Salted Dark Chocolate Espresso Cookies

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I think this has been my new year's resolution every year... but once again, it's to update this blog more often!  Honestly, 2012 just flew by and I can't believe it's already 2013 today!  Hope everyone had a great holiday and we'll have select photos from the Farrell's California Christmas posted soon.

This is probably not a surprise but Michael and I rang in the new year with food!  I spent this cold and overcast new year's day being lazy and catching up on our pile of magazines from last month.  Fortunately a recipe for baked beans caught my eye in this month's Food & Wine.  And since no one questions a pregnant lady's cravings, Michael made us an amazing hamburger with baked beans and salad for the first day of the new year!

Impressive, right?!?!  And yes, it was as delicious as it looks!  Mmmmm...

Of course, this meant that I had to make an equally impressive new year's day dessert!  I meant to try these salted dark chocolate espresso cookies for the cookie swap last month, but ran out of time.  Fortunately, that meant that I had all the ingredients already!  Plus, it was the first time that I got to use coconut oil, which is supposed to be healthier than butter... perfect for starting out the new year on a healthy note!

Healthy coconut oil.  Healthy dark chocolate.  Everything's healthy in moderation, right?  Right.

INGREDIENTS
6 oz good quality unsweetened chocolate
4 oz Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips
¼ cup coconut oil (I used Trader Joe's organic brand)
⅓ cup all-purpose flour
¼ tspn baking powder
¼ tspn salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1⅓ cups sugar
1½ tspn instant espresso powder (I used Folger's instant coffee)
1 tspn vanilla extract
smoked sea salt flakes (I used kosher salt)

1. Finely chop 6 oz unsweetened chocolate and set in a double boiler over simmering water with the coconut oil. Stirring constantly, melt. Once melted, remove from heat, set aside, and let cool to room temperature.

2. In a bowl, whisk to combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

3. In a mixer bowl with the paddle attachment, combine the eggs, sugar, espresso powder, and vanilla extract. Beat on medium high for about 5-7 minutes, until pale and fluffy and the batter drops off the beaters in a thick ribbon. Fold in the flour mixture, followed by the cooled melted chocolate mixture. Fold in the chocolate chips. Cover and chill until firm, about 1 hour. (Or chill in the freezer for about 30 minutes.)

4. Preheat oven to 350° F. On lined or greased cookie sheets, drop 1 to 1½-inch balls of dough, leaving about 2 inches between each ball. Sprinkle the dough balls with salt flakes.

5. Bake the sheets one at a time for 10 to 14 minutes, rotating once half-way through baking. The centers should still be soft when you remove the pans from the oven. Let the cookies cool at least 5 minutes before enjoying hot, or store in air tight containers for about two days. Serve with a shot of milk.

TIP: Let batter sit out a little while after chilling - it makes it easier to roll into balls.  (Warning: Hands will get very chocolaty when rolling batter into balls.  It's messy!)

Chocolate Caramel Tart

We went to the most amazing Syrian/Persian/American wedding in the adorable town of Birmingham, MI a few weeks ago and in our giftbag was a box of Michigan-made chocolate covered caramels with sea salt sprinkled on top.  Since then, I've been obsessed.  So for our dinner party this weekend, I made this Chocolate Caramel Tart from Saveur and it's decadent, delicious and dense.

Something else that we discovered in Michigan was the cider mills!  We went to Franklin Cider Mill and had the most delicious hot cider and warm donuts.  Also, we bought some apple pie bread... wow... I definitely need to figure out how to make it because I can't afford to fly up to Detroit every time we want some of that bread!  All in all, it was a fantastic first trip to Michigan!

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE CRUST:
1 1⁄2 cups flour
1⁄4 cup plus 1 tbsp. dutch-process unsweetened cocoa powder (*See Note)
1⁄4 tsp. kosher salt
10 tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed and softened
1⁄2 cup plus 2 tbsp. confectioners' sugar
2 egg yolks, preferably at room temperature
1⁄2 tsp. vanilla extract

FOR THE CARAMEL
1 1⁄2 cups sugar
3 tbsp. light corn syrup
1⁄4 tsp. kosher salt
6 tbsp. unsalted butter
6 tbsp. heavy cream
1 tbsp. crème fraîche

FOR THE GANACHE
1⁄2 cup heavy cream
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
Gray sea salt for garnish (*See Note)

1. Make the crust: Heat oven to 350˚. Combine flour, cocoa powder, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. Using a handheld mixer, cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl until mixture is pale and fluffy; mix in yolks and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients. Transfer dough to a 9" fluted tart pan with a removable bottom and press dough evenly into bottom and sides of pan. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Prick the tart shell all over with a fork and bake until cooked through, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool.

