Chocolate

Chocolate Glazed Tart with Strawberries

February 10, 2015 by Amy Leave a Comment

Disclosure: I received a gift card and coupons for ingredients used in this recipe, in exchange for this sponsored post. All opinions are 100% my own.

With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, it’s hard not to think of the classic chocolate covered strawberries. It’s just the perfect, simple treat to enjoy for the holiday. You simply clean/dry the berries, melt chocolate over a double boiler, dip, allow to dry (if you can wait) and enjoy! If you’d like to make things more festive and decorative, Driscoll’s has a few ideas here.

I wanted to make this treat even more indulgent, by placing chocolate covered strawberries on top of an indulgent, chocolate tart. While this may look intimidating, the recipe is fairly simple. With a chocolate sandwich cookie crust, truffle-like filling and a chocolate glaze, this heavenly dessert would be perfect for a Valentine’s Day dessert! Topping this dessert with chocolate covered berries and white chocolate drizzle is just the cherry on top of the sundae.

As much as I love chocolate, I have to confess something to y’all. My husband does not like chocolate. I know…I KNOW. I like to joke that while it’s a bummer, I absolutely know for a fact that no one else in our house is touching my chocolate stash haha!

Chocolate Glazed Tart with Strawberries
Source: slightly adapted from Epicurious

Ingredients:

For the crust:

25 chocolate sandwich cookies, finely ground in a food processor

3 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

9 oz. bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped

2 large eggs

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. salt

For the glaze:

2 tbsp. heavy cream

1 3/4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

1 tsp. light corn syrup

1 tbsp. warm water

For the topping:

4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped

1/4 tsp. + 1/8 tsp. canola oil, divided

12 medium to large sized Driscoll’s strawberries, cleaned and dried

2 oz. white chocolate, roughly chopped

sprinkles (optional)

Directions:

To make the crust, adjust an oven rack to the middle rack, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Stir together the ground chocolate sandwich cookies and butter. Then press the mixture evenly into the bottom and 3/4″ up the side of a 9″ fluted tart pan. Bake the crust for about 10 minutes, or until firm. Allow the crust to cool on a rack for 15-20 minutes.

To make the filling, bring the heavy cream to a boil, and pour the hot cream over the bittersweet chocolate in a heat-proof bowl, allowing the mixture to stand for 5 minutes. Gently stir the mixture until smooth. Whisk the eggs, vanilla and salt together in another bowl. Add 1 tbsp. of the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture, mixing well (this is to prevent the eggs from scrambling once the egg/chocolate mixtures come together), then add the egg mixture to the chocolate mixture.

Pour the filling into the cooled crust. Place the tart pan in a baking sheet (just in case there’s leaks). Place the tart pan in the oven, baking for 20-25 minutes, until the filling is set about 3 inches from the edge, but the center is still jiggly. Allow the tart to cool completely in the tart pan on the cooling rack, about 1 hour.

To make the glaze, bring the heavy cream to a boil and remove the cream from heat. Stir in the chocolate, until the mixture is smooth. Then, stir in the corn syrup and warm water.

Pour the glaze on top of the tart, and then gently tilt and rotate the tart to allow the glaze to coat the top evenly. Allow the glaze to stand until the glaze is set, about 1 hour.

To make the berries, while the glaze is setting, place the bittersweet chocolate and 1/4 tsp. of the canola oil in a double boiler, stirring often until melted. Set a parchment paper or wax paper lined baking pan on the side. Dip each berry in the chocolate, up to about 1/4 from the top of the strawberry. Place the dipped berries on the parchment/wax paper lined baking sheet, about an inch from each other. If you’d like, you can add sprinkles on top of the chocolate. Allow the strawberries to set for about 10 minutes (they will still be slightly wet).

Arrange the berries on top of the tart. If you’d like to stack the berries, they will still be slightly wet to allow them to stick to each other. Melt the white chocolate and 1/8 tsp. of canola oil in a double boiler, and then drizzle the white chocolate over the tart and berries. Enjoy!

Filed Under: Chocolate, Desserts, Fruit, Pies

Raspberry, Pistachio & Dark Chocolate Rugelach

December 2, 2014 by Amy 1 Comment

Disclosure: I received a copy of “Baking Chez Moi”, as well as a gift card and coupons for ingredients used in this recipe, in exchange for this sponsored post. All opinions are 100% my own.

