Falling in love with fall...and chewy cookies

As my husband and I settle into our new home, we're delighting in the new scenery -- sweet peas and blackberries that crowd the roadside, flanks of tall evergreens, ferns and moss. We discover a new plant, road, or park almost as often as we discover a new favorite restaurant (Burgerville, I love you and your sweet potato fries!)

We try to hike around, exploring new paths, like this one in Gabriel Park.


And we're also adjusting a cooler, rainier atmosphere. It's easy to slip into fall here. Just throw on your favorite sweater and walk downtown, maybe stop by Powell's for a magazine and a cup of coffee. That's how I roll with fall, anyway. With books and walking and a never-ending supply of coffee. Football? That's nice, but instead, I'll be eating 4-C Cookies with my new neighbor, Kristin, on her back porch, watching fall.....fall.

These cookies -- cherry chili chocolate chip cookies to be precise -- are starting to catch on in my new home. When I brought a batch to work, my co-worker Mike* ate at least three, probably four. Some people took one as a dare, to see if they'd like the chili, and then came back for more.

I think people like them because they're sweet, hot, crispy, chewy, and made of only the good stuff.


Chewy chili cherry chocolate chip cookies
makes 24-30 cookies

• 1/2 cup of butter, like Tillamook unsalted
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup cane sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 large egg
• 2 tsp. Mexican chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 1/4 cup + 1 tsp. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup chopped walnut pieces
• 3/4 cup dried cherry pieces (cranberries also work well!)

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees, and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Beat the butter with a mixer for 30 seconds, until it gets smooth and creamy, and then beat in both sugars for another minute. Beat in the egg and vanilla until the mixture is fluffy and smooth.

In a small bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking soda, and chili powder. Incorporate the flour mixture into the butter/sugars slowly, taking care not to over-mix the batter. Stir in the cherries, chocolate chips, and walnuts.

Use a tablespoon to measure out the dough, keeping the cookies at least two inches apart on the baking sheet. Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the edges are crispy. Cool the cookies on a cookie rack and then enjoy with cold milk.


*Names have been changed to protect the easily embarrassed. "Mike" did say of the cookies that they were just the mixture of sweet and hot, and that they had a "sustaining power."


If you liked this post, you might also enjoy:

Ranger cookies
Chocolate chip walnut cookies