2. Make the caramel: In a 1-qt. saucepan, whisk together sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 6 tbsp. water and bring to a boil. Cook, without stirring, until a candy thermometer inserted into the syrup reads 340°. Remove pan from heat and whisk in butter, cream, and crème fraîche (the mixture will bubble up) until smooth. Pour caramel into cooled tart shell and let cool slightly; refrigerate until firm, 4–5 hours.

3. Make the ganache: Bring cream to a boil in a 1-qt. saucepan over medium heat. Put chocolate into a medium bowl and pour in hot cream; let sit for 1 minute, then stir slowly with a rubber spatula until smooth. Pour ganache evenly over tart and refrigerate until set, 4–5 hours. Sprinkle tart with sea salt, slice, and serve chilled.

SERVES 8

NOTE: So what's the difference between dutch-processed cocoa and other types of cocoa?  I found my answer here and I purchased this box at Whole Foods.  Who knew there was a difference?

NOTE: Gray sea salt?  I found this at Whole Foods also.  I think you could just use kosher salt if you can't find gray sea salt, but it's super interesting how they harvest this fancy salt!

Warm Chocolate Budino

So it was our wedding anniversary yesterday.  Can you believe it's been 3 years already?  We totally can't.  It's crazy how time flies when you're having fun!

So as usual, Michael cooked a delicious dinner featuring bison filets and I made a new chocolate dessert!  It was not very difficult to make and REALLY super yummy (totally my style!).  Who would think to serve this soft, rich, not-too-dense chocolate cake with drizzled olive oil and salted roasted almonds???  Food & Wine of course!  Definitely worth a try for those chocolate lovers out there.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
9 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1/3 cup sugar
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
Hot water
Salted roasted almonds and vanilla ice cream, for serving

Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter and flour an 8-inch round cake pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper and butter and flour the paper.

In a small bowl, whisk the flour with the salt and baking powder. Chop the chocolate and, in a large microwave-safe bowl, heat it with the butter at high power in 30-second intervals until the chocolate is melted. Whisk in the 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the sugar. Add the eggs and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the dry ingredients until evenly combined. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.

Set the cake pan in a small roasting pan. Transfer the roasting pan to the center of the oven. Carefully pour enough hot water into the roasting pan to reach one-third of the way up the side of the cake pan. Bake for about 40 minutes, until the budino is firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached.

Transfer the cake pan to a rack and let cool for 30 minutes. Run a knife around the budino and invert it onto a plate. Peel off the paper and invert the budino again. Cut into wedges and serve with roasted almonds and vanilla ice cream drizzled with olive oil.

Mini Black-Bottom Cheesecakes with Jam

Dinner parties are the best excuses to try new dessert recipes... and it's even more rewarding when you find a new, easy favorite!

This recipe was very specific about using foil liners.  Well, we only had 6 foil liners in the pantry and I forgot to pick some more up at the store and we stayed later than we expected at a Marti Gras party last night and couldn't get to the store... so all the excuses aside, I decided to wing it and use half foil liners and half regular paper liners.

I carefully sprayed the foil liners before I delicately inserted them into the muffin pan... and I didn't do anything but unwrap the paper liners since I was secretly hoping that they would come out messy and I'd have to eat the "mistakes" after the dinner party.

To my surprise, the un-sprayed paper liners came off rather easily and were totally presentable!  The ridges were a little more pronounced on the foil liners, but in a pinch, paper liners would work great.

Another note: Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers are delicious!  I found them at Rodman's in DC but I don't think I've ever seen them at a big-name supermarket before... so if you can't find any, just use Oreos and scrape out the filling.

