Heirloom Pumpkin Cookies

Heirloom Pumpkin Cookies

Heirloom Pumpkins

Heirloom Pumpkins

At this time of year pumpkins of all shapes, sizes and colors are everywhere you turn. I love the bumpy ones and wanted to make Heirloom Pumpkins this season. I made some back in 2015 (see here) but tried to make them look different in color and texture this time. Also, the recipe is different and adapted from Bake at 350° (link below). The dough is Pumpkin Pie Spice and I increased the amount in each of the spices, reduced the baking powder, and added a little salt. The spices add the perfect balance and taste, and the cookies are soft and chewy. See recipe below.

Yield: 2 Dozen Cookies (Depending on cutter size)

Do the center outline and then each side outline and fill after 1/2 hour

Ingredients
3 cups King Arthur All Purpose Flour

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1 teaspoon Coarse Salt

1/2 cup Light Brown Sugar

1/2 cup Vanilla Sugar

1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon Freshly Grated Nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon Ground Allspice

1/4 teaspoon Ground Cloves

1 cup (2 sticks) Unsalted Butter, softened and cut into 8 pieces

1 Large Egg

1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

Filling the cookie

Directions
Whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, and salt; set aside.

Cream butter and sugars in a hand held mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment on low; 1-2 minutes. Do not overmix.

Scrape sides of bowl with spatula and mix for 10 seconds.

Add egg, and vanilla extract and mix until incorporated; about 1 minute.

Scrape sides of bowl and mix for 5 seconds.

Filled in the second and fourth section; time to dry

With mixer on low speed, slowly add flour mixture and incorporate. The dough is ready when it begins to clump around paddle attachment.

Cut in half and roll dough into 2 balls, cover with plastic wrap and chill in fridge for 1-3 hours or overnight. I chilled for 2 hours.

Heat oven to 350°F.

Use two sheets of parchment paper with dough in between and roll with rolling pin until desired thickness is reached.

Cut out pumpkin shapes.

Place onto cookies sheets lined with parchment paper, and put in freezer for 20 minutes. The cookies hold their shape when you do this.

Bake 9-13 minutes or until the edges have slightly browned. My cookies baked in 13 minutes. Oven temps vary so check the cookies at the 9 minute mark.

Make sure cookie sheets cool in between baking. I place them in the freezer for a few minutes and then place cut-out dough on cold cookie sheets lined with parchment paper, and put in freezer for 20 minutes. This is important. Do not use hot cookie sheets or the cookies will spread and lose their shape.

Wait 2-3 minutes before transferring cookies with cookie spatula to cooling racks to complete cooling, about 1 hour.

Decorate once the cookies are cool to the touch.

I used Gold Sanding Sugar for the stems.

Cookies getting iced

Royal Icing
Ingredients
4 Egg Whites

4 teaspoons Lemon Juice, freshly squeezed

6 cups Powdered/Confectioners' Sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon Clear Vanilla Extract

1-3 teaspoons Water

Cookies iced, need to do stems with the ivory color

Directions
In a large bowl, sift powdered sugar, set aside.

In a bowl, add egg whites.

In a bowl, whisk together the egg whites and lemon juice.

Transfer to stand or hand held mixer with paddle attachment and mix on high for 1-2 minutes.

Add vanilla extract and mix for 5-10 seconds.

With mixer speed on low, slowly add powdered sugar and beat on low until smooth.

If needed, you may add 1 teaspoon of water at a time until you reach the right consistency. I used a flood icing consistency for this recipe.

Watch the Joy of Baking (link at the end) video for both Flooding Consistency and Piping Consistency Royal Icing. If you prefer a recipe using Meringue Powder, it is also available at this link.

Pumpkins cooling

Separate the icing in plastic containers with lids according to how many colors you need.

I use AmeriColor Soft Gel Paste Food Color in Orange, Ivory and mixed Blue Sky, Lemon Yellow, and Orange to get the Olive Green color. 

