Double Chocolate Almond Biscotti

Nothing beats eating double chocolate almond biscotti while drinking black coffee and playing cribbage on a rainy day.

I got this recipe off of the blog epicurious. Due to the shortage of walnuts in my household, I used almonds instead of walnuts, which was excellent (of course!). Also, I recommend cooking for less than 35 minutes, as the bottom of my loaves were completely black!!!!

Double Chocolate Almond Biscotti

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup almonds, chopped

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. and butter and flour a large baking sheet.

2. In a bowl whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl with an electric mixer beat together butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat until combined well. Stir in flour mixture to form a stiff dough. Stir in almonds and chocolate chips.

3. On prepared baking sheet with floured hands form dough into two slightly flattened logs, each 12 inches long and 2 inches wide, and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Bake logs 35 minutes, or until slightly firm to the touch. Cool biscottion baking sheet 5 minutes.

4. On a cutting board cutbiscotti diagonally into 3/4-inch slices. Arrange biscotti, cut sides down, on baking sheet and bake until crisp, about 10 minutes. Cool biscotti on a rack. Biscotti keep in airtight containers 1 week and frozen, 1 month.

For the original recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Double-Chocolate-Walnut-Biscotti-10994

Molten Mocha Cakes

I made these cakes for my friends and I on my birthday. The recipe below only serves two, so you will have to adjust it for however many people you are making it for. I served it with whipped cream which was yummy, but vanilla ice cream would be great too.

Molten Mocha Cakes

(from Martha Stewart: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/molten-mocha-cakes)

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for ramekins

1/3 cup confectioners' sugar, plus more for ramekins and serving

2 ounces semisweet chocolate, broken into pieces

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 teaspoon espresso powder

Pinch salt

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter two 6-ounce ramekins, then dust with sugar. Place butter and chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high in 20-second increments, stirring after each, until melted. Let cool slightly.

2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together egg, egg yolk, sugar, espresso powder, and salt. Add chocolate mixture; whisk to combine. Add flour, and whisk just until combined (do not overmix). Pour batter into prepared ramekins. (Recipe can be made ahead up to this point.)

3. Bake until a toothpick inserted 1/2 inch from edge of ramekins comes out clean, and a toothpick inserted in center comes out wet, 10 to 12 minutes (do not overbake). Cool 10 minutes on a wire rack. Run a knife around inside of ramekins to loosen. Invert cakes onto serving plates. Dust with sugar; serve immediately.

Banana Walnut Chocolate Chip Muffins

I got this recipe off of Martha Stewart Living. The original recipe called for blueberries, but I substituted them for walnuts and chocolate chips, for obvious reasons! My dad claims that these are the best muffins in the world! :-)

Banana Walnut Chocolate Chip Muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup wheat germ

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

3 ripe bananas

1/3 cup skim milk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. In a bowl, whisk together flours, wheat germ, baking soda, and salt.

2. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In another bowl, mash bananas with a fork; stir in milk and vanilla.

3. With mixer on low, alternately add flour mixture and banana mixture to butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix just until combined. Fold in walnuts and chocolate chips.

4. Divide batter among muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 28 minutes, rotating pan halfway through. Let cool in pan 10 minutes; transfer muffins to a rack to cool 10 minutes more.

Skor Cake!

all you need is:

one chocolate cake mix

2 cups whipping cream

sugar

cocoa powder

4 skor bars

There's nothing like homemade chocolate chip cookies...

...even if you did burn the shit out of the bottom of them.

Martha Stewart's cowboy cookies: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/cowboy-cookies-for-the-martha-stewart-show

I made a few adjustments to the recipe to maximize the deliciousness of the cookies. These were:

• I reduced the sugar to 1 cup and used exclusively brown sugar
• I increased the chocolate chips from 3/4 cup to 1 cup
• I omitted the pecans

The Perfect Remedy for a Cold, Wintery Day

I live in Vancouver, Canada, where it rarely ever snows. However, for the last few days, the temperature has been in the negatives and very, very snowy. To keep warm, I decided to cook a hearty meal of sweet potato gnocchi and a warm chocolate tart.

This was the first time I have ever made gnocchi and I will definitely try it again. I served it with a fresh mixed greens salad and some yummy Italian bread, it was so delicious! For the sweet potato gnocchi I used this recipe from wild yeast blog: http://www.wildyeastblog.com/2008/10/20/sweet-potato-gnocchi/

To follow the gnocchi, I made a warm, chocolate tart. I recommend to serve it warm with a scoop of creamy, vanilla ice cream~ I found the recipe from a blog that I really like to follow called chocolate shavings:

http://ourchocolateshavings.blogspot.com/2008/06/warm-chocolate-tart-with-candied-orange_10.html