Sorry for the long intro.  Here's the recipe from Food & Wine:

INGREDIENTS
Vegetable oil spray
24 plain chocolate wafer cookies, preferably Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup fromage blanc (6 ounces), at room temperature
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup seedless raspberry preserves, warmed

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with foil baking cups and spray the cups with vegetable oil spray. In a food processor, crush the chocolate wafer cookies. Add the butter and process until fine crumbs form. Spoon the chocolate cookie crumbs into the prepared baking cups and press with the bottom of a glass to compact. Bake for 5 minutes, or until almost set. Leave the oven on.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar at medium speed until smooth. Beat in the fromage blanc, then add the eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth.

Pour the cheesecake batter into the baking cups, filling them three-quarters full.

Bake the cheesecakes for 15 minutes, or until slightly jiggly in the center. Remove from the oven and spread 1 teaspoon of the warmed raspberry preserves on top of each cheesecake. Transfer the muffin tin to the freezer and chill the cheesecakes until set, about 15 minutes.

Remove the cheesecakes from the pan and peel off the foil baking cups. Transfer the cheesecakes to a platter and serve.

MAKE AHEAD The mini black-bottom cheesecakes can be refrigerated for up to 4 days.

NOTES Instead of Formage Blanc Crème fraîche, goat cheese, lebneh or quark.

Torta al Cioccolato

This chocolate tart is from Saveur and made for the hard-core chocoholic (like Michael!).  It is ridiculously dense and delicious served with coffee after a good meal.

The crust is a perfect compliment since it's made from Digestives (you know, those delicious English biscuits served with tea and aren't too sweet).  And this recipe only has 6 ingredients!  I love recipes with only a handful of ingredients!

INGREDIENTS
For the Crust:
2 1/2cups finely crushed digestives (English whole wheat biscuits)
1 tbsp. sugar
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

For the Filling:
16 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups heavy cream
3 egg yolks

1. For the crust: Preheat oven to 350°. Mix crushed biscuits and sugar together in a medium bowl. Add butter and stir until well combined. Transfer crumb mixture to a 10" false-bottom tart pan. Using your hands, spread mixture out in an even layer, then use your fingertips to press crumb mixture into bottom and up side of pan to form an even crust. Transfer to a baking sheet and bake until crust is set and lightly golden in places, about 15 minutes. Set crust aside until completely cool.

2. For the filling: Melt chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl set over a medium pot of gently simmering water over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, about 5 minutes. Remove bowl from heat and set aside. Heat cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat until bubbles appear around inside edge of pan and cream is just about to boil, then remove pan from heat. Meanwhile, put egg yolks into a medium mixing bowl and whisk until smooth. Gradually whisk about 1/4 cup of the hot cream into yolks, then stir egg–cream mixture back into pot of hot cream. Gradually add egg–cream mixture to bowl of melted chocolate, stirring until well combined and smooth.

3. Pour filling into prepared crust and set aside to cool, about 30 minutes, then refrigerate until chocolate is completely set, about 3 hours. Remove outer ring of tart pan. Serve with sliced strawberries, if you like.

Milk Chocolate Pots de Crème

Thanks to Food & Wine, dessert for The Hunger Games book club was incredible and inspired by the main character's first experience drinking hot chocolate.

I take a sip of the hot, sweet, creamy liquid and a shudder runs through me.  Even though the rest of the meal beckons, I ignore it until I've drained my cup. (p. 55)

This decadent, impressive, and make-ahead recipe will be on the short list of easy dinner party dessert options from this day forward!

INGREDIENTS
10 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
5 large egg yolks
Crème fraîche and chocolate shavings, for garnish

In a large heatproof bowl, combine the milk and bittersweet chocolates.

In a medium saucepan, bring the milk, heavy cream and sugar to a boil, whisking constantly until the sugar is dissolved. In a medium heatproof bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Gradually whisk in half of the hot cream. Whisk the egg-and-cream mixture into the saucepan and cook over moderate heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the custard coats the back of the spoon, about 4 minutes.

Pour the custard over the chocolate and let stand for 2 minutes, then stir until smooth.

Transfer the mixture to a blender and puree until very smooth, about 1 minute. Pour the mixture into eight 4-ounce ramekins and refrigerate until chilled, 2 hours.

Let the pots de crème stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. Garnish with crème fraîche and chocolate shavings; serve.  (Instead of crème fraîche and chocolate shavings, I whipped up the remainder of the heavy cream with some sugar and vanilla extract then sprinkled the top with cocoa powder.)

MAKE AHEAD The pots de crème can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie? Perhaps.

