pumpkin beer cookies with chocolate chili icing

As teachers, Matt and I don’t do much traveling for our jobs.  Sure, there is the occasional out-of-town conference, but other than that, we are pretty much together every single night.  So, when Matt was in Jeff City this past weekend for a Youth in Government convention, I had big plans for me and MacKenna.

Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans in mind.  I was really hoping to take her outside to rake up the ridiculous amount of leaves in our yard and let her jump and play in them, but instead, it rained and forced us to stay inside for the day.

Luckily, I had the forethought (not really) to buy some cookie mixes at the store, so we busted out the learning tower for her to stand on and whipped up a batch of cookies for Matt when he came home from his conference.  I’m almost embarrassed to say that this was the first time MacKenna and I have done any sort of baking or cooking together.  I guess I just thought she was too young or small to really understand what we were doing.  But, she once again proved me wrong and was a fabulous helper.

We made Snickerdoodles together for Matt (his favorite) and MacKenna helped me pour the butter and egg into the batter and stirred it as well.  I quickly learned that she is truly my daughter as she couldn’t keep her hands out of the batter!  Silly girl!

I really had other intentions in my cookie baking on Saturday though.  I saw a post earlier in the week on Instagram that got me pumped to develop a new recipe.  Why I had never thought of putting beer into my cookie batter before is beyond me!  Especially pumpkin beer.  I mean, it really doesn’t get better (for me at least) than PUMPKIN cookies and beer!  Oh wait, add a little chocolate icing to the tops because you know pumpkin just tastes better with chocolate (as does everything).  And kick it up a notch by adding a little chipotle chili powder to the icing.  Yup, I went there…

Pumpkin Beer Cookies with Chocolate Chili Icing

For the cookies:
1 packet Betty Crocker Pumpkin Spice cookie mix (you can find it at Target or Walmart)
1/2 cup butter, softened (per mix recipe)
1 egg (per mix recipe)
1/2 cup Schlafly Pumpkin Ale

For the icing:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 packet unsweetened chocolate CocoaVia supplement (or 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder)
Chipotle chili powder, to taste (depending on how hot/spicy you want it)

In a large bowl, mix together the cookie mix, butter, egg, and beer until combined.  Drop by the tablespoon (I use a cookie scoop) on a parchment-paper covered cookie sheet.  Bake at 375 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are starting to brown and stiffen a little.  Allow cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes and then move to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling.

Once the cookies are cooled, mix together the powdered sugar, milk, CocoaVia, and chili powder in a shallow bowl.  Dip the tops of the cookies in the icing and return to the cooling rack.  Allow the icing to dry and harden before serving.

I know.  They sound weird.  They are, but they are strangely addicting and delicious!  Something about the heat in the icing mixed with the yeasty beer flavor keeps you coming back for more!

And not only do you get delicious cookies, you also get some health benefits as well.  CocoaVia contains flavanols that help promote healthy circulation, which is important for cardiovascular health, cognitive health, skin health, and blood flow.  Combine CocoaVia with the additional cardiovascular benefits of beer and you have one heck of a “healthy” cookie!

Oh, and don’t worry.  MacKenna only helped eat the batter of the snickerdoodles.  I kept the beer batter all to myself…

**Disclosure:  I am working with CocoaVia to develop various Fall and Holiday inspired recipes using their daily cocoa extract supplement sticks variety pack.  CocoaVia sent me their product in exchange for a recipe and blog post.  All opinions are my own.**