Hot(ter) Chocolate

Chili pepper and chocolate. It's a flavor combination that's popping up more and more on this side of the border. And boy is it good!

To put it simply, these cookies are sexy. They'll cure your chocolate jones and get your endorphins pumping. This Valentine's Day, give them a try and...you get the picture.

I add cinnamon and chocolate to every layer of the dough, wrapping each cookie in a rich, earthy warmth, and a pinch of cayenne pepper raises the temperature and gives each bite a satisfying, hot finish. A roll in turbinado sugar gives each cookie a sweet, crunchy exterior--the perfect counterpoint to the moist, chewy interior.

Mmmm.  Now I want one!  Makes four dozen cookies.

Creamables	2 sticks butter 2 cups brown sugar 1/2 cup white sugar 1/4 cup cocoa powder 2 tablespoons cinnamon
Wet Ingredients	2 eggs 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon extract 1 teaspoon vanilla
Dry Ingredients	2 1/2 cups finely ground oatmeal 1 cup finely ground graham crackers 1 1/2 cups flour 3/4 cup cinnamon chips 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips 2.5 oz milk chocolate, microplaned 1 oz unsweetened baking chocolate, microplaned 2 tablespoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Topping	turbinado sugar

1. In your Kitchen Aid or a large mixing bowl, cream together the creamables: the butter, brown and white sugar, cocoa powder, and cinnamon.
2. In a small bowl, combine the wet ingredients. Whisk together the wet ingredients and add to the creamables. Mix together until smooth.
3. In another large mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients. Using a spatula, fold together until evenly distributed. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the creamables and wet ingredients. Mix until evenly combined.
4. Preheat oven to 350º.
5. Shape dough into balls--about 2 tablespoons each.
6. Roll each dough ball in turbinado or raw sugar.
7. Place sugared dough balls about 2 inches apart on Silpat- or parchment paper-lined cookie sheets.
8. Bake at 350º for 10-12 minutes or until edges of cookies spring back to the touch. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let stand for 2 minutes. Then place cookies on wire racks to cool.

Comments

[Lorraine]

OCG, my blog love deepens with every entry! This recipe sounds super yummy - a must try from start to finish. I LOVE your addition of the easy-click link to a site where I can buy some of the unique ingredients. A few clicks and I'll have everything in my kitchen to bake your delicious delights. If it was only that easy to find the time . . .

[Oatmeal Cookie Guy]

The cinnamon chips are really good. They're not spicy like Red-Hots or cinnamon hearts. Instead, they have a mellow taste, like the crumb topping on coffee cake. The cinnamon chips don't add a "big" foreground flavor, but they round out the background nicely. There's a lot of cinnamon in these cookies, but it's not an overpowering flavor because it's balanced out with the chocolate. The combination creates warmth, not in-your-face flavor. All the cinamon builds up to and supports the real heat of the cayenne. And if you're afraid of the cayenne, you could cut it back to a 1/4 teaspoon.

[Mumma]

You know I avoid cooking like the plague; however, these cookies intrigue me and I could be tempted to try them.....but wait: That would involve a trip to the grocery store to buy all the ingredients, making a mess in my kitchen, and actually having to figure out how to use the new oven! I think I'll wait for you and Jon to come home to make them for me!! Sounds like a plan to me!

[Oatmeal Cookie Guy]

Is it any wonder that I didn't learn how to bake from my mother? She can make a mean American chop suey and a great baked mac 'n cheese, but cookies? Pu-lease. And she's 1/2 italian!

[Jonnazz]

these are great chocolate cookies with a hot kick!