Posts Tagged ‘chocolate’

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE STUFFED WITH AN OREO

I realize I’m not reinventing the wheel here with everyone stuffing cookies and brownies and candy inside cookies and brownies and candy, but who can resist really.  It is a cookie stuffed with a cookie!!!  How can you go wrong?  I also love everyone’s expressions when they pick up a seemingly innocent chocolate chip cookie and bite into it to find ANOTHER cookie!  Every adult turns into a little kid and starts using sayings like, “dude, this rocks”.

PEANUT BUTTER COOKIE STUFFED WITH TWIX

My husband is a cookie connoisseur/monster.  He can tell you where it is worth buying a cookie and where it is not anywhere in town.  Everywhere we go he buys a chocolate chip cookie.  It is insane.  He is constantly in trouble for eating a dozen cookies straight without taking into consideration that someone else might want ONE cookie.  I can’t tell you how many times he has accidentally eaten my cookie as well as his because he didn’t remember eating the first one.  It is a problem and I’m looking for a good counselor to discuss the matter with….

CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE STUFFED WITH A THIN MINT

Over the weekend Natalie brought me a cake to surprise me with while I was not home.  She brought Michael a cookie to eat to keep him from cutting into the cake before I got a chance to see it.  He has absolutely no will power!!

Needless to say these suckers were a total hit at my house.

TRIO OF AWESOMENESS

My hubby wasn’t home while I was baking all of these crazy cookies so I actually got to take photos of them all without fighting him off.  He lays claim to all of the “ugly” cookies that I don’t deem pretty enough to photograph.  Once the photo session is over he lays claim to all the other cookies.

Recipe:

This is the easiest recipe ever.  Go buy a box cookie mix and your favorite cookie or candy to stuff it with.

Preheat your oven and make the cookie dough according to the package directions.

Take about 2 tbs of dough and flatten it out on your pan.  Place the Oreo (or whatever stuffer you choose) on the dough and top with another 1 tbs of cookie dough.  Mush the cookie dough all around the “Oreo” until you can’t see the Oreo anymore.  If you have too much dough take some off.  Don’t have enough?  Add some more!  It is up to you how big you want your cookie.  Just make sure the stuffer is fully covered.

Bake according to the packaged directions.  (350 for about 13 minutes was perfect for me.)

Cool the cookies on a cooling rack and enjoy!

Of course you can use homemade cookie dough but I made all of these on a Wednesday night after running errands so 3 different cookies from scratch was so not going to happen!

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A couple of weekends ago, Emily, and our friend Stephanie, and I went down to Austin for a food blogging/techie conference called TECHmunch.  I went last year and really learned a lot, so I was seriously pumped about going again.  Plus, it was an awesome excuse to head to Austin and visit one of my favorite Aunts!

The conference was hosted at the downtown Whole Foods, and let me tell you that if you are ever in Austin, you must visit this store.  I’ve driven by it about a million times, but this was the first time I’ve actually gone in.  I mean, Dallas has tons of Whole Foods stores; why would I need to visit one in another city?  Um, because it’s AWESOME!  The WF team was incredibly generous.  We had more food and drinks than a group could possibly manage.  Plus, we had very comfortable chairs to sit our booties in all day and well, we all just had a great time.    They also put together some wonderful swag bags.  As foodie people, we all love trying new products and finding new local companies.  One of the items was a jar of chocolate hazelnut spread, similar to Nutella.

I knew the second I took the jar out of the bag that I would use it first.  I don’t buy chocolate hazelnut spread because of the consequences.  I just have this picture of Craig finding me in a corner of the house surrounded by jars of the stuff, cackling away as I shovel spoonfuls of it into my mouth.  I know we vowed “in sickness and in health,” but I’m pretty sure Craig didn’t sign up for that!

So as I stared at the jar, I knew I would need a recipe that used up the whole thing, so I didn’t  end up in the chocolate hazelnut loony bin!  And then it hit me.  I would make this spread into ICE CREAM!!  Oh, how I love ice cream!  It’s another item I don’t keep in the house because of…well, you get the idea…

After consulting multiple recipes, I chose the one below because I was very intrigued that it only had two ingredients.  I was skeptical, but after reading reviews and seeing the same recipe over and over again, I figured I would give it a shot.  The taste is phenomenal.  The ice cream came out so rich and creamy.  In fact, I really only needed two smallish scoops to send me into ice cream bliss.

So…what’s your favorite ice cream flavor?

*Recipe from Chocolate & Zucchini 

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Oh-em-gee, ya’ll have got to try this cake.  This is my favorite chocolate torte because it is so rich and decadent that it literally kills any crazy chocolate craving I might be having.  You don’t need a large slice and this is a single layer cake with no icing for a reason.  The center is moist and rich like chocolate mousse but the crust is like a perfect chocolate cookie.   I have made this cake easily a dozen times.  It is simply beautiful dusted with powdered sugar and perfect for any event.

This recipe is a little tempermental and you have to follow the directions to the T!  No skipping the water bath and if you don’t whip those eggs into a frenzy for 10 minutes this beautiful torte will fall and you will have a chocolate sunken torte which is pretty heart breaking after working so hard in the kitchen.

Straight from:  Bakewise, Author: Shirley O. Corriher

I love my Bakewise cookbook.  I would highly recommend it to anyone who is just starting to bake or if you are interested in knowing why something works and doesn’t.  It is a very smart book and has totally changed how I bake everything.  (literally)

1  - 2″x9″ round baking pan

Non stick cooking spray

parchment paper

6 large eggs (2 yolks, 4 whole eggs)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup butter

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream or sometimes I cheat and just buy whipped cream in the container – shhhh don’t tell.

1/8 tsp salt

16 oz semi-sweet chocolate (in small pieces or morsels)

powdered sugar for decorating

Preheat to 375 degrees.

