Many of these ingredients are hard to find, but the combination of chocolate and hot pepper is worth the search!
Warning: The Habanero will literally hurt if you inhale it, or get it in your eyes, or any other bodily orifice. When baked into these cookies though, it is a very hot and spicy treat for the mouth.
Ingredients (makes 40 cookies)
- 1/4 cup raw cacao nibs
- 1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
- 5oz (150g) bittersweet chocolate (70% cacao Scharffen Berger works well, or 70% cacao Valrhona Guananji)
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter (at room temperature)
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground dried habanero
Instructions for Chocolate Habanero Cookies
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Toast cacao nibs. Put aside.
Toast coconut lightly. Put aside.
Chop chocolate. Save about 1/2 of chocolate in small chunks to add later as intact chips inside cookies. Melt the other 1/2 in the microwave on low power, checking frequently, or melt over hot but not boiling water.
Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in melted chocolate, honey, egg, and vanilla extract.
Sift flour, baking soda, and salt together. Stir in habanero. Do NOT sift the habanero, you do not want to breath in habanero dust!
Add dry ingredients to wet and stir well. Add the toasted cacao nibs, toasted coconut, and the small chunks of chocolate which were not melted and stir well.
Spoon teaspoon sized cookie batter mounds onto parchment-lined cookie sheets.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 12 minutes until tops are dull and starting to crack. Transfer to rack immediately to cool.