Mayan Chocolate Sparklers

I wanted some cookies today and decided on these. They were really chocolatey and had some spice. I liked them and ate way too many then I should have. It's like spice cookie meets chocolate cookie and has these babies are created. I made the whole batch so Matt could take them with him to his dad's office tomorrow. We haven't delivered to anyone new in a while, but we are still baking and giving away! I think we just burned ourselves out during the 1st month, especially doing multiple houses a day. Sparkley cookies calls for a sparkley plate.

Mayan Chocolate Sparklers

Ingredients:
Topping:
½ cup granulated sugar 125 mL
1 tsp ground cinnamon 5 mL
Cookies:
¾ cup vegetable shortening 175 mL
½ cup unsalted butter, softened 125 mL
¾ cup granulated sugar 175 mL
¾ cup brown sugar, packed 175 mL
2 large eggs 2
1 tsp pure vanilla extract 5 mL
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour 425 mL
1 ¼ cups cocoa powder 300 mL
1 tbsp ground cinnamon 15 mL
2 tsp baking soda 10 mL
¼ tsp salt 1 mL
¼ tsp ground black pepper 1 mL
1 pinch ground cayenne pepper 1
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 250 mL

Preparation:Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Topping:Combine sugar and cinnamon for topping.
Cookies:Beat shortening, butter, sugars and vanilla until creamy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Sift together flour, cocoa, cinnamon and baking soda. Stir in black pepper, salt, and cayenne pepper. Gradually add dry ingredients to butter mixture, beating after each addition. Stir in chocolate chips.Roll in 1” (2.5 cm) balls, don’t flatten. Roll into cinnamon and sugar topping. Place on prepared cookie sheets, about 2” (5 cm) apart.Bake 7-10 minutes. Cookies should still be soft in center. Let cool on baking sheet for 3-5 minutes. Remove, cool on wire rack