Cake Batter & Crumbs

Triple Chocolate Cookies - Ellie Krieger

What's better than a chocolate cookie?  A chocolate cookie with three kinds of chocolate in it!

And what's even better than that? A triple chocolate cookie that's even healthier for you!

When I was flipping through Ellie Krieger's book The Food You Crave, I knew I had to make these. I love anything with chocolate in it, and to know that these are a healthy food, made it all the more appealing.

Dark chocolate is actually quite good for you. It's rich in antioxidants (surprisingly 8 times the number found in strawberries!) and has been proven to keep your heart and cardiovascular system running smoothly by lowering blood pressure and cholesterol. This recipe uses both dark and milk chocolate to give a nice sweet and not bitter flavor. Combine that with the whole wheat flour, and you've got a quite a healthy and yummy cookie! Even my snoopy husband who won't touch dark chocolate or whole wheat flour  found these quite tasty.

All things in moderation though. I found myself wanting to eat a bunch of these all at once. That's how good they are!

Triple Chocolate Cookies
The Food You Crave and Online

Makes 2 dozen cookies

1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch processed)
1/4 teaspoon salt, optional
1/3 cup dark chocolate (2 ounces) coarsely chopped
1/3 cup milk chocolate (2 ounces) coarsely chopped
2/3 cup chopped pecans, optional
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, mash together the butter and sugars with a fork until well combined. Add the oil and egg and beat until creamy. Mix in the vanilla.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, cocoa powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well. Stir in the dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and the pecans and mix well. Using a tablespoon, scoop the batter onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 12 minutes. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack to cool.

Nutrition Information
Nutritional Analysis per Cookie	Calories: 108
Total Fat: 6 grams	Saturated Fat: 2.5 grams
Protein: 1 gram	Carbohydrates: 13 grams
Fiber: 1 gram

Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie

Recently I had the opportunity to bake with my teenage cousin Emily. She’s learning about all kinds of new interests and hobbies that she can develop, so I really enjoyed showing her my most favorite hobby – baking! My mom was there helping out too, and it turned out to be a lot of fun. I love baking with my family.

Emily chose this recipe, which calls for a giant cookie baking pan. After making a batch and spreading it out in the pan, we realized that one batch wouldn’t be enough. So, we made a second batch and used around half of it to fit in the pan. One batch might have been enough, but I thought it would make a really thin, crispy cookie bar, and that’s not what we wanted. We used the rest of the second batch to make little cookies that she used to decorate the top.

The cookie really turned out perfectly. It was just the right thickness – around ½ to ¾ inches thick and she loaded the top of it with the classic vanilla buttercream icing I used a while ago for these cupcakes.

Ok, so in actuality I had to force her to stand there so I could take a picture of her and the cookie for my blog... (Darn teenagers!) … but she did a fantastic job and I look forward to baking with her again.

Thanks, Em, for letting me show you my favorite hobby! =)

Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie

Ingredients:

• ½ cup butter
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• ¾ teaspoon vanilla
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ tsp. baking soda
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray pan with vegetable pan spray. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter with sugars. Add egg and vanilla and mix well. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt; mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread dough into prepared pan with spatula. Bake 15-20 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool on rack for 5 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool before cutting. Decorate.

Makes 8-10 servings.

Valentine's Cupcakes

For Valentine's week, we had a red/pink themed lunch at work where everyone brought a food item in those colors. I chose to make mini red velvet cupcakes -- although a snow storm kept me from going to work the actual day of the lunch, so I missed out!

Anyway, these mini cupcakes were supposed to be of the red velvet variety, but they came out more chocolaty brown -- still delicious, but certainly not the pretty red color I was aiming for. I take all blame though, as I thought the batter needed more chocolate than called for and I also used both regular baking cocoa and dark baking cocoa.  More chocolate on Valentine's Day isn't necessarily a bad thing, right? The batter at least was a lovely shade of deep red, though the final product was decidedly not. Although, I really do think that if you hold them up to the light and squint just right, you can see a slight red coloring!

Topping these little guys is the traditional cream cheese icing, tinted pink (to fit our red/pink theme, of course) and on the tippy top I placed a little conversational heart candy. This particular cupcake, of course went to my husband!