So, this past long weekend threw me way off. Our house is decorated for Christmas, and it’s officially the holiday season. Maybe it’s because I’m getting older, but it really doesn’t feel like December. Sure, the UPS guy probably knows us on a first name basis by now, and my dog is randomly bringing me ribbon scraps, but it just doesn’t FEEL like the holiday season. I’m sure the 70 degree weather outside isn’t helping right now, either. Where did the year go?!

I’m actually fairly behind on things. By now, I would normally have my homemade holiday gifts planned out, but I haven’t even made the cookie dough yet to place in the freezer..heck, I haven’t even chosen the recipes to make! Yikes. I still need to do that…haha.

In the meantime, I’m still baking on the weekends (and my/my husband’s coworkers are loving it). I was recently sent a copy of Dorie Greenspan‘s latest book, “Baking Chez Moi“. I just adore Dorie Greenspan, so when I was approached about this post idea, I couldn’t reply soon enough! Her tall and creamy cheesecake is my favorite recipe of hers, which I make at least 5 times in November and December (between Thanksgiving and Christmas). One of the things that makes Dorie so wonderful is that she makes intimidating recipes completely approachable to the home baker. She writes out everything in perfect detail to where you feel like she’s right there in the kitchen with you. This book is no different. The instructions are perfectly detailed, and her recipes are mouth-watering. Her book contains recipes, like limoncello cupcakes, gingerbread buche de noel, cocoa linzer cookies, caramelized rice krispies…just to name a few. I have so many recipes bookmarked already!

For this post, I was asked to incorporate Driscoll’s berries into her famous rugelach recipe. While I’ve had rugelach before, I’ve never made it. After a bit of brainstorming, I thought that raspberry, pistachio and dark chocolate would go together perfectly in this bite-sized dessert. I’ve used the cranberry/pistachio/white chocolate combination before in biscotti, so I had a feeling this combination would work. Also, after making it, if you look at the picture, don’t they look like peppermint swirls? So festive for the holiday season!

As for the recipe, it tasted great! I reduced a pint of Driscoll’s fresh raspberries (along with sugar, lemon juice and zest) to a spread-like consistency (to avoid watering down the cookies), and sprinkled finely chopped chocolate and pistachios on top of the raspberry spread to make the filling for the rugelach. This combination works so well…sweet raspberries, melted chocolate with a hint of crunch from the pistachios? Oh man, I love it! My coworkers also went crazy over these the next day…they were perfect with a morning coffee.

Raspberry, Pistachio & Dark Chocolate Rugelach
Source: Baking Chez Moi by Dorie Greenspan (filling adapted)

Ingredients:

For the dough:

4 oz. cold cream cheese

1 stick (8 tbsp.) cold, unsalted butter

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. fine sea salt

For the filling:

1 pint fresh Driscoll raspberries, washed

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. lemon juice

1/4 tsp. lemon zest

1/2 cup shelled pistachios

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled

3 tbsp. granulated sugar, mixed with 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 large egg (for glazing dough)

sanding or granulated sugar, for dusting

Directions:

Remove the cream cheese and butter from the refrigerator 10 minutes before you’re ready to make the dough and cut each into 4 equal pieces. This will allow them to slightly soften, but still be cold.

After the 10 minutes, place the flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor, and scatter the pieces of butter and cream cheese over the flour/salt. Pulse the mixture 6-10 times, until flour coats the cream cheese and butter. Then, process the mixture, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl ever so often, until large curds form in the dough (before it processes into a ball of dough).

Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface, mold it into a ball, and divide the dough in half. Then, shape each dough half into a square and wrap the squares in plastic film or wax paper. Place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours (or up to a day).

To make the filling, cook the raspberries, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest in a small pot over medium heat. Cook the mixture, stirring ever so often, until it reaches a boil. Reduce the heat to low, and simmer until the mixture thickens (about 10 minutes) to a spread. Set the raspberry filling aside to cool.

Place the pistachios and chocolate chips in the food processor and pulse the mixture until the mixture looks finely chopped, but not crumbs. Set aside.

Working on a lightly floured surface, sprinkle flour on top of one piece of dough, and using a rolling pin, roll the dough until it’s about a 12″ square, making sure to turn the dough frequently while rolling (and flouring lightly, if necessary). It doesn’t need to be precisely a square. The dough will be rather thin when finished.

