Tag Archives: chocolate

December 3, 2010 · 7:40 am

Twelve (More) Days of Christmas Cookies: Chocolate Revel Bars

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DAY 8: This bar cookie has been a long time favorite at our house. The recipe is from a Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook that I received as a wedding gift more than 20 years ago.

A layer of rich chocolate fudge sandwiched between oat-filled cookie layers: what more could you ask for in a cookie bar?

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RECIPE:

Chocolate Revel Bars

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1 cup butter
2 ½ cups flour (white or whole wheat)
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
4 tsp vanilla, divided
1 tsp baking soda
3 cups rolled oats
1 ½ cups chocolate chips
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
2 Tbs butter
½ cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Beat 1 cup butter with mixer for 30 seconds. Add 1 ½ cups of the flour, the brown sugar, eggs, 2 tsp vanilla, and baking soda. Mix thoroughly. Beat in remaining 1 cup flour. Stir in oats.

In a saucepan, combine chocolate, sweetened condensed milk, and 2 Tbs butter. Cook over low until chocolate melts. Remove from heat. Stir in walnuts and 2 tsp vanilla.

Press 2/3 of the oat mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 15x10x1” baking pan. Spread chocolate mixture over oat mixture. Using your fingers, dot remaining oat mixture over chocolate.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until top is lightly browned (chocolate layer will still look underdone). Cool completely before cutting into 2-inch squares.

Makes about 3 dozen bars (2” square).

Recipe from Better Homes and Garden Cookbook

NoEmptyChairs.me

TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS COOKIES (2010) RECAP:
DAY 1: Raspberry Crumb Bars
DAY 2: Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
DAY 3: Chocolate Nutella Cookies
DAY 4: Glazed Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies
DAY 5: Almond Macaroon Brownies
DAY 6: Trail Mix Cookies
DAY 7: Cream Cheese Cut-Out Cookies

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November 27, 2010 · 4:11 pm

Twelve (More) Days of Christmas Cookies: Chocolate Nutella Cookies

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DAY 3: Chewy, chocolatey, nutty goodness. I didn’t have hazelnuts, so I substituted chopped almonds. They were really good, but next time I will try using hazelnuts so that the Nutella flavor comes through stronger.

101510 036-3 Love Nutella? Try this Pumpkin Nutella Bread Recipe!

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RECIPE:

Chocolate Nutella Cookies

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¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup of brown sugar
¾ cup of white sugar
1 cup of Nutella
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups, plus 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
¼ cup of unsweetened cocoa
2 Tbs cornstarch
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 cup of chocolate chips
1 cup of chopped hazelnuts or almonds

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Cream butter in an electric mixer for 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the sugars and Nutella and mix well, scraping down the sides of the bowl to ensure even mixing. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for 30 seconds between each. Add the vanilla and mix for 10 seconds.

Sift together the flour, cocoa, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda (do not skip this step as sifting eliminates clumps of cocoa). Mix into the butter mixture on low speed until fully incorporated, scraping down the bottom and sides at least once to ensure even mixing. Fold in the chocolate chips and nuts and refrigerate the dough for ten minutes.

Spoon tablespoon-sized drops of dough onto parchment paper lined cookie sheets. Bake at 350°F for 9-12 minutes (do not over bake; cookies will look slightly underdone). Allow to cool on the sheets for a minute or two before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Makes 5-6 dozen cookies.

 

Recipe from Simply Recipes

NoEmptyChairs.me

TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS COOKIES (2010) RECAP:
DAY 1: Raspberry Crumb Bars
DAY 2: Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

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May 27, 2010 · 10:22 am

Turning Teen and Three Chocolate & Peanut Butter Creations

DSC06459-1 Last week was my Middle K’s 13th birthday! While she is technically the “middle child”, she is in the unique position to play, as it suits her, the role of oldest, middle or youngest child.

In terms of birth order, you can’t get much more middle than our Middle K. The third of five children, with both a younger and older brother, and a younger and older sister.  But as there is a five-year age gap between Middle K and Little A, she spent a fair amount of time as the “baby” of the family. This age gap often divides our family when it comes to activities: the “big kids” and the “little kids” (think amusement parks here).  So in these settings, she fills that youngest child role. But at home, she has really stepped into the “oldest child” role with respect to the little ones. She is the one they come to when they want to play, and she is often the one to help them and put them to bed when Brian and I are out.

I guess it is in her adaptability that her strength as a middle child really shines. What a blessing to our family.

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If only she would look at a camera willingly!

Middle K loves to cook, as long as it is something sweet, and she has been on a real chocolate and peanut butter kick lately. Here are some of her most recent endeavors:

Peanutty Buckeye Bars

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Peanut Butter Heart Kisses

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These Hershey’s Bliss chocolates make a great alternative to traditional Kisses.