Red Velvet Cupcakes
Adapted from Martha Stewart's Red Velvet Cake recipe
Makes 48 mini cupcakes

• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 1/2 cups cake flour, not self-rising
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups canola oil
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons red food coloring
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons white vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line mini cupcake trays with liners. Set aside. Whisk together flour, salt, and cocoa in a medium bowl; set aside.
2. Mix sugar and oil on medium speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk until combined. Add eggs one at a time; mix well after each addition. Mix in food coloring and vanilla. Add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the buttermilk and beginning and ending with flour, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed.
3. Stir together baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl. Add baking-soda mixture to batter, and mix on medium speed 10 seconds. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake until a cake tester inserted into centers comes out clean, 15 minutes. Let cool completely in pans on wire racks.

Cream Cheese Icing

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 (8-ounce) cream cheese, room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• red/pink food coloring

Place butter in bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add cream cheese, and beat until well combined and fluffy, about 2 minutes more. Add sugar and vanilla, and beat until combined, about 2 minutes.

Tiramisu Cupcakes

One of my most favorite desserts ever is Tiramisu. There's something about the combination of sponge cake and velvety mascarpone cream filling that is irresistible to me. Throw in some chocolate and a hint of coffee, and I'm in heaven.

When I saw that the Cupcake Hero's challenge this month was coffee, I decided to try turning this classic Italian dessert into a cupcake.

To get started with the base, I adapted the tiramisu sponge cake recipe from a Williams Sonoma Desserts cookbook. Instead of baking in a spring form pan, I filled 18 cupcake liners. You really have to watch these in the oven as the batter is so airy, it takes a very short time to bake. Once the cupcakes have baked and cooled, I made some slits in the tops with a knife and then brushed them with a sweetened espresso syrup. The final component is the mascarpone cream that I filled inside the cupcakes as well as on top. Dust them with cocoa powder, and a few chocolate shavings, and it's all set! These were so tasty and just as good as their full-sized counterparts. Yum!

Tiramisu Cupcakes

Sponge Cake
1 cup (4 1/2 oz / 140 g) all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 eggs, at room temperature
2/3 (4 2/3 oz / 145 g) sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pan with 18 liners. I sprayed the liners with nonstick spray. (I don't know if that's necessary, but the cake didn't stick in the end so it worked)

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt until blended.  In a large bowl, using a mixer on medium-high speed, beat the eggs until pale and thick (about 3 min). Add the sugar and vanilla and continue beating until very thick and tripled in volume (about 3 min more). Sprinkle the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients, and using a rubber spatula, fold gently until blended.

Fill the liners with the batter and baking until a toothpick inserted in the cakes comes out clean. Mine only took around 15 minutes. Let the cake cool completely

Syrup
1/2 cup (4 fl oz / 125 ml) water
1/3 cup (2 1/3 oz / 70 g) sugar
2 tablespoons dark rum
2 teaspoons instant espresso powder

Combine the water and the sugar in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the sugar dissolves.Bring to a boil and remove from the heat. Stir in the rum and espresso powder. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Make slits in tops of cupcakes with a sharp knife and then brush on the espresso syrup.

Filling
8 oz mascarpone
scant 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 tablespoon marsala
1/2 cup heavy cream, chilled

Beat together the mascarpone, confectioner’s sugar and marsala in a mixer until well blended. Add the cream for around another 1-2 minutes until it is fluffy.

Using a pastry bag with the filling mixture, insert the tip in the cupcake to squeeze a small amount. Then frost the tops of the cupcakes with the mixture. Sprinkle cocoa powder and chocolate shavings.

Chocolate Truffles

Rich, luscious, creamy, divine... these are all words that come to mind when I think of chocolate truffles. Because of their high society status (in my mind anyway) I assumed that making these at home would be a daunting task that naturally would end in some sort of kitchen disaster. Surprised, however, was I to see how easy these really are to create. With a few simple tricks, anyone can make these 'expensive-to-purchase' but 'cheap-to-make chocolates' in their own homes.

I wanted to start basic, so this is a classic truffle recipe I found on the Food Network website made from a  semi-sweet chocolate ganache and rolled in cocoa powder. The trick to making these is to work with very chilled ganache and then have very cold hands. The recipe suggests running your hands under cold water. I also saw Warren Brown on Sugar Rush make truffles and his recommendation was to pull out some cans of soda from your fridge and roll them between your hands. If your hands are too warm, you'll melt the ganache and end up with a sticky, chocolaty mess.

These truffles so rich and creamy and they melt in your mouth. They definitely help curb a chocolate craving.

