Perfect Cookies

If you like your chocolate cookies thick, chewy, and delicious, this is the recipe for you! While these are not actually my go-to Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe (these are), America's Test Kitchen never fails to deliver. These belong in a bakery!

Ingredients:

• 3 1/3 c. flour
  3/4 t. baking soda
  1/2 t. salt
  2 sticks (16 T) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  1 1/4 c. brown sugar
  1/2 c. white sugar
  2 large eggs
  2 large egg yolks
  1 T. pure vanilla extract
  2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
• Directions:
• Adjust oven racks to the upper and lower 1/3 positions. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
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• In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine butter and sugars. Mix on medium speed until fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. With the mixer still going, add the eggs, egg yolks, and vanilla, and beat for another 30 seconds. 
• Add in the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix on low speed until incorporated, about 1 minute. Add the chocolate chips and mix until evenly distributed.
• Working with 1/4 cup of dough, form into balls and place on the prepared cookie sheets about 2 1/2 inches apart. Bake at 325 for 17-20 minutes. Let cool completely before serving. 
• Makes 20 large cookies
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Cookies 'N' Creme Cookies

What's better than an Oreo or a Chocolate Chip Cookie? A Chocolate Chip Cookie that tastes like an Oreo! These completely destroyed any smidgen of self-control that I have... there is no way to eat just one!

Ingredients:
1 c. butter, room temperature
3/4 c. light brown sugar
1/4 c. white sugar
1 (small) package instant vanilla pudding mix
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 XL (or 2 King sized bars) Hershey's Cookies 'n' Creme Candy Bars, chopped into small pieces

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together the butter and sugars. Beat in the pudding mix until blended.  Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well.  Add the flour, baking soda, and salt to the wet ingredients and mix to combine. Stir in the candy pieces and chocolate chips (the batter will be thick). Scoop out dough in golf-ball size balls on a baking sheet, and bake for 8-10 minutes. Don't overbake them! Let them cool for 5 minutes before transferring the cookies to a cooling rack.

**Adapted recipe from Mandy's Recipe Box as found on Pinterest. =)

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Best Brownies Ever

For those of you who don't know my dad, he is the biggest fan that chocolate desserts will ever have.  My amazing mother bakes a fresh batch of brownies or chocolate chip cookies every other day so that he never has to eat dried-out desserts. 

The other important characteristic to know about my dad, is he is a perfectionist and he's picky! It's very hard to ever top his favorite things, but for a while now, he has been on the hunt for the world's perfect brownie.  He's gone to pretty much every restaurant in corvallis, paying upwards of $8 for a brownie, in hopes that the quality would match the price. Nothing so far, has beat Mom's ability to perfectly cook a box of Ghiradeli brownie mix.

 I came across this recipe on Pinterest and just had to give it a shot.  I figured if The Today Show and America's Test Kitchen claim it's their favorite brownie, it had to be worth it.  This recipe is from the cookbook "Baked" which is a collection of recipes from a NYC bakery/coffeehouse with the same name.  They were fairly easy to make (though not too cheap). The outcome? Dad's words verbatim:  "These are the best brownies I've ever had." Win!!!

Ingredients:

1¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons dark unsweetened cocoa powder
11 ounces dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1½ cups granulated sugar
½ cup packed light brown sugar
5 eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the sides and bottom of a 9x13-inch glass or light-colored baking pan. Line the pan with parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and cocoa powder together.

3. Put the chocolate, butter and instant espresso powder in a large bowl and set it over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and smooth. Turn off the heat, but keep the bowl over the water and add the sugars. Whisk until completely combined, then remove the bowl from the pan. The mixture should be room temperature.

4. Add 3 eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Add the remaining eggs and whisk until combined. Add the vanilla and stir until combined. Do not overbeat the batter at this stage or your brownies will be cakey.

5. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the chocolate mixture. Using a rubber spatula (not a whisk), fold the flour mixture into the chocolate until just a bit of the flour mixture is visible.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake in the center of the oven for 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs sticking to it. Let the brownies cool completely, then lift them out of the pan using the parchment paper. Cut into squares and serve.

