Rock & Roll with Hot Chile Cookies
17 December 2009 by Jean JohnsonHere’s the rap on Hot Chile Cookies straight from Hippie Kitchen, page 168:
Hot Chile Cookies
The chile absolutely makes these cookies. Red chile flakes are such an affordable, easy boon to cooking. I use them so much that they sit out on my cutting board by the cinnamon and salt pots. Not surprising that they found their way into these sweets.
Spice plus sweet. An equation the Thais understand, and one the rest of us are cluing into as well. Neighbor Patrick Earnest is in the savvy camp. “Who’d a thunk? Red pepper flakes on cookies???” He dashed off in an email “Wow…Delish!”
Recipe Note
Cut a cube (stick for those who don’t speak cube) of butter into two cups of whole wheat flour laced with a half cup each: flax meal, wheat germ, and raw sugar. Leaven with two teaspoons of soda. Perk up with a pinch of salt and red chile. Stir in a cup of buttermilk that should yield a ball of semi-sticky dough ready for chilling.
Once the dough’s cool enough to hand, roll it out on board dusted with flour. Cut the cookies into wedges, paint with oil, sprinkle with more of your chunky raw sugar and red chile. Bake for ten or so in a medium oven. Cool on racks.
Details
~New to cutting butter into a floury mix? Pastry cutters or forks keep the
butter cool while you work, but I prefer my clean hands. The goal is to wind up with flattened bits of butter that will turn the cookies in the direction of a flaky pie crust.
~Oil to brush on the tops instead of melted butter? It was a necessity call. Butter might have been nice, but I used all I had in the dough.
~Cooling cookies on racks keeps the bottoms from getting soggy. Mom taught me that, and the racks pictured were hers. …tak, Mama
On Whole Wheat Flour in Goodies—
Whole wheat flour, flax meal, and wheat germ in cookies? Hey, there’s nothing like a little nutrition with your sweets. It will help you—as the Rolling Stones belted out in Ruby Tuesday—“catch your dreams before they slip away.”
Wheat, of course, is only one of the grains we can draw on. If you can’t deal with gluten try whizzing up any number of grains like barley, rye, buckwheat, millet, quinoa, or even the much maligned brown rice in your grinder—whether it be a first rate grain grinder or simply the little one you grind your coffee beans in. All’s fair game for creative cooks.
Plus you’ll discover how amazingly flavorful freshly ground grains are. Simply no contest between those and the stuff that sits around in bags and bins for months. Really and truly.
Afterthought on Sour Power—
I served these cookies with Bosc pears and lime wedges which got me to thinking that the next time I’ll try some fresh lime juice in the dough—like instead of the buttermilk, use half lime juice and half sweet milk. Or even experiment with a vegan approach, letting oil stand in for butter, and using half lime juice and half water—or all lime juice.
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One Response to “Rock & Roll with Hot Chile Cookies”
Here’s from my neighbor Angela:
Made your chili cookies today for a work potluck. One of my retiring colleagues loves hot food, so I made few extra-spicy ones for her. They turned out fantastic. I am going to make another batch for us.
And I made a version of your soup while you were away. Threw a mess of mixed dry beans in the crock pot with some other stuff. Added butter, lime and parsley at the end as you do. Also vinegar and even fish sauce, though the version Michael bought has ginger, so I’m not as crazy about it as the plain fish sauce. Anyway, I ate pretty much the whole darned pot and loved it. So see, you are rubbing off on us!
By Jean Johnson on Dec 17, 2009