Brownies
Sometimes I want dessert but really don't feel like spending six hours in the kitchen creating a culinary Mona Lisa. That's when a boxed brownie mix, a jar of caramel sauce, and a bag of candied pecans come in handy.
- Bake brownies.
- Heat caramel sauce.
- Stir in pecans.
- Spoon sauce over brownie.
- Eat.
And it tasted even better than it looks.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
It is a perfect Fall day. Weather is stupendous, windows wide open... Perfect weather for baking cookies.
Not that any day and weather isn't perfect for baking cookies, but some days are just more perfect than others.
Like today.
I had picked up some mini peanut butter cups thinking I'd make a standard toll house cookie and just substitute the cups for the chips, but by the time I had made it to the kitchen, a chocolate cookie was born.
Unlike the chocolate cookies I made last time, these are made with cocoa powder, not melted chocolate. More traditional and quicker to pull together!
And, since they're a baking soda cookie, it's natural cocoa powder, not Dutch process. Dutch process cocoa are cocoa beans that have been soaked in a potassium solution to neutralize the natural acidity of cocoa. It creates a darker cocoa with a smoother chocolate flavor. But neutral cocoa doesn't react to baking soda, so it shouldn't be used if the only leavening is baking soda. You can generally substitute natural cocoa powder in recipes but you usually can't substitute Dutch process for natural. Make sense?!?
And that's just for baking. If you're making frosting or chocolate ice cream, use whatever cocoa is in the house. And be sure to invite me.
If in doubt, just use the one listed in the recipe. If it doesn't say, it's natural.
I have to admit I rarely have Dutch process cocoa in the house, although I may pick up a box during the holidays. It's always good to be prepared and use the best ingredients for the product.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- pinch salt
- 2 cubes (1 cup) butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 12 oz mini peanut butter cups
Preheat oven to 350°.
Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and mix well.
Mix in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in mini peanut butter cups.
Use #30 scoop (1 1/2 tablespoons) and place about 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets.
Bake about about 12 minutes.
They taste as good as they look. maybe even better...
Chocolate Cookies
I was really in the mood for cookies, tonight.
I suppose I'm always in the mood for cookies - which is why I make them and don't buy them. We try to keep the instant gratification foods to a minimum around the house. If we want a treat, we have to make it. It's not like either of us can't have a batch of cookies out of the oven in 20 minutes or less, but it's still more effort than going to the cupboard and getting down the box. Treats take a modicum of planning.
My first thought was a basic chocolate chip - I can make those in my sleep - but as I was starting to pull ingredients together, I remembered a double chocolate cookie that starts off with a pound of melted chocolate. And I just happened to have a pound of chocolate waiting to be melted!
The joys of a well-stocked larder...
All I needed to do was find the recipe - which I did in a matter of minutes.
I'm glad I found the recipe. These are some fine cookies! Much more cake-like and really really chocolaty. They're light, fudgy, and and intense - all at the same time! I ate four of them - and then went back for one more!
As with all things, the better the ingredients, the better the end result. I used a really good 72% dark chocolate. I wouldn't waste my time melting chocolate chips...
These would handle crushed peppermint candy really well. I may have to think about making a batch at Christmas...
Double Chocolate Cookies
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 pound good-quality dark chocolate
- 1 stick butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 large eggs
Preheat oven to 350°.
Line cookie sheets with parchmant paper.
Mix together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.
Coarsely chop chocolate. Melt together 3/4 of the chocolate and 1 cube of butter in medium bowl - in double boiler or microwave. Stir in sugar.
Stir in eggs 1 at a time and then add flour mixture until just combined.
Chill dough about 20 minutes.
Use a 1 tbsp scoop and dish out cookies about 1" apart. Bake in middle of oven about 8 minutes.
Cool cookies on sheet pan about 5 minutes and then place on rack to cook completely. Makes about 42 cookies.
Yeah... I definitely see more of these in our future...
It's It
A San Francisco favorite from the old Playland-at-the-Beach.
It's It is an oatmeal cookie ice cream sandwich, dipped in chocolate. Back when I was a kid, they were made and dipped right in front of ya. I don't remember how much they cost back then, but I do know that no trip to Playland was complete without one.
With the Super Bowl starting up and the Niner's going for their sixth win, I thought a bit of San Francisco was needed tonight.
They are mass-produced nowadays - someone bought the license when Playland closed - but they're just not the same as a fresh cookie, premium ice cream, and thick melted chocolate.
