Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Andrea

The other day I was surfing around looking at different recipes for stuff when I stumbled up on a chocolate chip cookie cooked in a cast iron skillet.

Whoa! Back that train up!

They completely had my attention because that sounds darn good! I looked at the recipe and immediately started figuring out how I could make my own.

Everyone’s heard of those BIG chocolate chip cookies sometimes people use in place of birthday cakes. But this? This is a completely different concept.

It really is just a basic chocolate chip cookie cooked in a cast iron skillet which results in a thicker cookie with a gooey middle.

I wasted no time in making my own version.

Andrea’s Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie

1C Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

1C White Whole Wheat Flour

1/3C Unsweetened Coconut Milk (Found in the dairy aisle, not the canned kind)

2 1/2TBSP Unsalted Butter, room temp + 1/2TBSP

1 Egg, room temp

Italian Chocolate Meatball Cookies

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Andrea

For the Holiday Cookie Exchange, I was paired up with Jess! She sent along her recipe for Italian Chocolate Meatball Cookies.

I made a few changes to accomodate what I had on hand along with adjusting to suit our tastes.

Below is the original recipe from Jess:

Italian Chocolate Meatball Cookies

from Dianna Petrella’s recipe (a family friend)

Ingredients

1 cup shortening (yes, you have to use shortening or something like Earth Balance – unfortunately butter just doesn’t work right)

1.5 cup granulated sugar

3 eggs

1 cup warm milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

5 cups all-purpose flour

5 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup cocoa powder (Hershey’s, Ghirardelli, or Scharffen Berger are good)

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cloves

1 cup walnuts (finely chopped)

1 cup raisins

1 cup chocolate chips

Instructions

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl (ideally you would do this in a stand mixer if you have one; I wouldn’t recommend a hand mixer unless you’ve got an industrial strength one). Roll into balls. Bake at 350º for 10-15 minutes. Cool and dip tops into confectionary sugar frosting and sprinkle tops with confetti. Freeze for up to three months. Yields 4-5 dozen.

For frosting, mix 3 cups confectionary sugar, 2 Tbsp milk, and 1 tsp vanilla extract.

My adapations are as follows:

Coffee and Cocoa Rub

Posted on September 30, 2011 by Andrea

You all know that I love a good rub down. Personally I’ll take a well rubbed hunk of animal over a marinated one any day of the week.

And twice on Sundays please.

Because of this I’m constantly creating new rubs and trying out different seasoning combos.

One that I couldn’t get out of my head was using coffee grounds in the rub.

If we had a compost pile or actually planted things around the house, those coffee grinds would be put to good use. For now they end up getting tossed and I feel like that is such a waste. I’ve been looking for new uses for them.

Some are to eat and some are for the body.

I decided to try out some of the grounds in a rub and both of us were pretty pleased with the results.

Andrea’s Coffee and Cocoa Dry Rub

1TBSP Coffee Grounds (whatever you used that morning is fine)

Chocolate For Breakfast

Posted on September 7, 2011 by Andrea

When it comes to eating healthy and eating real food, I admit that I love smashing all the “rules” that are forced upon us from out of no where.

One of my favorite rules to break is the:

You can’t eat chocolate for breakfast.

Who started this nonsense? More importantly, why in the world do we listen to it?

Chocolate is a perfectly acceptable breakfast ingredient. It’s a nice little treat and a lovely little surprise to start our day.

It makes ordinary things a lot more special. And a lot more yummy!

While I admit that chocolate isn’t something I want everyday for breakfast, I certainly don’t think it should only be regulated to desserts or as an after dinner treat.

Chocolate can be used in a variety of ways and should be embraced a lot more openly!

We can have chocolate any time we want!

Some ways that we like chocolate:

Chocolate Coconut Oats

Buzzin Bars

Posted on August 19, 2011 by Andrea

Last week Scott left for a business trip that had him away from the house for about a week. He was flying off to San Francisco to geek out about code and be in his element.

Because I knew that eating times might be odd and because I know Scott, this meant he would need to take some food along with him.

He was taking a carry on which meant that the food had to be small, easy to carry, and not prone to spoilage. And since I knew that these could very well be a meal source, I knew that they had to be jam packed with good stuff. Stuff that could get you through a couple of hours.

I like using soaked dates in bars and coffee cakes because it adds a nice sweetness without being over powering. Plus they are a great source of fiber and potassium.

Plus I wanted to do something fun so I added an extra little kick to these bars.

Rookie Mistake

Posted on August 3, 2011 by Andrea

Several weeks ago I was able to get some chocolate for an outstanding deal. The only one that caught my eye was this Ghirardelli Toffee Interlude bar.

Dark chocolate, toffee bits, and carmalized almonds.

Sounds fantastic, right?

I’ve had Ghirardelli in the past and it’s a pretty sound chocolate. Not the best ever but decent and their ingredients list is typically on the up and up.

I didn’t think much of it and pick up a few bars because like I said, this was on sale for a crazy deal.

