Habanero Hot Sauce

A ridiculously spicy and simple hot sauce made from habanero peppers.

I love habaneros.  Yeah, they are crazy spicy and I can't take a whole lot of heat from them but I love their color, shape, and even their flavor (if you can experience it with out too much pain).  My husband loves all things spicy so he was more than happy to let me experiment with a habanero hot sauce.  Most recipes I found suggested taking out the core and seeds but that's part of the heat.  My husband assured me that he wasn't scared so I left them in.  My final sauce has a great orange color and is very, very spicy.  It's a great way to add a little (or lot) of heat and habanero flavor to many foods like eggs, salsas, roasted nuts, etc.

Habanero Hot Sauce

***WARNING VERY SPICY***

Ingredients:

16 large habanero peppers
2/3 cup cider vinegar
1 Tbsp maple syrup

Stem all the habaneros then blanch for a minute or two in boiling water.

Place blanched habaneros in a blender with the maple syrup.  Add enough vinegar to at least cover the peppers and puree until smooth.

Pour into bottles and refrigerate.  Makes about 1 cup of hot sauce.

Enjoy.

Linked to:  Best of the Weekend, Sat Night Fever, Share Sun, See ya in Gumbo, Merry Mon, Two Cup, Teach Me, Lou Lou Girls, Wonderful Wed, TYSH, Eat Create

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Habanero Brownies

Decadent, fudgy brownies with a gentle heat from fresh habaneros. A wonderful desert for any adventurous chocolate lover. 

 I have great success growing habaneros in my container garden and am always looking for new ways to use them. While my husband can stand the heat, I have to be a bit more creative with how I use these hot little peppers. But, it is always refreshing that if I do not succeed in my attempts it will not be too spicy for him and he will love it.  Adding habaneros, minus the seeds, to my favorite brownie recipe was a success.

I do not remember where I came across this brownie recipe, but it makes super moist, fudgy brownies. The trick is that this recipe contains more butter and eggs, and less flour. This is not a dieter's brownie.

2 fresh habaneros, seeds removed
6oz baking chocolate
2 sticks butter
4 eggs
2 C sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
½ C flour
6oz semisweet chocolate chips


Preheat oven to 300 degrees, and grease an 8 by 8 baking pan. I also lined the pan with a strip of baking parchment  (for easy removal).

Finely mince the habaneros and mix with the butter. I used a food processor to mince the habaneros and mix them with 1 stick of butter. Then I scraped the mixture into a microwave-safe bowl with the rest of the butter and melted the butter in the microwave. To this I added the equivalent of 6oz baking chocolate, in cocoa powder and more butter (as per package 3 Tbsp cocoa + 1 Tbsp shortening = 1oz baking chocolate ). Yes instead of shortening I used butter. Mix in 4 eggs, vanilla, sugar, and flour. I used bread flour because it's what I had on hand, I don't think it makes any difference. *You could probably use a gluten free flour mix with success. Pour batter into prepared pan and sprinkle chocolate chips on top. Bake 45-55 minutes or until set. Let cool completely in pan and refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving. Makes 16.

These brownies were a huge hit. Fudgy and spicy. They were not too spicy but you could feel some heat at the back of your throat. The habanero flavor blended well with the chocolate. They were delicious.  Enjoy

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