Giant Double Chocolate Cookies

I didn't even try these, but my family really loved them, so that's good enough for me. :) Also, I didn't make giant cookies, but rather normal sized ones. I believe it made about 40 cookies.

Giant Double Chocolate Cookies
Yield: 12 very large cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) cold, unsalted butter, cubed
1¼ cup sugar
2 large eggs
½ cup dark cocoa powder
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. coarse salt
1 tsp. baking powder
2½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar.  Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.  Blend in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl as needed.  Mix in the cocoa powder until well blended.  Add the flour, salt and baking powder to the bowl and mix on low speed just until incorporated.  Fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula.  Transfer the dough to a work surface and knead briefly by hand to be sure the ingredients are well combined.

Divide the dough into 4 ounce portions (or divide into 12 equal pieces).  Roll each portion of dough into a ball and flatten just slightly into a disc.  Place on the prepared baking sheets, a few inches apart.  Bake 16-20 minutes.  Let cool on the baking sheets 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from annies-eats.com

Chocolate Crinkles

I thought these cookies were deserving of a post since they made even Josiah warm up to me today! Besides, it was bugging me that this blog has been neglected since January...

• 4 eggs

• 1 3/4 cups sugar

• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled

• 1/2 cup oil

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 2 tsp vanilla

• 2 cups flour

• Powdered sugar

In a large mixing bowl beat eggs, sugar, chocolate, oil, baking powder, and vanilla until combined. Gradually beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour. Cover and chill dough 2 hours or overnight or until dough is easy to handle.

Preheat oven to 375*. Lightly grease a cookie sheet. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll balls in powdered sugar to coat generously. Place balls 1" apart on prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until edges are set and tops are dry (do not over bake). Transfer to a wire rack and let cool. (Cookies will deflate slightly upon cooling.) If desired, sift additional powdered sugar over the tops of cookies.

The things I did differently: Melt the chocolate in the microwave and dump in without cooling. Use whole wheat (soft white) flour - just add 1/3 to 1/2 cup more since it's not as dense (that's if it's home-milled, not sure about store bought whole wheat flour).

I'm glad to say that these cookies have been very popular today! I'm a bit surprised actually seeing as they don't use butter and I used whole wheat flour!

Pecan Pie Bars

Got this from one of our Better Homes and Garden cookbooks. I doubled, but next time I think I'll quadruple! :)

• 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°F.

For crust, in a medium bowl combine flour, powdered sugar, and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in the 1/2 cup butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Pat crumb mixture into an ungreased 11x7x1 1/2-inch baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

Meanwhile, for filling, in a medium bowl stir together eggs, pecans, 1/2 cup brown sugar, the corn syrup, 2 tablespoons melted butter, and vanilla. Pour over the baked crust, spreading evenly.

Bake for 20 minutes more or until the filling is set. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars. Cover and store in the refrigerator.

LINK.

Candy Bars!

I'll put the original recipe first, and then mine below. With these ingredients, how could it be bad?! (That's excluding the health side of things, unless you follow my theory that says that if you're happy, you'll enjoy a better life.) ;D

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, melted

• 1 pkg. 2 -layer chocolate cake mix

• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

• 1 cup white chocolate chips

• 2 cups chopped pecans OR coconut

• 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

• 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

Preparation:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place butter and cake mix in large bowl. Mix with fork until crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over bottom of 15x10" jelly roll pan and press to form crust. Sprinkle with semisweet chocolate chips and white chocolate chips and pecans or coconut.

In microwave on medium power, melt milk chocolate chips for 1-2 minutes or until melted. Stir sweetened condensed milk into the melted chips. Spread milk mixture evenly over nuts in jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-25 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely and cut into bars. 48 bars

My version:

Ingredients:

• Approximately 1/2 cup butter, melted (I probably had a bit more than 1/2 cup, and I think it could have used a little more.)

• 1 pkg. 2-layer Devil's Food cake mix (It was that or German Chocolate, and we use the German Chocolate mix more often than we do Devil's Food.)

• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided (into 1 cup portions - We didn't have milk chocolate chips.)

• 1 cup white chocolate chips

• 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans (2 cups sounded like a LOT of nuts.)

• Almost a full pkg. caramels (Don't you judge me!) ;)

• Splash of heavy cream... Approximately 2 Tbs maybe?