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Some of the peanut butter cookies were left “heartless”, for our chocolate-adverse Little A.

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Buckeyes

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RECIPES:

Peanutty Buckeye Bars

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1 (19.5-oz) package brownie mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup oil
1 cup chopped peanuts
1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
½ cup creamy peanut butter

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9×13” baking pan.

In a large bowl, combine the brownie mix, eggs, and oil. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until combined. Stir in peanuts.

Remove about one-third of the brownie batter and set aside. Spread the remaining two-thirds of the brownie batter evenly into prepared pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together sweetened condensed milk and peanut butter until smooth. Spread evenly over brownie mixture in pan. Separate the remaining brownie mixture into pieces, flatten them with your fingers (you want them to be pretty thin), and lay them on top of the peanut butter layer. Do not completely cover the peanut butter layer.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until top is set and edges are lightly browned. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

Makes 18-24 bars.

From Better Homes and Gardens

NoEmptyChairs.me

Peanut Butter Heart Kisses

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½ cup butter
½ cup coconut oil or additional butter
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
Hershey’s Bliss Chocolate Hearts (or Dove Hearts or other “shaped” chocolate)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Cream butter, coconut oil (if using), peanut butter and sugars. Beat in vanilla and eggs. Add dry ingredients. Roll dough into  balls. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes. Immediately press 1 chocolate heart into each cookie; cool on a wire rack.

NoEmptyChairs.me

Chocolate Peanut Butter Buckeyes

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1 ½ cups creamy peanut butter
½ cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 cups chocolate chips (semi-sweet or bittersweet)
2 Tbs shortening

In a large bowl, mix peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar. (This will be a stiff dough; hands work best for mixing)

Shape dough into balls. (If the dough is too sticky to work with, refrigerate for about 20 minutes before rolling into balls) Place on a waxed paper lined baking sheet or cutting board. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Using a double boiler, melt chocolate and shortening. Alternately, melt chocolate and shortening in the microwave (for 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each time).

Use a toothpick to dip balls into warm, melted chocolate. Leave an “eye” shape at the top by not completely dipping peanut butter ball. Return coated balls to the waxed paper lined pan.

Refrigerate to set.

Makes 3-4 dozen

NoEmptyChairs.me

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April 27, 2010 · 1:16 pm

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bundt Cake

OR: How to Make a Chocolate Cake When All You Have Is a Vanilla Cake Mix

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This is a quick and easy dessert that looks much more complicated than it really is. With only 5 real ingredients (7 if you frost the cake) that I always have on hand, it makes a great last minute dessert.

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This cake actually starts with a vanilla cake mix. You could use a chocolate cake mix for a richer chocolate flavor, but then you would have to make your own peanut butter filling, or use part of a vanilla cake mix for that. I’m all for simplicity, so I transformed my vanilla cake mix into a chocolate one by mixing a chocolate pudding mix into most of the vanilla cake batter. The remaining vanilla batter is mixed with peanut butter for the peanut butter filling layer.

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When filling your bundt pan, start by adding about 1/3 of the chocolate batter to the pan. Spoon the peanut butter batter over the chocolate layer, keeping batter away from the edges of the pan (so it won’t show on the outside of the cake). Spoon remaining chocolate batter over the peanut butter layer.

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You can eat this cake plain, but it is so much better with a simple chocolate glaze (or ganache if you want to sound fancy!). Just a mixture of cream and bittersweet (you could use semi-sweet) chocolate. Lovingly drizzled over the edges of your cake.

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RECIPE:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bundt Cake

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1 box (about 18 oz) yellow or white cake mix
1 cup water
1/3 cup oil
4 eggs
½ cup creamy peanut butter
1 small package (4 servings) chocolate pudding mix
Chocolate Ganache Frosting, optional

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a large mixing bowl, use a mixer to beat together the cake mix, water, oil, and eggs. Remove one cup of batter to a small bowl. Beat peanut butter into reserved one cup of batter. Add the chocolate pudding mix to the large bowl of batter. Beat until well combined.

Grease and flour a 10-12 cup bundt pan (or use non-stick baking spray with flour). Spoon about 1/3 of the chocolate batter into the prepared bundt pan. Spoon peanut butter batter over the chocolate layer, keeping batter away from the edges of the pan. Spoon remaining chocolate batter over the peanut butter layer.

Bake at 350°F for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Invert onto serving plate and cool completely. Top with Chocolate Ganache frosting, if desired.

