WHITE MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES (with coconut oil)

Dear reader, I loved these cookies! They're light and summery, a little bit minty and and just sweet enough. I named them "white" because the coconut oil makes them so light colored, and it seemed appropriate for their fresh, summery taste. Plus, most mint cookie recipes end up green somehow, and I wanted to highlight the fresh white look. 

There's a teeny tiny hint of coconut taste to them, but it's so faint that my friends weren't able to identify until after I told them. It's just enough to add to the crisp, summery flavor. 

Also, I popped them in the freezer after a few days, and eating them straight out of the freezer turned out to be a GREAT idea. I'll definitely make these again (at least once) before summer's over. It seems like it might be a double-batch-and-freeze kind of cookie...

Enjoy!

WHITE MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

(adapted from this recipe)

1 cup coconut oil, melted and somewhat cooled

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

2 egg whites

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups flour

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. 

In a large bowl, beat the coconut oil, powdered sugar, and peppermint extract until well combined. Stir in egg whites and salt. Gradually mix in flour. Finally, stir in chocolate chips.

Prepare baking sheets with parchment paper. Form the dough into balls, and flatten each ball gently with your palm. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes, or until cookies are just barely beginning to brown around the edges. 

CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM (MADE FROM BANANAS)

Yep. Made ice cream with bananas, cocoa powder, and almond milk. I know, I know, it's not ice cream. But it's yummy! And if you've never tried banana-base "ice cream," it's really worth a try. When you blend up a frozen banana, it has the creamiest texture, pretty much as close to ice cream as you can get. But it's fruit!

I've been experimenting with ice cream from bananas for a few years - try peanut butter, coconut milk, or fruit puree. But this is my favorite. The banana flavor does come through, but it's still chocolatey and creamy. Can you beat that?

BANANA BASE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM

chocolate ice cream, made from bananas

2 large bananas
2 tablespoons cocoa powder (I used Hershey's special dark)
2 tablespoons almond milk (you can use any milk)

Slice bananas into disks. Lay out on a plate or cookie sheet, and freeze. Place frozen banana slices in a blender and blend until smooth. It will become very creamy, like ice cream. Add cocoa powder and milk, and blend until smooth.

GERMAN CHOCOLATE WHOOPIE PIES

Greetings, dear Reader. Hope you're back in the swing of things and recovering from the holidays! I know you probably just ate sweets for like a whole month, and I know January is supposed to be the month for detox and salads, and I know you're going to exercise more often (but for real this year). But please. Indulge my sweet tooth.

Yes, German chocolate cake in whoopie pie form.

Dark chocolate cake-y cookies.
Bittersweet chocolate ganache.
Ooey gooey coconut-y filling (German chocolate cake frosting, basically).

This recipe is from the Pampered Chef Chocolate cookbook. I followed it exactly, but see my notes below.

My notes: the first time I made this recipe, it was a total disaster. I was planning to take them to a party, and I just did not have my ducks in a row. Leave it to me to try a NEW recipe at the LAST minute on my way to a party. Anyway, when you do them right, the recipe's worth sharing.

The biggest problem was letting the filling set up. The recipe says to refrigerate one hour, but after an hour, mine was still super runny and tried to escape every time I managed to get some on a cookie. It was a big sticky mess. This filling can certainly be made ahead and refrigerated overnight, so that's what I'd do if you're worried about setting up. It's worth it.

GERMAN  CHOCOLATE WHOOPIE PIES 

yields about 32 pies

Cookies
2 cups all-purpose flour
5 tbsp dark unsweetened cocoa powder blend (I used Hershey's Special Dark)
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1/2 tbsp double-strength vanilla
1 cup milk

Filling
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup evaporated milk
2 egg yolks
3/4 tsp double-strength vanilla
3/4 cup butter, cut into pieces
2 cups toasted sweetened flaked coconut

Ganache
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line Cookie Sheet with Parchment Paper. In medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda in mixing bowl. In large bowl, combine butter, sugar, egg yolks and vanilla; beat on medium-high speed of electric mixer until well blended. On low speed, add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with milk in two additions; mix well.

Spoon batter onto prepared cookie sheet, 2 in. apart; bake 7-9 minutes or until cookies spring back when lightly pressed. Cool completely on cooling rack.

For filling, combine sugar and salt in medium saucepan. Gradually whisk in evaporated milk, egg yolks and vanilla. Add butter; cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, 8-10 minutes or until temperature reaches 160°F. Transfer to a bowl. Add coconut and pecans; mix well. Refrigerate 1 hour or until cool.

Meanwhile, prepare ganache. Heat the chips and cream together until mostly melted, stirring regularly (you can do this in the microwave, in a saucepan, or in a bowl over boiling water - just go slowly so you don't burn the chocolate). Cool about 15 minutes, or until spreadable.

To assemble, turn cookies bottom side up. Scoop filling onto half of the cookies, pressing down slightly so filling spreads almost to the edge. Spoon about 1 tsp. ganache on remaining half of cookies. Place one filled cookie on top of ganache, pressing slightly.