Cut the rolled out square of dough in half, to where you will have two pieces of dough that are approximately 12″x 6″. Brush the tops of each half of dough with the melted butter, and then sprinkle the tops with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Thinly spread 1/4 of the raspberry filling on top of the butter/cinnamon sugar mixture. Then, add 1/4 of the pistachio/dark chocolate mixture, gently pressing it into the dough.

Starting from the long (ragged) side of the dough, carefully roll the sheet snugly (like you would when making cinnamon rolls), ending with the neat, cut edge at the bottom of the roll.

Wrap the roll in plastic wrap or wax paper, and place it in the freezer. Fill and roll the other rectangle the same way as above. Then, repeat the whole dough rolling/filling process with the other square of dough.

Ideally, you want the dough to rest for an hour in the freezer, to allow for easier slicing, but you can take them out of the freezer and (carefully) slice them after about 15-20 minutes. You can also freeze these rolls for up to two months, if you don’t want to bake all of the cookies at once.

To bake the cookies, place the oven racks to where it divides the oven into even thirds. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F, and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside.

In a small bowl, beat the large egg lightly with a splash of cold water.

Working with one roll at a time, remove the rolls from the freezer, and brush the top of each roll with egg wash. Then, generously sprinkle the tops of the rolls with sugar. Using a sharp knife and a gentle sawing motion, divide each roll into 12 slices, and place the cookies seam down on the baking sheet, with a little space between each cookie (each baking sheet held 24 cookies for me).

Bake the cookies for 15-17 minutes, making sure to rotate the cookie sheets in the oven from top to bottom rack, and then flipping them front to back, being sure not to under-bake these. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and allow them to completely cool to room temperature. Enjoy!

Filed Under: Chocolate, Cookies, Desserts, Fruit, Giveaways/Reviews

White Chocolate Peppermint Mousse Pie

November 21, 2014 by Amy 13 Comments

Disclosure: I received a copy of “Southern Living Christmas All Through the South” at no cost to me, for a fair and honest review. Southern Living/YC Media is providing the giveaway item. All opinions are 100% my own.

I’ve had a really rough past week. Two deaths in my family (one being my grandmother and the other being the family dog) happened, and I just don’t know how to stop randomly crying when I start thinking about a world without either of them. I know that humans > dog, and my grandmother and family dog don’t compare. They don’t. Just two large pieces of bad news, and I’m terrible at grieving. I do know that they are both no longer suffering ,and that gives me a bit of solace. It’s just really hard with the holidays around the corner.

I’m an early holiday celebrator. I just love the holidays, as I’m sure this is no secret to y’all. However, when my husband offered to take down the decorations this week (the same husband who is firmly in the post-Thanksgiving decorating camp), I said no. I’m just not feeling the holiday spirit right now. The idea of taking everything down and making the house Christmas-y is suddenly making me a bit overwhelmed. Honestly, I’m starting to wonder if I would be perfectly content just taking down the gift wrap and not decorating at all this year. This is so not like me. I’ve tried watching “Christmas Vacation”, listening to Christmas Pandora, and I’m just meh about it all. I know this has a lot to do with our family’s losses, so I’m hoping my mini holiday funk will pass.

In another attempt to get the holiday spirit back, I decided to make something with holiday flavors. I was sent a review copy of Southern Living Christmas All Through the South, and I picked out the most seasonal sounding recipe to me at the time to whip up: White Chocolate-Peppermint Mousse Pie. Peppermint Bark is one of my favorites around the holidays, and I thought with the chocolate cookie crust and white chocolate peppermint mousse, I couldn’t go wrong with this recipe. Something about whipping egg whites and heavy cream into fluffy goodness is oddly therapeutic. Just watching the components come together distracted me enough to forget about the bad news for a while. It was really pleasant…

Hopefully, I’ll shake out of this mini funk soon. I’m just going to take this weekend to relax a bit, since I feel like this has been the longest week ever. I need Monday.

