Tag Archives: chocolate

November 21, 2012 · 8:35 am

Fall Leaf Cookies

I tried a few new things with these fun fall leaves!

Instead of doing regular sugar cookies, I wanted to do my leaves dark so that the fall colors would really pop. For these I used Bridget’s Chocolate Peanut Butter recipe. They are very yummy!

Normally, I roll my cookies very thin. Most cookie decorators roll 1/4 inch or 3/8 inch thick. That is crazy to me! My cookies are typically less than 1/8 inch thick. I wanted to try doing thick one time to see how I liked it. They look cute thick, but personally I just prefer a higher icing to cookie ratio.

The third new thing I tried with these was the way I iced them. Normally I outline, flood, detail, etc. Recently I tried pouring the icing over the cookies. This time I dipped them, and let the excess drip off and down the sides. And since I was doing fall leaves in bright fall colors, I swirled the icing. It was fun and each cookie turned out completely different!

Excuse the poor lighting in these photos, it was rainy and yucky this morning!

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12 Comments

Filed under Cookies

Tagged as chocolate, icing, orange, peanut butter, red, yellow

November 13, 2012 · 8:00 am

Yellow Chocolate Lava Cupcakes

Have you ever had a chocolate lava cake? Basically, it’s a chocolate lover’s dream. Moist, warm, dark chocolate cake with a hot, gooey, chocolate ganache center.

This recipe was originally posted as the standard Chocolate Lava Cupcake by Ruthanne of easybaked. I just loved the idea, but I don’t like chocolate much, so I decided to switch it up.

Yellow cake and chocolate are one of the best pairings that exist in the dessert world. So why not flow that chocolate lava from yellow cake instead of more chocolate?

I hope I’ve convinced you.

Yellow Chocolate Lava Cupcakes - recipe adapted from easybaked

Ingredients

1 box yellow cake + water, eggs, and oil to make

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup cocoa powder (I used special dark)

1/2 cup dark chocolate candy melts (or semi-sweet choc. chips)

Directions

1. In a small bowl, combine heavy whipping cream and chocolate chips. Melt in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until smooth. Refrigerate at least 2 hours, or until firm. (I left mine in the fridge for 3 days before I had time to make these.)

2. Using a tablespoon, grab a hunk of hardened ganache and roll into a small ball. Roll ball in cocoa powder and set on a wax lined baking sheet or plate. (Makes about 18-20 balls.) Leave in the fridge until ready for use.

**This step was a little messy!

3. Make cake batter according to box directions, using a little less water than the recipe calls for. (I didn’t do this, and my batter was a little too thin. You’ll see why at the end.)

4. Preheat oven to 350*.

5. Scoop or pour batter into cupcake liners to about 1/3-1/2 way. Drop a ganache ball into each cupcake.

6. Pour or scoop just enough batter over the ball to cover completely.

7. Bake according to package directions, or until tops of cupcakes are dry and spring back to the touch.

8. Melt candy melts or chocolate chips in a zip top bag for 30 seconds. Massage with your fingers until completely smooth, melting for another 15 seconds if necessary. Cut the corner of the bag and squeeze chocolate drizzle on top the cupcakes.

9. Let cool about 10 minutes, then eat one warm. TRUST ME on this.

**Best served warm. If not serving immediately, heat in the microwave for 15-20 seconds before consuming. You want the lava flowing!

My cake batter was a little too thin, so my chocolate lava ball sank completely to the bottom.

Of course this didn’t effect the taste at all, it just required the use of a spoon or fork to eat. Which worked out well because the liners I used are sturdy and held up like a cup.

Whether you’re a chocolate lover or sometimes liker, I hope these cupcakes have converted some of you to the yellow chocolate lava side!

My coworkers LOVED these.

My best and most reliable cupcake judge (hi Terrence!) said “that was reeally special.” And then he told me he has to go to the gym tonight now. Haha…

4 Comments

Filed under Cakes

Tagged as chocolate, yellow cake

November 9, 2012 · 8:40 am

Muddy Buddy Fudge

So everyone knows what Muddy Buddies are, right? Some people call them Puppy Chow. My mom always called it reindeer poop. (Gross, but whatever…)

Anyways, I made this amazing fudge that tastes just like Muddy Buddies!!