Yield: 12-16 servings

Chocolate Ganache Frosting

8 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
1 cup heavy cream
Optional flavorings: vanilla, almond, orange, or peppermint extract (amount varies depending on strength of extract)

Place chopped chocolate  in a mixing bowl. In a saucepan, heat cream until it comes to a boil. Pour cream over chocolate in mixing bowl and stir until chocolate is melted and glossy. Stir in flavoring, if using.

For a glaze (this is what I use for the bundt cake):
Cool ganache slightly (until thick enough that it won’t run off of the cake, but warm enough that it will still drizzle). Pour ganache over cake, starting in the center of the cake, allowing it to drip down the sides.

For a cake frosting, or for piping:
The longer you allow the ganache to cool, the thicker it will set. For piping or for a regular cake frosting, allow the ganache to completely cool and set up at room temperature. Mix with a whisk slightly just before frosting the cake.

For a whipped filling or frosting:
For a thicker, fluffy frosting, or filling for a cake, chill the ganache in the refrigerator until slightly cold, then whip with a mixer until light and fluffy.

NoEmptyChairs.me

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February 10, 2010 · 8:18 pm

Dulce de Leche Mini Cheesecakes

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What says “I Love You” more than cheesecake, dulce de leche, chocolate and whipped cream all in one hand-held mini dessert? In my book, dessert doesn’t get much better that this. And these pocket-sized cups of bliss are small enough that it is easy for me to justify that I’m not really cheating on that healthy-eating-plan, right?

Unless of course, you make THIS MANY, which destroys any illusion of willpower:

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This recipe is a loose interpretation of Smitten Kitchen’s Dulce De Leche Cheesecake Squares.

The impetus for trying this recipe came when I found these great free-standing baking cups (technically they are for brioche) from Plastic Container City. I knew that I wanted to make cheesecakes in them, and what better than a dulce de leche flavored cheesecake!

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Rather than a graham cracker crust, I used my favorite cheesecake crust which is a simple combination of finely chopped almonds, vanilla wafer cookies and butter.

DSC04286-1 Place your crust-lined baking cups on a large baking sheet (or use a muffin tin with foil baking cups) and bake for 5 minutes, to toast the almonds.

Cool and pour in the batter. This cheesecake batter is a most delicious combination of cream cheese and dulce de leche, which you can easily make yourself, or purchase premade (look in the Latin section of the ethnic food aisle in the grocery store). But it is really easy to make yourself with just a can of sweetened condensed milk. Check out these tutorials for 6 different ways to make your own Dulce de Leche.

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Bake until center is barely set and allow to cool completely.

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I drizzled a chocolate glaze over the cooled cheesecakes.

DSC04513-1 Not wanting to clean chocolate out of my pastry bag, I used a plastic zip-close bag to do the drizzling. (Either snip one corner of the bag, or poke a bamboo skewer through the inside corner of the bag before filling with chocolate). I do recommend using a quality brand freezer-bag, however, so that the bag will not burst at the seams when you squeeze it, leaving you with one VERY chocolatey cheesecake:

DSC04499-1After cleaning up my chocolate mess and making an additional batch of chocolate glaze:

I then topped each cheesecake with a swirl of whipped cream. The whipped cream is a stable whipped cream from Coleen’s Recipes. It will hold it’s shape for days in the refrigerator and is stiff enough to pipe with a pastry tip (this time I did use my pastry bag). I would have liked to have used a larger tip, but I don’t own one (yet!). The cream cheese in the whipped cream topping was a perfect complement to the cheesecake. Coleen’s blog has some great family friendly recipes, and I have gotten many practical tips from her!

DSC04528-1 A final drizzle with the chocolate glaze and they are ready for a few hours of chilling in the fridge-if you can wait that long!

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RECIPE:

Dulce de Leche Mini Cheesecakes

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INGREDIENTS:
Crust:
½ cup crushed vanilla wafers or shortbread cookies**
½ cup finely chopped whole almonds**
2 Tbs melted butter
1/8 tsp salt

Filling:
1 tsp unflavored gelatin (about half an envelope of Knox brand)
¼ cup whole milk
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 large eggs
½ tsp salt
1 cup dulce de leche

Glaze:
¼ cup (heaping) chopped bittersweet chocolate
2 Tbs butter, cut into small pieces
1 Tbs light corn syrup

Whipped Cream Topping (from Coleen’s Recipes):
4 oz cream cheese
¼ cup sugar
½ tsp vanilla
¼ tsp almond extract
1 cup heavy cream

PREPARATION:
Crust:
Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix all crust ingredients. Press into baking cups (use 1-2 tsp crust mix per mini cheesecake). Place baking cups on a large baking sheet. Bake at 350°F for 5 minutes. Cool.

