On vacation in Port Townsend at the end of June I encountered Oaxacan chocolate shortbread cookies made by Makabi & Sons, a lucky purchase at Aldrich's. A delicious slow burn, a touch of cinnamon, chocolate shortbread—I was hooked. I wanted to replicate this experience at home if I could.
As with my various adventures in canning, I compared recipes to identify key variables. This led to the first baffling discovery: A big swing in the amount of cinnamon relative to the amount of flour and cocoa powder between the first two recipes I read. Why oh why?
I didn't read every recipe I found and try to come up with my own proportions. Instead I decided to try the first two I found, with one small adjustment.
Recipe #1: Mexican Chocolate Shortbread from Viktoria's Table. It calls for the same amount of cinnamon as my second candidate but has only half as much flour, cocoa powder, butter etc.
Recipe #2: Mexican Chocolate Shortbread from Averie Cooks.
Recipe #3: Mexican Chocolate Shortbread from Rachel Cooks. This one's a little like Recipe #1 and Recipe #2 had a baby with a small mutation on the sugar gene. It has the proportions of #2 for flour, butter, and sugar, but only half the cinnamon; the addition of dark chocolate chips of #1; and it uses powdered sugar rather than granulated sugar.
I baked recipes #1 and #2, saving #3 for later. On #1 I reduced the cinnamon to 1 teaspoon, making the proportions more comparable to #2. The recipe calls for 1/8-1/4 teaspoon of cayenne; I went with 1/4 t. The recipe calls for 2 ounces of shaved dark chocolate. I had dark chocolate chips on hand so I used those, no shaving involved although maybe I should have chopped them to make smaller bits.
Taste test results: I wouldn't kick either of these to the curb, but recipe #2 is my favorite. I thought the addition of dark chocolate chips to #1 might give it the edge, but no. #2 has greater depth of flavor, probably thanks to the additional spices in the mix. I also think the thicker slices of dough in #2 gave a more genuine shortbread consistency. #1 might have fared better with that thickness but it called for thinner slices and I followed the recipe. That yielded a consistency a little more like a regular cookie, perhaps thanks to the dark chocolate in the batter.
The cayenne provides a nice slow, delayed burn at the back of the throat. Either recipe could stand a bit more cayenne for my taste. I was trying to come close to the Makabi & Sons cookies and didn't quite get there. I'm now curious about Recipe #3 and whether powdered sugar would yield the final dryness and snap of the store cookies that was part of the appeal along with the heat. Try those if you find them in the store; they're delicious! And they'll give you a baseline for your own adventures in baking.