Dip a toothpick in the gel and then into the icing and combine with a small spatula. Repeat until you reach the color desired.

Use a clean toothpick each time you dip so have plenty handy.

Keep the containers covered until you are ready to color.

Transfer the icing immediately into squeeze bottles.

Pumpkin cutter and a pumpkin cookie

If the royal icing hardens due to exposure to air, use a spray bottle and spitz a little bit of water, and shake well holding the tip with your finger.

Test the icing consistency on a paper towel before decorating the cookie. Be careful doing this since you do not want to make the icing to end up watery and break up.

I did the outlines in sections (see pics) waiting 1/2 hour before filling/flooding each one to get the outline effect on the Heirloom Pumpkins.

Use a paint brush or cookie stick to reach edges and use the tip of a toothpick to pop any air bubbles.

Let dry for 5-6 hours or overnight. This is essential so the icing does not stick together when you stack them or place in cookie tins or gift bags.

If you are baking and it is humid, allow more time for the cookies to dry.

For the Brown Sugar and Spice Cut-Out Cookies visit Bake at 350:
http://www.bakeat350.net/2009/11/brown-sugar-and-spice-cut-out-cookies.html

For the Royal Icing Recipe and Video Tutorial, visit Joy of Baking:
http://www.joyofbaking.com/RoyalIcing.html

Enjoy!

-Sophia/Two Frys

Autumn Leaves Cookies

Autumn Leaves Cookies

Autumn Leaves Cookies

Leaves with feathering technique

If you saw my previous post, Apple Cider Sugar Cookies you read I made various leaf cookies with the apple shaped cookies. I love Fall and leaves of all shapes, sizes and colors are all around this time of year. To honor the beauty of the season, I made Autumn Leaves Cookies. See the link above for the recipe ingredients and directions.

Autumn Leaves Cookies

The colors used for the Royal Icing are AmeriColor Soft Gel Paste Food Color in Super Red, Golden Yellow, Orange, and Chocolate Brown.

Autumn Leaves Cookies

Use 1-2 drops at a time until you reach the color desired.

Pretty leaves

I used Sanding Sugars in Yellow, Orange, Red, and Brown.

I made the center tree with autumn leaves as dots in various colors

To make the Maroon color, I used Super Red and Chocolate Brown.

Leaves and Tree with Leaves Cookies

I used the feathering technique to make some of the cookies. I first did a border around the cookie and waited 1/2 hour and filled completely in three different colors until filled. Use Wilton Scribe tool or toothpick and gently drag across the wet icing to make a pretty design.

Tree and Various Leaf Cutters

-Enjoy!

Sophia/Two Frys

Apple Cider Sugar Cookies

Apple Cider Sugar Cookies

Apple Cider Sugar Cookies

I came across a recipe for Spiced Apple Cut-Out Cookies from the blog, Semi Sweet Designs (link below) and really wanted to give it a try. I recently bought Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Mix and purchased Apple Butter to complete the ingredients for this recipe. The only ingredient I added was a little salt. I feel salt is essential to offset the sweet taste of sugar cookies in general, and bring out the flavor. I made the cookies using an apple and various leaf cutters (see here). The results were great! The cookies are soft and chewy, and have a warm Apple Cider flavor. These cookies are the perfect balance of sweet and tangy all in one cookie. It goes splendidly with a cup of coffee or your favorite tea. I really recommend you try it. See recipe and directions below.

Apple Cider Sugar Cookies

Yield: 2 Dozen Cookies (Depending on cutter size)

Ingredients
3 cups King Arthur All Purpose Flour

½ tsp Baking Powder

3 packets Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Mix

1 teaspoon Coarse Salt

½ cup Light Brown Sugar

½ cup Granulated sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) Unsalted Butter, softened and cut into 8 pieces

1 Large Egg

1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

2 tablespoons Apple Butter

2 essential ingredients Alpine Spiced Apple Cider and Apple Butter

Directions
Whisk together flour and salt; set aside.

