Boy do I have a special post for you today…so let’s get right down to business and talk about Dear Coco Chocolates. Last year, I made homemade Jamaican Jerk Chicken Nuggets with Chocolate Barbecue Sauce inspired by Dear Coco’s Coconut Jerk chocolate truffles. I’ve been obsessed with these non-dairy truffles ever since. So when the owner of Dear Coco, Rachelle, emailed me to tell me about their new line of artisan toffee chocolate bars, I was literally jumping for joy. I mean, what’s better than the combination of rich dark chocolate and sweet crunchy toffee?!? And to take it up a notch, the toffee bars are globally inspired, with pairings of roasted nuts, seeds, coffee beans, crispy rice and sea salt. Rachelle was kind enough to send me a few of the new flavors, including the Sidama, Tokyo and Oaxaca. While I devoured all three as quickly as humanly possible, the Oaxaca flavor was definitely my favorite. Mexican cinnamon and smokey hot pepper toffee with roasted pepitas and sea salt in premium Belgian dark chocolate. What could be wrong with that?!? So just like I did with the chicken nuggets, I drew inspiration from this delicious toffee candy to create my own unique recipe using similar flavors.
Flourless Mexican Chocolate Cookies with Spicy Roasted Pepitas
makes 18-24 cookies Â
1 cup almond butter
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup spicy roasted pepitas (recipe below)
1 tsp crushed sea salt, for garnish
Spicy Roasted Pepitas
1 cup hulled natural pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1 tsp ground cayenne pepper (if your cayenne is extra spicy, use 1/2 tsp)
1 tsp ground chili powder
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 Tbsp olive oil
I roasted the pepitas first so they could cool down before I added them to the cookies. I preheated the oven to 300 degrees F. I mixed together the natural pepitas with the olive oil and spices and laid them flat on a baking sheet. I roasted the pepitas for 20 minutes, stirring the mixture halfway through. The pepitas were beginning to brown when they were done. Be careful not to go too far over 20 minutes or you might burn the seeds. I set them aside to cool.
I raised the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and lined a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a food processor, I combined the cocoa powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. I added the almond butter and processed the mixture until smooth.
I added the egg, maple syrup, honey and vanilla and processed again until smooth. I transferred the cookie dough to a mixing bowl and added the chocolate chips.
If you are looking for a sweet cookie, you can bake the cookies at this point but I love the spicy pepitas with the chocolate cookie dough. I added the spicy roasted pepitas to the dough and stirred to combine. The more you add, the drying your cookie will come out so try not to add more than 1/2 a cup. The rest of the pepitas are for snacking!
I scooped the cookie dough on to the baking sheet using an ice cream scoop (you can also use a tablespoon), leaving 2 inches between each cookie. I sprinkled the raw cookies with crushed sea salt.
I baked the cookies for 15 minutes then placed them on a wire rack to cool. Okay, so maybe I took a bite while the cookies were still warm. Yum!
I mean, hello delicious flourless cookies! I still can’t believe these chewy, salty, sweet and spicy cookies are gluten free and grain free.
I served the cookies with a glass of milk and extra spicy pepitas for snacking.
Nom Nom Nom! You drooling yet?
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