Valentine Strawberries

Happy Valentine's Weekend!

Pretty simple, right? Yes, I put an inch of water in a pan on high until it almost boiled, turned it down to "2", put a cup of chocolate chips in a narrow glass, and set the glass in the hot water. I stirred the chips until they melted and then dipped some washed and dried strawberries in it. I set them on wax paper to solidify and that was it! Show your love and enjoy some delicious-ness today! Love Helen

Perfect Pumpkin Loaf

Perfect. That's a word I reserve for something very special. My friend brought this loaf to our weekly gathering and it was so good I almost ate half a loaf! I bugged her until she revealed the recipe to me. She could not remember where she got it either, but I'm passing it on to you because it is something that needs to be shared. I hope it turns out as delicious for you. Her original recipe used 3 1/4 cups of all purpose flour but I changed 1 cup to whole wheat with good results.

Perfect Pumpkin Loaf - yields 2 loaves

2 ¼ cups flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. nutmeg

½ tsp. allspice

½ tsp. ginger

1 ¾ cups pumpkin

1 cup oil

1 cup white sugar

2 cups brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2/3 cup water

4 eggs

1 ½ cups chocolate chips

Grease two large loaf pans.

Whisk together the flours, soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and ginger in a small bowl.

Whisk together the pumpkin and oil in a large bowl. Add the sugars and whisk again. Add eggs, one at a time, whisking after each addition. Add vanilla and water and whisk again. Stir in chocolate chips. Fold in dry ingredients.

Bake 1 hour and 20 minutes at 350°F or until a toothpick comes out clean. If using convection oven, reduce heat to 325°F.

Cool in pans for 15 minutes and then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.

See what happens when you leave it to cool? Your hungry husband comes home and "tastes" only a "little corner"! He promptly got yelled at and apologies were made, but the perfect loaf was just a little corner less than perfect! 

No big deal. It was, of course, delicious! I'm still trying to figure out if it was the allspice or the ginger that made it so much yummier than any pumpkin thing I've made before... I'll have to do some testing. Sounds like a tasty thing to do.

Five-Cup Slice Squares

These are tonight's addition to the squares I'll be serving as Easter dessert. I can't believe I've never made them before! They are from Company's Coming 150 Delicious Squares Cookbook (page 78).

They were super-easy to make. They were super-sticky and delicious! (As long as you like nuts and coconut). They remind me of a sweeter and chocolatey-er version of a Quaker Chewy Granola bar with Chocolate Chips. I baked them perhaps a little too long - the edge ones were a bit crispy, so next time I'll try them at 20 minutes, rather than 25 in my convection oven. I had lined my pan with tinfoil for easy removal of the squares. Well, they came out of the pan, but I had to pick tinfoil off the sticky bottom for 10 minutes! So I've added the note, "please GREASE pan EXTRA well, super sticky!" (I should have known; all that is in them is raisins, chocolate chips, peanuts, coconut and sweetened condensed milk).

Rich Chocolate Cake with Buttercream Filling

This is actually part one of the birthday cake for my soon to be 3 year old. The original recipe calls for peanut butter and milk chocolate morsels and a creamy peanut butter milk chocolate frosting.

 But, I followed my plan from yesterday and made it with chocolate chips instead. I had to trim the tops flat and that is where most of the chips were, sadly. Here's the recipe:

Rich Chocolate Cake
2 cups all purpose flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
2/3 cups cocoa
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup milk
1 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2/3 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9" round cake pans.
Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixer bowl. Add milk, water, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Blend until moistened. Beat for 2 minutes (batter will be thin). Pour into prepared pans. Sprinkle 1/3 cup chips over each cake layer.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

I did all that, and then I trimmed the tops flat (where most of the chips were, but I'll save those for later).

Then I filled it with orange flavored buttercream icing.

I'll show you how I finished it and decorated it tomorrow! I will also tell you how wonderfully delicious it was, I hope!

Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

This is MY version of "Pain Perdu" or "Lost Bread". With all the bread I make, there is often a heel of bread left in a bag and then the next loaf gets cut. Nobody seems to want a dried out, skinny old heel of bread. Now, I could make french toast or croutons, yes, but I've had much more success turning it into Bread Pudding. I cut up any dried out pieces of bread that haven't turned green yet, and put the cubes in a big bag in the freezer. When there is 4 cups of cubes, I take them out and make bread pudding.

I'm sure any bread pudding recipe will do. The trick to get EVERYONE coming back for seconds, is to replace the raisins with chocolate chips and the milk with chocolate milk and decrease the amount of sugar accordingly.

It doesn't look like much, but it is Really delicious! I use this slightly modified recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book:

Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

4 cups bread cubes

1/3 cup chocolate chips

2 eggs, slightly beaten

2 cups chocolate milk

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp. vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a 1 1/2 quart casserole, combine bread cubes and chocolate chips.

2. In a bowl, combine eggs, milk, melted butter, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. Pour over bread mixture.

3. Bake, uncovered for 50 to 55 minutes or until puffed and a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool slightly. If desired, serve with vanilla ice cream.

