Chocolate Dipped Pistachio Shortbread

It's that time again - Secret Recipe Club.  We were assigned Pale Yellow this month.  I had a hard time deciding this month as she has so much delicious food to pick from. I always pick sweet over savory because I usually like baking better than cooking.  I was between the Peanut butter cup cheesecakes, the 

Chocolate covered cherry mini cupcakes, and the Chocolate Dipped Pistachio Shortbread.  I finally decided on the shortbread as my family loves anything pistachio and this recipe was perfect.  We love cookies and anything dipped in chocolate.  I know I will be going back to her blog for other recipes soon.  

Ingredients:
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1 box 3.4 oz instant pistachio pudding mix
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp almond extract (recipe called for vanilla extract)
8 ounces all purpose flour
7 ounces bittersweet or dark chocolate (2 Lindt bars)
1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 cup pistachios, finely chopped

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 8 x 11 pan with cooking spray.  Cut a sheet of parchment paper to fit bottom of pan and grease that as well.
Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy.  Add in the pudding, salt and almond extract.  Mix until well combined, scraping the bowl as needed.
Add flour and mix on low until just combined.

Press the mixture as evenly as possible in the prepared pan using a spatula or your hands.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until the edges begin to brown.  Remove from oven and immediately use a knife to cut the shortbread into pieces.

Let cool completely in the pan.
Melt the chocolate and vegetable oil in the microwave on a low setting stirring until smooth.  Chop the pistachios or pulse in a food processor until finely chopped.
Dip of third of each cookie in the chocolate and then press in the chopped pistachios.  Let dry on a piece of parchment paper.  Allow the chocolate to harden.

Enjoy!!



Linked at: http://www.thecountrycook.net/

An InLinkz Link-up

Dark Chocolate Cherry Muffins

These Dark Chocolate Cherry Muffins would be the perfect way to start your Saturday morning this Valentine's Day weekend!! My goal for the day will be to have chocolate as part of my every meal. Who else will be eating chocolate all day long on Valentine's Day?? Since it's dark chocolate paired with some fruit I can pretend they are at least a little bit healthy haha ;) 

Ingredients;
4 cups flour
2 Tbsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Salt
2 Eggs
1 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Honey
1 Stick I Can't Believe it's not Butter - Melted
2 1/2 Cup Low Fat Sour Cream
4 Tsp Vanilla
2 Cups Frozen Cherries - Thawed & Halved
1 1/2 Cup Dark Chocolate Chips

Makes about 22 large muffins

Adapted from: http://littlesweetbaker.com/

Preheat oven to 425 F. Spray the muffin pans with Pam or put cupcake liners in the pan and set aside.   In a  medium sized bowl whisk together all of the wet ingredients (sour cream, honey, eggs and vanilla). Melt the butter in the microwave for about 2 min on a low level and pour the melted butter into the bowl with all the other wet ingredients, whisk everything together. 

In a medium bowl whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, salt, sugar, baking powder). Add the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry. Whisk it all together until it has just combined to make the batter.

If you are using fresh cherries make sure you have taken all the pits and steams out before you cut them up. If you are using frozen cherries like I did make sure they are completely thawed and cut in half. To prevent your batter from immediately turning purple dry the thawed cherries with some paper towels before adding them to your batter. Gently fold in the cherries and chocolate chips. 

Scoop the batter into the muffin tins and bake at 425 for 5 minutes. Than turn the heat down and bake the muffins at 350 F for 20 minutes. The muffins will be slightly golden brown on the top and will spring back when touched. Allow them to cool for a few minutes, take them out of the tins and enjoy them warm if possible.

Enjoy!!

Linked at: http://www.thecountrycook.net/

Strawberry Nutella Braid

Every time I think about Valentine's Day I think of chocolate covered strawberries. When I was in high school I worked in my town's homemade chocolate store. Every year for Valentine's Day the owner would dip the biggest strawberries I have ever seen in warm chocolate. He would then decorate them and sell tons and tons of them for Valentine's Day to last minute husbands and boyfriends hoping to bring the special treat home to their women. This dessert is perfect for Valentine's Day since it's a chocolate covered strawberry wrapped in a warm pastry!!