• 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

Preparation:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place butter and cake mix in large bowl. Mix with fork until crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over bottom of 15x10" jelly roll pan and press to form crust (good luck! Took me F.O.R.E.V.E.R!).

Place unwrapped caramels into a heat-proof container with the cream. Microwave until completely melted.

Sprinkle 1 cup each of semi-sweet chocolate and white chocolate chips on the crust, then the pecans, then pour/spread melted caramel over chocolate chips and nuts.

In microwave on medium power, melt remaining cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips for 1-2 minutes or until melted. Stir sweetened condensed milk into the melted chips. Spread mixture evenly over caramel in jelly roll pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 18-25 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely and cut into bars.

Oh, boy. Now I want some!!! We're thinking about tweaking the recipe some more. Some of the changes we're thinking about include: making the crust more crispy-cookie-like, and more caramel (think Twix). I'd like to try it with the milk chocolate chips as well; we just didn't have any this time.

Brownies...

the good old fashioned, rich, chocolaty kind!

• 1 1/2 cups butter
• 4 cups packed brown sugar ( I do about 3)
• 6 eggs
• 8 squares unsweetened chocolate, melted
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 3/4 cups and 3 tablespoons chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and eggs until light and fluffy. Stir in the unsweetened chocolate and vanilla until well blended. Mix in the flour, and then the walnuts. Spread batter evenly into the prepared pan.

Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack before cutting into bars.

Sparkling Cranberries

I made this recipe over Christmas, and it turned out quite well! The cranberries were very pretty, but the berries we had were getting a little old when I finally got around to doing it, so they went bad on us pretty quickly. Anyway, they were a lovely addition to the holiday selection of goodies. They even tasted good, especially if you like slightly sweet sour things. I'm just going to copy and paste the recipe; the original is HERE.

For the simple syrup, raw cane sugar or real brown sugar lends a nice molasses flavor to the cranberries, but regular granulated sugar (or a blend of brown/white) will work.

• 2 cups cranberries, picked over

• 2 cups water

• 2 cups sugar (see head notes)

• More sugar for coating: I do a mix of medium-grained organic sugar for the first coating, and then a second toss with regular granulated white sugar. You don't want a huge grain for that first toss, just something larger than standard sugar, smaller than most turbinado sugars. You can sort of see the different grain sizes in the third photo in the main write-up.

Place the cranberries in a medium glass bowl and set aside.

Make a simple syrup by bringing the water and sugar just to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Let the syrup cool for a couple minutes and then pour it over the cranberries. If the syrup is too hot the cranberries will burst, so be careful. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, drain the cranberries and toss them with larger grained sugar until they are well coated. I only use a scoop of sugar at a time, and small batches of cranberries, so the sugar doesn't get too damp. Place the coated cranberries on a baking sheet to dry for a few hours.

Do a second toss with the regular granulated sugar, this typically takes care of any sticky spots on the cranberries. Let dry another hour.

Makes 2 cups of sparkling cranberries.

Pumpkin Cheese Pie...requested by Mrs. Bradshaw

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
• 2 cups pumpkin puree
  
• 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust (we make a graham cracker crust...just graham cracker crumbs, butter, and a tiny bit of sugar.)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix cream cheese and condensed milk together until smooth. Stir in the pureed pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice and eggs. Mix until well combined. Pour batter into the pie shell.
   
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until a knife inserted 1 inch from the edge comes out clean. Serve warm. (I personally really like it cold, though.)

Enjoy!

Fresh Mint Ice Cream

Ingredients:

• 1 cup milk

• 3/4 cup sugar

• 2 cups cream

• pinch of salt

• 2 cups lightly packed fresh mint leaves

• 5 large eggs

Put eggs and sugar in medium sauce pan. Beat well. Add milk, cream, salt, and mint. Heat until thickened (almost boiling). Remove from heat. Strain out the mint leaves while transferring to a heat proof container. Cool thoroughly. Freeze, and enjoy!

This is a modified version of a recipe I found online HERE. I would eventually like to try steeping the mint longer, but as it is, it's got an incredible minty flavor!

Clark Bars ( a.k.a. peanut butter & chocolate bars)

Here it is, Mrs. Bradshaw!

• 1 (16 ounce) package graham crackers, crumbled
• 1 cup melted butter
• 2 1/2 cups peanut butter
• 2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1. Grease a 9x13 inch pan.

