Chocolate almond spice cookies

One day I felt like baking, but didn't want to run to the store to buy any ingredients. I found this recipe for chocolate spice cookies, and I had just enough chocolate in the house to make a half batch.

The great thing about this recipe is that it's made entirely in the food processor, which means less dishes to wash. The dough is flavored with ground almonds, cocoa powder, bittersweet chocolate and allspice.

This is a slice and bake cookie, so the rolls of dough need to chill for a while before they're ready to bake. I added a sliced almond to the top of each cookie to make them more attractive.

I really liked the cookies - the cocoa and chocolate contribute a rich, complex flavor, and the allspice makes these unique. I put half of the dough in the freezer for another day, so I'll be baking these the next time I need another chocolate fix.

Brownie pudding cake

This cake recipe has been in my family for a long time. I can’t believe it took me 2 and a half years to write about it – maybe because it’s not the most photogenic of dishes. However, it tastes amazing, I always have all the ingredients in my pantry, and the whole recipe only contains 3 tablespoons of fat. How can you go wrong with that?

So where does the pudding come from? A thick layer of cocoa powder and brown sugar goes on top of the cake batter. Next, a few cups of boiling water are poured over the whole thing.



When the cake bakes, the base layer of batter rises to the top to create a cake topping and the pudding sauce ends up on the bottom.

This cake can be eaten hot, at room temperature, or chilled. The consistency of the pudding sauce will vary depending on what temperature it’s served at. If you serve it right out of the oven, the pudding is more of a thin chocolate sauce. As the cake cools, the pudding layer starts to thicken. The cake is great served with ice cream, or simply eaten as is.

Brownie pudding cake
Serves 4-6

3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup plus 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 3/4 cups boiling water
powdered sugar, for serving

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 inch square baking dish or round souffle dish. Combine flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and 1/3 cup cocoa in medium bowl. Add milk, butter and vanilla, stir until just blended. Spoon the batter into the prepared dish.

Combine brown sugar and remaining 1/4 cup cocoa in small bowl. Sprinkle evenly over batter. Pour boiling water over entire mixture; do not stir.

Bake 35 to 38 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the top layer comes out clean. Cool at least 10 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.

Chocolate almond macaroons

I’ve mentioned a few times that I’m trying to use up a 3 pound can of sliced almonds. Even after this recipe, I’m only halfway through the can! Luckily I have a long list of almond recipes to try, it’s just a matter of finding the time to make them.

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much with this one. The recipe caught my eye because it had a short ingredient list, didn’t require any grocery shopping, and made a fairly small yield (I wasn’t in the mood to bake 6 dozen cookies). It’s simply ground almonds mixed into a chocolate meringue.

The original recipe calls for making very small cookies, then sandwiching them together with chocolate. I decided to make my cookies a little bigger, using a tablespoon of dough rather than a teaspoon, and adding another few minutes to the bake time.

I was definitely surprised when I tasted these – they were really, really good. The outsides were crispy, and the insides were moist and fudgy. Even though there’s not much fat in recipe, the cookies tasted very rich and decadent from the cocoa powder. In fact, I thought making cookie sandwiches would be overkill, so instead I just drizzled some melted chocolate over the top.

I will definitely be making these again, probably sooner rather than later.

California brittle brownies

I got a box of california brittles in the mail from See's Candies and decided some brownies were in order.

My favorite brownie recipe is from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook, so I started there. This is a very fudgy brownie recipe, comes together quite easily, and only uses one bowl! I spread half of the batter into a square baking pan and added a generous layer of chopped california brittles. I spread the second half of the batter over the top, and placed the whole thing in the oven.

I loved the end result - the california brittles partially melted into the dough, so these don't have a strong toffee flavor. Instead, every bite is a little bit different - sometimes you get a chunk of almond, other times you get a piece of milk chocolate. These brownies have a crackly top, which adds great texture but can be difficult to cut neatly. I chill the brownies thoroughly before cutting, which takes care of the problem.

California brittle brownies

Makes 16

1/2 cup unsalted butter, plus more for the pan

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 and 1/2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup almond toffee such as See's california brittles, coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8 inch square baking pan. Line the pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides. Set aside. Melt the butter and chocolate together in a bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Remove the bowl from the heat and set aside. Let the chocolate cool for about 7-10 minutes.

Stir the sugar into the cooled chocolate until combined. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking until smooth after each addition. Add the vanilla, and fold in the flour and salt.

Pour half the batter into the pan, spread in an even layer. Sprinkle the toffee over the batter. Add the second half of the batter to the pan, spread in an even layer over the toffee.

