Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies
on Nov 30, 2020, Updated Jun 18, 2025
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A bit of cinnamon and pure chile powder turn these crinkly chocolate cookies into something very special.
These cookies are chocolately, moist and chewy, with a little glow of heat in them, thanks to a bit of cinnamon and pure chile powder. Not enough to make you feel like you are in unpleasantly spicy territory, more like the chocolate got a bit of a backbone.
Pair Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies with a glass of milk. You could also use them to make ice cream sandwiches. Try filling them with vanilla ice cream, dulce de leche ice cream, pumpkin ice cream, or salted caramel ice cream.
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For Christmas and other holidays, serve these cookies with some eggless eggnog or coquito, or maybe a Hot Toddy or some Mulled Cider. They will keep for several days, even a week, in a tightly sealed container. If you hide the container.
For years, I was part of a group that baked for the teachers and staff at my kids’ school. We made a different recipe each month, and distributed them throughout the buildings. This was the most popular cookie recipe of all. I adapted this recipe from a Martha Stewart recipe (credit where credit is due), and they are beloved.
What Kind of Chile Powder to Use in Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies
DO NOT USE MEXICAN CHILI POWDER BLEND! That mix has other seasonings in it, like oregano and garlic, and it’s not what you want in a cookie. You want to use pure chile powder, and it doesn’t really matter what kind. Ancho chile powder or guajillo chile powder, as long as it is a powder made from pure chiles, you are in business.
Rolling Cookies in Cinnamon Sugar
The dough is rolled into balls, and then those balls are rolled in a blend of cinnamon and sugar, which offers the finished product a lovely crackly crust. This rolling in the sugar thing is a good task for kids to help with.
More Holiday Cookie Recipes
- Snickerdoodles
- Gingersnaps
- Chewy Molasses Cookies
- Chewy Sugar Cookies
- Peppermint Bark Haystack Cookies
Also see How to Do a Cookie Swap!
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Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter (softened)
- 1 ¾ cup sugar (divided)
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon pure chile powder (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 F degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper if you have it, or leave them ungreased if not.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa powder, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs one at a time and beat to combine. With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixture and beat until combined.
- In a small bowl, combine the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, cinnamon, and chile powder (if using). Using heaping tablespoons, form balls of dough and roll in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place the balls about 3 inches apart on the baking sheets.
- Bake one sheet at a time until the cookies are set in the center and begin to crack, about 10 minutes. If you want to bake the two sheets at once, make sure you have the racks spaced out in the oven in the top third and the bottom third, and rotate the baking sheets halfway during the baking. Let the cookies cool on sheets on wire racks for 3 or 4 minutes, then transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely.
