This article is part of a series of ChatGPT experiments, in which I give ChatGPT a prompt, share its response, and offer some reflections.

Prompt

Write a cookie recipe that uses szechuan green peppercorns and has mala tingly spicy heat.

Prompt Notes

Obviously "Szechuan" should be capitalized since it is a proper noun, but I used my phone to submit this prompt and let the capitalization slide. I've kept the prompt in its original format for science. ChatGPT understood the word and always capitalized it.

Also, it looks like the preferred spelling of "Szechuan" is technically "Sichuan", but I used the first spelling that came to mind and ChatGPT went with it. I'll be using the "Szechuan" spelling for the rest of this article for consistency.

Response

Here is a recipe for Szechuan Green Peppercorn Cookies with Mala Tingly Spicy Heat:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Szechuan green peppercorns, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon dried chili flakes
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, Szechuan green peppercorns, and dried chili flakes.
3. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until well combined.
4. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until just combined.
5. Using a cookie scoop or spoon, drop the dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheet.
6. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden.
7. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

These cookies will have a spicy, tingly heat from the Szechuan green peppercorns and chili flakes. Enjoy!

Reflections

This was impressive.

I'm a huge fan of the tingly sensation that Szechuan peppercorns give you. I also enjoy the classic combination of Szechuan peppercorns and chili peppers, which is known as "Mala". I wanted to see if ChatGPT would know to include chili pepper as an ingredient if I never used the word "chili" in the prompt.

I was pleasantly surprised to see ChatGPT churn out a fully formatted recipe that would ostensibly create actual cookies (I haven't tested it yet myself). I was even more pleased to see that dried chili flakes made their way into the recipe without me ever mentioning chili peppers.

ChatGPT even knew that the peppercorns would have to be crushed to be used in a cookie recipe!

I Googled for similar recipes after running this prompt, and as I suspected, there isn't a popular cookie recipe with these ingredients. ChatGPT didn't copy someone else's work - it combined an awareness of the mala spice combination with an awareness of cookie composition to generate this unique original recipe.

I'm looking forward to trying these sometime!