Tag Archives: Chocolate

Banana Mocha Coconut Muffins

Posted on by Laurie

The other morning, I had a guest on an almost vegan diet; so I made these delicious muffins which one would never know were free of dairy products and eggs. I hope that you enjoy the recipe!

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Banana Mocha Coconut Muffins

3/4 c. sweetened shredded coconut

2 c. all-purpose flour

1 c. granulated white sugar

2 T. instant coffee or 2 t. espresso powder

1 T. baking powder

1 c. mashed ripe bananas

1 c. coconut milk

1/2 c. canola oil

1 T. coconut rum

1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips, preferably miniature ( use vegan chocolate if needed)

1 recipe Coffee Coconut Milk Glaze (below)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spread coconut on a baking sheet. Toast in oven for 3 to 4 minutes or until just starting to turn golden at the edges. Remove coconut from baking sheet and set aside.

2. Meanwhile, prepare 12 standard muffin cups or 10 four-ounce ramekins with baking spray.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, 2 T. of the instant coffee or 2 t. of the espresso powder, and baking powder. Set aside.

4. In a medium bowl, whisk together bananas, coconut milk, canola oil, and rum. Stir banana mixture into dry ingredients. Fold in chocolate chips.

5. Divide batter into ramekins or muffin cups. Using the back of a spoon, shape each cup of batter into a slight mound. Bake 15 to 20 minutes for 12 muffins or 20 to 25 minutes for 10 muffins. Muffins are firm to the touch when done.

6. Meanwhile, prepare Coffee Coconut Milk Glaze. Glaze muffins immediately upon removing from oven and  then sprinkle them with toasted coconut.

Coffee Coconut Milk Glaze

1 c. confectioner’s sugar

2 T. coconut milk

1/2 t. minced orange or lemon zest

1/2 t. instant coffee or 1/4 t. instant espresso powder

1/2 t. coconut rum, light rum, or orange or lemon extract

1. In a small bowl, slowly stir coconut milk into confectioner’s sugar. Stir in coffee, then zest, then rum or extract. Stir until smooth, then warm glaze to dissolve coffee.

Cupid’s Arrow (A Valentine’s Martini)

Posted on by Laurie

 

For the February issue of The Morning Star’s newsletter, I wanted to create a Valentine’s recipe that would be both easy and fun. With the recent popularity of Chocolate Martini’s, I decide to create my own version of this dessert cocktail – an enjoyable little project if I do say so! This is what I came up with …

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Cupid’s Arrow

- makes 2 strong cocktails -

3 oz.  Chocolate Vodka (I use Cupcake Devil’s Food Vodka)

2 oz. Raspberry Liqueur (I use Pallini Raspicello)

2 oz. Chocolate Liqueur (I use Meletti Cioccolato)

Half-and-half

Dark chocolate

Fresh raspberries

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add vodka and liqueurs. Shake well. Strain into two chilled martini glasses. Drizzle a little half-and-half over the top of each. (It will sink to the bottom then raise to the top, creating a marbleized effect.) Shave a little chocolate over the top of each cocktail then garnish with fresh raspberries. Enjoy!

Tips: Chill glasses in freezer for ten minutes before serving. Use chilled ingredients. The drink should be served very cold, but you do not want it diluted by melting ice.

 

What Is It About Cupcakes & Summer?

Posted on by Laurie

We can’t help ourselves – we just keep making cupcakes this summer. Yesterday’s were Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting and chocolate sprinkles. The cake recipe came from the wonderful cookbook More From Magnolia: Recipes from the World-Famous Bakery and Allysa Torey’s Home Kitchen. We improvised the frosting recipe and it was sooooo good. Chilled, the frosting is like peanut butter cheesecake. (Recipe below.)

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

(makes enough for 24 cupcakes)

20 oz. cream cheese, softened

12 oz. unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 t. vanilla extract

approximately 12 oz. peanut butter (I use The Bee’s Knees Peanut Butter by Peanut Butter & Co.)

approximately 1 1/2 c. confectioner’s sugar

(1) Beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla together until smooth and fluffy. Beat in peanut butter. Beat in sugar to taste.

(2) Decorate cupcakes (or other baked goods). Chill until serving.

Two Little Chefettes Monthly Cooking Challenge: Chocolate Chips

Posted on by Laurie

I was thrilled when I read that the theme for this month’s cooking challenge by Two Little Chefettes is Chocolate Chips. I have so many recipes that I love that call for chocolate chips. I considered entering one of my recent chocolate chip recipe posts (Bill’s Blondies, Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins, or Forgot Me Not Cookies); but since I have been writing about the heat lately (It’s Scorching Hot …, 96 and Going to Havana), I decided instead to use my recipe for Blondies Caliente. Yum!  Enjoy! Thanks Bebe and Ridha for putting together the monthly challenge! By the way, at the bottom of this post is my recipe for Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting which goes so well with these blondies.* So you get a 2-for-1 on this challenge!

Blondies Caliente

Makes about 16 blondies

Blondies with a kick. When used in baked goods Chipotle adds heat a little stronger than that of ginger, but with its own distinct flavor. These blondies are delightfully aromatic when warm.