Ingredients:
1 Package Pillsbury Seamless Dough
1/2 Cup Nutella Hazelnut Spread
10-12 Fresh Strawberries

Preheat the oven to 350. Allow the dough to warm up to room temperature then roll the dough out to be about 1/2 inch thick onto a piece of parchment paper on top of a baking sheet. Spread the nutella in the middle of the dough leaving a boarder of about 2 inches on the ends and about 6 inches on the sides.

Slice all of the strawberries into halves or quarters depending on how large they are. Spread them out into a single layer on top of the nutella. Cut the dough into strips every 2 inches or so on both sides of the filling pulling them away from the center a bit as you cut.

Take each strip of dough and fold it back into the middle covering the filling, alternating left and right so it creates a braid as you go down the dough. Bake for about 15 minutes until the chocolate is slightly bubbly and the dough has become lightly golden brown. Slice and serve immediately while still warm.

Enjoy!!

Linked at: http://www.thecountrycook.net/

Ina Garten's Brownie Pudding

Happy Groundhog Day!!
This has been a family favorite in our house for about 5 years and would be perfect for a Valentine's Day dessert. Whenever I want to get the whole family over I just tell them that I have made Brownie Pudding. I usually have all the ingredients in the house and other than cooking it in the oven for an hour, its very quick to assemble.  It's very rich and very chocolate-y and is much better served warm and never lasts very long in our house.  

Ingredients:
2 sticks unsalted butter, plus extra for buttering the dish
5 large eggs (or 4 extra large)
2 cups sugar
3/4 cocoa powder
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Lightly butter a 2 quart baking dish.  Melt the butter and set aside to cool. Sift cocoa powder and flour together and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs and sugar on medium-high speed for 5 to 10 minutes until light yellow color.

Reduce speed to low and add flour/cocoa powder mixture and vanilla extract.  Mix just until combined.

Still on low add the cooled butter and mix again.

Pour the brownie mixture into the prepared dish and place it in a larger baking pan.  Add enough hot tap water to the pan to come up halfway on the baking dish and bake exactly for 1 hour.  When done the center will be very undercooked and the edges will come out 3/4 clean when a toothpick is inserted.

This is between a brownie and a pudding so its not very formed except for the top crust.  Serve with vanilla ice cream while still warm.

Enjoy!!




Linked at: http://www.thecountrycook.net/

No Bake Granola Bars

It is time for another round of Secret Recipe Club. This month we were assigned Shelley from C Mom Cook. She is very adventurous in the kitchen and takes part of two other monthly cooking challenges. She participates in Daring Cooks which chooses recipes from different countries such Bibimbap from Korea. She also has a sourdough starter that she has been baking with for over a year and uses it once a month for different baked goods such as croissants or pop-overs. A lot of her recipes use a Sourdough starter but since I don't have one to work with I chose these No Bake Granola Bars. Unfortunately, the bars didn't stay together as much as I was expecting. Instead most of it crumbled into granola, buts it tastes delicious so I have been putting it on top of yogurt for breakfast and ice cream for dessert.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 Cups Granola

1/2 Cup Craisins

1/4 Cup Chocolate Chips

1/4 Cup Butter

1/4 Cup Honey

1/3 Cup Brown Sugar

1/2 Tsp Vanilla

Pam Spray

Combine the granola in a large bowl with the craisins and chocolate chips. You can definitely interchange the mixins other options could be raisins, nuts etc... I increased the amount of granola and mixins in my granola bars because Shelley commented that the bars were too sticky and that is what she would've done had she made them again. I think maybe part of my problem was I added too much but didn't increase the amount of liquids. So I have fixed the amount of ingredients in hopes that your bars will form better than mine did.

