Category Archives: chocolate

Pin 203, Nutella Pockets

Posted by suzyhomebaker in 261 Days Pinned Challenge, bread, breakfast, chocolate, kid friendly and tagged with ,

This was a really simple and satisfying dessert to prepare with only 4 ingredients. If you like Nutella (and really who doesn’t?) then you’ll love biting into a warm pocket of bread that oozes with warm hazelnut chocolate spread.

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Here are my generic versions of the ingredients needed: crescent rolls in a tube and FoTella. Both bought at Aldi, my new favorite generic brand store. I’m sure my pockets cost half the price with these ingredients.

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Here’s the procedure: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Pop open your crescent rolls and lay out 4 of them pinching the seems together. Then put 6 tablespoons spaced apart along one edge. You don’t have to measure but use at least a tablespoon, maybe more if you like.

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Fold over the dough and using a pizza cutter, cut in between each square. Crimp the edges with a fork. Dip the pockets in cinnamon sugar, place on a baking sheet and bake for about 10 – 12 minutes.

IMG_123120 minutes to make start to finish + Nutella and warm bread = instant gratification. Here’s the original pin.

202 to go………

Pin 214 & 213, Crazy Cake and Hot Chocolate Frosting

Posted by suzyhomebaker in 261 Days Pinned Challenge, cake, chocolate, kid friendly, Uncategorized and tagged with , ,

I know I’ve been slacking in posting my pins so here’s a double whammy.

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I want to say this cake was delicious but I can’t. There’s a reason it’s also called Depression cake; no milk, eggs or butter. Not a whole lot of taste.

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You put all the ingredients into a greased brownie pan, mix them up and hope the cake doesn’t stick to the pan.

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As you can see, mine stuck a bit and some flour did not mix in completely.

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The frosting was another story. It was very sweet, not my kind of icing. I prefer buttery over sweet. But since the cake was not terribly sweet with minimal chocolate flavor, the combination was not too overpowering. I don’t think I’ll make this cake again. Maybe if I’m in a pinch and don’t have milk, eggs or butter on hand. But that isn’t likely in my house. Here’s the recipes and the original pins if you would like to try them out for yourself.

Crazy Cake courtesy of sweetlittlebluebird.com
Ingredients
1 1/2 Cups flour
3 Tbsp. cocoa (unsweetened)
1 Cup white sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. white vinegar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
5 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 Cup water

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix first 5 dry ingredients in a greased 8″ square baking pan. Make 3 depressions in dry ingredients – two small, one larger (see #3 in photo below). Pour vinegar in one depression, vanilla in the other and the vegetable oil in third larger depression. Pour water over all. Mix well until smooth.

Bake on middle rack of oven for 35 minutes. Check with toothpick to make sure it comes out clean. Cool. Top with your favorite frosting. Enjoy!

Tip – You can double this recipe, just use a 9×13 baking pan.

Hot Chocolate Frosting
Recipe courtesy of http://cookiesandcups.com
makes enough to frost 12 cupcakes.

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup dry hot chocolate mix (without mini marshmallows)
1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp heavy cream

Directions

In a small saucepan combine hot chocolate mix and cream. Heat over medium until hot and steaming…not quite boiling, stirring consistently. You want the sugar in the hot chocolate to dissolve. Set aside.
In large mixing bowl cream butter until smooth.
Add in powdered sugar and mix until combined. It will be very dry.
Turn mixer to low and slowly pour in your hot chocolate mixture. Once all is added turn mixer up to medium and beat for about a minute until light and fluffy, scarping down sides of bowl when necessary.
Spread or pipe on cupcakes.

212 to go…….

Pin 222, Greek Yogurt Brownies

Posted by suzyhomebaker in 261 Days Pinned Challenge, bars, cake, chocolate, kid friendly, low-fat, Searching for the best brownie, Transformation and tagged with , ,

Greek yogurt is my dessert at the end of the day. I top it with a little agave syrup and some granola. Very satisfying. When I saw this Pin I had to try it because I love chocolate and my fridge is stocked with yogurt.

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Honestly, they look better than they taste. They appear to be a fudgy, decadent brownie, but pictures can be deceiving.

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They are very chocolately, especially with the addition of the chocolate chips. But they have the texture of a low-fat brownie. A bit rubbery, not at all fudgy. Although, if you are on a diet, or simply watching your sweet intake, these could give you that little chocolate satisfaction. At only about 115 calories per brownie, it’s a nice little treat at the end of the day. In the search for the best brownie, this would be at the bottom of the list. And by the way, Riley says:

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so eat a low-fat brownie!