1 c. all-purpose flour

1 t. ground cinnamon

1/2 t. ground chipotle pepper

1/4 t. ground nutmeg

1/4 t. salt

1/2 c. unsalted butter, melted

1 c. light brown sugar, firmly packed

1 lg. egg

1/2 t. orange extract

1/2 t. vanilla extract

1/2 c. semisweet or dark chocolate chips

1/2 c. chopped honey-roasted peanuts

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8” square baking pan.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, pepper, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.
  3. Place the butter in a medium size bowl. Stir in the sugar. Beat with a mixer on medium speed for 1 minute. Beat in the egg, orange and vanilla extracts until the mixture is light and fluffy. (This takes several minutes. Do not underbeat.) On lowest mixer speed, beat in dry ingredients and then chocolate chips and peanuts.
  4. Spread the batter evenly in the baking pan. Bake for about 24 to 26 minutes or until blondies start to pull back from the edge of the pan and the center feels almost firm to the touch. Do not overbake. Cool and then cut into squares.  If desired, chill before serving.

Variations: Substitute chopped Mexican chocolate for chocolate chips. Substitute peanut butter chips for honey-roasted peanuts.

Serving Suggestion: Frost with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting before serving. (Recipe below photo.)

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes enough to frost one 8″ or 9” square pan of baked goods.

This speckled pale brown frosting goes well with chocolate, orange, and nut flavorings.

6 oz. cream cheese softened

1/2 c. + 1 T. confectioner’s sugar

1 T. + 1 t. milk

1 1/2 t. ground cinnamon

1/2 t. vanilla extract

  1. Beat cream cheese until smooth. Beat in remaining ingredients until perfectly smooth again.
  2. Frosting can be spread on cooled brownies, blondies or cookies right away. If using frosting for piping decorations, chill for at least 4 hours first.

Be sure to refrigerate confections frosted with cream cheese frosting.

*Both of these are recipes that I developed for my cookbook Confectionately Yours: A Collection of Cookies, Candies & Yummy Confections.

Forget Me Not Cookies

Posted on by Laurie

Yesterday I was looking at a post by Big Hungry Gnomes about a tempting-looking dessert, called Eaton Mess. That dessert is made with little meringues which reminded me of one of my favorite little cookies. Forget Me Nots are wonderful to make in warm weather because you just preheat the oven in the morning, pop the cookies in, turn the oven off and then the cookies are ready for a late afternoon snack … all cool, crisp, and sweet.  These chocolate and nut filled meringues are the first cookies that I learned to make …  thanks, Mom! … and I still make them.

Forget Me Nots

Makes about 32 cookies

2 lg. egg whites

1/2 t. vanilla extract

1/8 t. salt

1/2 c. granulated white sugar

1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips or 5 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped

1 c. finely chopped walnuts

Note: Sometimes I get carried away and add a whole bunch of butterscotch chips too, which makes the cookies really chunky.

  1. Place egg whites in a large bowl. Let sit for 30 minutes or until they have come up to room temperature.
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
  3. Add vanilla and salt to egg whites. Beat until stiff but not dry peaks form. Very gradually beat in sugar until shiny, stiff peaks form. (Peaks are shiny and tips stand up straight.)
  4. Fold in chocolate and walnuts.
  5. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto baking sheets spacing cookies at least 2” apart. Place baking sheets in oven. Close the door and turn the oven off.  Without opening the door, let the cookies sit in the oven for 6 to 8 hours.
  6. Remove baking sheets from oven. Use a thin metal spatula to lift cookies off parchment paper.

Just Out of the Oven: Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

Posted on by Laurie

My husband has a hard time starting his day without chocolate. So I make these muffins (or a variation thereof) pretty frequently!

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

Makes 10

2 c. all-purpose flour

1 c. granulated white sugar

1 T. baking powder

1/2 t. ground cinnamon

1/2 t. ground nutmeg

1/2 t. ground mace

1/2 t. ground ginger

1 c. mashed banana (about 2 lg.)

1/2 c. canola oil

2 lg. eggs

2 t. vanilla extract

1 1/4 chopped chocolate or chocolate chips

honey for glazing

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray 10 half-cup size ceramic ramekins* with baking spray. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (except chocolate). Set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together wet ingredients (except honey). Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients until the dry ingredients have been absorbed. Stir in chocolate.

4. Scoop batter into prepared ramekins. Use the back of a spoon to shape the batter in each cup into a slight mound. Place ramekins on baking sheets and bake for about 20 minutes or until firm to the touch.

5. Remove baking sheets from oven and place on cooling racks. Immediately spoon honey over muffin tops.

* If you don’t have ramekins, use a standard 12 muffin baking pan.

Just out of the Oven: Bill’s Blondies

Posted on by Laurie

Getting ready for check-in, I just made a batch of Bill’s Blondies (honey-glazed, milk chocolate chip, cinnamon blondies). Boy do they smell good!

Bill’s Blondies

(from Confectionately Yours, p. 31)

1 c. all-purpose flour

1 t. ground cinnamon

1/2 t. salt

1/2 c. unsalted butter, melted

1 c. light brown sugar, firmly packed

1 lg. egg

1 t. vanilla extract

1 c. milk chocolate chips or 5 oz. chopped milk chocolate

about 3 T. honey

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8″ square baking pan.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

3. Place the butter in a medium size bowl. Stir in the sugar. Beat with a mixer on medium speed for 1 minute. Beat in the egg and vanilla until the mixture is light and fluffy. (This takes several minutes. Do not underbeat.)

4. On lowest mixer speed, beat in the dry ingredients and then the chocolate.

5. Spread the batter evenly in the baking pan. Bake for about 24 to 26 minutes or until blondies start to pull back from the edge of the pan and the center feels almost firm to the touch.

6. As soon as you remove the pan from the oven, place it on a wire rack and then drizzle honey over the top of the blondies. Spread honey around evenly using the back of a spoon. cool and then cut into squares. If desired, chill before serving.

Bill's Blondies