Mexican Double Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Okay well this week's chocolate binge can easily be blamed on Ali because of this month's Cinco de Mayo WCC #5 I couldn't stop thinking about Mexican chocolate.. Mexican cocoa.. Mexican coffee.. Mexican Wedding Cakes.. and finally, these Mexican Double Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies that I read about a few weeks ago when the announcement of the winner of the COPIA: The American Center for Wine, Food & the Arts, Best Darn Chocolate Chip Cookie Contest. (Wow that's a mouthful) Chaim Potter of Napa invented these intense chocolately and slightly spicy cookies and took the top prize. Sooo.. thanks Ali.. I just hadda make them! :P These cookies are delectible. Simply put. I can see how they won first place. They are crispy on the outside, chewy and gooey on the inside. The chocolate flavor is very intense and the spice is a nice background flavor. My only change to these, if I were to make them again (yeah, as if I wouldn't make them again, hello?) is to add maybe an 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper. Yes, me.. the spice hater of all time! I just think that a spicey cookie, should be a tad bit spicier. Hey.. I love me my gingersnaps! :D Mexican Double Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies 1 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder 1 tsp. ground cinnamon (I used Vietnamese cinnamon because it is one of the most potent in flavor) 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. coarse salt 1/8 tsp. finely ground black pepper 1/4 pound coarsley chopped good quality dark chocolate (I used the last of my Valrhona bittersweet chocolate) 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter 1 1/2 c. sugar 2 large eggs 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips Preheat oven to 325ºF Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and black pepper. Set aside. In a small heatproof bowl set over a small saucepan of simmering water, melt the coarsely chopped chocolate with the butter. Let cool slightly. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the melted chocolate mixture with the sugar, eggs and vanilla. Mix on medium speed until combined. Reduce speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture. Fold in the chocolate chips. Line a 17-by-12-inch cookie sheet with parchment. Using a 1 1/2 inch ice cream scoop, drop the cookie dough onto the paper, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes, until they look flat and the surfaces crack (cookies should still be soft in texture). Let the cookies cool on the parchment on wire cooling racks. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days. (As if they'll last that long) Oh and later last night? Yeah well I was thinking.. hmmm.. just how could I kick this cookie up a notch?(was feeling so Emeril) So I slapped some Haagen Dazs Mayan Chocolate ice cream in the middle of two cookies and voila! Oh yeah baby!