Minty Mascarpone Oreo Snowflake Cookies

When I saw the announcement for the Second Annual Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap I knew exactly what I wanted to make and send out. It's the cookie recipe I had in mind for last year, but I got sidetracked by an old family Gingersnap recipe and sent those out instead.

I was drawn to this Minty Mascarpone Oreo Snowflake Cookie because it combined a very classic Italian ingredient (mascarpone—a yummy slightly sweet Italian-stye cream cheese) and a favorite American element (Oreos!) that you can't find in Italy. Basically, this cookie is a fusion of the two places I now call home.

Before sending them out to my three cookie swap partners (Jamie at The Gaited Baker, KT with Ktvorwald, and Kristina at Love and Zest), I sent out several dozen to my husband and voluntold asked him to share them with his crew. He's my go-to man for quality control, so I had to make sure they passed the taste test, and who better to have taste the cookies than a bunch of hungry, deployed airmen? Not only did they make it there in one piece (woohoo!), but he said everyone devoured them. I made half with mint and half without, and everyone enjoyed them, so if you don't have mint—or the mint Oreos—on hand, don't fret.

These cookies are soft, chewy, and almost creamy thanks to the smooth addition of mascarpone. The little bits of Oreos add a slight crunch and just enough chocolate to make things fun. Add in a touch of mint and you'll have yourself a perfect holiday cookie!

 Minty Mascarpone Oreo Snowflake Cookies

by The Tale of Two Kitchens; adapted from Kevin and Amanda

Ingredients:
1 cup butter
4 oz mascarpone cheese (125 grams)
1 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
2.5 cups flour
1.5 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp mint extract
10 crushed Oreo cookies (regular or mint flavored)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 F. Cream butter and mascarpone for about 3 minutes. Slowly beat in sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg yolk, vanilla, and mint. Slowly beat in the flour until mixed. Stir in crushed Oreo cookies. Scoop or spoon cookie dough on to a cookie sheet and bake at 325 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Makes around 3 dozen cookies (when using a medium-sized cookie scoop).

A very special thanks to those who sent me delicious cookies:

Adri from Food-n-Thought 

Rachel from Williams Kitchen

Hannah from Blue Kale Road

Chocolate Lover's Cake Brownies

We've been in a brownie frenzy over here lately. To be honest, it's because the boxed brownie mixes were on sale at the store and I picked up way more than we'll ever need. They're just so convenient and let's face it, they taste pretty fantastic.

But the other day I was in a mood to bake, so I used a recipe I've had my eye on and got my bake on. Once I started mixing everything together I was a little surprised at how liquidy the batter was, so I decided to forego adding nuts to the mix (I love pecans or walnuts in my brownies). That turned out to be a good decision, since these were great all on their own.

The end result produced a definite cake-like brownie that was light and fluffy, moist, and had a smooth chocolate flavor. I added cinnamon to the recipe and I loved tasting a hint of spice with each bite. I'd like to try making these a bit healthier in the future, because I had a really hard time not eating the entire batch; I sent them all (minus one or two) with my husband to work. He said they were gone within a couple hours.

Chocolate Lover's Cake Brownies

slightly adapted from Kikkoman

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour 
1 teaspoon baking powder 
1/4 teaspoon baking soda 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
1-1/4 cups granulated sugar 
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 teaspoon cinnamon 

2/3 cup vegetable oil 

2 eggs 
1-1/2  teaspoon vanilla extract 
3/4 cup Pearl Chocolate 
Organic Soymilk 
Powdered sugar (optional)

Directions:
Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Mix together granulated sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, and 1/3 cup boiling water in large mixing bowl with wooden spoon. Add oil, eggs and vanilla; beat lightly until just combined. Alternately add flour mixture and soymilk, beating after each addition.


Pour batter into nonstick 15 x 10-inch jelly roll baking pan.Bake in preheated 350°F oven 18 minutes, or until wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool completely on wire rack. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired.

*These brownies are part of a giveaway sponsored by Kikkoman on Jessica Lynn Writes

Brandy Truffles

I haven't made truffles in years, and I figured there would be no better time to make them then Valentines Day. I love the dark chocolate that goes into these and how rich and amazing they are once all the steps are completed. It will truly be hard to keep from eating them in the process. I'll admit it is a long process but so worth the wait. And the brandy makes them an extra special grown up treat. The perfect chocolatey dessert for a special evening.

