Contest Winning Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas! Buon Natale! Feliz Navidad!

I made these last week for our holiday office party cookie competition and as the title suggests - won! This is a Martha Stewart recipe worth its weight in gold. I made two adjustments to the original formula, doubling the molasses and using salted butter instead of unsalted. Doubling the molasses makes for a chewier cookie. If you prefer it less so then use half the amount listed below.

I'm not gonna lie. This recipe is a commitment. There are two chilling stages and the dough requires fresh grated ginger in addition to ground as well as hand chopped semi sweet chocolate. But if you have the time they are worth it. I worried they wouldn't be pretty enough to win so I 'glued' them into a wreath shape with melted chocolate and sprinkled them with edible glitter. The glitter made it easy to tell who had eaten a cookie that day. It was EVERYWHERE. We laughed that the gents were going to have some explaining to do when they got home as to why they were covered in 'titty glitter' ;)

Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies
Lightly adapted from Martha Stewart
*notice there are no eggs in this recipe - apparently the molasses does the job of tenderizing

Ingredients:
7 oz semi sweet chocolate bar, hand-chopped into 1/4 inch chunks (I'm not that particular about the size - I aim to make 'chocolate rubble')
1 1/2 cups AP flour, plus 1 tablespoon
1 1/4 teaspoons ground dried ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (I used fresh)
1 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder
1 stick (8 tablespoons) salted butter, at room temp
1 tablespoon fresh grated (peeled) ginger
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup granulated sugar or sanding sugar and/or edible glitter for rolling in

Directions:

1. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Chop chocolate into 1/4-inch chunks; set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa. 
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and grated ginger until whitened, about 4 minutes. Add brown sugar; beat until combined. Add molasses; beat until combined. 
3. In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in 1 1/2 teaspoons boiling water. Beat half of flour mixture into butter mixture. Beat in baking-soda mixture, then remaining half of flour mixture. Mix in chocolate; turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Pat dough out to about 1 inch thick; seal with wrap; refrigerate until firm, 2 hours or more. 
4. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Roll dough into 1 1/2- inch balls; place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Refrigerate 20 minutes. Roll in granulated sugar. Bake until the surfaces crack slightly, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Mocha Heath Bar Bundt Cake (Can't Stop Won't Stop Cake)

Got to co-host the cutest sweetest baby shower last weekend for my new friend Jess who is due very soon with her first baby. My co-hostess with the mostess Krystle organized a fun project for us all to do painting onesies for Baby Gaffney which was really cute. Gurls got all crafty up in here! My backyard looked like a Pinterest board. Didn't think I was the crafting type but give me some wine and apparently I'll do anything. Except run.

Krystle also made an insanely delicious savory tomato cobbler which I'll post next as well as lots of other goodies. I also had grand plans to make a lot of food but with Kris out of town and the baby now crawling, I was just lucky to pull off this cake.

And I'm so glad I did because it just may be one of my favorite things I've ever made. After harassing Jess' hubby for details on what kind of treats she likes, we got the lowdown that she's a Heath Bar/mocha/toffee ice cream kinda gal. So Krystle made Heath bar coffee ice cream (to die for) and I made this chocolate mocha bundt cake that got drowned in a mixture of condensed milk and coffee after baking THEN caramel sauce and toffee bits. Mmm hmm. You heard me.

Next time I make it I'm going to soak it in the suggested Kahlua mixture and see what kind of party that leads to. I suspect a fun one.

Lastly I can't take credit for its new official title - Can't Stop Won't Stop Cake. That was all the mama-to-be.

Mocha Heath Bar Bundt Cake (Can't Stop Won't Stop Cake)
From Allrecipes, submitted by alijmorris
* For a nonalcoholic version, replace the kahlua with 3/4 cup chocolate syrup mixed with 1/4 cup warm water.
* When I made this the first time, I used the chocolate syrup/water mixture for the Kahlua substitution in the cake but mixed a can of condensed milk with some hot coffee to pour over the cake instead of mixing the other half with confectioners sugar which worked well. But I suspect the more Kahlua, the better.
* This cake gets better the more it sits soaking up the glaze. Make it at least the day before you want to serve it but do not apply the caramel sauce/Heath Bar bits until closer to serving or it will drink it up and not look as pretty.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup salted butter, room temp (1 1/2 sticks), plus extra for buttering pan
2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting pan
4 eggs, separated and at room temp
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons water
1/2 cup strong brewed coffee (can use decaf)
1 cup coffee flavored liquor (kahlua), divided (if subbing see above note and divide prepared mixture)
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
tiny pinch salt

Glaze:
1 cup confectioners sugar mixed well with 1/2 cup Kahlua OR 1/2 can condensed milk mixed with 2 tablespoons hot coffee

Topping:
1/2 jar store bought caramel sauce (like for ice cream)
1 cup Heath Bar bits/toffee bits

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325.

Butter the inside of a 10 inch bundt pan then 'flour' liberally with cocoa powder. Tap out excess and set aside.