I was reading something on Apartment Therapy or The Kitchn and I somehow stumbled upon this recipe.

It was originally published in the NYTimes by the title "Quest for the Perfect Chocolate Cookie."  Well... does that sound like an invitation or what? 

The kicker is the prep time... 2 days.  Yup.  The dough needs to rest for 24 to 36 hours.  I mean really... does it make that much difference?  IT DOES!!!

In the name of science, Michael and I tested a couple cookies after only resting for a couple hours.  Pretty good cookie but nothing special.  But two days later... the flavor really had a sense of depth and the little bit of sea salt brought out all the subtle tones.  We were all pleasantly surprised at the transformation and invite you to try these damn good cookies... if you have the patience to wait for them!

Chocolate Chip Cookie
INGREDIENTS
2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour
1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content (see note) - I used ghirardelli cacao bittersweet chocolate chips
Sea salt

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.

4. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.

Yield: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies.

Note: Disks are sold at Jacques Torres Chocolate; Valrhona fèves, oval-shaped chocolate pieces, are at Whole Foods.

Moist Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

Out of the blue last week, I had a craving to find a great chocolate cupcake recipe... dense, moist, easy and delicious... and I think I found it.  (And The Farm Chick's blog that I found it on will definitely make it on my RSS feed - it's cute!)

The only thing I may change is the frosting.  The buttercream frosting was a little too sweet for me and Michael and I will probably make our favorite whipped cream cheese frosting instead next time.  The actual cupcake recipe though... mmmm... perfect.

Moist Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

CUPCAKE INGREDIENTS
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar (not packed)
1 3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fill muffin pans with 24 cupcake liners.

Sift dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. (If you're using a hand mixer, I recommend a batter bowl to easily pour the batter into the cupcake liners). Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Beat with a mixer for about two minutes, occasionally scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the boiling water, and beat, just until blended. (Don't be alarmed - the batter appears watery). Evenly ladle (or pour) the batter into the liners.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the center of the cupcakes springs back when lightly touched. Cool and frost.

VANILLA BUTTERCREAM INGREDIENTS
1/3 cup butter, just slightly cooler than room temperature
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Beat butter in a medium-sized mixing bowl until creamy. Gradually beat in 3 cups of the powdered sugar. Beat in milk and vanilla. Blend in remaining 1/2 cup powdered sugar.

"Secret" Ingredient Chocolate Chip Cookie

Eleven days between blog posts... not starting off the year so well on the M&M Blog!

My excuse: Studying for the CPA.  It not only takes up time, but also brain power (and motivation).  So I'm sorry in advance if I'm a little slow posting in 2011!

But in any case... here's the recipe to my new "secret" ingredient chocolate chip cookie.  The original name on The Pioneer Woman blog is Malted Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies.  GREAT cookies... but I do love malted milk (daddy makes the best malts ever)... and they weren't malty enough for me.  So now I refer to the malt in my new stand-by chocolate chip cookie recipe as the "secret ingredient" because you can barely taste it but it still makes for an addictive chocolate chip cookie.

Step-by-step instructions with beautiful pictures and entertaining commentary on The Pioneer Woman blog. 

Boring recipe with a slight change (dark chocolate chips instead of milk chocolate chips) is below.  Yum!

INGREDIENTS
1 cup (2 Sticks) Unsalted Butter Softened
¾ cups Golden Brown Sugar
¾ cups Sugar
2 whole Eggs
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
2 cups All-purpose Flour
1-¼ teaspoon Baking Soda
1-¼ teaspoon Salt
½ cups (rounded) Malted Milk Powder
1 bag (12 Ounce) Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream butter, then add both sugars and cream until fluffy. Add eggs and beat slightly, then add vanilla and beat until combined. Add malted milk powder and beat until combined.

Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to butter mixture, beating gently until just combined.

Add chocolate chips and stir in gently.

Drop by teaspoonfuls (I LOVE my cookie scoop!!!) and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Bake less if you want chewy cookies; more if you want crispy cookies.

My little note: My cookies never come out as thin and crispy as The Pioneer Woman's. Still delicious, but they just look like normal chocolate cookies and not like the photos on her blog. That's all!

Chocolate Chubbies

This weekend, Vicky and I hosted our annual cookie swap (recipes posted here) and I tried a great new recipe: Chocolate Chubbies. 