7. Store at room temperature in an airtight container or wrap with plastic wrap for up to 3 days.

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Triple Layer Monster



Photo Cred: Jason Swank

Everything about this dessert says, "Oh, I found it Pinterest!" I like to label it "pinteresque".  I was looking for a special birthday dessert for our friend who has a healthy love for classic sweets (cookies, brownies, and oreos).  This was absolutely the winner.  How can you go wrong when you combine all three of his favorite delectables?
So what is it, you ask? Exactly what Jason loves. Chocolate Chip Coookie dough, covered with a layer of whole (Double Stuf) Oreos, covered with a layer of Brownie Batter.  Every bite is ooey, gooey, sweet, deliciousness. 

What really sealed the deal was the Double Stuf. What's your take on the perfect amount of filling inside America's favorite chocolate cookie sandwich?  I personally, prefer the classic, but Mr. Birthday Boy loves the Double Stuf, and still advocates for a Quadruple Stuf.  To show just how much we appreciate the guy, I sacrificed my idea of perfection to appease him... his only critique of this dessert was that it would be better with a little more oreo creme. Ah, well, you can't win 'em all, huh?

Anyway, enough babbling... all you really want is to know how to make this crazy thing! I adapted the recipe (just slightly) from a blog called Kevin and Amanda.  They have a great assortment of recipes - go check them out for more delicious ideas!

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups (12 ounces) chocolate chips
1 pkg Double Stuffed Oreos
1 Family Size (9×13) Brownie mix (I recommend Ghiradeli!) plus ingredients needed to make the mix

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cream the butter and both sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed for 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well to thoroughly combine.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt, then slowly incorporate into the mixer until the flour is just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
4. Spread the cookie dough in the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish that’s been lined with wax paper and sprayed with cooking spray.
5. Top with a layer of Oreos.
6. Mix together brownie mix. Pour the brownie batter over the cookie dough and Oreos. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking for an additional 15-20 minutes.
7. Let cool completely before cutting — brownies may still be gooey in the middle when still warm, but will set up perfectly once cooled.

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Chocolate Covered Pears with Sauce

A beautiful symbol of decadence, these pears are a perfectly chocolaty after-dinner treat.  Goes great with either the espresso sauce or raspberry sauce.  Surprisingly, they are pretty quick and easy to make despite how fancy they look!

Ingredients:

1 lemon

6 c. cold water

2 c. sugar, divided

1 (4") stick cinnamon

2 whole cloves

4 ripe Bartlett pears, with stems

4 ounces dark chocolate (70% cacao), chopped

2 tsp. unsalted butter

2 Tbsp. brewed espresso coffee

Directions:

Cut 2 strips of zest from the lemon, about 2" x 1" each.  Juice the lemon and keep the squeezed halves.

In a saucepan deep enough to hold the pears standing up, combine the lemon juice, lemon zest, water, 1 1/2 cups sugar, cinnamon, and cloves.  Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a boil and boil 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat.

Meanwhile, peel the pears, leaving the stems on.  With a small melon baller, working from the bottoms, scoop out the cores.  Rub the pears all over with a lemon half to prevent discoloring.  

Add the pears to the syrup, which should come up to their stems.  If necessary, add cold water.  Return the pot to medium heat and bring to a simmer.  Cook the pears until a thin knife easily penetrates at the thickest point, 15 minutes.  Using a slotted spoon, carefully remove the pears and set on a plate to cool to room temperature.  Reserve the cooking syrup.

Pat the pears very dry with paper towels.  Combine the chocolate and butter in a microwaveable bowl and heat in 10-15 seconds increments until they are melted.  Remove and stir until smooth.  To coat the pears, set them on a wire rack over wax paper.  Spoon the melted chocolate over each pear to coat.  Let them set in a cool place until the chocolate forms a shell, about 2 to 3 hours.  

For the sauce, strain 1 cup of the cooking syrup into a small saucepan and add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar. (I used the remaining syrup to make sun iced tea!).  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Reduce the heat to medium and boil until the syrup is reduce by half.  Off the heat, add the coffee. Set aside to cool.

Serve each pear with 2 tablespoons sauce.  

Alternate raspberry sauce:

4 cups raspberries

1-2 tbsp powdered sugar

1/2-1 tsp lemon juice

Place the raspberries in a fine strainer set over a bowl.  Using a wooden spoon, push as much pulp as possible through the strainer.  Discard the solid from the strainer (I used mine to make fruit leather!).  Mix the powdered sugar and lemon juice into the strained fruit. 

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Candied Bacon and Chocolate Chip Cookie Pies

Brynna is a genius. 

Really.