Pumpkin Spice & Chocolate Swirl Fudge

October 23, 2014 by Amy Leave a Comment

I absolutely adore fudge for the holiday season. My mom’s fudge, especially. It’s a little bit of work, since it involves cooking the sugar to the soft ball stage, but it’s SO worth it! It’s really the only fudge I knew for a long time, but one year at a Christmas potluck, I tried microwave fudge. It’s not the same texture as regular fudge, but it’s still delicious!

This fudge only takes a few minutes to cook in the microwave, and then you just have to pour it out in a pan and let it chill in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving. The original recipe just calls for semi-sweet chocolate, but since I adore Hershey’s Pumpkin Spice kisses (I’ve seen them at Target and Walgreens out here.), I just had to swirl these two together.

Because of the pumpkin spice kisses (which are usually softer than regular chocolate at room temperature), I recommend serving these just out of the fridge. As the fudge sits out, it doesn’t melt, but it does get fairly sticky.

Pumpkin Spice & Chocolate Swirl Fudge
Source: adapted from Nestle

Ingredients:

8 oz. pumpkin spice kisses, unwrapped (in weight)

4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips (in weight)

14 oz. can condensed milk, divided

1 tsp. vanilla extract, divided

Directions:

Line an 8×8 or 9×9 inch baking pan with parchment paper. Lightly spray the parchment paper with cooking spray and set aside.

Place the pumpkin spice kisses and 9 oz. of the condensed milk in a medium bowl. Microwave the mixture on 50% power in 30 second increments, stirring well after each microwave cycle, until melted. Stir in 2/3 tsp. of the vanilla extract and set aside. In another bowl, add the semi-sweet chocolate chips and the remaining 5 oz. of the condensed milk. Microwave the mixture on 50% power in 30 second increments, stirring well after each microwave cycle, until melted. Stir in the remaining 1/3 tsp. of the vanilla extract and set aside.

Spread the pumpkin spice kisses fudge into the bottom of the lined baking pan, and then drizzle the semi-sweet chocolate fudge over the pumpkin spice fudge. Swirl the two together with a fork or butter knife.

Refrigerate the fudge for 2 hours or until the fudge is firm. Lift the parchment paper from the pan, and cut the fudge into 48 equal pieces.

Filed Under: Candy, Chocolate, Desserts

Classic Caramel Apples

October 20, 2014 by Amy 2 Comments

Do you guys ever watch QVC? I usually only watch around the holidays when the kitchen show is on, and OMG…half of the time, I’m so jealous of the guy who hosts the program. The other day, they were advertising for these really fancy caramel apples, and the craving hit me. I had to have caramel apples. HAD to.

So, I grabbed a sack of small Granny Smith apples and got to work. I always get a bit anxious when it comes to candy-making, but we recently purchased this thermometer (it was on clearance at Target), and it worked like a charm! I usually have to use the bowl of ice water trick, because my thermometer is always a bit off, but these came out perfectly. I think the hardest parts were waiting for the caramel to cool down for dipping, and then cool completely for enjoying!

This recipe is a little different than the usual caramel that I’m used to…there’s a hint of molasses and maple flavor to it, which just makes you want to wear a pair of fuzzy socks, make my house smell like fall spices and take a nap. Perfect fall afternoon, right?

Classic Caramel Apples
Source: Epicurious

Ingredients:

1 lb. box dark brown sugar

16 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened and at room temperature

14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

2/3 cup dark corn syrup

1/3 cup pure maple syrup

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. dark molasses

1/4 tsp. salt

12 popsicle sticks, chopsticks or long cookie sticks

Heavy whipping cream, just in case the caramel thickens too much during dipping

Optional: decorations (I used crushed candy corn M&Ms and a mixture of graham cracker crumbs with sprinkles) and/or melted dark, milk or white chocolate

Directions:

Place the first 8 ingredients in a deep (at least 3 inches), heavy saucepan or dutch oven. Stir the mixture with a wooden or silicone spatula over medium-low heat, until the sugar dissolves (about 15 minutes). Have a wet pastry brush handy for brushing down the sides of the pan/pot.

Add a clip-on candy thermometer to the side of the pan/pot. Then, increase the burner to medium-high heat, cooking the caramel to a rolling boil, stirring constantly (yet slowly) until the candy thermometer reaches 236 degrees F. If needed, use the wet pastry brush to brush down the sides of the pan/pot.