Cream butter and sugars in a hand held mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment on low; 1-2 minutes. Do not overmix.

Scrape sides of bowl with spatula and mix for 10 seconds.

Add egg, vanilla extract, baking powder, apple cider packets, and apple butter and mix until incorporated; about 1 minute.

Scrape sides of bowl and mix for 5 seconds.

With mixer on low speed, slowly add flour mixture and incorporate.

The dough is ready when it begins to clump around paddle attachment.

Cut in half and roll dough into 2 balls, cover with plastic wrap and chill in fridge for 1-3 hours or overnight. I chilled my dough for 2 hours.

Heat oven to 375°F.

Use two sheets of parchment paper with dough in between and roll with rolling pin until desired thickness is reached.

Cut out shapes.

Apple Cider Sugar Cookies just taken out of the oven

Place onto cookies sheets lined with parchment paper, and put in freezer for 20 minutes. The cookies hold their shape when you do this.

Bake 7-12 minutes or until the edges have slightly browned. My cookies baked in 11 minutes. Oven temps vary so check the cookies at the 7 minute mark.

Make sure cookie sheets cool in between baking. I place them in the freezer for a few minutes and then place cut-out dough on cold cookie sheets lined with parchment paper, and put in freezer for 20 minutes. This is important. Do not use hot cookie sheets or the cookies will spread and lose their shape.

Wait 2-3 minutes before transferring cookies with cookie spatula to cooling racks to complete cooling; about 1 hour.

Decorate once the cookies are cool to the touch.

I used Red, Green and Brown sanding sugars on half of the apple cookies for variation.

Royal Icing
Ingredients
4 Egg Whites

4 teaspoons Lemon Juice, freshly squeezed

6 cups Powdered/Confectioners' Sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon Clear Vanilla Extract

1-3 teaspoons Water

Apple cutter and an Apple cookie

Directions
In a large bowl, sift powdered sugar, set aside.

In a bowl, add egg whites.

In a bowl, whisk together the egg whites and lemon juice.

Transfer to stand or hand held mixer with paddle attachment and mix on high for 1-2 minutes.
Add vanilla extract and mix for 5-10 seconds.

With mixer speed on low, slowly add sifted sugar and beat on low until smooth.

If needed, you may add 1 teaspoon of water at a time until you reach the right consistency. I used a flood icing consistency for this recipe.

Watch the Joy of Baking (link at the end) video for both Flooding Consistency and Piping Consistency Royal Icing. If you prefer a recipe using Meringue Powder, it is also available at this link.

Separate the icing in plastic containers with lids.

I use AmeriColor Soft Gel Paste Food Color Super Red, Green, and Chocolate Brown. Use 1-2 drops at a time until you reach the color desired.

Keep the containers covered until you are ready to color.

Transfer the icing immediately into squeeze bottles.

If the royal icing hardens due to exposure to air, use a spray bottle and spitz a little bit of water, and shake well holding the tip with your finger.

Test the icing consistency on a paper towel before decorating the cookie. Be careful doing this since you do not want to make the icing to end up watery and break up.

Outline and then fill each one by sections. I did the apple body first and then waited 1/2 hour and did the leaf and then the stem.

Use a cookie stick or paintbrush to reach the edges, and use tip of cookie stick or a toothpick to pop any air bubbles in the icing.

Let cookies dry overnight. This is essential so the icing does not stick together when you stack them or place in cookie tins or gift bags.

If you are baking and it is humid, allow more time for the cookies to dry.

For the Spiced Apple Cut-Out Cookies visit Semi Sweet Designs:
https://semisweetdesigns.com/2017/07/11/spiced-apple-cut-cookies/

For the Royal Icing Recipe and Video Tutorial, visit Joy of Baking:
http://www.joyofbaking.com/RoyalIcing.html

-Enjoy!

