Texas Style Muddy Buddies

I called in an expert hand model

As of late I have been enjoying things that have a little bit of "kick" to them in my daily food selection. No, this doesn't mean that ostrich, llama, or frog are suddenly items of interest in the Morrell household (to which I am glad Ducks don't kick) it means I have been enjoying the spicy things lately.

The blame can probably be set firmly on the shoulders of our friends in Texas who shared the new Jalapeno Jack Sunchips (and to think I am not getting paid for that link...) with us while we were up there. Astoundingly addictive with a lot of crunch and a little punch. I'll need to find anther bag soon. The other day when I had run out of chips and was feeling a bit more like having something sweet and less salty, but at the same time was craving that burning sensation one gets in their mouth. (The one that God most likely designed to say, "Stop eating this, you're going to regret it later!") I thought, why not try and combine the sweet chocolatey goodness of Muddy Buddies with that "Oh why does this pain taste so good" spicy feeling.

I talked this over with my off-site cooking consultant and we came up with a plan... which I promptly didn't follow. We had talked about using Almond Butter for the lighter flavor and thus allowing the heat of the ancho chili pepper to shine through. When it came down to it I went cheap and dumped in the Skippy we already had sitting on the shelf. (I know, where is my dedication to the craft?) We DID end up having some ancho chili powder on hand though so I tossed about a tablespoon into the chocolate mix and after adding a bit more decided that if left to sit it might get hotter, so I stopped there.

Alas, while I can taste some of the smokiness of the ancho chili powder, and there is a hint of a zing if you eat a handful of the stuff, the "why in the name of all that is decent" searing on my tongue I was looking for is not there. Of course I wanted to make these edible, not offshoots of toxic waste, so I am going to have to find a balance. Maybe some kind of hot sauce I can add a drop or two to the mixture instead of having the sample it out with powder. Oh well, the cooking adventures continues. In the mean time I have a bunch of slightly smoky Muddy Buddies sitting on my kitchen counter... what to do what to do?


~B.
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