Chocolate Crackle Cookie

INGREDIENTS

1 box Ghiradelli Double Chocolate Brownie Mix

1/3 cup Vegetable oil 

1 cup All purpose flour 

3 Eggs 

3/4 cup Powdered Sugar 

30

Servings

INSTRUCTIONS

Next

Preheat oven to 350*F

Place brownie mix, flour eggs and oil in medium bowl.

Stir until blended.

Place powdered sugar in separate bowl.

For each cookie scoop 1 rounded tablespoon of dough and place in powdered sugar.

Roll dough gently into balls, coating thoroughly with powdered sugar.

Bake - 11-13 min

Passion Fruit Mousse

 

Easy Passion Fruit Mousse {Brazilian Mousse de Maracuja}

One of Brazil's most popular desserts! This creamy mousse is flavored with real passion fruit concentrate for authentic flavor.

Serving

Ingredients

• 2 14- oz cans sweetened condensed milk
• 2 7.5 oz cans media crema/table cream {creme de leite} found in the Latin foods aisle*
• 1 1/2 cans use either of the previous cans to measure passion fruit concentrate**

Instructions

• Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth (make sure to scrape down sides and bottom of blender to make sure sweetened condensed milk doesn’t get stuck on the bottom).  Pour into a bowl, or small individual serving dishes and chill for at least 4-6 hours, but preferably overnight.

Notes

• Brazilian “Creme de Leite” is sold as “Media Crema” or “Table Cream” in the US, and can generally easily be found in the Latin foods aisle of the grocery store, often near the Latin sweetened condensed milk.  If for some reason you are unable to find it at your grocery store, a Latin foods store should have it. I just used heavy cream and it worked great.
• You may be able to find 100% passion fruit concentrate in the frozen juice section of the grocery store, or in the Latin foods aisle.  If you have a Latin market nearby, that’s where I usually find it.  Otherwise, you may also 
•  Don’t be confused by the size listed for the cans, one is measured by weight, and the other by volume.  the 2 cans are about the same size.
• Feel free to halve the recipe for a small batch.

Soft Batch Double Chocolate Fudge Cookies

 From Baker By Nature

Soft Batch Double Chocolate Fudge Cookies

Ingredients

 

• 1 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
• 2 and 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into tiny cubes
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons whole milk, at room temperature
• 2 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling
• Extra chocolate chips, for decorating

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees (F). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper, lightly spray them with non-stick spray, and set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
• In a large, microwave safe bowl, combine one cup of the chocolate chips and the butter. Heat them in the microwave, on low power, in 15 second increments, mixing in between each, until butter and chocolate are completely melted and can easily be whisked smooth. 
• In a large bowl whisk together both sugars and the eggs, beating until well combined. Beat in milk and vanilla. Then fold in the melted chocolate, stirring until evenly combined. 
• Using a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, stirring just until combined. Do not over mix here! 
• Fold in the remaining chocolate chips, stirring until everything is just combined. 
• Scoop 1/4 cupfuls of the batter directly onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving room for spreading. 
• Bake, one tray at a time, for 15 minutes, or until the edges are set and the tops are dark and shiny.
• Press a few extra chocolate chunks on top of the warm cookies and sprinkle with sea salt. 
• Allow cookies to completely cool on the baking sheet for one hour before serving! 

Chocolate Eclair Cake

 Dessert for a crowd. It's amazing with homemade hot fudge sauce on top!

From The girl who ate everything

Ingredients

Crust:

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 large eggs

Filling:

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 (5.1 ounce) box instant vanilla pudding
• 3 cups whole milk

Topping:

• 1 (8 oz) container cool whip or one batch homemade whipped cream, (just enough for a thin layer. I don't use the whole container)
• chocolate syrup or homemade chocolate sauce

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400. Lightly grease a 9"X13" glass baking pan.
• For the Eclair Crust: In a medium saucepan, melt butter in water over medium heat and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in flour. Mix in one egg at a time, mixing completely before adding another egg. Spread mixture into pan, covering the bottom and sides evenly. Mixture will be very wet. *If the sides of your pan are too greased you won't be able to get the mixture to stay up the sides so make sure to just lightly grease. No big deal but I like the crust to go up the sides a bit.
• Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown (Mine only took 25 minutes.) You may want to check it occasionally-you don't want to overcook the crust, it will ruin the cake! Remove from oven and let cool (don't touch or push bubbles down).
• For the Filling: Whip cream cheese in a medium bowl. In separate mixing bowl make vanilla pudding by beating the pudding mix and the milk for 3 minutes with an electric mixer and put in the fridge until set. Make sure pudding is thick before mixing in with cream cheese. Slowly mix pudding and cream cheese, mixing until there are no lumps. Let cool in fridge. When the crust is completely cooled, pour filling in, spreading to cover bottom crust. Top with layer of cool whip however thick you want it. Serve with a drizzle of chocolate syrup. *If you want to make this even better use homemade whipped cream.