Sophia/Two Frys

Dark Chocolate Brownies with Pumpkin Spice Chips

Dark Chocolate Brownies with Pumpkin Spice Chips

Dark Chocolate Brownies with Pumpkin Spice Chips

Yummy corner piece

I love this brownies recipe from I Am Baker (link below). I changed it up this time by using Dark Cocoa Powder and to go with the Fall season, added Nestle Toll House Pumpkin Spice Flavored Morsels. I doubled this recipe since I used a square 9 x 2 pan. The brownies are moist, dense and have a rich chocolate flavor profile. They are decadent so give this recipe a try. See below.

Nestle Toll House Pumpkin Spice Flavored Morsels and my baking pan

Brownie batter in pan; ready to bake!

Ingredients
1 cup Granulated Sugar

1/3 cup Unsweetened Dark Cocoa Powder

1/2 cup King Arthur All Purpose Flour

1/4 teaspoon Coarse Salt

1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder

1 cup Nestle Toll House Pumpkin Spice Flavored Morsels

2 Large Eggs

1/2 cup, 1 stick Butter, melted and cooled

1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

Decadent, brownie perfection!

Directions
Heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, dark cocoa powder, flour, salt and baking powder; set aside.

In a small pan on low heat, melt the butter. Remove from heat and cool for about 15 minutes.

In a medium bowl, beat eggs and vanilla extract.

I love these brownies

Pour egg mixture into dark cocoa powder mixture and stir with spatula.

Pour in melted butter into brownie mixture and incorporate with spatula until combined.

Using a spatula gently fold in the pumpkin spice chips.

Butter (or use Baking Spray, I use Wilton Bake Easy Non-Stick Spray) a 8-inch square baking pan (or 9 x 2-inch if you want to double the recipe) and spread batter evenly using offset spatula or knife.

Cut the brownies in smaller pieces if you have more peeps to share them with

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

If you double the recipe, you will need 5-7 minutes more of baking time.

Let brownies rest on cooling rack for about 1 hour.

For the Homemade Brownie Mix recipe, visit I Am Baker:
http://iambaker.net/homemade-brownie-mix/

-Enjoy!

Sophia/Two Frys

Pumpkin Pie Spice

Pumpkin Pie Spice

Cinnamon, Ginger, Nutmeg, Allspice, Cloves

You do not need to buy Pumpkin Pie Spice when you can make your own. If you bake a lot like I do, you most likely have all the spices that make up Pumpkin Pie Spice: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. I love the aroma from all of these spices and how fantastic they taste in baked goods. This recipe fills up a standard size spice jar as shown in my photo. If you need more just double the recipe. Happy Fall Baking! See the recipe below.

Here is the Pumpkin Spice ready to transfer to my spice jar

Ingredients
1/3 cup Ground Cinnamon

1 tablespoon Ground Ginger

1 tablespoon Ground Nutmeg

1 1/2 teaspoons Ground Allspice

1 1/2 teaspoons Ground Cloves

Yay, Pumpkin Spice ready for lots of yummy baking this season!

Directions
In a medium size bowl, measure all the spices and with a spatula combine until well incorporated.

Transfer to a spice jar.

-Enjoy!

Sophia/Two Frys

Chile Pepper Festival

Chile Pepper Festival 2017
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Sunday, October 1, 2017

This year, the 25th Annual Chile Pepper Festival at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden was on a day with perfect outdoor event weather. It was nice and sunny with mostly clear skies. This is one of our favorite annual events and always a fun one to cover, and our fourth time doing so. We always find great products, meet new people and have good times at the Chile Pepper Festival.

Crowd of people at the Chile Pepper Festival

We made the trek out to Brooklyn for the festival. The event was as always a wonderful one set amongst the beautiful Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The music featured a great mix of World Music including Mariachi, Indian Bhangra, Brazilian, Cajun, and Afro-Cuban. The bands performed throughout the day on the big stage.

