Andes Chocolate Mint Cookies

The first time I made these was for a thank you to Dan's friend for letting us use his lake house for the weekend to celebrate my dad's birthday. Except Dan kept forgetting to bring them with him, so three days later I made another batch and added the cocoa powder, it makes a huge difference. The cookies taste so much better with the small addition. I loved these cookies so much that I have butter softening on the counter to make another batch. As I'm sure you've noticed I haven't updated the blog in a really long time, so there is actually several months between this time and the last. I highly recommend these for anyone who loves chocolate and mint. And the cute little box is from World Market.

Ingredients:

1/4 c salted butter-softened (I used unsalted)

3/8 c dark brown sugar (I used light)

1/4 c sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 T cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

5 oz Andes Creme de Menthe Baking Chips

1 1/3 c all purpose flour, sifted

Directions:

1. Cream together butter and sugars

2. Mix in egg and vanilla

3. Sift together flour, salt, cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder

4. Blend flour mixture into sugar mixture

5. Stir in baking chips

6. Refrigerate dough for an hour.

7. Shape dough using a cookie scoop and place onto prepared cookie sheets. (parchment paper sprayed with non-stick cooking spray)

8. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes

Yields: 21 cookies

White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Cookies

I learned something new when making these cookies, I don't really like white chocolate. So for the second half of the batch I added some semi sweet chocolate chips to the dough and those were fantastic. According to a friend of mine if you like white chocolate they taste good both ways.

White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Cookies:
adapted from ATK recipe

Ingredients:
2 c. plus 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
12 Tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted & cooled until warm
1 c. brown sugar, packed
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 c. white chocolate chips
1/2 c. macadamia nuts, chopped

Directions:
-Adjust oven racks to upper & lower -middle positions & heat oven to 325.
-Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
-Whisk dry ingredients together; set aside.
-Mix butter & sugars until thoroughly combined.
-Beat in egg, yolk and vanilla until combined.
-Add dry ingredients & beat at low speed just until combined.
-Stir in chips and nuts.
-Roll scant 1/2 cup dough into ball.
-To portion dough, I use a cookie scoop, or two teaspoons work too.
Leave plenty of space between each ball.
-Bake, reversing position of cookie sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft & puffy, about 12 minutes depending on size.
-Cool cookies on sheets until able to lift without breaking and place on wire rack to cool.

Oreo Torte

Happy Easter everyone! I made this torte for our Easter celebration. At first I suggested making Dorie's Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte, but Dan informed me that he does not like peanut butter in his desserts. According to him peanuts belong at the ballpark NOT in dessert. He said that the concept looked good and asked if I could make something similar. So after some searching I came across Alton Brown's Chocolate Mousse and decided to combine the two together and make some changes to better suite my family's taste. Be warned that this torte has an intense chocolate flavor that is best paired with a tall glass of cold milk. So for those who have seen this torte in the peanut butter version and thought that it looked good but were disappointed because you or a family member have a nut allergy I hope you enjoy my improvised version.

Oreo Torte:

Source: adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte & Alton Brown’s Chocolate Mousse. My changes are in bold.

Ingredients:

For the crust:
32 Oreo cookies, finely processed into crumbs (I used an entire package)

5 1/3 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled (I used an entire stick)

Small pinch of salt

For the crunch:

½ cup almonds, toasted & chopped (see notes below)

¼ c. cup mini chocolate chips

2 tsp. sugar

¼ tsp. ground cinnamon (I might have used more, but I didn’t measure)

Dash of ground nutmeg

For the filling:

1 ¼ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

2 c heavy cream (can be reduced to 1 ½ c.)
16 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature (could easily reduce to 8oz to produce less filling, I made a 10 inch torte and had about a cup and a half of leftover mousse.)

Chocolate Mousse Recipe
10 Oreos roughly chopped

For the ganache:

½ cup heavy cream

4 oz. semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

Directions:

To make the crust, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 10-inch springform pan and place it on a baking sheet. Combine the Oreo crumbs, melted butter and salt in a small bowl. Toss with a fork to moisten all of the crumbs. Press into a thin layer covering the bottom and sides of the springform pan. Freeze the crust for 10 minutes. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before filling.