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Recipe courtesy of fitsugar.com and Shape Magazine

Ingredients

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons espresso
1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil; spray foil lightly with cooking spray.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, salt,and baking powder. Set aside.
  3. With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar at medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes, or until combined. Add egg, egg whites, vanilla and coffee. Continue beating until incorporated.
  4. Scrape down sides of the bowl and reduce mixer speed to low. Slowly add flour mixture to the bowl, followed by yogurt, and mix gently until combined. The batter will be thick.
  5. Stir in chocolate and walnuts if using.
  6. With a spatula, spread mixture evenly in pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of pan comes out dry. Cool on a wire rack before removing from pan and slicing into 16 squares.

Recipe makes 16 2-inch by 2-inch servings.

114 calories
5g fat
16g carbs
2g protein
1g fiber
16mg calcium
61mg sodium

221 to go……..

New Pin 231, Red Velvet Puppy Chow

Posted by suzyhomebaker in 261 Days Pinned Challenge, chocolate, kid friendly and tagged with , ,

Well yesterday’s post was a little embarrassing. When I started the post I thought, “Yeah, I should write-up one of the cakes I made for my bride and groom. Since Valentine’s Day is coming, definitely Red Velvet.” Well, guess what dingbat, you wrote that one up last week! Classic! So here is my rewrite of Pin 231. Scratch the last pin, or use the recipe. It’s so good, I posted it twice!

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I thought it would be nice to make something for Riley’s teachers, the school nurse and her bus driver for Valentine’s Day. I bought a stack of red Chinese take out containers at an end of Christmas sale for the purpose of filling them with something delicious for Valentine’s Day. I found this recipe and knew this was the one to make. I figure you can’t go wrong with Chex Mix and M&M’s.

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It’s a very simple recipe that requires little cooking, if you count using the microwave as cooking.

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There are only a few, affordable ingredients that you probably have in your pantry and fridge and it makes a good amount. Even more if you double the recipe.

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Or in my case, make a second batch using pretzels instead of Chex Mix. I combined the two batches to make a Chex/Pretzel Puppy Chow mix. Genius I thought. The saltiness with the sweet is a nice touch.

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I opted out on the addition of the cream cheese because I did not want to refrigerate mine. But I’m sure that ingredient will add to the overall flavor.

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I added some Dove chocolates into the box to add a little color. I found my chow to be a little gray looking so the pop of color from the M&M’s and Doves do help. Here’s hoping they love them! One warning: It’s addictive! Here’ the original pin and here’s the recipe:

Recipe courtesy of yourcupofcake.com

Ingredients

5 C. Rice Chex cereal
3/4 C. white chocolate melts or chips
1/4 C. chocolate melts or chips
2 oz cream cheese, room temp
1 1/2 Tbsp. milk
1 C. Red Velvet Cake mix
1/2 C. powdered sugar
Valentines colored M&M’s or other candies
Heart sprinkles for extra decoration and cute-ness

Directions

1. Measure out Rice Chex cereal and place into a large bowl.
2. Place cake mix and powdered sugar into a large plastic bag or tupperware with a lid.
3. Melt chocolates together in the microwave or on the stove top. Careful not to burn and stir until smooth.
4. Stir in cream cheese and milk (the chocolate will get thicker, but it’s okay)
5. Pour chocolate over Rice Chex cereal and stir until coated.
6. Dump cereal into the bag or tupperware with powdered sugar and cake mix. Shake, shake, shake until coated.
7. Dump onto a cookie sheet and let cool.
8. Mix with extra colorful candies and serve!
NOTE: Because of the cream cheese, keep in the fridge if you won’t be eating them that day. You can also omit the cream cheese all together if you wish…if you do that, you don’t need the milk either!
230 to go….again……

Nutella and Banana stuffed Crepes

Posted by suzyhomebaker in breakfast, chocolate, kid friendly, Uncategorized and tagged with , ,

Riley requested pancakes one Saturday morning. I was bored of pancakes. I had Nutella in the pantry and a Crepes Suzette recipe that I wanted to try out. Minus the Suzette. Sorry Suzy. Nutella always trumps the Suze. I will admit, the kids weren’t really into them. Not sure what was up with that. How could anyone pass up Nutella. It’s beyond me. I will say this, Derek and I loved them. Nuf said. Continue reading →

