The Cookie Monster Strikes Again

Before Hurricaine Irene I posted a cookie recipe that I called "Cookies Before the Storm", and that recipe has taken me through many a trying experience, including no power for 4 days during said storm. Well this winter, I re-vamped those cookies and made them almost as crazy as Paula Deen's "Everything Cookies" and thank goodness I had the sense to leave out the M&M's. But this is a cookie that any cookie monster would want to experience. And due to the climate we've been having in the North East lately, I've decided to call this new batch Cookies Before, During and After the Storm. You'll yield about 40 cookies and they are yummy!  It's a basic chocolate chip cookie with a few extras thrown in. Today I added dark chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, crushed walnuts, raisins, coconut, rolled oats and sea salt. They're simple and deeelish!

Cookies Before, During and After the Storm

2 sticks butter softened
1 cup Splenda no calorie sweetener
1/2 cup Splenda Brown Sugar Blend
2 large eggs (room temp if possible)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp salt
1-1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup rolled oats
2-1/2 to 3 cups assortment of goodies- like chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, crushed walnuts, raisins, coconut and coarse sea salt for sprinkling on top before baking.

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees and line baking pans with parchment paper. Place butter and sugars in a large bowl. With hand mixer combine sugars and butter until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla extract and incorporate. Set aside.

In separate bowl combine flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Mix to incorporate (I just use a fork). Add the flour mixture in two batches to the wet ingredients and combine. Now add the rolled oats and the chips/raisins/nut mixture. Spoon tablespoons of the dough about 2 inches apart onto the parchment paper, sprinkle with sea salt and bake for 9 minutes. Crowd pleaser? YES! Just make sure to take a few for yourself before they are all gobbled up by your cookie monster friends. Hope you enjoy!

Dark Chocolate Ricotta Cake, yummmmm

I've been updating and improving my chocolate ricotta cake since I first made it and posted it a little over 4 years ago and realized I never kept up with the changes. So happy new year all, it's time to make this yummy, simple cake and celebrate 2014. I made this Saturday night and as I normally do, I've cut some calories and have a decadent little dessert that I'm excited to share with you. If you've never tried a ricotta cake, all I can say is it's creamy on the inside and just a tad crunchy on the top. It's my kind of dessert, hope you like it too. 

Dark Chocolate Ricotta Cake
use a large loaf pan

2/3 cup AP flour
2/3 cup old fashioned oats ground in spice grinder or food processor
1/3 cup dark baking cocoa (I've been very pleased with Hershey's)
2-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks unsalted butter softened
1-1/2 cups Splenda no calorie sweetener (regular sugar will work as well)
15 oz part skim ricotta cheese at room temp
3 large eggs at room temp
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 tsp instant coffee diluted in 1/4 cup boiling water, then cooled
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Prep your loaf pan with cooking spray and pre heat oven to 350 degrees. Set loaf pan aside and get your dry ingredients together. In a medium size bowl sift flour, ground oats, dark cocoa, baking powder and salt. When you're sifting the oats, you'll end up with some of the hull from the grain. Discard it, it's just a tablespoon or two. Set aside your dry ingredients and let's get to the moist.

In large bowl mix butter and sugar for about 2 minutes until combined. Add the ricotta, coffee and vanilla. Now add the eggs.

Mix until your batter is a little curdled looking. Not pretty at this point, but we're getting there.

Time to add the dry ingredients. I do this in two batches and then add the chips and by mix them by hand.

Pour into prepared pan.

Bake 15 minutes at 350 degrees and then lower temp to 325 and bake another 45 minutes. Let cool before removing from pan. This is a very rich cake, so I didn't glaze it or even dust it with powderd sugar, but you could certainly do that. Or a dollop of whipped cream would be nice. If you've never tried a ricotta cake before, this is a great introduction to baking with cheese.  Simple and simply delicious.

World Food Championships 2013, Part 2

The above picture was taken after round one of the dessert competition. I really don't look too frazzled do I? Just happy to have completed my two recipes on time, and in the dark no less. So are you ready for recipe#2? It's a dark mocha truffle cookie (very sultry and not too sweet), and they will make a nice addition to your Thanksgiving or Christmas dessert buffet. Perfect timing I think.

Dark Mocha Truffle Cookies
makes about 32

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperatue
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
2 tsp instant coffee powder
1/4 cup dark unsweetened cocoa (the dark cocoa really makes a difference)
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1-3/4 cups AP flour
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup finely chopped walnuts
Confectioner's sugar for dusting
Ground instant coffee for dusting

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl mix butter and sugar until well blended. Add vanilla, coffee, cocoa and salt and mix well.

Add flour and mix until dough is looking crumbly. Add the walnuts and incorporate.

I use my clean hands to mix the nuts and batter. A little messy I admit, but that's what I do. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate 15 to 20 minutes.

