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Mole Rubbed Flat Ion Steaks have a rich mole flavor in a quick and easy rub. It’s rich with cacao nibs combined with other steak rub spices.

They say necessity is the mother of invention, right?  Well, it’s not like I INVENTED this, but I had to come up with something.  You see, I took for granted that I’d have enough cocoa powder to make these FAIL cupcakes AND the mole rub.  Yeah, I didn’t.  SO, I had to make something up.

I didn’t think it would be any good trying to use bar chocolate and I just couldn’t imagine this with cocoa mix.  I was trying to figure out what I had that I could use because my lazy arse didn’t want to go to the store for cocoa powder.  However, I WILL have to hit the store for ice sometime this week.  That didn’t make it on the list…

Cacao nibs!  Huh?  

You haven’t heard of these little gems?  They’re all the rage!  All the cool chefs are using them.  *snort*

Roasted bits of cacao beans are called cacao nib.  The beans are made into chocolate by roasting and then grinding into a paste where additional cacao butter, milk, sugar, etc is added.  So this is like raw chocolate.  You see where I’m going with this?  Cacao?  Cocoa powder?  Cacao powder?  Mole?

 Do I need to spell it out?  

I ground 2 tablespoons of these little gems and added them to my mole rub for these Mole Rubbed Flat Iron Steaks.  Not quite the chocolate flavor I was thinking, but man oh man was it goooooood!  S said there was too much chili in it.  Maybe…for a mole. But I thought it was good.  Really good.

I ground smoked paprika, sweet paprika, chipotle powder, chili powder, cumin seeds, oregano, cacao nibs, and granulated garlic in my spice grinder.  O M G it smelled AMAZING!  I was thinking, “Is it dinner time?  Cause I just want to eat this.”

Remember those flat-iron steaks S got at WalMart?  Well, I thought Mole Rubbed Flat Iron Steaks would be a perfect use for those little gems.  For those that don’t know, flat-iron steaks are cut from the shoulder.  I never had one nor cooked with one before, but I was treating it like I would a London broil; either flash fry or slow braise.  We flash fried these little gems.  They were tasty and juicy!

Let’s make Mole Rubbed Flat Iron Steaks!

I coated each side with mole rub.  As you can see, they don’t have that dark color that a mole would.  The cacao nibs that I ground didn’t either.  They were a dark red color, just like this.

I love dry rubs, but they always seem to make a mess….of my hands.

Wear gloves?  NO!  Then I’d have nothing to complain about and not evidence of my hard work.  LOL  S heated a pan on high and added some canola oil, about 1-1 1/2 tablespoonfuls so they wouldn’t stick to our stainless steel pans.  If you have non-stick, then you can probably get away with just a spritz or two of cooking spray.

Cook on one side for about 3-4 minutes, then flip and cook 3-4 minutes more or until desired doneness.

S cooked them.  Since they were room temperature, they didn’t take long to cook, but he says they could have cooked a little longer.  I think they were medium rare.  *shrugs*