2. Mix graham cracker crumbs, butter, peanut butter and powdered sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Press the mixture into the prepared pan.

3. In a small pot melt chocolate chips and condensed milk together over low heat. Stir until well mixed. Spread the chocolate mixture over the peanut butter mixture. Chill the cookie-bars for 4 hours. Cut and serve.

I actually came across this recipe because Mom wanted me to make something (anything!) with condensed milk in it. These things are AWESOME.
Texture? Perfect. Taste? Fantastic. Easy? Extremely!

Blueberry Crunch

2 cups flour
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup melted butter
1 quart blueberries, fresh or frozen

Mix all but blueberries together. Press half into a 9x13 pan. Pour blueberries on top. Sprinkle with rest of crumble. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes or until bubbly.

Enjoy!

Chocolate-Coffee Ice Cream Pie

This is so easy, and it's so good! For added garnish, I whipped up some heavy cream and topped the pie before I sprinkled on the pecans and cookie crumbs and drizzled on the syrup.


1 chocolate pie crust
1/2 cup nuts chopped
cooking spray
1 teaspoon sugar
1 pint coffee ice cream
1 pint chocolate ice cream
1 package chocolate sandwich cookies
1/4 cup butter
chocolate syrup

Place pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray; sprinkle evenly with sugar.

Bake at 350° for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly toasted. Cool.

Stir together ice cream, 3/4 cup cookie chunks, and 1/3 cup pecans; spoon into pie crust. Freeze 10 minutes. Press remaining cookie chunks and pecans evenly on top. Cover with plastic wrap, and freeze 8 hours. Drizzle individual slices evenly with chocolate syrup.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

This has got to be an all-time favorite! I have also made it in a 9in. x 13in. pan instead of the two pie crusts, making my own crust with graham crackers; it works just as well.


16 ounces cream cheese
2 cups powdered sugar
2 cups chunky peanut butter
1 cup milk
1 pint whipped topping
1/2 cup peanuts chopped
1 cup chocolate chips
2 graham cracker pie crust
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chopped Lindt or Ghirardelli

Combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, peanut butter and milk in a large mixing bowl. Beat at medium speed until blended. Fold in whipped topping, peanuts and chocolate chips. Spoon mixture into the two pie crusts and freeze for approximately 2 hours. Remove from freezer and top with ganache. Chill in refrigerator until ready to serve. Use a hot knife to cut, and clean knife between slices. You can sprinkle a few of the chopped peanuts on top of the ganache for garnish.

To make ganache, boil the heavy cream, milk and sugar. Place chopped chocolate in double boiler. Add hot cream mixture to melted chocolate and stir until smooth. (Ganache can be prepared ahead of time and reheated in a double boiler.) Cool about 5-10 min. before topping pie.

Mocha Sauce

1. 4 ounces of chopped bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate
2. 2/3 cup of whipping cream
3. 1/4 cup of sugar
   
4. 1 teaspoon of instant espresso coffee powder or regular instant coffee crystals

In a small saucepan heat and stir chocolate over low heat until melted. Stir in cream, sugar, and instant coffee. Cook and stir over medium-low heat about 3 minutes. or until mixture just boils around edges. Remove from heat. Cool for 15 minutes before serving. Cover and store in refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Almond Panna Cotta

This recipe is so good! It would be really quick too, if you bought almond butter instead of making your own.

• 1 cup of whole, blanched almonds, toasted
• 2/3 cup of sugar
• 1 envelope of unflavored gelatin
• 2 cups of whipping cream
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 1//8 teaspoon of salt

Place the almonds in a food processor and process until finely ground into a smooth butter. We got this to work a little better in the blender.

In a medium saucepan stir together sugar and gelatin. Add whipping cream Heat and stir until gelatin is dissolved. Remove from heat. Stir in the almond butter, the milk, and salt. Pour into six 6-ounce ramekins or custard dishes. Cover and chill for 6 to 24 hours, or until set.

Prepare Mocha Sauce (I'll post that recipe in a different post). To serve, loosen panna cotta from sides of dishes with a knife. Invert onto six dessert plates. Spoon or drizzle some Mocha Sauce around each panna cotta. Serve with additional Mocha Sauce and, if desired, garnish with sliced almonds.

