Tag Archives: chocolate

Chocolate Cut-out Cookies

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Ruthanne

These easy-to-make chocolate cut-outs can be used to create so many wonderful Christmas treats.  Here, I used Christmas Linzer Cookie Cutters to make fun Christmas sandwich cookies.  These rich, cocoa-flavored cookies just might be your family’s new favorite cookie!

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1/4 c. margarine
  • 1/2 c. brown sugar (packed)
  • 1/4 c. cocoa powder
  • 1 T. milk
  • 1/4 t. baking soda
  • 2/3 to 1 c. flour

DIRECTIONS:

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees
  • Beat together all ingredients but soda and flour, mixing until smooth and creamy.
  • Add soda and flour.  Add flour until dough can be handled and rolled into a ball.
  • On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough and cut. Place cookies on ungreased cookie sheet.
  • Bake for 5 to 6 minutes.
  • Allow cookies to cool on cookie sheet completely.
  • Gently remove  and decorate. I used Wiltons Candy Melts between my sandwich layers, but you could use frosting as well

My thoughts:  These have such a wonderful cocoa flavor and they are very easy to make.  They roll out nicely and bake without rising too much.  If you are using a Linzer cutter, make sure you don’t roll your dough too thin- the top cookies (the ones with the shapes cut out) may break once they are baked.  Thicker worked better for me.

Also– this is a small batch of cookies.  If you are making sandwich cookies like mine you will only get about 20 cookies.  You can easily double the recipe for more though.  I hope you and your family love these– enjoy!

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Spiced Mocha Mix (and how to do a TimTam SLAM!)

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Ruthanne

This spiced mocha mix is a perfect gift or party treat.  Its also the perfect hot beverage for Tim Tam SLAMS!

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 cup dry non-dairy creamer
  • 1c. hot cocoa mix
  • 2/3 c. instant coffee
  • 1/2 c. sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg

DIRECTIONS:

  • Combine all ingredients together in a big bowl.
  • Add 3-4 heaping tsp. of mix to 8 oz. of hot water to serve.
  • Or…put mix in a fun jar or tin to give as a homemade gift!

You can use Splenda for the sugar, decaffeinated instant coffee and low-fat hot cocoa mix for a guilt-free treat!

 

How to do a Tim Tam Slam.

What are Tim Tams?   They are a chocolate cookie that (I’m told) originated in Australia.  In America they are made by Pepperidge Farm and they are a wafer/mousse cookie covered in chocolate.

To do a Slam:  Bite off the corners on two opposite sides (diagonal from each other).  Place one bitten off corner in a hot chocolate or mocha and drink up some of the hot beverage through the other bitten off corner– pulling the hot beverage up through the cookie like a straw.  Pop the WHOLE cookie in your mouth and it EXPLODES in warm gooey chocolate happiness! 🙂  (If you don’t pop the whole thing in your mouth you will have chocolate running all over you…just FYI).  In our area, Tim Tams are only available near Christmas, so Tim Tam Slams have become a fun Christmas tradition!

Miranda

Ryan

Me!

Megan

Ben

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My thoughts:  Thanks to my cousin-in-law Eden for the yummy mocha recipe and to my friend Andreya for showing us all how to do Tim Tam Slams….I am forever indebted for the hours of fun and laughter!!!

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Mocha Cheesecake Tart (gluten free!)

Posted on November 12, 2011 by Ruthanne

A little slice of happiness!!!

This recipe was created by myself and my gluten-free friend Brie.  It was an experiment and we LOVED it (mostly)…Our only mistake was adding too much coffee to our topping– and I am fixing the recipe to correct that!  If you LOVE coffee, add more (I LOVE coffee, so I thought the tart was perfect– but it is 11pm and I am still going strong…so maybe less is better!)

Brie is a photographer…so this post will be filled with her fun photos of the process!

My fun friend Brie!

INGREDIENTS:

Crust:

  • 2 1/2 cups of crushed graham cracker crumbs (gluten free!!!!)
  • 1/3 c. margarine
  • 2 T. sugar

Tart filling:

  • 1 box of PHILADELPHIA cream cheese- softened
  • 1/2c. sugar
  • 1/4 c. cocoa powder (Nestle)
  • 1 t. vanilla
  • 1 tub (8 oz) Cool Whip- thawed
  • 1/2c. mini chocolate chips (Nestle are gluten free)

Topping:

  • 1c. heavy whipping cream
  • 1T. instant coffee granules
  • 1/4 c. powdered sugar (check ingredients- I used Wal-mart brand and no gluten!)

