Ooey-Gooey Mayan Goodness

I have a thing for the Mayans. I’m not sure why, becuase I’m pretty sure Dad botched my interest in Mayan history by delivering his now-infamous hours-long diatribe on the Incans and the Mayans one night after dinner in about 6th grade. But in any case, I love their claim to chocolate usage as we know it, and hey, my brother’s getting a PhD in history, so the diatribe must not have been that harmful.

When David Lebovitz announced chocolate by brand as the theme for this month’s Sugar High Fridays, an event created by Jennifer of Domestic Goddess, my mind flew to the Maya Gold bar by Green and Black’s chocolate of the UK. I once saw Craig Sams speak at a conference, and he was eloquent enough in his discussions on fair trade to help me develop a pretty good dedication to his product.

I love spicy chocolate, and G&B’s Maya Gold bar, with orange and spices, is no exception. (Dagoba and Theo also make great spicy bars.) But since fancy chocolates always seem to end up in fancy desserts, I wanted to make something really homey and basic.

The result: cookies with kick. Chocolate chunks (rather than chips) means bites are ooey gooey and fabulously messy when they’re still warm; extra flour gives the dough enough structure to hold all that chocolate up. A little G&B’s cocoa powder (which I used simply because I had it) gives them the ultimate chocoholic appearance. Next time, I’m adding nibs for crunch.

Recipe for Whole Wheat Double Chocolate Orange Cookies

Sugar High Friday participants will be reviewed on David’s site on Friday, January 26th. Stay tuned.