Today I am sharing a White Chocolate Spice Cookie recipe. This cookie is deliciously spicy from the black pepper in the dough, and deliciously decadent because of the white chocolate decoration, mmmm. It’s a cookie for grown ups!

My friend Kayte introduced me to this cookie in December of 1996;  I still have the original recipe, which was clipped from a Sunset Magazine from that same time.  I did change the method of making this cookie 🙂 Sunset’s directions said to mix the cookie in a food processor—I didn’t like that at all.  The dough didn’t feel right, and the cookie was a bit tough, so I’ve changed the recipe to reflect the more traditional method of mixing cookie dough.

I used to make these cookies as a cut-out cookie, not any more though.  Now I roll the dough into a cylinder, refrigerate until firm, then slice and bake. When cool, I dip the half the cookie in melted white chocolate, and then drizzle the remaining chocolate on the other half—delicious! 

On a more recent update, I started to double the spices for a bit more punch. I’d suggest making them as-is first, and if you want more punch next time, up the spices!

White Chocolate Spice Cookies

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups flour
• 2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• ¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper—make sure you have fresh pepper! That stuff from last year won’t produce the result you want.
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter, cubed, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
• 6 oz. high quality white chocolate, chopped—the cookies pictured above were decorated with melted Ghiradelli White Chocolate Chips

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine flour, brown sugar, ginger, pepper, baking soda, cocoa, cinnamon, salt and allspice in a medium mixing bowl and set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer beat softened butter for a minute or so.  Add in brown sugar and beat for an additional 3 minutes.
3. In a small bowl, combine water, lemon peel, and vanilla.  Then add to the butter-sugar mixture and beat until combined.
4. Slowly add flour-spice mixture to butter-sugar-lemon mixture. Beat with electric mixer until all the flour has been incorporated.
5. Divine dough into 2 or 3 portions and roll into cylinders. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour or so or until dough is firm enough to work with—overnight it better
6. Preheat oven to 325° and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
7. Unroll dough and slice into cookies approx ¼” thick.  Place on parchment lined cookie sheeets.
8. Bake for 15 minutes or until cookies are pale brown. Do not overbake!  Remove cookies to rack to cool.
9. Melt chopped white chocolate on 50% power in microwave for 2 or 3 minutes.
10. Dip each cookie into chocolate, covering 1/3 to 1/2 of the cookie.  When all cookies have been dipped.  Use a fork to flick remaining white chocolate over undipped portion of cookie.
11. Chill to harden the white chocolate.
12. Store cookies in an airtight container.  Can be frozen for longer storage.  Makes 5-7 dozen cookies, depending on the size of the cookie.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today! I hope you enjoy this cookie, it’s been one of my favorites for decades years now, so I heartily recommend it!