Chocafé Fudgy Cookies

Saturday September 19th was Día del Amor y la Amistad here in Colombia as well as in several other countries. That's basically the same as Valentine's Day - so, I thought it'd be nice to make some cookies for my beau.

The recipe was originally from an old Cooking Light magazine and my mother and I were drawn to it because in the picture they looked moist and chewy plus they sounded incredibly easy to make. They are in fact very easy to make and even easier to eat!

This time I decided to make an addition of coffee just for the sake of experimentation and to make them a little more "local", seeing as I am in Colombia after all. To my very pleasant surprise they were a success. Still moist and chewy but with an added depth of flavor.

Try them with or without the coffee - either way, they are delicious...

Chocafé Fudgy Cookies
Yields about 3 dozen

1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons butter
7 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup plain yogurt
1/2 tablespoon instant coffee (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C).

Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
Gently melt the butter in a medium saucepan, remove from heat and stir in the cocoa powder and both sugars. Dissolve the instant coffee in the yogurt (optional) and add to the mixture in the saucepan. Stir to combine. Add the flour mixture to saucepan and stir until thoroughly combined and moist.

Drop by 1 tablespoon onto a greased cookie sheet or silpat (about 2 inches apart) and bake for 8 minutes (don't overcook these or they will lose their chewy fudginess). Once removed from the oven, cool for 2-3 minutes then transfer cookies to a cooling rack.