Double Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

I know this post is late...really late. I had planned on posting it around Christmas as a way to use up extra candy canes. Ahem...but maybe you still have candy canes lying around. If not you can use regular mint candies. Regardless, these cookies are good any time of year! The original recipe was from Woman's Day. But I changed it up a bit and used the Reese's cookie chocolate base, and the Womans Day ganache and technique. The Reese's cookies are so much more soft, and I'm a sucker for soft, moist cookies! So, I hope you enjoy this delicious recipe!

Double Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
 
For the cookie:

2 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 c. butter or margarine
2 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350° F. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Set aside. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with mixer until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating well. Stir in peanut butter chips.
Drop by rounded teaspoon-fulls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-9 mins. (Do not overbake, cookies will be soft. They will puff while baking and flatten while cooling.) Cool slightly, remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.

For the Ganache:

3/4 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
6 Tbs. heavy cream

In a medium microwave-safe bowl, microwave the heavy cream on high until simmering, about 30 seconds. Add the remaining 3/4 cup chips to the cream and let stand for 1 minute. Stir until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. 

Put it all together:

8 candy canes (or other mint candies), about 3/4 cups, smashed
 
Spread the chocolate mixture on top of each cookie (about 1/2 tsp each); top with the candy canes. Refrigerate until set, about 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Chocolate bowls

What better to have homemade ice cream in than chocolate bowls! Daniel and I made these for our date last weekend. The instructions call for a small balloon. We had what we thought were small balloons, but the bowls were a lot bigger than we were expecting. Yep, we filled the larger bowls... Probably water balloon size would work best.

Chocolate Bowls

Melt whatever chocolate you want to use in the microwave 30 seconds at a time until melted. (We used  semi-sweet chocolate chips.) Let cool to room temperature. Using the back of a spoon, put chocolate onto the bottom of a blown up balloonto make a bowl shape. Make it thick enough for a bowl, but watch out! They get a little top heavy. Put a dollop of chocolate on some wax paper. Place the chocolate covered balloon on the dollop. Let sit until hardened. If you are impatient (we were) put it (carefully) into the fridge to harden. When the bowl is hardened, slowly let the air out of the balloon. And there you have it, a perfect ice cream bowl.

Peanut Butter Trifle

I just had to make this picture big...to magnify the goodness

I made this delicious and very rich Peanut Butter Trifle for Daniel's birthday/Father's day. I was going to make it on Daniel's birthday, but he wasn't feeling well, so I made it on Father's day. We just celebrated our dad that whole week, I guess. :) (He certainly deserves to be celebrated more than that.) And there is no better way to celebrate Daniel than peanut butter and chocolate, but this peanut butterie, chocolatey, amazing dessert out does them all!

Peanut Butter Cup Trifle

1 (9x13) pan of baked brownies, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 (5.1 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding
3 cups milk
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tsp vanilla
1 (8 ounce) container thawed Cool Whip, divided
20 peanut butter cups, crumbled (or more if you're using minis)
6-8 peanut butter cups to garnish.

Mix pudding according to package directions. With a whisk or beaters, beat in peanut butter until fully incorporated. Fold in 2 cups cool whip.

Layer in trifle dish 1/2 the brownies, 1/2 the crumbled peanut butter cups, ½ the pudding mixture. Repeat. Top with cool whip and peanut butter cups. Chill at least four hours before serving.

Source: Sweet Luvin' in the Kitchen

S'mores Ice Cream

This ice cream is delicious! We loved it. The recipe says that it is a soft and creamy ice cream, but we preferred it after it had been in the freezer for a while.

S'mores Ice Cream
Makes about 6 cups.

1/2 c. cocoa powder, sifted
1/3 c. granulated sugar
1/4 c. packed brown sugar
pinch salt
2/3 c. whole milk (you can use another kind, you will just need to freeze it longer)
1 1/2 c. heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 c. marshmallow cream
2 sheets of graham crackers
2 oz. milk chocolate (1/3 c. chocolate chips), melted and at room temperature


In a medium bowl, whisk together the cocoa, sugars, and salt. Add the milk and beat until the sugars are dissolved. Stir in the cream and vanilla. Cover and refrigerate 1-2 hours, or overnight. Freeze according to manufactures directions. About five minutes before the ice cream is done, add the marshmallow cream one scoop at a time, then add the chocolate and graham crackers, one at a time, and let mix in completely. Serve right away, or put it in the freezer for later.

