Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters

from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

Makes about 60 cookies

Ingredients:

• 3 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup peanut butter-chunky is preferred, but smooth will also work
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup (packed) light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chunks, or 1 1/2 cups store-bought chocolate chips or chunks

Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Whisk together the oats, flour, baking soda, spices and salt.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar on medium speed until smooth and creamy.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition, then beat in the vanilla.  Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the dry ingredients, beating only until blended.  Mix in the chips.  If you have the time, cover and chill the dough for about 2 hours, or for up to 1 day.  (Chilling the dough will give you more evenly shaped cookies.)

If the dough is not chilled, drop rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto the baking sheets.  If the dough is chilled, scoop up rounded tablespoons, roll the balls between your palms and place them 2 inches apart on the sheets.  Press the chilled balls gently with the heel of your hand until they are about 1/2 inch thick.

Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back after 7 minutes.  The cookies should be golden and just firm around the edges.  Lift the cookies onto cooling racks with wide metal spatula-they’ll firm as they cool.

Repeat with the remaining dough, cooling the baking sheets between batches.

Un-baked Cookie Nests

from Kitchen Simplicity

Makes: 12 large

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3 cups rolled oats
• 4 Tbsp. cocoa powder
• pinch salt
• 1 cup coconut
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• mini chocolate eggs and coconut, for decorating.

Bring sugar,  milk and butter to a boil in a saucepan. Simmer 3 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients until well incorporated.  Spoon into lightly greased muffin cups (or use un-greased silicone muffin cups for easier removal). Using the back of a spoon press the mixture down in the middle and up along the sides, forming a nest. Allow to harden.  Using a knife, loosen the edges and gently pop out the nests.  Store covered at room temperature for up to two days. Freeze for longer storage.  To decorate: sprinkle with coconut and fill with mini eggs.

Chocolate-Ginger Brownies

from Martha Stewart’s Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for baking dish
• 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Butter an 8-inch square baking dish.  Line bottom with parchment, allowing 2 inches to hang over two sides.  Butter lining (not overhang).

Melt butter and chocolate together in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring until smooth.  Remove from heat, and stir in remaining ingredients.

Pour batter into prepared dish.  Spread evenly with a rubber spatula.  Bake until a cake tester inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs, 30 to 35 minutes.  Let cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes.  Lift out, and let cool completely on rack.  Cut into sixteen 2-inch squares.  Brownies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 4 days.

Chocolate Turtle Cookies

from Cook’s Country, December 2008

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 8 tbsp butter, softened
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 large egg, separated, plus 1 egg white
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped pecans, chopped fine
• 14 soft caramel candies
• 3 tbsp heavy cream

Adjust oven rack to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat liners.  Combine flour, cocoa, and salt in bowl.  With electric mixer on medium high speed, beat butter and sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Add egg yolk, milk, and vanilla and mix until incorporated.  Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture until just combined.  Refrigerate dough until firm, at least 1 hour.

Whisk egg white in another bowl until frothy.  Place pecans in another bowl.  One at a time, roll dough into 1 inch balls, dip in egg whites, then roll in pecans.  Place balls 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets.  Using teaspoon measure, make indentation in center of each ball.  Bake until set, 10 to 12 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking.

Meanwhile, microwave caramels and cream in a bowl, stirring occasionally, until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes.  Once cookies are removed from oven, gently press existing indentations with teaspoon measure.  Fill each with 1/2 to 1 teaspoon caramel mixture.  Cool 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool completely.

Oreo Truffles

Makes 30-35 balls

Ingredients:

• 1 package Oreo cookies
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 1 package chocolate bark/ candy coating (I used Baker’s Dipping Chocolate)

Crush Oreos in a gallon size ziplock bag.  Combine crushed Oreos and cream cheese.  Mixture will be very thick.  Form mixture into balls.  Melt chocolate bark according to package directions.  Drop Oreo balls into melted chocolate until coated.  Allow to cool on wax paper.  Store in refrigerator.  For best flavor, bring to room temperature prior to serving.

