Why do we fall in love with a recipe? I don’t know, but I can tell you that the Desert Roses with Cocoa and chocolate chips are addictive, and after preparing them for the first time, I couldn’t stop! Before showing and therefore publishing my recipe here on the blog Bea’s Recipes, I had already made them four times. You know very well that generally I prepare recipes three times to ensure that the quantities, the procedure, and the final result are always beautiful, good, perfect to share with you. Otherwise, that recipe doesn’t go online.
When I presented the Desert Roses Cookies with almond flour I made a promise: we would start from the basic recipe and then move together to its variations and declinations. Today, in fact, I present to you the version of Desert Roses with Cocoa and Milk Chocolate Chips!
I also made the video recipe for this version so that you can follow it step by step, not only with words but also with images, to make these cookies for snack or breakfast with me.
A simple, easy, quick recipe, and above all, delicious and fragrant cookies that will remain among the favorite snacks of kids or your grandchildren. I can tell you that my colleagues and my partner appreciated and devoured them, while my father, who is a bit old-fashioned, declared that for him they were better and more delicate in the classic version of the Desert Roses.
Before moving on to the recipe, remember that every morning in the group and on the Facebook fan page of Bea’s Recipes I await you with the Recipe of the Day! The good morning that has become part of our routine. I also remind you that every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, you will find the New Recipe here on the blog! Three Days Three New Recipes!
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Rest time: 1 Hour
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 15Pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Christmas, All seasons
- Energy 242.28 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 23.33 (g) of which sugars 12.14 (g)
- Proteins 4.38 (g)
- Fat 15.33 (g) of which saturated 5.89 (g)of which unsaturated 3.27 (g)
- Fibers 2.24 (g)
- Sodium 56.77 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 45 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for 15 Desert Roses with Cocoa
- 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1.5 cups almond flour (if you don't have it or don't like it, double the dose of all-purpose flour)
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder (in my case unsweetened)
- 3/4 cup butter
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- Half packet baking powder
- as needed corn flakes (for the decoration of the Desert Roses)
- as needed chocolate chips (in my case milk chocolate)
- 1 pinch salt
With these quantities you will get 15 Desert Roses weighing 40 – 50 grams each. They will seem very large like balls, but then trust me, during baking they will flatten slightly and widen, taking on the classic shape that these desert cookies should have.
Tools for Desert Roses with Cocoa Recipe
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Hand whisk
- 1 Spatula
- 1 Plastic wrap
- 1 Oven
- 1 Spoon
- 1 Plate
- 2 Parchment paper
- 1 Refrigerator
Tip not to be underestimated: before starting this recipe, place the butter on the kitchen counter, at room temperature, in a small bowl for at least, and I repeat, at least 30 minutes. This will make it nicely softened for the work that will follow.
Not performing this step or not waiting the right amount of time will not allow you to work the butter well and quickly afterward. Of course, if you have more time available you can leave it for more than 30 minutes but never less, remember!
Another 30 minutes of rest not to be underestimated are those dedicated to the dough placed on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. This will allow the butter, which we previously softened to work better, to consolidate almost again and therefore harden and compact the dough of the cocoa and chocolate desert roses.
So in total I wrote an hour of rest time in the instructions list of this recipe because there is no possibility in that box to specify that it is 30 minutes for the butter and 30 minutes resting dough.
Steps for Cocoa Desert Roses Recipe with Chocolate Chips
We start the recipe for cocoa desert roses 30 minutes before preparing the dough by placing the butter in a bowl at room temperature on the worktop. This will allow the butter to soften and make it easily workable with the hand whisk first and the spatula afterward. Please do not skip this step.
After this rest time, we can proceed with the other steps of the recipe. Prepare the sugar nearby, weigh the all-purpose flour and almond flour, the cocoa powder and the baking powder. Keep the salt close at hand.
Take a bowl with high edges and nice and wide, pour the softened butter into it and work it with the sugar first with the spatula and then with the hand whisk. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Then break the two eggs and add them to the bowl. Work with the butter and the sugar with the hand whisk.
Add the almond flour and then the all-purpose flour previously sifted. Now it’s the turn of the powdered baking powder, just a tablespoon, about 7 grams. Then add the cocoa powder, in my case unsweetened, and from here on I really recommend using the spatula to work the dough because with the flours, added to the butter and eggs, you will struggle to mix the ingredients.
After completing this step, we will have obtained a sticky and compact mixture. Then cover with plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Please remember!
After this rest time, we will be ready to proceed with the recipe and then bake the cocoa and chocolate chip desert rose cookies. Turn on the oven to 375°F with the static mode. Wait patiently and calmly for it to reach temperature, again, we must not rush to proceed. If the oven is not at the correct temperature, the cookies will flatten too much, losing the shape and the classic appearance that the desert roses should have.
Once the oven light goes out, we can proceed by placing a plate in front of us where we will pour both the corn flakes and the chocolate chips. In my case, they are milk chocolate, but if you prefer, you can use dark chocolate chips. Quickly mix with a spoon.
Then take a nice large baking tray, you will definitely need two, but we will bake one tray at a time to ensure the correct baking temperature that the central position in the oven provides. Place a sheet of parchment paper on the tray. At this point, and only at this point, we will take the mixture from the fridge. Place the bowl on the worktop and proceed.
Take portions of the mixture weighing between 40 and 50 grams max. If you have doubts, weigh a couple to get an idea of their size. Then pass the balls, formed with your hands as if you were forming meatballs, in the plate with the corn flakes and the milk chocolate chips. Squeeze well so that they adhere to the mixture. Gradually place the cookie dough balls on the tray.
Spread the cookies well apart from each other because during baking, they will flatten and spread a bit. Note that I placed 7 cookies on the first tray and the others on the second. Place the remaining mixture back in the fridge during the baking of the first batch of cookies.
Bake the first tray in the center of the oven and let bake for 12 to 14 minutes. It depends on the size of the balls you made. In my oven, with balls of about 40 grams after 13 minutes, the cocoa desert roses were ready, well baked, and fragrant!
Once ready, remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes before transferring the chocolate roses onto a plate so that they no longer receive heat from the tray. Then proceed with making the second batch, bake the cookies, and let them cool as we did with the first tray.
At this point, you just have to decide whether to sprinkle the cocoa and chocolate desert roses with powdered sugar or leave them plain as I did. I wish you all a good appetite and remind you that I await you every day on the blog with many easy, quick, and delicious recipes like these cookies!
Tips and variations:
As already indicated in the ingredient list, I can advise you as a variation not to use almond flour. If you don’t have it or don’t know how to reuse it for other recipes, prepare these chocolate desert roses only with regular flour. There is no significant change in taste, although the aftertaste of these cookies will no longer be almond-scented.
Another variation is not to use chocolate chips or to use them perhaps in white chocolate or dark chocolate compared to mine, which are milk. You can obviously also choose not to use chocolate chips at all, choosing only corn flakes as an external decoration for today’s cookies.
I have several tips. The first is to keep the oven at the right temperature; if not, you risk the cookies flattening more than necessary, not having the classic look of the desert rose. The second is to compact well the dough balls before passing them through the corn flakes and the chocolate chips.
The third and most important is the right consistency of the dough before placing it in the fridge. If it feels too sticky, mushy, and certainly unworkable, you need to add a few more grams of flour. Evidently, both the butter and the egg are still too sticky compared to how the dough for the cocoa and chocolate desert roses should be.
