Chocolate Ice Cream

I haven't posted in ages... and I can't really say I've been busy either, I've just been playing way to much Minecraft. But I've also been creating some tasty creations, and then forgetting to photograph them. Anyway, one of the things I've been making a lot of lately is ice cream. I was given and ice cream maker for my birthday and I love it. This is my favourite recipe so far, its a chocolate base which you can then turn into whatever you like!

Chocolate Ice Cream

1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup cocoa
2 cups whipping/heavy cream
1 cup light cream (Creamo, or half & half)
1 tbsp vanilla
Whatever mix-ins you like! (I've done rocky road, which is marshmallows, peanuts and chocolate chips and also caramel-pecan, which is pecans and caramel sauce)

Mix together sweetened condensed milk and cocoa in a saucepan. Cook over low heat until smooth and slightly thickened. Allow to cool slightly. In another bowl, combine whipping cream, light cream and vanilla. Stir in cocoa mixture until well combined, this works best if you whisk it in, or if you wait a few minutes so that most of it can dissolve into the mixture and then stir in the rest. Chill for several hours until cold. Then freeze in ice cream maker using manufacturer's directions. Mix in your extras according to the directions for your ice cream maker.

Pretty much, this is the best ice cream I've ever tasted. Also, the recipe is super flexible and so you could make a ton of different flavours from the same chocolate base!

Cherry Nut Muffins

I made these last week for my early morning prayer group. Just the thing to get you awake in the mornings, Cherry Nut Muffins!

2 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
6 tbsp butter, softened
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups cherries (The original recipe calls for canned sweet cherries, but I used some that I froze last year, or you could use fresh ones, also I used close to 2 cups)
1 1/2 cups nuts (I used pecans, you could also use walnuts or something else if you liked)

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare 24 muffin cups. Mix together eggs and sugar. Add in butter. In a separate bowl mix flour, baking powder and salt. Add flour mixture to egg mixture slowly, alternating with milk until all the ingredients are well combined. Stir in cherries and nuts. Spoon batter into muffin cups. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.

Almond Sandwich Cookies

I made these with a friend a few weeks ago. They were pretty tasty...

Almond Sandwich Cookies

Cookies
1 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup slivered almonds

Vanilla Cream
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cup icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 325. Line cookie sheet with tin foil and then lightly grease (or spray with PAM) the tin foil. Mix together oats, sugar, flour, cardamom, baking powder and salt. In another bowl stir together egg, butter and vanilla. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture until well combined. Mix in the almonds. Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheets (mixture will be very runny so leave lots of room). Bake 10-12 minutes. While cookies are baking make the cream. Beat the butter with 1 cup icing sugar. Mix in vanilla and then the last 1/2 cup icing sugar. Mixture wil be very thick, I think I added a bit more vanilla to make it a little less thick. When cookies come out of the oven wait for them to cool completely and then peel them from the foil. Place cream filling between two cookies, squish together and enjoy!

"Asparagus" "Cashew" Rice Pilaf

As you can probably tell by the large amounts of quotation makes I used in the title for this recipe, I've made a lot of modifications to the original. I found this recipe because I wanted to try something different for dinners and I've modified it several times and it's pretty good. Also, its flexible, which is good when you have so many picky eaters in the house. :-P

The Original - Asparagus Cashew Rice Pilaf - From Allrecipes

2-3 tbsp butter
2 oz uncooked spaghetti, broken into pieces
1/4 cup minced onion
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 1/4 cups uncooked jasmine rice
2 1/4 cups vegetable broth
salt and pepper
1/2 lb asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 cup cashew halves

Melt butter over medium-low heat. Increase heat, add spaghetti pieces and cook until lightly browned. Stir in onion and garlic and cook until tender (2 min). Stir in rice, cook another 5 min or so. Add broth. Bring to a boil and cook about 20 min or until liquid is gone. While rice is cooking, cook asparagus. When everything is ready, mix cashews and asparagus into rice.

Okay, so that's the original, but I've never made it that way.

For starters I've always used broccoli rather than asparagus. Mostly because I don't know the best way to cook asparagus.

Secondly, this dish was made as a 'vegan' dish. If you want to unvegan-ize it and also make it a lot more flavourful and yummy, replace the cashews with shrimp! It makes it so amazing, even if my dad refuses to eat it that way. :-P

Pecan Sandies

This recipe also came from the Allrecipes Christmas Cookie Countdown and unlike the ice cream cookie one this one was awesome! They were like Pecan Shortbread Cookies covered in extra sugar! The recipe said it made 8 dozen, so I cut it in half and it came out with about 3 dozen, which I thought was good.

