Chocolate Truffle Cake

Since Ben is getting things for High Adventure and taking Russell with him, I decided I could use Meghan's nap time to put up some recipes.

I made this for Valentine's Day this year.

Ingredients
For Cake:
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 pound bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
7 eggs
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

For Glaze:
1 cup heavy cream
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

For Garnish:
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 pint fresh raspberries
Confectioner's sugar for dusting


1. For cake: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9 inch springform pan. Line bottom with waxed paper or parchment; grease paper.
2. In a small bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt. Melt chocolate and butter in top of a double boiler set over barely simmering water; stir until smooth. Set aside to cool.
3 In a large bowl, with a mixer on high speed, beat eggs for 2 minutes. Beat in sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in chocolate and flour mixtures. Spoon into prepared pan. Bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
4. Cool cake in pan on a wire rack for 45 minutes. Remove cake from pan; peel off paper. Cool.
5. For Glaze: Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, melt chocolate with cream over medium heat, stirring until smooth. Set aside for 15 minutes. Pour over cake. Transfer to a serving plate.
6. For garnish: Melt chocolate in top of a double boiler. Spread thinly on a baking sheet. Let stand until chocolate is nearly firm and reaches room temperature, 15 to 20 minutes. Using a spatula knife, scrape chocolate into loose thick curls. Let harden completely.
7. Using toothpicks to lift, arrange curls on cake. Garnish with raspberries. Place confectioners' sugar in a strainer, tap to top, dusting lightly.

This was a big disappointment. It was expensive (2 pounds of chocolate, cream and raspberries out of season!) and involved way to much effort. And, it didn't turn out anything like the picture. The cake was really dry and crumbly.

Big Chubb ended up soaking it in milk and then eating it. If you feel like spending a bunch of money and trying it go for it.

Toffee Bars (2 ways)

I made these up for a quick dessert when we had someone over for dinner. Then I made the other version for a Fast Sunday dessert yesterday.

Version #1

1 cup butter
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 beaten egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1  cup nuts, chopped
1 large milk chocolate candy bar (or chocolate chips if you don't have a candy bar on hand)

Cream butter and sugar. Mix egg and vanilla with creamed butter by hand. Blend in the rest of the ingredients and spread in ungreased pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and cover with large milk chocolate bar or 6-ounce package of chocolate chips. Allow to melt and spread evenly.


These were the first ones I made and they were gone fast. The guy we had over ate about 1/4 of the pan himself.


Version #2

1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup brown sugar (packed)
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 bar milk chocolate candy
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Heat oven to 350 degree. Grease baking pan 13x9 inches. Mix thoroughly butter, sugar, egg yolk and vanilla. Blend in flour and salt. Press evenly in bottom of pan.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly brown. Crust will be soft. Remove from oven; immediately place sperated pieces of chocolate candy on crust. As soon as chocolate is soft, spread evenly. Sprinkle with nuts. While warm, cut into bars.

This one was more bready than the first ones. Big Chubb and I both agreed that the first version is our favorite. We will definitely make these again. If you need a quick treat definitely make version 1. They are well worth it.

Chocolate Crinkles

This is from an old cookbook. It looks like Mom wrote in her own version of the original, so I used her changes. Basically she doubled it and used cocoa instead of baking chocolate.

Chocolate Crinkles

My camera phone is pretty bad.

3/4 c cocoa
3/4 c oil
2 c sugar
4 eggs
2 t vanilla
2 c flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 c powdered sugar

The directions were for using baking chocolate, so I just mixed cocoa with the oil and continued as directed.

Combine, chocolate, oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Sift together and add flour, baking powder, and salt. Chill for an hour or place in freezer for a short time. Form into little balls and roll in powdered sugar. Place on greased baking sheet, but do not flatten. Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

They were good, but not great. I used some applesauce in place of the oil, and that made them pretty puffy. I probably won't make them again. There has to be a better recipe out there for chocolate crinkles.