Chocolate Cake Recipe

I promised I'd post the cake recipe, so that's why there's 2 posts today. I got this one from a NESTLE cookbook that a friend copied for me. Here is the standard recipe meant for two 9" round pans:

Chocolate Cake
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1 cup water
1/3 cup NESTLE Cocoa
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

In large mixer bowl, beat sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add flour, water, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Beat until blended and smooth. Pour into prepared pans.

Bake 28 to 33 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes; remove from pans. Cool completely on wire racks. Fill and frost with favorite frosting. Makes 10-12 servings.

(My daughter requested I add chocolate chips to the filling, but I decided to add them to the cake instead. It worked out very well. I tasted the tops of the cake when I levelled it. Yummy!)

Bite-Size Chocolate Banana Chip Muffins

Are you one of the lucky ones to get the "Milk" calendar every year? We got one in 2009, and I found this recipe that I clipped from it, just when I needed a little something for a bake sale at the school. I had all the ingredients - especially two very ripe bananas so I went for it.

I packed them 2 to a small ziplock baggie, added a pretty label to the bag and my children said they went quick, at $1 per bag. I kept enough at home to try them and they were good. Soft. Chocolately with just a hint of banana. Here's the recipe:

Bite-Size Chocolate Banana Chip Muffins

1 cup flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 egg

1 cup Milk

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2)

1/4  cup butter, melted

1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter non stick miniature muffin pans or line with paper liners.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, whisk together sugar and cocoa; whisk in egg, Milk, bananas and melted butter. Pour over dry ingredients and sprinkle with chocolate chips; stir just until moistened.

3. Spoon into prepared muffin pans, mounding as necessary to fill 24 deep or 36 shallow cups. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until tops are firm to the touch. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes. Transfer to rack to cool completely.

I would have to say I like my usual banana chocolate chip muffins banana chocolate chip muffins  better - I guess it is the oats that add some texture. But if you prefer smooth, these are the ones for you! Enjoy.

Now, I must go do some research - I have to come up with a "bowling" theme cake for my soon to be 9 year old! I was thinking a 9 x 13 slab cake, and use fondant covered candles as bowling pins and a rice krispie treat covered in fondant for a ball, with a "9" on it. Do you have any ideas?

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

When I tell the family I am going to make cookies, these are the ones I always mean. They are at least as healthy as a Quaker (peanut-free) Chocolate Chip Chewy Granola bar, but more satisfying and definately more delicious - at least fresh out of the oven!

When I make some, I make a double batch since they always go quickly. That means 8 dozen cookies! I use my bread making bowl - it's the only one big enough! Today I worked the dough so quickly that I broke a wooden spoon! I've also broken a Tupperware Silicone spatula mixing these before, so maybe I should invest in a good, solid, metal mixing spoon. Don't be alarmed, however. The dough may be stiff to mix (although it is probably due to the volume), but the cookies turn out soft and chewy and delicious if they're not overbaked. Do you want the recipe? Read on. I'll list the original recipe for 4 dozen cookies.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

Beat together:
     1 cup softened butter
     1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
     2 eggs
     2 tsp. vanilla

Add in:
     3/4 cups white flour
     3/4 cups whole wheat flour
     2 cups rolled oats
     1 tsp. baking soda
     1/4 tsp. salt
     1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Mix until combined. Drop by tablespoon-fulls onto ungreased or parchment lined cookie sheet. Flatten slightly with a spoon or your palm. Bake at 375 for 6-8 minutes. (I personally set my convection oven to 360 and bake for 7 minutes). If you want soft cookies, remove from oven when the centre of the cookies are still light and puffy but the edges have begun to brown. Let stand for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet and they will finish baking. Move them to a wire rack to cool completely. If you prefer crunchy cookies, just bake them until they are golden brown all over and remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

    

Blueberry Bran Muffins

Ahhh, so the wonderful smell of baking bread surrounds me as I tell you about the muffins I baked first this morning! Chocolate Chip Blueberry Bran muffins. The recipe came from the back of the milk bag a few years ago. They didn't include the chocolate chips, but I added them anyway. They are simply delicious!

The recipe made about 2 1/2 dozen muffins, so you might want to bake half a batch if you only want a dozen. These muffins have some sources of fiber and milk and with or without the chocolate chips, they taste great!

Blueberry Bran Muffins
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix together and let stand:
     1 cup bran
     1 cup boiling water

Combine in a large bowl and make a well in the center:
     2 1/2 cups flour
     2 cups oats
     1 1/2 cups sugar
     2 1/2 tsp. baking soda
     1 tsp. salt
     3/4 cups chocolate chips

Whisk together in a small bowl:
     1/2 cup melted butter
     2 eggs
     2 cups milk
    
Combine the bran mixture, the milk mixture and 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries into the dry ingredients. Stir just until combined. The mixture will be quite soupy. Fill greased or lined muffin tins 3/4 full. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until the tops spring back when pressed lightly.

When you steal the first muffin, be careful not to burn yourself on the scorching hot blueberries and chocolate chips as you take the first bite! You won't be able to resist!