DIRECTIONS:

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  • Mix crushed grahams with sugar and melted butter.
  • Press into an 8 inch tart pan.
  • Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes- until edges are firm and crispy.
  • Remove from oven and cool completely.  Remove out tart ring.
  • Mix coffee granules in whipping cream and allow to sit for about 10 minutes. (If you don’t like coffee, just skip this step and make topping by whipping cream and powdered sugar without the coffee granules!)

Whipping cream plus coffee!

  • In a large bowl, cream together cream cheese, sugar, cocoa and vanilla until smooth.

Adding vanilla to the rich chocolatey goodness!

  • Fold in Cool Whip and blend until smooth.
  • Mix in mini-chocolate chips (saving a few for the top).
  • Spread in cooled tart crust.

Spread the filling into the crust…

yum!

  • In medium bowl, mix whipping cream/coffee blend with powdered sugar and whip on high until stiff peaks form.
  • Spread over top of tart and sprinkle with a few mini- chocolate chips.
  • Serve immediately if you want– or keep refrigerated until use.
  • Take pictures!!!! 🙂

Give me all your chocolate chips and nobody gets hurt…..!

My thoughts– YUM!!!!  Rich and creamy and I LOVED the gluten free crust (I would use it again for the flavor and consistency- and I’m not on a gluten free diet).  I really would use just whipped cream next time and skip the coffee altogether though- I think the two layers clashed in color- lol!  Really though– suprise your friends who have to be gluten free with this pie– they will love you for it!!!

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Mint Creme Brownie Cups

Posted on October 29, 2011 by Ruthanne

I get requests for my mint creme brownies a lot.  I could never open a bakery because I get really bored re-making desserts!  The latest request came from my friend Gabe.  I agreed to make them, but decided to try a new presentation.  These are a little more work- but turned out great.  These would be perfect bite-size treats for showers or luncheons- and since its so close to Halloween, you could even drizzle some orange candy melts on top for a Halloween party treat!

INGREDIENTS:

Brownie:

  • 1c. butter
  • 2c. sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 tsp. vanilla
  • 2 c. flour
  • 1/2c. cocoa
  • 1/2tsp. salt
  • 1c. milk

Mint creme:

  • 5 c. powdered sugar
  • 1/2 c. melted butter
  • 2 tsp. peppermint extract
  • green food coloring (to desired shade of green)

Chocolate glaze:

  • 6oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 6tsp. butter (do not substitute margarine here!)

DIRECTIONS:

Brownie:
  • Preheat oven to 350.
  • Cream butter and sugar together. 
  • Beat in eggs, cocoa, vanilla and salt.
  • Add flour and milk (alternating them and mixing well in between)
  • Pipe batter evenly in mini cupcake liners in a mini cupcake tin
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
  • Cool.  

Mint creme:

  • Add melted butter to sugar and extract.
  • Mix well, using water to bring it to a thick but spreadable consistency.
  • Add food coloring to desired shade of green.
  • Pipe over cooled brownie cups and chill for a few minutes to harden up.
Chocolate glaze:
  • Melt butter and chocolate together in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between until completely melted and smooth.
  • Spoon over cooled mint creme
  • Chill until top layer is hard and drizzle with melted candy coating if desired
My thoughts: This is a fun variation on the Mint Creme Brownies– the taste is the same and its a perfect little bite of happiness– I just like about 10 perfect little bites of happiness, so I’d take a big piece of brownie over a cute little cup any day! 🙂

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Giant S’more!!

Posted on October 23, 2011 by Ruthanne

Ten different kinds of chocolate....

We are going to stray a bit from the usual into the bizarre in this post.  Typically I like to share fun, easy and unique dessert recipes with you- and this is all three of those things- plus a hint of Guiness Book of World Records.

Let me explain:  I help to lead COLLISION, the college-age group at our church and one of the things we do each month is a “Live Your Dream” night. Each person in our group has submitted a “dream” for something they have always wanted to do but never have and we try to (often very creatively!) fulfill the dream.  This weekend we made Ryan’s dream come true– a ten layer s’more with 10 different kinds of chocolate (a dream that I never even thought to have, but should have!)

