In celebration of all that is good (or bad) about Valentine's Day, you need a good cookie to match. Commercial Valentine's Day has put so much emphasis on chocolate that it would be an obvious flavor option. The cookie needed something hot to mirror the the burning desire of love or the fire of fury from love turned to hate. Not just a spicy flavor, but heat. You should taste the sweet richness of chocolate ending with heat drifting up the back of your throat. Thus, the hunt for a spicy hot cookie began.
Most recipe searches resulted in a spiced cookie rather than one with real heat, best done by chili, peppers, or infused oil. Keep in mind that the aim is heat and not the flavor of something hot. As a fan of the chewy cookie variety, the recipe was altered to replace some of the white sugar with dark brown sugar (in this case muscovado). The extra heat added at the end is to remind you of the fires burning within your own heart. This cookie with its lovely chocolate goodness is slightly chewy with a consistency inside reminiscent of a fudgy brownie followed by subtle heat creeping up your throat and...Success!!!
Spicy Hot Chocolate Cookies
1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1 big pinch crushed red chili flakes
2 dashes ground cinnamon
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 bar chocolate, chopped - or - 1/2 cup chopped chocolate
Sprinkles (optional)
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Beat butter with electric mixer or whisk until creamy. Add sugars and beat until light in color, 3 to 4 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add egg and beat 1 minute. Add salt, cocoa powder, chili powder, chili flakes, and cinnamon and mix in gently, a few stirs. Mix in flour until dough is made before adding chopped chocolate.
Put some sprinkles on a plate. Make balls of about 1 1/2 inch diameter and press ball onto sprinkles to flatten dough and adhere sprinkles. Place onto ungreased baking sheet and bake for about 11 minutes. Cool on racks.
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