Copycat Magleby's Chocolate Cake

You all know how much I love a big slice of Magleby's chocolate cake...well for Mother's Day this year I helped my youngest make this copycat recipe (can't take any chances on messing up dessert, amiright?). This is a legit chocolate cake and I will be making it again, hence the post on the blog.

Copycat Magleby's Chocolate Cake adapted from The Food Charlatan

Ingredients

For the cake:

1 cup salted butter

1 cup water

1/2 cup cocoa

1 cup white sugar

2 cups flour, sifted spooned

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

Frosting:

1 1/2 cups salted butter, 3 sticks, softened

3/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted

5 & 1/4 cups powder sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

3/4 cup heavy cream

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease 2 9-inch cake pans with butter, then coat with flour. Then trace the bottom of the cake pans onto parchment paper, cut out the circles, and put them in the bottom of the pan.*

In a medium saucepan, melt 1 cup butter over medium heat. Stir in the water and cocoa and whisk until combined. Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil for about 30 seconds. Remove pot from heat and let sit aside to cool.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the white sugar, flour, and 3/4 teaspoon salt.

In another medium bowl, whisk together 2 eggs. Slowly sprinkle baking soda and baking powder over the top while you whisk. Beat until there are no lumps. The mixture may foam, and that's ok!

Stir in the vanilla and 1 cup brown sugar.

When the chocolate mixture in the pot has cooled enough to handle, stir it into the flour mixture. Then add the egg mixture. Each time mix only until combined.

Lastly, fold in the sour cream. DON'T over mix!!

Divide the batter evenly between the 2 pans (I use a scale). Drop the cakes on the counter from a few inches above to get out some of the air bubbles.

Bake for about 34-40 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through. Remove from the oven when a toothpick comes out of the center clean.

Let cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then carefully loosen edges with a knife and invert onto a cooling wrack. Let cakes cool completely.

Wrap the cakes securely in plastic wrap and freeze for about an hour or 2. (This is only so that it's easy to frost the cake. If you are in a hurry and presentation isn't an issue, frost as soon as they are cool!)

Make the frosting:

Cream the butter well. Add the cocoa and powdered sugar in increments, adding the cream in between. Beat well after each addition. Add the salt and vanilla.

Smear a bit of frosting on the bottom of a cake plate. Place 1 frozen cake on top, then cover the top with about 1 cup of frosting (I like to use an offset spatula).

Place the other cake on top, then frost the outside and edges. If you don't want your cake plate to get frosting all over it, line it with strips of parchment paper that you can pull out when the cake is completely frosted.

Biggs Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm not sure where this recipe originated (sorry, I can't give credit where credit is due), but I was given the recipe to make cookies to sell at a recent youth fundraiser. They're the big palm-sized cookies that you can sell for a couple bucks. They have the perfect texture and are maybe the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever had. The recipe makes about 3-4 dozen. But if you make them, you have to give them away (or sell them), or you will definitely eat way too many, speaking from experience! 

I followed the recipe exactly, except I used semi-sweet chocolate chips and semi-sweet chocolate chunks (instead of wafers). I did not use nuts. I also baked it on convection at a slightly lower temperature.

Ingredients:

2 cup cold butter, cut into small chucks

2 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

4 eggs

3 cups cake flour

3 cups AP flour

2 teaspoon cornstarch

1½ teaspoon baking soda

1½ teaspoon salt

4 cups chocolate chip

4 cups dipping chocolate wafers coarsely chopped

may use 4 cups walnuts instead of wafers

Directions:

Preheat oven to 410 degrees.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or slip at liners.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the cold cubed butter, brown sugar, and sugar 3-4 minutes or until creamy.  Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each one.

Stir in both flours, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt.  Mix until just combined (don’t over mix) Stir in chocolate chips and wafers

Separate dough into 3 oz ball and place 8 on a sheet

Bake for 7 minutes, rotate cookie sheet and bake for another 2 minutes until golden brown on top.