Chocolate Braids

In one of the issues of Taste of Home that I have, there is a section of Easter breads. I've wanted to try some, and I finally made one. I still want to try walnut-filled coffee cakes and two-toned yeast bread, but I'm not interested in the pistachio ring. Sounds like something Ben Joslin would like.

ToH's picture

Chocolate Braids

TOTAL TIME: Prep: 40 min. + rising Bake: 30 min. + cooling
MAKES: 16 servings

Ingredients
2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (110° to 115°)
1/3 cup honey, divided
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1 egg

My picture

1/2 cup baking cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
2-1/2 to 3 cups bread flour
CREAM CHEESE FILLING:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
TOPPING:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons cold butter
1/4 cup chopped macadamia nuts
ICING:
1-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon baking cocoa
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 to 4 tablespoons 2% milk

Directions
In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add 2 teaspoons honey; let stand 5 minutes. Add butter, egg, cocoa, salt, 1-1/2 cups bread flour and remaining honey. Beat 2 minutes or until smooth. Stir in enough remaining bread flour to form a soft dough.
Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
Punch dough down; divide in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll one portion into a 12x7-in. rectangle.
In a small bowl, beat filling ingredients until smooth. Spread half of the filling over dough to within 1 in. of edges. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side; pinch seams to seal.
Place seam side down on a large greased baking sheet. With a sharp knife, cut roll in half lengthwise, leaving one end intact. Carefully turn cut sides up. Loosely twist strips around each other, keeping cut side up. Pinch ends to seal. Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350°. For topping, combine flour, sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl; cut in butter until crumbly. Add nuts. Sprinkle over loaves.
Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. In a small bowl, combine confectioner's sugar, cocoa, vanilla and enough milk to achieve desired consistency; drizzle over warm loaves. Yield: 2 loaves (8 slices each)

Nutritional Facts
1 slice equals 274 calories, 11 g fat (6 g saturated fat), 36 mg cholesterol, 147 mg sodium, 43 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 5 g protein.

It was very good. Brian liked it enough that I marked it as a favorite. I liked it, but not as much as Brian. I almost didn't include the macadamia nuts because $$$, but I'm glad I did. Other nuts would probably be okay, but I liked the macadamia nuts a lot. It was very tedious to make, so I probably won't make it much. Cinnamon rolls are easier than this. Plus, look at the nutrition facts. Brian ate 7 pieces. Ha ha ha ha ha.

Perfectly Chocolate Frosting

Perfectly Chocolate Frosting

3/4 c butter
1 c cocoa
4 1/2 c xxx sugar
1/2 c milk
1 t vanilla

And that's it. I made it to go on some brownies. Since I didn't plan ahead, and we don't have a microwave, the butter was cold and the frosting wasn't smooth, but it was still delicious and very chocolatey. Mom would have liked it, I think. I halved it and still had lots of extra from the pan of brownies.

Secret Kiss Cookies

I made these to go on the goody plate we took around to our visiting teaching and home teaching families.

The white balls are the cookies.

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 t. vanilla
1 3/4 cup flour
1 cup fine chopped walnuts
1 6 ounce package of chocolate kisses
confectioner's sugar

Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla in large bowl. Gradually add flour & nuts; beat on low speed until well blended. Chill dough about 1 hour. or until firm enough to handle.

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Mold approximately 1 T of dough around an unwrapped chocolate kiss and make a ball. Be sure to cover kiss completely. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 12 minutes or until cookies are set, but not brown. Cool slightly; remove to wire rack. While still warm, roll in confectioners sugar. Cool. Store.

Approximately 36 cookies.

These were also delicious, and wouldn't have lasted long had I not stored them like the directions said. They were fairly easy to make, except I needed to chop the nuts up more. They were still a little too big to get a good coverage on the cookies, but I made it work. If you keep them in the fridge, just remember that the chocolate kiss will get a hard, so take them out a little before you want to eat them.

