Chocolate Chip Caramel Cookies

It's hard to improve upon a chocolate chip cookie but I was looking for a way to jazz it up a bit. I was thinking caramel so after plugging "chocolate chip caramel cookie" into Google I came up with the following recipe from Gourmet.

The most labor-intensive part of this recipe is first unwrapping all of the caramels, then chopping them up. It gave my rather pathetic knife skills quite a workout. These cookies were gobbled up eagerly by Dennis and my co-workers. I recommend heating them up before eating, only because the caramel does harden a bit so it might be hard to chew. Plus warm chocolate chip cookies always taste better, don't they?

Chocolate Chip Caramel Cookies (From Gourmet)

Makes about 50 cookies

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
• 1 t vanilla
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 10 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 25 caramels such as Kraft, chopped coarse (about 1 cup)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix caramels with about 1 T of measured flour and then chop caramel into small pieces. Set aside.

In a bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl with an electric mixer cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, and beat in flour mixture.

Stir chocolate and caramels into dough and drop rounded tablespoons about 2 inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake cookies in batches in middle of oven 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden. Cool cookies on baking sheets on racks until firm. Cookies keep in airtight containers 5 days.

Marshmallow Crunch Brownies

So at this point it's fairly obvious that Dennis loves chocolate and marshmallows. So a recipe that combines those flavors with brownies and peanut butter gives you (in my opinion) a pretty perfect dessert.

This is another recipe that called for espresso powder to make the chocolate flavor just a bit more intense. It also originally called for bittersweet chocolate in the brownies and milk chocolate for the crispy topping. I just subbed in semi-sweet chocolate for both. Pretty much anytime a recipe calls for milk chocolate I'll use a darker chocolate in its place.

Everyone loved these. The contrasting textures (chewy brownie base, crunchy Rice Krispie topping) and chocolate/peanut butter flavor combination makes them hard to beat.

Marshmallow Crunch Brownie Bars (Adapted from Culinary in the Desert)

For the brownie layer

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
11 tablespoons (about 2/3 cup) unsalted butter
7.5 ounces (about 1 1/4 cups) chopped semi-sweet chocolate, divided
1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla

For the topping

10.5 ounces miniature marshmallows
9 ounces (about 1 1/2 cups) chopped semi-sweet chocolate
1 cup smooth peanut butter (to measure the peanut butter you can spray the measuring cup with cooking spray and the peanut butter will slide right out)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups Rice Krispies cereal

To prepare the brownies

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium saucepan, add unsweetened chocolate, butter and 4.5 ounces (about 3/4 cup) semi-sweet chocolate - melt over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Remove from the heat, stir in espresso powder and set aside to cool for 5 minutes

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.

In a large bowl , whisk together eggs. Whisk in sugar and vanilla until well combined. Gradually add melted chocolate mixture, stirring until combined and smooth. Add dry ingredients and stir just until combined - fold in remaining 3 ounces (1/2 cup) bittersweet chocolate.

Scoop batter into a 9" x 13" baking pan coated with nonstick spray, smoothing the top with a spatula. Place into the oven and bake until a toothpick placed near the corner of the pan comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and immediately scatter the marshmallows evenly over the top. Place pan back into the oven to soften the marshmallows, about 3 more minutes.

To prepare the topping

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, add semi-sweet chocolate, peanut butter and butter - heat over low heat, stirring, until smooth and combined. Remove from the heat and stir in Rice Krispies until thoroughly coated. Set aside and allow to cool for 3 to 5 minutes. Spread mixture evenly over the marshmallow layer on top of the brownies. Place pan into the refrigerator and chill until firm before cutting.

Makes about 24 bars.

Fudge Brownies

I've been on the search for a homemade brownie recipe that's as good as the one you get from the box. You know the kind - chewy, chocolaty, the perfect dessert to top with a scoop of ice cream. Finally, success!

The secret ingredient in these brownies is espresso powder. Apparently this ingredient is hard to find and can be expensive. So rather than shell out the big bucks for it I just purchased some instant espresso in the international foods aisle at Wegmans. It worked fine and was about half the price.

These brownies were a hit with Dennis and my co-workers. They all agreed that the chocolate in the brownies really came through. I asked Dennis for any additional comments and he said the consistency was perfect and also requested that I add them to the regular baking rotation. Sounds like a winner to me.