We spent our Saturday raking leaves at a camp for inner city kids- its a really cool ministry that has a TON of trees (and therefore a lot of leaves to rake this time of year).  As the day drew to a close, we cooked hotdogs over a bonfire and then made Ryan’s dream a reality:

INGREDIENTS:

  • Graham Crackers- lots of them (they break and you really need whole ones!)
  • 10 (+) kinds of chocolate.  We used: Hershey’s milk chocolate, dark chocolate, cookies and cream, milk chocolate cookies and cream, white chocolate, Mr. Goodbar, Krackel, mini snickers, milky way, dark milky way, 3 musketeers, and last (but definitely not least!) Twix.
  • Marshmallows- lots– and it helps to have lots of people toasting them all at the same time!

Team effort on toasting!

DIRECTIONS:

  •  Unwrap all your chocolate and set up 10 full sheets of graham crackers with chocolate on top (lots of it!)
  • Roast 2 marshmallows per layer
  • Assemble!  We put it together in two stacks and added them together for 11 layers at the very end- otherwise it will tip.
  • Tip it sideways on a couple of plates to serve it– people can just pull off what they want 🙂

Ready for some pictures???  Here you go:

Marshmallows roasted to perfection!

Eleven gooey layers of happiness!!!

Ryan's dream come true!

My thoughts:  This was SO much fun!  We laughed and stressed out about not having unwrapped chocolate in time for all the marshmallows and took a ton of pictures– and then ate AMAZING s’mores (mine had caramel oozing out of one of the layers—BEST s’more ever!!!!!!  Next time you go camping you simply HAVE to try this– your kids will love it!!!

Best S'more EVER!

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Caramel Pecan Cookies

Posted on October 21, 2011 by Ruthanne

Have you ever tried Duncan Hines Caramel Cake mix?  It is soooooo good!  As a general rule, I use Duncan Hines when I bake cakes by mix.  This is one of the BEST flavors out there.  A couple of weeks ago I posted a recipe for German Chocolate Cake cookies that use a cake mix for the cookies.  The cookies turned out so yummy that I decided to try a different cake flavor….caramel!  These caramel cookies are topped with chocolate and pecans– a perfect fall treat!

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 box of Caramel cake mix
  • 1/3c. softened margarine
  • 1/2 box of cream cheese (4 oz.)
  • 1/3 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips (melted)
  • 1 egg
  • 24-30 chocolate stars or kisses
  • 24-30 pecan halves

DIRECTIONS:

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Cream together margarine and cream cheese until smooth.
  • Add egg, stirring until smooth.
  • Blend in melted chocolate.
  • Add cake mix last and stir until combined.  Use your hands to knead mixture into a heavy cookie dough.
  • Make evenly- size small balls of dough (I use a Small Cookie Scoop) and place on cookie sheets.
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes.
  • Remove from oven and press chocolate (star or kiss) into center of cookie.  Return to oven for 1 minute.
  • Press pecan into softened chocolate on the top of each cookie.  Cool until chocolate is hardened.
  • ENJOY!!


My thoughts– easy easy easy and wonderful caramel yummy-ness!  you can’t go wrong with these cookies!

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German Chocolate Cookie Bites!

Posted on October 12, 2011 by Ruthanne

What could be better than a big slice of german chocolate cake?  Why a german chocolate cookie stuffed full of that yummy coconut pecan icing of course!

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 box of German Chocolate cake mix
  • 1/3c. softened margarine
  • 1/2 box of cream cheese (4 oz.)
  • 1/3 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips (melted)
  • 1 egg
  • German chocolate frosting (get a tub of it –or be fancy and use my favorite recipe for it!)

DIRECTIONS:

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Cream together margarine and cream cheese until smooth.
  • Add egg, stirring until smooth.
  • Blend in melted chocolate.
  • Add cake mix last and stir until combined.  Use your hands to knead mixture into a heavy cookie dough.
  • Make evenly- size small balls of dough (I use a Small Cookie Scoop) and place on cookie sheets.

  • Gently press cookies into a flattened cookie shape (rather than a ball) as they will not spread out when they bake.
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes.
  • Remove cookies from oven and cool completely.
  • Spread frosting between two similarly -sized cookies and chill until serving.

My thoughts:  I love how the cookie part turned out.  I was really just experimenting with using a cake mix.  I’ve used a cake mix before with my Carrot Cake Cookies– but I knew they couldn’t be made the same (oatmeal in a german chocolate cake?!).  The cookies are dense and sooo chocolatey and rich.  They scoop wonderfully and don’t stick to the cookie sheet– perfect!  Look for them again soon– I want to try my hand at some caramel cookies with caramel cake mix!!!  Enjoy!

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Inside-out Caramel Apples!

