Dark Chocolate Cherry Granola

Dark chocolate cherry granola.

The name itself sounds like a decadent dessert.

And while you could definitely enjoy a bowl of it for dessert (ooh, or on top of a scoop of ice cream), we like to eat ours for breakfast. I mean, anytime you can have chocolate for breakfast it's good, right?

The sweetness of the cherries is balanced by the bitterness of the chocolate.Toss in some almonds for good measure, and you've got tasty, crunchy, granola goodness.

I cut my cherries in half to keep everything uniform in size and because the kids especially don't like the large pieces. This time I also used dark chocolate chips instead of chopping a bar, so I cut those in half, too. Of course, you could save yourself some time and work and just simply toss in the cherries and chocolate as is. But if you have picky, big-chunk-disliking kiddos, you might want to give your add-ins a chop. 

Either way, this granola is worth the work.

Dark Chocolate Cherry Granola

Ingredients:

5 cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup slivered almonds 

2/3 cup honey
1/3 cup coconut oil 
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup dried cherries

3/4 cup chopped dark chocolate pieces

Directions:

1. Place oats and almonds in a large bowl.

2. In a glass measuring cup or small bowl, combine the honey, coconut oil, and peanut butter. Microwave for one minute; whisk. Microwave an additional 30 seconds, or as needed, to melt everything and allow it to combine smoothly. (Can also be melted on the stove in a small saucepan.)

3. Stir in cinnamon and vanilla. Pour over oats and almonds and mix to coat. (I use a spatula.)
4. Spread granola in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake at 275°for 20 minutes. Stir and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Let cool completely before mixing in dried cherries and chocolate. Store in an air-right container. 

 

Peanut Butter Cup Granola

We have been obsessed with homemade granola ever since making this version in the crock pot years ago. I've since switched my method to cooking in the oven, and it is just as delicious.

With a family of 7, you can imagine that granola doesn't last long (actually, nothing lasts long with a family of 7, ha), so I like to make a lot at one time. I usually make 3 types. While one is in the oven, I prepare another. This way, I'm reusing the dishes without having to wash everything, and since most of the ingredients are the same, I have those out already too. It saves me time and streamlines the process. In less than 2 hours, we can have a ton of granola and a clean kitchen. The most difficult thing is trying to decide which kind to make!

It's no secret that we love the combination of peanut butter and chocolate. I mean, homemade Butterfingers made with a crazy ingredient, a decadent peanut butter brownie torte, rich and creamy peanut butter pie, these peanut butter bars which is one of our absolute favorite desserts, homemade Girl Scout peanut butter patties, and a cool and creamy peanut butter cup ice cream cake, anyone? All delicious, yes, but did you notice a theme? They're all desserts. And while I could totally enjoy a peanut butter bar any time of the day, it's probably not the best idea. This granola though is completely acceptable as a breakfast food! Sure, it has a bit of chocolate and chips, but it's still better than those sugary cereals, and it keeps you full longer. Sounds like a good compromise to me. Besides, the kids always think I'm making no bake cookies when this granola is cooking, because it smells exactly the same. So, it's still kinda like eating cookies for breakfast, ha.

I have been working to perfect this recipe for a while. Each time I'd make it, I'd tweak it to make it just a little bit better until we got to this. It is bursting with peanut butter flavor with a hint of chocolate. Of course, with any granola recipe, it's easy to change it to meet your tastes. Leave out the cocoa powder for a pure peanut butter version or don't add the chips for a more subtle peanut butter flavor. I use Reese's brand of baking chips to give it more of a true peanut butter cup flavor, but any brand will work.
 
Of all the granolas we make, this is the kids' favorite. I hope you like it as much as we do.

Peanut Butter Cup Granola

Ingredients:

5 cups old-fashioned oats

1 cup peanut butter

3/4 cup honey

1/4 cocoa powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup peanut butter chips

Directions:

1. Place oats in a large bowl.

2. In a glass measuring cup or small bowl, combine the honey and peanut butter. Microwave for one minute; whisk. Microwave an additional 30 seconds, or as needed, to melt everything and allow it to combine smoothly. (Can also be melted on the stove in a small saucepan.)

3. Stir in cocoa powder and vanilla. Pour over oats and mix to coat. (I use a spatula.)
4. Spread granola in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake at 275°for 20 minutes. Stir and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Let cool completely before mixing in peanut butter chips. Store in an air-right container.

Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream Cake

Having kids with birthdays just 3 days apart means that we eat a lot of cake during the third week of March. Each child gets to pick the kind of cake he wants for his actual birthday and then they have to decide together on a cake for their combined party with our extended family. 

This year, Tyler was insistent on having an ice cream cake for the party. Ice cream, yes! This would mellow our abundance-of-cake week. I discussed some flavor options with him and Alyssa. I said something about peanut butter cups and ice cream sandwiches, and it was settled. No other combinations could sway their decision. And who could blame them? Chocolate & peanut butter is one of the best flavor combos ever. We have plenty of recipes featuring the two already (like these homemade Butterfingers made with a crazy ingredient, this decadent peanut butter brownie torte, this rich and creamy peanut butter pie, these peanut butter bars which is one of our absolute favorite desserts, these homemade Girl Scout peanut butter patties, and the ever-faithful no-bake cookies), but you can never have too many chocolate-peanut-butter desserts. Am I right?

The ice cream cake was a hit at the party. In fact, the entire thing was eaten that night. That can be both a good thing and a bad thing. I mean, you always want to serve something that people enjoy, but it also means that there were no leftovers to enjoy later! 

Alyssa had chosen a rich, mint chocolate chip cake (which is another favorite of mine!) for her birthday day, but, I admit, I was pleased when Tyler said he wanted the ice cream cake again on his birthday. Yes, more cool peanut buttery goodness. I've trained them well, you know, refined their palates and stuff.

In addition to being delicious, this cake is incredibly easy to make. The hardest part is assembling it before the ice cream melts. Chopping the peanut butter cups in the beginning and keeping the ice cream sandwiches in the freezer until needed (pulling out only 6 at a time) helps to keep your dessert in cake form, instead of a drippy, soupy blob.

To make this recipe even easier, you could use Cool Whip instead of making the whipped cream yourself. I, personally, love using fresh, whipped cream. It takes only a few minutes to make, yet the difference is amazing. Place a dollop on pancakes, garnish hot chocolate, ice a cake--it makes treats extra special.

I hope you enjoy this ice cream cake as much as we do! I'm already ready for another slice.


Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream Cake
Ingredients:
18 ice cream sandwiches
1 cup creamy peanut butter
12 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, chopped
Chocolate sauce
Fresh, whipped cream (or 1-2 small tubs of Cool Whip)


Directions:
1. Heat peanut butter in the microwave for 30 seconds. Stir.
2. Working quickly, place 6 unwrapped ice cream sandwiches on a serving platter. Spread half of the peanut butter on top. Sprinkle with 4 chopped peanut butter cups. Drizzle with chocolate sauce.
3. Arrange 6 more unwrapped ice cream sandwiches on top and repeat layer of peanut butter, peanut butter cups, and chocolate sauce. Place remaining 6 ice cream sandwiches on top.
4. Cover cake with whipped cream. Garnish with peanut butter cups and chocolate sauce. Freeze cake for at least 30 minutes, and until ready to serve. Keep leftover cake frozen.


Whipped Cream
Ingredients:
1 pint (2 cups) heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Place metal mixing bowl and metal whisk attachment in the freezer for 10 minutes.
2. Place all ingredients in the bowl and beat until stiff peaks forms. Do not over-beat.

Mint Chocolate Chip Cake

Every year since she has been able to voice her opinion, Alyssa has chosen a chocolate cake with pink buttercream frosting for her birthday treat. So you can imagine my surprise this year when she asked for a mint chocolate chip cake.

"No pink girly cake? Really? Mint chocolate chip? Ok!"  

Mint chocolate chip was my absolute favorite ice cream growing up. Minty, creamy goodness with flecks of rich chocolate; nothing was better, that is until they created mint Oreo ice cream, but that's another story.

We made the cake during the day and kept it in the refrigerator to keep it cold and give it the essence of its namesake. Then we had to wait for Leighton to get home from work and eat dinner. (Something about chocolate cake not being a nutritious meal? I don't know.) It was hoooouuuurrrs before we could indulge.

But, oh, was it worth it. The kids each took a bite and agreed that the cake tasted exactly like the ice cream. The rich, dark chocolate of the cake pairs beautifully with the creamy coolness of the frosting. And those dark chocolate pieces? Those are just a bonus.

I admit, I was a bit sad when my girl didn't desire her traditional pretty pink cake, (Speaking of traditions, this was also the first year that she didn't want to have a tea party on her special day. Who said she could grow up?) but I think she made an excellent choice.

