Hot Chocolate Cookies

A double chocolate cookie topped with more chocolate and a toasted marshmallow. It's hot chocolate in cookie form!

What a week!  Half our state has been shut down for the past 3 days due to a huge snowstorm!  My work was actually closed on Monday and Tuesday, and that never happens.  All the kids I know where ecstatic to have their Christmas vacation extended by 2 days.  Some schools were still closed yesterday due to the snow covered and icy roads.  I drove into work and the roads were certainly messy.

It's days like this week that I love nothing more than to cuddle up on the couch with a good movie, a blanket, and a cup of hot chocolate.  And this week I did just that...plus I enjoyed a few of these Hot Chocolate Cookies.  I made them for our small group and everyone loved them.  Our host even kept a few because he liked them so much.

These double chocolate cookies are baked and then topped with chocolate and marshmallows.  The chocolate melts and the marshmallow gets all gooey...  One bite and you'll be in love!

This month's Behind the Curtain Dessert Challenge ingredients are cocoa and marshmallows.  I'm happy to link this recipe up for this month's challenge.  Be sure to check out the other recipes in the linky below.

Hot Chocolate Cookies

Makes 36 cookies

Ingredients:
1 stick butter
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
2-1/2 cups flour*
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/4 cups brown sugar
3 eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 cup chocolate chips
36 marshmallows

1.  In a small saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate until the mixture can be stirred smooth.  Set aside to cool.

2.  In a medium bowl mix together the flour*, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.

3.  In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat together the brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla.

4.  Add the chocolate mixture and mix until combined.

5.  Slowly add the flour mixture and beat until just combined.

6.  Refrigerate the dough for 1 hour.

7.  Scoop the dough out and roll into 1 inch balls.

8.  Place dough balls about 2" apart on parchment lined baking sheets and flatten slightly with your palm.

9.  Bake cookies at 350 for 12 minutes.

10.  Remove baking sheets from the oven.  Quickly top each cookie with 4-5 chocolate chips and a marshmallow.

11.  Return the cookies to the oven for approximately 4 minutes, until the marshmallows are softened and begin to brown.

Allow the cookies to cool slightly before serving.  These cookies are best eaten warm (when the marshmallow and chocolate is melted), however they can easily be warmed for a few seconds in the microwave before serving.  I enjoyed them the next day without reheating as well.

*The original recipe called for 1-1/2 cups flour.  If you want, start with that amount.  I found that after adding 1-1/2 cups, my dough had the consistency of a cake batter, so I was unable to roll the dough.  I added an additional cup of flour.  After refrigerating, the dough was easy to work with.  Depending on the humidity in your house (I made these in January in Michigan) as well as other factors, you may not need to add an additional cup...use your best judgement and feel free to ask me questions!

Source:  Pip & Ebby

Apple Cinnamon Muffins

Wow. It is way harder than I expected to get back into the swing of things! Tuesday was my first day back at work at to say it was hard is putting it mildly. Thankfully, I have fantastically understanding co-workers!

So, please bear with me as I try to get back into the groove of blogging! There's no better way to get back into it than with a fun blog challenge--The Lady Behind the Curtain's Dessert Challenge!

Even though the temperature still feels like summer, fall flavors are making their appearance. Apples and cinnamon were this month's challenge ingredients.

Admittedly, muffins aren't typically a dessert, but they are sweet and these days I will take whatever I can get my hands on!  I personally think you can eat a muffin anytime of the day!  Plus, in the interest of full disclosure, I actually made these muffins this spring and I have been holding the post until apple season. Now that it's in full swing, this recipe is being posted at the perfect time!

Apple Cinnamon Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons margarine, melted
2 medium apples, peeled, cored, and diced
1 Tablespoons cinnamon

1.  In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon.

2.  In a smaller bowl, whisk together buttermilk, eggs, and melted margarine.

3.  Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until just combined.

4.  Gently stir in diced apples.

5.  Pour batter into a greased muffin tins.  Sprinkle cinnamon on top of the batter.

6.  Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the muffins comes out clean.

Strawberry & Raspberry Cobbler

What is your favorite season?  Mine--without question--is summer.  I love the warmth, the longer days, trips to the beach, and the food!  Summer brings an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables.  I enjoy going to the farmer's market on Saturday mornings and keeping and eye on my garden as I watch my plants grow.

We're at the very beginning of strawberry season around here, and it's starting to show at the farmer's market.  Berries are quite expensive now, but as the season gets into full swing, the prices will go down.  Typically I go strawberry picking each summer, but I don't think that's going to happen at 8.5 months pregnant!  Good thing I have the farmer's market...

This month's Lady Behind the Curtain Dessert Challenge brought together two of my favorite summer berries--strawberries and raspberries.  Typically I enjoy my fruit fresh and plain, but for this challenge, I had to put them into a dessert.  I decided to make a dessert similar my Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler and make a Strawberry Raspberry Cobbler.

