One pound chocolate brownies

So chocolate, much rich. 

I recently got a wonderful baking magazine with a lot of different recipes. I wanted to try something simple, then I stumbled upon a brownie recipe!

Recipe

• (2) 4 oz 70% Cacao bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup unsalted butter, cubed
• 1/3 cup orange marmalade (I used fig jam which worked fine)
• 1/3 cup half and half
• 2 1/4 cup sugar ( I used packed brown sugar)
• 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• (2) 4 oz 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 and line a 13 X 9 inch pan with parchment paper or grease with butter. 

Using a double boiler or having one pot on top of the other melt the chocolate and butter together. Once this is smooth, remove it from heat and add marmalade as well as half and half. 

In a large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together. Add in the chocolate mixture as well as the vanilla. Stir in the chopped chocolate. Bake for about 30 minutes and cool before cutting!

mmmmmmmmmmmmm

Walnut Snowballs

Cure those winter blues.

These are my stepdad's favorite cookie so I decided to make a big batch of them for him for Christmas! They are from Special Desserts by Ann Amernick.   

• 1 Cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 2 1/3 cups confectioner's sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup walnuts, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350. You should line two cookie sheets with parchment paper, I just used a greased sheet which also worked fine. 

Cream the butter and sugar together then stir in the vanilla and walnuts. 

Sift together the baking powder and flower. Add in the dry mixture in thirds mixing with a rubber spatula after each addition. Form small walnut sized balls and bake for 15 minutes. The snowballs should be set but not browned. Let the snowballs cool then cover them in confectioner's sugar. 

Voila! 

GF Chocolate Crinkles

Let me start of by saying that I am fortunate enough to not have a dietary restriction such as gluten intolerance but some do! I went to a Christmas party on Saturday and the host cannot have gluten so I decided to look up a recipe for a gluten free holiday cookie. 

Apparently Betty Crocker has a whole line of gluten free products and recipes. Before you judge, take a look at these bad boys...

Check out the recipe: 

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used apple sauce)
• 4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate, melted, cooled
• 2 cups granulated sugar (I used packed dark brown sugar)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 4 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups Bisquick™ Gluten Free mix
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Normally I like to bake completely from scratch and am against boxed mixes but because this was an experiment I followed the recipe. I got the Bisquick Gluten Free mix from target, it was a bit pricey although there is a promo code now where if you spend $10 you get $3 off! 

You start off by mixing the apple sauce, sugar, vanilla and melted baking chocolate together. Then mix in the eggs one at a time making sure it is evenly distributed. Pour in the mix and make sure you scrape the bottom so there isn't any mix left. The recipe says to refrigerate for at least 3 hours, I only had an hour and it was fine. I would suggest longer because it will make the powdered sugar  step easier. 

Next take a teaspoon or tablespoon and roll little balls dunking them in powdered sugar. I poured powdered sugar in a bowl and this made it easy to cover it completely. Place on a baking dish that is oiled in some way or on parchment paper. Bake 10-12 minutes. This time will depend on how big you made the cookies.  

Let these cool before you try them! I would say that these are good however they are a bit cakey and I know that's not everyone's cup of tea. Enjoy!

One Bowl Chocolate Cake

One Bowl.

Sometimes you read those recipes that have a ton of ingredients and complicated steps like put these two ingredients together then softly let this other ingredient penetrate the other two etc. I have a solution for you. ONE BOWL chocolate cake. It is simple and easy. You throw all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix them together, the outcome is delicious. 

I found the one bowl chocolate cake recipe here and have made a few adjustments of my own.

• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1 2/4 cup flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup apple sauce
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup hot coffee
• pinch of salt

The key differences between my recipe and the original are the apple sauce, brown sugar and coffee. The original recipe asks for white sugar, I think brown sugar tastes way better and gives it a richer color. I used apple sauce instead of oil,you can't taste the difference. Apple sauce is healthier and I think it makes the cake moister! Finally, instead of a cup of boiling water I used coffee because it makes the cake  more flavorful. The one thing about this recipe is I would suggest adding the coffee last. I also added a little bit of raw coconut! Bake these on 350 for about 20- 30 minutes. If you do cupcakes they will be ready much quicker.

I made one 9 inch round cake pan and 12 muffin sized cupcakes with this recipe!

Enjoy :) 

* The Best Cookies *

Pecans & Mini Chocolate Chips & Egg less, edible batter

Are you looking for a simple cookie recipe? This is my personal favorite. These are technically pecan sandies with chocolate chips but are much softer as opposed to the classic shortbread consistency of pecan sandies! Below is the recipe I used which I adopted from here

• 1 cup butter softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup mini chocolate chips

Basically you add all these ingredients together and bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes but I have a few suggestions.

1. Cream the sugar first because it makes for a more even tasting cookie 
2. One cup of pecans & one cup of mini chocolate chips is an estimate. I usually pour some, mix it in and keep pouring until I think the batter is pecan and chocolate chip filled 
3. TASTE THE BATTER! There are no eggs and therefore no risk! 

P.s. When I made this batch I tried a sprinkle of cinnamon in the batter and if you're into that I would suggest it, great hint of flavor!