Bacon, cooked with brown sugar and cayenne pepper.

Chocolate chip cookies, in individual pie form.  

Together.

Genius.

Thank you, Brynna! We love you (for more reasons than just this creation)!

Candied Bacon

Ingredients:
8 slices thin-sliced bacon
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and put a wire cooling rack on it.  Combine brown sugar and pepper.  Lay bacon on the wire rack and coat with half of the brown sugar mixture.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven, flip bacon and cover with the remaining sugar.  Bake for 4-6 more minutes or until bacon is nicely browned.  Let cool about 15 minutes before trying to cut.


Chocolate- Chip Cookie Pies:
1 c. unsalted butter
1/2 c. white sugar
1 c. light brown sugar
1/2 c. dark brown sugar
2 eggs
3 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 c. milk chocolate chips
1/2 to 1 c. candied bacon

Directions:
Cream together butter and sugars until fluffy.  Beat in eggs one at a time.  Add in flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda, and stir until combined.  Stir in chocolate chips and candied bacon.  Press dough into 6 ramekins, filling 3/4 of the way full.  You can either use 6 more ramekins or make the rest into cookies.  I put the remaining dough into the freezer.

Bake the pies at 350 degrees for 13-17 minutes, until golden brown, but still slightly gooey in the middle.  Serve immediately (let cool slightly so you don't scald your mouth like me).  Best warm with vanilla ice cream melting all over it!

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Mama 'Blicky's Easy Cookies

Easy.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line cookie sheet with tin foil

Place saltine crackers on sheet in rows to cover bottom

Bring to a boil over medium heat 1 1\2 sticks butter and 1 cup brown sugar

Boil for 5-7 min or the "hard crack" stage on a candy thermometer)

This is the toughest part if you don't have a candy thermometer, cause every stove is a little different, if it starts to smell like its burning take it off. 

Pour butter and brown sugar mixture over the saltines and spread evenly

Place sheet in 350 degree oven for 5 min

Take out of oven

Pour 1\2 of a 10-12oz choc chip package and 1\2 of a 10-12oz peanut butter chip package (or however much you desire) over the cookie sheet mixture. 

Then spread evenly with a knife as it softens and melts (takes a min or two to melt before you can spread it)

Refrigerate 1 hr and break into chunks

And ENJOY!!!  

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Chocolate Chai Cupcakes

recipe from shape.com

Perfectly moist.

Perfectly chocolaty.

Perfectly chai.

Perfectly vegan.

You read that right... vegan! I wouldn't go so far as to say these are "healthy", but they are vegan, and no one would know if I didn't tell them.  Mac's response was "oh, yeah, these are definitely a keeper."  He ate four.  Perfectly perfect.

Ingredients:

Cupakes:

1 cup almond milk

1 tsp. apple cide vinegar

1/3 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

1 cup flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

Frosting:

1/2 c. vegan margarine (okay, I cheated and used butter... but if you don't care about being vegan, then its okay)

3-4 cups powdered sugar (I used close to 4)

2 chai tea bags

2 Tbsp. boiling water

2 Tbsp. almond milk

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:

For the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Mix the vinegar and almond milk and let sit for five minutes.  Meanwhile, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, soda, and salt.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the almond milk/vinegar, oil, sugar, and vanilla.  Add to the dry ingredients and mix until combined.  Pour into greased/lined cupcake pan and bake for 15-25 minutes, or until springy.  Let cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting, steep the tea in the 2 tbsp. boiling water for 10 minutes.  Discard tea bags and add in the almond milk.  In a large bowl, beat butter until soft and creamy.  Add the tea/milk, powdered sugar, and cinnamon to the butter and beat for 10 minutes until very light and fluffy.  Add more powdered sugar as desired for taste.  Sprinkle frosted cupcakes with cinnamon.

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Oatmeal Fudge Bars

I christened my new Test Kitchen Cookbook (Thanks, big brother!) with this recipe for New Year's Eve. It was a good choice for sure!

 Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. quick cooking oats
1 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c. light brown sugar, packed
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
12 Tbsp. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Filling:
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. light brown sugar, packed
4 tsp. instant coffee powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. salt
18 oz. (3 c.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 Tbsp. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
2 eggs

Directions:
For the crust:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Prep a 9x13 pan by creating a foil sling and greasing.  In a bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.  Stir in butter.  Measure out 1 1/4 cups of the mixture and set aside for the topping.  Sprinkle the remaining mixture in the prepared pan, and press firm with the bottom of a measuring cup.  Bake crust for 8 minutes, until light golden brown.  Let cool on wire rack for an hour.