Buckeyes

I have at least five recipes for Buckeyes/chocolate peanut butter balls in various shapes and varying the ingredients just slightly. I opted to make the recipe I got in Home Ec. in 7th grade.

2 T butter
1/2 C peanut butter
1/2 C Rice Krispies
3/4 C sifted powdered sugar
3 cubes of chocolate bark

1. Put rice krispies on a tray or cutting board and crush fine using a rolling pin (or throw them in a ziplock bag and let your kid go to town on them).
2. Stir together the krispies crumbs, peanut butter, butter and powdered sugar.
3. Blend using your hands until mixture is smooth and creamy.
4. Roll into 1/2" size balls and put on tray. Refrigerate or freeze to cool.
5. Melt chocolate bark in a 1 C liquid measuring cup. Do this in a microwave oven for about 1 1/2 min. Stir bark for complete melting.
6. Using cold buckeye balls, insert a tooth pick into a ball and dip the ball into the melted chocolate. Let excess drip into the cup and put buckeye onto a waxed paper covered surface to set up (about 3-5 minutes).


This variation is my favorite!!! I think the rice krispies break up the really rich and smooth peanut butter centers. Most don't call for the krispies. Other recipes say to use chocolate chips to cover, or to use a little less butter, etc.

Little Chubb probably would have eaten all of them if I let him, but I wanted to eat them all, so I had to hide them away in the fridge. If you want a super easy, super yummy Christmas candy, these are the ones for you!

Margaret's Southern Chocolate Pie

Nope, not our Margaret. It's from allrecipes.

Margaret's Southern Chocolate Pie

1 1/3 c white sugar
3 egg yolks
1/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 c all-purpose flour
3 T butter
1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk
3 egg whites
6 T white sugar
1/2 t cream of tartar
1 (9 inch) pie shell, bakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Sift together the cocoa powder and the flour and pour them into a saucepan. Whisk the egg yolks and 1 1/3 cups sugar. Gradually add the evaporated milk, whisking constantly; slowly pour the milk mixture into the saucepan, whisking until combined.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a flat-bottomed wooden spoon or spatula, until the mixture begins to thicken and coats the back of the spoon, about 15 minutes. Remove the custard from the heat and stir in the butter until melted. Pour the filling into the baked pie crust.

To make the meringue topping: Combine the egg whites and cream of tartar in a clean glass or metal bowl; beat with an electric mixer until foamy. Gradually add sugar, a tablespoon at a time, continuing to beat until stiff peaks form. Lift your beater or whisk straight up: the egg whites will form sharp peaks. Spread the meringue over the chocolate filling.

Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, or until the tips of the meringue peaks are golden brown.

It was good, but not great, possibly because of user error. It was very sweet. The two pieces I ate were almost too rich for me to finish, which does not happen very often. There was a layer of liquid between the meringue and the chocolate that got into the thick pudding and the crust. We cut and served it hot, but it needs to cool to set completely (see picture), and that might also help the liquid layer problem. I think it would be better with Cool Whip instead of meringue, but I did the meringue since I had 3 egg whites to use up.

The crust recipe I used was weird. I think it had too much fat, and it ended up tough. Back to my Betty Crocker classic recipe for future pies.

Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

I found this recipe in a Christmas cookie booklet from Taste of Home. None of the cookies in the booklet looked too exciting until I realized this was the chocolate sandwich cookie recipe that I know and love. I got the stuff to make them pretty quickly after that.

Ingredients

2 packages devil's food cake mix (regular size)
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 cup canola oil
Filling:
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 to 4 cups confectioners' sugar
Red and/or green food coloring, optional

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, beat cake mixes, eggs and oil until blended. Shape dough into 1-in. balls; place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets and flatten slightly.
Bake 8-10 minutes or until a slight indentation remains when lightly touched. Cool on pans 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.
For filling, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla until blended. Beat in enough confectioners' sugar to reach desired consistency. If desired, tint with food coloring.
Spread filling on bottom of half of the cookies. Top with remaining cookies. Yield: about 4 dozen.