Chocolate Mousse:
Ingredients:
1 ¾ cups whipping cream (reduce to 1 ¼ c.)
12 ounces quality semi-sweet chocolate chips (this can be reduced if you do not want an intense chocolate flavor)
3 ounces strong hot chocolate (recipe follows)
1 tablespoon dark rum (can be omitted if necessary, although not including it will change the flavor of the mousse.)
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon flavorless, granulated gelatin

Directions:
Chill 1 ½ cups whipping cream in refrigerator. Chill metal mixing bowl and mixer beaters in freezer.
In top of a double boiler, combine chocolate chips, coffee, rum and butter. Melt over barely simmering water, stirring constantly. Remove from heat while a couple of chunks are still visible. Cool, stirring occasionally to just above body temperature.

Pour remaining ¼ cup whipping cream into a metal measuring cup and sprinkle in the gelatin. Allow gelatin to "bloom" for 10 minutes. Then carefully heat by swirling the measuring cup over a low gas flame or candle. Do not boil or gelatin will be damaged. Stir mixture into the cooled chocolate and set aside.

In the chilled mixing bowl, beat cream to medium peaks. Stir ¼ of the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture to lighten it. Fold in the remaining whipped cream in two doses. There may be streaks of whipped cream in the chocolate and that is fine. Do not over work the mousse.

Hot chocolate:
½ c whole milk
2 tsp sugar
½ oz semi sweet chocolate, chopped
½ tsp vanilla

Directions:

Heat milk, and add chocolate, sugar, and vanilla. Heat until chocolate is thoroughly melted.

To prepare the cream cheese filling, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip 2 cups of the cream until it holds medium peaks. Beat in 1/4 cup of confectioners’ sugar and whip until the cream holds medium-firm peaks. Scrape the cream into a separate bowl and refrigerate until needed.

Wipe out (do not wash) the mixer bowl, replace the whisk with the paddle attachment, and beat the cream cheese with the remaining 1 cup of confectioners’ sugar on medium speed until the cream cheese is satiny smooth.

Using a large rubber spatula, gently stir in about 1/4 of the whipped cream just to lighten the mousse. Still working with the spatula, carefully fold in the remaining whipped cream. Combine the cream cheese mixture and the chocolate mousse together, by gently folding them together. Continue working with a rubber spatula gently combine the chopped Oreos into the mousse. Scrape the mousse into the crust, mounding and smoothing the top. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight; cover with plastic wrap as soon as the mousse firms.

To finish the torte, put the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Leave the bowl over the water just until the chocolate softens and starts to melt, about 3 minutes; remove the bowl from the saucepan. Bring the ½ cup of cream to a full boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate and, working with a rubber spatula, very gently stir together until the ganache is completely blended and smooth.
Pour the ganache over the torte, smoothing with a metal icing spatula. Scatter the crunch topping over the top and chill to, at least 20 minutes. When the ganache is firm.

To make the crunch, in another small bowl combine the almonds, mini chocolate chips, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Toss with a fork to mix and sprinkle over the top of the torte. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Remove the sides of the spring form pan before serving.

Toasting the almonds: Preheat oven to 350 degrees, prepare cookie sheets by lining it with parchment paper and lightly spraying it with Pam. Evenly distribute the chopped almonds (I chopped mine in a food processor) and bake for 7 minutes. Allow to cool completely before using, this allows the almonds to restore their crunch.

Store leftovers in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator.

Oreo Cheesecake Ice Cream

I have had fun the past 2 weeks making some treats out of this book (The Ultimate Ice Cream Book) that I received from my friend Amanda for Christmas during my anniversary board's elfster exchange. (She also got me some barefoot Contessa fudge sauce that I look forward to trying soon, I wanted to taste it when it got here and Dan thought that was a bad idea to eat it from the jar.) Anyway, this ice cream is delicious and very easy to make.

Ice cream chilling tip: I put my ice cream batter in a metal bowl and place that bowl into an ice bath into the refrigerator. This speeds up the cooling process so that you can churn your ice cream sooner.

Oreo Cheesecake Ice Cream

Source: The Ultimate Ice Cream Book by: Bruce Weinstein

Ingredients:

1 c sugar

4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature

1 large egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

3/4 c milk

1 1/2 c heavy cream

7 oreos, chopped

Directions:

Beat the sugar and cream cheese together until smooth and creamy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Set aside.

Bring the milk to a boil in a heavy medium saucepan. Slowly beat the hot milk into the cheese mixture. Pour the entire mixture back into the pan and place over low heat. Stir constantly with a whisk or wooden spoon until the custard thickens slightly. Be careful not let the mixture boil or the egg will scramble. Remove from the heat and pour the hot custard through a strainer into a large clean bowl. Allow the custard to cool slightly, then stir in the heavy cream. Cover and refrigerate until cold or overnight.

