5-Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

 This recipe was given to me years ago.  Every now and then, when you want something sweet in a hurry, try this!

Serves 1 (or 2)

4 tablespoons flour

4 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa

1 egg

3 tablespoons milk

3 tablespoons oil

3 tablespoons chocolate chips, optional

Small splash vanilla

Put flour, sugar and cocoa in a large, microwave-safe mug and mix well. Add egg, and mix thoroughly. Pour in milk and oil, and mix well. Add chocolate chips and vanilla, and mix again. 

Place mug in microwave and cook for three minutes at 1,000 watts (“high” on a 1,000-watt oven, lower setting for ovens with greater maximum wattage). Cake will rise over top of mug. Allow to cool a bit. Tip out onto a plate, if desired, and share with a friend or eat straight from the mug. 

Also seen here.

Cocoa Apple Cake

One night I wanted to make this cake, but I didn’t have apples, so I adapted it by using applesauce.  It is so much easier.  I've made it with grated apples, and I prefer the one with applesauce.

Even though there isn't a lot of cocoa and chocolate chips in it, it s a chocolate cake.  Everyone wants the recipe.

1 C butter                                 1 tsp allspice

1½ C sugar                                2 C applesauce

3 eggs                                      ½ C water or coffee

2½ C flour                                ½ C chocolate chips

1 tsp baking soda                      1 C chopped walnuts

2 Tbsp cocoa                            2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

             Grease and flour a Bundt pan well.  Preheat oven to 325^o.

Cream butter and sugar.  Mix in eggs.  Sift dry ingredients.  Add to creamed mixture.  It may look a little unappetizing, but it'll be fine.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 1 hour.  Let cool slightly before turning out of pan.  Great on it's own, but even better with ice cream.

Wondra Brownies

I was at my mom's making some gravy, so I used the can of Wondra flour I had seen earlier.  Then I noticed this recipe on the back of the can.  Not having had sweets for awhile, I thought I would make this as a little treat.  It was quick to make and delicious.

1 1/2 cups sugar.                 3/4 cup melted butter
3/4 cup flour.                       1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup cocoa.                      3 eggs
1/4 tsp salt.                            1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
                                                    1/2 cup chocolate chips** (optional)
                                                    1-2 tsp instant coffee (optional)

Heat oven to 350.*  Grease 8 or 9" square pan and line with waxed or parchment paper.  Grease and lightly flour.  (8" pan results in brownies about 1" thick.  9" will be thinner and take a shorter time to bake.  Your choice)

In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients.  Add the remaining ingredients and mix until combined.  Spread into the prepared pan.

Bake for 25-35 minutes or until top appears dry.  Can be served with whipped or ice cream.

* To bake in muffin pans, heat to 375, use 1/4 C batter in each cup, and bake for 20-30 minutes.
**[We like Hershey's Special Dark chocolate chips the best.]

From a Wondra can.
Wondra Brownies

Black Bottom Pecan Praline Bars

 I originally saw this recipe on a blog, but the picture of it was very gooey because the baker had to remove it from the oven too soon.  Being a lover of Southern pralines, this recipe was too good to pass up.  

This is Alice Medrich's recipe. Right now I have three of  her cookbooks checked out from the library.   She is considered by some to be the "Queen of Chocolate."  She was one of the cooks instrumental in raising the bar for the kinds of chocolates we are now able to enjoy here in the US.  Her books have a lot of information in them, besides the great recipes.

• Brownie:**         
  10 T unsalted butter, melted
  1 cup + 3 T sugar
  3/4 cup plus 2 T unsweetened cocoa
  1 t vanilla extract
  1/4 t salt
  2 eggs (cold) 
  1/2 C all purpose flour
  Topping: 
  1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled 
  1/2 C all purpose flour  
  1/2 t baking soda
  3/4 C packed brown sugar
  1/2 t salt
  2 egg yolks                
  1 t vanilla extract
  2 1/2 C coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts
  powdered sugar (optional)
  
  Melt the butter for the topping NOW so it has time to cool.
  
  
  Line a 9 ×13 baking pan, bottom and all four sides with foil or parchment and grease well.
  
  
  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  For the brownie: **  Place very warm melted butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a bowl and stir until smooth.  
  
  
  Stir in vanilla and add the eggs one at a time; mix well after each until batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended.
  
  
  Add in the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer; then beat vigorously for 40 strokes.  Spread brownie batter into prepared pan and set aside.
  
  
  For the topping:  Combine flour and baking soda in a small bowl and mix well.  Set aside.  In the scraped-out brownie bowl, combine the melted butter with the brown sugar and salt.  Stir in the egg yolks and vanilla, then flour mixture and finally the nuts.
  
  
  Drop spoonfuls on top of the brownie layer; it will spread and cover the brownies during baking.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the top is completely brown and cracked.  Rotate pan front to back halfway through baking time to ensure even baking.
  
  
  Let cool completely on wire rack, then remove by lifting the ends of the foil and removing from pan.  Cut into 24-36 bars.  
  
