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These are not your traditional Italian chocolate spice cookies made for the Christmas season, but make a great tradition nonetheless. Over the years this recipe has been adjusted many times and this year’s batch is the best one yet! These light and airy cookies are not too sweet and pack a concentrated dark chocolate flavor. The secret? Espresso.

Cookies
6 large eggs
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
1-1/8 cups canola oil
3 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups flour, plus extra for rolling out the cookies
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups cocoa (unsweetened)
4-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

Frosting
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
2/3 cups cocoa (unsweetened)
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 oz. espresso or strong coffee
1/4 cup whole milk

Holiday sprinkles for decoration (optional)

This batter can be made up to two days ahead of time. I find using a stand mixer is much more efficient, but not totally necessary. A hand held mixer is fine for the wet ingredients, but use a large spoon to incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet mixture. This dough is thick and may be difficult for the hand mixer to do the full job.

Add the eggs and sugar and blend well, about two minutes. Add the oil and vanilla and mix at low speed for an additional two minutes. In a separate bowl, add the flour, salt, baking powder and cocoa, blend well. Put the mixer on low speed and gradually add the dry ingredients and mix until fully incorporated.

Preheat oven 400°. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a long 1/2” rope. Without cutting the dough, hold in one hand and make a small circle of dough, tucking it under itself and breaking it off once tucked under the top piece, like a knot.

The cookies should be about 1-1/2” in diameter. Place them on the cookie sheet about 2” apart from each other. Bake for 15 minutes, until the tops are soft, but firm to the touch. This batter will make approximately six dozen cookies.

Once the cookies come out of the oven, remove them from the sheet pan and place them on a cool surface. An extra cookie sheet works well or even a platter. It is important to place the cookies on a cool sheet pan when reusing the pan or the cookies will spread and come out flat. Once the cookies are cooled completely, mix the frosting as follows. Add the confectioners’ sugar and cocoa to a bowl and blend slowly by hand. Once blended, add the vanilla and espresso and stir. The frosting will be dry, so add 1/2 the milk and keep stirring. Once incorporated, it may still be dry, add the rest of the milk and blend thoroughly. It should still be thick, like a brownie mix and definitely wet enough to spread on each cookie.

Dip the round part of the cookie into the frosting and use a spoon to spread around the whole top of the cookie. Frost liberally. There may be a little left over frosting so no need to worry about running out.

Once frosted, place the cookies on a tray and decorate while the frosting is still wet so the sprinkles adhere. Let them dry completely, about an hour before placing them in an airtight container and store them in a cool dry place. They should last for weeks, that is if you don’t eat them by then!

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