By Ruth | 6:17 PM
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Spiced Aztec Cookies: baking day

Today I got out my giant cookie roll and started cutting out my Spiced Aztec Cookies. For me I found the edge of my cookie roll to be very very crumbly...but after trying a few knifes...steak, saw, I settled on whatever the kitchaid aid one is called below...I find just slowly pushing the knife thru rather than sawing made cookies instead of crumbs pile.

just part of the crumbs pile...for a bit I wondered if I'd be making cookie crumble instead of cookies.

kitchenaid knife wins for cutting actual cookies...into the oven they go! 
I'll admit that these cookies are a bit harder to tell when they are done than less chocolatey ones...for me I knew they were done because the kitchen really starts to smell like hot chocolate about 8 minutes in...9 minutes and out they came! (The recipe suggests 10...but my oven always runs hot...I can't tell you how many batches of cinnamon rolls I've burned when I forget that early in the morning lol) Ideally cookies are done when they start to brown on the bottom.

done cookies!

Like aztec hot chocolate...in a cookie form, when straight out of the oven you get a real kick of the cayenne pepper.
yum! I bet these would taste excellent as mini ice cream sandwiches.

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By Ruth | 4:44 PM
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Spiced Aztec Cookes: prep day

Happy Saturday! I've loved all things Aztec since my first anthropology class...so when I saw a recipe called Spiced Aztec Cookies....I knew I had to try and make them. In Aztec stories chocolate, or xocolatl as they called it, was thought to be from their god Quetzalcoatl. Xocolatl was so important to the Aztec culture that the beans were even used as currency.

Below is my attempt at a step by step photo journal of Spiced Aztec Cookies. You'll note that mine are slightly different from the original recipe...I use MarieBelle Aztec Hot Chocolate, instead of chocolate chunks.

ingredients for Spiced Aztec Cookies

softened butter: if you are like me and forget to leave your butter out to soften,
just toss it in the microwave for a bit on low power...genius idea from my sister

add lightly packed brown sugar to softened butter

it's so fluffy!

I like to throw all my dry ingredients together and sift them, works to mix
dry ingredients and keeps there from being any clumps.

Just imagine a picture of dry ingredients mixing with the rest
of the wet ingredients (egg, vanilla) here.

MarieBelle Aztec Hot Chocolate....yum. 

After adding in the Mariebelle Aztec Hot Chocolate my dough looks quite different
from The Three Cheeses....which I'm sure resembled....well cookie dough,
mine I feel looks like ground beef :P 

Ground beef ....I mean chocolate cookies being formed into a log and tossed into the fridge.
Pretend my kitchen is spotless like Giada de Laurentiis would have hers at this point ;)
Will these taste good? Will the Aztec gods be pleased with my baking? Who knows, I do know that chocolate cookies would be a new flavor for them, as the Aztecs didn't add sugar to their xocolatl, nor was it used in baking.

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By Ruth | 9:01 AM
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Etsy Love: My Lavaliere



Happy Friday! Welcome to the 3rd week in the Etsy Love series where I show things on Etsy that I love. Who knows, maybe you'll find some Etsy loves as well. Today's Etsy Love is My Lavaliere, this shop specializes in handmade vintage inspired trinkets. She has necklaces, rings, headbands, etc. While I find a lot of shops try to make this style of art, for me hers stands out since the trinkets always feel balanced. The colors and scale of the coordinating charms work together to create a work of art that tells a story on their own. 

Here is some of her work:
I love this necklace, in fact, it made a great present for my hairdresser :)
Scissor necklace vintage style brass long
Explorer compass ring brass filigree
I hope you guys have a great weekend! Assuming I can drag myself from reading Chocolat and playing Little Big Planet 2 I'll be back tomorrow with some baking. Aztec chocolate chip cookies based on a recipe from The Three Cheeses, I haven't made them before...so it will be a fun experiment :) 

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