Stage for band performances

The festival layout was well done in the Cherry Blossom Esplanade in a kind of rectangular shape and did not curve around the fountain end of the esplanade like last year. This worked out real well with the Sahadi's Souk tent at the end of the booths. The booths were all busy with many visitors doing tastings and buying products from the vendors. There was a balanced mix of vendors in several Chile related categories such as Hot Sauce, Chile-Chocolates, Condiments, Pickles & Such, and Hi-Scoville Spicy Sweets. 

Allen

Sophia

We missed seeing some vendors not there this year, and hope they return in future festivals. We made new connections and tried some wonderful "new to us" products. We purchased some items for our pantry for future cooking and reviewing on the blog, and came home with a few bags of goodies. Things we purchased were hot sauces, BBQ sauce, spicy chocolates, cookies, and a baseball cap from Kitchen Garden Farm Sriracha.

Cool selection of books at the Community Bookstore

Vendors had an impressive amount of locally made products. Many of the vendors this year are local to the NYC area, NJ, Pennsylvania, and a few other east coast areas. Allen enjoyed seeing and tasting products from several of the newer local companies. Allen sampled hot sauces, salsas, spreads, and various spicy condiments. Sophia bought spicy chocolates, and enjoyed a decadent brownie from The Chocolate Room. By mid-day, the booths were very busy and a few had long lines but they went fast.

Allen

This is a really great place to have an event and there is seating via benches in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden grounds when you need to take a rest and then continue on tasting and shopping. Several of the vendors were also selling fresh picked Chile Peppers. We saw a lot of people purchasing fresh peppers from mild to super hot like Ghost and Scorpion Peppers to make sauces perhaps or to spice up their homemade dishes. All the vendors (as always) were very friendly and had a good time explaining their product profiles and heat level to the patrons. It was great to see about 6 or 7 hot sauce companies that were new to the festival vending. Here are the vendors we visited and photographed.

Stuff Sophia bought

Hot Sauce Sorcery

Spicy Samples Feel the Burn!

Black Irish Hot Sauce
Black Irish Hot Sauce had a great booth featuring their line of flask bottled hot sauces. Black Irish were sampling their main sauces Jalapeño Hot Sauce with Tequila Flavors, Habanero Sauce with Spiced Rum, and Black Irish Red Sauce with Irish Whiskey flavors. All the sauces taste great and feature impressive flavor profiles. Black Irish Hot Sauce offer quality based sauces that can accompany different kinds of meats, seafood, veggies, or used as a condiment.

Black Irish Hot Sauce

Black Irish Hot Sauce

The Bronx Hot Sauce

The Bronx Hot Sauce from our home borough had a great booth set up and were sampling and selling their signature The Bronx Greenmarket Hot Sauce - Green (and also in Red) and the newer, Queens 7 Greenmarket Hot Sauce. The peppers used in the sauces are grown in several Bronx Community gardens.

The Bronx Hot Sauce Queens version

The Bronx  Hot Sauce

Hell's Kitchen Hot Sauce

Hell's Kitchen had a huge lineup this year. We purchased a bottle of the Cinnamon Ghost Punch, and BBQ Sauce, and got a bottle of their Pepper Pastry Sauce made with fresh blueberries, maple syrup and fiery super hot chile peppers. Hell's Kitchen is based in NYC in the West Side of Manhattan and run by Chef Ron Menin. Ron's 6 hot sauces are recommended, versatile, unique and tasty.

Hell's Kitchen Hot Sauce

Hell's Kitchen Hot Sauce

Karma Sauce

Karma Sauce had a very impressive lineup of various and diverse hot sauces and condiments. All Karma Sauces are made with fresh Chile peppers and the flavors reflect that. Karma Sauce has a farm and grows most of their produce for the sauces, especially hot peppers. Most of the healthy ingredients are sourced from within 50 miles of their operation. Karma Sauces are made by hand in the Finger Lake region of New York.