Please be warned that these little guys are dangerous when warm right out of the oven... yes, they are THAT delicious.  The only safeguard is that they are so chocolatey and rich that you probably won't be able to eat more than a few before you are stuffed (unless you're a REAL chocoholic... then you need to be extra cafeful not to eat the whole batch out of the oven!).

Note: It's best that you have a standing mixer for this recipe.

INGREDIENTS
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
9 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (no more than 62% cacao), finely chopped
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 ¼ cups superfine sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1 ½ cups (5 ½ ounces) coarsely chopped pecans
1 ¼ cups (4 ½ ounces) coarsely chopped walnuts

Position racks in the center and top third of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Line two half-sheet pans with parchment paper.

Bring 1 inch of water to a simmer in a medium saucepan over low heat. Put the butter in a wide, heatproof bowl, and melt the butter over the hot water in the saucepan. Add the semisweet and unsweetened chocolate, stirring often, until melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove the bowl from the heat and let stand, stirring occasionally, until cooled slightly but still warm, about 5 minutes.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together into a medium bowl. Whip the eggs in the bowl of a heavy-duty stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment on medium-high speed until the eggs are foamy and lightly thickened, about 30 seconds. Increase the speed to high and gradually add the sugar, then the vanilla. Whip until the eggs are very thick and pale yellow, about 3 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and beat in the tepid chocolate, making sure it is completely incorporated. Change to the paddle attachment and reduce the mixer speed to low. Gradually add the flour mixture. Remove the bowl from the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the chocolate chips, pecans, and walnuts, making sure the chunky ingredients are evenly distributed at the bottom of the bowl.The dough will be somewhat soft.

Using a 2-inch ice-cream scoop, portion the batter onto the prepared pans, placing the cookies about 1 ½ inches apart. Bake the cookies immediately—if you wait, they won’t be shiny after baking. Bake, switching the position of the pans from top to bottom and front to back about halfway through baking, until the cookies are set around the edges (if you lift a cookie from the pan, the edges should release easily, even if the center of the cookie seems underdone), 17 to 20 minutes. Do not overbake. Cool completely on the baking pans. (The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature, with the layers separated by parchment paper, for up to 3 days.)

Found this recipe off Amazon... I think I must get this cookbook!

EASY Last-Minute Chocolate Cake

You only need a bowl and a fork to mix this batter and it's to DIE for! So easy and so quick - you have run out of excuses and must make this chocolate cake for your favorite chocoholic!

I was supposed to do dessert for Valentine's Day, but I didn't want to make an old recipe and didn't want to try something new that would take a lot of time. Fortunately around 5 pm, I remembered a simple "go-to" chocolate cake recipe that I read on the Sweet Paul blog a few weeks ago. I had all the ingredients in our kitchen so I thought Hey! Let's give it a try!

This was Sweet Paul's go-to cake recipe and it's now mine too. And once you try it, it will be yours too.

INGREDIENTS
1 stick melted butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons baking cocoa
3/4 cup plain flour

DIRECTIONS
Pre-heat your oven to 320F, 160C.
Stir butter and sugar until the sugar is dissolved.
Add the eggs and mix well.
Stir in vanilla, cocoa and flour.
Pour the batter in a buttered cake tin and bake for about 30 minutes.
The cake is best if its a little underbaked in the middle, like a soft brownie.
Take out and let cool a little.
Serve while still a little hot a la mode or with some whipped cream.

Oatmeal, Dark Chocolate, and Craisin Cookies

Blizzards breed boredom... and boredom results in baking... at least for me.

This recipe is unofficially known as Carl's Cookie since it's my father-in-law's favorite breakfast food when he comes to visit us. Yes, breakfast... oatmeal, dried fruit, and healthy dark chocolate chock full of antioxidants (and butter and sugar but shhhhh.... don't tell him that).

You don't need a mixer for this recipe, but the cookies turn out fluffier if you do. If you don't have a mixer, just melt the butter so it's easier to mix.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 pound (2 sticks) margarine or butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
3 cups Quaker Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1 cup craisins
1 cup Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 F.
In large bowl, beat margarine and sugars until creamy.
Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.
Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well.
Add oats and raisins; mix well.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown.
Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack.
Cool completely (or eat a few while they're warm!)
Store tightly covered.