Devil's Food Cookies

## Book Reference

Candy Cane Murder

* Do not preheat oven—this dough needs to chill.
* When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F, rack in the middle position.

### Ingredients

#### Devil's Food Cookies

* 2 cups flour
* 1-1/4 cups white *(granulated)* sugar
* 1/2 cup cocoa powder *When cocoa is used in any of my recipes, make sure to use plain old American cocoa (I usually use Hershey's unsweetened cocoa.) There are many designer cocoas on the market. They're wonderful in their own right, but they won't work in my recipes. Make sure you don't buy cocoa mix, which has powdered milk and a sweetener added. Stay away from Dutch process cocoa—it has alkaline added. Also beware of cocoas that are mixed with ground chocolate or other flavorings. They won't work either. Things were simpler in my grandmother's day (and this Devil's Food Cookie is one of her recipes.) If you're in doubt, check the ingredients that are listed on the container of cocoa. It should say "cocoa" and nothing else*.
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 cup melted butter *(1 stick, ¼ pound)*
* 1 beaten egg *(just whip it up in a glass with fork)*
* 1/2 cup extra strong coffee *(I brewed French Roast double strength)*
* 1/2 cup white sugar in a small bowl *(for later)*

#### White Powdered Sugar Icing

* 1 cup powdered *(confectioners)* sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 2 to 4 Tablespoons light cream

**Lisa's 1st Note:** *There's no need to sift the powdered sugar unless it has big lumps.*

#### Chocolate Powdered Sugar Icing

* 1 cup powdered *(confectioners)* sugar
* 1/4 cup cocoa
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 3 to 6 Tablespoons light cream

### Directions

* Do not preheat oven—this dough needs to chill.
* In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda. Once these dry ingredients are combined, add the melted butter and mix thoroughly.
* Add the beaten egg and mix thoroughly.
* Add the strong coffee and mix thoroughly.
* Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least one hour. *(Overnight is fine, too.)*
* When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F, rack in the middle position.
* Roll the dough into one-inch diameter balls with your hands. This dough may be sticky, so roll only enough for the cookies you plan to bake immediately and then return the bowl to the refrigerator. Roll the dough balls in the bowl of white sugar and place them on a greased cookie sheet, 12 balls to a standard sheet. Flatten slightly with the heel of your impeccably clean hand so they won't roll off on the way to the oven.
* Bake at 350°F for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on the cookie sheet for a minute or two and then remove the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling. *(If you leave them on the cookie sheet for too long, they'll stick.)*

**Hannah's Note:** *When Lisa wants to make these fancy for a cookie catering job, she drizzles them with fine horizontal lines of white powdered sugar icing. Then she mixes up chocolate powdered sugar icing and drizzles them with fine vertical lines. Here are the frostings she uses:*

#### White Powdered Sugar Icing

* Line up your cookies, shoulder to shoulder, on a sheet of waxed paper.
* Mix the powdered sugar with the vanilla and the salt. Add the light cream gradually until the frosting is the consistency you want.
* Put the frosting into a plastic food storage bag. Twist the top closed and cut off one of the bottom corners to let out the frosting. Squeeze it out and drizzle it in fine lines over your cookies.

#### Chocolate Powdered Sugar Icing

* Turn the paper with the partially frosted cookies 90 degrees so that the thin lines of chocolate frosting will crisscross the white frosting.
* Mix the powdered sugar with the cocoa. Blend it in until the resulting mixture is a uniform color. Add the vanilla and the salt. Add the light cream gradually until the chocolate frosting is the consistency you want.
* Put the chocolate frosting into a plastic food storage bag. Twist the top closed and cut off one of the bottom corners to let out the frosting. Squeeze it out and drizzle it in fine lines over the cookies.
* Let the frosting dry thoroughly and then pack the cookies in single layers in a box lined with wax paper.

**Lisa's 2nd Note:** *If you want to be really fancy, you can make powdered sugar icing with food coloring and use other extracts besides vanilla.*

## Conversion Charts

See Baking Conversion Chart for non-USA baking conversions.