I don’t remember how I managed to stumble upon this recipe, easily five or six years ago. However, it instantly intrigued me – a naturally gluten free chocolate cookie made entirely with cocoa powder? Plus the addition of cinnamon and chili to give it a little complex flavor? Sign me up!
I make this quite often, it is a go-to any time I need a gluten free cookie. But it is also a huge favorite with gluten eaters, because all that cocoa powder packs a huge chocolate wallop without being too sweet.
Like most cookies, this one starts by creaming butter and sugar, adding eggs, and then adding the dry ingredients. Two things become instantly apparent. One, cocoa is much, much finer than flour and really flies up in the air and all around (on at least one occasion I’ve had a film of cocoa powder on my glasses). And two, cocoa is similar to flour in the way it makes the cookie work but also different in that the dough is much too sticky to work with right away.
I typically make these as drop cookies, as in the original recipe. I take the cookie dough, wrap it in plastic, and refrigerate it until firm. Then I use my favorite #60 scoop to scoop the dough – which keeps my hands relatively mess-free – and roll each ball in powdered sugar.
Last year, looking to do something a little more special for a Valentine’s Day Bake Sale, I turned this into a roll-out recipe. First, I made the dough a little bit stiffer by adding an extra 1/4 cup cocoa powder to the dough. Lay a piece of plastic wrap on the counter, and scrape the cookie dough onto it. Place another piece of plastic wrap on top, and gently roll the dough to a uniform thickness, between 1/8″ and 1/4″ thick. Carefully move this to a sheet pan, and refrigerate until it is completely stiff.
Remove the stiff sheet from the fridge. Using a cookie cutter, cut your preferred shape out. Dredge each cookie into powdered sugar on both sides, and then place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Re-roll the scraps, place back in the fridge to harden, and repeat until the dough is all used up. In my experience, it can be re-rolled as much as needed.
Or, if you want to get even fancier (like I did for a recent event), you can cut circles of dough and put three marshmallows in the middle, and make crescent-shaped cookies. Don’t put more than three, it just explodes the dough. Even with three, the cookie will look quite bloated out of the oven, but as the marshmallows cool the cookies will look better.
If you’re looking ahead to Passover, this is also a great recipe, as there is no flour in the first place.
Flourless Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups unsweetened cocoa (use 2-1/4 cups if making rolled out cookies)
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- In a mixer, cream butter and granulated sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla extract, and mix together. Add the salt, baking powder, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, and chili powder to the bowl, and begin to mix. With the mixer on the lowest setting, slowly begin to add the cocoa powder. It flies up much more than flour, so be forewarned.
- Drop cookies:
- Refrigerate dough for at least an hour up to several days, either by covering the mixing bowl with plastic or scraping the dough into a ball and wrapping it in plastic wrap.
- When the dough is firm, remove from the refrigerator. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Mix powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon together in a small bowl. Using a #60 cookie scoop, scoop the dough into balls. Roll each ball in the powdered sugar mixture, and place on a baking sheet (lined with parchment paper if you like).
- Flatten each ball slightly (using your fingers, the bottom of a measuring cup, or the bottom of a glass), and bake for about 10 minutes, until the middle is set but not firm. Cool on the baking sheet until cookies are firm enough to move.
- Rolled cookies:
- Place a large piece of plastic wrap on the counter, and scrape the dough into the center of it. Place another piece of plastic wrap on top, and gently roll the dough to a uniform thickness, between 1/8" and 1/4" thick. Carefully slide the sheet of dough onto a sheet pan, and refrigerate until solidly firm.
- Remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator when firm enough that it will stand vertically without sagging. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon together in a small bowl.
- Remove the top sheet of plastic wrap. Using desired cookie cutter(s), cut shapes from the sheet of cookie dough. Using your hand underneath, gently remove cookies from the cookie sheet. Dip both sides of the cutout into the powdered sugar mix, and place the cookie on a baking sheet (lined with parchment paper if you like). Place scraps back in the middle of the plastic wrap, cover with the second piece of plastic wrap, and re-roll the scraps. Refrigerate until firm, and repeat until all dough has been used up.
- To make marshmallow-filled cookies, use a 2-1/2" diameter round cookie cutter to cut circles from the solid cookie dough sheet. Place three mini marshmallows in the middle of the circle, and fold the dough in half to make a half-moon, pinching the edges to seal them up. Dredge all sides in the powdered sugar mixture and place on baking sheet. Re-roll scraps as above.
- Bake all rolled cookies for about 10 minutes, until the middle is set but not firm. Cool on the baking sheet until cookies are firm enough to move.
- Note: The cinnamon and chili powder play an important role in the cookie; at the listed amount, you won't taste any heat from the chili. With just cocoa powder, it would taste flat and one-note. The high amount of vanilla plus the cinnamon and chili rounds the flavor out.