Three Things Thursday - Desserts

I really love desserts, but unfortunately, truly sinful ones are not included in my new diet. After all, that would totally defeat the purpose, right? Since I won't be posting any desserts until the baby weight comes off, here are three that I'd love to try.

Oreo Cupcakes

• Stephanie over at Stephanie Cooks is baking up chocolate mint cake batter cookies.
• Celeste at Sugar and Spice is whipping up a chocolate peanut butter cake that looks outstanding.
• Just in time for the cold weather, Nicole at three square is mixing up peppermint hot chocolate that sounds very tasty.

Happy Thursday, all! One more day until the weekend!

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Every Sunday my husband and I make breakfast. For the past few Sundays we have been making pancakes. Last week, I used this recipe, but they came out really flat. When I say flat, I mean flat. One pancake wasn't even as thick as a quarter. I had a feeling it may have been baking powder that lost its potency, to test that theory, I tried a different recipe this week.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Pancakes
adapted from Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook, Bridal Edition

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 beaten egg
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions

In a medium mixing bowl stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture; set aside.

In another medium mixing bowl combine the egg, milk, and cooking oil and vanilla extract. Add egg mixture all at once to the dry mixture. Stir just till moistened (batter should be lumpy). Mix in chocolate chips just before pouring batter. (They sink to the bottom quickly, so make sure you give it a good stir before each pour.)

For standard-size pancakes, pour about 1/4 cup batter onto a hot, lightly greased griddle or heavy skillet. For dollar-size pancakes, pour about 1 tablespoon batter onto a hot, lightly greased griddle or heavy skillet. Cook over medium heat about 2 minutes on each side or till pancakes are golden brown, turning to second sides when pancakes have bubbly surfaces and edges are slightly dry. Serve warm.



Servings: Makes 8 to 10 standard-size (4-inch) or 36 dollar-size (2-inch) pancakes (8 servings).

Chef's Notes
The verdict is that these pancakes were delicious, but still sort of on the flat side. The next time we're at the grocery store, I think I will be picking up a new package of baking powder.

Hungry for more pancake recipes? Check out my pancakes tag.

Turkey Chili

In prep for the big game this weekend, here's a great tasting chili recipe made with turkey. The recipe I'm posting below calls for either Wegmans brand or name brand items specifically, but I think it would taste the same if you used other products.

**BLOGGER DISCLOSURE** I didn't get anything for free from Wegmans however I did get a coupon in the mail for $2 off the ground turkey and $1 off the chicken stock used in this recipe. It should be noted that this coupon was delivered to everyone in the area, so no special treatment here!***

Turkey Chili
courtesy Menu Magazine

Ingredients



2 Tbsp Wegmans Pure Olive Oil
2 lbs Food You Feel Good About 94% Lean Ground Turkey
12 6 cloves Food You Feel Good About Peeled Garlic, minced
2 (about 1 lb) red peppers, 1/4-inch dice
2 pkgs (8 oz each) Food You Feel Good About Cleaned & Cut Diced Green Peppers 2 green peppers, diced
2 pkgs (8 oz each) Food You Feel Good About Cleaned & Cut Chopped Onions
2 Tbsp McCormick Gourmet Collection Mexican-Style Chili Powder
Salt to taste
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp Wegmans Soy Sauce
6 Food You Feel Good About Fresh Bay Leaves (or 2 dried)
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp ground cumin
2 cans (14.5 oz each) Wegmans Diced Tomatoes
1 carton (32 oz) Food You Feel Good About Chicken Culinary Stock
2 cans (15.5 oz each) Food You Feel Good About Great Northern Beans, rinsed and drained

Directions

Heat oil in large stockpot on MEDIUM-HIGH until oil faintly smokes. Add ground turkey. Crumble and sear until lightly browned, about 5 min.



Add garlic, peppers, and onions to browned ground turkey. Stir in chili powder, salt, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, bay leaves, cloves, and cumin.



Add tomatoes and stock. Bring to simmer; add beans. Continue to simmer, uncovered, on MEDIUM-LOW about 45 min, stirring occasionally. Discard bay leaves. Ladle chili into warmed bowls; serve.



Chef's Notes

I've never had chili with cloves in it and I think the next time I make it, I won't add them. After I ate the chili, all I could taste all day was cloves, which isn't exactly pleasant. I also added my secret ingredient to the chili:



unsweetened dark chocolate. I think it adds more texture and depth to the broth.The chili was also not very spicy. Next time I might add a jalapeno, or additional chili powder to kick it up a notch.