Carefully pour the caramel into a metal bowl, making sure not to scrape the pan/pot. Place the candy thermometer in the bowl, and allow the caramel to cool, without stirring, to 200 degrees F. This step will take 20-30 minutes.

While the caramel is cooling, prep the apples by washing them in warm water, and wiping the excess water off of the apples once they are cleaned. Carefully stick in a popsicle stick/chopstick/cookie stick a couple of inches into the stem side of the apple. Place the apples on buttered foil or a silicone baking sheet.

Once the caramel cools, dip one apple into the caramel, submerging all of the apple, except for the very top of the apple. Take the apple out of the caramel, and allow the excess caramel to drip back into the caramel bowl. Once that’s done, turn the caramel apple upside down, and hold the apple like that for several seconds, in order for the caramel to sort of set around the apple. Place the apple on the foil or silicone sheet. Repeat with the remaining apples, being sure to space the apples apart on the buttered foil/silicone sheet. Just in case the caramel thickens too much, add 1-2 tbsp. of heavy whipping cream to the caramel, and briefly whisk the caramel in the bowl over low heat to thin it out.

If you are using decorations or chocolate, prepare them at this time for the apples.

Place the apples on baking sheets in the fridge for about 15 minutes, or until the caramel is partially set and cool to the touch. Remove the baking sheets from the fridge. Lift one apple from the foil/silicone sheet, and using your hand, press the pooled caramel from the bottom of the apple, back onto the apple. Place the apple back on the foil/silicone sheet. Repeat with the rest of the apples.

At this time, firmly press the decorations into the caramel, and then return the apple to the foil/silicone sheet. You can also dip the caramel apples into melted chocolate (allowing the excess to drip off for a few seconds), and then roll the chocolate coated caramel apple into your decorations. Another option for decorating the caramel apples is to drizzle melted chocolate over the apples and press on decorations that way too.

Place the apples on the baking sheets back in the fridge for about an hour to allow everything to set. Cover or place in food-safe cellophane bags, and chill the apples for up to a week. Enjoy!

Filed Under: Candy, Chocolate, Desserts, Fruit

Chocolate Spritz Cookies with Pumpkin Spice Peanut Butter Icing

September 15, 2014 by Amy 1 Comment

Disclosure: I wrote this post as a part of OXO’s Bake a Difference for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer (#OXOGoodCookies) campaign. I received no compensation for this post, but was given OXO products to use to make this recipe.

My best friend is about to have her first baby. It blows my mind, because um…wasn’t college last week? Not really, but time is just flying by. My husband and I want to have kids some day, but oh man, I sometimes still feel like I’m too young for this. When did I reach my 30s? Weird.

Anyway, I’m super thrilled for her and her husband. I can’t wait to meet their sweet little baby and spoil him/her rotten with random craft-y things.

I have been in a major cooking mood this past week, which means fall is really around the corner. I rarely cook in the summer, and if I do, it’s slow cooker meals, because I don’t want to heat things up in the house when it’s 100+ heat index outside (kitchen slacker). So, now my kitchen is about to be crazy haha! I made these chocolate spritz cookies for coworkers, and then two pans of chicken enchiladas (one for us and one for my friend/her husband, just so they have one less thing to worry about when prepping for baby).

These chocolate spritz cookies are very simple to throw together. It’s not fussy…just one bowl needed, and the dough comes together in no time! I got this recipe off of OXO’s recipe book, but decided to add my own little fall twist by icing the cookies with pumpkin spice peanut butter icing. Perfect combination for the fall! I used OXO’s cookie press to make them, and I was especially excited to use the fleur de lis disk, since it’s football season. (Yay Saints!)

I made these cookies to Bake a Difference with OXO for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer. This fall, keep your eyes peeled for certain OXO products with this sticker on the tag.

(Image courtesy of OXO, used with their permission.)

For every stickered item sold, OXO will donate 25 cents in support of pediatric cancer research as part of its $100,000* pledge to Cookies for Kids’ Cancer. Look for specially marked OXO products at participating retailers in September.

* In 2014, OXO will donate up to $100,000 to Cookies for Kids’ Cancer through specially marked baking tools, bake sale matches and other fundraising efforts. Cookies for Kids’ Cancer is a recognized 501c(3) public charity duly incorporated under the laws of the state of New Jersey. Your donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowable by law. 100% of proceeds raised by Cookies for Kids’ Cancer fund pediatric cancer research.