Fudge Brownies (from King Arthur Flour)

* 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

* 2 1/4 cups sugar

* 4 large eggs

* 1 1/4 cups Double-Dutch Dark Cocoa or Dutch-process cocoa

* 1 teaspoon salt

* 1 teaspoon baking powder

* 1 teaspoon espresso powder

* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

* 1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

* 2 cups chocolate chips

Directions

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan

2) In a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl, or in a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine. Return the mixture to the heat (or microwave) briefly, just until it's hot (about 110°F to 120°F), but not bubbling; it'll become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating this mixture a second time will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies.

3) While the sugar heats a second time, crack the 4 eggs into a bowl, and beat them with the cocoa, salt, baking powder, espresso powder, and vanilla till smooth.

4) Add the hot butter/sugar mixture, stirring until smooth.

5) Add the flour and chips, again stirring until smooth. Note: If you want the chips to remain intact in the baked brownies, rather than melting in, let the batter cool in the bowl for about 20 minutes before stirring in the chips.

6) Spoon the batter into a lightly greased 9" x 13" pan.

7) Bake the brownies for about 30 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, or with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it. The brownies should feel set on the edges, and the center should look very moist, but not uncooked. Remove them from the oven and cool on a rack before cutting and serving.

Raspberry Chocolate Chip Scones

Dennis finally ate all of the blueberry crumb muffins so I had the task of coming up with another breakfast food. I came across this recipe for Raspberry Chocolate Chip scones and was intrigued. I've never made scones before but this had Dennis's favorite flavor combination so I couldn't resist.

I used frozen raspberries since fresh raspberries aren't really in season now. I think they worked out fine - it just made the dough really cold and I had to work quickly before they started to completely defrost.

I definitely don't think they turned out perfect. Dennis said the texture was good, though the outside was a bit chewy. I also didn't do the best job cutting them. I told him some are for when he's a little hungry and some are for when he's very hungry... So next time I'll definitely try to cut it in more even portions. But I don't think they turned out too bad for my first scone attempt.

Chocolate Chip Raspberry Scones (from Joy of Baking)

2 cups all purpose flour (I used ½ all-purpose, ½ white whole wheat)

1/3 cup granulated white sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces

2 ounces dark chocolate chunks or chips (about 1/3 cup)

3/4 cup fresh or frozen raspberries

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and place rack in middle of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Stir in the chocolate chunks (chips) and raspberries. In a small measuring cup whisk together the yogurt, vanilla extract, and egg. Add this mixture to the flour mixture and stir just until the dough comes together. Do not over mix.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead the dough gently four or five times and then pat, or roll, the dough into a circle that is about 7 inches round and about 11/2 inches thick. Cut the dough into eight triangles. Place the scones on the baking sheet.

Bake for about 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack.

Makes 8 scones.

Homemade Mallomars

Who doesn't love marshmallows and chocolate? No one, which I guess is one reason s'mores are so popular. This is a less messy version of s'mores, sort of a takeoff on Mallomars. The original recipe calls for actually dipping the entire cookie in chocolate but I chose instead to drizzle chocolate over them. I thought it made them look pretty, plus I had a fear of the cookies falling into the chocolate. I'm clumsy like that. Dennis and my co-workers all agreed that these cookies taste just like Mallomars. Apparently even the cookie itself is a close facsimile.

One last note - I doubled the recipe but ended up with only about 20 cookies. I didn't make them huge so I'm not sure why I got so few cookies. Not a big deal since I have a feeling I'll be making them again soon.

Chocolate-Covered Marshmallow Cookies (aka Mallomars)

Adapted from Everyday Food

Ingredients

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
3 tablespoons packed, light brown sugar
1 large egg
9 large marshmallows, halved
9 oz semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350, with racks in upper and lower thirds.


In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on high, scraping down sides of bowl as needed, until light, 4 minutes. Add egg and beat to combine, scraping down bowl as needed. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture and beat until combined.

Drop dough by tablespoonfuls, 3 inches apart on two parchment lined baking sheets. With the bottom of a measuring cup dipped in flour, flatten cookies to 2 inches in diameter. (I misread this and used a knife dipped in water instead. That worked fine also). Bake until dry and set, 7 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Remove from oven and top each cookie with a marshmallow half. Bake until marshmallows are soft, 2 minutes.

Remove from oven and, with a metal spatula, gently flatten each marshmallow. Let cookies cool completely on sheets on wire racks.

Place chocolate in a heat safe bowl, and melt in the microwave or by placing bowl over a pot of simmering water. Stir chocolate until smooth. Drizzle chocolate over cookies and put them back on the wire racks set over the cookie sheets.