Maybe growing up isn't so bad after all.

Maybe.

Mint Chocolate Chip Cake

Cake Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

1 3/4 cups flour

1 cup Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 cup boiling water

Cake Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350. Grease and flour 2 round 9-inch pans.

2. In a large bowl, mix together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

3. Add eggs, milk oil and vanilla and beat on medium for 2 minutes.

4. Stir in boiling water.

5. Pour evenly into prepared pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in pans before removing to cool completely on wire racks.

*Recipe adapted from Hershey's.

Frosting Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1/3 cup heavy cream

2 teaspoons mint extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 cups powdered sugar

4-5 drops green food coloring

2 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped

Frosting Directions:

1. In a large bowl, beat butter until light and fluffy.

2. Add cream and both extracts and beat until smooth.

3. With the mixer on the lowest speed, slowly add the powdered sugar until just combined.

4. Add food coloring and beat on medium-high for one minute. Frosting should be smooth and fluffy.

5. Add chopped chocolate and mix on low until evenly combined.

Tasty Tuesday: Boston Cream Poke Cake

Not being able to be in the kitchen is one of my biggest complaints of being on bed rest. I understand that it's extremely important to take care of this little one growing inside me, instead of caring for my culinary desires, but that doesn't remove the urge to bake. For now, I have to depend on my kids to create the yummy treats. 

I said the other day that they made a batch of brownies from scratch. The only problem was that it was a small recipe that filled only an 8x8 inch pan. With 6 of us in the house, those didn't last long. (They may or may not have been completely inhaled that very day. Shh, don't tell.)  I was ready for the kiddies to bake again.

I know that their kitchen skills are fairly advanced, but I wanted to make it as easy as possible for them to bake something. Instead of pulling out 20 ingredients and covering the counters with a bunch of measuring cups and spoons, I had Leighton grab a boxed cake mix and instant pudding mixes when he went grocery shopping.

Don't worry--their mess was still nearly the same had they made each component of the cake from scratch. Ah, kids, such talent. 

They took turns adding the ingredients and mixing the cake. 

Since Jake was head chef for the brownies and Alyssa was the sous chef, they swapped roles today. Poor Zac is always "cheffy," a job that allows him to come and go from the kitchen as he pleases. And it always pleases him to at least be present at the end when the residual batter is being licked clean from the utensils.   

After the cake baked, they added the holes. 

My other wooden spoons have funny-shaped ends, so they used my huge soup spoon. It works perfectly for stirring in my largest stock pot.

It works perfectly for poking holes in cakes, too.

Here is where they ran into problems.

Alyssa poured the pudding on the cake. And on the table.

I thought I gave them my 9x13 pan, but apparently gave them a smaller one. The cake itself nearly filled the pan and left little room for the pudding and chocolate layers.

She spread the pudding as best as she could, but left plenty of it still in the bowl. She and her brothers didn't mind having to finish off all the "extra" pudding though. Or scoping up and eating the spilled pudding off the table either. 

Since we had to wait for the pudding to cool and set, we figured we might as well do school. You know, because there was nothing else to do anyway. Afterwards, Jake made the frosting. We could have used a tub of store-bought, but there's just no comparison. If you're going to use a boxed cake mix, fine, but please make your frosting. Or not. It's up to you, but the 5 minutes it takes to make it yourself is well-worth the difference in taste. As Jake says, "Store-bought frosting makes me squeamish."  

Just like with regular Boston cream pie, this cake really needs to be left alone for several hours in order for the flavors to blend into something glorious. Sure, it's yummy if eaten right away, but wait those hours and something magical happens. Trust me, it's legit.

While this version using boxed mixes doesn't compare to our favorite recipe made completely from scratch, it does fulfill a craving much quicker. 

And sometimes, quicker and easier is the best of all.

And licking pudding off the table. That's good too.

Boston Cream Poke Cake

Ingredients:

1 box yellow cake mix (plus ingredients required on box, i.e. eggs, water, oil)

2 (3.4 oz) boxes instant vanilla pudding mix 

4 cups milk

chocolate frosting (recipe at bottom or use store-bought)

Directions:

1. Make cake according to directions on box and bake in an 9x13 inch cake pan.

2. Let cake cool for 10 minutes. Using a wooden spoon handle (or other similar-sized object), poke holes across the cake at 1-inch intervals, making sure to poke to the bottom of the pan.

3. Combine the pudding mix with the milk and pour on top of the warm cake, spreading to the edges. Place in fridge to cool completely.