I may have to have a couple.
The cookies are a pretty basic oatmeal. Not a lot to them but lots of flavor!
Oatmeal Cookies
- 1 3/4 cups rolled oats
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Preheat oven to 375°. Grease pans or line with parchment
Stir together oats, flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.
Beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined well. Add flour and oat mixture and beat until just combined.
Drop dough by heaping tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets and flatten mounds slightly with moistened fingers. Bake until golden, about 12 minutes total.
Place a scoop of vanilla ice cream between two cookies and carefully press together. Dip in chocolate and enjoy.
Yellow Cake
I just love cake. And having baked a few cakes in my life, I tend to have a few favorite go-to recipes for them. For flourless chocolate cake I use Tyler Florence's recipe. For a basic chocolate cake, it's Ina Garten. For yellow cake, it's a recipe I found in Bon Appetit, I think, quite a while ago. I've had it as a text file on my computer(s) for years, in a folder of hundreds of recipes that I have collected over the years. I just keep moving the folder as I get another computer and adding recipes to it as I find them - or as they're given to me.
This is a pretty easy cake to make but it takes a bit of time, because the sugar is added really slowly - mixing with the butter to get a really creamy consistency. Another secret is the buttermilk.
Sugar and butter add the tenderness to a cake. Flour and eggs - the proteins - give it its structure. It's why trying to make a cake "healthy" by taking out sugar or butter - or eggs or switching out different flours generally fails miserably.
It's a cake. It's not health food. Don't pretend it's good for you. It's cake.
I also use 8"x3" cake pans. They just work better for me. And I line them with parchment paper.
Yellow Cake
- 3 cups cake flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 2 cups sugar
- 5 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
Preheat oven to 350°. Butter and flour two 8" pans.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Place butter in mixer bowl. Beat for 3 minutes until the butter is light and creamy.
Add the sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, beating 1 minute after each addition, scraping the bowl occasionally. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well before adding the next.
Add vanilla. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk. Mix just until blended.
Spoon the batter into pans. Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
This was one of the two layers I baked. The other went into the freezer.
Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 cube of butter
- 1 8oz cream cheese
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder, sifted
- 2 tbsp espresso powder
- 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
Cream butter and cream cheese until light. Add vanilla and mix well. Add cocoa powder, coffee powder, and sugar and mix until very creamy. Scrape down bowl and then add heavy cream until icing is the consistency you want.
I split the one layer into three and frosted. I resisted adding anything else - this time.
Chocolate Peppermint Biscotti
Let the baking begin!
Cookie baking is a long tradition in our home. While I always made some cookies, it was Victor who elevated it to a mass-production art-form. I had a couple of family favorites - he had dozens. The cookie baking just kept growing and growing and growing until a couple of years ago, we decided it was time to scale back and concentrate on just a few favorites. We're back to having a lot of fun with it.
So... even though we're cutting back - or, at least, we're pretending we're cutting back - we always seem to find the time to make something new. My new one this year is a chocolate peppermint biscotti.
I usually leave the biscotti to Victor because he makes them so good I don't bother, but I had an idea for a chocolate peppermint version and decided to give it a go.
I'm glad I did. It worked well. Really well.
I used a chopped chocolate peppermint bark for the peppermint candy. Ghirardelli has a peppermint bark square that should be fairly readily available in most places, but it's also really easy to make - and just use the scrap pieces for the biscotti.
I also used a chopped up 72% chocolate to cut the peppermint - and added Jim Beam and no vanilla!
I think I may dip them in white chocolate - maybe half white, half dark. I dunno. I'll play and see what I like best.
Chocolate Peppermint Biscotti
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 cube (stick) butter
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 3 eggs
- 3 tbsp bourbon
- 1 cup chopped peppermint bark
- 1 cup chopped dark chocolate
Preheat oven to 350°.
Sift together dry ingredients. Cream sugar and butter, add eggs one at a time. Add bourbon.
Mix in flour. Mix in peppermint bark and chocolate.
Divide dough in half. With floured hands, shape into logs. Place on parchment-lined cookie sheets and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
Cool completely. Slice into 1/4 to 1/2″ slices and toast on both sides in 350° oven for another 20 or so minutes.
Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
We're starting to get our Christmas Cookie Baking List together, so I thought I'd bake a batch of unrelated - but holiday-centric - cookies just for the heck of it. I really wanted to try out some chocolate peppermint chunks to see how they were because I have an idea for a chocolate peppermint biscotti this year. We've dramatically cut the amount of cookies we bake every year, but every year we also come up with some new ideas to augment the old standards - and a chocolate peppermint biscotti - dipped in chocolate - sounds like it may be a fun idea.
After tasting a couple of the peppermint chips I decided to up the chocolate content a bit and made a batch of chocolate chocolate chip cookies with a bit more cocoa and a heaping teaspoon of espresso powder. I also added more plain chocolate chips to offset the peppermint a bit.
The end result was a pretty festive cookie. Lots of chocolate with a goodly amount of peppermint. It gave me a good starting point for the biscotti. And if I dip them in a good dark chocolate, they'll be the perfect holiday treat - amongst all our other perfect holiday treats.
I used a #40 disher to scoop out the cookies. They hold 1.75 tablespoons of dough and are the perfect size for adult-sized cookies. It's also the perfect size for mini-muffins. A #60 disher is just barely a tablespoon and makes a great kid-sized cookie.
I highly recommend everyone putting several different sized scoops on their Christmas Wish List this year. They really make cookie, muffin, and even pancake-making, a snap! We have 7 or 8 different-sized scoops we use for a variety of things. We've also had them for years. They really do last forever.
Chocolate Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 heaping tsp espresso powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups chocolate peppermint chunks
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350°.
Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, expresso powder, and salt and set aside. Beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add egg and and vanilla and beat until combined well.
Beat in flour mixture until just combined.
Stir in chips.
Use a #40 scoop if you have one - and you should - and bake about 13 minutes or until cookies are just set and begin to crack on top. Remove from oven and cool.
Chocolate Walnut Biscotti
We've been baking Christmas cookies forever.
At one point we were literally making thousands of them and buying flour and sugar in multiple 25-pound bags.
We probably still make more than the average family, but we have cut waaaaaaay back. Time, money, and old age are all catching up.
But what we lose in quantity, we definitely gain in quality. The cookies are better than ever.
We have the family favorites that we definitely have to make every year and we've had a niece and nephew come down and assist for the past few years. But while we always make the traditional cookies, we usually make a couple of different cookies each year, just because. Last year we went on a bit of a German binge and made Springerle cookies and Pfeffernüsse cookies - both excellent. This year, we're back in Italy with Chocolate Biscotti.
Victor reworked his Uncle Rudy's biscotti recipe for these. Actually, we have reworked that recipe a dozen times for a dozen different variations. The original is for a traditional anise cookie - that is still the family favorite - but the macadamia nut orange, the almond, and now chocolate are always big hits.
This variation is outstanding! And easy to make.
Chocolate Walnut Biscotti
- 2 3/4 cups flour
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 cube butter (4 oz)
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 cup chopped chocolate or chocolate chips
- 1 tsp vanilla
Sift together dry ingredients. Cream sugar and butter, add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla. Stir in flour and cocoa. Stir in nuts and chocolate.
Divide dough in half. Shape into logs. Place on greased cookie sheets and bake at 350° for 18-20 minutes.
Cool completely. Slice into 1/4 to 1/2″ slices and toast on both sides in 350° oven.
These really did come out awesome! And they're simple to do.
There are more cookies on the horizon and a special Danish pastry I want to make for Christmas morning. I'm going to be experimenting with it this weekend...
50 years ago - and yes, that is a long time ago - I worked in a neighborhood donut shop/bakery/coffee shop and we made a Danish pastry called a Butterhorn. I have not seen this particular Danish for years and even doing a Google search hasn't resulted in the Danish I remember. I have a Danish Pastry recipe from Fantasia Bakery in San Francisco that I have made before and a butter streusel recipe so Saturday after work I shall be making pastry. It's an hours-long process of rolling, folding, and chilling.
But they're gonna be good! I just know it!
Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes
When our friend Sara posted a recipe for Peanut Butter Oreo Brownie Cakes, I knew it was something I could run with.
The concept is solid. Alas, after making my first batch, I thought the brownie was, too. I decided that chocolate cake batter would work better - making them a bit lighter which would allow for a fabulous icing.
I made them with both peanut butter and boysenberry jam, but all the while dreaming about peppermint for Christmas.
Tonight, I decided to do a test run.
I took peppermint sandwich cookies and placed them in cupcake holders. On top of the cookie I added some cream cheese mixed with just a tad of creme fraiche and peppermint extract. I added another cookie, another dollop of cream cheese, and then about 3 tablespoons of cake batter.
