Mexican Spiced Shortbread Cookies

I thought it was going to be great, but nope it wasn't. I just wasted 3 and a half hours of my time making these and was so disappointed that I would be ashamed for anyone to taste them. They are going into the trash. The cookie texture is far away from any shortbread cookies I've made or had before. They have the texture of powder and will crumble to pieces at first nibble making a mess so be prepared. The flavor is like chocolate chalk (cooked), however, before cooking it tastes great, would make a great frosting. Another positive is the nuts and the icing (used less milk), they tasted great. I wonder if some of the ingredients are missing from the recipe...

I made these and they turned out good. I took them to work and they were a hit. I read the other reviews so I used less milk. 3 Tablespoons oughta do it. I didn't even bother with the nuts. And I only had the chipotle powder so I doubled it. Shortbread cookies are different to work with than sugar cookies, and I think that's why some folks had a hard time. I think the easiest thing would be to quickly space out about 22 balls on the pan (not as many as the recipe says) before the dough starts to warm up, and then go back and mash them a little flatter. And they don't need to cook 20 minutes. That's too long.

very disappointed, mine turned out a greasy mess. They were so fragile they broke just removing from pan, even after cooling.

I love these cookies, made one batch at Christmas and everyone loved them. I made a second with some minor changes, I rolled the dough in a log shape in plastic wrap and when I was ready to bake them I simply sliced them up much easier than making balls and flattening. The second batch is already half gone, I never got the icing or pecans on them. I also increased the amount of chile in mine and I used dark cocoa powder, I love spicy chocolate.

Too much chocolate for my taste.

I followed the recipe. No changes. Everyone loved them. The salty/sweet toasted pecans were a great touch. I've made them twice and will definitely make them again. And again.

These are phenomenal. One of my very top cooking recipes and incredibly addicting. My sister found the recipe and now the whole family is making them regularly. I loved the flavor combination with the chili, chocolate, caramel and salty pecan. It was to die for! The frosting is tricky to make, be careful not to overcook it or burn it with too high of heat. The pecans are very salty but it's easy to cut down on the salt.

These are great...be sure to use Mexican chocolate, such as Taza. My family enjoyed the added spice and this is a great cookie to add to the standard holiday cookie plate.

This is far too labor intensive for an every-day cookie, but for a special event it would be worth it. It is a true shortbread, and therefore very delicate; I might prefer an actual cookie. The spices I find very subtle and not overpowering at all. I also used all butter, one half the milk, and half the salt for the nuts. I don't think I'd want to make the recipe as written. Seeing some of the other comments here, I have to ask if this recipe was actually tested before publication.

These are a special holiday cookie. Delicious. I cut the sea salt in half on the nuts as others suggested. I cut the milk in half for the frosting as the full amount made it too runny. I only had chopped pecans & used the on top and it came out fine.

Bad, bad cookies. I followed the recipe to a T and the cookies came out awful. Suffice it to say I threw them away after one bite. That being said, the icing and pecans were delicious. I guess something is salvageable from this recipe.

I thought the cookies were delicious. I would make them again, but only for a special occasion, since for cookies, it was a bit labor intensive. Having read through the reviews right before I prepared the cookies, I only used half of the salt for the pecans. This seemed about right. It's salty, but you get that sweet/salty combo with the sweetness of the icing. The full teaspoon would be way too much. The icing was thin, not thick like the picture, but still tasted good. If you want more of the typical Mexican chocolate flavor, I would recommend adding a bit more chile powder and cinnamon to the dough.

These are absolutely melt-in-your-mouth delicious with an intriguing combination of spices. I added a little cinnamon to the icing and thought it was a nice addition.

These cookies were delicious - my friends and family loved them. Great flavor combination with the chile spices. I agree with other reviews - the nuts were too salty, and my frosting didn't hold up either. It was too thin. I thickened it up with some extra flour and brown sugar. Other than that, these were very good and I plan to make them again!

This recipe really intrigued me...I used the portion of the recipe for the nuts with another cookie...OMG..it came out WAY TOO salty..Wow!....and I like salt! I have made the nuts again without any of the salt and it is very good and easy!

I consider myself a good baker and cook so I don't know what went wrong but everything about this receipe was awful. The cookies, the icing, even the pecans (too salty). We threw everything away - what a waste!

Not one to try recipes that are out of my comfort zone, these cookies were the exception. Never thought of blending the flavors in this recipe but they work amazingly well together. Adding the milk slowly at the beginning of the icing process makes for a smooth delicious end result. Thanks to this recipe's inventor. Great Job!

I'm sorry but these were really awful! They sounded so good but it was an epic fail on all accounts, starting with trying to combine butter and oil. The cookie itself was not anything like shortbread and had a bizarre texture, and the icing never got smooth or thick. Mexican chococlate cookies on this site are far better if you are wanting a tasty chocolate cookie with some spice and heat.

I loved these! My frosting turned out terribly (I tried making it 3 times but each time the brown sugar curdled?!? weird) so I just used a simple white frosting recipe from Allrecipes.com. I made the rest of the recipe exactly minus the ancho chile powder (I didn't have any) and they were outstanding. A really different and interesting cookie.