I suck at baking cookies. SUCK. So when I visited Melissa’s Produce HQ a while back, they introduced us to a really simple recipe for Hatch Chile Devil’s Food cookies, and my 2 immediate thoughts were: 1. I can SO do this and 2. I wonder how I can modify this?

So then I thought chocolate and spices? What about Mexican Spiced Cocoa? Now I’ve heard this variety of hot chocolate called by many different names, including Aztec Hot Chocolate and Mexican Spiced Hot Chocolate, but if you’re unfamiliar with what it is, it’s pretty much what it sounds like. Hot chocolate with spices. And it’s delicious.

So I tinkered and played with it and I’ll be honest (but not in the least bit humble): I blew my own mind. The only problem I ran into was oven space, and let me tell you: if you use more than one cookie sheet and they don’t fit side-by-side, DON’T PUT ONE BELOW THE OTHER. You will end up with a sheet of molten cookie rock. Delicious though it may sound, your teeth will hate you. DO NOT DO IT.

But do follow the recipe, because it is tres delish.

Ingredients

1 box of Devil’s Food cake mix
1 cup of Butter (melted)
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Chile Powder (less if you’re using Cayenne. Also made that mistake once.)
A pinch of Ground Clove (if you’re feeling ambitious)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. Mix dry ingredients.
3. Stir in the butter until you have a cookie dough consistency
4. Make teaspoon sized balls and spread them out on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
5. Place in center rack of the oven and bake for 12 minutes.
6. Remove from baking sheet to cool (usually, I just lift the parchment paper straight off of the sheet and slide it onto a cooling rack. Lifehack WHAT)

So that’s it! Easy peasy and wonderful for holiday potlucks, hostess gifts, or just a sweet treat.