Place a baking stone on the very bottom shelf of your oven.  The baking stone helps keep the heat constant while you are baking.  It will also help hold the temperature even when you open the door to put the cake in the oven.

Cut your parchment paper to fit your pan and spray both the pan and the parchment paper with the non stick cooking spray.  This is very very important.  You will not be able to get this dense cake out in one piece if you skip this step.

In a small bowl place the 2 yolks and 4 whole eggs.  Whip them slightly to break up the yolks and blend everything slightly.  Pour the eggs through a strainer into your mixer and discard any goop left over. Begin whipping the eggs on medium high speed and add in the sugar.  Whip for 10 minutes!  No less and I’m serious about this.

While your eggs and sugar are whipping start your water bath.  Find a dish that allows your 9″ x 2″ round baking pan to sit right on the edge.  (My brownie pan works perfectly) Boil enough water to fill this dish full enough so that 1″ deep of your 9″ x 2″ round pan is in the water.  (your cake pan is sitting in the water of the large dish, hence it is called a water “bath”)  You might want to premeasure this with cold water the first time to make sure you have enough water.  I don’t want you spilling boiling water on you.

Place you chocolate in a glass bowl and microwave it for about a minute at a time stirring each time to help break up the morsels until the chocolate is fully melted.

When your eggs and sugar are fluffy and stiff add in the cream of tartar, vanilla and salt.  Beat the mixture a little longer to combine.

Slowly pour in little bit of the melted chocolate at a time and fold in by hand.

Whip the cold whipping cream until it is stiff and slowly add it into the mixture by hand.  (or use your packaged whip cream)

Pour the cake mixture into your pan.

Pour the boiling water into your water bath (oven safe dish).  Place the pan in the bath and the whole thing in the oven on the center rack.  Make sure your cake pan isn’t tilted or that the mixture has stayed nice and even.  You do not want a lop sided cake.

Allow to cook for 45 minutes.  Check to make sure the cake is done by inserting a tooth pick into the center.  If it comes out clean then the cake is finished.  Open the oven door as few times as possible!

Allow the cake to cool for one hour.  When completely cooled wrap the cake in saran wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.

Run a thin knife along the edge of the cake to help separate the cake from the pan.  Gently flip the cake over and it should slide right out.  Plate your cake and dust it with a little powdered sugar or decorate however you please.

 

 

 

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Some of you may remember my dinner party from last year.  Actually, I’m pretty sure we only had like two readers this time last year and they consisted of my mom and my other sister!  So, I figured I would post this again in case you missed it and need a great idea for Valentine’s Day. 

If you’re cooking for two or six, this is an easy dinner that tastes amazing.  Actually, even if you’re alone this year and hate Valentine’s Day you should make this dinner for yourself to celebrate how awesome you are.  It’s a meal enveloped in chocolate…need I say more??

You can find links to all of these recipes by clicking here.

We started the meal with these two lovely appetizers.  Spanish chorizo over a dark chocolate spread.

Chocolate covered grapes!

Next we moved on to a crisp salad with a chocolate vinaigrette dressing.

Now for the entree.  Short ribs, mashed potatoes, and roasted asparagus.  Everything cooked with chocolate… well, except for the veggie.  I just couldn’t find a way to work that in!

And it wouldn’t be dinner without dessert!  Molten chocolate cakes…oh my!

Make the dinner romantic by filling small vases with roses and pulling out the fancy plates.  Make sure to have plenty of wine on hand because this dinner is a cause for celebration. 

I wish you all a wonderful Valentine’s Day.  I hope it’s filled with special moments and lots of chocolate!!!

These cute little pretzels are fantastic to make with kids but pretty enough to put out at your next Holiday  party.  I love these because just like  – no two snowflakes are a like, no two pretzels flakes are either!!

I have been thinking about making these since July – which sounds ludicrous until you think about how hot it probably was and how desperately I wanted a cold front to blow through.  So coming up with winter themed items in July doesn’t seem quite so crazy. 

I really like these little pretzelflakes because they are great for a number of things.  You could top a cake with them, shove them into the top of a cupcake or just put them in a bowl.  They would make good little gifts too. 

Ingredients:

1 bag of your favorite crunchy pretzels

white chocolate bark

food coloring

candy decorations of your choosing:  candy canes, sprinkles, m&m’s, crushed nuts, cinnamon, crushed graham, sea salt, caramel, chocolate.  whatever!

parchment paper

Directions:

Lay your parchment paper out on a clean surface.  Lay your pretzel’s in groups of 3 or 4 to create little snowflake shapes. 

Make sure you have all of your decorating candies out and ready to go before you heat the chocolate.

Heat the chocolate bark up according to the package directions but make sure you heat it up in a container with a spout for easy pouring.  Divide up the melted chocolate in seperate bowls for dying with food coloring.  (If you only want white ones then feel free to skip that step.) 

Begin pouring the chocolate over the pretzelflakes doing about 3 or 4 at a time.  Stop to decorate them inbetween each batch.  The candy will stick while the chocolate is still hot and melty but once it dries and cools it will not, so don’t coat too many at a time with the chocolate.  My chocolate came out a little thick so I ended up picking up the pretzels after I poured chocolate on them and placing them on clean parchment.  This way I could still see through the holes in the pretezels – which made them look more like snowflakes.  You can just dip the pretzels in the chocolate and then arrange them if that is easier for you.

Looking back at them now – I wish I had covered the entire pretzel in chocolate.  I think that would have been cuter.  I do like the coconut though!  It kind of looks like snow!

Allow for all of them to cool.  It should only take about 30 minutes for everything to fully harden.  By the time I was done with the dishes mine were ready to go. 

See, fun and easy!