My mom’s hot chocolate has magical powers. When she makes it, everybody suddenly appears around the kitchen table. Seriously. It’s like the house is empty and all of the sudden it’s loud, festive, and crowded with cousins and aunts. I can’t blame them. I can’t resist its powerful attraction either — her hot chocolate is juuust perfect. It’s not too sweet and it’s thick enough to give you a mustache when you drink it too fast. (Ok, maybe that only happens to me.)
This year, we had our first improvised hot chocolate social in the garden! It was the perfect autumn setting, with all the colorful leaves.
No hot chocolate is complete without a good amount of whipped cream as topping and a couple of cookies for dunking. Not around here, at least. Since pumpkin is in season and I had some leftover kabocha squash I had used for my gnocchi, why not make some pumpkin cookies with it?? My adorable squirrel and mushroom-shaped pumpkin cookies were the stars of the show, and my 2-year old nephew’s best friends. He played with the squirrel cookie for 10 good minutes until he realized he could actually eat it. After one bite, when he realized he had a headless squirrel, he almost cried. Kids are too funny.
For the dough recipe: make sure you bake your squash until the pulp has lost most of its moisture and almost feels dry to the touch. The amount of flour needed may vary based on how moist your pumpkin is. My dough was incredibly pliable, smooth and elastic.
When it’s cold out, getting together around the table to chat over a cup of hot chocolate with a few home-baked cookies is the best thing EVER. Don’t you think??
- ¾ cup (175 ml) whole milk
- 3 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp potato starch (or corn starch)
- In a small pot, mix powders and sugar and pour just a little bit of milk. Mix all ingredients with a wooden spoon, until all lumps have dissolved. Pour the rest of the milk and mix well.
- Place pot on stove over medium heat and keep stirring. Remove pot from the heat when chocolate has reached the density you desire. The more you cook it, the denser the hot chocolate will be. I like my hot chocolate a bit dense...but not too thick!
- a small kabocha squash (you’ll only need 7 oz/200 g of baked flesh, skin removed)
- ¾ cup (175 g or 6.17 oz) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 large eggs, divided
- 8.1 oz (230 g) all-purpose flour
- 8.4 oz (240 g) kamut flour (see notes*)
- 7 oz (200 g) brown sugar
- a pinch of salt
- the zest of ½ organic lemon, grated
- cinnamon, to taste
- sugar, for sprinkling
- Cut the squash in half. Remove seeds with a spoon and cut each half into rough pieces. Place squash pieces on a baking tray and cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 360°F for about 40 min (or until pulp is tender). Your baked squash shouldn't be too moist and almost feel dry to the touch.
- Remove squash from the oven and let cool. With a spoon, scoop out the flesh from the skin. For this recipe you will only need 7 oz (200 g) of pulp.
- Pass pulp through a potato masher and into a big bowl. Add softened butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and lemon zest. Divide yolks from egg whites and set egg whites aside. Add yolks into the mixture and stir well, until all ingredients are combined.
- Gradually add both flours to the mixture. Knead dough, but be careful not to overwork it. Form a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Remove dough from fridge and turn oven to 360°F.
- Line a couple of baking trays with parchment paper. On a clean and lightly floured surface, roll the dough between ⅛ and ¼ inch thick (4-5 mm). Using a cookie cutter of your choice, cut out your cookies and transfer them on the baking trays, spacing them out a bit (Alternatively, you could roll dough directly on the parchment paper, and remove excess dough from cut-outs).
- Lightly brush cookies with lightly beaten egg whites and sprinkle some sugar on top of each cookie.
- Bake one tray at a time for 15-18 minutes, or until golden brown.
*If you prefer to use only one kind of flour, you could simply use 1 lb (470 g) of all-purpose flour, gradually adding it to mixture. You may need to add more, as needed - i.e.: until dough is workable and not too sticky.
The amount of flour may vary depending on your pumpkin moistness.
For evenly baked cookies, make sure your dough is evenly rolled. It also helps to rotate your baking tray half way through the cooking.
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