I hope Santa was good to everyone this year. He was certainly good to me! Christmas was nice and low key this year. I enjoyed that it was on a Tuesday because it created a four day long weekend of celebration. In my house that means lots of cooking, baking and several shopping trips with and without various family members.
Even though Christmas has already passed, I would be remiss if I did not post about chocolate pixie cookies. These are an absolute staple in our household during December. Most people know them Chocolate Crackles, but my grandmother has always called them pixies, so I do the same.
Since these are such popular cookies, and there are several recipes available online, I have took the opportunity a couple years ago to shop recipes and find the best one. While I love my grandmother’s cookies, there is a chance that an expert like David Rocco over at the Cooking Channel might have some good ideas about cookies. His addition of espresso powder makes all the difference in this recipe, and develops an optimal chocolate flavor.
You should make these even when it’s not Christmas.
Chocolate Espresso Pixie Cookies
Yields about 20 cookies, from David Rocco
Ingredients
- 4 Tbs butter
- 2/3 c packed brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 4 oz semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled
- 1/2 c plain flour
- 1/4 c cocoa powder
- 4 tsp instant espresso coffee granules
- 1 tsp baking powder
- pinch salt
- 1 Tbs milk
- confectioner’s sugar
Method
- Cream together butter and sugar. Add egg and cooled melted chocolate.
- In a separate bowl sift together flour, cocoa, espresso, baking powder, and salt.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Add milk. The mixture will be sticky and pretty stiff. It’s like a delicious stiff brownie dough!
- Allow dough to chill for at least 1 hour. I typically stick it in the freezer overnight for best results.
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Put a cup or so of confectioner’s sugar in a small bowl.
- Roll dough into small balls, probably a little smaller than a tablespoon. Drop the balls in the bowl of sugar, and coat them. Tap off excess and place balls on parchment lined cookie sheet.
- The cookies will spread so give them a little space.
- Bake 12-14 minutes. Allow to cool and enjoy!
Sadie Dishes 
[…] purpose of the seasonal cookies is obviously to make the package festive. In December it’s a Christmas cookie; in the spring it’s heart shaped shortbread, Hamentashen, or coconut macaroons; in the fall […]