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Douglah Nut Bourbon Chews

The base recipe for these came from the Martha Stewart 2010 Holiday Cookies magazine.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground allspice (recipe calls for 1/2 tsp., but I used more)
1 cup unsulfured molasses
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup small-batch bourbon (see below)
1 cup packed brown sugar (recipe calls for light, I used dark)
4 cups coarsely chopped pecans (or cashews, pistachios might be good, too) (1 cup into batter, 3 cups for later)

The part that's not in the magazine:
Dried douglah pods

Put at least two douglah pods into a small glass or mug, and cover with at least 1/2 cup of the bourbon, and let them rehydrate at least overnight. I used 6 pods. (Note the pods should be covered, plus a bit more.) Use 1/4 cup of the bourbon from rehydrating the pods as the bourbon ingredient above. Finely chop at least 2 rehydrated pods to add to the dough as indicated below. Clearly you can add more or less, as desired, but this is how many I used. (Note for those unfamiliar with drying pods - usually pods are at least sliced in half for drying, so you will likely use 4 dried half-pods.)

1) Combine flour, allspice, and salt in a bowl - stir or whisk to thoroughly blend.
Cook butter and molasses in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring, until butter is melted and mixture is smooth. Let cool slightly, then stir in bourbon and chopped douglah.
Transfer to a bowl, stir or whisk in brown sugar until smooth. Stir in flour mixture and 1 cup of the chopped nuts.
Chill dough at least one hour, or up to one day.

2) Preheat oven to 400F (204C.) Shape dough into balls (about 1 tablespoon each.) Roll balls in remaining 3 cups of chopped nuts. Place on parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake, rotating sheets half way through, until flattened and browned on edges, 9 to 11 minutes. Let cookies cool on sheets 3 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to one week.

Edit: Yes, I'll post pics tomorrow, after I actually bake some. Right now can't help myself from dipping into the dough from time to time - went to the store to pick up more ingredients, just in case!

Edit: See tips for baking below.
 
Okay, baked a few pans, and here are some tips:

- Go ahead - attempt to use gloves when you make the dough into balls. Butter those gloves really, really well. My experience? Didn't really work too well. Plan B: butter your hands really, really well, making sure to get your ENTIRE hands coated well. Remember you'll be working with Douglah!

- Use somewhat less than one tablespoon, and reduce the baking time if needed. Using one tablespoon, the dough ran together during the baking process. However, they were easy to break apart once they cooled a bit.

- Before that, though, start by buttering a plate, then stick it in the freezer for a while. Take the plate out, and as you make the balls put them onto the plate, then roll the balls in the nuts afterwards. Work in small batches; I found that one pan at a time is really all that works well. Alternately, have several plates ready, and as you put a panful onto a plate, put it in the fridge while you work with the next one.

- Have someone available to help out with moving the pan into the oven, then turning on the water so you can wash your hands, which you will want to do asap and thoroughly.

- Stick the bowl of dough back in the refrigerator between batches. It will soften as it warms, so putting it back into the fridge will firm it back up. It is easier to handle when firm.

Does this sound like a pain in the tush? Yes, yes it does. BUT - - - these are amazingly worth it!

Edit: If you're wondering - no, my hands weren't burning after working with the dough last night, and they're fine this morning. I think buttering them really well helped, and also, whenever I work with hot peppers with my bare hands, I use Bath & Body Works kitchen soap to wash them. I also use Dawn, but have found that Dawn alone doesn't work. My hand-washing routine after handling peppers is B&BW first, Dawn, then another round of B&BW - this usually does the trick.

Also, made the first batch with cashews and douglah, second batch with pecans and no douglah (for the kid.) The douglah adds such a wonderful flavor element, I was just "meh" about the second batch.
 
Here they are:

Before baking:
prebake.jpg


After baking:
bake1.jpg


Close-up:
bake2.jpg


The flash kind of washed the pics out, so it kind of looks like one big pile of brown with nuts, but that's some yuuuuuummmmmy brownness! :rofl:
 
That looks like quite a Christmas treat geeme, nicely done. How hot are they? Merry Christmas

Almost surprisingly, these are not quite as hot as one might expect. "Almost", because as you likely know, sugar is one of the things that helps neutralize the heat in your mouth - if you've eaten a very hot pod and feel some need to neutralize the effect sooner than later (maybe you want to kiss your wife ;) ), chew a couple gummie candies or dried sweetened fruit and bam! - the heat's gone or almost gone. The sugar content in these is pretty high, between the molasses and the brown sugar, so while they're hot, they're not nearly as hot as one might think. I ate a bit of the rehydrated pods that I did not put into the dough, and they came across as MUCH hotter than these cookies do.

Edit: To clarify - when I say "not quite as hot", I'm still talking relatively - my son would think these were stupid-hot, as in "they're so hot you'd have to be stupid to eat them." How did I have such a wuss for a kid??? ;o)
 
Those look good, Geeme! Celeste did some a while ago that were Lemon (Fatalii- I think) sugar drop cookies.

Another great inspiration with the douglah nuts.
 
So I had just a bit of dough still in the fridge, and baked up the last of it today. Not sure if it's my imagination, but I'd swear this batch is hotter than the original!
 
Wow! I aint never seen anything brown with peanuts look so good. I would guess any kind of superhot would work if doughahs are not available? Fatalii, T Scorlp, Bhut?
 
Wow! I aint never seen anything brown with peanuts look so good. I would guess any kind of superhot would work if doughahs are not available? Fatalii, T Scorlp, Bhut?
Well, those are cashews, but you could likely use peanuts, as well. Yes, you could use any kind of pepper you choose. BUT - I spent quite some time cross-smelling the molasses with different types of peppers, and definitely preferred the douglah. Although I am a huge fatalii fan, I didn't care for the smell of it along with the molasses at all. I didn't have TScorp or Bhut, but those seem like good candidates.

"Cross-smelling" - no, this probably isn't a real term, but what the heck? I held the molasses and dried pods next to each other, and smelled them for a minute. Easy enough to do, and will give you an idea of how a particular pod works with the molasses. I use the same approach when trying to decide on any new mix of seasonings. Since most of our taste originates with smell, it's a fairly good approach.
 
Today my mailman brought me a sinister looking box. I thought about calling homeland security, but decided to open it. WOW cashew loveeeee. Thank you so much Gee for trading some of these heavenly looking treats for some sauce. The smell is perfect and inviting. I love cashews so I took a big bite. Holy frickle frack cowabunga I am now fully awake. These are great. Martha Stewart may have given you the base recipe, but what you did is like someone telling you how to make an M80 and you add C4 to it. BOOOM!! They are addictive and hot. The bourbon adds a nice taste with the molasses and brown sugar. The Douglah heat is perfect for a pepperhead although the general public may need a quart of milk to go with it. 1 will be going to work with me tonight for a friend.

Thanks again and you get
+1 for amping up a recipe and making it better.
 
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