Rachel Ray's Subtly Spiced Chocolate-Chili Brownies

8 oz good quality bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 x 13 baking pan.

Place the chocolate and butter in a medium saucepan and melt over low heat, stirring until smooth, about 5 minutes. Remove the chocolate from the heat and whisk in both sugars until smooth.

In a resealable plastic bag, combine the flour, cocoa powder, chili powder, baking powder, and salt and shake together to mix. Whisk the eggs, 1 at a time, into the barely warm chocolate mixture. Add the flour mixture and stir until smooth. Pour the brownie mixture into the prepared pan and bake until set, about 25 minutes.


Comments: Boy wanted to try this one, so we did! I used a makeshift double boiler to melt the chocolate and the butter, and then after I stirred in the sugar, I transferred it to the metal bowl of the KitchenAid. It wasn't sticky, and it helped the mix cool off quite a bit before I added the eggs--if it's not cool enough, your eggs will cook. Also made easy work of whisking those in and blending the flour mixture. I probably could have pulled them out of the oven earlier than I did--around 20 minutes instead of 25, as the edges got a little darker than I would have liked. Bottom stayed nice, though, and the inside was just right.

As for the "subtly spicy" part--meh, not so much. I could tell that there was something different about them, but I would not have imagined chili powder if I hadn't been the one to make them. There was much discussion about what kind of chili powder to use---plain chili powder, or one of the specific chili pepper powders (like Ancho or Chipolte powder that Kroger carries)--and whether or not using something like crushed red pepper or cayenne would have more of an impact. They were good, however--very much of a bittersweet taste (I used the Ghirardelli 60% again), dark, and rich. Suggested serving is with vanilla ice cream and shaved chocolate curls, but as I had chocolate ice cream on and and powdered sugar, I went with that.

Did you know that chili powder has salt and garlic in it?!? Weird. I assumed it was just ground chilies. At any rate, we may try this again with a different chili powder to see what happens.

EDITED TO ADD: As it turns out, Sugardaddy's uses Ancho and Chipolte powder in two of their brownies, so I betcha that it would be good.