Tag Archives: chocolate

Almond Butter Truffles

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Almond butter is expensive. I buy mine from Costco (Kirklland brand) because it’s much cheaper and comes in a 27oz jar. You could substitute peanut butter too, the “all-natural” kind with the oil on top. Smuckers is a good brand. I’m betting you could also use sunflower nut butter here as well. Whatever you like. For the coconut flour, I used Bob’s Redmill. Shop around because you can find good prices on that. You also don’t have to use expensive chocolate for the topping either. This is a small, delicious treat. It satisfied my Justin’s almond butter cup craving.

Ingredients:

  • 1 C. almond butter
  • 1/2 C agave syrup
  • 5-6 TB coconut flour (more if your nut butter is smooth/oily
  • 1/2C melted dark chocolate chips

Directions:

Add almond butter, agave and coconut flour into a bowl and stir with a fork until all combined. Pop the bowl in the freezer for about 30 minutes, or until the dough is more firm. (Firm enough to roll into 2TB balls of dough). You’re going to have to eyeball the coconut flour. If you think you need more because the dough isn’t quite firm enough, then add more a tablespoon at a time. (That’s what I did). It all depends on how runny your almond butter is.

Put chocolate chips in microwave-safe bowl and cover with a paper towel. Nuke for 30 seconds take out bowl and stir, pop it back in for 20 seconds. (Mine took almost 2 cycles. Around 45 seconds.) You want to keep an eye on the chocolate because you don’t want it to burn!

When the dough is firm to the touch, roll it into about 2TB balls, and place on a parchment covered baking sheet. If, at this point the dough isn’t firm enough, pop it back into the freezer.

Use two forks and roll each ball of dough in the chocolate until covered. Or, if you would rather drizzle the chocolate that’s cool too. Place the truffles back onto the baking sheet. You’ll have 13, depending on how much dough you used for each truffle. Maybe I made mine too large. Hmm. I also sprinkled some Maldon sea salt on top. You can definitely make them smaller too. Place the baking sheet in the fridge for several hours until the truffles are firm. Store in airtight container. They’ll keep for a week. Probably less because you’ll eat them all.

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Quick, Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

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warm cookies=the best!

warm cookies=the best!

This recipe is similar to my almond butter chocolate chip cookies, but, I mixed up the nut butters and eggs.
These cookies come together very quickly and only require one bowl. Hooray! (Because who wants to do a lot of dishes? Not me!). I make these cookies when I’m craving peanut butter. (Try not to eat the dough, ahem).

  • 1 C. smooth peanut butter (I like to use the natural stuff with oil on top)*
  • 1/2 C. brown sugar
  • 1/4 C. white sugar**
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 C. dark chocolate chips (I use Ghiradelli 60% bittersweet chocolate chips)
  • Maldon Sea salt for sprinkling on top (optional)

Heat oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper, set aside.

In a large bowl mix first 6 ingredients well, until combined. Add chocolate chips and stir until they’re fully incorporated. Drop 2TB of dough, or, use a small cookie scoop (2tsp) onto the lined baking sheets (the cookies don’t spread, so, I was able to fit 15 on one sheet) Now, you’ll want to gently flatten the cookie dough balls with the palm of your hand and then use a fork to make the “crisscross” on top of the cookies. Sprinkle a little bit of sea salt on top too, if you like. Bake for 11-13 minutes. Keep an eye on them though. Remove cookies from oven and let them rest for 5 minutes. Cool on baking rack or plates. Store in airtight container. I put mine in the fridge, but, they’d be ok sitting on the counter in an airtight container for a couple days. Makes 2 dozen cookies when I used a 2tsp cookie scoop.

*Notes:

  1. You could reduce the sugar by only using 1/2 cup brown sugar, or 1/2 cup white. I like the flavors of dark or light brown sugar, so I used mostly that in the recipe.
  2. I prefer to use natural peanut butter because it has little to no sugar in it. Here, I used Smucker’s, but, any brand will do.
  3. I also used a tiny bit of Maldon Sea Salt to sprinkle on the top. Since you only use it sparingly in recipes, I think it’s worth the cost and I found it pretty cheap on Amazon

    4. .

Browned Butter Oatmeal Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

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oatmeal coconut chocolate chip cookies!

browned butter oatmeal coconut chocolate chip cookies!

This cookie has all my favorite flavors: browned butter, chocolate chips, oatmeal, coconut and a little bit of saltiness. You could also add some toasted pecans for an extra kick. Ahhhh!!! (head explodes).