For the filling:
Whisk together flour, sugar, coffee, salt, and vanilla.  In a separate bowl, melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave for 1-3 minutes, until smooth, stirring frequently.  Let cool slightly, then whisk in the eggs.  Stir with the flour mixture just until incorporated.  Spread evenly over the cooled crust.

Sprinkle the filling with reserved topping.  Bake at 325 degrees for 25-30 minutes, rotating pan halfway through, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool for 2 hours before cutting.  Makes 24 squares.

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Test Kitchen Pumpkin Bread

In my personal, unprofessional opinion, this bread had the best texture... so moist and dense! The crust was perfect, though this loaf may have had more dough than most people like (I credit that to my finicky oven).  I made two loaves, one plain and one with chocolate chips for the hubby.

Ingredients:

2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ginger

1 (15-oz) can pumpkin (make sure its unsweetened, NOT pumpkin pie filling)

1 c. white sugar

1 stick (8 Tbs) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

2 large eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 c. pecans/walnuts, toasted and chopped coarse (I omitted these in one loaf, replaced the with chocolate in the other)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Prep a 9 by 5 loaf pan with cooking spray.

Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and ginger together in a large bowl.  Whisk the pumpkin, sugar, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla together in a separate bowl until frothy.

Gently fold the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula until just combined.  Fold in the nuts (if using).  The batter will be very thick.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface.  Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few crumbs attached, 45-55 minutes.  

Let the loaf cool in the pan for 10 minutes before unmolding onto a wire rack to cool for 1 hour.

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Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are SO yummy! Perfect texture, perfect taste. Yum. Thanks, Justin Shinn, for the recipe base!

Ingredients:
4 oz. low-fat cream cheese, softened
3/4 c. butter, melted and cooled
1 c. light brown sugar
1/2 c. white sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. plus 3 T. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 c. white chocolate chips

* Yes, it is CORRECT that there are no eggs in this recipe. It makes them nice and dense.

Directions:

Cream together cream cheese, butter, and sugars until light and fluffy.  Beat in vanilla.  Sift together dry ingredients, then add to butter mixture.  Stir in the chips.  Bake at 325 for 8-12 minutes, until lightly brown.  Let cool 5 more minutes on the pan before moving to a cooling rack.

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Homemade Nutella

I've been too busy lately to update posts, but I promise to have new recipes up sometime next week! For now, jump on over to Brynna Begins, and check out her awesome homemade nutella recipe!!

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Cinnamon-Chocolate Chip Chiffon Cake

That's a lot of C's! I wanted to try something new for my birthday... something light, with chocolate, but not too rich.  This was perfect! It was much more "bready" than I anticipated (not very sweet), and was nicely accompanied by homemade whipped cream.  I was disappointed that the mini chocolate chips all sunk to the bottom of the pan (which created a layer of them on the top of the cake), instead of being scatter throughout.  Next time I will try to solve that problem.  I might also cut back a little bit on the cinnamon.  Otherwise, a delicious birthday treat!

And for those who are wondering... my husband made me a fabulous birthday dessert last year (which I will post later), and he grilled some steak for us this year... I love baking my own cake; it's fun. =)

Ingredients:
2 c. cake flour
1 1/3 c. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. canola oil
6 large eggs, separated
2/3 c. water
2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

garnish:
1 Tbs. powdered sugar
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325.  Have a 9 1/2-10 inch tube pan ready with at least 3 3/4" inch high sides.  Do not use a nonstick pan.

Sift the cake flour, 1 cup of the sugar, the baking powder, salt, and cinnamon into a large bowl.  Use a large spoon to make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the oil, egg yolks, water, and vanilla. Use an electric mixer on medium speed to beat the mixture until it is smooth and thick, about 3 minutes.  Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing.  Use a rubber spatula to fold in the chocolate chips and set aside.

In another large bowl, with clean beaters, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar on low speed until the whites are foamy and the cream of tartar dissolves.  Beat on medium speed until the egg whites look shiny and smooth and the movement of the beaters forms lines in the beaten whites.  If you stop the mixer, the white should cling to the beaters.  Slowly beat in the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, then beat for about 1 minute to firm, glossy peaks.  Stir about one-third of the beaten egg whites into the egg yolk mixture, then fold in the remaining egg whites until no white streaks remain.