Brandy Truffles
Recipe Courtesy of Alton Brown

Ingredients:
10 ounces bittersweet chocolate (finely chopped)
3 Tbsp butter (unsalted)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp light corn syrup
1/4- 1/2 cup brandy
8 oz semisweet chocolate
Cocoa powder, finely chopped nuts, dusting sugar, powdered sugar, etc. (for coating)

Directions:
Melt 10 oz of chocolate with 3 Tbsp of butter in a microwave safe mixing bowl for 30 seconds. Remove and stir, repeat one more time. Set aside.
Heat the heavy cream and corn syrup in a put over medium heat until just simmering. Remove from the heat and pour it over the chocolate and butter mixture. Let it sit for 2 minutes. Stir gently with a rubber spatula until it's melted and becomes smooth. Once it's creamy stir in the brandy. Pour the chocolate mixture into an 8 by 8 baking dish (I like using an 8 inch cake pan) refrigerate for 1 hour.

Remove the chocolate from the fridge and scoop it out with a melon baller onto a sheet. Place in the refrigerator for half an hour.

Put your coatings in separate pie pans or plates.

Heat 8 oz of chocolate over a double boiler until melted. You'll need to adjust the heat up and down until you achieve 90-92 degrees F. Try to not let it go over 94 degrees. You want the coating to have a nice snap to it and if you go past 94 degrees you wont get that snap in the chocolate. Adjust the heat to maintain the correct temperature.

Take the truffles out of the refrigerator and roll them into balls using the palms of your hands. I would definitely wear latex gloves at this point or else your hands will be covered in chocolate goo.

Dip an ice cream scoop or large spoon into the melted chocolate and roll it upside down to remove excess chocolate. If there is too much chocolate on the spoon it will make the coating process messier and they will take longer to set up. Place the truffles 1 at a time into the scoop/spoon and roll around until coated. Place the truffle in your coating of choice (I used chopped walnuts, red sugar sprinkles, cocoa powder, and white chocolate). Roll it around to coat then leave it in the coating for 10 to 15 seconds. Coat all the truffles and place them on a parchment lined sheet pan and allow them to set for at least 1 hour. Either in an airtight container in the fridge or in a cool dry place. Serve at room temperature.

DIY Hot Cocoa Cones

*This was originally posted over here as a wedding favor, but it's so gosh-darn cute, cheap, and easy to make that it'd be perfect for a stocking stuffer or a little Christmas gift. This would also be perfect with a cider, tea, homemade hot chocolate mix, or even powdered lemonade in the summer.


We had a hard time justifying the cost of including favors at our wedding. Simply put, favors can be really, really expensive for something that typically gets thrown away. I wanted something that would fit with our wedding and that would actually be (hopefully) used after our guests went home.

After searching and searching, I finally found these Hot Cocoa Vials and fell in love.

Everything was perfect until I priced everything out for the above DIY favor and found they'd cost around $1 per favor, which would come out to around $150 and that's way more than we wanted to spend...so the search continued. 

Then I found Hot Cocoa Cones...

source

PERFECT! I found several different tutorials on how to make them, so I set out to make our own.

My mom and I made our favors for less than $.40 each and in under 10 steps:

 

Cast of Characters (to make 150 cones) *obviously, make some changes if you don't want make that many hot cocoa cones!

(3) 100, 12" Disposable Decorating Bags (bought these from Michaels using their 40 and 60% off coupons - regularly $19.99)
(2) Nesquick chocolate powder (we got ours from Costco for around $6)
(2) 75 teeny, tiny hair ties ($5)
(4) Marshmallows (from Walmart, $1 each)
Yarn (Michaels for $2.50)
Favor tags
Total spent: (around) $56. We made 150, so they came out to $.37 each!

  Step 1: Cut decorating bags to around 6.5"

Step 2: Fill bag with 2 tablespoons (or whatever your chocolate powder suggests) with chocolate*:

Step 3: Use the teeny, tiny hair tie to close off the chocolate. (You may need to cut the access bag after tying it off. The picture below, for example, should be cut so there's just about a 1/2 inch of bag showing after the hair tie.)

