Spicy hot oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with added heat from a touch of ghost pepper will wake up your tastebuds and make you crave more.
This recipe was given to me by my friend, Jim, and when he told me about it I was intrigued. It’s not like I haven’t mixed sweet and spicy before. Just check out my sweet and spicy BBQ rub or oven baked BBQ pork tenderloin and you’ll see what I mean. But in cookie form? Why the hell didn’t I think of that?
I have all sorts of hot pepper powder in my pantry - jalapeno powder, ghost pepper powder, and cayenne pepper which most will have in their pantry. These hot pepper oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are made with - you guessed it - ghost pepper powder.
Just a little goes a long way. Don’t be adding more than recommended then write to me about smoke coming out of your ears. I use ¼ teaspoon per batch. Now if you have super strong taste buds that can withstand the fires of hell, then use what you like. Just remember I warned you it’s too hot.
These are made differently than my recipe for the best oatmeal raisin cookies where the butter is melted then mixed with the oats and raisins before combining with the remaining ingredients. This recipe beats the butter and sugar until light and fluffy and I recommend beating for at least 3 minutes to allow the sugar to melt into the butter then another five minutes after adding the vanilla or bourbon and egg.
I haven’t used vanilla since the price shot up a few years ago because it was either a choice to pay my mortgage or substitute something for the vanilla. I started substituting with bourbon and no one looks at you funny if you want to do a shot of it.
The original recipe used 6 to 8 squares of Trader Joe’s Pound Plus 72% dark chocolate bar, chopped into small chunks. I used semi-sweet chocolate chips out of pure laziness and the fact that was what I had in my pantry. I use the same amount I use in my thick chewy chocolate chip cookies which is 1 ½ cups.
What to know before making these spicy hot oatmeal chocolate chip cookies:
Ghost pepper is some pretty hot stuff. The original recipe calls for ¼ teaspoon and I thought that was such a small amount. But LET ME TELL YOU IT”S NOT. You may want to start with a scant ¼ teaspoon rather than a full one. Be careful when measuring and mixing as you don’t want to inhale this because it’s hot! I’m speaking from experience.
Hot enough to say wow and yum
but not too hot to dial 911.
These cookies tend to spread a little while baking. Space them out on the baking sheet to ensure they don’t spread into each other. I use a scoop that holds approx. three tablespoons and I was able to fit 9 per baking sheet. The second batch I squeezed in 11.
I baked these as written then wanted to see if a little sea salt sprinkled on top after baking would add any benefit and for me it did. This is optional. I used Maldon sea salt but you can use regular sea salt.
The moment after I took these pictures, my kids devoured these. My daughter didn't give me a chance to tell her they were spicy and after two bites her eyes widened. Her response was that the cookies were spicy but goooooood.
Give these a try with a nice cold glass of milk to mellow the heat. If you start to sweat, you made these right.
Try some of my other cookies and bars:
- Anisette toasts
- Thick chewy chocolate chip cookies
- The best oatmeal raisin cookies
- Strawberry jam bars
- Gooey chewy s'mores bars
- Peanut butter and jelly bars
- Congo bars
Life is too short for mediocre food.
Have you seen these?
Jim’s Spicy Hot Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
PRINT PIN SAVEEquipment Used
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups old fashioned oats
- ¾ cup all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ghost pepper powder Please See Notes
- ½ cup 1 stick unsalted butter
- ⅔ cup dark brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract or bourbon
- 1 large egg
- ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Optional Add-Ins:
- sunflower seeds
- pumpkin seeds
- shredded coconut
- Maldon sea salt for sprinkling over hot baked cookies (Note 1)
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°. (Note 2)
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and ghost pepper together on medium-high for 3 minutes. I add the ghost pepper powder with the butter and sugar and mix it for three minutes rather than adding it with the dry ingredients. I feel this way it really gets evenly distributed with the fat of the butter. It’s also safer to add this way because if it’s mixed in with the flour, it could poof up into the air when adding.
- Add the egg and bourbon or vanilla and continue to beat on medium-high until the mixture is lightened in color. I let it go for another 5 minutes. Mixing for this long melts the sugar and spice into the butter.
- In the meantime, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Add the dry mixture to the sugar mixture and mix until it's just combined. Add in the chocolate chips and just mix until they're incorporated.
- Scoop using a #20 scoop (3 tablespoons), spacing them apart on the prepared baking sheets. I can fit 9 cookies per baking sheet. If you don’t have a scoop, just measure out 3 tablespoons of dough then rough up the surface with a fork.
- Bake for 11 - 13 minutes, until golden on the outside but still a little soft in the middle. It's better to slightly undercook if you want chewy cookies. If you crispier cookies, cook them a few minutes longer. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before transferring onto a cooling rack.
Optional:
- Sprinkle the top of the baked cookies with a little Maldon sea salt or regular sea salt.
Notes
Note 2: Original recipe called for 325 degree temp and they took about 14 - 15 minutes to bake. I turned up the heat to 350 degrees as I do for my oatmeal raisin cookies and found it took 11 - 13 minutes and the result was the same.
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