Hiya, Cookie!

My buddy Susiewants us all to post a cookie recipe and do a whole lot of other things today in honor of Wednesday the 13th. Or for some reason. (I guess it's called "Blog Cookie Exchange." I am not sending you any, so don't get excited. Make your own.)

Anyway, this struck a bell with me for I have just landed on the world classiest Chocolate Pepper Cookies ever you heard of (the pepper is the secret ingredient; don't tell nobody). And since I am the chief cook and bottle washer here in Oregon for me and the Scamp, here's my (somebody else's, really) cookie:

1 1/2 Cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 3/4 Cups granulated sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 Cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 1/2 Cups unsweetened cocoa, plus additional for rolling
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4-6 ounces semisweet chocolate (for decoration)

(In case you doubted I can cook, here I am worrying some garlic to death.)

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and beat until mixture is fluffy. Sift together the flour, 1 1/2 cups cocoa, salt, black pepper, cayenne and cinnamon. Add to the butter mixture and beat until well mixed; if dough seems too soft, add up to 1/4 C up more flour. Shape into a flattened disk, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Dust a cutting board with cocoa and roll out the dough until it is 1/8 inch thick (it's best to roll out 1/3 of the dough at a time, leaving the remainder in the refrigerator until it's time to roll out). Cut dough into desired shape with a cookie cutter and set cookies 1-2 inches apart on baking sheets. Leftover dough can be rolled and cut out once more.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, or just until crisp. Cool on racks.

Melt the semi-sweet chocolate and drizzle randomly over the cooled cookies. You can do this by dipping a fork in the chocolate and then twirling it over the cookies. Allow the chocolate to set before serving.

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Now then, I am never going to do this again. So I hope you liked the cooking show cartoon in case you got pretty bored, like I did.....

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My favorite word today is ant. N., much busier than a grasshopper. Def.: A small insect that, though always at work, still finds time to go to picnics.