4. Make the chocolate frosting according to the directions below and place in the microwave for 20-30 seconds (may be less for a store-bought tub), or until frosting is pourable, but not hot. Pour on top of pudding and spread evenly to cover cake. Place in the fridge for several hours to overnight to allow the flavors to meld and the pudding to soak into the cake. Store in the refrigerator.

Recipe adapted from The Country Cook.

Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients: 

6 tablespoons butter 

2 3/4 cups powdered sugar

6 tablespoons cocoa powder

5 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, cream the butter until smooth.

2. In a medium bowl, sift together powdered sugar and cocoa powder.

3. On low speed, gradually beat the sugar mixture into the butter, alternating with the milk. 

4. Add in vanilla and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy.

Tasty Tuesday: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Every Thursday, my friend Karen from Tots and Me hosts Throwback Thursday Blog-Style. When she first started it, I thought it was a great idea. It's so fun looking back through old posts, seeing older pictures of the kids and remembering some activities that we've done. It's also a good way to connect with other bloggers. 

This past week, she personally shared a recipe for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. I knew immediately that I wanted to try them. We make pumpkin cookies every fall and coat them with a simple icing. We've made them so many times that I thought for sure that the recipe was here on the blog. I was shocked to discover that they're not and will remedy that eventually. And though I had been craving our pumpkin cookies the last couple weeks, the idea of adding chocolate to the pumpkin goodness instead of the vanilla icing on top was very appealing. I grabbed some butter out of the fridge to start softening. As soon as the schoolwork was done for the day, we got to baking.

 

Oh, let me tell you, these cookies did not disappoint! As with any cookie, we had to taste them just minutes out of the oven. Soft cake-like texture, gooey melted chocolate chips, and a hint of pumpkiny flavor. It's a good thing we made 5-6 dozen, because these kids of mine were inhaling them. I'm sure they would have gobbled down nearly all of them that first day had I let them. 

Yeah, they're that good. These are cookies that we'll be making again.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
5 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
3 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a large bowl and set aside.
2. Cream the butter and sugar. Add pumpkin, eggs, and vanilla and mix well.
3. Slowly add in the flour mixture until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
4. Drop dough onto baking sheet. (I used my large cookie scoop, about 2 tablespoons.) Bake at 350* for 14-18 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.    

Recipe adapted from Tots and Me.

Things That Make Me Smile 12/20/13

 Jake (8), Alyssa (5½), Zac (4), Tyler (1½)

Happy Friday! What a great week it's been. Like I said before, we had two performances of our Christmas musical production and play on Sunday, the kids' Christmas program on Wednesday, a baking marathon with my mom on Thursday, and a bunch of miscellaneous things to fill the gaps. 'Tis the season to be busy? Tyler is 100% healthy again (yea!) so that means that he's been into everything this week. Everything. He gives me many reasons to smile. 

1. Jake, about chocolate-covered pretzels: "These are as good as brains made out of noodles!"

2. Zac: "You know that guy that has 2 arms and 2 legs? Who is he?"

3. Jake, in response to my lamenting their growing up: "Would you like me to make a stop-growing-inator?"

4.

5. Zac, singing: "Hark, the hero angels sing!"

6. The kids always pretend that their super powers are determined by their clothing (pictures, designs, etc). Zac was wearing plain pants and a plain shirt, so he said, "I have pocket power!"

7. Jake: "Hey, how did Tyler get out here? I locked him in my room on purpose."

8. The kids and I were scrolling through Lego stuff when a sea captain minifigure came on the screen. Jake said, "Hey, I had a dream about that guy!" Then he proceeded to tell me about his dream in which all the people were walking, talking, Lego characters, except for him.

9.

10. Alyssa, whining: "Jake said I'm going to be a tattle-taler!"

11. Jake, while making chocolate-covered Oreos: "Hey, can we try coating silly putty in chocolate."
Me: "No."
Jake: "But silly putty's really good. I tried it when I was 2."
Me: "Tell me you're joking."
Jake: "No, it's really good. It tastes like sugary pancakes."

What made you smile?

Tasty Tuesday: S'mores Brownies

National S'mores Day was this past Saturday.

So, you know what that means, right?

We had to celebrate!

We've made a few variations of the classic treat in the past: s'mores in the oven, s'mores bars with Golden Grahams, s'mores brownie bars, and s'mores ice cream. I wanted something different this time though.

