My Boyfriend Dated A Chef

Do you remember when mom would make chocolate chip cookies and let you lick the beaters? I never understood why we couldn’t just eat ALL of the batter and skip the baking part. A five year old certainly doesn’t get the raw egg factor. I’m much older now and I still lick the beaters and eat spoonfulls of batter and I still don’t think about the raw egg factor. I figure it’s worth the risk. Well, here’s the fix. No eggs and pure cookie dough. Let them eat dough!

Makes 3 dozen. Recipe adapted from Love and Olive Oil.

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or  margarine, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
14 oz dark chocolate candy coating

PREPARATION:
Beat butter and sugars and in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add milk and vanilla. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt and mix on low speed. Stir in chocolate chips.

Cover and chill dough in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

When dough is firm enough to handle, form dough into 1” balls and arrange on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Place in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Melt chocolate candy coating in a double boiler or in a microwave according to package directions. Using a spoon or a dipping tool, dip cookie balls into candy coating and cover completely. Return chocolate-coverd truffles to the wax paper-lined baking sheets and refrigerate until set. Store, chilled, in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

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My all time favorite cookie in the whole wide world is the Peanut Blossom! For some reason the craving for these tasty treats starts to develop at the beginning of November and lasts throughout the holiday season. The combination of the peanut butter, sugar and a chocolate kiss is just pure perfection. I find them acceptable for “breakfast…second breakfast…elevenses? Luncheon? Afternoon tea? Dinner? Supper?” - Pippin - Lord of the Rings. So, pretty much wake me up in the middle of the night and I will want one of these cookies. Enjoy.

Makes 4 dozen cookies.

INGREDIENTS:
48 HERSHEY’S KISSES milk chocolates
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Granulated sugar

DIRECTIONS:
Heat oven to 375°F. Remove wrappers from chocolates.

Beat shortening and peanut butter in large bowl until well blended. Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar and beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla and beat to combine. Stir together flour, baking soda, salt and add into the peanut butter mixture.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately press a chocolate into center of each cookie; cookie will crack around edges. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Allow to cool completely.

I am completely addicted to the creamy goodness that lives in the freezer and screams my name morning, noon and night . Yes, I love ice cream for breakfast. I have a problem. Anyway,  dealing with this addiction,  I finally purchased an ice cream maker to control the ingredients. As far as recipes, I wanted to start with something easy, refreshing and lowfat so, mango sorbet seemed the right choice. Initially, I decided to halve the recipe so I wouldn’t eat the whole batch in one sitting. The plan didn’t so much work and I had to make batch #2 shortly after since I didn’t share.

Makes about 10 - 1/2 cup servings.

INGREDIENTS:
4 ripe but firm mangoes, peeled, pitted and cubed
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
6 tablespoons fresh lemon or lime juice

DIRECTIONS:
Combine the mango cubes, sugar, corn syrup and lemon juice in a blender or food processor. Pulse to chop, then process until thick and smooth, scraping jar or work bowl as necessary with a spatula. The mango puree may be made up to one day ahead; cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Follow your ice cream machine directions.

As soon as I found this recipe, I had to make it…immediately! I’ll have to admit, as I was preparing the cupcakes I was a little concerned that they were not going to turn out as tasty as I thought. The cake consistency is definitely not light and fluffy like a regular cupcake and the warm chocolate, not so good. But then, you chill these babies and sweet deliciousness happens behind closed doors. I made half the recipe so as to only end up with 12. A brilliant decision…within 24 hours, the cupcakes magically disappeared.

Makes 24. Recipe from Mission Food.

INGREDIENTS:
Cupcake
6 T. unsalted butter, plus more at room temperature for greasing tins
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for tins
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Pastry Cream
2 cups skim milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt
4 T. cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 T. unsalted butter

Chocolate Ganache
6 oz semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
2/3 cup heavy cream

DIRECTIONS:
Cupcake
Preheat oven to 350°F. Brush the muffin tins with butter, dust with flour, and tap out the excess. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Combine milk and butter in a saucepan and set over low heat until butter melts.

With an electric mixer on high speed, whisk eggs and sugar until fluffy, pale yellow, and thick, about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to medium, and gradually add flour mixture until just mixed.

Bring milk and butter to a boil. With mixer on low speed, add hot milk to batter in a slow, steady stream. Mix until smooth and beat in vanilla.

Divide batter evenly among muffin tins (using a ladle is a good idea, as the batter is very liquidy). Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until cupcakes are golden and a cake tester comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool for 10 minutes, then run a small knife around the edges of the tins to loosen cupcakes. Turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely.

Pastry Cream
Pour the milk, vanilla extract, and salt into a heavy saucepan and heat over medium-high, bringing the milk just to under a boil, stirring occasionally so the milk doens’t burn to the bottom of the pan.

Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl whisk together the eggs, sugar and cornstarch.

When the milk is ready, slowly ladle about one-third into the eggs, whisking constantly. Pour the egg mixture back into the hot milk and continue whisking over medium heat until the custard is noticeably thicker, about 2 minutes.

To check the correct thickness of the cream, dip a wooden spoon into the custard, remove it and run your finger across it. It should leave a line where your finger crossed. When the custard is thick enough, remove it from the heat and strain it into a clean bowl.

Let cool for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cut the butter into 1 T. pieces and whisk the butter into the cream, one piece at a time. To cool the cream, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and press the wrap directly onto the top of the cream. Once the cream is a little cooler, put it into the fridge to finish cooling. Pastry cream will keep in the refrigerator for 5 days.

Chocolate Ganache
Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Bring cream to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, and then pour mixture over chocolate. Let stand, without stirring, for a few minutes until chocolate begins to melt. Gently stir chocolate into cream until the mixture is completely combined. Allow mixture to come to cool slightly before spooning over cupcakes.

Construct the Cupcakes
Use a serrated knife to gently split cupcakes in half horizontally. Use a small ice cream scoop (about 1 1/2 T.) to distribute pastry cream among the bottom of the cupcake halves. Replace top halves and carefully press down lightly. Spoon about 1 T. ganache over each cupcake. Refrigerate 30 minutes before serving.

This homemade chocolate turtle recipe is just plain awesome and a whole lot cheaper than the bakery. 5 minutes and 3 ingredients, how could you not give it a shot? I promised one of my favortie people that I would send the first batch to her at school but, I think I’m going to have to make another one. They are on their way kiddo…I promise.

Recipe from Twig and Thistle.

INGREDIENTS:
mini salted pretzels
Rolos
pecan halfs

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 220°F

On a cookie sheet, arrange the pretzels and place a Rolo on top of each one.

Bake for 2-3 minutes.

Remove from the oven and immediately start placing the pecans on top, pushing them down, squishing the Rolos.

Enjoy and try to share!

**Store refrigerated in an enclosed container between layers of wax paper.