a few hours or better yet overnight or up to 2-3 days. You can also make the finished cookie dough, ball it up, and freeze the balls in plastic bags for a few months then take out what you need and bake for fresh cookies anytime!!!

I used Gold Medal unbleached all-purpose flour and weighed it. It has a 10% protein content. You can find good kitchen scales all over, but this one is from Williams-Sonoma. Most stores will carry kitchen scales and they’re definitely a good buy!

Whisk all the dry ingredients together and set aside.

Mix the sugars, butter, eggs, and vanilla for a few minutes until well combined.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.

I used Scharffen Berger Dark Chocolate.  I had to try REALLY REALLY hard not to just eat the whole bar myself!!  It is soooo good!!  Good thing I have a few extra bars! :)

To the basic dough, I added 5 ounces melted dark chocolate, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 2 additional teaspoons vanilla, and 1 1/2 cups FINELY chopped toasted almonds.  I think I could eat the whole bowl of just the dough!!  As I mentioned above, if you want a little “kick” you could also add a little ancho chile pepper.  Mix everything until just combined.

Ball up the cookies using a spoon or ice cream scoop.  I used a smaller scoop for these cookies than some of the previous cookies. This scoop is about equivalent to 2 teaspoons.  Place the balls on a lined baking sheet or two (line with wax paper, parchment paper, or silpats).  Cover with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours or even better would be overnight or 2-3 days.

Bake the cookies at 325 degrees F for about 13-16 minutes or until flattened and slightly browned around edges.    Cool completely on wire racks.

While cookies are cooling, prepare your filling.  Unfortunately, I was so busy tasting these cookies and filling them that I completely forgot to take pictures of the filling!!!  Darn!  In a large bowl, place the 3/4 cup cajeta (or thick caramel).

I used my homemade cajeta.  Then beat in 1/4 cup softened unsalted butter, and 1-2 cups powdered sugar.  Start with 1 cup of sugar then add a little more until desired consistency and sweetness  (I used about 1 1/2 cups).  If the filling seems a little runny or you’re waiting for the cookies to cool, refrigerate the filling for an hour or so.  Then spread the filling between two cookies.

These cookies are also great if you want to just skip the filling, or you could also use the filling to frost the top of the cookies.

Hope you enjoy!

5 from 1 vote

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Mexican Hot Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

These cookies are full of my favorite Mexican flavors together - dark chocolate, cinnamon, almonds, vanilla, and cajeta. Add a little ancho chile pepper for a nice "kick" if you like!

Course Dessert

Cuisine Mexican

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 16 minutes

Total Time 46 minutes

Yield 3 dozen sandwiches (6 dozen cookies)

Author Snappy Gourmet

Ingredients

Basic Dough:

• 14.42 ounces flour (408.75 g or about 3 cups + 6 1/2 tablespoons) unbleached all-purpose (10%protein) flour
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 7.62 ounces light brown sugar (216g or about 1 cup + 2 tablespoons)
• 5.93 ounces granulated sugar (168g or 3/4cup + 2 tablespoons)
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter melted & cooled
• 1 large egg
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Add-ins:

• 5 ounces dark chocolate melted
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups almonds toasted & very finely chopped
• optional) dash or two of ancho chile pepper

Filling:

• 3/4 cup cajeta (or thick caramel)
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter softened
• 1-2 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

1. In large bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder, and baking soda until well combined; set aside.
2. In a separate large bowl, beat together brown sugar, granulated sugar, and 1 cup butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until well combined. Add egg, egg yolks, and 2 teaspoons vanilla, and beat until well combined.
3. Beat flour mixture into wet mixture until combined. Stir in melted chocolate, cinnamon, additional 2 teaspoons vanilla,almonds, and ancho chile pepper (if desired). Using a small ice cream scoop (about 2 teaspoons), ball up dough. Place on lined baking sheets (parchment, wax, or silpats), cover dough with plastic wrap, and refrigerate 2-3 hours, or overnight, or up to 2-3 days.
4. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Bake cookies in batches about 13-16 minutes or until slightly browned around edges.
5. Meanwhile, beat together cajeta (or caramel), butter, and 1 cup powdered sugar with electric mixer on medium speed. Beat in additional powdered sugar until desired consistency and sweetness.
6. Spread filling between 2 cookies.

Recipe Notes

SNAPPY TIPS: I strongly suggest refrigerating the dough for best results and not baking right away. You can make a big batch of the basic dough then use it for other upcoming recipes. Make sure the cajeta/caramel you use is very thick, otherwise, the filling may be too runny. Instead of making "sandwiches" you can also use the filling to frost the cookies.

SNAPPY SUBSTITUTIONS: I do not suggest substituting margarine for butter, or whole eggs for the egg yolks. Results will vary a lot the more you substitute. You could use any variety of chocolate in these cookies, but I prefer the dark chocolate.