Let them rest for 15 minutes to set up before moving to a cooling rack

Chunky Peanut Butter Chocolate Protein Shake

 My friend made this for me, and while I would consider it a dessert, it's actually pretty healthy (so maybe you can trick your kids into thinking it's a dessert, too!) Add in some spinach, and no one will know the difference.

Chunky Peanut Butter Chocolate Protein Shake

recipe and photo courtesy of lillieeatsandtells.com

NGREDIENTS

  

In my Ninja IQ

• 1.5-2 cups ice 180-200 g
• 3/4-1 cup cashew milk 180-200 g
• 1 Tbsp Califia Farms Almond Milk Creamer Not essential... just extra creaminess! All flavors are good! (15 g)
• 1 serving of your favorite protein powder 4c/1f/20p (my favorites options are linked below) Usually about 30 grams
• 1-1.5 Tbsp dark or jet black cocoa powder 7-10 g
• 1/2 tsp Maldon flake salt A little less if you're using regular kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp stevia Optional, just for added sweetness
• 4-5 squirts of coconut extract Almond is also amazing, but a little goes far, don't over do it.
• 1/4 tsp xanthan gum don't get heavy handed here, it can get weird with too much!

The macros are for the shake alone, but this is what I add to MINE every night after it's blended: 

• 2.5 Tbsp 20 g powdered peanut butter barely stirred in to the top for maximum chunkiness (do not blend it in! SO much better this way.)
• 8 Tbsp 20 g almond milk Reddi Whip Coconut or fat free reddi whip also good
• 1 Tbsp roasted cocoa nibs 10 g
• 1 Handful of corn chex, crushed (10 g) or I LOVE 10 g of toasted almonds when I've got room for more fat.
• 1/4 of a banana diced small to spread the wealth! (35 g)
• 1 Handful of rice crispies 5 grams
• 1 Pinch of flake salt

INSTRUCTIONS

 

• Add all of the shake ingredients to the jar of your Ninja IQ. (I like to keep all of my bits and pieces in a special shake drawer right near the blender. to simplify the process! I even keep the 1/4 tsp measuring spoon in there to use on the salt, stevia, and xanthan.)
• Blend for a full cycle using the Auto IQ Blend button. It will run for 40 seconds, stopping and going. I like to then hit "start" and let it run for and  additional 10-20 seconds. This depends on your ice, protein powder, and maybe the temperature of your house! You want to see it really come together and get lighter in color, then grow taller.  If your shake is a little icy, blend longer next time! If it's too frothy or whipped, blend shorter next time.
• Pour it into a big insulated tumbler and top with your favorite toppings. But I'm just gonna tell you, 20 grams of powdered peanut butter stirred in just BARELY so it's nice and cit a little chunky--- is ALMOST mandatory.  It's magic.
• The macros below are for the shake alone, to make it easier for you to track what you want and what fits for you. But of course I like mine topped like crazy so there's texture in every bite. It's the best thing ever and I never want to break up with it.

NOTES

• My current FAVORITE protein powder is the chocolate by Active Stack. It's a beef protein powder, rather than your typical whey. This means it's dairy free, and easier on digestion for lots of us. Ingredient list is short and simple and sweetened naturally. It tastes like good chocolate milk. I love it. Sometimes I use a whole scoop, sometimes I do half a serving, and half a serving of Bad Athletics Coconut, or Salted Caramel. Bowmar Nutrition has a salted caramel egg based protein that's great mixed with it as well!
• The macros below are for the shake alone. But for my fully topped version, the macros are 426 cal/45C/12.8f/34.6p/9.2 fiber.
• For the shake alone, with NO TOPPINGS, search "Lillie Eats and Tells The shake- no toppings" on My Fitness Pal.
• For the shake with ALL of my toppings: search "Lillie Eats and Tells The shake- with toppings"
• If using a Vitamix or something similar, blend on low to let it get going, then gradually move it up to medium for about a minute and a half.  You want to hear the crunching of the ice stop and let it get to a consistent hum. If it's getting stuck at all, then I raise it to high for a bit to get it all nice and smooth. But I don't like it frothy so I resist blending on high for too long.  Obviously blend to your preference!
• Obviously, use and try to perfect whatever blender you have! But for me, the Ninja IQ makes this so much smoother and more consistent. It's small enough that I don't mind leaving it on the counter, and feels so much quicker to clean than my big blender. Once I got it, I've never gone back. We use it multiple times a day, so we have gone through two, but it's worth it to me.

NUTRITION

Serving: 1shake- no toppingsCalories: 156kcalCarbohydrates: 10gProtein: 21.9gFat: 4.5gSodium: 154mgFiber: 2g