If you’re looking to purchase some new kitchen products very soon, it’s the perfect time to bake a difference, especially with the holidays coming up!

Chocolate Spritz Cookies with Pumpkin Spice Peanut Butter Icing
Source: cookies from OXO and icing is adapted from Betty Crocker

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 large egg, at room temperature

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

For the icing:

1 tbsp. peanut butter

1/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 1/2 tbsp. whole milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

Directions:

To make the cookies, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Set aside two un-greased baking sheets.

In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugar and salt together, until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl, and add the vanilla extract and egg into the bowl, mixing on low.

Slowly add in the flour and cocoa powder, beating until the mixture is well mixed.

Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through, until the cookies are golden brown on the edges.

To make the icing, whisk the peanut butter, pumpkin pie spice, milk and vanilla extract together in a bowl until well mixed. Add in the powdered sugar and mix until there are no clumps in the icing. It will be a thin icing.

Once the cookies have cooled, place them close together on a cooling rack and using a fork, drizzle the tops of the cookies with the glaze. If you’d like, you can add sprinkles on top right after icing them. Enjoy!

Filed Under: Chocolate, Cookies, Peanut Butter

Layered Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

September 2, 2014 by Amy Leave a Comment

I know I have been fairly infrequent in my posting lately, which kind of stinks. Life has really been happening (all good things), but none of it has to do with this blog. So, of course, it has suffered a little bit. However, I’m pretty excited that my favorite baking months are ahead, so there will be more recipes for me to share. I tend to get more inspiration in the kitchen during the cooler months, so I’m pretty excited to share recipes more frequently again.

This past week was my coworker’s birthday. At my current job, I’ve sort of become one of the unofficial birthday cake makers. When I asked my coworker what she would like for her birthday, she asked for the New York Times cookies that I posted about a while back. I was originally thinking of decorating the cookies with buttercream and just passing those out, but then I thought that a cookie cake would be especially fun. I love the look of the un-iced cakes lately, so I went for that look with this cookie cake.

This post isn’t really a recipe, because the recipe for the cookies and buttercream have already been posted. However, I did want to share how I went about making this recipe, which is meant for individual cookies, into a layered cookie cake.

Layered Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
Source: inspired by un-iced cakes, which are all over the Internet lately

Ingredients:

1 recipe NYT Chocolate Chip Cookie dough (chilled in the fridge for 48 hours)

1 recipe Easy Vanilla Buttercream

sprinkles and food coloring, for decorating

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper.

Divide the cookie dough into four pieces (Just to note: As you can see, this cookie cake has three layers. I only used three of the pieces for this recipe, and baked the rest of the dough into individual cookies). Press one piece evenly into the bottom of the 8-inch cake pan. Repeat with another piece of cookie dough into the other pan.

Bake the two layers in the oven for 18-22 minutes, until the top of the cookie layers are golden brown. Remove the pans from the oven, and allow the cookie pans to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. The pans will still be hot after this, so carefully flip the pans over onto a cooling rack, remove the parchment paper and allow them to finish cooling on the rack.

When one of the pans is fully cooled, line the pan with parchment paper and press another piece of cookie dough evenly into the pan. Bake the last layer for 18-22 minutes, and allow it to cool the same way as the other two layers.

Once all of the layers are cooled, place a small dollop of buttercream frosting on the cake serving plate, and place the first layer over the frosting. The dollop of frosting will help the cake adhere to the plate. If you’d like, you can dye the buttercream whatever color(s) you’d like. Set aside about 1 cup frosting for decorating the top/sides of the cake for after you’re done assembling the cookie cake.

With the buttercream that you didn’t set aside, evenly spread half of the buttercream on top of the first cookie layer. Place the second cookie layer directly over the frosted first cookie layer. Then, evenly spread the rest of the buttercream (not including the cup you set aside) on top of the second cookie layer. Finally, place the third cookie layer on top of the second cookie layer.

With the remaining cup of buttercream, I added a few piped swirls on top and piped some buttercream along the sides of the cake, to make things look cleaner. Add sprinkles, if you’d like! Slice like a normal cake and enjoy!

