Mexican Spiced Cookies

Cooking Light published this recipe and I immediately made some changes - but not enough! It called for 1/2 teaspoon each of Ancho chili powder and Chipotle chili powder. This I immediately doubled, since I was making them for Brian who LOVES spicy!

We were both thankful for this, the flavor would have been lacking the heat that we both enjoy from the chipotles. The next change I made was to add some almonds to the top for a little more texture.

The biggest problem was that the recipe called for 1/2 cup of butter and 1/2 cup of oil. There is no room in a shortbread cookie for any fat other than butter! This made the cookie brittle and oily to the touch. Where the butter would have become solid at room temperature, the oil leaves your fingers greasy when you are done eating the cookies.

Ghirardelli cocoa powder gave this a scrumptious flavor - of course - and the heat from the chili peppers really did blend perfectly! Next time, blend some nuts into the batter, use only butter, and maybe blend a little more chili pepper flavor into the mix.

Cooking Light has SO many great recipes - they are always worth a try and always end up with a tasty result... I just usually end up adding back the items that when missing - make the recipes light!