In a large measuring cup, dissolve baking soda in water, stirring well. Add in coffee, 1/2 cup of the coffee liquor (OR chocolate syrup mixture if subbing) and vanilla.

In a large bowl or standing mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy (will be a little stiffer than other butter/sugar combos but be sure to scrape bottom to get any sugar sticking to the bottom.) Beat in the cocoa, then egg yolks one at a time. Alternately beat in the flour and coffee mixture just until incorporated along with a pinch salt.

In a large glass or metal mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold 1/3 of the whites into the batter, then quickly but carefully fold in remaining whites until no streaks remain.

Pour batter into pan. Bake for 55-6- minutes until a tester inserted in center comes out clean.

Meanwhile prepare glaze (either 1/2 cup Kahlua with 1 cup confectioner sugar OR 1/2 can condensed milk with 2 tablespoons hot coffee.)

Let cake cool for 10 minutes in the pan then turn out onto a wire rack lined with wax paper (so you can move it later.) Pierce warm cake all over carefully with tester or fork and drizzle the glaze over until it soaks it all up (careful - makes a mess!)

Let cake cool all the way and either wrap well in plastic wrap or transfer to a cake keeper until ready to serve. An hour before serving, drizzle liberally with warmed caramel sauce (microwave for a few seconds so it pours easily) and sprinkle Heath bar bits over the top.

Deep Dark Chocolate Mousse Pie with Chocolate Cookie Crust

Well when falls off the Paleo wagon, one really falls off. I have to admit being able to eat dairy again is the best thing ever. I had big plans for a French Silk pie yesterday but a non-napping baby forced me to try go with plan B that didn't involve so many mixing bowls and steps. As it turns out it was a delicious plan B.

The original recipe (from my beloved dog-eared Mrs. Fields Cookie Book) called for cream cheese. Since I didn't have any on hand I subbed creme fraiche and crossed my fingers. I think it gave it a particularly amazing texture. Definitely more 'mousse' like than it would have been with cream cheese and I loved the subtle depth of tanginess the creme fraiche lent to the filling really playing up the dark chocolate flavor. Another bonus to using creme fraiche? You can make this pie on the spur of the moment without having to wait for any of the ingredients to come to room temp first.

By the way my husband and our good buddy staying with us topped this pie with…are you ready?…Blue Bell and a big splash of bourbon. They swear it's the best thing ever.

Deep Dark Chocolate Mousse Pie
* Adapted from Mrs. Fields Cookie Book

Crust:
1 1/2 cups chocolate wafer crumbs (ground fine)
5 tablespoons salted butter, melted
2 tablespoons granulated sugat

Filling:
6 oz dark chocolate (55%-75%), chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream plus 1/4 cup, plus additional for whipping if desired
8 oz creme fraiche
1/4 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
pinch salt
3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.

In a medium bowl, combine the crust ingredients until well mixed. Gently press the mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 10 minutes then place on a wire rack to cool.

For the filling, place chopped chocolate in a small bowl. In a small saucepan, bring 1/2 cup of heavy cream to just a simmer. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Let stand, covered, for 5 minutes, then stir until smooth.

In a medium bowl with an eclectic mixer, beat the creme fraiche, sugar, vanilla and pinch salt until smooth. Beat in the remaining 1/4 cup heavy cream. Gently beat in the melted chocolate mixture. Set aside.

Sprinkle the 3/4 cup chocolate chips evenly over the bottom of the crust (if it's still a little warm that's fine - the chips will melt a little which is just groovy.)

Pour the filling over, and if the crust was still warm, let cool a bit before covering with plastic wrap and refrigerating for at least 2 hours before serving to firm up a bit.

Pie will keep, covered, for up to 4 days in the refrigerator.

Chocolate Hug Cookies

When you live in Texas and it gets cold enough to turn your heater on and that heater smell of toasting lint (is that what it is?) wafts through your house it feels like Christmas. Or at least it does to me.

So here we go with my first Christmas cookie post of the season. Hooray commercialism! And malls! And sugar!

My hands down favorite cookie at the holidays (AT the holidays? Southern much?) are peanut blossoms. AKA chocolate kiss cookies or Hershey Kiss peanut butter cookies. My mom made them for us growing up and for me they are edible childhood. I honestly can't be trusted with them. An entire batch will disappear into thin air David Blaine-style.

The only problem is my husband isn't a fan. I try not to let this change my deep endearing love for him but it's tough. Who doesn't like peanut blossoms? WHO???

Anyway I recently had an idea to try and appease his tastes while keeping with my own traditions, now that we have a kid and all. He is a bonafide chocoholic so when I saw a few recipes for Nutella Kisses I thought - SCORE!

Well it was a score alright but of course there was a minor drawback. They didn't taste so much of Nutella as they did chocolate. Personally I thought this was a bonus given the fact a lot of people don't like Nutella. So I changed the name to something that reflected their intensely chocolate, chewily rewarding, chocolate-studded chocolate-kiss topped vibe.

Will they replace my personal favorite in the holiday lineup? We'll see. Actually the tie breaker will be when my son is old enough to taste between the two of them and choose. Though if his tastes are as similar to his father's as his looks are, I'm screwed.