Filed Under: Cakes/Cupcakes, Chocolate, Cookies, Desserts

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball

July 22, 2014 by Amy Leave a Comment

Last week, I went on an impromptu trip to Sonic. Since I’m back to calorie counting, I try to keep my splurges to a minimum, but that night, I couldn’t shake the craving for peanut butter + chocolate (pun intended) :-). So, I fulfilled it with a PB Chocolate milkshake at Sonic that was probably my entire calorie count for the day. It was delicious. DELICIOUS.

I haven’t gone back to Sonic since, though…even though I drive by it every.single.day on the drive home from work. Willpower struggles, y’all.

Speaking of willpower struggles…I stupidly made this dessert cheese ball for an office party. I managed to avoid the break room for a good part of the day, but once I went in there for lunch, I couldn’t help myself. I served these with Peanut Butter & Dark Chocolate Chip Cookie Chips. I received a few packs of these a while back as a complimentary sample to try and just had to get more for this dessert! You could also use graham crackers or animal crackers with these, but I thought PB Chocolate Chip cheese ball with PB/Dark chocolate cookie chips? I mean…c’mon.

This went over really well at the office party. The cheese ball itself is a peanut butter/cream cheese combination, mixed with chopped Reese’s and semi-sweet chocolate chips. Then, I put some refrigerated Reese’s cups in a food processor, and chopped them up until they were crumbly. THEN, I coated the cheese ball in the candy. Yeah….I’m not sorry at all. In fact, this snack went over so well that I ran out of Cookie Chips just after lunch. I seriously thought that meant I’d have a ton of this to bring home, but um…some people had to have eaten this straight up with a spoon, because there wasn’t much left at all when I went to bring my dish home!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball
Source: slightly adapted from Buns in my Oven

Ingredients:

1 8 oz. block cream cheese, softened

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (NOT natural)

3 tbsp. packed light brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 bag Reese’s miniature cups, divided and coarsely chopped

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Place the cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, peanut butter, brown sugar and vanilla extract in a medium bowl. Beat the mixture until everything is well-mixed, about two minutes. Stir in half of the Reese’s and all of the chocolate chips. Wrap the mixture in plastic wrap, in a slightly flattened ball shape.

Refrigerate the ball for 2 hours, as well as the remaining Reese’s cups. Remove the Reese’s from the fridge, and place them in a food processor. Process the candy until crumbly, and place them in a large plate. Remove the cheese ball from the fridge, and coat the ball thoroughly in the crumbled Reese’s.

Place the cheese ball on a clean serving plate, and refrigerate for a couple of hours or overnight, until ready to serve. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I was sent samples of Cookie Chips at no cost to me. All opinions are 100% my own.

Filed Under: Candy, Chocolate, Desserts

Red Velvet Ooey Gooey Bars

July 8, 2014 by Amy 2 Comments

One of the things I love about family is that no matter how long it’s been since you last saw them, everything seems to click and you pick up right where things left off. I went to a family member’s birthday party, and for the first time, I was nervous about going to a family event. Nervous because of the weight gain, and it’s been a while since I last saw quite a few of these family members. I know it’s really silly, but I feel like I should always apologize when I see people who once congratulated me on my weight loss. I know that my gain doesn’t affect them, but right now, I just feel like a weight loss slacker. I know…I know. It’s a journey, after all…however, I can’t help but think about what people see when they haven’t seen me since I was at my lowest weight.

Of course, no one said a word about it. No one. And we were all happy to see each other and catch up. It was a lovely day, actually. Surprisingly nice weather, gorgeous scenery on the lake, and it was just so nice to see everyone. Of course, I should know better. Family and friends don’t care what you weigh or how you look at a party. They just care that you’re there.

These ooey gooey bars are famous in the family. My mom, aunt, grandma…they all have made these bars for parties, and they’re always a hit. They’re fantastic and super easy to throw together (which is why they make an appearance at every party)!

When we were asked to bring a dish this past weekend, I asked my mom for her recipe for these infamous ooey gooey bars. They’re called ooey gooey bars, because the cream cheese layer is super rich, and for lack of a better word, ooey gooey. My mom usually makes them with yellow cake mix, but I thought it would be a fun, southern twist to make them red velvet. And of course, there’s nothing wrong with the occasional added chocolate drizzle to a dessert.