Yum! I meant to make the filling orange so they wood be Fall/Halloween-y, but I forgot I used all the red food coloring for Camille's birthday cake. So, it was just yellow instead of orange. The nutrition facts were included, but for your benefit I didn't include them here so you can fully enjoy the cookies. You're welcome.

Hershey's Best Brownies

Since we're talking about Hershey's brownies I figured I should make some, too.

Hershey's Best Brownies

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine
 
• 2 cups sugar
 
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
 
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa or HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa
 
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
 
• 1 cup chopped nuts
• CREAMY BROWNIE FROSTING

Directions

• 1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13x9x2-inch baking pan.
• 2. Place butter in large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at MEDIUM (50%) 2 to 2-1/2 minutes or until melted. Stir in sugar and vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well with spoon after each addition. Add cocoa; beat until well blended. Add flour, baking powder and salt; beat well. Stir in nuts, if desired. Pour batter into prepared pan.
• 3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Prepare and frost brownie with CREAMY BROWNIE FROSTING, if desired. Cut into bars. Makes about 24 brownies.

These were okay. I think I would have liked the ones Sarah just posted more, because I really like dense, fudgy brownies and these weren't that type of brownie. They were more... I don't know. Kind of cakey, but only somewhat cakey? Not worth all the butter and sugar, in my opinion.

Hershey's 5-Minute Recipe #3 Fudgey Brownie

Fudgey Brownie  (Mixes in 5 minutes!)

3/4 c Hershey's Cocoa
1/2 t baking soda
2/3 vegetable oil
1/2 c boiling water (measure accordingly)
2 c sugar
2 eggs
1 1/3 c unsifted all-purpose flour
1 t vanilla
1/4 t salt

(1) Stir cocoa and baking soda in mixing bowl. (2) Blend in 1/3 cup vegetable oil. (3) Add boiling water; stir until mixture thickens. (4) Stir in sugar, eggs and remaining 1/3 cup vegetable oil; stir until smooth. (5) Add flour, vanilla and salt, blend completely. (6) Pour into slightly greased 13 X 9 baking pan or two 8" square pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 59 40 minutes for 13 X 9 pan. 30-32 minutes for 8" square pans. Cool; frost if desired.

They really were very good, quite similar to boxed brownies with the crispy top and fudgey inside. And they were fast to mix up. I just used a bowl and spoon.

Mixing the boiling water into the cocoa soda mixture was interesting. I didn't realize it would activate the soda and thicken it up so much.

Please note: the recipe is actually for Fudgey Brownie, not brownies.

Snack Crackers

I made these a while ago when I took dinner over to a friend who had just had a baby. I thought they would be cute to turn into bunnies (thanks pinterest) and would be a good weeknight snack that wasn't a full-blown dessert.

Thanks myadventuresinthecountry.com for the pic. I thought
about doing this for a book club I hosted around
Valentine's Day.

Chocolate Bark
Peanut Butter
Ritz Crackers

1. Spread peanut butter on half of crackers.
2. Make sandwiches.
3. Melt chocolate bark over low heat.
4. Dip sandwich into melted chocolate.
5. Drizzle extra chocolate on top of sandwich.
6. Cool on wax paper.


I remember Mom making these once. They were a good treat. I know I have also done these with Town House Crackers as Easter eggs, so there are lots of possibilities out there using these.

Raspberry Mudslide Pie

We had the missionaries over for dinner last week. Big Chubb felt sorry for them when he saw them helping a family in the ward move, and they said no one signed up to feed them. So he invited them over. For the next day. Luckily, I had a pretty simple meal planned, but I needed a dessert. I looked through my recipes and this packet of Berry recipes from the Lunenburg County Home Economics Extension Agency.

