Spicy Chili Chocolate Cookies (gluten-free version)

The spice in these cookies are perfect for the cold days we keep having here in NYC. Have I mentioned that this winter's been a bad one? Oh yeah. I mentioned it here, here, and here. There doesn't seem to be an end in sight.

 

Two weekends ago I made these cookies to share with my fellow running team mates. A group of us cheered on other runners while standing out in the cold.

See how bundled up everyone was? Yeah. It was COLD.

 

But the chili dark chocolate mixed with cayenne pepper and cinnamon had a nice enough kick in it to help warm up whomever ate one (which was most of us.)

 

So, if it's still super cold where you are and winter seems never ending, consider making these cookies. (And if it's not, send warm weather my way and keep this recipe for next fall/winter.)

I used gluten free flour for these cookies and they turned out perfectly fine. Besides that change, I followed everything else called for in the recipe. The recipe can be found here: Completely Delicious

Bake well and prosper!

Gluten-free Spicy Chickpea Brownies

Oh yes...you read correctly. Chickpeas. Brownies. Spice!

My friend sent me this recipe and I recently had a chance to make it for her. They were met with rave reviews.

 

I enjoyed this gluten free alternative brownie. The texture was very fudgy, which makes sense since they are made with liquidy/mushy chickpeas!

I had one friend say that he could tell that the brownies weren't made from normal ingredients but he would never have guessed chickpeas.

 

That surprise combined with the hint of cayenne pepper make these brownies a keeper for flavor filled gluten-free dessert recipes.

Gluten-free Spicy Chickpea Brownies (adapted from The Hairpin)
Ingredients
2 cups chickpeas
12 ounces of dark/semi sweet organic/fair trade chocolate
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 eggs
½ tablespoon vanilla extract
¾ cup sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder (dark/semi-sweet)
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cayenne
½ teaspoon ginger (ground)
½+ teaspoon cinnamon

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a 9x9 brownie pan with parchment paper and lightly spray the paper with  olive oil.
2. Dry chickpeas on a couple of layers of paper towels.
3. Once excess liquid is gone, puree the chickpeas in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Scrape down the edges and puree until all of it is completely smooth. (Erika's Extras: My puree was still a little chunky and it turned out fine.)
4. In a double boiler, melt chocolate with the olive oil. Add it to the chickpeas and blend until it’s well mixed.
5. Add eggs, vanilla, and sugar and blend. Add the cocoa and spices and blend some more.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan.
8. Bake for about 25 minutes. (Erika's Extras: I baked mine for ~40 minutes. These are hard to overcook.)

Bake well and prosper!