Spicy Chili Chocolate Cookies
Spiced with cinnamon, cayenne pepper, and a chili-studded chocolate bar, these fudgy cookies will heat you up on a cold autumn day.
I have traditionally been a gal who likes her food mild. Too much heat often overwhelms me. I could attribute it on the fact that I wasn’t exposed to spicy foods much growing up, but what I really think it is to blame is my personality. I’m just not that adventurous.
I’ve been branching out more and more since I’ve taken on the (somewhat cliche) label of foodie. And one of my favorite recent discoveries is the combination of spice and chocolate, it’s such a unique combination. I wish I would have thought to combine the two in a cookie a long time ago. Because, wow.
These cookies get their kick from a full teaspoon of cayenne pepper in the dough (double it if you dare) and chunks of an artisan chili chocolate bar. I chose a Theo bar because I found it at the first grocery store I tried, but other brands like Taza and Lindt have great chili bars as well. You should be able to find something that will work in a well-stocked candy aisle, or buy online.
You may be a few bites in before you feel the burn, but don’t worry, it’ll come. And stick around for a little while too. When it subsides, you’ll be ready for another one. And another. Keep a glass of milk nearby.
baking tip:Use a wire whisk to combine dry ingredients
I don’t always combine the dry ingredients for cookies before adding them to the rest of the batter. Sometimes I just throw it all in and let the mixer do the work. But when there is cocoa powder involved, I like to stir all of the dry ingredients together with a wire whisk before proceeding. It’s a quick and easy way to get everything combined and uniform.
Spicy Chili Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter , at room temperature (169 grams)
- 1 cup packed light or dark brown sugar (213 grams)
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100 grams)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (240 grams)
- ⅔ cup cocoa powder (56 grams)
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup bar chili chocolate , chopped (1 3-ounce, 85 grams)
- Coarse sugar , for rolling (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars together on medium high speed until pale and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each. Add the vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, cayenne pepper and salt. Add to the mixer and mix until combined. Stir in the chopped chili chocolate. The dough will be very thick.
- Roll into rounded tablespoons and roll in the coarse sugar, if desired. Place on the prepared sheet and press down on the rounds so that they have a flat top. Bake until tops are cracked and edges are set, 8-10 minutes. Let cool on the sheet pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store the cookies in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
I have to admit I’ve never been a big fan of chocolate cookies, but lately I’ve developed a true passion for them. Especially when there’s a strong and spicy chocolate flavor…so, yes, these basically look like heaven to me! I’m sure they won’t last long once I’ll have taken them out of the oven 🙂
xo, Elisa
Delicious! These look amazing!
Love the kick!
Wow! I bet they are spicy! I’m totally making these for my hubby.
Yay for chocolate and chilli. I love the buzz I get from these two flavours together.
Drool worthy cookies!
It really sounds quite adventurous 🙂 And I am not so sure I would dare, but maybe without the pepper? 😉 Haha, thanks for showing!
I love the combination of chili pepper with chocolate–it’s such a great combination. Peter told me I have to make these for him. 🙂 Love your photos too!
These look so warm and comforting! I love the combination of spice and chocolate!
I have to say, this recipe meets all my favorite needs…chocolate and spicy…decadent and delicious! Love this…can’t wait to try it!
Not sure if I made these right… I followed the ingredients and instructions to the letter. My dough was incredibly crumbly… is this normal? It took a fair amount of effort to push it into the ball shapes and the sugar didn’t really stick. In the oven, they did not spread at all beyond my flattening efforts. They’re fairly light brown, unlike the images here, which look much darker. And they are fairly dry, not “fudgy” as described. They don’t even really look like the photo. The spice comes through, which is nice.
Update! I think I cooked the first couple of sheets for too long. Mine didn’t really harden too much at the edges, so I started taking them out at 8 mins regardless and they seemed less dry, more “fudgy.” Success!
I just made these the other weekend but substituted gluten-free flour for the flour. They were delicious! http://lifestooshorttoskipdessert.blogspot.com/2014/03/spicy-chili-chocolate-cookies-gluten.html
I added a quarter tsp of both baking powder and baking soda and still got amazingly chewy wonderful cookies. I like both the 8 minute cookies, which are brownie like, and the 10 minute cookies which are a bit more cakey. Thanks!
I think this recipe has a mistake in it and could probably use come baking soda. I experienced the same ” no spread” issue related by others. I could tell as son as they came off the pan they would be hard.
I’m with Zoe and Veronica on the baking soda. I, too added 1/4 ea. soda and powder. I can’t help myself on tweeking a recipe sooo, I added 2/3 cup chopped dried cherries and 1 teaspoon of expresso powder….they were great.
I’ve just made these and have to tell you that I think they’re my best cookie bake *ever*! I didn’t think they tasted overly chilli-ish but after a few moments got a wonderful hit of it (and yes, did add an extra tsp of cayenne!).
I got a lot more than 24 though, and I don’t think I made them particularly small – I got 63!!! (So waaaaay down on the calories per cookie!)
Thank you sooo much for sharing such a fabulous recipe!
Very best wishes,
Penny
Just read through some of the previous comments, esp on the baking soda / powder debate. Mine spread beautifully in the oven without either. I left mine in for nine minutes, and they were nice & chewy. OMG I want to go & grab another one
I would have liked to see these without using pre-made chili chocolate.
You could use regular chopped dark chocolate and increase the cayenne pepper amount if you prefer!
My cookies came out nice and chewy at nine minutes. I didn’t have the chocolate bar because most have corn syrup so I used semi-sweet chocolate chips instead and it is totally delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
This recipe was simply delicious.
The flavor was good. However they did not crack on top like they were suppose to. Also, the recipe did not call for baking soda. Was it accidentally not put in to the recipe?
Best cookie ever for sweet and heat…did the extra cayenne!! Wondering if i can make same cookies and swap cayenne for espresso power. I absolutely love consistency of cookie but not everyone in my house loves the heat. Hopefully I can make double batter and do half with heat and half with espresso. Any help on the ratio of espresso??
Sure, espresso powder would be a great addition! Not sure the amount, anywhere from 1-3 teaspoons depending on how coffee flavored you want to cookies to be. You can also just leave out the cayenne and use plain chopped chocolate or chocolate chips.
This is one of my favorite chocolate cookies ever!
I cut back cayenne pepper to 1/2 tsp so it is still eatable for those that can’t handle heat. Also great as plain dark chocolate cookies. I use a Hershey’s dark chocolate cocoa.
So delicious, I have made these many times.