1 cup margarine
1 cup oil
1 cup white sugar
1 cup icing sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp salt
2 cups pecans
More white sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Cream together margarine, oil, white sugar and icing sugar. Stir in eggs and vanilla. In another bowl combine flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt. Slowly stir into creamed mixture. Stir in pecans. Place extra white sugar in a shallow bowl. Form dough into small balls, roll each ball in the white sugar. Bake 10-12 minutes.

These were pretty awesome and I will definitely make them again! :)

Chocolate Muffins

1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup cocoa
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/3 cup butter (or margarine), melted
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped nuts (I used sunflower seeds)
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400. Prepare 2 muffin cups. Mix dry ingredients. Mix wet ingredients. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Stir in nuts and chocolate chips. Mix well. Spoon batter into muffin cups. Bake 20-25 minutes.

Peanut Butter Fudge Brownie Bars

1 cup margarine
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups flour
2/3 cups cocoa
1/4 milk
1 1/4 cup nuts (I used walnuts)
1/2 cup margarine
1 2/3 cups (1 pkg) peanut butter chips
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 9x13 pan. Melt margarine. Beat margarine with sugar, eggs and vanilla. Add flour, cocoa and milk. Beat well. Stir in 1 cup nuts. Pour into pan. Bake 25-30 minutes. Cool completely. Melt 1/2 cup margarine with peanut butter chips over low heat. Add sweetened condensed milk and stir until smooth. Pour over brownies. Melt 1/4 cup chocolate chips. Drizzle over bars. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup nuts. Refrigerate until firm.

Chocolate Walnut Bar Cookies

I made these cookies for a pizza night with some friends. They were easy, quick and tasty.

1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup walnuts

Preheat oven to 375, mix together oil, white sugar, brown sugar, egg and vanilla. In another bowl mix together flour, baking soda and salt. Slowly mix the dry mixture into the wet mixture. Knead with hands when the dough becomes difficult to stir. Grease a cookie sheet (or line with parchment paper), roll, or stretch out the dough onto the cookie sheet, this works best if you grease your hands first. Once the dough is in a long sheet, sprinkle on the walnuts and chocolate chips and press down slightly. Bake 7-8 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes or so, then cut into strips and allow to cool completely.

Bird Crap Cookies (Meringues)

I used to make these fairly frequently but only my dad and I really like them, so I stopped. One of my family members nicknamed them 'Bird Crap Cookies' because that's that they look like. They didn't turn out quite how I remember them though.

2 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 300 F. Grease two cookie sheets. In a non-plastic bowl, using a non-plastic spoon (or a set of beaters works best) beat egg whites, cream of tartar and vanilla until soft peaks form. Add sugar gradually, beating until stiff. Fold in chocolate chips and walnuts. Bake for 15-20 minutes. According to the recipe this makes 2 1/2 dozen, I got 18.

When I make these again I think I will either halve the walnuts and chocolate chips or double the rest of the ingredients. There were way too many walnuts and chocolate chips for the recipe. But they are tasty, even if they did flatten more than I remember.

Chocolate Turtle Cheesecake

So this is the last Facebook transfer post left! Yay! Or at least until Christmas. Anyway, saving the best for last of course, this was the birthday cake I made for myself this year. Originally posted on Facebook May 5, 2009

This past Saturday was my 20th birthday and for it I baked my own cake. No, I didn't want someone else to bake one for me, I wanted to bake my own to share with my friends. Although, one of my friends was nice enough to bring brownies to my party, which were amazing and I must have the recipe. Anyway, back to the topic. I made myself (and my friends) a Chocolate Turtle Cheesecake and since so many have asked for the recipe, I knew I had to post it. Although I would have posted anyway.

Chocolate Turtle Cheesecake
from the inside of the Philly Cream Cheese box

1 1/4 cups finely chopped pecans (I think I used a bit more)
2 tbsp butter, melted
2 tbsp sugar
3/4 cup sugar
32 caramels, unwrapped (this is the hardest part of the whole recipe)
3 tbsp milk
3 pkgs (250g each) brick cream cheese, softened
3 eggs
8 oz semi sweet chocolate squares (one package if you use Bakers') melted and cooled slightly

Preheat oven to 350. Cover bottom of 9 inch springform pan with parchment paper. Combined chopped pecans, butter and 2 tbsp sugar. Press firmly into pan.
Microwave caramels and milk in 1 min intervals, stirring between each until melted and wel mixed. Spread over crust to within 1 inch of edge. Beat cream cheese and 3/4 cup sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer. Add eggs, 1 at a time. Stir in melted chocolate. Pour mixture over cooled caramel layer. Bake for 45-50 min. Run knife around rim of pan to loosen cake, cool completely. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight.

