Spicy Cheese Bites

 

  These are not your mother's thumbprint cookies! Spiced up with the hot pepper powder I make by grinding my dehydrated home-grown jalapenos and filled with hot pepper jelly, these are crispy, zesty and satisfying. They were a hit with my Christmas guests who were my guinea pigs for this new creation.
    This is my variation of a recipe from my friend Sandra, who shows my paintings in her art gallery. The original recipe called for crispy rice cereal, which typically includes sugar, salt, vitamins, and other ingredients I don't want added to my food. Substituting rice crackers which have just 3 ingredients: rice, oil and salt, makes for a healthier treat. Next time, I'll go one step further... instead of the crackers I'll try using brown rice flour and a small amount of coconut oil - and eliminate the salt, since the cheese provides plenty. I make these gluten-free by using GF flour also, but regular wheat flour can be used. I used a hot pepper jelly made by the nearby Menonnite community and it is yummy!

Hot Pepper Cheese Crackers {Gluten-free}
Recipe type: Appetizer
Cuisine: Gluten Free, Vegetarian
Makes: About 3 dozen
NOTE: Ingredients in red type are detailed on the "Ingredients" page of this blog

INGREDIENTS
rice crackers*, enough to make 2c of crushed cracker crumbs
4 c grated sharp cheddar cheese
2 c all purpose gluten-free flour
1 c softened unsalted butter
1/2 t ground pepper
1 t paprika
1 t hot pepper powder or chile powder (adjust to your taste)
hot pepper jelly

INSTRUCTIONS
To crush the crackers, place them in a zipper bag and roll with a rolling pin until crushed into small pieces. Whirl the cheese in a food processor to make it finer then gradually add all other ingredients except the cracker crumbs and jelly. Dump into a bowl so you can mix in the cracker crumbs - I found my hands to be the best tool for this step.

Shape dough into 1" balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet lined with baking parchment, placing them 2" apart. Press to flatten slightly, then push your thumb into the center just enough to make a small indent.

Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, and spoon a small dollop of hot pepper jelly in the center of each. Bake an additional 10-13 minutes, until crispy and golden.

Alternately, if you don't want the hot pepper jelly filling, you can flatten the balls of dough with a fork before baking, then bake for a total of 25-28 minutes... see the photo below.

Remove to a rack to cool.

* I used Nabisco Poppy & Sesame Seed Rice Thins, whose ingredients include: white rice flour, safflower oil, millet, poppy seeds, salt, mustard flour and sesame seeds. The poppy seeds show up as the black specs in my photos of the dough and baked crackers. You can use Nabisco GF Original Rice Thins for fewer ingredients. Watch out for added sugar in other brands of rice crackers. It took a little less than 2 boxes to make 2 c of crumbs.

Jalapeno Fudge

If you've never tried the unusual combination of chocolate and hot pepper, be open minded - it really works! I love both individually, and the combination is unusual but great tasting.

This fudge recipe itself is a winner. Unfortunately, I can't find where I copied the original recipe from, to credit it, but I've tweaked it now so I guess I can claim it. If fudge can be healthy, then this is it. Coconut oil has a long list of nutritional attributes, and unsweetened chocolate is hailed for its antioxidant value. Or am I just justifying an indulgence?!?!

As with all of my recipes, quality ingredients are suggested to attain excellent taste. The jalapeno powder used here is one I make from my own homegrown organic jalapenos, harvested only after they ripen to red. (See my instructions on this previous post.) You might get a similar product if you buy hot pepper flakes - the kind used to spice up pizza - which are actually the seeds of hot peppers. Grind these into a powder. You'll need to experiment with the amount you add to this recipe, since the "heat" may vary. Or you can contact me and I'll share my powder with you. 

In addition to the fine jalapeno powder, I've used locally harvested honey, vanilla extract I make with whole beans soaked in vodka, organic peanut butter which I grind fresh at our supermarket, and pecans from a farm in Georgia. For the unsweetened cocoa powder, I used about 1/8 cup of something called "black cocoa powder" which I bought from a store in a Mennonite community in Muddy Pond TN. As its name suggests, it is much darker in color than any cocoa powder I have ever seen, and very strong tasting. Adding just a bit imparts the intense bitter chocolate taste that I love. For the remaining cup of cocoa powder, I used Ghiradelli® unsweetened cocoa powder, which is good quality too.

Jalapeno Fudge

INGREDIENTS

• 1 c coconut oil, melted
• 1 c unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/3 c honey
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1/2 t almond extract
• 2 t jalapeno powder
• dash salt
• 1/3 c peanut butter (smooth or chunky)
• 1/2 c chopped pecans

INSTRUCTIONS

Grease a 9"x6" foil fudge pan with coconut oil.

Put all ingredients except the peanut butter and the pecans into a food processor. Process for two minutes. Scrap down the sides and add the peanut butter. Process again for two minutes or long enough to be certain the powders are well incorporated with the liquids. You can also do this in a standup mixer, beating to totally dissolve the powders.

Stir the chopped pecans into the mixture. It will be very liquidy. Pour it into the prepared foil pan. Set the pan in the refrigerator for 2 hours or until firm. Cut into small pieces. A plastic knife works well for this, just as I've learned to use to cut homemade brownies. Be sure to keep these refrigerated until serving, since the coconut oil softens at about 75 degrees and you'll find this fudge becomes finger-licking good if left at room temperature.