triple-chocolate brownie cookies

I'm on a roll!  No, I haven't mailed my taxes yet.  To avoid doing that, I baked these ultra rich triple-chocolate brownie cookies.  They are super moist and rich.  Personally, I think that the chocolate drizzle on the top was overkill.  One cookie set me sailing on a sugar high.  The super richness could be attributed to the ghiradelli chocolate chips I used.  It may sound crazy, but I think they would be better if they were drizzled with a chocolate frosting/glaze rather than the melted down chips.  But if super chocolaty rich cookies are your cup of tea, check these out.

The recipe comes from tasteofhome Cookies

yield 6 dozen

Ingredients

4 squares (1 ounce each) unsweetened chocolate

3/4 cup butter, cubed

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup baking cocoa

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips, divided

2 teaspoons shortening

In a microwave, melt chocolate and butter; stir until smooth.  Cool slightly.  In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar.  Stir in chocolate mixture.  Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; gradually add to chocolate mixture.  Stir in 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips.  Cover and refigerate for 2 hours or until easy to handle.

 Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto greased baking sheets. (I used ungreased parchment paper) Bake at 350 degrees F for 7-9 minutes or until edges are set and tops are slightly cracked.  Cool for 2 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

In microwave, melt remaining chips and shortening;  stir until smooth.  Drizzle over cookies.  let stand for 30 minutes or until chocolate is set.  Store in an airtight container.

apple pie

In an attempt to lose some weight, I took a 3 week hiatus from baking.  The break needs to be several months, but lets face it, that's not going to happen.  Baking is such a stress relief for me and considering the time of year it is (TAXES), I definately needed it.  Wednesday, I cleaned out the refigerator and came across some apples that were in need of attention.  You guessed it, I baked my Mom's old fashioned Apple Pie.  It doesn't look fancy, no shiny crust, no fancy lattice work, just good ole apple cinnamon goodness.

This recipe is tried and true:


I'm only listing the ingredients - if you don't know how to assemple a pie.....

For the Crust: (be gentle)

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup crisco
1/2 cup ice water

For the Filling:

Enough apples coated in cinnamon sugar to mound up high in the pie plate.  
A teaspoon of butter dabbed on the top of the apples.  (I find that mac's and courtlands make mushy pie, almost anything else works for me)

Preheated 425 degree F oven for 15 minutes, reduce heat to 325 degrees F for 45 minutes.

Strawberry Cupcakes for Mike's Birthday

It's been a little while since I posted - I was trying not to eat so many sweets and lets face it, when there are fresh baked - well anything - there is just no resisting it.  Certainly, that is no excuse for not posting this one.  I baked these "Real Strawberry Cupcakes" for Mike's Birthday on March 27.  They were just about perfect - moist, flavorful and not to sweet.  The frosting is a cream cheese frosting, and the garnish is nothing other than a slice of fresh strawberry and a little sprinkle of shimmering sugar.  I found the recipe on allrecipes.com, but changed it up just a bit - recipe to follow.

Cupcake Ingredients:

8 large fresh strawberries, or as needed

2 eggs

1 cup white sugar

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 Tablespoons instant vanilla pudding mix

Frosting Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup cream cheese, softened
4 Tablespoons butter, softened
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Strawberries for garnish
Shimmering Sugar for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  line cupcake pans with cupcake liners (about 15)
2. Place 8 strawberries into a blender, and blend until smooth.  Pour the puree through a strainer to remove seeds.  Puree should equal about 3/4 cup.  Set the puree aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, white sugar, vegetable oil, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, lemon zest, and strawberry puree until well combined.  Stir in the flour, baking powder, salt and vanilla pudding mix.  (The recipe called for a drop of red food coloring at this point - I skipped it - the cupcakes came out a light brown color, similar to that of a spice cupcake).  Spoon the batter into the prepared cupcake cups, filling each about 2/3 full.  (This mix should have made more than 12 cupcakes.  I stuffed all the batter into the 12 it called for and obviously, as you can see in the above picture, they overflowed and I had to trim them just to get them out of the pan.)  Next time, I will use better judgement.
4. Bake in the preheated oven until the cupcakes have risen and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 23 minutes.  Allow the cupcakes to cool at least 20 minutes before frosting.
5. To make frosting, beat cream cheese and butter together in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer until smooth, and mix in confectioner's sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract to make a lump-free icing.  Frost each cupcake with about 2 tablespoons of icing and top each with a strawberry slice and some shimmering sugar.