Deep fried, tempura breaded jalapeno spears are lovingly referred to as Texas toothpicks. Though they may not clean between your teeth, they will certainly burn through your sinuses and leave you coming back for more.

Traditionally done savory style, I decided to mix some sweet flavors into the breading and dipping sauce for one amazing sweet-hot combination. Some were skeptical of dipping a breaded jalapeno in something Nutella flavored, but let me tell you their minds soon changed- I ran out of the sweet styled ones faster than the savory ones! Give this recipe a try and let me know what other flavor combinations work for you.

Step 1: What You'll Need

In addition to ~1 lb of jalapenos and a quantity of oil for frying, you'll need the following ingredients for a sweet or savory batter- feel free to adjust the spices to your liking, these are only guidelines that worked for me.

Tempura Batter Base:

1 cup flour
2 eggs
1 cup cold beer or seltzer

Savory Batter:

Teaspoon chili powder
Teaspoon salt
Teaspoon black pepper
Teaspoon garlic powder

Sweet Batter:

Teaspoon vanilla extract
Teaspoon sugar
Teaspoon cocoa powder
Ground cinnamon, nutmeg, or cardamom (as desired)

Dip (Savory or Sweet)

Sour cream
Chopped cilantro or Nutella

Step 2: Prepare the Jalapenos

Choose your Jalapenos wisely- the more striations they have and the redder they are, the spicier they will be. If you wear contacts, I highly suggest a pair of exam gloves or something similar for this! You do NOT want to touch your eyes or any sensitive areas with jalapeno juice covered fingers.

Wash and dry thoroughly
Cut off stems
Remove seeds and membranes
Julianne (slice into small skewers lengthwise)

Step 3: Prepare the Batter- Sweet or Savory

Prepare the batter mixture first without the beer or seltzer. Combine 1 cup flour with two eggs and the assorted spices you are using for either a sweet or savory breading- take some room to be creative here, what I have below is just what worked for me. When all the ingredients are combined, slowly add the seltzer/beer and mix thoroughly but slowly. Make sure not to mix it so much that you get all the carbonation out of the batter. The key to a fluffy batter is keeping some of that carbonation- you should see bubbles in your batter if you did it right. If not, don't worry about it, it won't ruin your batter.

Tempura Batter Base:

1 cup flour
2 eggs
1 cup cold beer or seltzer

Savory Batter:

Teaspoon chili powder
Teaspoon salt
Teaspoon black pepper
Teaspoon garlic powder

Sweet Batter:

Teaspoon vanilla extract
Teaspoon sugar
Teaspoon cocoa powder
Ground cinnamon, nutmeg, or cardamom (as desired)

Step 4: Frying Time

Time to fry these spears up!

Pre-heat your oil to ~365 degrees F
Batter your jalapeno spears and place them in your oil (avoid splashing!)
Fry them in small batches to avoid cooling the oil too much
Remove when golden grown
Let cool and drain on paper towel or drying rack

Try to remove any bits of batter that come off of the spears from your oil to avoid burning and smoking.

Step 5: Prepare the Dip- Sweet or Savory

Although these Texas toothpicks are delicious on their own, they're the perfect vehicles for dip! These are the two dips I tried, feel free to go with any combination that would work well with sweet and savory. Bear in mind the higher the fat content of your dip base (sour cream, yoghurt, etc.) the more it'll cool down the jalapeno burn. The ratio I used between sour cream and Nutella or cilantro was 3:1 tablespoons. Note that the Nutella seizes up a bit when it comes it contact with the sour cream due to temperature differences. It'll take some mixing in order to integrate the two if they are not the same temperature.

Dip (Sweet or Savory)