Into the oven at 350° for about 18 minutes.
Here's Ina's cake recipe. It's a really simple cake to throw together.
Ina’s Chocolate Cake
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 2 cups sugar
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter two 8-inch round cake pans and line them with parchment paper; butter the paper. Dust the pans with flour, tapping out any excess.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle, mix the flour with the sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt at low speed. In a medium bowl, whisk the buttermilk with the oil, eggs and vanilla.
Slowly beat the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients until just incorporated, then slowly beat in the hot coffee until fully incorporated.
Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of each cake comes out clean.
Let the cakes cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then invert the cakes onto a rack to cool completely. Peel off the parchment paper.
When they cooled, I made a peppermint cream cheese icing: 1 8oz block of cream cheese, 1 stick butter, powdered sugar, peppermint extract, and a bit of heavy cream. I piped it on top and added a chocolate waffle cookie for decoration.
Oh my goodness gracious! These are good!
I'm going to bring the bulk of them into work tomorrow morning because I'll eat every one of them if I leave them here.
But another batch will be made for Christmas!
Yum.
Chocolate Brandy Walnut Pie
I was charged with making something "chocolatey-nutty" for my sister-in-laws birthday a couple of weeks ago. Alas, there was this little snow-storm and we didn't have electricity for a couple of days.
The situation was rectified last night when we went over their house for Sunday Dinner.
The recipe is bits and pieces of several pecan and/or walnut pie recipes we have around the house, starting with one my mom used to make years ago...
Use your favorite pie crust. I make mine because it is my firm belief that any homemade pie crust is better than a store-bought.
Chocolate Brandy Walnut Pie
- 1 single-crust pie shell, unbaked
- 8 large egg yolks
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 4 oz butter
- 1/2 cup light corn syrup
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 3 Tbs brandy
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 cups walnut halves and pieces
- 2 oz chocolate melted with 1 tsp neutral oil
Blend egg yolks and vanilla and set aside.
In small saucepan, heat brown sugar, maple syrup, cocoa powder, butter, corn syrup, heavy cream, brandy, and salt until mixture is slightly warm and butter is melted. Do not boil.
Slowly whisk warm syrup into eggs and vanilla. Strain into large measuring cup.
In a separate pan or bowl, melt chocolate with oil.
Brush unbaked crust with melted chocolate. Add walnuts, spreading evenly.
Slowly pour filling over walnuts.
Bake in a pre-heated 350° oven about 45 minutes or until filling is firm and no longer wobbles in center.
I do have to admit this came out pretty good. However, next time, I may add a few chunks of chocolate in with the walnuts just for the heck of it!
Brownies and Cherries
Fresh cherries + chocolate brownie mix = quick and easy dessert!
Brownies are totally easy to make from scratch but I almost always have a box in the cupboard for my lazier-than-lazy moments.
I still had a few fresh cherries left in the 'fridge, so, armed with my trusty cherry-pitter, I went to work.
We swear that we don't buy single-use gadgets and the like although the kitchen does seem to be full of them. I bought this particular single-use gadget when I entered the San Leandro Cherry Festival Cherry Pie Contest in 2000. I won 2nd Place!
So my good-luck cherry pitter has been living in a drawer ever since, coming out now and again to say hi...
I do love a good batch of fresh cherries. And there really are so many different varieties that come to the market. One of my favorites are Rainier Cherries from Washington. The closer you are to them, the better they taste.
The cherries in the brownies were dark red cherries.
I added about 5 minutes to the box baking time to allow for the additional moisture.
They came out just fine...
And they cut much nicer once they cooled...
Nutella Pear Tart
Extra pastry dough is a great thing to have around the house. Especially when Victor is in the kitchen!
We had a mere two pears in the house but he made do with a filling that really worked well! We had chocolate bars and a jar of the chocolate hazelnut spread I made a while back. Perfect filling for a pear topping!
Nutella Pear Tart
- 1 pastry crust
- 2 pears, sliced wafer-thin
- 8 oz dark chocolate, melted
- 1/2 cup nutella
- 1/4 cup coffee
Roll out dough and place in tart pan. Bake at 350° about 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Meanwhile, melt chocolate. Stir in nutella and then add about 1/4 cup coffee. Mix well. Chocolate may appear to seize.
Spread evenly in warm tart shell. Cover with thin-sliced pears. Brush with fruit jam glaze.
Heavenly.