I started with a box of brownie mix and went from there, adding some of this and a little bit of that. And then a bit more of this. My little ones helped, of course, and insured that it was very s'more-esque.

I popped our creation into the oven and sat down with the whole family to introduce the kiddos to Disney's Alice in Wonderland. We laughed at the White Rabbit. We laughed at Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum. We laughed at the Mad Hatter.

We laughed a lot.

And I checked on the brownies. And rechecked the brownies.

We didn't have any mini marshmallows, like I had originally wanted to use, so I cut regular marshmallows in half and placed them on top. I wasn't sure if they'd melt before they burned.

But there was no need to worry.

Everything melted into a delicious ooey-gooeyness.

 
And we were so sad when they were gone.

This is one will be making again. Soon.


S'mores Brownies
Ingredients:
1 box Duncan Hines Double Fudge Decadent Brownie Mix, prepared according to package directions
5 whole graham crackers, broken in pieces
13 regular marshmallows, cut in half
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:
Mix graham cracker pieces into prepared brownie mix and pour into greased 8X8 pan. Top with marshmallows and sprinkle on chocolate chips. Bake at 350° for 40-45 minutes, or until brownies are done. 


Notes:
You could use any brownie mix or recipe, really. The one I used makes a smaller batch. If you choose to use another, but bake in the same size pan, the brownie portion will be thicker. If you choose to use another, but bake in a larger pan, you'll need to add more of the other ingredients, as well. You can also substitute the regular marshmallows for the minis.

Tasty Tuesday: Chocolatiest Chocolate Cake

This cake is chocolatey.

Super chocolatey.

Like if-you-love-chocolate-you-have-to-make-this-cake-now chocolatey.

It's so moist, so decadent, so rich. So addicting. 

I've taken it to get-togethers, pot lucks, and family parties. And people always ask for the recipe.

It's that good.

I mean, with chocolate cake, chocolate chips, chocolate pudding, and two types of chocolate drizzle, you just can't go wrong.

Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:
1 box devil's food cake mix
1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs

½ cup warm water

1½ cups mini semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, mix together the cake, pudding mix, sour cream, oil, eggs, and water. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour batter into a well-greased bundt pan.
2. Bake at 350° for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake thoroughly in pan at least an hour before inverting onto a plate. Cool cake thoroughly before drizzling with glaze.

Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com.

* The cake is pretty forgiving. I've used plain yogurt instead of sour cream, different amounts of pudding mix, and milk chocolate and semisweet regular-sized chips.

Chocolate Glaze

Ingredients:
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3 Tbs butter
2 Tbs light corn syrup
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Melt chocolate chips, butter, and corn syrup in the microwave at 50% power for 30 seconds. Stir. Continue melting for 30 second intervals until chips are melted and mixture is smooth.
2. Add vanilla and stir until combined.
3. Drizzle warm glaze over top of cooled cake.

White Chocolate Glaze

Ingredients:
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
2 Tbs butter

3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 Tbs milk

Directions:

1. Melt white chocolate chips and butter in the microwave at 50% power for 30 seconds. Stir. Continue melting for 30 second intervals until chips are melted and mixture is smooth.
2. Gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar and milk.
3. Drizzle warm glaze over top of cooled cake.

Wordless Wednesday 4/10/13

Tasty Tuesday: Hot Chocolate Mix

I know it's not Tuesday, but I really wanted to get this recipe posted before winter is over.

Not that you can't drink hot chocolate in the summer - because my kids totally do - but because if I posted this in the middle of July when the temps are climbing into the 90s, people would think what is wrong with her???

Ok, so people might be thinking that anyway. But for completely different reasons.

And besides, we got one final dusting of snow today before spring joins us next week, so today was the perfect day to make some hot chocolate.

We've been making our own chai tea mix for several years now. Seven? Eight? It's been a while. The mix is a family favorite. We've given many batches away as Christmas gifts over the years. And we drink our own fair share, pulling out the jar and mixing up a cup of hot chai tea as soon as there is a crispness in the air.

I've made that mix many times.

But I had never made my own hot chocolate mix. 

Crazy, huh? Sometimes I bought a big ol' canister of Swiss Miss. Other times - if I got a really good deal - I bought the individual packets. Most times though, I'd make it from scratch. 

Here's the thing - making things from scratch takes time. (I know, I'm just full of surprising information today.) Every time my kids come in from playing when it's cold, they want hot chocolate. Every time. But not every time do I feel like pulling out all the ingredients and starting up the stove. 