I also decorated mine with pecan halves in a circle around the edge and my own caramel glaze.
15 Caramels
2 tsp milk
2 tsp butter

Microwave together in 30 s increments, stirring after each until well melted and blended. Allow to cool slightly and then drizzle over cake.

My mom declared this to be the tastiest thing I've ever made. It was very rich and heavy and I think next time I would try making it in a larger springform pan so that it makes more and is less heavy for each piece. Still it was amazing! I will definitely make this again, possibly for my mom's birthday. Or if someone else's birthday is sooner and they request it!

White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies are some of my favourite cookies but I'd never made them myself before. I found this recipe on Allrecipes and it turned out wonderfully. I love these cookies but Macadamia nuts are so expensive so I won't be able to make them often.

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt (omit this if the Macadamia nuts are salted)
1 cup coarsely chopped Macadamia nuts
1 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Cream together butter, shortening and sugars. Beat in eggs one at a time and then stir in vanilla. In another bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt (if using). The add in slowly in to butter/sugar/egg mixture. Mix in nuts and chocolate chips. Bake for 10 minutes.

So tasty!

Chocolate Caramel Pecan Cookies

Originally posted on Facebook March 15, 2009

A few weeks ago I bought a bunch of baking supplies and I was keeping them in the cupboard. But then my dad came home and started eating them, so I moved them to my room. Unfortunately, these supplies included caramels which I have been steadily eating since I moved them to my room. So this week I decided to use up these caramels so I would stop eating them. I also had an abundance of pecans so I thought I'd try something with caramels and pecans. I also wanted to bake something I could share with my research report group for our meeting on Saturday. So, I found a recipe for Chocolate Pecan Carmel Cookies.

Chocolate Caramel Pecan Cookies

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter (margarine)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3 oz chopped dark chocolate (you could probably use chocolate chips but I liked how the chopped chocolate turned out)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Caramels (those wrapped Kraft ones, or you can get them in bulk)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Cream the sugars and butter together until fluffy. When mixture is light and fluffy, add egg and beat. Then add vanilla and beat.
In another bowl sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Then slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Finally, stir in chopped chocolate and pecan pieces.
Form dough into balls and make a hole in the center with your thumb. Then place a caramel in this hole and close the dough over the caramel.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Makes about 20 cookies.

These were amazing! They were best just an hour or two out of the oven because the caramel was still melted. They were still really good after when the caramel had hardened, except then my brother couldn't eat them because of his braces. I think they would be good even without the caramel as well. But the caramel makes for an extra tasty surprise in the middle. When I make them again I will probably double the recipe and make some without caramels for my brother.

Pecan Caramel Pie

NOTE: Since I originally posted this recipe I have found a much better pie crust recipe, it can be found in this post. Also, I have made this pie many times since I posted this recipe and it's one of my favourite recipes that I've found in all my baking experimentation.

Originally posted on Facebook March 20, 2009

Pie Crust
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup shortening
5 to 6 tablespoon cold water (I got cold water from the tap and then added ice cubes)

It is very important that the shortening and water are cold.
Stir together flour and salt. Using a pastry bender, cut n shortening until it looks like coarse crumbs. Sprinkle in cold water 1 tbsp at a time until pastry just holds together. Shape into ball. Refrigerate. Divide into two sections. Roll out on floured surface until 1/8 inch thick. Makes 2 single pie crusts or 1 double pie crust.

Pecan Caramel Pie

I came across this one while looking for recipes with pecans and caramels in them for last week but I didn't have the ingredients for the pie crust. I found it at Allrecipes.com

1 unbaked 9'' pie crust
36 individual caramels (unwrapped)
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
3/4 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup pecan halves

Preheat oven to 350. In a saucepan, stirring frequently, melt together caramels, butter and milk until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside.
In a large bowl combine sugar, eggs, vanilla and salt. Mix in caramel sauce. Stir in pecans. Pour into pie crust. Bake for 45-50 minutes.

This Pie is AWESOME! Caramel and pecans go so well together. The pastry wasn't great but it was okay for a first try. Next time I'll probably buy a pie crust, it makes everything much easier.

Chocolate Caramel Hazelnut Brownies

This is my new favorite recipe. I haven't had a chance to post it yet though, I've made it three times so far, I think.