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Ruthanne

Celebrate fall with a unique twist on the caramel apple: soft creamy caramel and chocolate on the INSIDE of the apple! Happy October to YOU!

INGREDIENTS:

  • 12-16 medium apples
  • 1 to 2 cups of 7-up
  • 32 Kraft caramels (unwrapped)
  • 1 can (14oz.) of sweetened condensed milk
  • 1/2 c. margarine
  • 6 oz. Wilton Dark Candy Cocoa Melts

(note: these amounts will make more caramel sauce than you need – you can cut the ingredients in half, but then you will have 1/2 of a can of condensed milk left-??!!  I say put the extra caramel sauce over ice cream 🙂 your call….)

DIRECTIONS:

  • Cut top off of apple, scoop out core and seeds with a melon baller
  • Fill apple “cup” with 7-up and use a kitchen brush to coat edges and top  with 7-up (this will prevent browning).









  • Repeat process with all apples (re-use the 7-up if you want- just pour it from one cup to the next!)
  • Make caramel sauce by adding caramels, condensed milk and margarine to a saucepan and stirring over medium heat until completely melted and smooth.
  • Melt chocolate in microwave in 30 second increments until smooth.
  • Spoon or pipe chocolate into apple cups, saving a little to drizzle on top.
  • Spoon or pipe caramel (cool a little 1st if you decide to pipe this!) into apple cups over chocolate.
  • Drizzle chocolate over top of caramel and serve warm and gooey- or chill and serve cold-mmmm!

My thoughts: No worries– I’m sure a “normal” caramel apple post is in my future– I just wanted something different from the expected.  These really are a beautiful dessert- serve them with a knife and a fork though- they are a wonderful gooey mess if you serve them warm!  Hope you enjoy these!  -r

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Coconut Macadamia Nut Cookies!

Posted on September 27, 2011 by Ruthanne

 

This is a twist on my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe (also my very 1st blog!).  My friend Jesse asked if they could be made with white chocolate, semisweet chocolate, macadamia nuts and coconut– and I thought– why not?  They turned out great and taste amazing!  Thanks for the idea Jess!

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2c. margarine (use tubs of Fleishmans or Country Crock for best results)
  • 2c. brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 c. sugar
  • 6 c. flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 1/2 t. baking soda
  • 2 tbsp vanilla
  • 2c. (one bag) mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 2c. (one bag) white chocolate chips
  • 1 1/2 c. chopped Macadamia nuts (to taste)
  • 1c. shredded coconut (to taste)

DIRECTIONS:

  • Cream together butter and sugars.  Add the rest of the ingredients except for the flour, chocolate chips, nuts and coconut.
  • Add flour (batter should be fairly dry).  Fold in remaining ingredients.  Add more flour if needed to make cookie dough very thick.   
  • Drop using a Large Cookie Scoop onto cookie sheets.  Bake at 350 degrees for 14-16 minutes.
  • Remove from cookie sheet and cool on parchment paper.
  • Enjoy!!!

My thoughts:  I love this cookie recipe made with the two types of chips in the original recipe.  These cookies are great– but I still prefer the original!  This cookie dough is PERFECT for making absolutely huge cookies that are cooked all the way through but not crunchy 🙂  Love ’em!!!  Hope you do too!!!


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Toffee Pecan Crunch Bars

Posted on September 25, 2011 by Ruthanne

Crunchy toffee, pecans and chocolate make these bars irresistible!  This is a wonderfully quick and easy recipe for a last minute treat.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 10-15 sheets of graham crackers
  • 1c. finely chopped pecan pieces
  • 1 stick of butter
  • 1 stick of margarine
  • 1/2 c. sugar
  • 1c. mini chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

  • Line an 11×17 jelly roll pan with a sheet of parchment paper (cut to size)
  • Break graham crackers into quarters and lay out on parchment paper.
  • Sprinkle pecan pieces over grahams.


  • Make sauce by melting butter, margarine and sugar together in a saucepan.
  • Bring sauce to a boil and boil for 3 minutes. (sauce should be yellow and syrupy)
  • Pour sauce over grahams and pecans.
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
  • Top with chocolate chips and allow to sit until hard (you can chill to speed this process)


  • Peel up using parchment paper and break into pieces.
  • YUM!!!!!


My thoughts: Easy, tasty and fun….I got this recipe from a coworker many many years ago and it is a great last-minute recipe.  If you like heath bars this is the perfect recipe for you!  Enjoy! r-

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