Chewy Chili Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies.

The beginning of this week started off much too cold for June and everyone agreed a nice dose of chocolate was in order.  I wanted to spice things up a bit, literally, so I devised a comforting chocolate oatmeal cookie and added chili powder and cinnamon to the dough.  I will admit it's not entirely noticeable but it does give the cookies a little extra "something."

If I made these again, I might add up to a tablespoon or more of chili powder - it really does go extremely well with the chocolate! 

 

Chewy Chili Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup quick-cooking oatmeal
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and chili, salt and oats, then set aside.

In a larger bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar until light, then stir in the egg and vanilla extract.  Dump the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture and stir until a dough starts to come together, then add the chocolate chips.  Drop the dough by teaspoonfuls onto the baking sheets and bake for 8-12 minutes, depending on how large they are.  They should spread just slightly and cracked a bit on top but try not to overbake or they'll lose their chewiness.

Let cool completely on a wire rack before storing airtight up to 4 days.