Chipotle Chile Brownies
INGREDIENTS
  • Brownie Batter:
  • 1 Cup Unsalted Butter
  • 2 1/4 Cups Sugar
  • 1 1/4 Cups Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
  • 1 Tsp. Salt
  • 1 Tsp. Cinnamon
  • 1/2 Tsp. Ginger
  • 1 Tblsp. Real Vanilla Extract
  • 5 Large Eggs
  • 1/2 Cup Water
  • 1 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
  • Chocolate Ganache:
  • 1/2 Cup Heavy Cream
  • 3 Dried Chipotle Peppers
  • 1 Cup Semi-Sweet Chocochips
DIRECTIONS
  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Grease a 9x13 inch pan with cooking spray.
  3. In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt the butter.
  4. Transfer into a medium sized mixing bowl and stir in sugar until combined.
  5. Mix in cocoa, salt, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder, and vanilla extract. Mix until combined. Whisk in eggs and then add water, stirring until smooth.
  6. Spoon batter into prepared brownie pan.
  7. Bake 28-35 minutes or until brownies test clean. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.
  8. While cooling, you can make the chipotle ganache.
  9. In a medium saucepan, combine heavy cream and dried chipotle chiles, 1 for mild, and 3 for hot.
  10. Heat heavy cream and chiles over low heat, (stirring constantly to avoid scorching) until steam whisps from cream and tiny bubbles peak around edges of the pan.
  11. Once heated, drain milk and add in chocolate chips, stirring until melted.
  12. Dont worry if it's a bit soupy at first, it will thicken as it cools.
  13. Once ganache cools to spreadable consistancy, spread over cooled brownies. Cut, serve, and feel the heat!
RECIPE BACKSTORY
I made this for a friend who is a pastry chef and is also a "spice fiend". He eats habenero peppers like peanuts, so when I wanted to send him brownies as a thank-you, I decided to play on his love for hot peppers. This recipe is a play on the mexican flavors of a mole, but in a dessert form that is unique and adventerous. Of course anyone can alter it to their desire of heat, and yet still get the flavors of latin cooking.