Hot Chocolate Cookies

 Hot Chocolate Cookies 

In honor of National Hot Chocolate Day, I made hot chocolate cookies.

• 1 1/2 cups (191 grams) all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup (32 grams) hot chocolate mix**
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick (113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup (100 grams) light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup (170 grams) milk chocolate chips
• 8 ounces (227 grams) semisweet chocolate, cut into 20 equal pieces
• 10 large marshmallows, cut in half

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, hot chocolate mix, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
2. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium-high speed until well-combined and smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the egg and egg yolk and beat until combined. Add the vanilla extract. On low speed gradually add the flour mixture. Fold in the chocolate chips with a rubber spatula. Chill for about 1 hour, or until the dough is no longer sticky.
3. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
4. Using a spoon or spring-loaded scoop, drop 1 1/2-tablespoon sized balls of dough onto the prepared baking sheets.
5. Bake for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and top each cookie with a piece of semisweet chocolate and 1 marshmallow half, cut side up. Return to oven and continue to bake for another 4 minutes, or until the marshmallow begins to melt slightly. Use a kitchen torch to toast the tops of the marshmallows. Alternatively, place the cookies under the broiler for about 30 seconds to toast the marshmallows. Be careful as the marshmallows can go from toasted to burnt very quickly!
6. Let cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
7. Cookies are best served the day they are made due to the marshmallow but may be stored in an airtight container in one flat layer for up to 3 days
   1. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, hot chocolate mix, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
   2. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium-high speed until well-combined and smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the egg and egg yolk and beat until combined. Add the vanilla extract. On low speed gradually add the flour mixture. Fold in the chocolate chips with a rubber spatula. Chill for about 1 hour, or until the dough is no longer sticky.
   3. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
   4. Using a spoon or spring-loaded scoop, drop 1 1/2-tablespoon sized balls of dough onto the prepared baking sheets.
   5. Bake for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and top each cookie with a piece of semisweet chocolate and 1 marshmallow half, cut side up. Return to oven and continue to bake for another 4 minutes, or until the marshmallow begins to melt slightly. Use a kitchen torch to toast the tops of the marshmallows. Alternatively, place the cookies under the broiler for about 30 seconds to toast the marshmallows. Be careful as the marshmallows can go from toasted to burnt very quickly!
   6. Let cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
   7. Cookies are best served the day they are made due to the marshmallow but may be stored in an airtight container in one flat layer for up to 3 days

      

      
      

Chocolate Cake

 Happy National Chocolate Cake Day

This cake would have been great except the ad in the middle of the recipe made me miss the sugar.   The frosting was great.  I may try again tomorrow.

https://myrecipeconfessions.com/desserts/ultimate-homemade-chocolate-cake/?utm_term=chocolate+cake&utm_campaign=5162425013&epik=dj0yJnU9eFA2MHM0MkxCY01yWFZVbVZnb0RMNm5xTUJPT2RQQl8mcD0wJm49bDhNQUxLNDRFVjljQTdnc0JqSndzUSZ0PUFBQUFBR0FTSWhv

Ultimate Homemade Chocolate Cake

1 3/4 cups of granulated sugar

1 3/4 cup of all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cup of dutch processed cocoa

1 1/2 tsp. of baking powder

1/4 tsp. of baking soda

1 tsp. of salt

2 eggs, at room temp.

1 cup of milk, at room temp.

1 /2 cup of canola oil

1 tbsp. of vanilla

3 tbsp. of sour cream

1 cup of hot coffee

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

1. Mix all the dry ingredients together in bowl. In another large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, oil, vanilla, and sour cream together.
2.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix on medium speed for 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
3. Add the hot coffee to the cake batter and mix in by hand until well combined.
4. Pour the batter into the well greased pan/pans and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with only a few crumbs attached. *baking time depends on the pan you use.

-For Layer Cake- use three 9 inch pans- bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with only a few crumbs attached. Cool cake in pans for 10 minutes, then turn pans over on a cooling rack and cool completely. Frost cake with chocolate truffle frosting. * I double the frosting recipe when making a layer cake.

-For a 9×13 pan– bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with only a few crumbs attached. Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting it.

Chocolate Truffle Frosting

*double the frosting recipe when making the layer cake.