No picture. Sorry :(

1 prepared 9-inch crumb pie crust (Oreo would be fantastic)
1 pkg. (6 oz) milk chocolate pieces
1 pkg. (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
1 3/4 c. frozen sliced raspberries in syrup, thawed (who knew you could slice a raspberry?)
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
Sweetened whipped cream, for garnish (optional)

Melt chocolate in double boiler over hot (not boiling) water; mix until smooth. Cool to room temperature. Pour into pie shell. Beat cream cheese until fluffy; add vanilla and blend thoroughly until smooth. Pour over chocolate mixture in pie shell; smooth top. Chill until firm. Meanwhile, heat raspberries in small saucepan. Mix lemon juice and cornstarch and add to raspberries. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until clear and thickened, about 3 to 4 minutes. Cool to room temperature. Pour over pie, spread to cover filling. Chill. Pipe top with sweetened whipped cream, if you wish. Cut into wedges to serve. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

It was a hit! One of the elders kept saying that it was really good. The other didn't repeat it as often, but he also said it was good. All of us liked it. Baby Chubb loved it so much she basically bathed herself in it, and then smeared it around the table.

However, it didn't turn out very well. The chocolate hardened up since it had to be chilled and was almost impossible to cut through. Everyone got it on their clothes (even the elders who had more appointments later that night). And, the raspberries didn't get very thick. I even added a little more cornstarch, but that didn't help. The next time I make this I think I will add some of the cream cheese into the chocolate to make sure it stays a little soft, and use more cornstarch to thicken the raspberries.

Chocolate Butterscotch Scotcheroos

I made these for our linger longer dessert this past Sunday. They are on the same page as these Chocolate Peanutters that I made for a YM activity last fall.

1 cup sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup peanut butter
6 cups oven-toasted rice cereal
One 6-ounce pkg (1 cup) Nestle
  Semi-Sweet Real Chocolate Morsels
One 6-ounce pkg. (1 cup) Nestle
  Butterscotch Morsels

In large saucepan, combine sugar and corn syrup; bring just to a boil over moderate heat. Remove from heat; stir in peanut butter. Mix in over-toasted rice cereal. Press into buttered 13" x 9" x 2" pan. Melt over hot (not boiling) water Nestle Semi-Sweet Real Chocolate Morsels and Nestle Butterscotch Morsels. Spread over cereal mixture. Chill in refrigerator until firm (about 15 minutes). Cut into 2" x 1" bars. Makes 48 2" x 1" bars.

There were none left in the pan when we brought it home. They were really good. I had to look to see what oven-toasted rice cereal was. I used Chex. It said it right on the front, and I had a box of it. I think the secret to making these is not boiling the sugar mixture very long.

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake

I always make sure to take a dessert to our linger-longers just to make sure there is something really good for dessert instead of just a bunch of cookies. I decided chocolate cake would be good.

Sorry, no picture. I didn't get one, and I can't get any from the internet. But, it's a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Skill Level: Beginner

• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water
• "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING

Directions

• 1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
• 2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
• 3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING. Makes 12 servings.
• VARIATIONS:
• ONE-PAN CAKE: Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350° F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost.
• THREE LAYER CAKE: Grease and flour three 8-inch round baking pans. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.
• BUNDT CAKE: Grease and flour 12-cup fluted tube pan. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Frost.
• CUPCAKES: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes.
• "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
• 2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency.
• Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

I opted for the one pan variation since I wanted to exert as little effort as possible. It really is beginner level. You mix everything in one bowl. It baked up beautifully, The frosting was the only really thing I had issues with. It was lumpy.

So to disguise my bad frosting, I added some of my cow sprinkles on top.

It was a huge success! Someone came up to me and said, "Ben caught me sneaking a second piece. It's very good." We only came home with a piece and a half.