You can certainly refrigerate the dough longer, we were just under the gun, and I figured out before the competition that 15 minutes was the least amount of time the dough could be refrigerated and still make perfect little truffles. Working with half the dough, roll into balls about 1 inch in diameter. Place balls on parchment lined baking sheets and bake 15 minutes. Let cool on wire rack for about 5 minutes (ten if you're not in a cooking competition) and toss warm cookies in confectioner's sugar. Set cookies aside to cool and top with sieved ground coffee. Repeat with remainder of dough. Serve in mini cupcake liners. I was lucky enough to find some brown liners (no picture available, since we were scurrying around towards plating time and didn't even think of taking a photo) but they were very complimentary to the brown and white cookies.

I must give credit where credit is due...So a special thank you to Lori, my daughter and sous chef at the event who made these little darlings like a pro. And also, a big shout out to Diane Hopson Smith who tested this recipe for me and reassured me they were as good as I thought they were. Love you gals!

No-Bake Cream Cheese Pudding Cake

This is a re-mix of the ice box cake I made a few weeks ago. The concept is similar, but I made it smaller in an 8 x 8 inch glass dish. I didn't have enough graham crackers to make the big one and after visiting the market way too many times over the weekend I decided I'd make do with what was on hand. I also eliminated the peanut butter and cool whip and gave 8 ounces of low fat cream cheese star billing. Plus I used white chocolate instant pudding this time and had some filling left over which was great mixed with fresh fruit for breakfast or intermittent snacks. And of course I thickly slathered this decadent little cake with Diane's super rich chocolate frosting. Here's what you need to get started:

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Filled No-Bake Chocolate Eclair Cake

13 chocolate graham crakers
2 boxes (1 oz each) Jello sugar free/fat free white chocolate instant pudding
3-1/2 cups fat free milk
8 oz neufchatel cheese at room temp
3/4 cup mini chocolate semi sweet chips

Frosting
1/4 cup unsalted butter at room temp
1/4 cup Hershey's Special Dark cocoa
1/4 cup fat free half and half
1-1/2 cup powdered sugar
dash of salt

Get out your pudding. This is what I used:

In large bowl mix pudding with milk. I use a small hand mixer and whirl for about 2 minutes until the mixture thickens a bit, scraping down the sides to get every last bit of goodness combined. Now add the softened cream cheese and blend for another minute or two. Taste it, it's creamy and cream cheesy.

Time to add the mini chips.

And fold them into the cheese/pudding mixture.

Set this aside and let's get ready for assembly. In an 8x8 inch dish, spritz a little cooking spray around bottom and sides and place 4 and 1/3 chocolate graham crackers on the bottom, so they look like this:

Cover the top of the crackers with enough of your pudding mixture so all the crackers are covered. Layer another 4 and 1/3 crackers on top of the pudding mixture. We're building a masterpiece for sure.

Cover the second layer of crackers with enough pudding to make sure crackers are going to be soaking up the decadent pudding mixture and top with your last 4 and 1/3 graham crackers. We're ready to frost this baby. Most exciting part of the dish!

In medium size bowl combine all frosting ingredients and pull out that hand mixer one more time. Combine all ingredients until smooth.

Cover, no slather your cake liberally with this most heavenly frosting. Lick the spoon of course and cover your cake with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 12 hours, slice and enjoy with or without some whipped cream.

 So now you've got a little bit of pudding/cheese mixture left over, what're you gonna do? I made a fabulous fruit salad and used a dollop or two as a garnish. But this little mixture has legs and I discovered you can serve this creamy, white chocolate pudding with French Toast. I did that and it deserves a post of it's own. I will take some pics and post the French Toast next time I'm making cream cheese pudding again. Lovin' all the pudding possibilities!

Banana Chocolate Chip Cake

We've been told for years bananas are good for us, and now we're seeing articles and ads on diet/food sites that say they promote belly fat and aren't as healthy as they're cracked up to be. Who are you gonna believe? I can see both sides of this debate, but I'm going with the belief that bananas are good! Did you know they protect your heart, quiet a cough, strengthen your bones, and control your blood pressure? And that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to their good qualities. This is a recipe blog so I won't preach nutrition or diet since I'm neither a nutritionist or dietician. But I'm thrilled to share a super rich banana chocolate chip cake I made this weekend, topped with the most decadent chocolate frosting you've ever tasted. I lightened the cake up the best I could, eliminating much of the fat and sugar, and both the cake and the frosting are quick fixes, and so worth making.

