Mexican Chocolate Icebox Biscuits
Makes about 4 dozen
1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup quality dutch-process unsweetened cocoa
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2–3/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
12 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces (equates to about 175g butter)
1. Whisk flour, cocoa, cinnamon, cayenne, salt, and pepper together in a medium bowl and set aside.
2. Put sugar, vanilla, and egg into a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer on high speed until thick and pale, about 3 minutes. Add butter and continue to beat on high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes more. Using your fingers, work flour mixture into butter mixture until dough is just combined. It looks like thick, but gooey chocolate frosting.
3. Divide dough in half and roll each half into a 9″ log. Wrap each log in parchment paper, twisting ends tightly to make a uniform cylinder. Freeze dough logs for at least 8 hours and as long as overnight.
4. Preheat oven to 350°F. Unwrap dough and slice each log into rounds about 1/3″ thick. Place rounds 1/2″ apart on parchment paper–lined cookie sheets. Bake cookies until slightly puffed and tiny cracks appear on surface, about 8 minutes. Transfer cookies to a rack to let cool.