Thankfully I like the alternative almost as much...

* As the picture indicates I made these for Halloween and rolled them in orange sugar before baking. If making for the holidays simply choose another color if desired.

Chocolate Hug Cookies
Adapted from All Recipes

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1 cup salted butter, at room temp
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
2 large eggs, room temp
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread)
2 cups chocolate chips
2 packages dark chocolate Hershey kisses
colored sanding sugar, optional

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a baking sheet or line it with parchment paper.
2. Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder in a bowl. Mix with a whisk to break up any lumps.
3. Beat butter, brown sugar, and white sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time until completely incorporated. Mix in vanilla and chocolate-hazelnut spread.
4. Slowly add in flour mixture and stir just until combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Use a small cookie scoop to keep the cookies a uniform size and roll each scoop of dough between your hands to form a ball. Roll the ball in sugar, if desired.
5. Bake in preheated oven until edges look dry and cookies are fragrant, about 8-9 minutes. Press a chocolate kiss in the center and let cool slightly on the sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

German Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Bars (Queen of the Potluck Bars)

These were inspired by the blog Crazy for Crust and I'm not going to lie - they are too much. Thick, chewy peanut butter cookie bar. Layer of sticky gooey caramel slash chocolate. Topped with sweetened coconut. But wait. Stop the presses. The season of 'too much' is upon us! Make these right now and embrace your calling as Queen of the Potluck or Book Club or OM group (look up OM-ing - I dare you.)

I should also warn you that they freeze well and are even better pulled from the freezer and heated for 30 seconds in the microwave. It's criminal. I'm not kidding. I'm going to go fast now.

Lastly I only mentioned OM-ing because we recently had a group of them living across the street from us and were convinced they were a scary underground group plotting to do something crazy. And it turns out they were. Oh they certainly were. Gotta love living in South Austin.

German Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Bars

Cookie Layer, adapted from Crazy for Crust

Ingredients:
1/2 cup salted butter, at room temp
3/4 cup peanut butter (I used chunky)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg, room temp
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 tablespoon whole or 2% milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups AP (all purpose) flour

Toppings:
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2-2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2-2 cups shredded sweet coconut


Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350. Line a 9x9 inch pan with foil (so that you can lift it out later) and spray well with nonstick spray. Or just grease a ceramic 9x9 inch pan that you can cut them in later and serve from. Up to you.

Cream the butter, peanut butter and both sugars well in a mixer with a paddle attachment or in a large bowl with a hand mixer. When smooth and well mixed, add the egg, vanilla, milk, baking soda and salt and mix until combined, scraping down sides. Slowly add flour in 2-3 additions and blend until just mixed each time.

Carefully press the cookie dough (it will be thick, not pourable) into your greased pan and bake for 18-22 minutes just until golden on top and set.

Remove and spread the chocolate chips in an even layer over the top followed by the coconut.

Stir the sweetened condensed milk and drizzle it as evenly as possible over the top. If using an 8x8 inch pan you may not be able to fit it all so just be careful and don't over fill!

Put in the oven for another 5 minutes just until the coconut has lightly begun to toast but not brown (you don't want to burn the cookie layer.)

Remove and let cool completely before cutting and serving.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

I am a sucker for Halloween themed cookbooks. Most of these impulse purchases end in disappointment, the books full of gimmicks and fluff. All filler and no substance.

But over the summer I came across 'Ghoulish Goodies' by Sharon Bowers at Half Price Books and have been happily surprised recipe by recipe. These Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars, which I baked in an 8x8 inch ceramic dish to make them more cake-like, are honest to God delicious.

She sells them as being adult oriented with the whole wheat flour and spices. I sell them as one of the best coffee cakes I've ever had. Even my husband who is VERY annoyingly picky when it comes to baked goods has eaten them like they were running away from him.

So tis the season for pumpkin and things that go bump in the night and baked goods that help you get through a 3 am feeding followed by another at 4 am and 5:30 am. Did I mention my baby is a vampire?

One last thing. I added toasted walnut pieces which I think turned these up to 11. You know you're getting old when you're tempted to add nuts to about every baked good. I can remember being little and wishing like hell my mom had left them out!

Pumpkin Chocolate-Chip Bars (or Coffee Cake)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves (I was out so used more nutmeg)
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, at room temp
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg, room temp
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
1 (12 oz) package (2 cups) semi sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup to 1 cup lightly toasted walnut pieces, if desired

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. For bars, grease a 9x13 baking pan and set aside. For coffee cake, grease an 8x8 ceramic pan with nonstick spray and see my tip below.

Combine the all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves in a medium bowl.

Beat the butter, two sugars, egg, and vanilla in a large bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Mix in the pumpkin puree until well combined, then add in the flour mixture in about 3 parts, beating each time until just combined. Use a wooden spoon to fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts then spread the batter which will be a bit on the thick and dry side evenly into the pan.

Bake for 35 minutes, until lightly golden and set.