1/2 cup of butter, softened

2 cups of powder sugar

3/4 cup of cocoa

3/4 cup of heavy creamy

2 tsp. of vanilla

Instructions

1. Whip the butter until creamy. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until smooth and creamy.

I doubled the frosting recipe and used 8 inch pans.

UPDATE

Much better when you add all the ingredients 🤫.

Peanut Brittle

 1/26 was Peanut Brittle Day

This came out great but you need to watch it as I only cooked it for half the time.

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
½ cup light corn syrup
Dash salt
1-½ cups shelled raw peanuts
1 Tablespoon butter
1-½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:

1. Heavily butter a baking dish that has been covered with foil. **If you can't get microwave-safe foil, use parchment paper

2. Combine sugar, corn syrup, and salt in a 9 Inch square casserole dish then stir in the peanuts.

**Please note, if the dish is too large for your microwave, you can make this in batches with a dish that suits the capacity of your microwave.

3. Microwave at 100% until light brown, 8-10 minutes, stirring once or twice throughout cooking time. May take longer depending upon your microwave.

https://lovefoodies.com/microwave-peanut-brittle/?epik=dj0yJnU9NFZDcGFMSzFreldYOVRTUy1Bd0ZKdEZmMVMtMlpBejYmcD0wJm49dDNOUG5WVHltdnNFdEY0Ry02cFFUQSZ0PUFBQUFBR0FTSklB

4. Stir in remaining ingredients until light and foamy. Quickly spread on greased foil in pan. Spread as thinly as possible for brittle candy.

5. Cool then break into pieces and store in an airtight container.

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
½ cup light corn syrup
Dash salt
1-½ cups shelled raw peanuts
1 Tablespoon butter
1-½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:

1. Heavily butter a baking dish that has been covered with foil. **If you can't get microwave-safe foil, use parchment paper

2. Combine sugar, corn syrup, and salt in a 9 Inch square casserole dish then stir in the peanuts.

**Please note, if the dish is too large for your microwave, you can make this in batches with a dish that suits the capacity of your microwave.

3. Microwave at 100% until light brown, 8-10 minutes, stirring once or twice throughout cooking time. May take longer depending upon your microwave.

4. Stir in remaining ingredients until light and foamy. Quickly spread on greased foil in pan. Spread as thinly as possible for brittle candy.

5. Cool then break into pieces and store in an airtight container.

Eggnog Cookies

I followed my buttermilk cookie recipe with a few changes and made them into eggnog cookies. They were very good.

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon sugar
• 6 tbsp butter
• 6 tbsp shortening
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup eggnog
Frosting
• 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
• 3 - 5 Tbsp eggnog
• 3 cups powdered sugar

 

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon for 30 seconds, set aside. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip together butter & sugar until pale and fluffy. Mix in egg, blending just until combined after each addition. Mix in vanilla extract and egg nog. With mixer set on low speed, slowly add in dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Scoop dough out by the heaping tablespoonfuls and drop onto Silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheets, spacing cookies 2-inches apart. Bake in preheated oven 11 - 13 minutes. Allow to rest on baking sheet several minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool. Cool completely then frost with Eggnog Frosting and sprinkle tops lightly with nutmeg.
• For the Eggnog Frosting:
• In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip butter until very pale and fluffy. Add in 3 Tbsp eggnog and mix in powdered sugar. Add additional eggnog to reach desired consistency.

The Great American Cookie Swap

This year I entered into the Great American Cookie swap.  I received three lovely cookies.  The first was Jingle Jems.  At first when I opened up the cookies, we thought they were going to be chocolate / peanut butter.  But they weren't.  We are guessing that the secret ingredient is ground up coconut.  But we still aren't sure.

Next we received rolled chocolate cookies that were decorated as hot chocolate.  The decorations were beautiful!  My youngest son loved these cookies!

Our final cookie came to us from Japan.  They were brown sugar shortbread.  We also enjoyed the simplicity of these cookies.  The flavor was very good.