Banana Chocolate Chip Cake
makes 16 small servings in an 8 x 8 inch pan

cooking spray
2 cups AP flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 T unsalted butter, room temp
2 T canola oil
3/4 cup Splenda no calorie sweetener
2 large eggs, room temp
1 egg white, room temp
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup light sour cream
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Dark Chocolate Frosting
this is Diane Smith's soon to be famous (although I think it's famous already) recipe using dark cocoa

1/4 cup butter, room temp
1/4 cup Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa
1/4 cup low fat evaporated milk
dash of salt
1-1/2 to 2 cups powdered sugar

The first thing I do is spritz my baking pan with cooking spray and pre heat my oven to 375 degrees. Then I combine my bananas with the sour cream and set it aside. I think the secret to some of the richness in this cake is due to the extra ripe bananas mixed with the sour cream.

In medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients with a whisk (flour, baking powder and salt). Set this bowl aside and get ready to cream your butter, canola oil and splenda. I use a large bowl for this because eventually all the ingredients end up in here. Cream the latter with a hand mixer for about 3 minutes, making sure to wipe down the edges of your bowl to incorporate all ingredients. Add the eggs, egg white and vanilla to the butter mixture.

Combine with hand mixer and add half the flour mixture. At this point I bring out my rubber spatula and fold in the flour. Once you're adding the dry ingredients, you don't want to mix too vigorously. Now fold in all of the creamy banana combo. When that seems to be combined, add the rest of the flour and gently stir, removing as many lumps as possible. Now fold in the chocolate chips.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes. The cake puffs up quite a bit and then settles down as it cools.

While the cake is cooling, make the frosting. In medium size bowl combine butter, cocoa, evaporated milk and salt. I use my hand mixer for this. When all looks incorporated, add the powdered sugar and contiunue mixing until smooth. Take a taste or two and see if you need more powdered sugar. I've been happy with 1-1/2 cups, but you can adjust to your liking. When cake is completely cooled, pour on the frosting and frost away.

Dig in and enjoy. If you want to get a bit more decadent, sprinkle some additional chocolate chips on top of the frosting!

Decadence

There was a recipe floating around facebook a few weeks ago for a Peanut Butter Chocolate Eclair Ice Box Cake. I've never made an ice box cake, nor eaten one as far as I know, and thought this would be a new learning experience. And it sure was. It turned out that some of the measurements were incorrect and I was left to improvise. For anyone who makes my recipe, please let me know if this is what an ice box cake should taste like, since I am a bit clueless. Oh and I lightened this baby up as much as I could because I know you're all going to want seconds.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Eclair Cake with Chocolate Frosting
makes 16 slices in a 9 x 13 inch pan

Cooking spray
1 box chocolate graham crackers (you will have a few left over)
2 boxes Jello Sugar Free/Fat Free Instant Vanilla Pudding (1 oz each)
3-1/2 cups fat free milk
1 8 oz container of Sugar Free Cool Whip defrosted
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Frosting
this is Diane Smith's recipe and it is out of this world rich
1/4 c unsalted butter softened
1/4 c cocoa- I use Hershey's Extra Dark, yummmmm I really see a difference when I use this brand
1/4 c low fat evaporated milk
1-1/2 c powdered sugar- Diane uses more and you can too, but I decided to cut back
dash of salt
2 T peanut butter (my addition)
2 T crushed dry roasted peanuts (also my addition)

Spritz a baking pan with cooking spray and set aside. In large bowl combine instant pudding and milk. Whip a minute or two (I used a hand mixer) and add your peanut butter. Whip a few minutes more until all seems combined. Now fold in your whipped topping. 

 

 

I discovered a half a bag of chocolate mini chips in my freezer and decided to toss those in too.

 

 

Set this creamy bowl of loveliness aside and let's get ready to assemble the cake. In sprayed baking pan lay 7-1/2 graham grackers on the bottom.

 

 



Top with half the pudding mixture.

 



 

Add another layer of graham crackers and top that with the rest of the pudding mixture. Just one more layer of graham crackers and we're ready to make the frosting.

 

 

In large bowl cream the butter, cocoa, salt and evaporated milk. Now add the peanut butter and whip until incorporated. Add the powdered sugar and combine until smooth. Spread over top layer of graham crackers and sprinkle with crushed peanuts.

 

 

 

Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 12 hours. Then get ready to dig in. Well, not really dig in, try and cut this as civilized as possible. I cut mine into 16 portions, and I must say, cutting the cake was the hardest part of this experiment. But I did it and it tastes great! And it's so much lower in calories and fat than other cakes of it's kind. Doesn't this look decadent and inviting?

 

 

Give this cake a try, I know you will like it. And when you do, get back to me and let me know if this is indeed an ice box cake and maybe some instructions on how to easily cut it.

 

The re-mix: I might try this combo as a trifle. And I may at sometime replace the peanut butter with a creamy raspberry/vanilla type pudding with the addition of fresh raspberries. I might even make the chocolate frosting with a hint of raspberry jam. Ooh this was delicous fun! 

