Mustard Spiced Chocolate Cookies are from a recipe that was sent to me years ago by a Colman's Mustard PR person. My old notes say "The cookies are good, but different. The best I can describe them is 'sharp'. They're chocolate cookies with an edge; not spicy or heat producing, just kind of, oh, I don't want to say 'metallic' because that's not complimentary, but the mustard boosts the bitterness in the chocolate so the flavor lingers on your tongue for a while".
I've made the cookies again since and my opinion is pretty much the same. Honestly, I don't think mustard belongs in dark chocolate cookies. Just because something exists doesn't mean it should be in cookies. Also, the recipe sent was designed for a UK audience as it calls for margarine and self-raising flour. USA margarine works, but most of the brands have been reformulated to have less fat, so you have to find one with at least 82% fat (Olivio, Country Crock, Earth Balance). As for the flour, self-rising isn't as popular here, so most people are probably going to see this and dump in too much AP which will make the cookies too dry. And then there' the mustard. It calls for a tablespoon. You can taste it. You could probably get by with a teaspoon, but I guess the point is to kind of taste it in conjunction with the orange and other flavors.
Anyhow, Colman's website is probably the best place to go if you're looking for ways to use dry mustard, but if you want to play around with this recipe here it is. One nice thing about it is it is egg-free, so if you are egg and dairy free you can use a vegan margarine and a vegan milk or coconut milk based yogurt in place of the sour cream. I recommend making a half batch first.
Mustard Spiced Chocolate Cookies
225g (8oz) soft margarine (16 tablespoons softened butter)
225g (8oz) caster sugar (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon sugar)
30ml (2 tbsp) natural yogurt or sour cream
30ml (2 tbsp) orange juice
15ml (1 tbsp) Colman's Dry Mustard
50g (2 oz) cocoa powder (unsweetened)
300g (11 oz) self raising flour (2 cups plus ⅓ cup plus 1 tablespoon flour)**
1-2 cups chocolate chips (optional)
Beat together butter, sugar, yogurt (or sour cream), orange juice and mustard. Sift (or just mix) cocoa powder and flour and add to the mix, stirring to a soft (mine was pretty stiff, actually) dough.
Form into smooth walnut-sized balls, arrange on a baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes**. Set oven at 375 deg. F, 190 deg. C or Gas mark 5.
Cool on a wire rack. Makes about 45 cookies.
**Original recipe said 15-20 minutes, but the cookies would have dried out.
** If you don't weigh your flour, fluff it up well before scooping and leveling smooth. If you use too much flour, the cookies will be dry.
Anna says
Hannah, thanks for checking. I used the dry mustard powder shown in the photo. I do not know why it says "Dijon" it should be 1 tablespoon of dry mustard powder. This is an old recipe and an old post which I need to edit, but that is the recipe as I made it. I'm going to make the cookies again, take out the commentary about Radio Shack and post a new photo soon.
hannah says
The recipe sales Coleman Dijon Mustard but you have a container of powdered mustard. I wanted to just check on this
Anna says
This comment is for Susan, who asked a question about heavy cream. Susan, I tried to email you but your email didn't work, therefore I cannot email you back or publish your comment.
To answer your question, the recipe on Colman USA site is completely different than the one I used and calls for chopped chocolate rather than cocoa. It looks like they either left out the cream from the ingredient list or meant to say dissolve the mustard in the creamed mixture, but that’s a stretch. Wish I could help you more, but I made the recipe from the European site. Sorry.
vanillasugarblog says
ok i must try this.
if you say "sharp" then i must try them.
holly says
This is very interesting!!! They look delish!:)
Martha says
Anna, one word - WHY? With all the cookie recipes out there, what drew you to this one? Was it a week with all of those other bloggers? Hope you're back to "normal" soon. lol
Mackenzie@The Caramel Cookie says
Can you actually taste the mustard in the cookies? I'm not a fan of mustard at all but these cookies sound interesting......
Gloria says
I like when there is a secret ingredient you can detect, but no one can figure out! Brave to put mustard in a cookie and lucky to have it not be disgusting!
Sue says
Mustard and chocolate is a combo I never would have thought to bring together! I love what mustard does in savory dishes so I'm intrigued by this.
Lisa @ Sweet as Sugar Cookies says
I've seen a lot of chocolate chip cookie recipes before, but this one is definitely the most unique. Who would ever have thought that mustard could make for such delicious looking cookies?
Katrina says
That's definitely an interesting one! My husband LOVES mustard, maybe I'll surprise him sometime and see if he can figure it out.
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