It was time to make my own hot chocolate mix. Not only is it more convenient, it's cheaper and tastier too.

I started searching for a recipe and found one that boasted it was The Very Best Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix. Well, who would want to settle for less than the best, right? I found my recipe.

Sure, anyone can label anything "the very best" just because they want to. Just look through some of the recipes on allrecipes.com that claim that same thing yet have not-the-very-best reviews.

But this one???

Really is the very best! All 3 kids informed me, "This is the best hot chocolate ever!" And that was without knowing its true name. Ha.

It is rich and extremely creamy. It's honestly is better than any from-scratch hot chocolate I've ever made.

And to think, every time one of my little darlings peels off layer after layer of snow-covered clothing, dropping each piece randomly on the floor and asks for a warm, chocolatey drink, all I have to do is toss some mix in a mug, and press a button on the Keurig.

Simple. Fast. Yummy.

And the very best.

And as a bonus . . .

It makes the very best chocolate milk, too.

So I could have published this in July after all!

Hot Chocolate Mix

Ingredients:   

25 oz. powdered milk
32 oz. Nesquik chocolate milk powder
16 oz. powdered creamer
1 lb. powdered sugar

Directions:
Mix all the ingredients together in a very large mixing bowl. (I used the one in this post. Anything smaller won't do.)

To prepare: Stir together half a cup mix and one cup of boiling water. Garnish and enjoy!
Recipe adapted from somethingswanky.

Tasty Tuesday: Chocolate Gravy

Oh, my. I started this post when we celebrated National Pancake Day.

February 5.

We've cut back on celebrating the national days lately. It wasn't intentional. It's just that we were incredibly busy the entire month of December and then dealt with Tyler's sickness the month of January. 

And now February is completely gone too??? Oh, my.

There's no way we could forget Pancake Day, even though we postponed the sharing of it. You see, there really is a good reason why I started writing this post up a month ago, yet never actually published it. Our camera - my camera - died the day of Jake's birthday party. (There's another post I haven't written yet. Sheesh.) We haven't taken it in to be fixed yet. (Remember, busy the month of December, Tyler's sickness in January, and what happened to February?) Anyway, we've been borrowing one of my mom's extra cameras. Hers is a Sony a700. Ours is a Sony a390. They're similar, so I should be able to use it, right? Right. But I can't. Now, I'm not the best picture-taker-er in the first place, but I can usually get a pretty good shot. I'm having a hard time changing the settings on this camera and not even getting a decent picture when it's set on auto. I took pictures of our pancakes that day, but was not at all pleased with them. Is my embarrassment of awful pictures and hurting my pride more important than sharing a super yummy recipe??? I think not.

But, I digress.
  

Last year, we made fruit-flavored syrup to celebrate National Pancake Day. It was incredibly easy to make and was so yummy the kids asked to eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! All the ingredients are things that I always keep stocked in my pantry. We've made it multiple times since then, and they have loved every flavor we tried.

This year though, we made my favorite pancake topping: chocolate gravy.

Chocolate gravy.

Oh, it's heavenly. I've said before that I don't care much for pancakes. But top them with chocolate gravy, and I just can't resist!

Don't think it's just for pancakes though. Eat it on waffles. And biscuits. And crepes. And fingers. (Just don't bite!) 

Although, you may want to skip the fingers altogether and just reach for a spoon.

 We got this cute little gravy dish a few years ago. The kids love whenever we use it.

See why???

It really is kinda gross thinking about the rooster vomiting all over our food. But the comedy factor wins every time. 

And the giggles from the kids are priceless.

So, whether or not you have poor picture quality or a thousand excuses or a vomiting-rooster, make some of this delicious gravy soon.

You won't be disappointed.

Chocolate Gravy
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
2 cups milk

Directions:
Melt butter in a pot over medium heat. Add cocoa and flour, stirring until a thick paste is formed. Stir in sugar and milk. Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened.
Recipe adapted from allrecipes.

Tasty Tuesday: 5-Layer Neapolitan Cake

Every year I ask Leighton, "What kind of cake do you want for your birthday?" And every year he responds, "I don't care." This year he did follow it up with, "I don't think I want a Boston cream though."

It was a start. I knew what he didn't want, but that didn't narrow it down much. "Do you want another tres leches?" was met with "I don't know," (I don't know usually means no.) to which I responded, "Well, you're no help."

Profitable conversation, huh?