Cream Cheese Banana Bread

I have a few favorite banana bread recipes and make them when I have ripe bananas and feel like treating myself. A few months ago I came across a recipe called "The Most Creamy Banana Bread" and obviously I was intrigued because it contained cream cheese, which I love in all my cookies, cakes and breads, and the ratings were A plus. So what's a gal to do on a snowy Saturday with 3 extra ripe bananas sitting on my kitchen counter? I got to work and made this simple, delicious bread. Easy prep and 45 minutes cooking time, I couldn't be happier. This recipe originated from Tracey Stephan, a blue ribbon winner at JAP. Tracey had a topping on her bread- nuts and brown sugar. I decided to eliminate the topping and just add my favorite add in-mini chocolate chips into the batter. This is a treat you don't want to miss. Let's put this baby together, with a few pictures to help you along.

Cream Cheese Banana Bread
use a 9 x 5 inch bread pan

Cooking spray
1/2 cup butter softened
8 oz cream cheese softened
1-1/4 cup sugar (I used Splenda no calorie)
2 eggs room temp if possible
3 bananas mashed (Tracey used 1 cup, I added a little more)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2-1/4 cups AP flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees and mist bread pan with cooking spray. I like to get all my ducks in order before I bake so first thing I did was combine my flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium size bowl.

In large bowl beat with hand mixer the cream cheese and butter. Now add the sugar and mix well.

Add your eggs one at a time and mix. Now add the mashed bananas and vanilla extract.

It's time to add the flour mixture. At this time I put my mixer away and stir the ingredients with my wooden spoon. The "Joy of Baking" claims that the less you mix your batter, the more tender your bread will be. So fold in the flour mixtue gently by hand. Add the chocolate chips and combine.

 

 

Pour or spoon batter into prepared baking pan.

 

 

Bake in pre heated oven for 45 minutes. At first I thought this wasn't enough time for this amount of bread, but I was wrong. Forty five minutes does the trick. Bake this little baby up and enjoy!

 

 





Raspberry Brownie Sundaes

I am so baked out. Really. In the last few years I have joined so many cooking groups/clubs, internet sites that celebrate every season/holiday that inspire me to try something new that I always seem to have one more thing to try. I think tonight (except for the dulce de leche cookies waiting to be baked tomorrow that are in my fridge) I am done with sweets for the season (at least until World Nutella Day and Valentines's Day) but that's in February so I think I might be ready again. So before I go back to posting salads and healthy dishes, I must share today's bit of decadence. And oh! it's so worth sharing. It all started with a candy bar my friend Mary Anne gave me.

And continued with a purchase I made at the supermarket today. A nine dollar mini "bar" baking pan.

I've been playing around with single serve desserts for a while now and knew I could put this little darling to good use. And that's exactly what I did this afternoon. How does Raspberry filled Ghirardelli dark chocolate filled brownies sound to you? Sounded right up my alley, and it was really simple since I used a boxed brownie mix and everything else that came after that just seemed to fall into place. This is a dessert I recommend to anyone who needs a chocolate fix or wants to make this their last hurrah before the new year, it's just that rich. Here's the recipe:

Individual Raspberry Brownie Sundaes
makes 8

1 box of your favorite brownie mix for 8x8 pan
2 large eggs
3 T cooled strong brewed coffee
1/3 cup canola oil

Topping
8 oz neufchatel cheese softened
1 stick unsalted butter
1/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves (I like Polaner All Fruit)
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar

Garnish
Hershey's syrup (I used the lite)
Hershey's mini chocolate chips
Fresh raspberries (price was unreasonable so I nixed that, but they would be great if you feel rich)

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees and prep pan with cooking spray. Prepare brownie mix using my ingredients, not what is on the box. That would be 2 eggs instead of one and the coffee instead of the water.  Pour half the mixture into 8 of the 12 indentations in the pan. Place a square of the Ghirardelli chocolate on top of each brownie mixture.

Cover those heavenly pieces of raspberry chocolate goodness with more brownie mix, but don't over fill. You shouldn't have any brownie mix left over. Bake 17 minutes and let cool.

While brownies are cooling, prepare the creamy frosting. Mix all ingredients (I use a simple hand mixer) . When frosing is fluffy and brownies are cool or almost cool, it's time to assemble this little plate of decadence. Place brownie in individual bowl.

I tried the presentation a few ways and liked them served in ramekins, but for the blog I chose clear bowls so you could see the whole sequence. Time to add some chocolate syrup. I was conservative but you certainly don't haveto be.

Add a dollop or two of the raspberry cream.

Your brownie sundae is almost done. Add some mini chips like I did. Or try fresh raspberries, or even frozen raspberries with some natural juice. Great dessert to end the year or welcome a new one! Happy new year to all and thanks so much for reading.