World Peace Cookies

from Baking, From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 stick plus 3 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup (packed) brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp fleur de sel or 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or a generous 3/4 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips

Sift the flour, cocoa and baking soda together.  Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy.  Add both sugars, the salt and vanilla extract and beat for 2 minutes more.

Turn off the mixer.  Pour in the dry ingredients, drape a kitchen towel over the stand mixer to protect yourself and your kitchen from flying flour and pulse the mixer at low speed about 5 times, a second or two each time.  Take a peek-if there is still a lot of flour on the surface of the dough, pulse a couple of times more; if not, remove the towel.  Continuing at low speed, mix for about 30 seconds more, just until the flour disappears into the dough-for the best texture, work the dough as little as possible once the flour is added, and don’t be concerned if the dough looks a little crumbly.  Toss in the chocolate pieces and mix only to incorporate.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface, gather it together and divide it in half.  Working with one half at a time, shape the dough into logs that are 1 1/2 inches in diameter.  Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate them for at least 3 hours.  (The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.  If you’ve frozen the dough, you needn’t defrost it before baking-just slice the logs into cookies and bake the cookies 1 minute longer.)

Center rack in the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.  Using a sharp thin knife, slice the logs into rounds that are 1/2 inch thick.  (The rounds are likely to crack as you’re cutting them-don’t be concerned, just squeeze the bits back onto each cookie.)  Arrange the rounds on the baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch between them.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 12 minutes-they won’t look done, nor will they be firm, but that’s just the way they should be.  Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the cookies rest until they are only just warm, at which point you can serve them or let them reach room temperature.

Makes about 36 cookies.

This cake lacked some of that ambiance that made the Kauai cake so special, as this one I made and tasted on an overcast Monday afternoon at home accompanied by a cranky seven month old who didn’t take a proper nap.  But it tasted delicious! It wasn’t quite as gooey as I would have liked (and looks completely un-gooey in the photo below, taken several hours later), so when I make it again, I’ll cook for a little less time to ensure maximum gooeyness and serve it with vanilla ice cream.  I absolutely love that this recipe is baked in muffin cups instead of ramekins!  No special bakeware required–somehow we wound up with only 1 of the ramekins from our wedding registry, and I’ve yet to purchase more of them (4 years later).  I actually had one of those 6-cup disposable aluminum muffin tins mentioned in the recipe.  If you’re a chocolate lover, you definitely need to try this recipe.  Perfect single size servings for a dinner party.

Gooey Chocolate Cakes

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 5 ounces bittersweet chocolate (4 ounces coarsely chopped, 1 ounce very finely chopped)
• 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
• 6 tablespoons of sugar

Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. butter (or spray – it’s easier) 6 cups of a regular-size muffin pan, preferably a disposable aluminum foil pan, dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess. Put the muffin pan on a baking sheet.
Sift the flour, cocoa and salt together.
Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water, put the coarsely chopped chocolate and the butter in the bowl and stir occasionally over the simmering water just until they are melted – you don’t want them to get so hot that the butter separates.  Remove the bowl from the pan of water.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and yolk until homogenous.  Add the sugar and whisk until well blended, about 2 minutes.  Add the dry ingredients and, still using the whisk, stir (don’t beat) them into the eggs.  Little by little, and using a light hand, stir in the melted chocolate and butter.  Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and sprinkle the finely chopped chocolate over the batter.
Bake the cakes for 13 minutes.  Transfer them, still on the baking sheet, to a rack to cool for 3 minutes. (There is no way to test that these cakes are properly baked, because the inside remains liquid.)
Line a cutting board with a silicone baking mat or parchment or wax paper, and, after the 3-minute rest, unmold the cakes onto the board.  Use a wide metal spatula to lift the cakes onto dessert plates.

Devil’s Food Cupcake

from 500 Cupcakes, by Fergal Connolloy

• 2 cups self-rising flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) sweet butter, softened
• 2 separated eggs
• 3 1/2 oz. semisweet chocolate, melted
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Place 18 paper baking cups into muffin pans.  Sift the flour and baking powder and set aside.  In a medium bowl, cream the sugar and buter.  Add the egg yolks and beat well.  Add the melted chocolate and vanilla, mixing well.  Add the flour and milk alternately, beating well with each addition.  Beat the egg whites in a medium bowl until soft peaks form, and gently fold them into the batter.  Spoon the batter into the cups.  Bake fro 20 minutes.  Remove pans from teh oven and cool for 5 minutes.  Then remove the cupcakes and cool on a rack.  