Now onto my cookies!  I made sticky toffee pudding cookies.  The cookie came out very well.  We enjoyed these at our house although I'm not sure it would be something that I'd run to make again!  [Now I've got to figure out what to do with my leftover dates:(]

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• ⅛ tsp nutmeg
• ½ cup butter, room temperature
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• ½ cup finely chopped pitted dates
• ½ cup caramel ice cream topping or dulce de leche
• ½ - ¾ cup toffee bits

 Instructions

1. Whisk flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg together in a bowl, set aside.
2. In bowl beat together butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes.
3. Add in eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth.
4. Mix in dates until evenly incorporated.
5. With mixer on low, add in dry ingredients until combined.
6. Chill dough 2 hours or overnight.
7. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°
8. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone liner.
9. Scoop out cookie dough in 2-3 tablespoon portions, using a cookie scoop or rounded spoon.
10. Bake 10 minutes until edges start to golden.
11. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
12. Drizzle with caramel sauce or dulce de leche and sprinkle with toffee bits

 

http://cookiesandcups.com/sticky-toffee-cookies/

New Christmas Cookies of 2015

This year I made several new cookies. 

The first is Santa's Favorite Cookies.  These cookies came out well!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 box (3.4 ounces) Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix (not sugar free)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup red and green sprinkles (or any colors)
• 3/4 cup Christmas M&Ms (or any color of M&M)

Directions:

1. Note: This dough requires chilling.
2. Cream butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. (You can also use a hand mixer.) Mix in egg and vanilla until smooth. Add pudding mix, baking soda, and salt. Mix until combined. Mix in flour, then stir in sprinkles and M&Ms.
3. Scoop 2 tablespoon balls of cookie dough onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment or a silpat baking mat. There’s no need to space them out, you’re going to chill them. Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpat baking mats. Place chilled cookie dough balls 2” apart on cookie sheet. Bake 9-11 minutes or until the edges just start to turn brown. Cool 5 minutes on cookie sheet before transferring to a rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days or freeze for up to one month.

http://www.crazyforcrust.com/2015/11/santas-favorite-cookies/

The second was Somoa Thumprint Cookies.

These probably were one of the best cookies I've tasted in a LONG time.  I really loved these.  I used the chocolate and caramel recipe from the cashew caramels for this in order to not have to make several different batches of these.

Ingredients

• 2 cups toasted coconut
• 1 cup shredded sweetened coconut
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1½ cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 cups flour

Caramel Filling

• 14 ounces Peter's caramel (it comes in a block at kitchen specialty stores) or Kraft Caramel Cubes
• 2 Tablespoons evaporated milk

Remaining Ingredients

• ¼ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 4 Tablespoons heavy cream

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Mix both the toasted and sweetened coconuts together, reserving ¼ cup to garnish, on a large plate and set aside.
3. In a small bowl place the slightly beaten eggs and set aside.
4. In a large mixing bowl, combine butter and sugar and cream together. Add vanilla and beat again. With mixer on low, gradually add flour and salt and beat until just combined.
5. Roll dough into 1¼ inch balls, then roll them in the egg mixture and then roll them in the coconut mixture and place on a greased cookie sheet.
6. Make an indentation with your thumb or a round spoon in the center of each ball and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and once again press spoon into the cookies and return to the oven for another 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on cooling racks.
7. While cookies are cooling place caramel and evaporated milk in a microwaveable bowl on high for 1 minute. Stir and repeat in 30 second increments until it is smooth, stirring in between each increment.
8. Fill the cookies with enough caramel to fill the indention.
9. In another small microwavable bowl combine chocolate and cream. Heat for 1 minute and stir. Repeat in 30 second intervals until chocolate is smooth, stirring between each increment. Pour into a ziplock bag and snip off the end and drizzle chocolate over the cookies and sprinkle reserved toasted coconut over the top.

 

http://www.chef-in-training.com/2015/02/samoa-thumbprint-cookies/

The third new cookie was brookies.  The family really loved them.

Brookie Cookies

 Makes 36 large cookies

Author: Cookies & Cups

Ingredients

Chocolate Chip Cookie

• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 Tbsp vanilla
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2½ cups flour
• 2 cups mini chocolate chips

Brownie

• 1 (18 oz) box brownie mix
• 1¼ cup flour
• 3 eggs
• ⅓ cup vegetable oil

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. Line baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.

For chocolate chip cookie portion:

1. Cream butter and both sugars together for 2 minutes until fluffy and light.
2. Add in eggs and vanilla and mix until incorporated.
3. Mix in baking soda and salt. Then add flour and mix until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
4. Set aside.

Brownie

1. In a large bowl combine brownie mix and flour. Whisk together.
2. Stir in eggs and oil until combined. Dough will be thick.