**I use a food processor to chop the cookies and almonds

Filling:
Sprinkle gelatin over milk in a small bowl and let stand 2 minutes to soften. Beat together cream cheese, eggs, salt, and gelatin mixture in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until well combined, about 2 minutes, then beat in dulce de leche  thoroughly. Pour filling over crust in baking cups.

Place an empty broiler or roasting pan on the lowest oven rack. Pour 2 cups of boiling water into the empty pan.

Place baking sheet with cheesecake batter on the center rack in the oven. Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes, or until center is barely set. Remove from oven and cool completely.

Glaze:
Place all ingredients in a microwave safe bowl. Cook on high power for 20 seconds. Remove and stir well. Add 10 seconds, if necessary. Be careful not to scorch. You can also use a double boiler to melt ingredients together.

Place melted (but not hot) chocolate glaze into a freezer bag (good quality, so it doesn’t burst) or pastry bag with a fine tip. If using a freezer bag, cut a corner (or poke a bamboo skewer through the corner). Pipe a swirl of chocolate glaze over cooled cheesecakes.

Set aside remaining glaze. Prepare whipped cream topping. Pipe an additional swirl of chocolate glaze over the whipped cream.

Whipped Cream:
Combine the cream cheese, sugar and extracts in a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until very smooth (scraping sides often). While the mixer is running, slowly pour in heavy cream. Continue beating on high speed until stiff peaks form.

Place whipped cream mixture in a pastry bag with a large star tip. Pipe onto cheesecakes. Pipe an additional swirl of chocolate glaze over the whipped cream.

Chill cheesecakes in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours. They will keep, refrigerated (even with the whipped cream frosting!) for several days.

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

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December 31, 2009 · 8:34 am

Dessert Fondues

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Chocolate and Vanilla Dessert Fondues: what other way could you possibly end an All-Dipping-All-Day Christmas? (Actually, next year I’m thinking butterscotch might be fun to try)

The best part (other than the actual eating) is how simple they are to put together at the last minute. The dipping items: fruit and other not so healthy items, can be prepared ahead of time. And it look less than 10 minutes to make both of the fondue mixtures.

It would be hard to do a day of fondue without ending it with a chocolate fondue. This was definitely everyone’s favorite dish (except Little A, but he was perfectly happy with his vanilla version).

I made a Dark Chocolate Fondue, but you could easily adjust that based on what kind of chocolate you use. The recipe is embarrassingly simple: heat some heavy cream in the microwave, pour it over some chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli Bittersweet), add some vanilla and a dash of salt and stir.

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The Vanilla Custard Fondue was only slightly more complicated, as it did require a pan on the stove. For this fondue, I adapted a simple stirred custard recipe. Normally it would be cooked, chilled and eaten as a pudding, but it was great warm as a fondue. The custard is made by combining beaten eggs, cream, milk, sugar, and a vanilla bean and cooking until the mixture thickens.

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I used two mini crock pots to serve these fondues.

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What to dip in dessert fondues? What can’t you dip!

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Fresh fruit is an obvious great choice (strawberries, kiwi, bananas, melon, pineapple, mangos), but don’t stop there. We also used some dried fruit (apricots are fabulous!). And then there are the not-so-healthy dipping items: cakes (pound cake or angel food cake), unfrosted sugar cookies or shortbread cookies, graham crackers, marshmallows, pretzels, and everyone’s favorite: mini cream puffs!

RECIPES:

Dark Chocolate Fondue

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¾ cup heavy cream
6 oz (about 1 cup chips) bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 tsp vanilla
Dash salt

Heat cream in the microwave for one minute (or on the stove for about 5 minutes). Pour over chocolate. Let stand one minute. Add salt and vanilla and stir until melted. Pour into a mini crock pot or fondue pot. Serve with Dipping Items.

Dipping Items:
Fresh or dried fruit: strawberries, kiwi, bananas, melon, pineapple, mangos, apricots
Pound cake or angel food cake, unfrosted sugar cookies or shortbread cookies, graham crackers, marshmallows, pretzels, mini cream puffs

NoEmptyChairs.me

Vanilla Custard Fondue

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3 beaten eggs
1 ½ cups cream
½ cup milk
¼ cup sugar
½ of a vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla extract

Split vanilla bean and scrape seeds. Add bean and seeds with remaining ingredients in a heavy saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture thickens. Remove vanilla bean. (Add vanilla extract at the end of cooking if not using vanilla bean) Pour custard into a fondue pot or mini crock pot. Serve with Dipping Items.

Dipping Items:
Fresh or dried fruit: strawberries, kiwi, bananas, melon, pineapple, mangos, apricots
Pound cake or angel food cake, unfrosted sugar cookies or shortbread cookies, graham crackers, marshmallows, pretzels, mini cream puffs

NoEmptyChairs.me

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