Chocolate Truffles
from How to Boil Water on the Food Network

1/2 pound semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 to 2 tablespoons dark rum, Grand Marnier, Bourbon, or other liquor [I used Grand Marnier and it gave it a really nice flavor]

1/4 to 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa, confectioners' sugar, sweetened ground chocolate, or finely chopped nuts Put the chocolate in a bowl. In a small saucepan or microwave, heat the cream to a boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate and shake the bowl gently to settle the cream. Cover with a plate or lid and set aside until the chocolate melts, about 5 minutes. Whisk the mixture until smooth and shiny. Stir in the rum or other flavoring. Cover the surface of the chocolate with plastic wrap. Set aside in a cool place until the chocolate firms up, about 2 hours. (To speed this up set the bowl of chocolate over another bowl of ice and stir until the desired consistency.)

Line a baking sheet with waxed or parchment paper. Use 2 spoons to drop small mounds/balls of chocolate, about 1/2 to 1-inch high on the paper (depending on the size you want). Then chill your hands under a faucet of running cold water or by using an ice bath. Roll each chocolate mound between your open palms to make smooth round balls.

Pour the cocoa or coating of choice into a cake pan or on a plate. Roll the truffles in the coating or use a clean spoon to pour the coating on the truffles. Repeat with all the truffles. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

To serve, scoop the truffles out of the cocoa with a fork or a slotted spoon. Put the truffles in small candy cups and serve now or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Easy Peanut Butter Meltaways

My mom pulled my husband and I into her kitchen one day and asked us to taste these and tell her what they reminded us of. We both instantly shouted "Gardener's Peanut Butter Meltaways!!" These creamy, chocolate and peanut butter, fudge-like dreams just melt in your mouth and they easily rival those of a higher end confectionery shop in our area.

The best part is that they are so easy to make! The recipe is basically one part white chocolate, one part milk chocolate, and one part peanut butter; melt and mix, then pour into a greased pan. After they cool, you can cut them into bite-sized pieces.

In my first trial I learned it's important to not try to add any extra peanut butter. I was thinking I could make them extra peanut-y but the extra addition of peanut butter makes them not set up solidly when at room temperature. They are just fine when kept in the fridge, but any length of time at room temperature will start melting these meltaways.

Easy Peanut Butter Meltaways

12 oz. white chocolate chips
12 oz. milk chocolate chips
12 oz. creamy peanut butter

Lightly spray a 13"x9" pan with cooking spray. Melt both kinds of chips together in the microwave or over a double boiler. Add the peanut butter and mix until all are combined. Pour into the pan and let it allow it to set up. You can speed this up by placing it in the refrigerator. Once it's all set, you can cut it into individual pieces.

It would also work well to pour the melted mixture into little paper liner candy cups to have an even prettier presentation.

 

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

In much the same way I like my brownies, I fancy my cookies crisp around the edges and chewy in the middle. I've been searching and searching for a giant chocolate chip cookie recipe like this. I have to admit there's some silly surge of excitement I get each time I order up one of these giant cookies at one the cafe's near where I work.

Thanks to this recipe at AllRecipes.com, I've finally found my official "go to" chocolate chip cookie recipe for the future. At nearly 2000 positive reviews, how can you go wrong? These made huge, chewy and gooey cookies that are so hard to resist. I ended up doubling the recipe and baked over half of them for now. I'm refrigerating the rest of the dough and will bake them up the morning some of my holiday guests arrive next week. Don't let the yield amount throw you off. These cookies are massive, at 1/4 cup dough each, I could only fit 6 per baking sheet. I'd guess you'd get between double and triple the yield if you were making regular sized cookies, but really who wants regular-sized ones when you can have colossal-sized ones?

Best Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yield: 18 Cookies

INGREDIENTS                                                               

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS                                                

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.                            
3. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Katharine Hepburn's Brownies

Brownies are usually classified into two different categories. There are the cake-like brownies on one side and then the fudgy, gooey brownies on the other. Everyone has his or her own preferences, but for me, the gooey brownies take the cake... err brownie!

The recipe for these brownies comes from Katharine Hepburn's family. I've read that gossip columnist Liz Smith got the recipe from Hepburn about 25 years ago to publish in her column and since then this popular recipe has been republished numerous times in many cookbooks. I've seen this recipe with rave reviews on a lot of sites, and I can definitely agree that these brownies are superb.