Place in oven and bake until a skewer inserted into the center comes out with only a few crumbs attached, 45-50 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack - after 10 minutes, run a knife around the edges of the pan, then cool completely, transfer to refrigerator and chill for at least 2 hours.

Using the parchment overhang, lift the brownies out of the pan and onto the rack. Transfer to a cutting board and cut into squares.

Double chocolate and allspice crumb muffins

At my office, we take turns bringing in breakfast on Thursdays. This week it was my turn, and I decided to make these double chocolate and allspice crumb muffins from Dorie Greenspan's baking book.

First up was this recipe for double chocolate muffins. I only had milk chocolate on hand, so that's what I used. The muffins were quite good, but they would have been even better with the bittersweet chocolate that the recipe specified. I also increased the amount of chocolate chunks to get a muffin with a little more texture.

Next, I made these allspice crumb muffins. This is a fairly simple muffin, with a generous streusel topping. The allspice provides a background note of spice, but is not overpowering at all.

Both muffins were very well received. One of my coworkers commented that they had a great texture and weren't greasy at all, like store bought muffins can be. I don't have to bring breakfast again for a few months, but when I do, I may be turning to Dorie's book again! Everything I've made from from the book has been great.

Chocolate swirl gingerbread

We've been having cooler weather and some rain around here, so I thought I'd start off the fall and winter baking season with some gingerbread from the Everyday Food cookbook. This recipe is special because it incorporates chocolate. Melted chocolate is swirled through the batter to create a nice visual effect and added flavor dimension. This recipe literally came together in minutes, I sped up the prep time by melting both the chocolate and butter mixture in the microwave. I would recommend serving this cake warm, with a scoop of chocolate ice cream. I know the recipe says vanilla ice cream, or whipped cream, but I think the chocolate ice cream nicely complements the chocolate in the cake.

Chocolate toffee cookies

Ok, so my intention was to make this recipe as directed, but my plans changed a little. I went to Trader Joe's to pick up a block of chocolate for the cookies, but I didn't feel like making a trip to another grocery store to pick up heath bars. Instead, I bought a tub of english toffee at Trader Joe's. Also, I made the batter the night before, but I wasn't sure if the chunks of toffee would hold up in the batter overnight, so rather than mixing them into the dough, I pressed them onto the tops of the cookies before they went into the oven. I also omitted the walnuts and used a small cookie dough scoop instead of the 1/4 cup measure that the recipe calls for. But my overall concept is the same....right? Sort of?

These cookies are so good. They have a crisp crust with a brownie-like interior. They're positively addicting, I think it's impossible to eat just one.

Nutella cookies

I felt like making cookies, but I didn't want to go out and buy any special ingredients. I remember seeing these cookies on Everyday Italian a while back, and I just happened to have nutella in the house. These cookies came together very quickly. I didn't have hershey kisses, so I omitted those. Also, I used a white sanding sugar instead of the orange sugar in the recipe. The cookies were very good, but they really didn't taste like nutella. They did taste like a chocolate sugar cookie, and since I happen to love sugar cookies, that was good enough for me!

Chocolate chip cinnamon banana bread

Chocolate and bananas is a classic combination. I also really like chocolate with cinnamon, so I put everything together in one recipe. The cinnamon adds a hint of spice, but doesn't overpower the flavor of the chocolate and bananas.

Chocolate chip cinnamon banana bread
Makes 1 loaf

2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 and 1/2 cups mashed banana
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a bowl. Beat the butter and sugar with a mixer in a separate bowl until well blended and fluffy. Add eggs, beat to combine. Add banana, buttermilk and vanilla, beat to combine. Add flour mixture and stir until all of the ingredients are mixed together thoroughly. Stir in chocolate chips. Coat a 8.5" by 4.5" loaf pan with cooking spray. Bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the bread comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, remove from pan. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Giada's family dinners - chocolate ricotta pudding with strawberry sauce

This week I'm featuring food from Giada's Family Dinners

Initially, I wasn't sure how this recipe would turn out. Chocolate, orange, almond and strawberries sounds like a good combination, but the reviews were pretty mixed on the Food Network website.

I used Callebaut (60% cacao) bittersweet chocolate and fresh ricotta cheese. I blended the ricotta mixture until I was certain that it was smooth. The pudding tasted great and had a mousse like texture.

Chocolate ricotta pudding with strawberry sauce

My one complaint about this recipe is that the puddings really don't unmold neatly. The texture is just too soft to hold the shape of the ramekin. I tried to invert puddings that had chilled for 3 hours per the recipe, and puddings that chilled overnight. None of them came out cleanly, and my ramekins were well greased.