Stir the chilled custard, than freeze in 1 or 2 batches in your ice cream machine according to the instructions. Stir the crushed oreos in by hand after removing the ice cream from the machine. Ice cream should be soft served and ready to eat now, or freeze for at least 2 hours for a firmer ice cream.

Yield: 1 quart

Chocolate Sauce

Chocolate Sauce:

Source: The Ultimate Ice Cream Book

Ingredients:

¼ c unsalted butter

2 oz unsweetened chocolate

¾ c. sugar

2 T unsweetened cocoa powder

½ c heavy whipping cream

2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Melt the butter and chocolate together over a double boiler or in a large metal or glass bowl over a pan of simmering water.

2. Combine the sugar and the cocoa in another bowl.

3. Stir the heavy whipping cream into the sugar & cocoa and mix until a thick paste forms.

4. Stir the chocolate paste into the melted chocolate and butter.

5. Cook the mixture over simmering water for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

6. Whisk in the vanilla.

7. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Yields: 1 ½ cups

Peanut Butter Cookies with M&M's

About two weeks ago I had a craving/desire to bake some cookies, so I started searching through some blogs that I follow when I came across this recipe on Annie's blog (http://annieseats.wordpress.com) and I knew that I needed to try these. I add M&M's because I have them on hand, and also because I love chocolate chip cookies with peanut butter M&M's. Anyways these cookies are awesome, and you really should put them on your must make list. I sent 2/3 of my batch to work with Dan and meant to send some to my neighbor's but ended up eating the rest myself, oops.

* I halved the original recipe.

Source: adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

http://annieseats.wordpress.com/2008/06/10/peanut-butter-crisscrosses/

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
small pinch of grated nutmeg
1 stick (4oz.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup peanut butter (crunchy or smooth) (I used smooth)

¼ c + 2 T sugar
1/2 c packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
½ c M&M’s (my addition)

Directions:
Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Whisk (I sifted) together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.

Working with a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed for a minute or two, until smooth and creamy. Add the peanut butter and beat for another minute. Add the sugars and beat for 3 minutes more. Add the egg, beating for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl and, on low speed, add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they just disappear. Mix in the M&M's. You’ll have a soft, pliable (mushable, actually) dough.

I used a cookie to scope to form my cookies and places them onto greased cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.

Bake for about 12 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point. When done, the cookies will be lightly colored and still a little soft. Let the cookies sit on the sheets for a minute before transferring them to cooling racks with a wide metal spatula. Cool to room temperature.

Repeat with the remaining dough, making sure to cool the baking sheets between batches.

German Chocolate Cake

I made this cake last summer for my dad's birthday. I attempted to make the coconut pecan icing, but burnt it when I walked away to check thenest.com, oops. So I had to settle for using store bought icing because I was in a time crunch. Let me know if you want the icing recipe and I can add it to the post.

German Chocolate Cake:

Hershey's

Ingredients:
1/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1/2 cup boiling water
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
2-1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk or sour milk*

Pecan halves(optional)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour three 9-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together cocoa and water in small bowl until smooth; set aside.

Beat butter, sugar and vanilla in large bowl until light and fluffy.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Stir together flour, baking soda and salt;

add to butter mixture alternately with chocolate mixture and buttermilk, beating just enough to blend.

Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until top springs back when touched lightly. Cool 5 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks.

Cool completely.

Prepare cocconut icing (or use the premade stuff like I did); spread between layers and over top.

10 to 12 servings.

* To sour milk: Use 1 tablespoon white vinegar plus milk to equal 1 cup.

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Peanut Butter M&M's

These cookies are one of my favorite which says a lot considering that I'm normally not a huge fan of chocolate chip cookies. I have actually made these cookies several times but have not taken a picture of them so that I could include them in my blog. These cookies are great with different mix-ins (different types of chocolate, butterscotch and different nuts.) Anyway, I have been wanting to make these again and had the perfect opportunity last week because I need to do a documentation panel of the learning of a child. I decided to make these with my two year old neighbor and we had a blast. He even told me that he's better at stirring than I am.

Also known as: Best Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup peanut butter M&M's

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended.

Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy.
Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended.

Stir in the chocolate chips and peanut butter M&M's by hand using a spoon.
Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets.

Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
Bake for 13 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted.

Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.