Alisa's Tip:

For a cake like consistency instead of bars, Bake in a well greased 8x8 ceramic or glass pan at 350 for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 325 and bake another 10-15 until the sides begin to turn dark but the middle is still quivery. Reduce heat to 300 and bake another 15 or until middle is set, entire 'cake' has risen and a cake tester comes out clean. 

Happy Halloween Cake

I made this cake for my sister Julie's birthday as she loves Halloween. It was supposed to be a rotting skull buried in dirt with pus oozing out of it. But decorating a cake and 7 week olds don't mix so I ended up over heating the icing which began to ooze instead of hold pustule shapes and before I knew it I had to call it a 'doo-rag' and make him a charred dirty pirate instead.

I used a chocolate cake recipe from Nigella that never fails me. I love it because it breaks every baking rule you've ever learned about keeping the dry and wet ingredients separate and painstakingly adding the wet slowly into the dry. You just dump everything into a food processor, give it a whirl and call it a day.

And it turns out EVERY time - moist and rich yet fluffy and light - and as a bonus it fit the skull pan perfectly. The pan can be found on sale right now at Williams Sonoma by the way and is worth every penny if you're a pan hoarder like myself. I sprayed it with nonstick spray and dusted it with cocoa powder before pouring the batter in and the cake released easy-peasy.

The cool thing is (yes I said cool thing in relation to cake baking - I'm five) is that you'll need to slice the inner halves of the skull after baking and cooling to make them flush and flat (so that when pressed together to make a skull it's not kattywompus.)

But this excess cake isn't wasted. You can crumple this bit of cake up with your fingers to make the 'dirt' for the skull to sit on. I had bought a packet of Oreos to grind up to use and found I didn't need to - I had delicious cake dirt!

The icing is where I took a major shortcut with Marshmallow Creme that actually suited my purposes just fine but I bet Pinterest or any other nerdy site could hook you up with an icing that is more profesh if desired.

Well my baby's up from his nap and ready to eat. Until next time - Happy Halloween y'all!

Halloween Skull Cake (Mint Chocolate Chip Cake)
Altered from a recipe by Recipe by Nigellas Lawson, Nigella's Quadruple Chocolate Loaf Cake

Cake:
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup cocoa, plus extra for dusting pan
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 1/2 sticks soft unsalted butter (I use SALTED)
2 eggs
1 tablespoon good-quality vanilla extract
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 teaspoon mint extract
1 cup Andes mint chocolate pieces or semisweet chocolate chips or morsels

Glaze for decorating/icing:
1 teaspoon cocoa
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 (7 oz) carton Jet Puffed Kraft Marshmallow Creme
Black food coloring, or other for coloring the pirate's 'doo rag'
Red food coloring, for blood
colored sprinkles for decorating doo rag
1 candy eyeball or a round peppermint candy for an eyeball
1 silver or gold dragee for center of the eye (use a dot of icing for the glue onto the candy eyeball)
An old steak knife, for stabbing through one of the eyes
Gummy worms, for planting in the 'dirt'

Special equipment: Halloween skull pan, found at Williams Sonoma


Directions
Take whatever you need out of the refrigerator so that all ingredients can come room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F, putting in a baking sheet as you do so.

Spray both sides of the skull cake pan well with nonstick spray, then lightly but thoroughly dust with cocoa powder. Place the pan on a sturdy flat cookie sheet for stability.

Put the flour, baking soda, cocoa, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, and sour cream into the processor and blitz until a smooth, satiny brown batter. Scrape down with a rubber spatula and process again while pouring the boiling water down the funnel. Blend again, add in peppermint extract and give a final whirl. Switch it off, then remove the lid and the well-scraped double-bladed knife and, still using your rubber spatula, stir in the Andes chocolate pieces or chocolate chips or morsels.

Scrape and pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and put into the oven for 25 minutes. Carefully rotate the pan to the other side then bake for another 10-15 minutes until the cake has risen all the way and 'puffed' but is no longer jiggly in the center. You want to be careful not to over bake this cake as all the detail in the sides can darken the edges and make them crispy if over baked. Using a cake tester or a strand of spaghetti is good insurance if you're iffy.

Remove the cake and let cool on a wire rack completely then carefully invert onto another greased wire rack. When you're sure the cake has cooled all the way, use a serrated bread knife to 'slice' off the undersides of the skull halves ,making them flat. Save these scraps to crumple into 'dirt' onto whatever plate or cake plate you're constructing the cake on making a nice bed for it.

Meanwhile put the syrup ingredients of cocoa, water and sugar into a small saucepan and boil for about 5 minutes, to give a thick syrup. Stir in the marshmallow creme and food coloring getting it to the color you like for the doo rag. Use about 1/4 of this mixture, a tablespoon at a time, to spread on the flat inner side of one of the skulls. This will be your glue to stick them together so don't use so much that it oozes out (though no big deal if it does) and add a little at a time.

Once the cake is together and the creme has set (should happen quickly, this stuff is like edible crazy glue) carefully set the skull into the center of the dirt.