Chocolate Caramel Hazelnut Brownies
(I made these ones with walnuts)

1 cup hazelnuts (or other nuts work well)
3 cups flour
1 1/2 cups cocoa
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup melted butter (or margarine)
2 2/3 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
14 oz (about 400 g) caramels, unwrapped
2 tbsp milk
2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. If using hazelnuts, toast the hazelnuts at 350 for about 10 minutes, turning once. Then rub off the loose skins with a tea towel. (This will be very messy) Chop hazelnuts. Line a 9x13 pan with tin foil and grease with PAM. Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Mix together melted butter and sugar. Then add eggs and vanilla. Then slowly add the flour/cocoa mixture 1/2 cup at a time. When you are done the dough will be very thick. Spread the batter into the 9x13 pan. Put caramels and milk into a bowl. Microwave in 30 second increments, stirring after each, until they are well melted and combined. Mix in 1/2 cup nuts and then pour over batter. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with chocolate chips. Let the chocolate chips melt for about 2 minutes then spread them melted chocolate with a spatula so that it covers the whole surface. Sprinkle the rest of the nuts on top of the chocolate. Allow chocolate and caramel to harden (this takes several hours, you may want to put it in the fridge) then cut into squares and enjoy.

Like I said, this is my new favorite recipe. Although it should be noted that you must bake this in a 9x13 pan, putting it in a smaller pan and then experimenting with the baking time does not work! Either the brownies don't cook thoroughly or the caramel overcooks and burns. But other than that I love these brownies. I've taken then to YA and to a party and shared them with people who come to visit and they always seem to be a hit. Although my brother can't have them because of the caramel and his braces.

Butter Tart and Magic Chocolate Toffee Bars

Originally posted April 30, 2009

I got this recipe for butter tart bars from a family friend. It's modified a little from her recipe so that it fits in a 9x13 pan.

Butter Tart Bars

Crust
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 + 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 cup flour

Topping
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 + 1/8 cup butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup raisins
1 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9x13 pan. Mix together crust ingredients and press into pan. Bake for 20-25 min. Mix together eggs and brown sugar. Beat in the rest of the ingredients in order. Pour into crust and bake for another 30 min or so. It should be lightly brown and puffy all over. Cool and cut into squares.

These are tasty, although I think I still prefer butter tarts the original way. I used less raisins and more walnuts than the original recipe called for because I'm not a big fan of raisins. Also, you may have to fiddle with the cooking times a bit.

These are Magic Chocolate Toffee bars I made some modifications to the recipe so I'll post the original and then my changes at the bottom.

Magic Chocolate Toffee Bars

1 1/2 cups Chocolate Chips
3/4 cup flaked coconut
3/4 cup Toffee bits
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter (or margarine)
1 can sweetened condensed milk

My Modifications
Replace the coconut and almonds with about 1 cup of pecans

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 9x13 pan with PAM. Combine flour and sugar. Cut in butter until crumbly. Press firmly into pan. Bake for 12 min. While waiting, mix together all other ingredients (except for sweetened condensed milk) When the crust is done pour the condensed milk over the crust. Sprinkle with chocolate chip toffee nut mixture. Press down firmly. Bake for another 25-30 min. Cool and cut into bars.

These were so tasty my dad banned me from ever making them again.

Cajun Potato Wedges and Butter Tarts

Originally posted on Facebook May 11, 2009

Cajun Potato Wedges

4 potatoes, unpeeled
3 red onions, cut into wedges
1 lemon, cut into wedges
12 cloves of garlic
4 bay leaves
1/3 cup olive oil
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 F. Cut the potatoes into thick wedges. Parcook in salted boiling water for 3 min. Combine the potatoes, onions, lemon, garlic and bay leaves in a large roasting pan. In another bowl whisk together oil, lemon juice, tomato paste, paprika, oregano, thyme, cayenne and cumin. Pour over potatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Roast for 30-40 min, turning frequently until potatoes are tender and have absorbed the liquid. Serve hot.

Okay, so not baking but I made them for my mom for Mother's Day. Everyone else liked them but I'm not big on spicy.

Butter Tarts

1/2 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts
Frozen tart shells (unsweetened)

Cream butter and sugar. Mix in eggs. Add other ingredients and mix well. Spoon into tart shells. Bake at 425 for 10 min and then reduce heat to 350 and bake for a few more minutes until pastry is lightly browned.

I may have posted this during the Christmas bake-a-thon but its worth posting again. And its one of my Mom's favourites.

Butter Tarts and Homemade Candy

These were originally posted on Facebook May 11, 2009. I just made the candy again last night, with a twist!

Butter Tarts

1/2 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts
Frozen tart shells (unsweetened)

Cream butter and sugar. Mix in eggs. Add other ingredients and mix well. Spoon into tart shells. Bake at 425 for 10 min and then reduce heat to 350 and bake for a few more minutes until pastry is lightly browned.

