OATMEAL SCOTCHIES - With a Chipotle Pepper Spice Kick!

Really, it's all there in the title, but I have photo proof just in case you don't believe me... AND IT WORKED!

This is my contribution to a "Mystery Ingredient - What Did you Bake Today Challenge". The challenge is hosted by Kristen from FRUGAL ANTICS OF A HARRIED HOMEMAKER. The "regulars" over at OUR KRAZY KITCHEN are all supposed to cook something with OATMEAL during the month for a January 29th roundup. I got this idea from a grilling class I took ages ago, where the instructor suggested that a 1/4 teaspoon of Chipotle Pepper added to a "sweet" recipe is too small an amount to overpower the sweet, but it will add an indefinable taste to the recipe that will set your dish apart from the masses.

So, armed with the plan to make a common recipe special, here's what I did...

The recipe I used is on the back of every bag of Nestle's butterscotch chips. I was planning to see if that small amount would make a difference, so I went with a classic.

I made the recipe exactly as printed, I just added ONLY 1/4 teaspoon of the chipotle spice.

The recipe made 4 dozen cookies. I passed some around the neighborhood. NO ONE noticed the pepper taste, but several people without prompting noticed that there was "something extra". I pressed, no one said it was unpleasant, everyone agreed that it added to the cookie. ME, I loved em. There are different types of taste buds in your mouth. The front of the tongue tastes sweet better than the back, and the back tastes spicy better. By adding such a small amount, you get the entire tongue having a little kick.

It takes a little bit of nerve to tamper with a classic. But I really do believe the combination of a tiny amount of spice (chipotle) added to a sweet dessert (in this case, the classic Scotchie) Made a subtle but BIG difference... It worked! I am now very excited to give this theory a try next time I make a chocolate cookie...

Even my wife's lazy good for nothing cat, Chang was excited to give em a try.