I started with a recipe that I am hesitant to even link up, because it’s not really a recipe exactly… it’s a hilarious (but crude) pin I found one day on Pinterest. Click here if you really want to see it. There’s no one to site, but I adapted it anyway so here is my recipe.

Muddy Buddy Fudge

Ingredients:

1 (14oz) can sweetened condensed milk

1 lb semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, and peanut butter. Melt in 30 second intervals, stirring in between to make it smooth.

When it starts to thicken up and get harder to stir, add the vanilla and stir to get it all mixed in there.

Spray a pan with non-stick cooking spray. (I used a 13×9 and my fudge was pretty thin. A 9×9 would make a nice thick fudge.) Dump the fudgey mixture into the pan and press it down evenly. Let chill for at least an hour or until firm.

Cut into squares and enjoy!!

**If you want to leave out the peanut butter because of allergies (let’s face it – no one really dislikes peanut butter, do they?!), it will still be a good regular fudge recipe!

5 Comments

Filed under Candy

Tagged as chocolate, fudge, peanut butter

November 2, 2012 · 8:00 am

Chocolate Chip Blondies

I recently made some blondies that were… not so great… so then I decided I needed to keep trying blondie recipes until I found heaven. Because I knew it had to exist out there.

It didn’t take long.

Just this recipe, the very next recipe I tried after the failed ones.

These are basically a blondie base. You can add literally whatever you want to them. I can’t wait to try another batch!

Also – I threw the batter together in like 5 minutes. Not joking.

Chocolate Chip Blondies – recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients

1 stick butter (I use salted)

1 cup brown sugar (I used light)

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

pinch of salt

1 cup flour

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Melt butter. Beat with brown sugar until smooth.

3. Beat in vanilla and egg.

4. Add salt, then stir in flour until fully incorporated.

5. Mix in chocolate chips.

6. Spray a 8×8 pan with non-stick spray, then pour batter into pan. Make sure it’s as even as possible.

7. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until center is set. (Mine took 25 minutes.) Let cool completely before cutting so that the ooey gooey inside can set.

Heaven!!

Look at that shiny cracked crust… that ooey gooey center… okay, I’m going to make some more of these now.

Please try them!

3 Comments

Filed under Misc

Tagged as blondie, chocolate

October 19, 2012 · 8:00 am

Anniversary Sweets

My coworker Jaz asked me to make sweets for his wife for their 3rd anniversary. He said I could make whatever I wanted! He had not yet tried my cookies, so I definitely wanted to include some cookies… and then I thought, what is more romantic than chocolate covered strawberries?! Together they would make a cute little love tray.

Here is the picture I used for color inspiration (since he had no idea what colors would be good)…

… and here are my colors. My pink came out a little more purple, but I still love how they looked together.

Here are the cookies. I stuck with hearts. Cuz they’re all lovey and stuff.

and the romantic strawberries…

On a side note, I know 3 people (they happen to all be men) who don’t like chocolate covered strawberries. Why you might be wondering? Because they don’t like strawberries. WHAT? How is that even possible? They must be aliens or something.

What a lucky lady you have, Jaz!

12 Comments

Filed under Cookies, Misc

Tagged as buttercream, chocolate, icing, orange, purple, strawberry, sugar cookies, teal

October 16, 2012 · 8:15 am

Cherry Chocolate Dr. Pepper Cupcakes

My coworker Apryle invented these, and I promised I would make them for her.

This is a soda cake.

I made soda cupcakes once before (Sunkist Cupcakes), so I was excited to try a new flavor combo.

Chocolate Fudge Cake + a can of Dr. Pepper. That’s it! (Literally – no eggs, water, oil, anything. Just a can of soda.)

Bake em up for 18-20 min at 350*.

