Chocolate Balls

Directions:

• 7 tablespoons butter, unsalted, room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon espresso powder
• 3 tablespoons cocoa (I used a mix dark and black cocoa)
• 1 1/4 rolled oats
• 3 tablespoons of your favorite liqueur (I used chocolate liqueur)
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Your coating of choice (list follows)

Instructions:

1. Cream together butter and sugar till fluffy. Add in other ingredients until smooth.

2. Roll the mixture into small balls and dip/roll them in coating of choice.

3. Let them harden in the fridge. Chocolate balls will last at least 1-2 weeks.

Suitable coatings

• Cocoa powder
• Melted chocolate (dark, milk, white)
• Chopped nuts
• Layered chocolate
• Desiccated coconut
• Sprinkles
• Decorative icing
• Colored sugar crystals
• Glazed cherries or peel (a simple single fruit piece at the top of a truffle will appear very effective), or chopped dried fruit pieces
• Icing sugar

 

Coconut Walnut Pie

Ingredients:

• 1 cup corn syrup
• 4 eggs, large
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, unsalted
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup  walnuts, finely chopped
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• 1 (9-inch) unbaked

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Mix corn syrup, eggs, sugar, butter, cinnamon, salt and vanilla using a spoon. Stir in walnuts and coconut. Pour filling into pie crust.
3. Bake on center rack of oven for 60 to 70 minutes. Tap center surface of pie lightly – it should spring back when done. Cool for 2 hours on wire rack before serving.

Yield: 8 servings

Pumpkin Pie

“Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie.” ~Jim Davis

Ingredients:

• 15 ounces Pumpkin
• 1 tbsp. Cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon Ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon Allspice 
• 1/4 teaspoon Cloves
• 1/2 tsp. Salt
• 1 1/2 tbsp. Butter,unsalted, melted
• 1-12 oz. can Evaporated Milk
• 1 cup Brown sugar
• 3 Eggs, large, beaten 
• Dash lemon juice 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Sift sugar, cornstarch, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and cloves together. Mix this with pumpkin. 
3. Add eggs, melted butter, and evaporated milk. Add a dash of lemon juice.
4. Line a 9-inch pie plate, pour in contents.
5. Bake at 450 for 15 minutes. Then reduce temperature to 350 and continue to bake for 50 minutes.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Wonderful in loaf…..try it in muffins too!

I was looking for something to do with a 4 lb 3 oz zucchini my husband brought home from work. A friend had suggested chocolate zucchini bread. I had never baked it and had never even tried it before. So glad I did. The zucchini adds to the moistness but does not take away from the flavor of rich chocolatey taste. You can also shred that extra zucchini and freeze it for future use and bake some loaves of the wonderful bread in the winter.

Ingredients: 

• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup canola oil
• 3 eggs, large
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup baking cocoa
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 cups shredded zucchini
• Chocolate chips (optional)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Spray two 8-in. x 4-in. loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, beat the sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla until well blended. Combine the flour, cocoa, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and baking powder; gradually beat into sugar mixture until blended. Stir in zucchini.
3. Transfer to the two prepared loaf pans evenly. (optional: sprinkle with chocolate chips)
4. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

Yield: 2 loaves

Strawberry Coconut Bread

Moist, sweet and tart.

Ingredients:

• 2 Eggs, large
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
• 3/4 cup sugar, granulated
• 1 1/2 cup strawberries, sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup coconut, shredded, sweetened
• 1/2 cup nuts, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 1/2 x 5 1/2-inch loaf pan or three 5 3/4 x 3 1/2 loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs until fluffy;add oil, extract and sugar and continue beating until light.
3. Mix in berries
4. In another bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Add to the strawberry mixture; blending just until flour is moistened. No more than 20 second; do not overmix.
5. Spoon into prepared loaf pan(s) Bake 50-60 minutes for large loaf; 45-55 minutes for small loaves.
6. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, loosen and turn out onto a rack to cool completely.

Yields: 1 large or 3 small loaves.

Pear-blackberry Pie with Cardamom

The blackberries give the pie a nice color and the pear rounds out the flavor of the the berries.

Ingredients:

Filling

• 4 fresh pears, unpeeled
• 1½ cups fresh or frozen blackberries
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup cornstarch
• 1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell

Crumb Topping

• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons brown
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
• 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Core and slice the pears. Mix all the filling ingredients together well. Pour into the pie shell.

Add the dry ingredients for the crumb topping to a food processor or blender, pulse to combine, then add the butter. Mix until the topping comes together into crumbs. Add to the top of the pie. Bake for 70-80 minutes and let pie cool on wire rack before serving.

Yield: one 9-inch single-crust pie.

Chocolate M&M Cookies

 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg, large
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa (I used Hersheys special dark)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon espresso powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup M&M’s
• shot of vodka (optional)

 

 

 

 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream butter and sugars until fluffy.

2. Beat in egg and vanilla until well combined.

3. In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients together, and add slowly to batter. Mix well.

4. Add M&M’s and mix well.

5. Scoop dough in heaping tablespoons; place approximately 3 inches apart on a lightly greased (or lined with parchment) cookie sheet. Before placing them in the oven, flatten them with either your fingers or the bottom of a drinking glass, much like you would a sugar cookie.

4. Bake for 9-10 minutes.  Let them cool on the cookie sheet for approximately 5 minutes before moving onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

Yield: 24-27 cookies

 

 

Amaretto Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 unsalted butter, soft
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 egg, large
• 6 ounces dark chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts
• 1/4 cup Amaretto
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cream butter and sugars together till light and fluffy. Mix in egg and vanilla.
3. Add flours, baking soda, salt and nutmeg; mix well.
4. Add nuts, chocolate chips and Amaretto; mix well.
5. Drop by rounded spoonful on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8 -10 minutes.
6. Cool on pan for 2 minutes before removing to wire rack to finish cooling.

I used an extra large cookie scoop and got 18 cookies.

 

Orange Gingerbread Chocolate Chip Cookie

 

A soft gingerbread cookie infused with orange and filled with chocolate chips. It’s a drop cookie, so much easier to prepare and makes the kitchen smell wonderful while baking. 🙂

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 1 egg, large
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 1/2 teaspoons milk
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Line cookie sheets with parchment
2. Beat together butter, sugar and zest until fluffy.
3. Add egg; mix until well combined.
4. Stir in molasses and milk.
5. Add flour, baking soda, salt and spices and stir well until a thick, smooth batter forms.
6. Stir in chocolate chips and drop dough by rounded teaspoonsful onto greased baking sheets, 2 inches apart.
7. Bake for 10 minutes, or until bottoms are very lightly browned – do not overbake.
8. Cool for 2 minutes on pans before removing to racks to cool completely.

Makes 24 -27 cookies

Cappuccino Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 4 teaspoons espresso powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon cocoa
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon Bailey’s Irish Cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 mini chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 500°F. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners and lightly spray with nonstick spray.
2. Blend together the dry ingredients. Add chocolate chips.
3. Beat the liquid ingredients together — milk, oil, Bailey’s, vanilla and eggs — until they are light.
4. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Take a fork or wire whisk and blend for 20 seconds — no more!
5. Fill cups of prepared muffin tin two-thirds to three-quarters full. Place muffins in the oven and immediately drop temperature to 400°F. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until muffins test done.

Yield: 12 muffins