Cookie Carnival: Chipotle Chocolate Chip Cookies

What do you get when you combine Chipotle Chile Pepper and Chocolate?

That's right!  A cookie!  And a delicious one at that.  This month Kate at The Clean Plate Club is hosting the Cookie Carnival.  This is my first time, but I figured since I love to bake, it would be a great way to share recipes and learn some new ones.

The month's cookie is the Dark Chocolate Chipotle Cookie from the Nantucket Cookie Company featured on the Food Network during one of Rachael Ray's adventures. 

I'm really glad this is the recipe to start with since I have all of these items in my pantry and refrigerator.  I haven't used the Chipotle Chile Pepper powder in my pantry for about a year.  I've only used it once for a homemade chili powder and it was WAY TOO SPICY for my family.  I didn't want to throw it out because that's wasteful.  Now I'm glad I saved it. 

I halved the recipe since I knew we didn't need 3 dozen cookies floating around the house!  I also do not like Dark Bittersweet Chocolate and substituted Semi-Sweet.  The original recipe is above and here's how I tweaked it:

Chocolate Chipotle Cookies

1-1/2 cups all purpose flour

1-1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter (I used I Can't Believe It's Not Butter), softened

1 cup packed light brown sugar

3/4 cup sugar, plus 1/4 cup for topping*

1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted

1 teaspoon Chipotle Chile Pepper powder (I used McCormick's brand)

2 eggs

1-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-1/2 teaspoon water

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled slightly

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus 3/4 cup for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. (If you haven't melted the chocolate, do so now.)

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

In a separate large bowl, add softened butter and beat with mixer until smooth; scraping down sides as you need to.  Add the sugars, sifted cocoa powder and chipotle peppers and mix again at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.  Add eggs, vanilla and water.  Beat at medium speed until combined, about 30 seconds.  Add slightly cooled melted chocolate and mix again, scraping down the sides as you need to.

Add flour mixture, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary.  Add the chocolate chips and mix until combined.

Refrigerate the dough in the bowl until cool and fudge-like, about 30-60 minutes.  Using an ice cream scooper, create large, even sized cookies.

Bake cookies 8 minutes on parchment paper lined cookie sheets or stoneware pan.  After 8 minutes, sprinkle the tops of each cookie with *White Sparkling Sugar by Wilton and 3 or 4 chocolate chips.  Resume baking for another 4-5 minutes and remove cookies to cool on rack.

These are really chocolaty and the "kick" of the chipotle peppers creep up the back of your throat.  It's totally surprising and delicious!

Enjoy!

This post has been linked to:

• Mouthwatering Monday at A Southern Fairytale
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace
• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
• Flavor of the Month at Bake at 350