Chocolate Peanutters

Whenever I saw this recipes, I kept thinking that they would be a chocolate cookie with peanuts in them. After looking at the recipe more closely, I realized that it is a basic chocolate chip cookie with peanuts added.

It is from the old recipe collection Mom had,
written in her handwriting.

Sift together:
     1 1/2 cups sifted flour
     3/4 tsp. baking soda
     1/2 tsp. baking powder
     1/2 tsp. salt

Combine in bowl:
     1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
     1/2 cup shortening
     1 tsp. vanilla
Add: one egg
     beat flour mixture and necessary milk (1/4 cup)

Stir in:
     one pkg. chocolate chips
     one cup salted peanuts

Drop on cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 12 minutes

Yield 3 1/2 dozen

I made these for Big Chubb to take to combined YM/YW this week. He came home with some of them (though I think there were quite a few people who brought treats). He liked them, as did Little Chubb who kept helping himself to them once he realized there were cookies on the counter. I thought they were fine. I am not a really big fan of chocolate chip cookies, but that didn't stop me from eating plenty. I also ate lots of the cookie dough which I prefer over the baked cookies.

While I was making the recipe I thought that a whole package of chocolate chips would be way too much for the amount of dough there was. They were pretty chocolatey, but it ended up being a good ratio. After baking the first batch, I decreased the oven temperature down to 350 degrees and cooked the cookies for the same amount of time. The cookies turned out not as crispy, which was much better than the original batch that was a little too over crispy.

Honey Chocolate Cake

This is from a booklet called "My Favorite Honey Recipes" compiled by Mrs. Walter T. (Ida) Kelly.

2 c sifted cake flour
1 1/2 t soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 c shortening
1 1/4 c honey
2 eggs
3 squares unsweetened chocolate, melted
2/3  c water
1 t vanilla

Sift flour and measure, add soda and salt, and sift together three times. Cream shortening; gradually add honey, beating well after each addition to keep mixture thick. Add 1/4 of flour mixture and beat nutil smooth and well blended. Add eggs, one at a time beating well after each. Stir in chocolate and blend. Add remaining flour alternately with water, beating very well after each addition. Add vanilla. Bake in two greased, 9'' layer pans at 350 degrees F. for 30 minutes or until done.

Making the cake was interesting. Looking at the batter, I didn't think the cake was going to come out, but it did. I don't own a strainer, much less a sifter, so I just beat things well with the whisk attachment. I did the cornstarch thing with all-purpose flour to make cake flour, but again didn't sift it. I also made it in a 9x13 pan since that is Brian's preference so there is better frosting distribution. It tastes good. Eaten unfrosted, you can definitely taste the honey. It isn't very chocolate-y. The frosting both masks the honey flavor and helps the chocolate taste. What I found most interesting is that the texture is like a boxed cake mix.

Blonde Brownies

I don't know how old the recipe card for this recipe is, but I'm glad I got it. It is a super easy go-to treat when you need to take cookies or some sort of dessert somewhere. While the Baked Apple Donuts recipe is a must make recipe, Blonde Brownies are a close second. I love them!

We all know this isn't one of those recipes that hasn't been made. Mom must have assembled this into one of her recipe collections years ago. There has been some questions about what the real recipe is (the Allred cookbook does not have it correct, I am told), and this recipe is just a little bit different.

2 3/4 c. flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 c. melted shortening
2 1/4 c. brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. walnuts, chopped
1 pkg. chocolate chips (6 oz)

Pour melted shortening over sugar. Add eggs, vanilla, flour, baking powder, salt, and vanilla. Pour and spread in greased pan. Sprinkle chocolate chips over top. I guess they want to make sure you get the vanilla in and the walnuts are optional. I always make them without the nuts.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes.

I love blonde brownies, but they always seem to be gooey in the center of the pan. I would suggest cooking them longer than 25 minutes just to make sure they are really done. However, watch them because the edges cook quicker.