  • 1 1/2 C AP flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 C unsalted butter
  • 1 tsp. fleur de sel (more for sprinkling on top of cookies)
  • 1 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
  • 1 tsp Vietnamese cinnamon
  • 1 1/4 C dark brown sugar
  • 1/8 – 1/4 c white sugar (I used about 1/8C)
  • 2 eggs, room temperature
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 TB molasses
  • 1 1/2 c. dark or bittersweet chocolate chips
  • 1 C unsweetened coconut (toasting optional)*
  • 3 C. old fashioned rolled oats (not steel cut. You could use instant, but I wouldn’t recommend it)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Brown the butter

To brown the butter: add two sticks to saucepan, on low to medium heat. Let butter melt, then it will froth/bubble up, stir it with spatula in order to prevent burning. The bubbles will die down and the butter will start to crackle. The proteins of the butter are sinking to the bottom and after a second bubbling, the bits on the bottom will start to turn a little brown and the butter will change to a more amber color. This whole process will take about 4-5 minutes. Don’t burn the butter, we want it browned. Remove from heat and transfer melted butter and brown bits to a bowl to cool while you assemble the other ingredients. I set my bowl of butter next to an open window, which speeded up the cooling down process. (As I’ve mentioned before, we don’t want to add hot butter to the eggs because we don’t want scrambled eggs).

Combine flour, salt, baking soda, spices in a bowl, set aside.

Once browned butter is cooled, add it to the bowl of a stand mixer, along with the sugars, mix until nice and smooth, which is 2 minutes or so. Add the vanilla, molasses and eggs and beat for three minutes until it’s light and smooth in texture. Then add the flour mixture and beat until combined. (PS-don’t do what I do sometimes and accidentally switch the mixer speed to medium or high, or else you’ll be covered in flour [it WAS funny at the time]. Start slow and then increase the mixer speed. Add the coconut, mix well. Using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, add the oatmeal and chocolate chips (and pecans if using).
I used a 2 tsp cookie scoop for the cookies because I thought a 1 1/2 TB scoop was too big. But, use whatever you prefer. Allow a couple inches between the cookies. You’ll want to gently flatten the cookie balls and add a sprinkle of fleur de sel to the tops. Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes. Keep an eye on them as you want the cookies to just be slightly brown around the edges. Once out of the oven, let cookies rest for 5 minutes, then cool on racks. Cookies will last a week in an airtight container…well, unless you have a Cookie Monster around.

*As I was talking about this recipe with G., I thought that toasting the coconut and then pulvarizing it using a spice grinder would be a good idea. That might be a more complex flavor element. Ah, next time!

Mom’s Toffee Bars

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I wanted to bake something for my friend’s birthday and bring said item into work. Of course when I asked her, ‘What is your favorite cookie?’ she didn’t have an answer. So, I debated…

I decided to bake something simple, a recipe that my mom always made for Matt and I when we were kids: Toffee Bars. I had been thinking of them for awhile and didn’t have the recipe on hand. Sure, I could look it up online, but I’d rather call mom and ask for it. It’s fairly simple, ingredients wise, but oh, so good! I remember whenever mom would make them as soon as she took them out of the oven and spread the chocolate chips on top I’d ask her if I could have one. She always said, ‘No, you have to wait until they’ve cooled off!’ To which I’d ask her every ten minutes, ‘are they cool yet??’

Mom always made these with margarine, but I only had butter on hand. Either works well. When I asked her if the butter had to be room temperature she said, ‘You know, Martha always says to do that and to have eggs at room temp, but I never do because I don’t think it matters.’ (I laughed and pretty much agreed*). She also always topped them with chopped walnuts too. I used milk and dark chocolate chips because that’s what was in my fridge.

Toffee Bars

1c. Butter or Margarine
1c. brown sugar (light or dark, I used dark)
1tsp. vanilla
1 egg yolk
2c. flour
1/2tsp. salt
1 bag of chocolate chips (less or more, depending on taste)
1/2c-1c. chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans, pistachios)
Sprinkle fleur de sel on top of melted chocolate

Set oven to 350 degrees. Spray or grease a 9″x13″ baking dish (glass or metal) and set aside.
Combine the flour and salt in small bowl, set aside. In a larger bowl, mix the butter, sugar and vanilla until creamy. Add egg yolk, mix well. Add flour mixture until fully combined. At first, the dough is really crumbly, but turn up the speed on the mixer and it will get more thick/heavy. Press dough evenly into pan and bake for about 20-25 min. You don’t want the dough to be browned, but lightly tan. Pour chips on dough and spread melted chips with knife or spatula. Let cool and cut into whatever size bar you choose. Store in airtight container. Will last for a week…depending on how many cookie monsters live in your house.

And yes, as soon as I spread the chocolate and set them on the table to cool, I cut myself a tiny piece, took a bite and said ‘Yep, just as excellent as I remember.’
I think my friend will be happy with the results.

*Though, lately mom and I have both realized there is a method to the madness. If any recipe you’re making calls for room temp. eggs or butter, follow it. Because, well, baking is all about science.