Scrape the batter into the tube pan and gently smooth the top.  Bake until the top of the cake feels firm when you gently press it and any small cracks in the top look dry, about 1 hour.

Invert the pan onto a narrow-necked bottle (a full wine bottle works well) and let cool for 1 hour.

Remove the pan from the bottle and run a thin knife around the sides and center tube of the pan to loosen the cake.  Remove the cake from the pan by inverting it onto a flat serving plate, then place a wire rack on the bottom of the cake and invert the cake onto the rack, sot eh cake is right side up.  Cool the cake thoroughly on the wire rack.

Mix the powdered sugar and cinnamon together, put the mixture in a small strained and dust it evenly over the top of the cake.  Dust the powdered sugar mixture lightly with the cocoa powder.  Slip a large metal spatula under the cake and slide it onto a serving plate.  Use a serrated knife to cut the cake.

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Chewy Chocolate-Oat Bars

These are a forgotten favorite in our house... I always double the recipe to put in a 9x13 pan.  It was gone in 2 days!

Ingredients:

1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

1/3 c. fat-free sweetened condensed milk

1 c. whole wheat flour

1/2 c. plus 2 T. old-fashioned oats

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 c. packed brown sugar

1/4 c. vegetable oil

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

Heat oven to 350.  Heat the chocolate chips and milk in a medium heavy saucepan over low heat.  Cook, stirring, until the chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth, about 3 minutes; set aside.

Mix the flour, 1/2 cup of the oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl; set aside.  Combine the brown sugar, oil, egg, and vanilla in a medium bowl with a fork until smooth; stir into the flour mixture until blended.  Reserve 1/2 cup of the dough in a small bowl for topping.  

Pat the remaining dough into a greased 8-inch square baking dish; spread the chocolate mixture over the dough.  Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of the oats and the butter to the reserved dough, mix with a pastry blender or fork until crumbly.  Drop small spoonfuls of oat mixture evenly over chocolate mixture.  Bake until top is golden and firm, 20 to 25 minutes.  Cool completely, about 1 1/2 hours.  

2 T. butter

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Banana-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I don't have a picture of these cookies, but this is the cookbook they came out of:

Thanks, Chama for the 2010 birthday present :)

Just imagine an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie, 75% baked, with inconspicuous banana pieces.  Take my word for it, they're amazing.

I froze half the batch, which worked out fantastic.  Next time, I will use half the batch to make a chocolate-banana trifle. Stay tuned for that recipe. :)

Ingredients:

2 1/2 c. flour
2 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 sticks butter, room temp (12 Tbsp)
1 c. white sugar
1 c. light brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 c. oatmeal
4 c. chocolate chips
2-4  bananas, cut into 1/4" pieces

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, stir the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together and set aside.  In a separate bowl, use an electric mixer on medium speed to beat the butter and sugars until smooth, about 1 minute.  Beat in egg and vanilla and mix until blended.  Add in the flour mixture with the mixer on low.  Mix in the oatmeal, then chocolate chips, then bananas.

Drop by tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheets.  Cook 10-12 minutes or until the edges are lightly brown and the tops look dry.  Allow to cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a cooling rack.

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Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Filling

Oh. man.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting.

Chocolate Cake.

Peanut Butter Filling.

That's a lotta goodness.

Thank you, Erica, for introducing us to Rachael Ray's slice of heaven 

Click here for the recipe!

 

ThreeTips:

1. Disregard the amount of butter

2. Cut the recipe in half

3. Still disregard the amount of butter



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Chocolate-Filled Peanut Butter Scones

These were Mac's favorite... of course anything with chocolate and peanut butter will be his favorite!  I thought they were good; but much more like a tall, dense, cookie than a scone.  I adapted the recipe from a vegan website, and thought it turned out pretty well!

Ingredients:

2 c. flour

1/2 c. brown sugar

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

3 T. butter, chilled

3/4 c. creamy peanut butter

1/3 c. milk plus 2 Tbsp. cream (or all milk)

1 egg

2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 c. peanut butter chips

1 1/2 oz. bittersweet/semisweet chocolate.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar and baking powder.  Cut the margarine into 1/2-inch cubes, and distribute them over the flour mixture.  Cut the butter into the flour until it resembles coarse crumbs. 