Icebox Cake

Need something quick and easy to take to a pot luck? I've got a great dessert that you can whip up in about 10 minutes, and it doesn't even require you to turn on your oven.

Nilla Wafer Icebox Cake
Kitchen Canister Original (stolen from my mom)

Ingredients

1 box of Nilla Wafers
1 large box of chocolate cook and serve jello-pudding
1 small box of vanilla cook and serve jello pudding
cool whip (optional)

Directions

In an 8x8 pan, arrange a layer of Nilla Wafers. Set aside enough wafers for two more layers.



Prepare chocolate and vanilla pudding according to directions on box at the same time.

As soon as the pudding comes to a boil, carefully spoon the chocolate over the Nilla wafers. Arrange another row of wafers and repeat with vanilla pudding.



Repeat with wafers and chocolate pudding. Add a last layer of wafers, if desired. Chill for about 1 hour in the fridge so the pudding can set. Cut into slices and top with whipped cream.



Chef's Notes

If you like bananas, you can substitute the middle layer of wafers for sliced bananas. I don't really like them so I omitted them.

Also, a note regardng the pudding layers. The pudding will be hot and more "liquidy" than a thick pudding because it hasn't set yet. Be careful not to pour too much at once or the wafers will displace. If this happens, just move them around with the back of a spoon.

"Perfectly Chocolate" Hot Cocoa

Brrr!! It's really cold outside in NJ this time of year. The perfect cure for this a decadent cup of hot chocolate. As a result of my recent baking exploits, I have a box of Hershey's unsweetened chocolate powder in my cupboard. On the side of the box is the following recipe.

"Perfectly Chocolate" Hot Cocoa
from Hershey's Kitchens

Ingredients

2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp Hershey's Cocoa
Dash salt
1 cup milk
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Mix sugar, cocoa, and salt in a large mug. Heat milk in microwave at HIGH for 1 1/2 minutes or until hot. Gradually add milk to cocoa mixture; stir well. Stir in vanilla. (I topped mine with whipped cream and added a peppermint stick; see below)



Review

When I was a kid, my mom usually made me and my brother hot chocolate by grabbing a swiss miss packet and mixing it with hot water. While this is really good, using milk makes it taste SO much better. This is the perfect dessert on a cold wintry day.

Almond Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Every weekend we make pancakes. It's a great change of pace from our weekday breakfast of cereal before work. I love pancakes because of their versatility. Like my favorite dinner meal, pizza, you can add almost anything to pancakes.

This weekend, I used the apple pancake recipe I got from smitten kitchen and modified it. Instead of apples, I used chocolate chips and roasted almonds.

Almond Chocolate Chip Pancakes
adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:

2 eggs, well beaten
1 1/2 cups of milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup chocolate chips
15 roasted almonds

Directions:

Mix the eggs with the milk or yogurt in a large bowl.In a smaller bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together. In a food processor, coarsely chop nuts and chips. (I pulsed on high until the chips/almonds looked like tiny pebbles. Instead of getting big gobs of chocolate in some bites, the chocolate melted throughout the pancake.)

Combine the wet and the dry ingredients and stir in the processed mixture of nuts and chocolate chips.

Heat a thin layer of oil in a skillet over low to medium heat.(Note: I don't like to use oil on my pancakes, so I just use a non-stick skillet to cook them). Drop a large spoonful of batter into the pan and flatten it out a little (otherwise, you might have trouble getting them to cook in the center) and cook until golden brown underneath. Flip the pancakes and cook them for an additional two or three minutes.

Either dust with powdered sugar and serve immediately, or keep on a tray in a warmed oven until you are ready to serve them.



Servings: about 20 medium sized pancakes

Black and White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Last weekend, we held our annual winter party. This year, the theme was "Ready to Rock" and everyone came in their favorite band's t-shirt. We set up our Rock Band instruments for xBox and the party was quite a success. To keep everyone satisfied, we ordered pizza and I cooked up a bunch of snacks. One of the dessert items were Black and White Chocolate Chip Cookies.

I found the recipe a couple weeks ago on The Hungry Mouse. If you click over to her post, you'll see the cookies I made are much darker than hers. I'm not sure where I went wrong, but the cookies still turned out great. I think I may have used too many oreos (which isn't necessarily a bad thing!).