Karma Sauce

Karma Sauce

Karma Sauce

Kitchen Garden Farm Sriracha

It was our first time sampling the goods from Kitchen Garden Farm. The 3 Sriracha sauces were really good, hot, and flavorful. Allen was impressed and purchased both a bottle of the Sriracha in a squeeze bottle, and a baseball cap with the company logo. Very fresh and homegrown farm peppers are used in the making of their products. The products are Certified Organic, farmer made and have no preservatives. These handcrafted products are made in Sunderland, MA. They also make two fire roasted salsas. Great stuff!

Kitchen Garden Farm

Kitchen Garden Farm

Kitchen Garden Farm

Pepplish Provisions

I had read about Queens, NY based Pepplish Provisions on Facebook. I was then pleased to read they were a vendor at the Chile Pepper Festival. We went to their booth and were approached by the proprietor Tim Fraczak. Tim was conversing with the hot sauce tasters at his booth. He explained to Allen the flavor profiles of the 3 available sauces. Pepplish Provisions trio of hot sauces will be reviewed in the near future. The sauces sampled had a very good combination of both flavor and heat. The sauces are Blueberry Basil Shallot, Peach Agave Garlic, and Apple Cilantro Lime.

Pepplish Provisions

Pepplish Provisions

Queen Majesty Hot Sauce

Queen Majesty's booth was setup with their impressive sauces: Queen Majesty Jalapeño Tequila & Lime Hot Sauce, Queen Majesty Scotch Bonnet & Ginger Hot Sauce, and Queen Majesty Red Habanero & Black Coffee Hot Sauce. They were busy doing tastings and selling their sauces all of which we have purchased and cooked with. We are fans of the quality products they make. Erica AKA Queen Majesty handcrafts her sauces, and they are all natural, 100% vegan, gluten free, do not have sugar or unnatural preservatives.

Queen Majesty Hot Sauce

Queen Majesty Hot Sauce

Shaquandas's Hot Pepper Sauce

Shaquanda's had a well decorated booth showcasing the Hot Pepper Sauce they make. Allen did a tasting and found the sauce very flavorful with just the right amount of heat. The sauce uses fresh Scotch Bonnet Peppers, horseradish, ginger, and onions. Shaquanda's is based in Brooklyn, NY and offer a great tasting local sauce to use both in your cooking and a dipping/condiment sauce.

Shaquanda's Hot Pepper Sauce

Shaquanda's Hot Pepper Sauce

Silly Chilly Hot Sauce

Based in NJ and founded and operated by Sufia H, Silly Chilly Hot Sauces are made from peppers locally sourced in NY and NJ. Silly Chilly had their sauces available for tasting and buying. Silly Chilly offer 3 sauces: Serrano and Chipotle, Fresh Mango and Sweet Peppers, and Super Duper Hot Habanero. They also make a tangy condiment called Mango Achar. It was great seeing another local sauce company at this festival.

Silly Chilly Hot Sauce

Silly Chilly Hot Sauce

Silly Chilly Hot Sauce

Torchbearer Sauces

PA based Torchbearer Sauces had a huge booth with all their hot sauces and condiments. We are fans of their products and some of our faves are the "Oh My Garlic" Sauce and the Extra Extra Hot "Zombie Apocalypse" Hot Sauce. Torchbearer are a regular vendor at the Chile Pepper Festival and it was great seeing them again. In addition to the Hot Sauces, be sure to try Torchbearer BBQ Sauces. Torchbearer Sauces are made from a great crew of folks.

Torchbearer Sauces

Torchbearer Sauces

Torchbearer Sauces

Here are some other vendors we checked out and enjoyed tastings from:

Alex's Ugly Hot Sauce

Bacchanal Sauce

Redhead Hot Sauce

Combustible Condiments

Combustible Condiments

Brooklyn Delhi

Brooklyn Delhi offer Indian condiments and are best known for Achaar (pronounced ah-char; 'pickled' in Hindi) in a variety of flavors. Achaar is made from vegetables & fruits, aromatic spices and chili peppers and is diverse to compliment many of your favorite dishes.