CHOCOLATE TOFFEE CARAMEL CUPCAKES

Hello, dear Reader! Happy Thanksgiving week! There's been a lot of baking and crafting happening around here, and not nearly enough blogging about it. To make up for it, please enjoy these delish cupcakes I created this weekend for a bake sale. They were inspired by the gorgeous cakes in this post by Naomi over at Bakers Royale.

Moist chocolate cake,
scattered throughout with chunks of toffee
and chunks of chocolate.
(But not too sweet.)
Creamy
caramel
frosting.
Melt-in-your-mouth
chocolate ganache.
Crunchy toffee on top.



See how much I love them?
I just wrote a poem.

They're poetic, I guess. :)

I improvised the caramel buttercream. Pretty simple, I know, but as a girl who's just breaking into the world of diving in without recipes, I was pretty proud :) You should adjust powdered sugar and caramel sauce depending on how sweet and/or caramel-y you want it to be. My chocolate cake isn't too supersweet, so I was able to put the caramel in the sweetness spotlight.

For the regular size cakes, I simply frosted with the caramel buttercream and then drizzled generously with the ganache. For the minis, I dipped each cake in the ganache first for an extra layer of yum. (You can tell in the picture above - regular and mini side-by-side - that the minis are dipped first.) If you dip first, just be sure to let the ganache set up before frosting and drizzling the cakes.

Mmm... I can't believe they're all gone...

Chocolate Toffee Cakes (makes 24 regular + 24 minis)
It's a dense batter. You only need to fill the papers about half full. Mine were probably even a little less than half full.

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 - 4 T instant coffee
4 eggs
1 cup butter (2 sticks), melted
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup strong hot coffee
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup chocolate covered toffee bits
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder, and instant coffee. In a separate bowl, combine eggs, butter, and vanilla. Mix well. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir just to combine. Pour in milk and hot coffee and mix well. Stir in toffee bits and chocolate chips.

Fill cupcake liners about half full. Bake at 350 for 20-24 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.



Caramel Buttercream
Adjust powdered sugar and caramel sauce to the level of sweetness and caramel-y-ness you're going for.  You can make this in two half-batches if it's easier.

1 cup caramel sauce (Homemade is best! recipe here)
3 sticks butter, softened
1 tsp. salt
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar (adjust to taste)

Beat butter and salt in a stand mixer until fluffy and white, 3 - 4 minutes on medium-high speed. Add powdered sugar and mix until smooth (medium-low speed). Add caramel sauce and mix until smooth, then beat for a couple more minutes on medium-high speed to fluff it up a bit.


Chocolate Ganache
Adapted from Naomi at Bakers Royale. *Note: Original recipe calls for 5 - 8 tablespoons of water, but I think I only ended up using 2. Use your own judgement.

2/3 cups semi-sweet chocolate (original recipe uses dark chocolate)
2 tablespoons heavy cream
4 tablespoons powdered sugar, sifted
2-3 tablespoons warm water*

Heat the chocolate and cream over a pot of simmering water. After a couple of minutes, the chocolate should be soft enough to begin to stir into the cream. Continue to stir until the chocolate melts completely. Remove from heat and stir in powdered sugar. Add water by tablespoon until it reaches pouring consistency.

Here are the ganache-dipped cuties:

CHOCOLATE COVERED FROZEN BANANA BITES

My husband and I recently bought all three seasons of Arrested Development on DVD. And in honor of all the time we've been spending with the Bluth family lately, I made some chocolate covered banana bites. There's always money in the banana stand! (If you've never seen the show, dear Reader, and you like dry comedy, I highly recommend it. :))

So the inspiration came from the TV show, but the case was actually just that I had some leftover chocolate melted in a bowl from another project, and there was one banana sitting in the fruit bowl. So it was an impromptu treat for two :)

Since I made them with only one banana, I figured I'll just give you the recipe for one banana. You can of course multiply as needed.

Chocolate Covered Banana Bites

• one banana, sliced into 1/2-inch disks
• 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (this is probably a little more than you'll need)
• 2 tsp. coconut oil
• toppings (graham cracker crumbs, sweetened coconut flakes)

Lay the banana slices out on parchment paper and freeze for 30 - 45 minutes, or until frozen. Before removing them from the freezer, melt the chocolate and coconut oil in the microwave (increments of 20 seconds, then 10, stirring between each until melted). Use a spoon and knife to dip the bites and replace them on parchment paper. Sprinkle with toppings and return to freezer for 20 - 30 minutes.

They'd be cute on kabob picks or toothpicks for parties.

Bon appétit, dear Reader! Thanks for stopping by! :)

Triple Chocolate Cherry Cake (Happy Birthday to Me!)

Well, I'm 23. Twenty-three!

I'm no longer allowed the excuse that I "just" graduated from college, and, like many, I have to get used to not being in school for the first time in my life. I'm not doing very well with that, it seems, since I can tell that my body is just waiting for a school routine to start. Sorry, body, we're on our own this year.

So twenty-three is my kick in the butt to get good at making my own routine :)

Thanks to labor day, I was one of the lucky kids who got a three-day birthday weekend each year, and it's fantastic. This year I milked each day of it: one day to be lazy, one day to cook a big dinner and a fancy cake, one day to go on a (fantastic) hike through the redwoods.