Assembly

1. Form chocolate chip cookie dough into 1 inch balls. Scoop an equal size of the brownie mixture and squish it together with the cookie portion.
2. Place on baking sheet 2 inches apart.
3. Bake for 9-10 minutes until edges are golden and cookies are just set.
4. Allow to cool 3-4 minutes on baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

http://cookiesandcups.com/brookie-cookies/#_a5y_p=1602744

 

And finally, Carmel Cashew Clusters

 

Caramel Cashew Clusters

Yield: 20 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

30 individually wrapped caramels, unwrapped {about 8 ounces}
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup
salted cashews, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
2 teaspoons vegetable shortening

Directions:

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine caramels and cream. While stirring constantly, heat mixture until caramels are fully melted. Remove pan from heat.
3. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the vanilla and cashews until they are thoroughly mixed into the melted caramels.
4. Spray a small or medium cookie scoop with non-stick cooking spray and scoop the caramel-cashew mixture 2 inches apart onto the prepared pan. If you prefer a more symmetrically shaped cluster, use your fingers to mold this caramel. Repeat with rest of mixture.
5. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate and shortening until smooth stirring every 30 seconds or so.
6. Drizzle melted chocolate over clusters. See recipe notes for storage information.

 

 

 

 

Apple Pie Cheesecake

I made this for a family party and my father is still talking about it a month later!  I didn't have any of it as I'm not a big fan of cheesecake, but I definetely will be making it again.

Ingredients

Crust

1 1/2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs

4 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

5 tbsp butter

Cheesecake Filling

3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

3 tbsp all purpose flour

4 eggs

1 cup sour cream

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Apple Cheesecake Filling

2 large apples, peeled and chopped

4 tbsp light brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch ground nutmeg

Cinnamon Cheesecake Filling

1/2 cup brown sugar, lightly packed

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

3 tbsp flour

3 tbsp butter, melted

Apple Garnish, on top of cheesecake

1 large apple, peeled and chopped

2 tbsp light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch ground nutmeg

sprinkle of lemon juice

1 tbsp butter

Instructions

Crust

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees.

2. In a small bowl, combine crust ingredients and mix well.

3. Press mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan.

4. Bake crust for 10 minutes then remove and set aside.

5. Cover the outsides of the pan with aluminum foil and set aside.

Cheesecake and Cinnamon filling

1. Reduce oven to 300 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, mix the cream cheese, sugar and flour until combined (Use low speed to keep less air from getting into the batter, which can cause cracks). Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

3. Add eggs one at a time, beating slowly and scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition.

4. Add the sour cream, vanilla extract and cinnamon. Beat on low speed until well combined. Set aside.

5. In another medium sized bowl, toss together apples, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg until apples are coated. Set aside.

6. In another medium bowl, whisk together brown sugar, cinnamon and flour. Stir in melted butter until combined.

7. Add about 1/3 of the apples to the bottom of the crust.

8. Break apart cinnamon mixture and sprinkle pieces over the apples, about 1/3 of the cinnamon mixture.

9. Spread about 1/2 of the cheesecake filling over the cinnamon mixture.

10. Add another 1/3 of the apples and cinnamon mixture to the top of the cheesecake filling.

11. Spread remaining cheesecake filling over cinnamon and apples.

11. Sprinkle remaining apples and cinnamon mixture over top of cheesecake.

11. Place springform pan (covered with aluminum foil) inside another pan. Fill outside pan with enough warm water to go about halfway up the sides of the springform pan. The water should not go above the top edge of the aluminum foil on the springform pan.

8. Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes.

9. Turn off heat and leave cheesecake in oven with door closed for 30 minutes.

10. Crack oven door and leave the cheesecake in the oven for about 20 minutes.

11. Remove cheesecake from oven and chill until completely cool and firm.

12. To make the apple garnish for the top of the cheesecake, add chopped apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice and butter to a pan. Stir together until apples are well coated.

13. Cook apples on medium heat until at desired tenderness, about 10 minutes.

14. Remove cheesecake from springform pan and place on serving plate. Add apples to the top of the cheesecake and drizzle remaining sauce from pan over cheesecake.

15. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

 

http://www.lifeloveandsugar.com/2015/08/24/apple-cinnamon-cheesecake/