Chocolate Espresso Snowcaps

Chocolate Espresso Snowcaps
Originally uploaded by gummychild

If you like coffee, and have a penchant for chocolate, why...you'd love this cookie. =) It's straight from Martha Stewart's Collectible Cookie Edition of Everyday Food (2006) again, and available online too.

It gets a little messy to make, but that really is part of the fun, hee hee...^_^ The original recipe says it makes 18...I doubled the batch though, and got about 52 of them! O_o Perhaps I made them a little smaller than instructed...^_^ Below is the recipe for "18" snowcaps.

Ingredients:

- 4 ounces bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (I just used the Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips and melted them)
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 4 teaspoons instant espresso powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon table salt
- 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon milk

Directions:

1. Place chocolate in a bowl, and melt in the microwave in 30 second increments; let cool. In a separate, medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking powder, and salt.

2. In a large bowl, beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat to combine. Stir in cooled chocolate. Add dry ingredients alternating with the milk. Mix just until combined.

3. Turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Shape into a flat disk; wrap in plastic and chill in freezer until firm, about 45 minutes.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Pour confectioners’ sugar into a large bowl. With slightly damp hands, shape dough into 1-inch balls (about 1 tablespoon of dough each). Roll each ball in powdered sugar. Leave in sugar while shaping remaining cookies. Roll cookies a second time to completely coat.

5. Place on prepared baking sheets 2 inches apart. Bake until sugar coating splits, and cookies have spread but are still soft to the touch, 12 to 14 minutes (my oven = 11 minutes). Transfer to a wire rack to cool.