‘Tis the season for all delicious things Hatch!  In celebration of this fantastical time of year I decided that it was high time to marry together three of my favorite things.  Those things being (in no particular order):

Chocolate

Roasted Hatch Chiles

& Ina Garten.  The end result being, Hatch Chile Brownies!

Although I would love to take credit for just how amazingly roasted-tastic these chiles look, I did not roast these chiles myself.  The lovely folks at Central Market took care of that step and my tiny fingers love them for it.

Ina Garten has one of my all time favorite brownie recipes and I’m not going to lie, I was school girl crush giddy when I realized I had a “reason” to use it!

A couple of things about working with chiles.  If you are going to roast at home, make sure to wear gloves.  The raw chiles will burn your little fingers to pieces.  Once they are roasted they are much more friendly on the fingers. Take the chiles and peel the roasted skin off.  It should peel off easily.  Pop the top of the chile off and remove the seeds.  I gave mine a quick pass under cool water to remove any char bits left behind.  Pat the chile dry and chop away!  Before mixing the chile bits into the brownie mix I gave them a light coating of flour along with my chocolate chips to keep them from sinking to the bottom.

These brownies were super tasty, however the Hatch Chiles weren’t as in your face as I had originally envisioned.  Next time I might double my amount or even step it up from Mild to Hot.

Adapted from Ina Garten’s Outrageous Brownies Recipe – Halved
Yield about 30 2 inch x 2 inch bits of happiness.

Ingredients:
2 sticks of unsalted butter
14 ounces semisweet chocolate chips – divided
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate (I used Ghiradelli’s 100% cacao chips)
3 extra large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup + 2 tablespoons of sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour + 1 tablespoon to coat chiles & chocolate chips
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of mild roasted Hatch Chiles

Directions:
Preheat over to 350 degrees.

Butter & flour a baking pan. I used a 15 x 9 x.75 pan because it was handy.

Melt together the butter, 1/2 of the chocolate chips, and the unsweetened chocolate (chips) in a medium bowl over simmering water. Allow to cool slightly. In a large bowl, stir (do not beat) together the eggs, vanilla, and sugar. Stir the luke warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and allow to cool to room temperature.

In a medium bowl, sift together 1/2 cup of flour, the baking powder, and salt. Add to the cooled chocolate mixture. Toss the hatch chiles and the other half of chocolate chips in a medium bowl with 1 tablespoon of flour, then add them to the chocolate batter. Pour into the baking sheet.
** Important note from Ina: Make sure the batter is cool prior to adding in the chocolate chips & chiles. If it is too hot it will melt the chips and ruin the consistency**

Bake for 20 minutes, then rap the baking sheet against the oven shelf to force the air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough. Bake for about 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not overbake! Allow to cool thoroughly (if you can be that patient!), refrigerate, cut and share!