Spicy Chocolate Krampus Cookies

I was never really into cakes, or donuts, but I LOVE cookies. Those little chewy and crunchy bites you have with a good cup of coffee is what it's all about. I also love the holidays and baking, probably because of those memories I have of baking sugar cookies with my mom and aunt as a day-long activity over Christmas. Well, when December rolls around, I deem it Cookie Season and anything goes.

I personally eat gluten free and grain free. It took quite awhile to learn how to use alternative ingredients, but I refused to give up the treats and cookies that have so many happy memories I grew up with. That meant a lot of trial and error, ingredient testing, and perfecting certain recipes. Today, I wanted to share the cookies I like to bake in order to kick-off Cookie Season in December, which are perfectly themed for Krampusnacht.

Introducing, Krampus Cookies. These chocolatey treats look unassuming, but they certainly bite back. They're made with dark dutch cocoa, coffee powder, spices, and topped with flaked sea salt. Depending on your personal tastes, you can scale the spices up, or down, but I love the heated kick that these have the more you eat them. They're close to Mexican chocolate if you're a fan of that flavor profile.

A few notes before you dive in to baking: I highly recommend using a dutch cocoa powder like Droste since the flavor is nice and rich, but feel free to use any you prefer. The type of instant coffee you use is also important. Coffee helps bring out the rich chocolate flavors, so you want to use a good Italian instant espresso powder. I've included specific recommendations on the ingredient list as links. Finally, the spices. If you try to use spices that's just been sitting in the back of your cabinet for two years because you just don't use it enough... you're probably going to find that they're not that potent. Try using fresh spices to get the real heat and kick we're looking for from these cookies.

This recipe makes about 24 cookies.

Spicy Chocolate Krampus Cookie Recipe

Ingredients GRAIN FREE FLOUR OPION 1: 3/4 cup (110g) almond flour 1/2 cup (55g) tapioca flour 1/4 cup (40g) Otto's Cassava Flour WHEAT FLOUR OPTION 2: 1 1/2 cup (and 185g) all-purpose flour 1/4 cup (25g) dutch cocoa powder 1 tsp instant coffee powder 1 tsp cinnamon 3/4 tsp cayenne pepper 1/4 tsp ground ginger 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1 cup Muscovado sugar or Dark brown sugar 1 egg 1 tsp vanilla 12oz bittersweet chocolate chips Flaked sea salt (optional)

Directions Preheat your oven to 350° F. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, instant coffee, baking soda, cinnamon, cayenne, ginger, and salt. Set aside. In your mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add in the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Slowly add in the mixture of dry ingredients until just combined into a dough. Use a spoon or spatula to mix in the chocolate chips. Prepare a cookie with parchment paper. Use a cookie scoop, or spoon hefty 1-inch mounds of cookie dough onto the cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Top with flaked sea salt (optional). Bake on the center rack for 12-15 minutes, until the tops start to split and crack. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes.