Video: Super Spicy Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

I wrote about these cookies back in March, but I figured they'd be a fun subject to revisit for another video post. Through the Foodbuzz Tastemakers program, I recently received a complimentary sample of Ghirardelli's new Intense Dark chocolates, and I had always wanted to try out the cookies with a darker chocolate (I used Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Chocolate Chips for all the other times I've baked these cookies.) Goodbye 60%, hello 86%!

Joel took a hammer to a couple bars: the 72% ("Twilight Delight") and the 86% ("Midnight Reverie"). We were afraid to make the cookies too bitter, so we included about a 2:1 ratio of the twilight to the midnight. (As for the leftover chocolate? Well, let's just say there's no such thing as leftover chocolate.)

The result? The most delicious batch of the spicy cookies that we've ever made...but it was also the least spicy. I think I used the same amount of ghost chili powder and salt as usual - except for that one time when I was a bit tipsy and included a heaping spoonful of the powder - so I'm guessing maybe the stronger, darker chocolate masks the spice a bit more. Upon eating the cookies, I still got the strange chill and euphoria that ghost chili seems to trigger for me. In any case, these remain my favorite cookies to bake - and to share with unsuspecting friends!

If you'd like to download or print the recipe, check out the PDF version here.

Links to stuff mentioned in the video:

• The recipe that inspired this one: "Dark Chocolate Cookies with Espresso Salt" by Bianca Garcia (Confessions of a Chocoholic)
• Ghost chili products online: ghost chili sea salt at saltworks.us and ghost chili powder at bhut-pepper.com (I've also found part of the bhut-pepper.com product line at The Meat Hook in Brooklyn, NY.)
• Dried ghost chilis available locally: Christina's Spice and Specialty Shop (Inman Square, Cambridge, MA)

Special thanks to Joel Edinberg, who (a) helped me shoot the video, particularly when I'm the one on screen, (b) helped me bake and eat the cookies, and (c) did all of the music/sound work, including writing, performing, and recording the music, recording my voiceovers, and tracking down the perfect cat and elephant noises.

Also, thanks to several of my co-workers, who, with varying levels of enthusiasm, allowed me to record video of them tasting the cookies: Rob Ciampa, Yelena Kadeykina, and Theresa Moore.