Whisk together milk, cream, egg, and vanilla then add to the flour mixture.

Add the peanut butter mixture to the flour mixture and stir or knead until combined.  Knead in the peanuts.

Pat the dough out into a 1/2-inch thickness on a cutting board.  Using a 2 1/2- to 3-inch-diameter round biscuit cutter, cut rounds out of the dough.  Re-knead the scraps and cut out again, repeating until all the dough is used up.  You should have 16 rounds.

Place 8 of the rounds onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Top each round with a piece of chocolate and one of the remaining circles of dough.  Press the edges gently to seal.  Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

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NEW AND IMPROVED Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm always hesitant to try reduced-fat, less-sugar cookie recipes due to the fact that they tend to just make really tough, bland cookies.  BUT, I've found the recipe that fools everyone! The new and improved Chocolate Chip Cookies from Healthy Test Kitchen Cookbook!

It drop the calories from 290 to 120, the fat from 15g to 5g, and the cholesterol from 55mg to 20mg. And they taste AMAZING!  The process is slightly more labor intensive than a regular batch of cookie dough, but I promise... if you want to cut the calories, it's well worth it!

We subbed Heath Bar crumbles for the chocolate chips on this go around...

KEY POINTS:

• Brown the butter
• Whisk and rest the butter
• Underbake the cookies

Ingredients:
1 c. plus 2 T. all-purpose flour (next time I will probably use half whole-wheat)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
5 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/2 c. packed dark brown sugar
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.  Whisk the flour, salt, and baking soda together in a bowl.

Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in an 8-inch skillet over medium-high heat until the butter is dark golden brown and has a nutty aroma, 3 to 5 minutes.  Transfer the browned butter to a large bowl and stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons butter until completely melted.

Whisk the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla into the melted butter until incorporated.  Whisk in the egg until the mixture is smooth with no lumps, about 30 seconds.  Let the mixture stand for 3 minutes, then whisk vigorously for 30 seconds.  Repeat his process of resting and whisking twice more until the mixture is thick, smooth, and shiny.  Stir in the flour mixture and 6 tablespoons of the chips until combined.  (I use my KitchenAid for this entire process, and also throw in all the chips at this point).

Working with 1 heaping tablespoon of dough at a time, roll the dough into balls and lay them on the prepared baking sheets, spaced about 2 inches apart.  Press the remaining 2 tablespoons of chips into the tops of the cookies.

Bake the cookies until the edges are set and beginning to brown but the centers are still soft, puffy, and underdone, 8 to 11 minutes.

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes.

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Monster Cookies

A co-worker said he gets excited when viewing my blog thinking that every recipe on here contains M&M's, and I realized that there are NO recipes with them! Time to change that...

These are amazing cookies from Mac's grandmother.  This makes a HUGE batch, so I recommend cutting it in half, unless you are feeding a small army (as I often do).

Ingredients:
6 eggs
2 c. brown sugar
2 c. white sugar
2 1/2 c. peanut butter (I use Adam's, as there is less sugar and fat)
4 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. butter
1 lb. m&m's
1 lb. butterscotch chips
9 c. oatmeal
1/2 to 1 c. whole-wheat flour

Directions:

Mix together in order given, beating after each addition.  Drop by tablespoons on a well-greased (or parchment-paper lined) cookie sheet and flatten slightly with a fork or hand.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.

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Peppermint Bark

These have been my favorite Christmas treat so far.

Ingredients:
20 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped, divided
30 peppermint candies, crushed, divided
10 ounces dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
6 T. heavy cream
1 t. peppermint extract

Directions:

Line a 9x13 pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper.   Melt half the white chocolate in the top of a double boiler over just barely simmering water stirring frequently.  Spread the white chocolate in the pan and sprinkle 1/4 of the crushed peppermints evenly over white chocolate. Chill until firm, about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt the dark chocolate, heavy cream and peppermint extract together in the top of a double boiler over just barely simmering water, stirring frequently, until just melted.  Quickly pour the chocolate layer over the chilled white chocolate layer, spread evenly. Chill until firm, about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt the remaining white chocolate in the top of a double boiler over just barely simmering water, stirring frequently, until just melted.  Spread quickly over the chilled bark.  Sprinkle with the remaining peppermint pieces, chill until firm, about 20 minutes.  Cut or break into small pieces to serve.

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