  
  Dust on powdered sugar, if desired.  May be kept in airtight container for 2-3 days.
  
  
  ** (Or use 1 pkg brownie mix for 9” square pan)  
  
  

Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-your-mouth Cookies by Alice Medrich, pp. 178-9.
Bittersweet, Recipes and Tales from a Life in Chocolate, by Alice Medrich, p. 98

Chocolate Thumbprints

L olallieberry jam, C orange marmalade, R chocolate chips

I made several changes to a recipe to suit my chocolate-loving husband, as well as reducing the sugar slightly and simplifying the steps.

2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa 
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temp
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup coarse or powdered sugar for rolling
1/2 cup orange marmalade, berry jam, OR 1 cup chocolate chips

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, and salt. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat 1 cup each butter and sugar on until light and fluffy, 3 minutes. Add egg and vanilla; beat to combine. Lower mixer speed and gradually add flour mixture. Beat to combine.

Place 1/2 cup coarse sugar in a pie pan. Roll dough into 1-inch balls, then roll in sugar to coat. Place balls, 1 inch apart, on parchment-lined baking sheets. Using your thumb or back of a spoon, press a 1/4-inch indentation into the top of each cookie. Spoon 1/2 teaspoon jam or 5-6 chocolate chips* into each indentation.  

Bake until cookies are just set but still look moist, 12-15 minutes.  Let cool on wire racks.

Makes about 4 dozen.

Note:  *Chocolate chips will retain their shape, so after removing from oven, flatten with a knife.  Once cool, place in refrigerator for half an hour or more until the chocolate has set.

Dulce Berry Bars

    These bars are my decadent creation from a recipe I came across.  If you like dulce de leche, you will probably LOVE these bars.  The condensed milk carmelizes as it bakes.  You can use any flavor of jam.  If you happen not to be a fan of chocolate, you could use butterscotch or peanut butter chips instead.

        2 C (240 g) all-purpose flour

1/2 C (106 g) packed brown sugar

1 C (225 g) butter, slightly softened

1/2 C (57 g) chopped pecans (or other nuts)

1 can (14 oz or 400g) sweetened condensed milk*

1 C chocolate chips

1/2+ C berry jam or other flavor

Preheat oven to 350° F.  Line a 9 x 13” baking pan with heavy-duty foil or parchment paper that covers the entire pan including the sides, to make a sling for easy removal.  Butter or spray with oil.

(The gooey condensed milk, which makes this so yummy, can stick to the foil if it is NOT greased well.  You want to be able to pull the entire piece of foil out.  Try not to make too many folds in the corners, or the cookie may get stuck in the folds and be hard to remove.)

Combine flour and brown sugar.  Cut in the butter until crumbly.  Press about 3 C of the crumb mixture into the buttered pan.  Reserve the rest.

Bake until golden, 10-15 minutes.   Remove from oven.  

Meanwhile, add the pecans to the reserved crumbs and set aside.

Pour the [1] condensed milk over the hot crust.  

Sprinkle with [2] chocolate chips.

Spread the [3] crumbs evenly over the chocolate chips.  

Spoon dollops of [4] jam over the crumb mixture.

Return to the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until the center is set and the condensed milk has carmelized and is at least golden or slightly darker in color.  

Cool on rack, then remove from pan using the foil sling. Cut into bars as desired. (I like to cut the bars about 1 1/2" by 2 1/2" but any size will do. (5 long rows by 6))

*I recently found 7 oz. cans at Grocery Outlet to make 1/2 recipe in an 8” square pan.

Deep Dark Chocolate Mousse

This dessert is very chocolatey, as the name suggests.  I think you could reduce the amount of chocolate chips, but my husband thinks it needs all of the chocolate.  It is very simple and quick to make.  It just needs a few hours to chill.  A late Valentine's treat.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate Chips*
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract**
• 1 cup (1/2 pt.)cold whipping cream (Get 1 pint to have some for topping)
• Sweetened whipped cream (optional)

Directions

1. Stir together sugar and gelatin in small saucepan; stir in milk. Let stand 2 minutes to soften gelatin. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture just begins to boil.
2.  Remove from heat. Immediately add chocolate chips; stir until melted. Stir in vanilla; cool to room temperature.
3.  Beat whipping cream in small bowl until stiff; gradually add chocolate mixture, folding gently just until blended. Spoon into serving dishes. Refrigerate. Garnish with sweetened whipped cream, if desired.

4 to 6 servings.

*Use milk or semi-sweet if you prefer.  Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate Chips are our preferred chips chosen in a blind tasting.  We like dark chocolate best.

**I think 1 tablespoon of Amaretto might be a good substitute for the vanilla.  Or your favorite liquor flavoring.

Original recipe from Hershey's  

Joan's Krispie Chocolate Chip Cookies

      A shift mate of Tom's at the aquarium makes cupcakes each week for his shift.  She is baking her way through the Martha Stewart Cupcake cookbook.  On many occasions, I have been the recipient of some of her culinary treats.  (She also works on my shift, but the cupcakes are always for Tom's shift.)  Well, one week she made these cookies instead of cupcakes.  Yum!  And there was something that made them very crisp.  She shared the recipe with me and I'm sharing it with you. (See additional baking notes at the bottom.)