Step 4: Insert chocolate filled cone into another decorating bag; make sure seams line up.

Step 5: Scoop out a 1/4 cup of marshmallows and poor into decorating bag on top of the chocolate cone.

Step 6: Tie a piece of ribbon, yarn, or string above the marshmallows. You need to make this tight so the marshmallows don't dry out. I tied it into two knots:

Step 7: After string is secure around bag, add your favor tag and tie it into a pretty bow. (I simply created one in a Word document, but you could easily just add a gift tag!)

Step 8: Repeat as many times as necessary

And there you have it, a quick, easy, and cheap DIY favor or Christmas gift!

Puppy Chow

My best friend introduced me to this sweet snack over the summer, but I had yet to make it...until now. Yesterday I stopped by the grocery store and Chex was on sale, so I figured I'd make some for a get-together at my friend's house.

Puppy Chow (I've also heard it called Monkey Munch and Muddy Buddies) is not suitable as a dog treat, but is a very tasty treat! Crunchy Chex cereal mingles with creamy chocolate and peanut butter, a hint of cinnamon*, and powdered sugar. Try it once and you'll be back for more. Did I mention this is easy, too? I made made this and was out the door within 15 minutes. Now that's the kind of "cooking" I like!

Puppy Chow

adapted from Betty Crocker

Ingredients:
9 cups Corn, Rice, Wheat, or Chocolate Chex cereal (or a combination)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup margarine
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Directions 
In large bowl, measure and pour cereal; set aside. In small, microwavable bowl, heat chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter uncovered on High 1 minute; stir. Microwave 30 more seconds or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Pour into two-gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag. Add powdered sugar and cinnamon. Seal bag; shake until well coated. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in airtight container in fridge.

 

*The original recipe doesn't call for cinnamon, but I'm a huge believer in adding cinnamon whenever possible, especially alongside something sweet with chocolate. Give it a try, it's a good addition! 

Healthy Birthday Cake

I made this Castle Cake for a birthday party this past weekend. It was a very special cake. For one, it was for my niece, and two it was made of black beans!! I'll admit when I first heard black bean chocolate cake, I was nervous. My sister has an allergy to gluten and dairy. And also a sugar intolerance. It's hard living with food allergies and also makes it very hard to find any sweets worth having. With some research she found a fabulous gluten free, dairy free, very low sugar black bean chocolate cake recipe. We made a test cake and could not believe how good it tasted! You certainly couldn't tell it was made of beans! It was a completely healthy cake, and no one had to feel guilty eating it. Don't be afraid of the name or have an nervousness about this cake, it's so GOOD!


Ingredients:
1-15 ounce can of unseasoned black beans
5 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons Coconut oil
3/4 cup Erythritol or (1/3 cup Honey + 1 tsp Stevia)
1/2 tsp Stevia (if using erythritol)
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 Tbsp water (omit if using honey)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease your cake pan with cooking spray or shortening. Since this is a no flour cake dust cocoa all over the cake, make sure to get it one the sides as well. This will prevent the cake from sticking to the pan.

Drain the beans and rinse the beans, you don't want any bean juice. Shake off excess water. Put beans, 3 of the eggs, vanilla, stevia, and salt in a food processor or blender. Blend until everything is liquefied. Make sure to get all the lumps out. Mix cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder in a bowl. In a separate bowl beat coconut oil and erythritol or honey (I used honey) until fluffy. Add 2 eggs, one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each one. Combine bean and egg mixture. Mix in cocoa powder and beat the batter on high until smooth. Put the batter in a pan and tap the pan on the counter to pop air bubbles.

Bake for 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Or until the cake is firm. If the cake is over baked it will be really crumbly and not as moist. Let the cake cool and turn out and set on a cooling rack until room temperature. The cake can be wrapped and refrigerated for a few days. Ice with your frosting of choice and ENJOY! It's really good with cream cheese or chocolate frosting. I made a tofutti cream cheese frosting, it was delicious. I'll post the recipe later on.