Mayan Chocolate Sparklers

Total Time: 25 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (for topping)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (for topping)
• 3/4 cup vegetable shortening
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 3/4 cups bread flour
• 1 1/4 cups cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1 pinch chili powder (optional)
• 1 pinch ground cayenne pepper (optional)
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 350ºf. place rack in center of oven. line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone mat and set aside.
• 2 topping: in a small dish, add granulated sugar and cinnamon. stir until evenly combined. set aside.
• 3 cookies: in a large mixing bowl, add shortening, softened butter, both sugars, and vanilla. using an electric mixer, beat on low-speed for 30 secs until ingredients are combined.
• 4 scrape down sides of bowl and continue to beat at medium-speed until mixture is creamy (1 -2 minutes).
• 5 add one egg to mixture and beat on medium-speed until combined (30 secs). repeat with second egg.
• 6 in a separate mixing bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, cinnamon, and baking soda.
• 7 add black pepper, salt, chili powder, and cayenne pepper to flour mixture and gently stir to combine all ingredients.
• 8 gradually add dry ingredients to butter mixture (1/2 cup at a time) and beat at low-speed until combined (1 minute) after each addition.
• 9 add half of the chocolate chips to bowl and fold them into the batter. repeat with remaining chocolate chips.
• 10 (optional) attempt to roll a small amount (1 tbsp) of batter into a ball. if the batter is too sticky and not cleanly rolling off your hand, chill batter in refrigerator for 20-30 minutes or until desired tackiness is reached.
• 11 roll tablespoons of batter into 1" balls. do not flatten.
• 12 roll balls of batter through cinnamon and sugar topping until evenly coated.
• 13 place rolled balls on prepared cookie sheets, about 2â€? apart. do not flatten.
• 14 bake batches for 7-10 minutes in the preheated oven. cookie edges will be dry, but centers should still be soft.
• 15 allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 3-5 minutes before attempting to remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.
• 16 tip: place a paper towel under the wire rack to catch loose topping.
• 17 store cookies in a counter-top cookie jar for 1 week or in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 2 weeks.