Marshmallow Filling

Transfer 1 jar of Marshmallow Fluff to piping bag.  Once cupcakes have cooled, cut a cone shaped piece out of the center of each cupcake and discard (or eat!).  Using the piping bag, fill the hole you’ve created with marshmallow fluff until level with top of cupcake (approximately 1 tbsp. of marshmallow per cupcake).

Chocolate Ganache

• 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
• 10 ounces good semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons light corn syrup

Melt butter in a 3-quart saucepan.  Remove from heat, add chocolate and corn syrup, and whisk until chocolate is melted.  Refrigerate ganache in bowl, stirring occasionally, until thickened and spreadable, about 1 hour.

Frost each cupcake, making the top flat (or even with a little indention), to allow for the dulce de leche.

Dulce de Leche

from The Pastry Queen, by Rebecca Rather

• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

Remove the paper wrapper from the can of sweetened condensed milk.  Use a can opener to make two small punctures in the top of the can on opposite sides.  Set the can of milk in a medium saucepan, puncture side up.  Fill the saucepan with water to reach two-thirds of the way up the sides of the can.  Cover the saucepan and bring the water to a boil over high heat.  Decrease the heat until the water simmers and simmer about 1 hour.  (Picky Apple Note: It usually takes around 2 hours, not 1).  Check the sauce pan periodically, adding water to ensure that the level does not drop below halfway.  A bit of milk may seep out of the small holes in the can.  Cook until the milk pooled on top of the can has turned a deep golden brown.  (You may have heard that boiling a can of sweetened condensed milk unopened is a shortcut.  Do not attempt this.  The milk expands when heated and may erupt with explosive results.)

Allow dulce de leche to cool.  Spoon about a tablespoon on top of each cupcake.

Praline Pecans:

adapted from this Southern Living Recipe

• 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar 
• 1/4 cup butter 
• 1/4 cup milk 
• 1 tablespoons corn syrup 
• 2 1/2 cups toasted pecan halves

Stir together first 5 ingredients in a heavy 3-quart saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil, stirring constantly, 7 to 8 minutes or until a candy thermometer registers 234°.  Remove from heat, and vigorously stir in pecans. Spoon pecan mixture onto wax paper, spreading in an even layer. Let stand 20 minutes or until firm. Break praline-coated pecans apart into pieces.

Chop praline pecan pieces, and sprinkle each cupcake with about a tablespoon of chopped praline pecans.

Toasted Marshmallow Pretzel Sticks

• Pretzel sticks (I used “Old Fashioned Dipping Style” pretzel sticks)
• Mini marshmallow

Toast mini marshmallows on a cookie sheet under the broiler until browned.  Working quickly, put a toasted marshmallow or two on the end of each pretzel stick.  Insert bare end of pretzel stick into cupcake.  (Depending on the length of your pretzel sticks, you may only need half a stick).
Chocolate Dipped Graham Crackers

•  at least 3 whole graham crackers
• 2 cups of dipping chocolate (or chocolate chips with a little bit of butter)

Break each graham cracker into 4 pieces.  Heat chocolate until runny.  Dip each graham cracker in chocolate, and set on a rack to cool and harden.  Once the chocolate has cooled and hardened, insert a graham cracker into each cupcake.

Confession: I’ve never actually tried any of the pastries at Starbucks. I usually consider the coffee itself enough of a treat, since I am incapable of ordering plain coffee. Coffee purist I am not. I like the chocolate-y, creamy coffees and frapps. Made with whole milk. Whipped cream on top? Yes, please! So you can see why it might be overkill to have a pastry too. Or is it?