Use the rest of the icing mixture to create either a doo rag or pus or whatever you like. If you let it cool a bit to where it's not so oozy, you can use a fork to drizzle 'brain matter' in little circles over the head. If the mixture gets too hard, gently heat it up over a low flame and stir again until it's smooth and oozy.

Finish decorating to your liking using a candy for an eyeball, more 'pus' in the other eye with a couple drops of red food coloring, and plant the worms in the dirt. Stab a steak knife in the empty pus filled eye socket if desired.

Key Lime Pie for Cheaters. No Apology Necessary.

For Father's Day this year I had my dad and stepmom over for a nice lunch. I made chicken fried chicken, chipotle and white cheddar garlic mashed potatoes, spinach salad and key lime pie.

My dad has a huge sweet tooth so initially I had higher ambitions than key lime pie using bottled key lime juice. But being pretty pregnant at that point something had to give and as I looked at the cheesecake recipe I'd pulled out the night before I realized it was a little ambitious in addition to making everything else including the salad dressing from scratch.

I found a bottle of Nellie and Joe's Key West Lime Juice in my pantry along with a chocolate graham cracker pie crust and off we went. And here's the thing. It didn't matter. I'd put this pie up against a made from scratch one any day. I jazzed things up a little with a sweetened sour cream topping and fresh lime zest. The sour cream topping was a component of my mom's cheesecake growing up and it added a nice counterpart to the sweet key lime filling (something a little different than whipped cream.)

If I had one thing to do over I'd have made the chocolate graham cracker crust from scratch. It wouldn't have added much time to the recipe and probably would've taken it up a whole other level but in a pinch you can't beat a tasty pie that you can whip together in five minutes flat.

Nellie and Joe's Key Lime Pie
*Slightly Adapted by Alisa Wixom

Ingredients:
1 (9 inch) prepared chocolate graham cracker pie shell (regular is fine too)
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup Nellie and Joe's Key West Lime Juice (from a bottle found in grocery store)
1 (16 oz) carton sour cream
heaping 1/4 cup powdered sugar
zest of 1 lime

How To:
Preheat oven to 350. Combine the condensed milk, egg yolks and lime juice together in a medium bowl. Blend until smooth. Pour the filling into the prepared pie shell and bake for 15 minutes. Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes on a pie rack. While the pie cools, combine the sour cream and powdered sugar together until well mixed. Spread the mixture evenly over the whole pie (you probably won't need or want all of it but up to you.) Garnish the top with lime zest and a thin slice of lime if desired.

Cover lightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled. Will last for 3 days in the fridge.

M&M Cookies to Brighten Your Day

I had a wicked urge to bake on Saturday. It wasn't even a case of pregnancy munchies. I'd been having visions of brightly colored M&M cookies from my childhood (pregnancy has made me weirdly nostalgic for foods from when I was little) so I did a quick Google search and was on my way.

I had no way of knowing how badly I would need these cookies two days later when we woke up to find my 16 year old cat Lily on the floor, her back legs paralyzed. It wasn't going to be a good day.

But back to the cookies. These are my favorite kind of cookies to make. They're one-bowlers and as long as you've set the butter out a good couple hours ahead of time to soften you can whip them up in less than thirty minutes. No need to refrigerate the dough before baking either. And while they no doubt satisfy that nostalgic cookie craving, the addition of lemon zest adds enough complexity to offset all that sugar for grown up taste buds.

I see these cookies becoming one of my go to recipes and I can't wait to make them during different times of the year when M&Ms get all festive and seasonal (Halloween, Christmas, Easter, etc.) Ooh all the pretty colors! I'm such a girl. I might even try adding lemon extract to them next time as I love the lemon/chocolate combo.

Anyway if you need a little pick me up these will set you straight. Especially when wine isn't an option;)

M&M Cookies

Makes 16 large bakery-sized cookies.

* Adapted from All Recipes - "Robbi's M&M Cookies"

Ingredients:

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup shortening, room temp

1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, room temp

2 eggs, room temp

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

zest from 1 medium or large lemon (I like more!)

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 cups candy coated milk chocolate pieces, plus 1/4 cup

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 (convection bake if you have it.)

In a large bowl, mix sugar, butter and shortening together until everything is really well combined and smooth. Stir in the eggs, vanilla and lemon zest. Finally pour the flour, baking soda and salt over the wet mixture and stir until just well combined. Gently stir in the 1 1/2 cups of chocolate candies.

Use a large ice scream scoop to scoop them onto an ungreased pan giving at least 2 inches between cookies. Carefully press in any extra M&Ms you can fit on the tops. Bake for 10-11 minutes, just until the tops are beginning to turn golden in places as well as the edges. Remove and let set up on the sheet for another 60 seconds. Carefully transfer with a spatula to a cooling rack. Can be stored at room temp in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Rocky Road Pie and a Baby

Well looky there. You would think my four month, two week old baby bump would have a little something to do with two pie recipes in a row wouldn't you? Oh wait - I haven't told you I'm having a baby? How rude of me. I'm having a baby!

This little bundle of joy and purveyor of sleepless nights arrives in early September and I couldn't be more excited. Though I do miss my wine. There I said it.