     Besides being crispy, they are not overly sweet, so that is also good.  My next try will be to add rice krispies to my other chocolate chip cookie recipe with the melted butter.  (http://eileensmontereykitchen.blogspot.com/2011/05/5-cs-crispy-crunchy-chocolate-chip.html)

Cream together:

1 stick butter

½ C white sugar

½ C brown sugar       

Then add:

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

Sift together into the batter; mix in:

1 C + 2Tbsp flour

½ tsp each: salt, baking soda, baking powder

Stir in:

2 C rice krispies (Place in a baggie and HAND crush, slightly)

½-3/4 C chocolate chips

½-3/4 C toasted walnuts, chopped

Drop by generous tablespoonfuls on parchment-lined cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 for 13-17 minutes.  Makes about 2 dozen.*

*Joan’s directions say to bake at 325 for 13-14 minutes.  I set my convection oven inadvertently to 375 (which heats to 350) and it took about 15-18 minutes to bake.  Maybe they were too big.  The recipe card said it makes 15-18, but I had 29 cookies.

5 Cs-- Crispy Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is THE chocolate chip cookie recipe I've dreamed of.  One that produces a crisp, crunchy cookie but not too thin with buttery goodness!  It was among my clipped recipes from Sunset Magazine, December 1995.  I finally got around to baking it.  

If you like this type of cookie, this may become your favorite!  In a limited taste test several years ago, we found that the chocolate chips we liked best were Hershey's Special Dark mildly sweet chocolate chips.  We have not tried too many of the higher % chocolate chips.  I'm sure we would like those too, since we are fans of dark chocolate.  AND this recipe does not have any eggs in it.  It is not forgotten in the ingredient list.

1 cup ( ½ lb.) butter, melted and cooled slightly

1 ½ cup all-purpose flour (7 oz)       

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼  teaspoon salt

¾  cup firmly packed brown sugar (5 5/8 oz)

½  cup granulated sugar (3 1/2 oz)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup semisweet/dark chocolate chips*

1/2 cup butterscotch chips

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts (nutty flavor is better when hand chopped very coarsely)
1 cup Rice Krispies, slightly crushed (optional)

·         1.  Melt butter and cool to room temperature; set aside.

·         2.  In a small bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.

·         3.  In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla until well blended and smooth; scraping down sides of bowl as needed.

·         4.   Stir flour into butter mixture until well incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips, nuts, and Rice Krispies.

·         5. Dough will be crumbly; pinch into 1-tablespoon lumps, flatten slightly, and place about 2 inches apart, onto sheets of parchment paper placed on cookie sheets.

·         6. Bake in a 325° oven.  Bake until cookies are an even golden brown, 15-18 minutes.  [I checked for doneness by touching lightly.  The color doesn’t change much.]  If baking more than one pan at a time, switch pan positions halfway through baking, and rotate back to front.

·         7. Let cookies cool on pan for about 3 minutes, then with a wide spatula, transfer cookies to racks to cool completely. (Or pull parchment with cookies onto cooling rack.

         * Our favorite chips are Hershey's Special Dark or Guittard 60%.

      Makes about 4 dozen.

       Original recipe link

         (I've increased the recipe by half.) 

Toffee Grahams (or Cracker Brittle)

I first had these when they were given as a favor at a party.  Only 4 ingredients!  Simple to assemble!  And the best part, they're very delicious!

Option: Cover with chocolate.

*Graham Crackers (about 12-15-- half a box or whatever fits your pan)
*1/2 - 1 cup sliced almonds 

*1 cup butter  (2 sticks)   Do not use margarine.

*1/2 cup sugar

*1 cup chocolate chips (optional)

1. Line a cookie sheet (that has sides i.e. jelly roll pan) with foil.  Lay graham crackers right next to each other so they are touching.  Fold the foil up so it helps to contain the hot liquid.
2. Heat the butter and sugar at medium heat, stirring off and on for approximately 3-4 minutes after the mixture starts to bubble.  The mixture should look thick and yellowish and pulls away from the sides of the pot when stirred at the edge of the pot.  (What you are doing is cooking the butter and sugar to a semi-crystallized state.)
3. Immediately pour butter mixture over the crackers, spreading evenly with a knife.  Sprinkle with almonds now if you are NOT adding the chocolate frosting.
4. Bake 15 minutes at 350 degrees.  Be careful not to burn the brittle. Take out the brittle when it is golden brown… the center can be a bit yellow-y.  The brittle will darken after being taken out of the oven.
5. Turn off the oven.  If desired,  sprinkle chocolate chips on the hot toffee, then put back into the oven for 2-3 minutes.  Remove from oven and smooth over with a knife or spatula.  Sprinkle on the almonds.  Let cool, then put into refrigerator for 10 minutes for the chocolate to harden.
6. Cool and break into pieces.