Chocolate Coconut Ice Cream

I have been wanting to try this recipe that I found on my sister-in-law's blog for FOREVER! We tried it recently, and it was dreamy. I am really loving my new ice cream maker, and cant wait for summer when I have more of an excuse to make it. ;)

Chocolate Coconut Ice Cream
 
1 1/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup milk (I used 2%)
1 cup coconut milk
3 cup heavy cream
1/2-1 cup flaked coconut

Stir together the cocoa powder and sugars. Add the milk and whisk until the cocoa and sugars dissolve, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the heavy cream, coconut milk and flaked coconut and whisk until incorporated. If not freezing immediately, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Pour into ice cream maker and mix until the ice cream has a soft creamy texture. Top with additional coconut flakes and chopped almonds, if desired.

Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

This was the second part of our Valentines Day Dessert...are you noticing a theme? Yeah, we like peanut butter and chocolate. I got this from my Taste of Home Cookbook. They are great brownies, but I think they are a little cakey for my taste...that's just me though.

Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies
1/2 c. butter, softened
2/3 c. sugar
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 Tbs. milk
3/4 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 c. creamy peanut butter
1/4 c. peanut butter chips
1/3 c. baking cocoa
1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Add eggs and milk. Mix well. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt, add to creamed mixture and mix well. Divide batter in half. To one portion, add peanut butter and peanut butter chips, mix well. To the other portion, add the cocoa and chocolate chips, mix well.
In a greased 9" square baking pan, spoon chocolate batter in 8 mounds in a checkerboard pattern. Spoon seven mounds of peanut butter batter between the chocolate batter. Cut through batters with a knife to swirl.
Bake at 350° for 25-30 mins, or until toothpick comes clean. Cool on wire rack.

This recipe is linked to Sweet as Sugar Cookies Sweets For a Saturday.

Reese's Chewy Chocolate Cookies

It's time for our bi-weekly excuse for dessert...we are having the missionaries (from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) over for dinner tonight. I decided to make cookies. I felt obligated to taste them (just in case they aren't any good). They are great!

Reese's Chewy Chocolate Cookies
2 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 c. butter or margarine
2 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 2/3 c. peanut butter chips

1. Heat oven to 350° F.
2. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Set aside. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with mixer until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating well. Stir in peanut butter chips.
3. Drop by rounded teaspoon-fulls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-9 mins. (Do not overbake, cookies will be soft. They will puff while baking and flatten while cooling.) Cool slightly, remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.

Makes about 4 1/2 dozen. 

Orange Dark Chocolate Pancakes

Wow! That's all I can say. I loved these pancakes! I found them at Baking Serendipity. My favorite part is that they are whole wheat and healthy, but you would never know because they taste SO good. Not that "healthy" doesn't taste good. :)

Orange Dark Chocolate Pancakes

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 egg
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup milk
zest 1 medium sized orange
1/4 cup dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda. In a separate bowl, beat egg, orange juice and milk. Add to dry ingredients and mix to incorporate. Fold in orange zest and dark chocolate. 


Spoon batter onto a hot, greased griddle or large skillet. Flip when the edges begin to dry, cooking evenly on both sides. Serve with maple syrup.

Note: I found that the batter was a little thick. I thinned it with some water until it looked like the right consistency. But if it happens again, I am going to use orange juice...I was lazy, my family was hungry, and I didn't want to juice another orange. The end result was great (even though I used water), but I think it would have been even better if I added more orange instead.

Mint Chocolate Delights

I was in the mood to bake this evening. I bought some of Nestle's Dark Chocolate & Mint Morsels during the Holidays with the intention to make something yummy. I never did. So I thought I would use them today. I got the recipe from the back of the bag. They are delicious!

2 c. flour
2/3 c. cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. butter
2/3 c. sugar
2/3 c. packed brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1 2/3 c. Dark Chocolate & Mint Morsels (I am pretty sure these were a seasonal thing, but I am sure there are mint chips available at any time of year. You could just do half mint and half semi-sweet.)

Preheat oven to 325*F. Combine flour, cocoa, soda, and salt in a small bowl.  In a large bowl beat butter, sugars, and vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels. Drop by well-rounded tablespoons onto baking sheets. Bake 11-13 mins. or until cookies are puffed and centers are set. Cool for 2 mins on pan, and then remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!