This was actually my second attempt at making this bread. The first time around, I thought I would use a mini-loaf pan to make four super-cute mini loaves. About 10 or 15 minutes in to the baking, we smelled burning. The mini loaves had risen, overflowing out of the pan and all over the bottom of the oven. I tried to salvage them by putting a cookie sheet under the loaf pan, but the batter just kept continuing to pour over the edge of the pan, and off the cookie sheet onto the bottom of the oven. Seriously, it was like a volcano of chocolate batter. What a mess! Here it is a week later, and we still have a faint burning smell every time we use the oven.

That batter sure did taste great though, and I really wanted to try this recipe again. For my second attempt, I used regular size loaf pans, and made sure not to fill them up too much. No disasters this time around. This is a delicious chocolate cake, but it is really the crunchy sugar and spice topping that makes me like it so much. The hint of nutmeg and clove in the topping, combined with the chocolate and cinnamon of the bread is genius. My only complaint is that my sugar topping didn’t stick to the top of the cake very well, and I hate to see any of this delicious topping wasted! Also, my loaves look nothing like the Starbuck’s picture. Mine wasn’t nearly that dark, perhaps because I didn’t use Dutch processed cocoa, but just the regular cocoa I had on hand. This would be great for a brunch, bake sale, dessert, breakfast for company….or just because! I’ll be sure to grab a slice next time I go to Starbucks, too…..you know, for my research.

Starbuck’s Chocolate Cinnamon Bread

Chocolate Batter Ingredients:

• sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3 cups granulated white sugar
• 5 eggs, room temperature
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups Dutch-processed cocoa
• 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Cocoa Spice Sugar Crust:

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 cup decorating or sparkle sugar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease two 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pans and line the bottom of the pans with parchment paper. Make the Chocolate Batter: In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar with the paddle attachment on medium speed, until light and creamy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating until each egg is completely incorporated before adding the next and scraping down the sides of the bowl several times.

Meanwhile in a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and baking soda. In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, water and vanilla. With mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture to butter, beginning and ending with the flour and beating just until blended. Divide the batter between the two pans, shake the pans to even the tops and set aside.

Make the Cocoa-Spice Sugar Crust: In another small bowl, whisk together the sugar, cinnamon, cocoa, ginger and cloves. Sprinkle the surfaces of both batters with the decorating sugar. Sprinkle with the cocoa sugar mixture, dividing evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool completely, run a thin knife around the sides to release the breads and remove from pans.

Heart of Darkness Brownies

Makes 24 brownie cups

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter
• 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 6 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup very coarsely chopped raw almonds or pecans, toasted
•  1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 5 full-size (2.07 ounces each) Snickers Candy Bars, cut into small chunks
• 3 cups mini marshmallows

For the Caramel Drizzle:

• 6 ounces (about 25) unwrapped caramel candies
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• pinch of salt

Directions:

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.  Spray two standard 12-cup muffin tins with nonstick cooking spray.

Melt the butter and unsweetened chocolate together in a small saucepan over medium-low heat and stir until smooth.  Pour the chocolate mixture into a bowl and stir in the sugars, eggs and vanilla.  Sift the flour and salt into the chocolate mixture and stir just until combined.  Stir in the cooled chopped nuts, chocolate chips, and chunks of candy bar.

Fill each cupcake cup halfway with batter.  Bake until the surface of the brownies has a glossy, crackled surface, about 20 minutes.  Remove the brownies from the oven and top each one with 1/4 cup of the mini marshmallows.  Return the brownies to the oven and cook until the marshmallows start the melt and puff up a bit, but not browned too much, about 2 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool just enough to handle, then remove from the cupcake cups, running a knife around the edge of each brownie to loosen it from the cup.  Let cool completely on the wire rack.

While the brownies are cooling, make the caramel drizzle.  Combine the caramels, cream, vanilla, and salt in a microwave-safe bowl.  Microwave, uncovered, on high for 1 minute.  Remove from the microwave and stir until smooth.  If the caramels are not completely melted, continue heating in 30-second increments, stirring until smooth.

Drizzle the brownies with melted caramel and let cool completely for the caramel to harden.  Do not chill.  Serve immediately or store for up to 3 days in a covered container.