Black and White Chocolate Chip Cookies
originally from The Hungry Mouse blog

Ingredients:



11 Tbls. butter (that’s 2/3 of a cup)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 1/4 cups chocolate chips
20 Oreos (or other creme-filled chocolate cookies)

Directions:
About a half an hour before baking, take out the butter and let it soften up.

Place the oreos in a gallon sized zip top bag and smash the cookies into small pieces with a rolling pin. When finished, there should be about 2 cups of crushed oreo. Set aside.



Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper and set aside.

Combine the white and brown sugar in the mixer bowl. Add the vanilla extract. Toss in the egg and softened butter. Using the paddle beater, beat on medium-high for a minute until ingredients come together.



Add the flour, baking soda and salt to the bowl and beat on medium-high until the dry ingredients are well combined with the wet, scraping the sides of the bowl when necessary.



Add the chocolate chips. Once the chips are mixed in, add the oreos. Beat on medium-high until well combined.



Drop spoon sized balls of dough onto the cookie sheets, spacing them out evenly. Bake for about 13 minutes at 350 degrees (NOTE: I only baked mine for 10 minutes and they came out perfect) Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool.



Servings: About 2 dozen



Review:
These cookies are really good. They are sort of crunchy. Just like a regular oreo, though go great with a glass of milk. Everyone at the party loved them.

***NOTE*** I will be submitting this to foodblogga's Christmas cookie roundup. Click the picture below for details on how to submit your favorite cookie recipe. The deadline is Sunday December 21st!

Lessons Learned

I've come to realize that in trying new things also come a couple lessons. The one I learned tonight while making these brownies almost turned on the sprinklers in our apartment!!

I prepared the whole recipe and thought to myself, "wow, this baking-from-scratch isn't really so hard". When the batter was ready, I poured it in the pan and popped it in the oven. A minutes or so later I smelled this weird burning (not like batter burning, like plastic). I open up the oven and smoke comes billowing out. I did not have parchment paper, so I used waxed paper instead. Hence, the lesson for tonight - waxed paper burns in the oven. 

Now I had to act quick and transfer the brownie batter to a pan that I could finish the brownies in. With the help of Mr. Tomato, we successfully transferred the batter without losing any. All was not lost! Now, without further adue - the brownie recipe. 

Amaretto Chocolate Brownies with Walnuts

adapted from Tyler's Ultimate, episode Ultimate Rainy Day

Ingredients:

2 sticks unsalted butter, plus more for pan

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips

1 1/4 c. all purpose flour

pinch of salt

4 large eggs

2 cups sugar

2 tablespoons amaretto

1 1/2 c walnuts

powdered sugar for garnishing

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a 9x9 square baking pan with parchment paper, making sure paper hangs over the edges. Grease the paper with butter so the brownies don't stick. Melt butter and chocolate over a double boiler and stir gently until smooth and shiny. Remove from the heat and cool slightly.

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl and set aside. Whisk together eggs, sugar and amaretto in a mixing bowl until combined.  Pour in chocolate mixture and continue to whisk until combined.  Gradually add flour mixture, then add walnuts and combine with a wooden spoon. Transfer batter to baking pan and bake for 40-45 min or until cake tester comes out clean when inserted in the middle of the pan. When done, invert onto a cutting board and remove paper. Cut into squares, garnish with powdered sugar and serve.

Servings: Makes 12 brownies

Modifications: 

1. I used smart balance instead of butter.

2. I don't own a double boiler so I melted the chocolate/butter in the microwave.

3. I couldn't find bittersweet chips at the store, so I used baking squares

4. after the waxed paper debacle, i just greased a pan with cooking spray and hoped for the best.

5. i don't really like walnuts, so I used almonds instead.

6. the first pan i used was a 9x11 and the second pan i used was 6x6, so i ended up with very thick brownies.

7. I cut the A/P flour in half and also used whole wheat flour.

8. I only used 1 1/4 c. almonds and it was still a lot!

Review:

 

So far, I seem to be 2 for 2 with these new recipes I am trying. Mr. Tomato loved the brownies but wished I went for the walnuts instead of the almonds. As far as the almonds, I thought they tasted great, but would definitely put less in next time - maybe just 1 cup. The brownies themselves came out almost perfect. They were a tiny bit burned on the edges (which I learned today was because I used a dark pan), but were just the right consistency when you bite into them - soft and gooey. I will definitely be trying this recipe out again.