Aunt Linda’s Zucchini Bread

Posted by suzyhomebaker in bread, breakfast, cake, chocolate, kid friendly

Recipe two from the Zep shore weekend is my Aunt Linda’s delicious zucchini bread. Since there were two zucchini breads waiting at the house, I decided to use chocolate chips in mine. I think it was quite successful since there was just a small slice left by the end of the weekend. The kids really seemed to like it and I’m sure it was due to the chocolate chips. No, I know it was because of the chocolate chips. One kid even called it a cookie. This cake is very moist and chock full of zucchini so it’s kinda good for you too. And now is the time to get your zucchini at the farmer’s market. I know no one wants to bake in this heat but this cake is very fast to make so you won’t be in the kitchen for hours. And it’s a great snack or quick breakfast. For some extra decadence, spread some cold cream cheese over top.

Continue reading →

Searching for the best brownie: the Fat Witch

Posted by suzyhomebaker in bars, cake, chocolate, kid friendly

So this is the first disappointing brownie I’ve eaten so far. Actually, I should clarify that. The first disappointing brownie in the Search for the best brownie challenge. I’ve had many bad brownies in my day and for me, this one makes the list. I’m sure many would disagree with me and that’s fine. This is not the kind of brownie that I like to indulge in. If I’m gonna have a brownie it better be chocolatey, gooey, fudgy and impossible to resist. This one was none of the above. It lacked a rich chocolateness due to the minute amount of chocolate and was quite cakey. It was moist, I’ll give it that, but definitely more cake-like. I shouldn’t shoot it down completely. It was a good brownie when used in a sundae, topped with vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup and whipped cream. It absorbed the ice cream very well and didn’t have an overwhelming sweetness that would normally overpower the dessert. So if you have a fondness for a cakey brownie or are looking for an excellent brownie for a sundae, this is your bar.

Continue reading →

Searching for the best brownie: Cook’s Illustrated’s Best Chewy Brownie

Posted by suzyhomebaker in bars, chocolate, kid friendly, Searching for the best brownie

This is a good one. And you know its good if that’s how I’m starting. It’s fudgy, it’s chocolatey but not too overpowering, it’s chewy, it’s so good. It rivals and I think surpasses the first brownie recipe I posted from King Arthur and I think may have bumped it out of the first place position. I made this recipe for Riley’s preschool graduation Family picnic and a couple moms and one of the teachers raved about it. In fact, they took the remainder of them home. I have yet to find a recipe from Cook’s Illustrated that doesn’t totally satisfy and deliver. Definitely make this one. It will not disappoint. Did I mention its fudgy?

Continue reading →

Chocolate-Dipped Frozen Banana Bites

Posted by suzyhomebaker in chocolate, gluten free, kid friendly, low-fat

I had some bananas that were on their way out so I found this recipe in my archive and they turned out pretty good. One problem, you gotta keep them in the freezer or else they turn soft, brown and mushy. I wouldn’t recommend these for a party where they’ll be sitting out but as a quick and satisfying sweet snack they are awesome. I rolled mine in toasted coconut, crushed pretzels and granola but you can use the recipe suggestions too.

Continue reading →

Searching for the best brownie: King Arthur’s Best Fudge Brownies Ever

Posted by suzyhomebaker in bars, chocolate, kid friendly, Searching for the best brownie

I have a new quest; to search for the best, fudgiest, super chocolatey brownie. Here’s my first attempt, and a good one at that. I ripped this recipe off a King Arthur flour bag and have been waiting to make it for some occasion, this occasion being a bake sale. But really, does anyone need a reason to make a tray of brownies? I could tell you a good reason not to. You’ll probably eat the whole tray if they’re any good. You’ll probably eat them even if they’re mediocre. These are hardly mediocre. They are very fudgey, full of chocolate (there’s a bag of semi-sweet chips in there), maybe an inch thick, and have that nice crackled glassy sheen top. Warm out of the oven they are the quintessential brownie. If I had vanilla ice cream on hand that would have made the whole experience perfect. An accompanying glass of milk did help. A couple of days later, they’re still very good with a lot less moisture of course but still very fudgey.  I like to nuke em in the micro for 12 – 15 seconds to get that fresh-baked feeling back. All in all, these are very good brownies and a good start to my search. I can honestly say its the top contender.