This cobbler is chock full of plump red berries.  They're sprinkled with a little bit of sugar and then dotted with a bit of butter.  A thin batter is poured on top of the berries before baking.  It really creates the perfect ratio of berries to cake.  I made this cobbler twice in one week--the first time with just strawberries and the second time with both strawberries and raspberries so I could use it for this challenge.  I didn't share the first pan with anyone, but I thought I better be nicer the second time around :)

Strawberry and Raspberry Cobbler

Serves 6

Ingredients:
1 quart strawberries, washed and hulled
1 pint raspberries
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 Tablespoons butter
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup milk

1.  Slice the strawberries into thick slices and place in a greased 9x9" pan.

2.  Place the raspberries on top of the strawberries.

3.  Sprinkle berries with 1 Tablespoon of sugar.

4.   Dot the berries with small pieces of butter.

5.  In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, sugar, and milk until just combined.

6.  Pour the batter evenly over the berries.

7.  Bake at 350 for 1 hour, until golden brown.

Slightly adapted from: The Kitchen is My Playground

Loaded Brownies

Yesterday one of my co-workers asked me if there is anything that I've been craving during my pregnancy.  Yes!  I told her I was always wanting Oreos and brownies.  The other day, I came home from work and I wanted brownies so badly!  I thought I had bought a brownie mix at the store not too long ago, and I planned to whip up a batch while supper was cooking.  For some reason, I couldn't find the mix I thought I had, but I did find a mix that I bought from a chocolate party I hosted.

I whipped up the brownies and was surprised when the recipe called for an 8x8" baking dish, yet the nutrition facts said the brownies made 20 servings.  The directions said to cut the brownies into 2-1/2" pieces.  I think someone needs to try their math again!  Anyway, the brownies were pretty good, but they certainly didn't hold a candle to these loaded brownies.  

I made these brownies a while ago, I just never got around to posting them.  It turns out that was a good thing, because this month's ingredients for the Lady Behind the Curtain Dessert Challenge are caramel and pretzels!  These brownies contain both, plus they're full of chocolatey goodness. They're everything I've been craving, and then some!

Loaded Brownies

Makes 1 9x13" pan, approximately 18 servings

1 box brownie mix
2/3 cup vegetable oil*
1/4 cup water*
2 eggs *
*or ingredients listed to prepare brownie mix
1/2 cup chocolate chips, divided
24 caramels, unwrapped and cut in half
1/2 cup pretzels, broken in pieces

1.  Mix the brownie mix, oil, water, and eggs together in a medium bowl.

2.  Pour half the batter into a greased 9x13" pan.

3.  Sprinkle half the chocolate chips and the caramels over the brownie batter.

4.  Pour the remaining batter into the pan and top with remaining chocolate chips and broken pretzels.

5.  Bake at 350 for 22-24 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the brownie comes out mostly clean.

Chocolate Cherry Cake

Happy Valentine's Day!  I made you chocolate!

I am so excited about this new dessert challenge hosted by Sheryl, of Lady Behind the Curtain.  Today is the inaugural posting for the Behind the Curtain Dessert Challenge.  Each month, Sheryl will announce the two must-have ingredients and a group of bloggers will get to work creating recipes featuring those ingredients.

This month's ingredients are chocolate and cherries.  I immediately started brainstorming recipes I could make: Mike's Grandma's Chocolate and Cherry Cookies, Chocolate Waffles with Cherry Sauce (not a dessert...oops!), Chocolate Filled Cream Puffs with Cherry Sauce, Granola with Chocolate  and Cherries (again, not a dessert!), Chocolate and Cherry Ice-Cream...my mind was swirling with great ideas.  Unfortunately, time got the best of me and after procrastinating, I realized I had only a few days to come up with the perfect recipe. 

Then I remembered a cake I'd had at Mike's Grandma's house.  It was a chocolate and cherry cake and I remember it being so moist and just delicious!  Someone had told me it was quite easy to make--just a box of chocolate cake mix and a can of cherry pie filling.  Easy and delicious?  I was sold! 

After a quick stop at the grocery store to pick up my ingredients, I was ready.  This cake was everything I'd hoped for and then some!  Luckily for me, Mike doesn't like cake, so I get to eat it all myself (just another benefit of being pregnant!)

Chocolate Cherry Cake

Makes 1 9x13" cake

Ingredients:
1 box Devil's Food Cake mix
1 (21 oz.) can Cherry Pie Filling

1.  In a medium bowl, mix together the cake mix and the pie filling.  (The cherries will likely break up, this is normal.)

2.  Pour into a greased 9x13" cake pan.

3.  Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow cake to cool before slicing.  Store covered, at room temperature.