Chocolate Chili Cookies

Feeling robust? I know I am, and not just because it's Sexy Girls Eat Dessert Friday. I seem to have turned the corner with my healing, and I feel really good, even though my tummy is still a bit sore and the incisions are itchy. Nourishing myself with good food and nurturing myself with long, guiltless naps have made me almost well again. I am amazed at and thankful for my body's power to heal itself.

With snow predicted for tomorrow, I think it's time to make another batch of these magical cookies. At Christmas, these were a big hit with the men in my family; my uncles snapped them up so quickly, I was lucky to have one for myself. Another smash hit from Kristina!

Kristina says:
"This recipe is from Maida Heatter’s Book of Great Chocolate Desserts. I tried to give the cookbook away to a friend who loves to make chocolate desserts but he forgot to take it home. Then I discovered the Chocolate Chili recipe, and this book’s not going anywhere now. I was in search of the perfect chocolate/lime combination in a dessert, and by adding lime juice to the cookies, I think I’ve found it."

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
Pinch ground black pepper
Pinch cayenne pepper
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 sticks sweet butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup sugar
1 egg
Lime juice

Sift together the flour, cocoa, salt, pepper, cayenne, and cinnamon and set aside. In the large bowl of an electric mixer cream the butter. Add the vanilla and sugar and beat to mix thoroughly. Beat in the egg, then on low speed gradually add the sifted dry ingredients, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula and beating only until mixed.

Shape the dough into a cylinder about 10 inches long and about 2 inches in diameter.

Wrap the dough in wax paper and place it in the freezer until firm. Or it may be kept frozen.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. With a sharp, heavy knife cut it into slices 1/4 inch thick.

Bake 10 or 11 minutes, reversing the sheets once during baking. Watch them carefully to make sure they do not burn.

Let them cool for a few seconds on the sheets until firm enough to be moved. Then, with a wide spatula, transfer cookies to racks to cool.

Brush the top of each cookie with lime juice.