Mini Chocolate Chunk Cups with Peanut Butter Frosting

Man, what a day. Baby is crying. Phone won't stop ringing--and it's never good news. Hormones are raging. Wait a minute, this is starting to sound like I'm channeling Adele. What's a girl to do but grab a cold glass of milk and a couple of these guys and remember all I have to be thankful for.

"Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits;
Who pardons your iniquities;
Who heals your disease;
Who redeems your life from the pit;
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
Who satisfies your years with good things..."
Psalm 103:1-5

Hope that encourages someone else today, and hope these Mini Chocolate Chunk Cups with Peanut Butter Frosting bring a smile to your face.

Mini Chocolate Chunk Cups with Peanut Butter Frosting
Makes 24

1 package Betty Crocker Double Chocolate Chunk cookie mix, made per directions

Frosting:
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup half and half
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups confectioners sugar
mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

1.) Make the cookies as per the instructions on the package. Scoop the cookie dough into 24 lined, mini-muffin cups.
2.) Bake for 10 minutes until set.
3.) While still hot press a spoon into the center of the cookie to form a shallow well. Let cool completely on wire racks.
4.) In a separate bowl combine the frosting ingredients. You can beat them with a mixer or do this by hand until the frosting is smooth. I added the confectioner sugar in batches and I believe it was about 2 cups total. Eyeball the sugar a little if you want the frosting thicker or thinner.
5.) I transferred the frosting to a cake decorating frosting bag with a Wilton's #32 tip because I knew I'd post them on this blog and they had to look pretty. But you can spoon the frosting on too if you don't feel like getting fancy. You're just going to eat them any way. :-)
6.) Frost the cooled chocolate cups and press a few mini chocolate chips on top for good measure. Store, covered, in the fridge. Not sure how long these will keep. I'm betting not long if you have a pulse.

 

This post entered at Serendity and Spice and these other great linky parties.

Candy Cane Cookies and Tuxedo Peppermint Bark

A little more than a week until Christmas! If you’re looking for a way to use candy canes, here are two traditional recipes. One is easy (the bark); the other takes a little more finesse (the cookies). But both are festive and yummy.

Peppermint Bark
1 bag bittersweet or dark chocolate chips (I like Ghirardelli)
1 bag white chocolate chips
12 mini candy canes, semi-crushed (1/3 cup or so)

1.) In the microwave, melt the chocolate chips in two separate bowls on 50% power.
2.) Line a 9”x13” cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2.) Spread the dark chocolate chips on the paper. Dollop and drizzle white chocolate on top and swirl with a knife to get the marbled effect.
3.) Sprinkle with crushed peppermint candies. Press the candy lightly into the chocolate with the back of a clean spoon.
4.) Refrigerate for 30 minutes to harden. Break apart into pieces. Store at room temp or refrigerate.

Candy Cane Cookies
Adapted from Christine’s Cuisine blog post.
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp peppermint extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
Wilton’s No Taste Red food coloring gel

1.) Blend butter, sugar, eggs and almond flavoring.
2.) In a separate bowl, combine flour and salt.
3.) Add the dry mix to the wet mix in batches until combined.
4.) Remove half of the dough from the bowl. Color the remaining dough with the red food coloring and flavor with peppermint extract.
5.) Place each half of dough in separate containers in the fridge. I form the dough into two balls and wrap in Saran Wrap. Let chill overnight if possible. The longer they chill, the easier the dough is to handle. You can also spoon the dough out in small teaspoons on two separate plates and cover with Saran Wrap so they’re ready to go the next day. This might also help the dough chill more quickly if you want to bake the cookies the same day.
6.) Using confectioner’s sugar to coat your work space, roll out a tsp-size white dough ball and one red into 4-inch snakes. (You’ll be surprised at how little dough it takes to get a 4-inch snake.) Pinch the ends together and roll the dough so that the two colors twist like a candy-cane pattern. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
7.) Unwrap and crush enough candy canes to equal about 1/2 cup. You want the candy pretty fine, almost like a sugar consistency with some slightly larger chunks for color. I used about two dozen mini candy canes to achieve the 1/2 cup. The boys had fun crushing them with a rolling pin in a quart-sized freezer bag. Set candy aside.
8.) Bake in a 375’ oven for six to eight minutes.
9.) Immediately remove the cookies from the oven and sprinkle with crushed candy. The candy will melt slightly and adhere to the cookie. Let cool before moving from pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Cookies will be tender with a little candy crunch.

True confessions from my microwave

You might want to chalk this up to TMI, but I know I'm not the only woman who craves chocolate at least once a month. OK, I crave chocolate daily, but I'm talking in-my-pjs-with-a-movie-and-an-entire-pan-of-brownies-smothered-in-fudge-sauce craving. And I'm not getting up until the pan is clean and God help you if you get in my way. That kind of craving. And it hit me totally unprepared last night. No brownie makings, no baking nothin' anywhere in sight. But back in the corner of my pantry I found leftover s'mores fixings: one-and-a-half stale graham crackers, a couple of squares of chocolate and half a bag of marshmallows. Perfect.