I browsed the recipes on a few of my favorite sites and narrowed the choices down to two. The one is an all white cake with white chocolate - a big plus in my hubby's eyes. I knew immediately that he would love it. The other was a cake I fell in love with the moment I first saw it nearly a year ago. While it does have a couple layers of chocolate cake, I thought I might be able to win him over with the Neapolitan aspect and the abundance of strawberry flavors.

As you can see, the lure of the prettier and more complicated cake was too strong. I did promise to make him the all-white cake some day though. I get bonus points for that, right??

This cake takes a bit of time to make. You make 3 different cakes - chocolate, strawberry, vanilla - along with a strawberry buttercream frosting. In between the layers, you can add either a bit of vanilla buttercream frosting or a good-quality strawberry jam. We used our homemade jam (using our  triple berry jam recipe, replacing the blueberries with extra strawberries.) Whether you choose the frosting or the jam to hold it all together, make sure you use just a tiny bit, a super thin layer. Mine soaked into the cake and bled through some. While it made for a very tasty addition, the layers were not quite as defined as I would have liked.     

But really, who cares about a little seeping when the cake tastes amazing??? All the components separately are delicious (oh, how I love that strawberry buttercream and can't wait to try it on other cakes!), but combine them and the flavors all work together to make a very Neapolitan-esque creation. It's kinda crazy how just how Neapolitany it is. Crazy and delicious. 

And crazy and delicious is good.

 

Really good.

And was I right? Did the cake win Leighton over??

Ohhh yeah.


5-Layer Neapolitan Cake

Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:
¾ cup plus 2 Tbs all-purpose flour
6 Tbs dark cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 cup sugar
¼ cup vegetable or canola oil
1 egg
½ cup black coffee
½ cup buttermilk
1½ tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. and butter and flour the edges of a 9-inch round pan, shaking out the excess flour. 
2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt; whisk to blend and set aside. 
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the sugar, vegetable oil and egg.  Beat on medium speed until smooth, about 1-2 minutes.  With the mixer on low speed, blend in half of the dry ingredients, beating just until incorporated.  Blend in the coffee, buttermilk and vanilla just until smooth.  Beat in the remaining dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes.  Cool in pan on wire rack for 20 minutes before inverting onto rack to cool completely.


White Cake
Ingredients:
2 egg whites
1¾ cup flour
1½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 cup sugar
8 Tbs unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup very cold water
½ tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp almond extract

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. and butter and flour the edges of a 9-inch round pan, shaking out the excess flour. 
2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; whisk to blend and set aside. 
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites on medium speed until foamy.  Increase speed to medium high and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.  Transfer the egg whites to another bowl and set aside. 
4. In the bowl of the electric mixer now fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the sugar and butter, and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.  With the mixer on low speed, beat in half of the dry ingredients just until incorporated.  Blend in the water, vanilla and almond extracts.  Beat in the remaining dry ingredients just until incorporated.  With a silicone spatula, stir in about a quarter of the egg whites to lighten the batter.  Gently fold in the remaining egg whites, until the batter is smooth and no streaks remain.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes.  Cool in pan on wire rack for 20 minutes before inverting onto rack to cool completely. 

 

 

Strawberry Cake 

Ingredients:
1¼ cups plus 2 Tbs all-purpose flour
1¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1½ oz strawberry gelatin
8 Tbs unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
½ cup milk
1½ tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup sweetened strawberry puree (process partially thawed frozen strawberries, if unsweetened add 2 tsp sugar)

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. and butter and flour the edges of a 9-inch round pan, shaking out the excess flour.  
2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; whisk to blend and set aside. 
3. Combine the sugar, strawberry gelatin and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer.  Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.  Beat the eggs into the sugar mixture one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  With the mixer on low speed, add half of the dry ingredients to the batter and mix just until incorporated.  Blend in the milk and vanilla extract.  Add in the remaining dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.  Blend in the strawberry puree.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes.  Cool in pan on wire rack for 20 minutes before inverting onto rack to cool completely.
 

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
8 cups confectioner's sugar
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 Tbs vanilla extract
1 Tbs water
pinch of salt
1 tsp strawberry extract
yellow food coloring, optional

Directions:
Beat the butter and icing sugar in an electric mixer on low with the paddle attachment for about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla, water, whipping cream, salt, strawberry extract, and food coloring (as needed to match the color of the white cake) and whip on high speed until fluffy and smooth–about 4 minutes. If consistency is too thick, add water 1 teaspoon at a time, and whip again for 30 seconds or so.
 