Brooklyn Delhi

Brooklyn Delhi

City Saucery

Brooklyn based City Saucery offer products that are handcrafted in small batches. Their All-Purpose Tomato Sauce comes in three flavors: Spicy Nonna's Calabrian, Vegan Nonna's Amatriciana, and Nonnna's Leafy Greens. City Saucery have a nice selection of Preserved Tomatoes and offer a Meatless Salami Spread Tomato 'nduja made with Habanero peppers.

City Saucery

City Saucery

Jacky's Jams & Jellies

Based in New Jersey, Jacky's Jams & Jellies offer a large variety of pepper jams and jellies that are available in all heat levels from mild to spicy.

Jacky's Jams & Jellies

Mama Margarita's Salsa

NYC based Mama Margarita's was sharing plates of chips with the 3 different salsas they make. They are some of the best salsas I have had at the festival both this year and last. They made a good impression on me. The salsas are authentic Mexican, taste very fresh, and are packed with flavor. They are great for topping foods as well as dipping into tortilla chips and are highly recommended.

Mama Margarita's Salsa

Mama Margarita's Salsa

NY Chup

Bronx based NY Chup offers one of my favorite condiments. I was thrilled when I saw NY Chup at the Chile Pepper Festival. NY Chup is a small batch company and offer the following kinds of ketchup: Bacon, Cilantro Lime, Spicy Habanero, and Bronx Masala. Get some!

NY Chup

NY Chup

NY Chup

Pierre's Spicy Peanut Butter

Pierre's make different flavors of spicy peanut butter that are palate pleasers. Pierre's also offer almond butter and the peanut butters feature a great blend of flavor and heat. Their products are recommended and it was great meeting Pierre himself and do a tasting.

Pierre's Spicy Peanut Butter

Vital Eats

Vital Eats from Saratoga Springs, NY had a nice selection of sauces, dips, and ketchups at their booth. It was great to meet them and this was their first time at the Chile Pepper Festival. We will be cooking with the Green Sriracha Verde they make called Zombie Blood, and Big Hot Apple/Habanero Apple Hot Sauce. These are healthy sauces and are low sodium, vegan, gluten and soy free, and Non GMO.

Vital Eats

Vita Eats

Vital Eats

Chile Chocolate Debauchery

Chocolate Debauchery

The Chocolate Room
Based in Brookyln, The Chocolate Room were selling their Dark Hot Chocolate, The Classic Hot Cocoa and Spiced Hot Chocolate. They were selling brownies and other fine products. I loved the brownie I bought from them. It was so rich, and decadent.

The Chocolate Room

Hernan Mexican Mole

Hernan were offering samples and selling their Hernan Mole Pipian: A Mexican Classic and Hernan Mole Poblano. Their booth was very busy when I stopped by.

Hernan Mexican Mole

Hernan Mexican Mole

JoMart Chocolates

JoMart Chocolates are always a favorite of mine. This year, I bought their Dark Chocolate Bar. JoMart had many chocolate delights for sale: various chocolate bars, Allstars - pure chocolate stars in different flavors. Many other chocolate themed desserts were available.

JoMart Chocolates

JoMart Chocolates

Laurie & Sons

I am a big fan of Laurie & Sons. This year, I purchased their Pepper cookie sandwiches with a spicy chocolate ganache in the center. The cookies came in a pretty box and the spice was just right. Based in East Harlem, Laurie & Sons are known for their toffee products which come in a variety of flavors.

Laurie & Sons

Laurie & Sons

Laurie & Sons

Little Bird Chocolates

Long Island confectioner Little Bird Chocolates offer some really great products. They have Fire Bites Candied Jalapenos covered in Dark Chocolate, Milk Chocolate and White Chocolate, Hot & Sweet Nuts, and Fire Powder - finely ground candied Jalapenos.

