Pati Jinich is host of the popular James Beard Award winning and Emmy nominated PBS series Pati's Mexican Table, author of two cookbooks, and resident chef at the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington, DC. This is her official website where she shares recipes from her show and new recipes in her blog, plus upcoming events, recent news, and more.
12ouncesroughly chopped semi-sweet chocolate, or chocolate chips
4tablespoonsunsalted butter
3large eggs
1large egg white
1 1/4cupgranulated sugar
2teaspoonsMexican vanilla extract
2ouncesrehydrated hibiscus flowers from sweet jamaica tea or water (recipe below), finely chopped
To Prepare
Make the sweet jamaica tea or water (recipe below).
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place racks in the top and bottom third of the oven. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt. Set aside.
In a bain marie, or in a heat-proof bowl set on a pot with simmering water over medium-low heat, melt the chocolate along with the butter, until completely melted and smooth. Stir with a spatula a few times as it melts. Make sure not to overheat it, and stop once it is all melted. Set aside.
In the bowl of a standing mixer, using the whisk attachment, whisk the whole eggs and egg white along with the sugar on medium high speed until frothy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Incorporate the melted chocolate and butter mixture as well as the vanilla extract and whisk until completely combined.
Remove the bowl from the stand and add the flour mixture. Use a rubber spatula to stir and fold until completely combined. Fold in the chopped rehydrated hibiscus flowers. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill the batter in the refrigerator for 20 to 30 minutes.
Using a tablespoon or 2-inch scoop, place the batter in heaping tablespoons onto prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, cool on sheet pans for about 5 minutes and then transfer to cooling racks.
Hibiscus Flowers and Hibiscus Tea
6cups tea
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: Mexican
Keyword: drink, hibiscus, honey, jamaica, tea
Cook Time: 15minutes
Total Time: 15minutes
Ingredients
6cupswater
1/2cuphoney
2ouncesdried hibiscus flowers
To Prepare
In a medium saucepan, bring water and honey to a boil. Stir in dried hibiscus flowers, stir and cook at a simmer for about 15 minutes, until flowers are completely rehydrated and soft.
Strain flowers, reserving liquid for tea, and finely chop. Set aside.
Made Possible by our Sponsors & Affiliates:
Pati's Mexican Table TV series is produced by FRANK. and WETA Washington, DC, and distributed by American Public Television (APT) to public broadcasting stations nationwide. Corporate funding is provided by La Costeña, Avocados from Mexico, FUD USA, Chepe Express, Coronado USA, Visit Tucson, Ban Coppel, La Chata, Agrícola Chaparral, Café el Marino, Fresh Gourmet, and SuKarne.
20 comments on “Chocolate Cookies with Hibiscus Flowers”
Ok people, trust Pati! She knows what she’s doing. Yes, this recipe is unusual with so little flour, but it produces such a light and chewy cookie that is so different from other recipes. Like a meringue cookie and a brownie at the same time (which I didn’t think was possible). If you want an ordinary cookie with lots of flour, turn over your bag of chocolate chips and follow the ones on the back. But, if you came to Pati’s website for something unique, then you’re in the right place. After mixing all the ingredients, the batter will be runny and you will think “This can’t be right!”. My husband said “That looks like chocolate cookie soup, not cookie dough.” But I waved a sticky spatula in his face and said “Trust Pati!” After chilling, the mixture turns into a soft scoopable dough. Give it a try as written, and your faith will be rewarded.
Hi Patti,
The cookies are so delicious, they were a HIT with everyone at the baby shower 😋. I have even had people ask me to bake some more for them. Thank you for sharing your great ideas, look forward to trying other recipes.
Hi Patti,
I’m making these for a baby shower and would like to check the oven temp. Is the temp 350 degrees (Fahrenheit) with fan? I would be cooking them at 180 degrees Celsius or 160 with fan. What do you recommend?
Made these to take for a picnic dinner at an outdoor concert, they were amazing, people in our group were talking them up to friends as they walked by, and we went through the entire batch (there were only 4 of us, so I am hoping we gave a lot of the cookies to passersby!) Thanks so much, for this recipe.
Patti, So is the 1/2 flour and 1 1/4 cup sugar proportions stated in the recipe correct, or should they be changed? I often use less sugar than called for, but am mostly worried about the flour measurement. Want to make these for Christmas.
Hi Donna,
I really love these cookies with the measurements provided here… give them a try, see how you like them! Not only does this ration it give the cookies a really wonderful balance of flavors also a very delicate texture, that I wouldn’t want you to fool around with… And thanks for watching my show 🙂
Paty
I did this cookies yesterday they are amazing
but I noticed that the ratio of the ingredients are incorrect, cant used 1 1/2 cup of sugar and only 1/2 cup of flower
I’m a pastry chef and adjusted the ratio and came out delicious
Hi Sonia. What are the correct proportions? My cookies failed miserably. Did you use parchment paper without grease? Mine stuck to paper but I don’t think the baking time was enough either.
I found the dried flor de jamaica at my local H-mart asian store. First time I have seen them there. They do stock a lot of Latino food items, but will often get an item in stock, and then it disappears, so grab it while you can.
