pepper & chocolate
put some heat in your sweeties’ belly on valentine’s day. underscore the romantic beginnings of the spice trail & the mysterious allure of fragrant spices with one or all of these treats. pepper coupled with deeply rich cocoa gives you a one-two punch guaranteed to score with your lover.
make up a batch of these chocolate cookies spiced with exotic black pepper from south india. i used coconut oil for a rich & flavorful alternative to butter & they are low in sugar. the increments are small–you probably have everything already on-hand–so there won’t be 4 dozen cookies to scarf down ( lovehandles anyone?) making this recipe perfect for a quick intimate treat.
to make the cookie container, i used a pringles potato chip tube. using old scraps of cork paper, mexican lotteria cards & ribbon i freaked up a pretty way to present these cookies to my boy. (i’m also using the covered TP rolls for other smaller gifts).
hot (vegan) chocolate pepper cookies
1 cup king arthur all purpose flour *
1/3 cup sweet earth dark coca powder
3/4 teaspoon coarse tellicherry black pepper
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 scant teaspoon salt
1/3 cup cane sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup/molasses/brown rice syrup
1/3 cup coconut oil
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 tablespoons coffee–more if needed
1/4 cup chopped up sweet earth dark chocolate
preheat oven to 350 F.
in a medium size mixing bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa powder, black pepper, baking powder, baking soda, & salt.
in a larger bowl, mix together the sugar, syrup, oil, vanilla & coffee.
add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and stir until almost mixed. at this point, add coarsely chopped chocolate until the little nibs are fully incorporated. it will be pretty gooey–almost like brownie batter.
drop by teaspoonfuls for 12 small sized cookies onto an ungreased cookie sheet. bake for 10-12 minutes. let cool for 1 minute on sheet, then to a cooling rack.
these are best eaten with a huge glass of chocolate soy milk.
*be sure to check out king arthur’s goodworks programs. it rocks!
vere chocolates has some nice vegan chocolate options. consider the spicy chocolate bar (also happens to be diabetic friendly thru minimal use of natural sugars) with a hint of smoky chipotle chile peppers.
they also carry a pink peppercorn wafers for the purist who wants only to taste the two flavors unadulterated. you can easily make some yourself using these sources for your peppercorns & your chocolate.
