Chocolate Cinnamon Christmas Cookies

This time around, inspired by the christmas spirit and by the lovely smells of the season, I baked a whole lot of cookies. My hubby and I decided, rather than the two of us eat up all of them and get fat - he takes some to his office and I would give some to my friends.So after finishing the daily chores, I finally got the time in the evening, after dinner, when my hubby was lost reading a book and I was in the cookie dough :-)

By the time, I finished baking these, it was past midnight. Actually, I like baking in the night, after finishing the rest of the work, that's when I can concentrate best. I do not have to think about anything else, do not have to attend phone calls, which is generally when I tend to lose the track of time.

Before packing the cookies in their respective boxes, I tasted one and was really happy with the outcome, I could have easily had a few more, but resisted the temptation. Actually, I did not want my friends to have less, you see ;-)

This recipe is adapted from the Weihnachts Bäckerei, a German recipe book that I borrowed from a friend.

These cookies were so good that I have been already asked to make them again. Now that definitely is a good sign, isn't it? :-)

Ingredients

50 grams - chocolate 70%, finely grated
250 grams - all purpose flour (maida)
100 grams - blanched almond powder
100 grams - castor sugar
175 grams - cold butter
2 tbsp - milk
1 tsp - cinnamon powder

1 tbsp - cocoa powder

1 tsp - dried ginger powder (saunth)
a pinch of salt

For rolling -  1 tbsp cocoa powder + 4 tbsp vanilla sugar, mixed together in a bowl

Method

1. Mix together the flour, almond powder, castor sugar, cinnamon powder, dried ginger powder, salt, cocoa powder and finely grated chocolate in a bowl.
2. Add the small pieces of cold butter and the milk into the flour mix and rub together with the fingers until it forms itself into a dough.
3. Make 2 rolls out of the dough. Cover the rolls with plastic wraps and let them chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C and line a baking tray with a baking paper.
5. Take out the dough from the refrigerator, remove the plastic wrap, cut the rolls into small pieces, flatten each piece slightly, give a slight fork impression on the center of each cookie(optional) and place them on a lined baking tray.
6. Place the tray in the center of the preheated oven and bake for 15 - 18 minutes.
7. Take out the tray from the oven and immediately roll each cookie in the cocoa-vanilla sugar mixture and place them on a wire rack to cool completely before storing.

Enjoy!