Hatch Chile Brownies with Grand Marnier Whipped Cream

In another post, I blogged about the hatch chile-themed Austin food bloggers' potluck I attended. I brought these brownies and was very happy with the way they turned out - they are very moist and rich with a nice kick, but aren't overwhelmingly hot. Many thanks to Kendra Bartsch, Mia and Ken Burton, and Angela Woodbury for being my taste-testers for the trial run of these!

Hatch Chile Brownies (adapted from this recipe)

INGREDIENTS:
* 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
* 4 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate
* 1-3/4 cups sugar
* 3/4 cup flour
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 cup mild roasted hatch chiles, with skin and seeds removed, very finely chopped (2-3 medium to large chiles)
* 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 3 eggs
* 1-1/2 cups chopped walnut(s)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat the butter and chocolate in a microwaveable container on high for 1-2 minutes; stir until melted.

2. Mix the sugar, salt, flour, cinnamon in a large mixing bowl.

3. Add the chocolate/butter mixture, vanilla, and eggs. Then add the hatch chiles.

4. Mix well, then stir in the walnuts.

5. Spread the batter evenly in a well-greased 9" x 13" baking dish. Bake at 350° for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted halfway between the edge and the center comes out clean.

I topped these with Grand Marnier whipped cream, which was made by whipping a pint of heavy whipping cream with 2 tablespoons of Grand Marnier, 1/8 cup of powdered sugar, and a teaspoon of vanilla, then garnished with 85% cacao dark chocolate shavings.