| By

Oh mah gaw, y’all.

More cookies.

After last week’s #ChristmasWeek, here I am again. With MORE. COOKIES.

But, I had to do it. Why? Because my sweet friend Isabel from Family Foodie organized our first ever #SundaySupper Ultimate Cookie Exchange.

Enter these Mexican Hot Cocoa Cookies from Following In My Shoes.

Have you ever had Mexican hot chocolate? It’s like regular hot chocolate with a sombrero. Rather than drinking plain ol’ hot chocolate, it’s amped up with some cinnamon and chile powder.

Let that twirl around in your mind for a bit.

Hot chocolate with spice. Because if Mexicans can add spice to something, we’ll do it.

If I can add chile, salsa, or peppers to something, I’ll do it.

My dad had a saying in our household: “You know it’s good food if it burns going in, AND coming out.”

Right. I won’t elaborate on that motto, but you get the idea.

Basically, we like the burn. It’s addicting. And we’ll spice anything up, even hot chocolate. OR hot cocoa cookies, as it may be.

These cookies are SUPER easy to make. I mean, the base is made of a boxed cake mix. I know you’re probably horrified that I (Ms. Homemade everything) is using a boxed cake mix. I was a little horrified myself. Until I tasted these cookies. The texture is soft and chewy, and the cinnamon and cocoa chile mix give the cookie a hint of spice. Not TOO much spice, just the right amount. In other words, they won’t burn your butt…but they will melt your heart, in a good way.

I give these five chile peppers out of five.

Also, I recommend eating these while playing Feliz Navidad and wearing a Santa hat.

Mexican Hot Cocoa Cookies Ingredients For the Cocoa Chile Spice Blend 4 tsp. cocoa powder

1 tsp. chile powder For the Cookies 1 box of devil’s food cake mix

1 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. cocoa chile spice blend

2 eggs

1/2 cup oil For the Glaze 1 cup powdered sugar

3 Tbs. heavy cream

1 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. cocoa chile spice blend Instructions For the Cocoa Chile Spice Mix Mix the cocoa and chile powder together in a small bowl and set aside. (can be stored in an air-tight container for later use) For the Cookies Preheat the oven to 350. Prepare two baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper. In a large bowl and using a hand mixer, beat cake mix, cinnamon, cocoa chile spice mix, eggs, and oil, until they are well-combined. Scoop out level tablespoons of dough and roll them into balls. Arrange the balls 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake cookies for 10 minutes, or until they puff and crack. Remove cookies from the oven and allow them to cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack to finish cooling. Glaze when cookies are completely cool. For the Glaze In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and spices until they are well-mixed. Add the heavy cream and whisk until glaze is smooth and thin enough to drizzle. (add a few drops of extra heavy cream if you need to thin it further) Drizzle the glaze over the cookies in stripes. Allow the glaze to harden before serving. And then don your sombrero and party hearty, y’all. This is like a hot cocoa cookie with bling. It almost sparkles. These are SO easy to make! It’s like you’re cheating using the cake mix, but they taste totally homemade! Feliz Navidad, y’all! ********************

This week, #SundaySupper has a special host who knows all about Cookies! Janet Keeler, food and travel editor for the Tampa Bay Times and author of “Cookielicious”, will be joining us with tips on baking for the Ultimate Cookie Exchange, and will answer any of your baking questions. So, grab a glass of milk and join us for The Ultimate Cookie Exchange. We are giving away 5 signed copies of “Cookielicious”, with 150 fabulous recipes to bake and share. See details for our Twitter chat below!

Make sure you check out all of the other cookies from the other #SundaySupper Ultimate Cookie Exchange participants!

Make sure you check out “Cookielicious” by Janet K. Keeler from The Tampa Bay Times now, while there is a special off going on…buy one “Cookielicious” Cookbook and get one for a friend for free!

Do you have a favorite cookie to take to a Cookie Exchange? Please join on us on Twitter throughout the day for #SundaySupper. In the evening we will meet at 7pm EST for our #SundaySupper Ultimate Cookie Exchange live chat. All you have to do is follow the #SundaySupper hashtag, or you can follow us through TweetChat. We’d also love to feature your recipes for The Ultimate Cookie Exchange on our #SundaySupper Pinterest board, and share them with all of our followers!