Homemade Old Fashioned Sugar Glass Candy

2 cups white sugar
1 cup water
2/3 cup corn syrup (you're supposed to use light but I used regular)
1 tsp flavouring
A few drops of food colouring
Candy thermometer

Cover cookie sheet in parchment paper. In a heavy bottomed saucepan stir together sugar, water and syrup until sugar has dissolved. Then bring to a boil and cook until candy thermometer reaches 300-310 F or 149-154 C. Remove from heat and stir in flavouring and food colouring. Immediately pour onto cookie sheet. Break into pieces when cool.

This was my first attempt at making candy and I didn't expect it to turn out well. But it did! It was tasty, although I didn't put in any flavouring or food colouring but I will next time.

I made these again only this time I mixed some Kool-aid powder in with 1 1/2 tbsp of water and then mixed that in instead of the food colouring and flavouring. Mmmmm, cherry candy

Cupcake Fest: Part 2

I made these for a youth group get together a few weeks ago, originally posted June 14, 2009

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

1 package of white cake mix
1 cup water
3 egg whites
2 tbsp vegetable (canola) oil
1 can of frozen pink lemonade concentrate, thawed
Red food colouring

Preheat oven to 350, prepare 24 muffin cups. Mix together cake mix, water, egg whites, oil and and some of the pink lemonade. (The recipe book says 1/3 cup but I didn't think that tasted very pink lemonade-y so I used about half the container, basically put in as much or as little as you want) Add in some food colouring to make them as pink as you like. Spoon into muffin cups, bake for 18-22 minutes.

For icing, I just made my basic icing and added some of the pink lemonade until it tasted pink lemonade-y then I added more icing to thicken it up. But then I was running out of icing sugar which is why the icing in the pictures doesn't look very solid.

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

2 1/4 cup flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 2/3 cup sugar
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter (margarine), softened
2 tsp vanilla
3 egg whites
1 cup crushed Oreos (about 10)

Preheat oven to 350, prepare 24 muffin cups. Mix flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in sugar. Add milk, butter and vanilla. Add egg whites and stir. Mix in oreos. Bake 20-25 min.

I iced these with just regular vanilla icing and topped them with more crushed oreos.

I made these for my Young Adults group a week or so ago. Originally posted July 12, 2009

Hazelnut Cupcakes

1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup Nutella
1/3 cup butter (margarine), softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups milk

More Nutella

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare 18 muffin cups. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. In another bowl combine Nutella and margarine until smooth. Beat in sugar then eggs and vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with milk. Spoon butter into muffin cups. Bake for 20 minutes. When cooled, frost with Nutella. Top with chopped hazelnuts.

These were pretty amazing. Although I think it was entirely the amount of Nutella involved. The cupcake parts weren't particularly special but with the Nutella frosting they were pretty tasty. I think in the future I'd just make regular chocolate cupcakes, throw hazelnuts into the batter and then frost with Nutella. But still, they went over well at YA, one person I know at at least 3.

Nanimo Bars

Nanimo Bars are a Canadian Classic, I love them.

Originally posted on Facebook May 11, 2009

Crust
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
5 tbsp cocoa
1 egg, beaten
1 1/4 cup graham wafer crumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped almonds
1 cup coconut

Melt first three ingredients over double boiler. Add egg and cook to thicken. Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients. Press firmly into ungreased 8x8 pan.

Filling
1/2 cup butter
2 tbsp and 2 tsp cream
2 tbsp custard powder
2 cups icing sugar

Cream together and beat until light and then spread over bottom layer.

Topping
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate
2 tbsp butter

Melt together and spread over top.

This recipe is from the official City of Nanimo website. They are pretty tasty, although I think I'd use a bit more chocolate in the topping.

Classic Brownies with a Twist

Originally posted on Facebook June 30, 2009

I still haven't used up all the ingredients I bought when I was baking for my Grandma's birthday. The nuts will probably be going bad soon, so I decided to use them. I made my classic brownie recipe but then I added a twist. I took them to work today and they went over very well.

1/2 cup margarine (or butter)
6 tbsp cocoa powder (when doubling the recipe this equals about 3/4 cup)
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 8x8 pan. Melt margarine and cocoa powder. Set aside. Beat eggs. Beat in vanilla and sugar. Add cocoa mixture. Mix well. Add dry ingredients. Mix well. Pour into pan. Bake for 25 minutes.

I doubled the recipe and put it in a 9x13 pan. For nuts I used walnuts and for a twist I threw in about half a package of white chocolate chips for an extra surprise. They turned out rather well.