Chocolate and red chile belong together for a reason that isn't novelty. Dark chocolate already carries a dried fruit bitterness that red chile sits right on top of, and the heat shows up late, after the chocolate has done its work. This is a deep, fudgy batch, four eggs against two thirds of a cup of flour, baked thick in an 8 inch pan, and the only real decision you've got is how much heat you want in a dessert.
The chile needs draining before it goes anywhere near the batter. Roasted red chile carries a lot of its own liquid and there's only two thirds of a cup of flour holding this together, so tip it into a sieve and blot it on a paper towel while the chocolate and butter melt. That's the whole of the prep. Everything after it is whisking, and then waiting for the pan to cool, which is the only part that takes any patience.
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The recipe
Red Chile Brownies
- YieldAbout 9
- Prep20 minutes
- Bake35 to 40 minutes
- Oven350°F
Ingredients
- 6 oz unsweetened dark chocolate
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red chile flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne
- 1/3 cup flame roasted Hatch red chile, drained
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Method
- Heat the oven to 350°F and line an 8 inch baking dish with parchment, leaving an overhang on two sides so you can lift the slab out later.
- Drain the red chile in a sieve and blot it on paper towel.
- Melt the chocolate and butter together in a double boiler over simmering water, or in the microwave in 30 second bursts. Whisk smooth and set aside to cool slightly.
- Combine the flour and salt in a small bowl. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together, then whisk in the cocoa, cayenne, chile flakes, vanilla and red chile until smooth.
- Whisk the melted chocolate into the egg mixture. Fold in the flour and salt, then stir vigorously until thick and glossy. That stirring is what gives you the papery crust on top.
- Spread into the pan and bake 35 to 40 minutes. A skewer in the center should come out with moist crumbs clinging to it, not clean.
- Cool completely in the pan before cutting. Warm brownies tear.
Which heat does what
There are three sources in here and they're all doing different jobs, which is why it's worth knowing what each one contributes before you start changing amounts.
The roasted red chile is in there for flavor first and heat second. It's the thing that makes these taste like New Mexico instead of like spicy chocolate, and it's the one I'd never touch. Cayenne is the opposite, pure even heat with almost no flavor of its own, so it's the easiest thing in the recipe to adjust and cutting it back changes nothing else about the batch. The flakes behave differently again. They give you occasional bright hits rather than a steady background, and whether you want that depends entirely on how you feel about biting into a hot spot in the middle of a dessert.
If you're not sure where you want to land, here's what I'd actually do the first time: keep the red chile, halve the cayenne, leave the flakes out. A dessert doesn't have to be hot to be interesting, and the chile flavor comes through better when it isn't fighting cayenne for the same space. You can always go up next time.
One thing that surprises people is how much the fat softens all of it. This batter is mostly chocolate and butter, and fat mutes capsaicin, so the same amount of chile lands gentler here than it would in a sauce. The heat arrives late, after the chocolate.
Telling when they're done
A fudgy brownie goes by look and feel rather than by a clean skewer. What you want is edges that have set and pulled back a little from the pan, a top that's dry and papery with a faint crackle to it, and a skewer in the center that comes out with moist crumbs clinging to it.
In an 8 inch pan that's 35 to 40 minutes at 350°F. They keep cooking in the hot pan for a few minutes after they come out, so lean toward the early end of that window, then let the whole thing cool all the way through before you cut it.
Pan size and thickness
This is a generous amount of batter for an 8 inch pan, and that's the point, because the thick slab is what you're after. If you'd rather have something thinner with more crust on every piece, a 9x13 gives you about 20 smaller squares and you should start checking at 25 minutes. A 9 inch square lands in between, a little thinner than the 8 inch version and ready to check around 30 minutes.
Don't skip the parchment overhang. A thick fudgy slab doesn't come out of a pan cleanly any other way, and it's the difference between cutting them in the dish and lifting the whole thing onto a board.
Storing and freezing
They'll keep at room temperature in an airtight container for 3 to 4 days, and they're better on day two once the texture settles. Skip the refrigerator unless your kitchen is genuinely warm, because cold firms them up and flattens the chocolate.
They freeze well, which isn't true of most baked desserts. Cut them first, wrap them individually, and they'll hold up to three months. An hour at room temperature thaws one out, or you can eat it straight from the freezer, which is a legitimate choice and the one I'd make.
If they came out cakey
Dry and cakey
They went a few minutes too long, or there was more flour in the cup than you meant. Pull them while the skewer still has moist crumbs on it, and spoon flour into the measuring cup rather than scooping it, since scooping packs it.
They won't set in the middle
Either they need more time or the pan was smaller than 8 inches. Give them another five minutes and check again.
No crackly top
That top comes from sugar dissolved into the eggs. Whisk the eggs and sugar until the mixture pales and thickens, then stir the finished batter vigorously before it goes into the pan.
Hotter than you wanted
Cut the cayenne next time. For the batch that's already on the board, serve it with ice cream or whipped cream, because dairy is what actually cools capsaicin down.
You can barely taste the chile
Go up a heat level on the red chile rather than adding more cayenne, which only adds burn without bringing any flavor with it.
What else to make
The obvious companion is green chile chocolate chip cookies, which make the same argument with green chile and cinnamon. Red chile apple pie is the third dessert in the set, and it's the one people find hardest to believe until they've had a slice.
Once the jar is open you'll want somewhere for the rest of it to go, and that's usually New Mexico red chile sauce or red chile huevos rancheros the next morning.
The chile itself comes in 16 oz jars of flame roasted Hatch red chile, Medium or Hot, with four ingredients in it: Hatch chile, salt, garlic and lime juice. The recipe archive is free to read, and there's a printed cookbook if you'd rather have something on the counter that doesn't need a screen.
Common questions
How spicy are red chile brownies?
They're warm rather than sharp, and the heat arrives after the chocolate. The fat in the butter and chocolate blunts capsaicin, so the same chile lands softer here than it would in a sauce. Halve the cayenne if you're unsure.
Can I leave out the cayenne and chile flakes?
Yes. The roasted red chile is the one doing the flavor work, cayenne is pure heat, and the flakes give you occasional bright hits. Cutting either one changes nothing about the texture.
How do I know when brownies are done?
A skewer in the center should come out with moist crumbs clinging to it rather than clean, and clean means they've gone too far. The edges should be set and the top dry and papery.
Why did my brownies not get a crackly top?
The sugar needs to dissolve into the eggs. Whisk them until the mixture pales and thickens, and stir the finished batter vigorously before it goes in the pan.
Can I use a bigger pan?
Yes. A 9x13 gives you thinner brownies with more crust per piece, and you should start checking them at 25 minutes.
Can I freeze them?
Yes, up to three months. Cut and wrap them individually, then thaw at room temperature for about an hour.
Do I need to drain the red chile?
Yes. Roasted chile carries its own liquid, and this batter has only two thirds of a cup of flour holding it together.
The short version
You're melting chocolate and butter, whisking that into eggs and sugar along with the drained chile and the spices, then folding in the flour and stirring hard, which is what builds the crackly top. It bakes 35 to 40 minutes at 350°F, and it's ready when a skewer comes out with moist crumbs on it. If you want them milder, cayenne is the thing to pull back. Let them cool all the way before you slice, and save one for tomorrow, because that's when they're best.