Cinnamon and chocolate cookies & coffee
Go straight to the Cinnamon and chocolate cookies recipe
We could easily end up eating these chocolate cookies every other day and to be honest we are having them at least once a fortnight. What I really love about these yummy cookies is their festive look and fantastic taste. Baking tuiles is always quite an excitement. They demand precise work and gentle touch and the whole baking process is a real challenge. The cookies usually come out delicious and despite the initial fear they are not that challenging after all if the process is followed to the dot.
The only part that makes baking this yummy chocolate cookies a bit tricky is how fast you've got to be to achieve a perfect shape. Because they are so thin and light they need special care when being removed from the baking sheet and later from the rolling pin. They are very fragile (I did break them many times, so this recipe is not really suitable for children).
The best time eating them is straight after baking (I try NOT to eat the whole plate though this proves even trickier). A few hours later they soften up too much and don't taste and smell as yummy as fresh.
Basic ingredients for the cinnamon and chocolate cookies batter are: plain flour, melted butter, egg whites and granulated sugar. Their taste can be elevated with spices and flavorings like cinnamon, all spice, vanilla, cocoa, chocolate, orange zest,... My preferred extra ingredients are cocoa and cinnamon, but during the Christmas time I replace cinnamon with all spice to achieve richer taste.
I've got to say that these days she eats far less chocolate than she used to. She has stayed the big chocolate lover, but in kind of a normal way. Believe it or not but she can sometimes survive three days without any chocolate. Potential chocolate attacks are quickly subdued with a piece of dark chocolate or a trip to the kitchen to bake chocolate chip muffins or any other dark chocolate cakes. All in all, she enjoys baking rather than crawling over tons of chocolate.
These chocolate cookies are among the ultimate accompaniments for coffee. The taste of chocolate elevates the taste of coffee to a completely different level.
Cinnamon and chocolate cookies recipe - tuiles:
Makes: 8
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 egg white
- 50g caster sugar
- 2tbsp plain flour
- 40g butter, melted
- 1tbsp cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (optional 1/2 tsp ground all spice)
Method - how to use chocolate cookies tuiles recipe:
- Preheat fan oven to 200C/400F/gas 6 (20C higher for ordinary ovens). Lightly grease two large baking sheets. Whisk the egg white in a bowl until it forms soft peaks. Gradually whisk in the sugar to make a smooth mixture.
- Sift the flour over the mixture and fold in. Stir in the melted butter. Transfer about 3 tbsp of the mixture to a small bowl and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the cocoa and cinnamon. Stir into the larger quantity of mixture.
- Leaving room for spreading, drop spoonfuls of the chocolate-flavored mixture onto the prepared baking sheets, then gently spread each drop with a palette knife to make a neat round.
- Using a small spoon, drizzle the reserved plain mixture over the rounds to achieve a marble effect.
- Bake for 4-6 minutes, until just set.
- Using a palette knife, lift each cookie carefully and quickly drape it over a rolling pin, to give a curved shape as it hardens.
- Leave the chocolate cookies to cool until set, then remove them gently and finish cooling on a wire rack. Serve the same day.
Use this handy conversion calculator
Method (step by step):
STEP 1:
Preheat fan oven to 200C/400F/gas 6. Lightly grease two large baking sheets. Whisk the egg white in a bowl until it forms soft peaks. Gradually whisk in the sugar to make a smooth mixture.
STEP 2:
Sift the flour over the mixture and fold in. Stir in the melted butter. Transfer about 3 tbsp of the mixture to a small bowl and set aside.
STEP 3:
In a separate bowl, mix together the cocoa and cinnamon. Stir into the larger quantity of mixture.
STEP 4:
Leaving room for spreading, drop spoonfuls of the chocolate-flavored mixture onto the prepared baking sheets, then spread each gently with a palette knife to make a neat round.
Using a small spoon, drizzle the reserved plain mixture over the rounds to achieve a marble effect.
STEP 5:
Bake for 4-6 minutes, until just set.
STEP 6:
Using a palette knife, lift each cookie carefully and quickly drape it over a rolling pin, to give a curved shape as it hardens.
STEP 7:
Leave the chocolate cookies to cool until set, then remove them gently and finish cooling on a wire rack. Serve them the same day.
Flat tuiles can be also very attractive in their look especially if they are decorated with patterns.
To make patterned tuiles you need two batters, a basic and a chocolate batter. Transfer a few tablespoons of basic batter to a small bowl and set aside. In another bowl add a cocoa and stir well. The patterns can be made with a small tea spoon or with a small piping bag with a round nozzle. You can make different patterns: dots, lines, circles, spirals,...
Our coffee choice for cinnamon and chocolate cookies - tuiles:
Cappuccino
Espresso
Cafe latte
Turkish coffee
* all combinations have been tested with medium roast Arabica blend
Baking tips
- All ingredients should be at room temperature.
- Mix the batter well to ensure it is smooth.
- When the batter is mixed put it aside for at least 15-30 minutes. This will make it more compact and it will spread less when baked.
- This cinnamon and chocolate cookies are very fragile, so bake them on a non-stick baking sheet, greased before baking with butter. For easier removal from the pan use a wide metal spatula.
- You can bake a flat tuiles but, if you make shaped tuiles don't wait too long to curve them otherwise they will become too hard and breakable. In that case put them back in the oven for a few seconds, but be careful not to burn them.
- These yummy chocolate cookies can be shaped on a rolling pin or on a glass bottle.
Good to know
- Cinnamon and chocolate cookies named tuiles got the name after curved Mediterranean roof tiles.
- Cinnamon is one of the oldest known spices. It is a small tree that grows in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Brazil, Vietnam and Egypt. The bark of the cinnamon tree is dried and rolled into cinnamon sticks or ground into powder.
- Cinnamon has also many health benefits and it is used in traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine.
- Latin names for cinnamon are CINNAMOMUM ZEYLANICUM and CINNAMOMUM CASSIA.