So here's how it works, as if you aren't already doing this yourself in secret. I don't like the graham crackers microwaved. So I nuke the chocolate squares on a microwave-proof plate for 10 seconds, then add a single marshmallow on top and let it go another 10 seconds. Then I scrape the oozing lot off the plate with the graham crackers and reload. Ahhh. Craving abated.

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

Sometimes inspiration for baking comes in simple forms, like paper muffin cups and half a bag of bittersweet chocolate chips. Oh, and a bowl of past-their-prime bananas.

Banana bread is the PB&J of sweet breads. It reminds me of a cold winter day home from school with my Mom. Comfort food at its best. And since we had sleet this morning and a threat of snow (In March? In North Carolina? Who do I see about fixing this weather thing?), banana bread muffins will fit the bill. Mom always used to put chocolate chips in her bread, and I'm of the same persuasion. Ain't nothin' that can't be improved with chocolate. I also added brown sugar and cloves to this recipe from joyofbaking.com, took out the nuts since we didn't have any on hand, and put the batter in muffin cups. These freeze great and reheat easily for breakfasts in 30 seconds in the microwave. Use mini-chocolate chips and mini-muffin pans for a sweet treat for the kids.

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour (I use a mix of white and wheat)

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cloves

1 cup chocolate chips

3 mashed bananas

2 eggs

1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled

1 tsp vanilla

1.) Since banana bread is such an old-fashioned treat, I decided to mix it up the old fashioned way--by hand. It's too easy to over mix sweet breads with an electric mixer anyway. Then it gets all tough and rubbery. So... mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl, flour through chocolate chips.

2.) In a separate bowl, mash the bananas with the back of a fork and stir in the remaining wet ingredients until combined.

3.) Make a well in the dry ingredients by pushing the mix up against the side of the bowl.

4.) Plop the wet ingredients into the bowl and stir slowly, gently, almost folding the wet ingredients into the dry. Some dry pockets might still remain. Resist the urge to keep stirring.

5.) Using a 1/3 cup measuring cup, spoon batter evenly into 12 or so regular muffin cups.

6.) Bake in preheated oven at 350' for 20-25 minutes. Tops will be cracked and browned when done and no goo will come out if you insert a toothpick--not accounting for the chocolate chips of course.

7.) Let sit for a few minutes then tap out onto a rack to finish cooling.

Step eight: devour. Call your mother. Repeat.

Vianne Rochon Maya Brownies

"Why can't you wear black shoes like the other mothers?"

One of my favorite movies is Chocolat with Juliette Binoche, Alfred Molina, Leslie Caron, Judi Dench, Carrie-Anne Moss and, of course, Johnny Depp. Vianne and her daughter Anouk stir up trouble when they move into a religiously rigid French town and open a chocolaterie in the middle of Lent--right across from the church. What ensues is a tug-of-war between the town's dour sense of morality and decency and the freedom and pleasure represented by Vianne's "dangerous" chocolates.

The story is based on Joanne Harris' novel of the same name, and, for once, I prefer the movie. Harris' novel starts with the same sparkling, intriguing characters and setting but takes a dark and cynical turn that bursts the bubble halfway through. In contrast to the book, the movie's Vianne is one of my favorite cinematic characters, and I find the themes of faith, love, friendship and joie de vivre deeply satisfying. The story is perhaps a bit sweet but finds redemption in the stellar cast, transportive soundtrack (a mix of gypsy jazz, a la Django Reinhardt, and Latin, pan flute instrumentals), and sets that drip with nostalgic post WWII images of France.

I know, traditionally we fast things like chocolate during Lent and then celebrate by breaking fast at Easter. But watching Chocolat again today inspired me to celebrate Lent and the sacrifice Christ made once for all a little early with these Vianne Rochon Maya Brownies. They're rich and chocolaty with a crisp top and dense, moist crumb. As Vianne adds Maya-style spices to her chocolate in the movie, I added cayenne pepper and cinnamon for heat and spice and coffee for depth. Enjoy every morsel.

Vianne Rochon Maya Brownies

Recipe modified from http://www.joyofbaking.com/brownies.html

 5 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped 

(I used half of an 11 oz bag of Ghirardelli's bittersweet, 60% cocoa chips)

1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces

2 Tb cocoa powder

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp cinnamon

1 Tb instant coffee powder

1 cup granulated white sugar

1 tsp vanilla

3 large eggs

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Using a double boiler, or a bowl set over a pot of boiling water, melt the chocolate chips and pats of butter. Stir constantly. When you see just a few chunks of chocolate and butter remaining, remove from heat and continue stirring until smooth.
2. Add the cocoa powder through the coffee powder. Taste to see if you want to add any more heat, spice or depth. 
3. Stir in the sugar and vanilla. Let cool slightly.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly.
5. Stir in the flour and salt.
6. Pour batter into a buttered 9" pan.
7. Bake 350', 30 mins.