Habaneros are everywhere!

So I was walking around Southern Season last night looking at various items and started noticing that there were a lot of things with habaneros in them. Of course there were the countless varieties of salsas and hot sauces but what I found more interesting was the pepper jelly, the pumpkin bread mix, pralines, and most of all, the habanero apple sauce. Looks like I found my supplier for random habanero ingredients and some ideas for what to make at home. The jury's still out on what's being made this weekend but right now it's a toss-up between gingerbread/habanero cookies and habanero buckeyes (those wonderful little peanut butter/chocolate balls seen this time of year). to the grocery tomorrow...

"Love Bites" Brownies

So while I and fellow co-workers were eating the cookies, we started joking around about what other items could be made (which also has partially sparked interest in this blog). Jokes came about dealing with having an energy drink, vodka, coffee, and habaneros all mixed together in a brownie. Well, of course I set out to prove if it could be done, and the result was extremely good. I included a frosting to boost the level of vodka which actually plays very nicely with the brownies themselves. The frosting also turned out pink, which is where the love bites name came from. Below is the recipe, feel free to modify the level of intensity on the habaneros (six is a bit much).

As a warning, make sure you get the brownie mix that needs oil, water, and egg. We're really just substituting ingredients here.

dark chocolate brownie mix
2 eggs
1 can sugar free red bull
1 shot raspberry vodka
1/4 cup coffee (chilled)
2 tbsp butter (melted)
6 habanero peppers
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

grease a 9x9 baking tray and preheat oven to 400. empty the brownie mix into a medium size bowl and throw box away. do not read the box, all we want is the mix. in a small saucepan, boil half of the red bull until equals about a quarter cup then boil other half of the can until left with a dark thick liquid. this will happen quickly so make sure keep an eye on it. chill liquids for about a half hour so doesn't cook the egg. in the meantime, dice the habanero peppers and add to the brownie mix along with the chocolate chips. mix well. once the red bull reduction has been chilled, add to the mix along with remaining wet ingredients. mix thoroughly. pour mix into baking tray and bake for about 40 minutes or until done. set aside and let cool. while cooling, whip up some raspberry vodka frosting (below) and then once brownies are ready, top with frosting. keep cool as the frosting does melt. enjoy!

raspberry vodka frosting

1 container sugar-free cool whip
3 shots raspberry vodka
about 2 cups powdered sugar
1 tbsp shortening
1 packet sugar free raspberry jello mix

mix above ingredients together until have a slightly runny frosting concoction, if need to thicken add more powdered sugar. Chill for about an hour (enough time to let the brownies cool). Ice brownies.

White Chocolate Chip Habanero Cookies

For the first creation for this concept, I actually borrowed an idea from Scott Roberts (http://www.scottrobertsweb.com/Recipe-White-Chocolate-Chip-Habanero-Cookies). I modified it and made it easier for most people to just pick up and go but have to admit it's still extremely good. Using a store bought bag mix, I went ahead and sifted out the existing chocolate chips and added half a bag of white chocolate chips in place of them. I then diced up four habaneros and added them to the mix and baked according to the directions. The result was a nice chocolate chip cookie with just a bit of a bite. Delicious!