For the Cherry Frosting:

1 lb powdered sugar

1 stick (1/2 cup) salted butter

3 tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cherry extract

red food coloring

Mix all ingredients until smooth and fluffy. Pipe or spread onto cupcakes.

My brother’s review of Apryle’s cupcake:

“The cherry is almost too overwhelming, but it works with the chocolate cupcake. The Dr. Pepper taste is subtle but it’s definitely there.”

….and Apryle’s review:

“The cherry is really sweet and the Dr. Pepper is subtle, but it was really good!”

2 Comments

Filed under Cakes

Tagged as cherry, chocolate, dr pepper, red, soda cupcakes

August 10, 2012 · 7:12 am

Wedding S’more Pop Favors

Today is National S’mores Day!

A friend of a good friend of mine is getting married today and I made her these S’more Pops as her wedding favors!

Aren’t the tags just adorable?

If you love s’mores, you have GOT to make these. They take no time at all to whip up a few, and I promise they taste sooo much better than you can even imagine they would. I’m pretty much addicted.

How to: (sorry no pics. It’s easy though I swear.)
1. Stand up the mallows on a flat surface.
2. Shove the sticks straight into the tops of the mallows without lifting the mallow from the flat surface. (The stick may be into the mallow crooked, but it should be straight up and therefore sturdier. If you hold the mallow while you shove the stick in, it will end up crooked like 46.5% of the time. Ugh.)
3. Melt chocolate chips or candy melts in the microwave. I did candy melts this time and it seemed easier/smoother. But either works fine and tastes great. By the way, I like to melt in a short drinking glass. It’s taller and less wide so the chocolate is deeper and easier for dipping.
4. Dip the sticked mallow and shake downward to get as much chocolate off as will drip off. Trust me, they’re messy if you skip this step.
5. Roll the chocolated mallow in graham cracker crumbs.
6. Set the mallow “stick up” on wax paper to set up.
Enjoy!!!

6 Comments

Filed under Marshmallows, Misc

Tagged as chocolate, chocolate dipped marshmallows, graham crackers, marshmallow, s'more, wedding

August 7, 2012 · 8:00 am

Pink Ribbon Party

I made these lovely treats for a woman who just finished radiation for breast cancer and was throwing herself a fabulous party!

The colors were PINK and BROWN. So cute.

Cookies…

Chocolate Cake Pops…

and Marshmallows!!

The pink ones were pomegranate, but ended up tasting nothing like pomegranate… I will have to try again one of these days because I love pomegranate!

I decided to try a little piped swirl for these. There were going to be a lot of guests at the party so the smaller the treat the farther it goes! I decided later that I’m glad I didn’t do the swirls with the chocolate mallows ….. :-/

These chocolate ones were a million times better than the first chocolate ones I made… dark chocolate is the key!

I hope the party was as fabulous as it was sweet!

4 Comments

Filed under Cake Pops, Cookies, Marshmallows

Tagged as brown, buttercream, cake pops, chocolate, icing, pink, pomegranate, ribbon, sugar cookies

July 27, 2012 · 8:00 am

Mini Krispy Cupcakes

So a couple days ago I stumbled across this recipe for small batch rice krispy treats.

GENIUS!!

All the guilt of making your unhealthy snack is gone because you can make just enough for one little dessert! I thought this would be the perfect way to experiment with different flavors without making a ton of it (just in case it turned out yucky… like that could even happen with rice krispies…)

The recipe suggests pressing them into a muffin/cupcake pan (which makes 2). I decided to do a mini muffin pan instead (which made about 12), because everyone knows that the smaller a dessert is, the cuter it is too!

I have to give credit where credit is due here… my husband came up with the idea of dipping the tops in chocolate to make them look like cupcakes! I was going to just press them flat and drizzle them. I guess he’s pretty smart at the chocolate stuff because they turned out great!

I made 2 different kinds!!