Chocolate Oatmeal Cake

Chocolate Oatmeal Cake

• 1 3/4 c. boiling water
• 1 cup uncooked oatmeal
• 1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
  
• 1 stick butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 3/4 c. unsifted flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon cocoa
• 1 12 ox pkg of chocolate chips
• 3/4 c. chopped walnuts or coconut (optional - I didn't use them)

Pour water over oatmeal. Mix and let stand at room temp. 10 minutes. Add brown sugar, gran. sugar, butter and eggs to oatmeal mixture, stir well. Add about 1/2 pkg of chocolate chips to batter, stirring until distributed. Pour batter into a greased and floured pan - either bunt or 9by13. Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips and nuts. Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.

ENJOY!!!


~Camille~

Seven minute icing

I made this for a Christmas cake, and it was delectable, in my opinion! It is also extremely easy.

• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup cold water
• 2 egg whites (if you get just a tiny bit of yolk it it, it will be ruined!)
• 2 teaspoons light corn syrup or 1/4 cup cream of tartar (I used cream of tartar)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

In the top of a double boiler combine sugar, cold water, egg whites, corn syrup or cream of tartar, and a dash of salt. Beat 30 seconds on low speed of electric mixer. Place over boiling water (upper pan should not touch water). Cook about 7 minutes while beating constantly on high speed of electric mixer or till frosting forms stiff peals. Remove from heat, add vanilla. Beat 2 to 3 minutes till spreading consistency. Frosts tops and sides of cake.

Enjoy!

Homemade Kitkat Bars

• 75 Club cracker

• 1 cup butter

• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs

• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

• 1/2 cup whole milk

• 1/3 cup sugar

• 2/3 cup creamy peanut butter

• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate morsels

• 1/2 cup butterscotch flavored morsels.

Line an ungreased 13x9 inch baking pan with 1 layer of crackers, cutting to fit if necessary; set aside.

In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add cracker crumbs, brown sugar, milk, and sugar. Bring to a boil, and boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and pour half of the butter mixture evenly over crackers. Place another single layer of crackers evenly over butter mixtures, cutting to fit if necessary. Pour remaining butter mixture evenly over crackers. Top evenly with remaining crackers.

In a small saucepan, combine peanut butter, chocolate morsels, and butterscotch morsels. Melt over medium -low heat, stirring constantly. Spread evenly over top of crackers. Cover, and chill for at least 1 hour. Cut into bars. Store in refrigerator in another county if you want any.

Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookies

Alright Laura, here are the cookies. :)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 cups Soft White Wheat Flour
• 1 cup Oatmeal
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 cup pecans (optional)
• 1/2 cup milled flax seed (optional)
• 2 cup chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla; mix in the rest of the ingredients. Make into 1" balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet about 2" apart. Bake at 350 for 10-12 min.

This recipe makes about 5 dozen, depending on the size you make the cookie. We like to freeze them so that they are ready whenever we need them. Also, I've found that sometimes they need more baking time than it says; but I tend to not do very well making the cookies 1" balls so that's probably why... :)

Deluxe Cream Cheese Frosting

Of course the best part of any carrot cake... :)

• 1/2 cup of butter, softened
• 1 (8 oz.) package of cream cheese, softened
• 1 (16 oz.) package of powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• 1 cup of chopped pecans
• 1 cup of flaked coconut

Combine butter and cream cheese; cream until light and fluffy. Add sugar and vanilla, mixing well. Stir in pecans and coconut.

Yield: enough for one 3-layer cake [barely]

My changes to this recipe: I toasted the pecans in a little butter and sugar to sort of candy them before stirring them in. I also couldn't bring myself to put the coconut in. I think those are the only changes I made though.

Old-South Carrot Cake

This went over so well this past Lord's Day I thought I'd post it here for everybody! I'll post the frosting in a separate post again. ;)

• 2 cups of flour
• 2 cups of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of soda
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup of vegetable oil
• 2 cups of grated carrots

Combine dry ingredients; stir gently, and set aside. Combine eggs and oil, beating well. Fold in dry ingredients and carrots.

Spoon batter into 3 greased, floured, and papered 9-inch cake pans; bake at 375 for 25 minutes or until cake tests done. (Cake layers will be thin.) Cool 10 minutes in pans; remove from pans and cool completely.

Yield: one 3-layer cake.