Little Bird Chocolates

Little Bird Chocolates

Raaka Chocolate

Raaka make their chocolate in Red Hook, Brooklyn and offer a diverse line of chocolate products. I bought 3 Raaka Chocolate Bars: Coconut Milk from the Dominican Republic, Hibiscus Cinnamon, and Green Tea Crunch and I loved them all!

Raaka Chocolate

Whimsy & Spice

Founded in Brooklyn, Whimsy & Spice offer cookies, biscotti, marshmallows, brownies, and hot chocolate mixes in Earl Grey, Spice Chile and Classic. Whimsy & Spice combine spice with sweet in their products and I am a big fan of this company. I bought Honey Lavender Shortbread Cookies, and Coconut Five Spice White Chocolate Cookies. Both kinds of cookies had a balanced flavor profile and were delectable.

Whimsy & Spice

Whimsy & Spice

Whimsy & Spice

Hi-Scoville Sweets

Hi-Scoville Sweets

Bushwick Kitchen
Bushwick Kitchen offer honey, maple syrup and sriracha. Bees Knees Honey is available in Spicy, Meyer Lemon, and Salted. Three Knees Maple in available in Spicy, Gingerbread, and Coffee and Weak Knees Gochujang Sriracha is sure to satisfy your spicy taste buds.

Bushwick Kitchen

Bushwick Kitchen

Mike's Hot Honey

Brooklyn's own Mike's Hot Honey is a Chile pepper based infused honey which is versatile for savory and sweet food and desserts. Mike's Hot Honey is available in 3 sizes: a mini jar, 12 oz. bottle and 24 oz. chef's bottle.

Mike's Hot Honey

There were several ice cream companies to satisfy ice cream aficionados: Culture: An American Yogurt Company, La Newyorkina who also had Mexican brownies and ice cream toppings for sale, and Oddfellow's Ice Cream Co.

Culture: An American Yogurt Company

La Newyorkina Mexican Brownies

Oddfellow's Ice Cream Co.

Piquant Pickles & Such

Piquant Pickles & Such

Rick's Picks
Rick's Picks offer a great selection of pickles and other goodies. Rick's pickle line is offered in tangy, sour, spicy and smoky: The People's Pickle, Classic Sours, Hotties, Smokra. Rick's Mean Beans (Green Beans), Rick's Pha Beets, Rick's Handy Corn, and Rick's With Relish.

Rick's Picks

Zia Green Chile Company

Zia Green Chile Company did a demo on roasting chiles and it was fun to watch. Zia's Hatch Chiles are manufactured in New Mexico. The product line offered is Hatch Red Chile Sweet & Mild, Hatch Green Chile Medium and Hot, and Hatch Chile Pasta with Sfoglini.

Zia Green Chile Company

Zia Green Chile Company, doing a demonstration

Zia Green Chile Company

Zia Green Chile Company

For Horseradish lovers, there were a number of selections by Holy Schmitt's Homemade Horseradish. Kimchi fans got their fix with Mama O's Premium Kimchi and Mother In Law's Kimchi.

Holy Schmitt's Homemade Horseradish

7 Hot Flavors available for Holy Schmitt's Homemade Horseradish

Mama O's Premium Kimchi

Mama O's Premium Kimchi

Mother In Law's Kimchi

Mother In Law's Kimchi

North Brooklyn Farms had several vegetables and peppers for sale as well as lovely tote bags.

North Brooklyn Farms

Brooklyn based Sahadi's Souk had the same large tent area as last year offering a fine selection of spices, spicy candy, nuts, spreads, granola, and other snacks.

Sahadi's Souk

Sahadi's Souk

Sahadi's Souk

Sahadi's Souk

Allen at Sahadi's Souk

Here are other vendors we checked out:

Calcutta Kitchens

Calcutta Kitchens

Nafi's Sauce

-Allen and Sophia/Two Frys