Peanut Butter Rice Krispies

Ingredients:

1 tbsp butter

1/4 cup smooth peanut butter

1 cup mini marshmallows

1 1/2 cups rice krispies

Directions:

1. Spray muffin pan with non-stick spray.

2. In a small pot, melt butter, mallows, and peanut butter until smooth.

3. Add the rice krispies straight to the pot and stir until completely coated in goop.

4. Remove pot from heat and carefully scoop krispies into the muffin pan cavaties. Make the tops rounded if you want it to look like a cupcake, or make them flat if you want them to look like little cups.

5. Wait. The hardest part, I know.

6. When they are set up (mine took an hour or 2), melt chocolate, white chocolate, or candy melts to dip or drizzle however you like.

I had just enough mini mallows to do another small batch…

Chocolate Rice Krispies

Ingredients:

2 tbsp butter

1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup mini marshmallows

1 1/2 cups rice krispies

Directions:

1. Spray muffin pan with non-stick spray.

2. In a small pot, melt butter, mallows, and chocolate until smooth.

3. Add the rice krispies straight to the pot and stir until completely coated in goop.

5. Wait. The hardest part, I know.

6. When they are set up (mine took an hour or 2), melt chocolate, white chocolate, or candy melts to dip or drizzle however you like.

As soon as I can get to the store to buy more mini mallows, I will be making new krispy recipes!

5 Comments

Filed under Misc

Tagged as chocolate, marshmallows, peanut butter, rice krispy treats, white chocolate

July 20, 2012 · 8:00 am

Coconut Star Marshmallows

In these coconut star marshmallows, coconut is definitely the star!

Ingredients:

2 packets of powdered unflavored gelatin (I use Knox)

1/2 cup cold coconut water

1/4 cup water

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/8 tsp salt

1 tbsp vanilla

some shredded coconut

cornstarch/powdered sugar mixture for dusting (1:1.5 ratio)

Directions:

1. In a microwave safe bowl, whisk together the cold coconut water and gelatin, then let it stand for 5 minutes.

2. Spray a 13×9 pan with non-stick spray, then sprinkle the bottom with shredded coconut. It doesn’t need to be a full layer, but you don’t want too much empty space.

3. Pour 1/4 cup corn syrup into your stand mixer. Pour the other 1/4 cup into a medium pot with the water, sugar, and salt. Attach the candy thermometer so that the tip does not touch the bottom of the pot, but instead sits in the mixture. Turn the heat on high and stir occasionally while checking the temperature (you want it to get to about 235-240*).

4. Microwave the gelatin for 30 seconds. Pour it into the stand mixer (fitted with the whisk attachment) with your corn syrup, turn the mixer on low and leave it running.

5. When the sugar mixture reaches 235-240*, slowly pour it into the stand mixer. Turn the speed up to 5 or 6 and set the time for 5 minutes. When the timer goes off, turn the speed up to 8 and set the timer again for 5 minutes. After the timer goes off again, add the vanilla and turn the speed up to the highest setting and set the timer for 2 minutes.

6. After the last timer goes off, turn off the mixer and pour the mallow on top the shredded coconut in the pan. Smooth out the top as much as possible, then dust with cornstarch/powdered sugar mixture and pat it down even.

7. Waiting is the hardest part. Let set up overnight.

8. The next day, place a cutting board on top of the pan and invert to release the mallow. It should come out easily because of the shredded coconut.

9. Cut with a small star (or any shape) cookie cutter. Make sure to cut them as close as possible so there isn’t much waste. (Haha, yeah right.. the “waste” tastes just as good!) You may need to clean the cutter every couple of stars because the coconut gets sticky.

10. Dust the sticky edges of the mallows in more cornstarch/powdered sugar.

They are amazing as is, but I wanted to take them a step further…

Chocolate time!!

11. Melt chocolate in microwave in 30 second intervals, or in a double broiler. I chose to use my mini crock pot warmer. Once it’s smooth, you’re ready to dip!

Because the mallows were dusty and I didn’t want it to get into my chocolate, I pressed the mallow into the melted chocolate, covered it with chocolate without moving it around. Then I just lifted it out with a fork and tapped it on the edge until all the excess chocolate dripped off. Then used a knife to gently scrape the mallow off the fork onto wax paper.