Chocolate and Red Chili Cookies

The cookies I made for Nicole and Molly's Cookie Party received a warm welcome... literally. There was a snow-typhoon outside, so what better to bring the heat than some spicy hot double chocolate cookies?

I searched all over for a good recipe... I had some red chilis at home, and knew I wanted them in the cookie somehow. Some recipes called for jalapenos, some for ground/dried ancho chilis... so It ended up taking Martha's recipe for Double Chocolate Chip Cookies, but making some adjustments along the way.
I also substituted her call for chocolate chips and instead used a Lindt Dark Chocolate Chili bar, broken into pieces (I also melted another one of those chocolate bars into the batter).

I used 2 whole red chilis, but de-seeded them. If you want to tweak the heat, you can keep some cayenne pepper on hand to add in as well. This recipe is really great- the heat hits you after you've started chewing...a slow rise of warmth, then boom!

Recipe below the pics...-1 cup of flour
-1/2 cup of unsweetened dutch cocoa powder
-1/2 teaspoon baking soda
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-7 ounces of good-quality chocolate ( I used 2 Lindt Chili Chocolate bars total. Each bar is 3.5 oz...so 3.5 oz. for melting & 3.5 oz. broken into chip-size bits)
-1/2 cup of butter
-1 & 1/2 cups of sugar
-2 large eggs
-3 Tablespoons (for medium spicy) of red chilis, finely chopped, de-seeded. (Or Cayenne pepper to taste)
-2 teaspoons of vanilla

1. Preheat the oven to 325'F degrees. Whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt; set aside. Melt 1 chocolate chili bar (coarsely chopped) with the butter in a small heat proof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Once melted, throw in the chopped chilis and incorporate well. Let cool slightly. I kept tasting this melted mix to get an idea of the heat level... it's the best way to gauge how hot a cookie (heh) you're gonna end up with.

2. Put the melted chocolate/chili mixture and the sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a big bowl and blend well. Gradually mix in the flour mixture. Fold in the other (broken into chip-size bits) chocolate chili bar.

3. Drop dough onto parchment lined baking sheets, (the dough is super sticky) spacing two inches apart. Decorative sugar is optional (I used some red sugar sprinkles). Bake until cookies are flat and surfaces crack, about 12-15 minutes (cookies will be soft).

Cinnamon or Red Hots would work well in this recipe too.