Anyway I've been a little busy between gestating and my day job and SXSW (which I am SO glad is over. Who knew how much a little vino could help you survive that two week shit storm of culture, music, technology and lack of cabs?)

But back to the pie. This chocolatey-nutty-salty-gooey-marshmallowy delight was actually no fault of my little fetus. It was my hubby's birthday this past Monday and he requested a rocky road pie. I had never made a rocky road pie so I did a quick google search thinking I'd be golden. Not so simple. The recipes with the best ratings were rocky road ice cream pies which basically consisted of - you guessed it - pouring softened rocky road ice cream into a graham crust and freezing it. I have nothing against easy recipes but I felt compelled to put forth a little effort. After all the poor guy's birthday was already on the worst day of the week (Monday) and with me being knocked up and all I was too tired to do anything more festive than an early dinner with friends. I owed the man a decent pie.

Suddenly a pie from my past came to me in a vision (since getting pregnant I have these really vivid food memories that hit me out of nowhere like a ton of bricks.) This time it was a pie my mom made often growing up which was hands down the most divine, ridiculously addictive pie I've ever tasted. I hadn't thought of it in years. When I tell you the recipe you're going to laugh: one store bought chocolate graham cracker pie crust + 1 tub of Cool Whip mixed with a giant almond hershey bar that's been melted. Freeze and serve. That's it. I'm telling you though - it is the devil himself.

I knew immediately I'd be swapping out my childhood Hershey bars for my husband's favorite (XOXO Dark Chocolate, Sea Salt and Almond) and since I didn't have any Cool Whip on hand I improvised the rest. What came out was a ludicrously decadent, slightly more sophisticated homage to my mom's recipe.

The husband was happy, the baby bump was happy and despite the lack of cocktails and the fact that we were in bed by 10 it wasn't such a bad birthday after all. Happy Happy Belated Birthday my sweet husband! Next year I promise to paint the town red with you. Or at least to handle diaper duty...

Rocky Road Pie with Chocolate Wafer Crust and Marshmallow Creme Topping

Ingredients:
1 store bought Oreo or chocolate graham crust
2 (3.2 oz) bars of XOXO Dark Chocolate, Sea Salt and Almond
1/2 cup of semi sweet chips, plus extra for garnish
2 pinches sea salt or kosher salt
Splash of coffee or vanilla extract
1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds (can up this if you want more almond to filling ratio)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/3 heaping cup confectioner sugar
splash of vanilla extract
1 (7 oz) tub Kraft marshmallow creme

Directions:
Break up the bars into small chunks and put in a medium microwave safe bowl. Add in 1/2 cups semi sweet chips and microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until the chocolate is just melted and smooth. Stir in the salt, coffee or vanilla, sliced almonds and set aside.

Add the heavy cream into a standing mixing bowl and mix on high until stiff peaks form. Pour in confectioner sugar and vanilla extract and blend until incorporated. Fold in the melted chocolate mixture just until well mixed but don't go overboard as you don't want to deflate the whipped cream too much.

Pour into the prepared graham shell, cover and refrigerate for at least four hours. Before serving, carefully pour the marshmallow creme out evenly over the top of the pie (using clean fingers is the best tool for distributing it evenly - it tends not to play well with utensils.) Decorate with semi sweet chips and serve. Pie will keep up to five days in the refrigerator if well covered.

The 'Chocolate Cure' Cake

The 'Chocolate Cure' Cake

*Adapted from 'Too Much Chocolate Cake' on Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

1 (18.25 oz) box devil's food (chocolate) cake mix

1 (5.9 oz) package instant chocolate pudding mix

1 cup sour cream

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

1/2 cup warm water

pinch salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 (or more) cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a bundt pan with nonstick spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes and make a well in the center. In another small bowl break the eggs up with a fork then add them into the well with the sour cream, oil, salt, and vanilla. Stir to combine. Pour in the water and stir until just well mixed.

Finally, stir in the chocolate chips then pour the batter into the cake mold. Place on a cookie sheet for stability and bake for 50-55 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake for 20 minutes before inverting and cooling the rest of the way. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.

Triple Chocolate Nut Clusters (Courtesy of your Crock Pot)

My mom makes a similar version to these with Spanish peanuts and milk chocolate. Thanks to my husband I am now partial to dark chocolate (obsessed actually - my preference for super dark i.e. the kind that can strip paint actually scares him.) Anyway his mom brought these with her from Georgia when she visited this past Christmas. They are SO good.

This makes an obscene amount, so hopefully you have plenty of friends to give them to. And if not - you're about to!

Triple Chocolate Nut Clusters
* from Christmas With Southern Living 2006, Oxmoor House
2006

Ingredients:
1 (16-ounce) jar dry-roasted peanuts
1 (9.75-ounce) can salted whole cashews
2 cups pecan pieces
18 (2-ounce) chocolate bark coating squares, cut in half
1 (12-ounce) package semisweet chocolate morsels
4 (1-ounce) bittersweet chocolate baking squares, broken into pieces
1 tablespoon shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation:
Combine first 7 ingredients in a 5-quart slow cooker; cover and cook on LOW 2 hours or until chocolate is melted. Stir chocolate and nuts; add vanilla, stirring well to coat.
Drop candy by heaping teaspoonfuls onto wax paper. Let stand at least 2 hours or until firm. Store in an airtight container.

