Italian Chocolate Spice Cookies Recipe
Italian Chocolate Spice Cookies Recipe is an easy one-bowl chocolate cookie that is soft and cake-like with plenty of chocolaty flavor and a hint of warm spice. This is an old family recipe you will love.
Servings: 36 cookies
Calories: 91kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 eggs room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup milk use unsweetened almond milk for dairy-free
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted and cooled (use margarine if you're dairy-free)
- 4 ounces dark chocolate melted and cooled (or bittersweet chocolate)
- zest of 1 orange optional, could also use a lemon
- ½ cup almonds or walnuts finely chopped (optional)
- confectioner's sugar for rolling cookies
Instructions
- Melt the chocolate: I did a double boiler method. I melt over medium heat in a heat-proof bowl or the top of a double boiler (or a small sauce pan) set over a pan of simmering water. Stir the chocolate as it's melting. Set aside to cool.
- Combine dry ingredients: Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt, and spices. I just whisk them all together in a bowl. You could also sift them all together. I find if I whisk them really well they get combined nicely. Set aside.
- Mix eggs and sugar: In the bowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. You could also use a hand mixer or if you don't have any sort of a mixer, use a wooden spoon and some arm power.
- Add in wet ingredients: Add the milk, melted butter, and melted chocolate. Add in the vanilla extract and beat until combined
- Add in dry ingredients: With mixer on low speed, start adding in dry ingredients in small amounts at a time, stopping the mixture to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and combine. Add in orange zest, and walnuts (if you're using them, I did not). You could do this step by hand stirring with a wooden spoon or a spatula.
- Chill dough: The dough is a soft and sticky dough and needs to chill. First options is, you could chill in the mixing bowl covered in plastic wrap in the refrigerator for 30 minutes-2 hours. The more it chills, the easier it will be to work with. If you find the dough to sticky at 30 minutes, keep it chilling longer.
- (Other option) Chill dough in portions: Or portion it out and chill in dough logs. On a clean countertop, roll each portion of dough into a log approximately 16 inches long and 1 inch in diameter, using confectioners’ sugar to prevent sticking. Wrap logs in plastic wrap, and move to a shelf in the refrigerator.
- Preheat oven: Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and prep your baking sheets with baking sheets with parchment paper. Spray with baking spray.
- Roll out cookie balls: Cut each log into 1-inch pieces. If you didn't roll into separate portions, use your clean hands or a medium sized ice-cream scooper (or a spoon) and start to portion pieces of the dough. Using your hands (spray with baking spray to make it easier), roll the pieces into a ball shape and toss in small bowl of confectioners’ sugar, a few at a time. If any of the cocoa-colored dough is visible, roll dough in confectioners’ sugar again to coat completely. If you portioned out dough into logs, keep the other logs chilled while you're working with the first one.
- Place on baking sheets: Place the cookies 2 inches apart. Continue with the rest of the dough portions rolling and placing on baking sheet.
- Bake: Bake for about 8-10 minutes or until firm to the touch. Transfer from oven to a wire rack to let cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make dough ahead: To make it easier when you're baking different cookies for Christmas, Italian Chocolate Spice Cookies dough could be prepped ahead of time and stored even overnight or up to 24 hours in the refrigerator before baking.
- Baking time: Be sure to not overbake the cookies. Every oven is different. Depends on how big you roll out the portions. Mine were ready at 8 minutes. I set a timer. Some that I rolled slightly larger needed 10 minutes.
- Storage: Store in airtight container in between wax paper layers for up to 5 days. Freeze the cooled down cookies in a an airtight container for 2-3 months. Or even once they're frozen transfer to large zipped lock bags. Date and label the container or bags.
Nutrition
Calories: 91kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 46mg | Potassium: 52mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 99IU | Vitamin C: 0.001mg | Calcium: 24mg | Iron: 1mg