Filling
Vanilla buttercream or good quality strawberry jam


Assemble the Cake:
Torte each of the cake layers horizontally into two thin halves. If you do not have a cake slicer, use a large serrated knife. Hold the knife in the middle of the cake and spin the cake slowly as you cut into the side. Continue spinning and sawing until you cut all the way through. Use a cake board (I cut a circle out of a cereal box) to slide under the top layer and lift it off.

Place one of the chocolate layers on a cake board or cake platter.  Top with a very thin layer of the vanilla buttercream or strawberry jam.  Place a layer of the strawberry cake on top.  Again, cover with a thin layer of vanilla buttercream or strawberry jam.  Top with a layer of the white cake.  Cover with a thin layer of the vanilla buttercream or strawberry jam.  Repeat the process with the remaining layers of chocolate and strawberry cake.  (For a taller cake, you can use the remaining layer of white cake.  Otherwise, you can wrap tightly and save.)  Frost as desired with the strawberry buttercream frosting.
Recipe adapted from Sweetapolita.

Tasty Tuesday: Marshmallow Pops

Happy 4th of July!!!

Wait a minute. Yesterday was Fathers Day and today is July 4th???

I'm so confused.

Maybe I'll post something about Christmas tomorrow, just to keep you guessing.

These marshmallow pops are so quick and easy to make. Even easier than the brownie pops. (Though not quite as tasty. Shhh, don't tell my kids.)

 You'll need marshmallows, chocolate (we use Wilton candy melts), sprinkles, and sucker sticks.

 Start by putting the marshmallows on the sticks.

Melt the chocolate and dip the marshmallows into it. Tap the stick on the side of the bowl to remove the excess chocolate.

Working quickly before the chocolate hardens, add your sprinkles.


And last but definitely not least

Enjoy!

See? I told you they were easy!



Now, to start on that Christmas post . . .

Pantry Surprise 7/14/12

Imagine my surprise when I bought this bag of chocolate chips.

Only to bring it home and find out that it's actually a bar of chocolate.

The funny thing is, I was sure it was indeed a bag of chips when I bought it.

And put it in my van.

And left it there for hours in the 90-degree weather.

I was sure it was chips. I just don't get it.
 


Want to see more fun surprises? Click HERE.

Tasty Tuesday: Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

We celebrated another wonderful holiday -- National Chocolate Chip Day! (I'm starting to wonder why we never celebrated these special days before.) The tasty morsels definitely deserve a day devoted to their honor! And who am I to deprive them of it???

We've made chocolate chip cookies, giant chocolate chip cookies, and chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream - all desserts that allow the chips to shine in all their tastiness. Here's a list of recipes in which the chocolate chips compliment the recipe as a whole.

Butterfingers

chocolate bowls

chocolate chai bread
chocolate fudge

chocolate turtle cake

Girl Scout peanut butter patties
indoor s'mores
Jake's special cake (recipe created entirely by my 6 year old)
peanut butter bars
peanut butter brownie torte
peanut butter cream pie
s'mores ice cream
snack mix


So, after all those desserts with chocolate chips, what were we going to make on the day in which we celebrate its existence? Chocolate chip cookie bars! I hadn't made these in years, and this was the perfect time to make them again.

Measure.

Dump.

Pour.

Mix.

Crack.

Stir.

I'll skip all the boring stuff and jump right to the guest of honor.

The chocolate chips! We used a combo of milk, semi-sweet, and white. After all, we wouldn't want to show favoritism to a single kind.

Mmm, these bars are so yummy! A slightly crispy outside and ooey-chewy inside. Perfection.

These are phenomenal by themselves, but what do you add to really make a dessert shine???

Why, ice cream, of course! Warm cookie fresh out of the oven, cool sweet ice cream, and rich melted chocolate.

There's only one thing that could be better.

A second bar on top!


Please show the mighty chocolate chip some love and whip up a batch of these delicious bars. You will not be disappointed!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Ingredients:

2 1/8 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
12 Tbsp butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c granulated sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 c chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325° F. Spray a 9x13-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the melted butter and sugars together until combined. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix on low, just until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

4. Pour cookie dough into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the spatula. Bake cookie bars for 25-30 minutes or until the top of the bars are light golden brown and the edges start to pull away from the pan. Cool bars on a wire rack to room temperature. Cut bars into squares and serve.
Recipe adapted from two peas & their pod