A little while goes by and I try a square. And I disliked it.

“Scott, for dark chocolate this tastes ridiculously sweet. Ick.”

I don’t care for “sweets” which is why I love to eat dark chocolate.

I decided maybe my taster was off and gave it another taste a few days later. Again, I really didn’t like it. It was over-poweringly sweet. The toffee and almond bits were so small I didn’t think it could be from that.

Chocolate Coconut Oats

Posted on April 5, 2011 by Andrea

Most times I’m just a regular old fashioned oats girl with no frills. I used to make all kinds of combos but then I moved away from that and became more old school. Or plain. However you want to label it. I found comfort in regular oats.

But some days we just need something fun. Some days we need a little pick-me-up.

Some days we just need some dang chocolate.

And on those days, I get a little sassy with my oats and make something super yummy. Nothing too terribly fancy and I’m sure others have been doing this for a while but this is my take on a classic flavor combo.

Chocolate and coconut!

Andrea’s Chocolate Coconut Oats

1C Old Fashioned Oats

1.5C Plain Soymilk (or liquid of your choice)

1 Ripe banana

1TBSP Wheat Germ

1TBSP Ground Flax

1TBSP Coconut Butter

1TBSP Unsweetened Cocoa powder

2TBSP Dried Unsweetened Coconut

Extra coconut and dark chocolate chips for garnish

In a small pot, add in the soymilk and the banana. Mash the banana around and then add in the cocoa and coconut butter. Heat over medium-high heat until the soymilk just begins to bubble. Add in the oats and reduce heat to medium-low. Also add in the ground flax, wheat germ, and dried coconut. Stir and allow to cook for about 5-7 minutes until the oats soften and the mixture starts to thicken up. Remove from heat, spoon into bowls, and top with chocolate chips and coconut for garnish. Makes enough for two bowls of oats.

Chocolate Quinoa Bread

Posted on April 30, 2010 by Andrea

It’s the end of the month which means we are wrapping up Quinoa Month! What better way to end the month than with some chocolate!

I originally set out to make brownies but this experiment turned out a lot more quick bread-like and not so brownie-like. However it’s still super tasty and full of chocolate goodness!

Andrea’s Chocolate Quinoa Bread

1C Whole wheat pastry flour
1/2C Unbleached All-Purpose flour
1 1/2C Cooked quinoa
1/4C Cane sugar
1/4C Unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2tsp Baking powder
1tsp Baking soda
1/2tsp Ground cinnamon
1TBSP Ground flax
Pinch salt
Pinch cayenne pepper
1/2C Crushed walnuts
1/2C Dark chocolate chips
1 1/4C Soymilk
1/2C Coffee
2tsp Vanilla Extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a brownie pan or 8inch square casserole dish with nonstick spray, set aside. In a medium size mixing bowl combine the soymilk, vanilla, and coffee. In a large mixing bowl combine all other ingredients except the walnuts and chocolate chips. Whisk to get all ingredients combined and fluffed. Add in the nuts and chocolate chips, then add in the soymilk mixture. Gently stir until everything is combined and then add the mixture to the baking dish. The batter is a bit thick so make sure that you even it out with a spoon once it’s in the baking dish. Place in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Vegan Chocolate Pudding

Posted on January 8, 2010 by Andrea

The first time I had vegan chocolate pudding was when I picked up a small container of it from Whole Foods. I read the ingredient list which was not scary nor was it long, so I dumped into the cart. It did use silken tofu as a base and while I don’t really dig on tofu, I decided to be open-minded and give it a try.

From that point we were hooked and would purchase it on occasion when making a Whole Foods trip. However, like most things at Whole Foods, their pudding was overpriced and on the small side (sorry WF but you know it’s true). I decided to look into making my own. I checked a few recipes online just to get a basic idea of what is needed, reviewed the ingredient list of the Whole Foods version and started experimenting.

What I am currently doing takes no more than like five minutes prep time and uses only four ingredients. It’s still a work in progress but so far it’s damn tasty and when your husband begs you to make him some Vegan Chocolate Pudding, it’s safe to assume you are on the right track.

Reindeer Crunch

Posted on December 20, 2009 by Andrea

I have come across a snack mix that is typically referred to as Puppy Chow. It is a snack mix that is covered with tons of powdered sugar and is typically seen during the holiday season. Has it made an appearance near you?

I have never eaten this snack mix before. First of all it’s covered in powdered sugar which means it’s gonna be major sweet. And secondly, it’s called Puppy Chow for frack’s sake. I’m not eating that. At the risk of sounding totally snotty, I don’t even feed my dog kibble, you think I’m gonna touch something that is named after some crappy dog food?

Fat chance.

I don’t know what prompted me to look into this snack mix a bit further but I did and realized that it’s pretty easy to make.

I decided to come up with my own recipe because most of the other recipes I saw used lots of butter or shortening. Even the vegan versions used vegan shortening.