In my mind the perfect brownie is slightly crispy on the outside and soft and gooey on the inside. These little beauties come so very close to achieving that ultimate glory for me. They have a nice little, crisp crust and a moist, gooey center. I think if I were to only swap out the nuts for chocolate chunks, I'd be in blissful brownie heaven.

Katharine Hepburn's Brownies

2 squares (ounces) unsweetened chocolate
1 stick (1/4 pound) butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
                      

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Butter an 8-inch square baking pan.
Melt the chocolate with the butter over low heat in a large saucepan; stir until completely melted.
Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar; add eggs and vanilla extract and beat mixture well.
Stir in the flour, salt and nuts and mix well.
Pour the batter into the 8-inch square pan.
Bake for 35-40 minutes at 325 degrees F until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Cool on a wire rack.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peppermint Frosting

It's been a chilly and snowy weekend here in Pennsylvania. For me there isn't a better way to spend a winter-y Sunday afternoon than cozied up with a platter full of frosty, peppermint cupcakes and watching many, many hours football. Cupcakes and football could be two of life's greatest things, especially in this house!

Add kittens to the list of life's greatest things too! We just got a new kitten this weekend and are introducing her to our other younger cat, so I wanted to bake something easy this week. I had a box of Betty Crocker cupcake mix in the cupboard and decided this was the way to go. The cupcake mix comes with a little packet of dry mix and 12 cupcake liners. You just add the water, oil, and an egg like a regular mix.

The peppermint frosting was a great addition to the chocolate cupcakes. I didn't want the frosting to be too strong, so I only added a touch of the extract. I had both peppermint hard candies and also a bag of Andes holiday peppermint crunch candies in the house. I chopped up some of both and decided the Andes mints tasted better when sprinkled on the cupcakes. The chopped Andes candies aren't as crunchy as the hard peppermints and had a sweet taste that went well with the icing. The result is a sweet frosting with a nice mellow peppermint flavor.

I love the look of crushed peppermints against the white icing. They look so festive!

Peppermint Frosting

3/4 cup vegetable shortening, like Crisco
3-4 TBL water
4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup powdered coffee creamer (I used French vanilla)
1/8 tsp peppermint extract

Mix vegetable shortening and water in a mixer until combined. Slowly add powdered sugar and powdered coffee creamer. Mix until well combined. Add the extract and mix. Add some extra water if needed to get the frosting to the right consistency.

A rare photo of the two cats where they're not chasing each other around the house!

Giada’s Individual Orange and Chocolate Cheesecakes

Citrus and chocolate—to the world: a normal flavor combination, but to me: a strange, unchartered territory.

When I first saw this recipe on TV, I was filled with doubt. I was puzzled at how citrus-y orange flavor could possibly taste good when combined with chocolate.

   

I decided to take the plunge--what a risk taker I am! After all, none of Giada’s recipes have ever failed me in the past, so I made these Individual Orange and Chocolate Cheesecakes.

   

I’m happy to report that now, I too am an orange and chocolate lover! The orange flavor came only from the zest, so while it was very light, you could tell it was there.

   

These came out in really cute, one-to two-bite mini cakes. Since cheesecake can be really rich, these were perfect to get a taste without overindulging.

   

The recipe is below, or you can click this link to see it on the Food Network’s web page along with the other recipes from the show that day.

 

 

Individual Orange and Chocolate Cheesecakes
    Giada De Laurentiis

 

   

1/3 cup finely crushed chocolate wafers
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
2 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
1 orange, zested
1 egg
Butter, for greasing

 

Special equipment: mini muffin tin

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

 

Combine the crushed chocolate wafers and the melted butter. Place a tightly packed teaspoon of the wafer mixture into each mini-muffin cup and press down firmly.

 

In a food processor combine the ricotta cheese, cream cheese, 1/4 cup of the sugar, half of the orange zest, and the egg. Blend until smooth. Lightly grease the sides of the mini muffin tin with butter. Fill the cups with about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the cheesecake mixture. Place the mini muffin tin in a baking dish and pour enough hot water in the baking dish to come halfway up the sides of the mini muffin tin. Bake for 25 minutes. Transfer the mini muffin tin to a wire rack and let cool for 30 minutes. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Use a small knife to gently pop the cheesecakes out of the cups.

 

Just before serving, combine the remaining orange zest with the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Top each individual cheesecake with about 1/4 teaspoon of the orange zest mixture and serve.