Followup to my previous entry. I have found the hibuscus tea now in two retail stores. Smart and Final and Food for Less. However, I am expremely happy with the product I have been bying from a supplier on Amazon-Frontier Natural Foods Co-op. Product is consistent, well packed . I also found Ceylon cinnamon sticks through them. Think I will just stay with a good thing.
Me too— I buy the Frontier CoOp as well. Excellent, consistent product. I make the tea all the time. Don.t be afraid to adjust the tea ingredient amounts to your own liking. Sometimes I add less hibiscus and add a couple tea bags of Constant Comment Black and Pecot tea. I make the cookies once in a while. I do stick to the original recipe though.
I have now made your hibiscus tea a dozen times. I love it and so have all my guests. It’s great that I can use the same used leaves for the delicious hibiscus cookies. I have not yet had any luck buying the hibiscus at a retail store or health food store but now just order it from Amazon. I also bought Ceylon cinnamon from Amazon to add to the tea. I like it both ways but just plain. Is my favorite. Thanks Patti—love your show and your web site
Hola Pati,
Do you have video making these cookies. If so can you post it or send to me patloca.salomon@gmail.com.
I don’t have the video on my YouTube page, but you can catch the whole episode on Amazon – Season 4, Episode 10: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07L8N2ZX1/
Ok people, trust Pati! She knows what she’s doing. Yes, this recipe is unusual with so little flour, but it produces such a light and chewy cookie that is so different from other recipes. Like a meringue cookie and a brownie at the same time (which I didn’t think was possible). If you want an ordinary cookie with lots of flour, turn over your bag of chocolate chips and follow the ones on the back. But, if you came to Pati’s website for something unique, then you’re in the right place. After mixing all the ingredients, the batter will be runny and you will think “This can’t be right!”. My husband said “That looks like chocolate cookie soup, not cookie dough.” But I waved a sticky spatula in his face and said “Trust Pati!” After chilling, the mixture turns into a soft scoopable dough. Give it a try as written, and your faith will be rewarded.
Aw thank you, Penny!
Hi Patti,
The cookies are so delicious, they were a HIT with everyone at the baby shower 😋. I have even had people ask me to bake some more for them. Thank you for sharing your great ideas, look forward to trying other recipes.
Awesome! So glad to hear that Sarah.
Hi Patti,
I’m making these for a baby shower and would like to check the oven temp. Is the temp 350 degrees (Fahrenheit) with fan? I would be cooking them at 180 degrees Celsius or 160 with fan. What do you recommend?
180 celsius is about 350 F, that sounds right.
Made these to take for a picnic dinner at an outdoor concert, they were amazing, people in our group were talking them up to friends as they walked by, and we went through the entire batch (there were only 4 of us, so I am hoping we gave a lot of the cookies to passersby!) Thanks so much, for this recipe.
What a fantastic story Chris! Thank you so much for sharing.
Patti, So is the 1/2 flour and 1 1/4 cup sugar proportions stated in the recipe correct, or should they be changed? I often use less sugar than called for, but am mostly worried about the flour measurement. Want to make these for Christmas.
Love your show.
Donna
Hi Donna,
I really love these cookies with the measurements provided here… give them a try, see how you like them! Not only does this ration it give the cookies a really wonderful balance of flavors also a very delicate texture, that I wouldn’t want you to fool around with… And thanks for watching my show 🙂
Paty
I did this cookies yesterday they are amazing
but I noticed that the ratio of the ingredients are incorrect, cant used 1 1/2 cup of sugar and only 1/2 cup of flower
I’m a pastry chef and adjusted the ratio and came out delicious
Thanks
Sonia
I am so happy it worked out for you! Happy Thanksgiving, Sonia!
Hi Sonia. What are the correct proportions? My cookies failed miserably. Did you use parchment paper without grease? Mine stuck to paper but I don’t think the baking time was enough either.
I found the dried flor de jamaica at my local H-mart asian store. First time I have seen them there. They do stock a lot of Latino food items, but will often get an item in stock, and then it disappears, so grab it while you can.
You can also find “hisbiscus” tea at many Hispanic and African food store!
Followup to my previous entry. I have found the hibuscus tea now in two retail stores. Smart and Final and Food for Less. However, I am expremely happy with the product I have been bying from a supplier on Amazon-Frontier Natural Foods Co-op. Product is consistent, well packed . I also found Ceylon cinnamon sticks through them. Think I will just stay with a good thing.
Me too— I buy the Frontier CoOp as well. Excellent, consistent product. I make the tea all the time. Don.t be afraid to adjust the tea ingredient amounts to your own liking. Sometimes I add less hibiscus and add a couple tea bags of Constant Comment Black and Pecot tea. I make the cookies once in a while. I do stick to the original recipe though.
I have now made your hibiscus tea a dozen times. I love it and so have all my guests. It’s great that I can use the same used leaves for the delicious hibiscus cookies. I have not yet had any luck buying the hibiscus at a retail store or health food store but now just order it from Amazon. I also bought Ceylon cinnamon from Amazon to add to the tea. I like it both ways but just plain. Is my favorite. Thanks Patti—love your show and your web site