Gale Robb's Caramelita Bars...

Via my new dear friend Claire via her dear friend Hilary Sanborn. Hooray friends!

Gale Robb’s Caramelita Bars

Ingredients:
2 (14 oz) bags Kraft caramels (or new melt pellets)
1 cup heavy cream
1 ½ c butter, at room temp
2 cups flour
1 ½ cups brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ tspn salt
2 cups regular oatmeal
1 (12 oz) pkg. semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line a 9x14” brownie pan with parchment paper. Spray with nonstick spray.

In a double broiler melt caramels with heavy cream on low – stir until incorporated and smooth. Set aside. In a separate mixer or large sturdy bowl with a hand held mixer, combine butter with flour - adding the flour gradually, then the brown sugar, baking soda, salt, and oatmeal.

Take ½ of the butter/oatmeal mixture and gently pat into lined pan with your hands or a nonstick spatula. Bake @ 350 degrees 8-10 min. Remove from oven. While still hot, evenly sprinkle with the chocolate chips on top. Bake 2 minutes then spread the chips with a knife or offset spatula. Once spread, pour the caramel mixture evenly over. Crumble rest of the oatmeal mix evenly over on top. Bake another 15 min. Let cool completely before slicing.

Kris' Chocolate Salted Caramel Sauce

Me: I'm going to make you salted caramel sauce for your ice cream tonight.
Kris: Can you put some chocolate in it?
Me: No... It's a scientific process or something. I'm not sure if it would work.
Kris: Just try it.
Me: (mentally cursing him for being a chocoholic and a man. Salted Caramel Sauce? Really? You want to add chocolate to that? Should I throw in a cheeseburger and chili fries while I'm at it? Jesus...) I retain my composure, smile, and say-
Me: Okay, I'll try adding some semi sweet chips to half of it.
Kris: Awesome.

Cut to an hour later. I'm adding the chocolate chips into the half of the salted caramel which honestly already smelled like heaven on earth, squared. I grimaced, then watched the chocolate melt into the luscious caramel goo. Suddenly I knew my husband's chocolate obsession might have led to the next great creation after the internet and Spanx. CHOCOLATE salted caramel sauce. Dear God help us all.

Kris' Chocolate Salted Caramel Sauce
* This is actually excellent without the chocolate, for those chocolate haters out there.

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water, plus and additional small bowl of water set aside
3/4 cup heavy cream
3 1/2 tablespoons salted butter, cut into chunks
1/2 teaspoon flaked sea salt
1/2 cup to 3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips, for melting into caramel sauce (the amount of chocolate presence is up to you)
a pastry brush, for making the caramel

Directions:
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the sugar and water over medium-low heat until the sugar dissolves. You can use a whisk to help dissolve the sugar - just don't let it come to a bubble. This step might take a while - up to 20 minutes. After the sugar has dissolved, increase the heat and bring to a boil, without stirring. If necessary, use a wet pastry brush to wash down any crystals on the side of the pan. Boil until the syrup is a deep amber color, about 8-10 minute but ovens vary so keep an eye on it and DON'T leave it alone.
Remove the sugar from the heat and carefully whisk in the heavy cream. The mixture will bubble. Stir in the unsalted butter, and salt. Finally stir in the chocolate chips until melted and incorporated into the sauce. Let cool a little before transferring to an airtight container and depositing in the fridge. To reheat, microwave at 30 second intervals and stir. Serve over ice cream or by the spoonful.

Chocolate Dream Pie with a Shortbread Crust...For a Crowd

I made this for my dad on Father's Day. It was the first time I've actually been able to spend Father's Day with him in over ten years so I wanted to make a dessert he would really love. He did, as did my husband and myself.

You really can't put this one into words. It's rich yet light (not in the caloric sense, of course) and despite being mostly 'from the box' tastes completely homemade and special. In fact there's only one problem with it - if left alone with the pan you might start eating it and never stop. I had a vision of myself sneaking out of bed in the middle of the night, pulling the pan from the fridge and lifting it up over my head like Sloth from The Goonies.

Chocolate rain, y'all. Chocolate rain...

Chocolate Dream Pie with a Shortbread Crust
Serves 16.
*Downside - easy to do but involves a few steps, mixing bowls and remembering to leave out butter and cream cheese long enough to soften.
*Upside - can make 1 day ahead and keep in the refrigerator. Makes a boatload.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, softened (at room temp)
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup pecans, toasted and finally chopped
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 large container (12 oz) Cool whip, divided
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 medium bananas, sliced or 3 cups sliced strawberries, OPTIONAL
2 (3.9 oz) pkgs chocolate pudding mix
1 quart cold whole milk
whole pecans, for garnish OR berries or banana slices
Good quality dark chocolate bar, for shaving or grating over finished pie

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.