Ben took most of them to YM/YW when he was in charge of bringing the treats. Everyone loved them! One of the young men even lost one of his teeth in his. I was happy to make them, but also happy that we only ended up with about 1/4 of a pan to gorge myself on.

Lentil Chocolate Cake

You know you have been waiting for this. For some reason I had the overwhelming desire to make a lentil dessert yesterday. I almost made cookies, but they only took 1/2 c of lentil puree, and I wanted to go all out, so I made the chocolate cake, which took 1 1/2 c lentil puree.

Lentil Puree
1 Cup lentils
2 1/2 cups water

Rinse Lentils.  Cover with water in saucepan.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat.  Cover and simmer until lentils are very tender (40-45 minutes).  Drain lentils, reserving stock. 
When cool, transfer lentils to blender or mixing bowl, whip on high speed for one to two minutes.  As puree forms, stop and scrape the side of the container.  Add some of the stock as needed and continue whipping until lentils form a smooth puree the consistency of canned pumpkin.  It can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days or frozen for later use.  Makes about 3 cups.

Cake
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup oil
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups lentil puree
1 1/2 cups water
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp salt

Cream sugar, oil, and eggs on medium speed of mixer for two minutes.  Add lentil puree, water, and vanilla and beat on medium speed for one minute.  Mix dry ingredients together and add to creamed mixture.  Beat for two minutes at medium speed.  Divide batter between two well-greased 9 inch round cake pans.  Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched in middle.
Cool and frost as desired.

I was confused because the original recipe never says to add the water. You must add the water, or it will not be a batter. I was really, really tempted to substitute some of the oil with applesauce because if you are going to make lentil cake, why not make it healthier? I didn't do it for the sake of sticking to the recipe, but in the future I will.

The verdict: Not bad. Brian, who really likes chocolate cake, liked it, especially how moist it is. I didn't tell him the secret ingredient until after he ate because I didn't want a biased review. I think the cake has a slight off taste from the lentils, but it is almost completely covered by the other tastes. It is also quite heavy, but I often make cakes from mixes, so it isn't a good comparison. I'm eating a piece right now, the day after I made it, and it is still nice and moist. This cake will make an appearance again, maybe in the form of a sheet cake or cupcakes. Hooray for lentils!

Mrs. Field's Cookies

A very delicious alternative to regular chocolate chip cookies. This recipe is in the Allred cookbook, but my copy is on a tiny slip of paper in Mom's handwriting and shorthand as I have noted below.

Mrs. Field's Cookies

2 c. butter
2 c. w/sugar
" "    b    "    (2 c. brown sugar)
2 t. vanilla
4 c. flour
5 c. rolled oats, ground blender
1 t. salt
2 t. baking powder
" t.     "     soda    (2 t. baking soda)
2 12 oz. choc     (2 12 oz. bags of choco chips)
8 oz. Hershey bar
3 c. nuts

ungreased      roll balls    6 min  375 degrees


Here is what you do if the above directions don't make any sense.

Cream butter and sugars. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Add chocolate chips, grated Hershey Bar, and nuts. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 375 for 6 minutes.

Yummers! These cookies are delicious, and I knew they would be. They are one of Grandma Allred's recipes. I seem to recall that they are the cookies she had on hand (probably in the freezer) last year when we were there for her surprise 80th birthday party that the Big Chubb fed to Baby Chubbs for breakfast. Grandma couldn't get over the fact that he being fed cookies for breakfast.  As with the baked apple donuts, these are a must make recipe from this blog. Awesome cookies!

I did cook them a little longer that 6 minutes. I think our air bake cookie sheets don't get as hot as a conventional cookie sheet so it took longer. I also ground the nuts because I am not a lover of nuts in my baked goods, but ground they are delicious.

And, they are healthy because they have oatmeal in them! So don't hold back at just one....dozen. The full recipe makes a ton of them for you to enjoy continuously for the next few days.