jalapeño peanut butter + chili chocolate

Alright everyone, strap in. This doughnut is wild, weird and a little bit spicy. I was nervous about even attempting this type of flavor combo because it's, well... straight up strange.

Everyone has heard of jalapeno poppers, right? Cheesy stuffed jalapeno peppers either deep fried, wrapped in bacon, maybe both! I'm in love with these little bites of spicy goodness. My favorite way is wrapped in bacon and baked until crispy and melty and... mmm. I want some right now. Anyways, while I was searching for different ways to eat jalapenos as a part of a low carb diet, (which I've been doing since January, so I really haven't been able to eat any of the doughnuts I've made. It's certainly a struggle, but the weight loss is worth it!) I stumbled upon a recipe for peanut butter stuffed jalapeno poppers. My first reaction was to cringe but I gave it a minute to settle in my mind. Sweet, salty, spicy, I suppose it makes sense. I became more open to the idea and of course, as always, I wondered if I could make it into a doughnut.

So why not have some fun, take some risks and make a killer doughnut? The peanut butter and jalapeno combo was pushing it, but I wanted to add another level of flavor. Spicy chili chocolate sounded like it fit the bill. The final product was totally out of the box and completely, utterly different from anything I expected to do with this project. So let me show you what kind of crazy flavor combo this is and you can decide how delicious these doughnuts are!

This doughnut recipe uses the brioche dough, found here.

for the drizzle:
3 tbsp milk
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 medium jalapeno pepper
1 tbsp milk

Combine the milk and chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl and heat for 30 seconds at a time until smooth. Once the chocolate is ready, add the chili powder and cinnamon and incorporate throughout the mixture.

Cut and de-seed the jalapeno pepper. Place in a food processor with 1 tbsp of milk and puree until the milk is seemingly green, which means it's been mixed with jalapeno "juice." Strain the jalapeno pieces with a separate bowl underneath and press the jalapeno pieces with a spoon, making sure you get out as much liquid as possible. Once you have the liquid, mix it into the chocolate until incorporated. This adds an underlying jalapeno flavor that pairs well with the chili and cinnamon.

for the glaze:
1 large jalapeno, chopped into very small pieces.
1/3 cup peanut butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk

Mix the peanut butter and the milk until smooth. Sift the powdered sugar into the mixture and whisk, making sure to get rid of chunks of powdered sugar if present. Add the jalapeno pieces and mix until incorporated throughout.

for the garnish (optional):
chopped peanut pieces
jalapeno pepper slice

Sprinkle peanuts and add the pepper slices if desired.

for the assembly:

Dip the doughnuts into the peanut butter glaze. Use a spoon to drizzle the chili chocolate on top. Garnish with peanut pieces and jalapeno slices if desired.


You can find a printable version of this recipe here.


There you have it! 'Til next time,