Cream softened butter in a standing mixer or by hand, slowly stir in flour until incorporated then nuts. Press the mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 inch glass or ceramic baking pan. Just take your time and press gently until an even, cohesive layer forms. It looks like it won't be enough dough but it is. Bake for 20 minutes or until the top is just lightly browned. Remove from the oven and cool completely.

Beat softened cream cheese in a large mixing bowl or mixer until smooth. Slowly add in powdered sugar, beating after each addition until smooth. Fold in 1 cup of cool whip and the vanilla extract. Spread this mixture evenly over the cooled shortbread crust.

OPTIONAL - spread slices of banana or strawberry over the cream cheese layer.

In a separate bowl, beat or whisk the pudding mix with the cold milk according to the directions on package. Let set for a couple minutes, then spread over the bananas or strawberries (if using, otherwise spread over the cream cheese/Cool Whip layer.) Let set up another 5 minutes.

Finally, spread over the remaining Cool Whip until even and pretty.

Garnish with shaved chocolate, additional whole pecans and/or fruit. Chill at least 2 hours in the refrigerator or overnight before serving, covered in plastic wrap.

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies. Period. End of report.

...are McCormicks.

I posted these a long time ago but the post was sad, the picture was anemic, and the writing was piss poor. I think I said something like "These are great," which is a slap in the face to these cookies.

If these cookies were a woman, they'd be Angelina Jolie, only they'd have waited for Brad to divorce Jen before pouncing. Actually if these cookies were Angelina, they wouldn't have stolen Brad at all but would have single-handedly repaired their marriage out of the kindness of their butter filled-heart. (They might've even thrown in a baby giving Brad the family he so desired without Jen having to mess up her figure.)

But then again, if these cookies really were Angelina Jolie, then Brad wouldn't have been able to resist them and definitely would've tossed Jen aside. So I guess that makes it a fact then. These cookies are Angelina Jolie in cookie form.

By the way - for some reason McCormick changed the recipe a little on their site. Don't fall for it. Use the old one here.

McCormick's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 20-22 super big cookies (use a big ice cream scoop)
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 8-10 minutes per batch

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/3 cups salted butter, softened and at room temp
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
4 teaspoons McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract
1 package (12 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips (I use more)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F (actually, my oven bakes them better at 360, go figure.) Mix flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

2. Beat butter, sugars, eggs and extract in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until creamy. Gradually mix in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Use a large ice cream scoop to distribute them about 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets.

3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until bottoms are browned. Cool on baking sheets 1 minute. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.

Nigella's Chocolate Gingerbread Cake

I made this for Christmas and while it was absolutely delicious I feel it got lost in the shuffle with all the other sweets flying around. Next year I'll make it for Halloween because I can't help but feel that that's the holiday it was meant for. After all if this dessert were a Halloween costume, it would be the 'naughty nurse' outfit favored by college girls and cougars.

And while Nigella says the flavors might be too much for children, I disagree. It's basically a super rich chocolate sheet cake with a little something extra you can't quite put your finger on. Not really spicy like you would expect, just unapologetically chocolate-y with a pleasantly damp, squishy crumb.

A word of warning - the cake isn't much to look at after it's baked but don't fret. The pourable icing gives it an instant makeover (not accurately depicted by the above image, taken by me via iPhone while a bit tipsy at a holiday party...and on a paper plate no less.)

Nigella's Chocolate Gingerbread Cake
From Feast by Nigella Lawson
Makes about large 12 slabs, but smaller servings are nice too as its so rich.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 sticks butter
1 cup + 2 T dark brown sugar
2 T granulated sugar
3/4 cup golden syrup (such as Lyle's Golden Syrup) or light corn syrup
3/4 c. molasses
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
2 T warm water
2 eggs
1 cup milk
2 cups flour
1/3 cup unsweetened powdered cocoa
1 cup (or more) semi sweet chocolate chips

For Frosting:
2 c. powdered sugar
2 T butter
1 T unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 c. ginger ale (I used Dr. Pepper as it's what I had on hand)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325. Line a baking pan (10X13 pyrex) with parchment paper (so that you can lift it out later.)

In a large saucepan or dutch oven, melt the butter with the sugars, syrup, molasses, cloves, cinnamon and ginger.

In a separate cup or bowl, dissolve baking soda in warm water.

Take the saucepan off heat and add eggs, milk and soda/water mixture. Stir in flour and cocoa, reserving 2 T or so of the flour.

Toss the chocolate chips in the reserved flour, then fold in floured chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into the parchment lined pan and bake about 50-55 min until risen and firm. The middle should still be a little damp under the set top, and will sink a little. Let cool in the pan.

While the cake is cooling, melt the butter, cocoa and ginger ale for the frosting in a small heavy based saucepan. Whisk in the powdered sugar and remove from the heat.

To frost, either remove the cake from the pan, fold down the paper, and pour frosting evenly over the cake (or you can just leave it in the pan and pour over there, removing it to cut up later.) Let frosting set for a few hours or overnight then cut into large slabs.