Red Velvet Ooey Gooey Bars
Source: adapted from my mom

Ingredients:

1 box red velvet cake mix

1 stick of unsalted butter, melted and cooled

2 large eggs, divided

1 cup chopped pecans

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

pinch of salt

3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and prepare a 9×13 inch pan by lining it with aluminum foil and greasing the inside with butter or baking spray. Set aside.

Mix the cake mix, melted butter, one of the eggs and pecans together until a cookie-like dough forms. Press the dough evenly into the baking pan (it may be sticky, so keep a bowl of water handy).

Beat the cream cheese, confectioners’s sugar, the last egg, vanilla extract and salt together until well-mixed. Spread the mixture evenly on top of the red velvet dough.

Bake the bars for 40-50 minutes, until the top of the bars are browned along the edges and are starting to brown in the middle. Allow them to cool completely in the pan. Melt the semi-sweet chocolate in a bowl, and drizzle the top of the bars with the melted chocolate. Allow the chocolate to set and enjoy!

Filed Under: Brownies/Bars, Chocolate, Desserts

New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

May 15, 2014 by Amy 3 Comments

This past weekend was just lovely. I drove down to New Orleans to celebrate Mother’s Day with my family. It was so nice to catch up with all of my siblings, as well as treating my mom to a nice lunch out (even though at ages 21-30, we’re still pretty silly in public haha!). One of the things I appreciate about my family is that while we’re all pretty busy and don’t see each other very often, it seems like we just pick up where we left off. We talked about old home videos, past holidays, and just caught up with each other in general.

It makes me appreciate everything about my family. We have our quirks, but I feel so lucky to have the family that I have. We’re all so supportive of each other, and oh man, did I appreciate my family like crazy last year! I remember calling my family just after the lightning strike/fire happened. I had reached my low point, because the “what ifs” were eating at me. There wasn’t anything they could do to undo the damage, but to have people there to vent to/cry to…it’s what I needed.

While I’m pretty happy right now (Thank you, new awesome job…funny how a new day job can boost your mood!), I felt 10x happier after seeing everyone. Sure, we may have gotten a few stares from laughing too loud in the restaurant, but who really cares? I feel like we need to do this more often, but with 3 busy siblings and my parents who seem busier now vs. when I was a kid, I’m afraid it probably won’t happen again for a few months now (maybe for Father’s Day…hint hint family?).

Chocolate chip cookies remind me a lot of my family. My mom used to bake cookies like crazy when we were kids, although she’d sneak in oatmeal chocolate chip cookies any chance she could get. Also, the Pillsbury cookie dough rolls? I’m pretty sure we ate more raw dough from those than actual baked cookies (I know…not safe because of eggs/salmonella risk…don’t judge me). Since today is National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day, I thought it would be fitting to finally make the infamous New York Times cookies. It was SO difficult to just let the dough sit in the fridge for 48 hours, but it was definitely worth it. I mean…3.5 oz. of dough for each cookie….you really can’t go wrong. If you want to impress someone, try this recipe. They had the perfect crunchy texture on the outside and were wonderfully chewy on the inside.

New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies
Source: New York Times

Ingredients:

2 cups minus 2 tbsp. (8.5 oz.) cake flour

1 2/3 cups (8.5 oz.) bread flour

1 1/4 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. coarse salt

2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups (10 oz.) light brown sugar

1 cup plus 2 tbsp. (8 oz.) granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate (disks or roughly chopped)

Sea salt (for sprinkling)

Directions:

Sift the flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium sized bowl. Set the dry ingredients aside for later use.

With a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and both sugars together until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Scrape the bowl down, and add in the eggs, one at a time, mixing for about a minute after each addition. Mix in the vanilla extract. With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined (about 5-10 seconds). Mix in the chocolate by hand, to avoid breaking the chocolate.

Place the cookie dough in a container, and cover it with plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for 24-48 hours before baking (I waited 48 hours).

To bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.

Weigh out 3.5 oz. of cookie dough (this isn’t a typo…they’ll be pretty large), and form it into a ball. Space out 6 balls of dough on the baking sheet, and sprinkle the tops of each cookie lightly with the sea salt. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until they’re golden brown but still soft. Allow the baking sheet to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, and then place the cookies on the cooling rack to finish cooling. Repeat with the rest of the dough until all cookies are finished baking. Enjoy!

Filed Under: Chocolate, Cookies, Desserts