Grown-Up Chocolate Wafers

Yesterday, when I was done making chocolate-coated bacon, I used the leftovers of the chocolate to form a giant 1-inch thick chocolate bar in a bread pan... That was a HUGE mistake, as it became almost impossible to cut and break once it hardened. So today I melted it back down, and created a new treat, a treat I wish to share with you all.

2 pounds of Hershey milk chocolate chips

3 100% Cocoa Ghirardelli Tiles

1 TSP Ancho Chili Powder

1 TSP Chinese Five Spice Powder

1/2 Cup of chopped Walnuts

20-30 Paper Muffin Cup Wrapper Things

In a double boiler, or a metal pan placed atop a pot of simmering water, combine the milk chocolate and 100% cocoa tiles. Melt these down, stirring them together thoroughly. Add in the chili powder, five-spice, and walnuts. Continue stirring until all the ingredients are combined evenly. Using a scoop, pour the chocolate-walnut mixture into the paper muffin cups. Fill each cup with about 1/2 inch of chocolate. Keep filling the cups until all the chocolate mixture is used.

NOTE: Before I filled them, I lined the cups up on a cookie tray to make it easier to carry them later on.

After the cups are filled, place in a cool, dry place to chill and harden. I use the refrigerator. After a good 45-60 minutes, check on the treats, they should be hardened, if not, continue to chill them. Once they are hardened, you can serve them as-is, or package them up and give them to friends and family.

Other ideas you could use with this: you could take out the five-spice powder and add in a little ginger and nutmeg for a different change in flavor. You could swap the Ancho Chili Powder for a Chipotle Powder for a stronger kick and smokier pepper-flavor.  Maybe try changing out the walnuts for Heath toffee bits or chopped pecans, keeping the crunch but changing the flavor profile slightly. This is an easy dish to modify.

Serve this up and enjoy with friends and family!

~Bon Appétit~