In a small pot melt the butter with the brown sugar, and honey until it is bubbling. Allow it to cook for a few minutes until it has thicken a bit, stirring occasionally. Take it off the heat and add the vanilla. Mix together the granola with your choice of mixins and pour the warm syrup over top mixing so that it coats everything. Don't be alarmed if some of the chocolate melts cause it will harden as it sits. 

Spray a jelly pan with Pam and pour the granola onto the pan. If you are using a large one it will only fill up about 2/3 of the pan. Be sure to push it down and together tightly as you can with a spatula which will give you the best chance for it to stick well enough to form bars. Allow it to stick room temperature for at least 3 hours, then carefully cut it into bars. If you struggle like I did you can try drizzling some more honey over the top and putting the pan in the freezer for 30 minutes or so which is how I got a few bars to stay together long enough to take a picture.

Enjoy!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Chocolate Pistachio Thumbprints

If I could make my own version of Christmas it would be Christmas tree decorating, listening to Christmas carols, watching Christmas movies, driving around and looking at Christmas lights and decorations and making endless amount of Christmas cookies. I would skip the shopping for gifts, endless wrapping, and card sending.  Do you think my family would mind if I gave cookies as gifts? These are adapted from How Sweet Eats  who posted the cookies over at Delish Dish which is a Better Homes and Garden food blog.

Ingredients:
1 egg
1/2 cup butter softened
2/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup finely chopped pistachios
1/2 cup heavy cream
10 ounces dark chocolate

Directions:
Crack egg and separate egg white and egg yolk putting each in separate bowls.  Chill egg white until needed. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer for 30 seconds.  Add sugar and beat well.  Beat in egg yolk, milk, and vanilla.  In another bowl stir together the flour, cocoa powder and salt.  Add flour mixture to butter mixture and beat until well combined.  Wrap the cookie dough in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours or until easy to handle.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a cookie sheet.  Shape the dough into 1" balls.

Chop the pistachios in a food processor.  Slightly beat the reserved egg white.  Roll the balls in egg white
and then in the chopped pistachios.

Place the balls 1" apart on the prepared cookie sheet.

Taking your thumb or the back of a melon baller and press to make an indentation.

Bake for 10 minutes or until edges are firm.  If cookie centers puff during baking, repress with your
thumb or melon baller.  While cookies are baking prepare ganache center by microwaving the heavy cream for a minute.  Quickly add chocolate into heavy cream and stir until ganache forms.  Chocolate will be shiny.
Pour into center of lightly cooled cookies.  Let chocolate set for at least an hour or two before serving.

Enjoy!!

Homemade Oreos

Everyone in my family knows that my favorite cookie has always been an Oreo so this has been on my list for a long time. My little grandson already likes them and he gives me a big smile when I bring out the package of Oreo's to share with him.  Of course I only do this after he has finished eating all his healthy food. Grandma's are allowed to do things like that. That's why its fun to go to Grandma's house. I'm not saying that these taste exactly like the original Oreos but they are close.  This recipe is from Sally's Baking Addiction.

Ingredients:
1-1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract

filling:
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup vegetable shortening, room temperature
1-3/4 cups confectioners sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
In a large bowl combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.

In a separate bowl beat the butter until light and creamy about 1 minute.  Then add the sugar and brown sugar and beat until well combined.  Beat in the egg and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until combined.

Cover the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Remove the chilled cookie dough from the refrigerator.  Roll the dough into small balls about 2 tsps of dough per ball and then put them on a baking sheet with parchment or waxed paper covering it.  Press down on the balls to flatten the tops. The bottom of a glass works good for this.

Bake for 6 to 8 minutes.  They will still appear soft when done but they will harden more as they cool.  Allow to cool on a cookie sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire cooling rack.

For the filling:  In a small bowl beat the butter and shortening together until creamy.  Add the confectioners sugar and vanilla and beat until creamy.

Spread the filling between two cooled chocolate cookies and then repeat until all cookies are paired with the filling in between them.  Cookies will stay fresh for up to one week covered at room temperature.

Enjoy!!



Linked at: http://www.thecountrycook.net/