Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites

Not only did my cousin Gina and I host a very successful cupcake table at a local holiday fair this weekend, but I also found a new, super-easy, treat to make...and ladies, you're all going to love it. I don't know how something this simple and delicious is legal, but somehow this wonder slipped through the legal cracks for lethal deliciousness:

Chocolate. Chip. Cookie. Dough. Bites.

Yes, that's right - it's finally okay to eat raw cookie dough! And even better....eat it covered in chocolate!

I saw a recipe for this on my newest obsession (pinterest) and then adapted it for my own purposes. 

These taste amazing at room temperature, refrigerated or frozen.  I'm nominating this as the Best Holiday Party Dessert of 2012.

Super easy! Here is the recipe:

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites

1 C. butter, softened
1 1/2 C. brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tbsp. water
2 C. flour
1/8 tsp. salt
3/4 C. chocolate chips
Additional chocolate for melting

Using an electric mixer, beat together butter and brown sugar until smooth. Add in salt.  Add in vanilla. Add in flour a 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well in between each addition.  Add in water and mix well. Fold chocolate chips in until they are evenly dispersed in the dough.

Roll dough into 1" balls and place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.  Place in the freezer for ten minutes until firm. 

Microwave chocolate in the microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until chocolate is smooth.  Using a spoon, roll cookie dough balls in the chocolate and set on wax paper. When chocolate hardens, store in a plastic zip loc bag and store in the freezer.

Makes about 3 dozen bites.

Want to see the pictures of our cupcake table? Take a look - after the jump.

Back Bay Boston Chocolate Tour: A Perfectly Delicious Use of a Saturday

Can you think of a better way to spend a Saturday afternoon than strolling around Boston sampling gourmet chocolates with other fellow-chocolate lovers? I can't either....and for me, this Saturday was the day my dream turned into a sweet reality.

After picking up heavily discounted tickets to take a Boston Chocolate Tour (thank you, Rue La La), I treated my mom to their Back Bay tour this weekend. The weather was gorgeous and the agenda (nine stops all within a mile boasting the best of the best in espresso, truffles, skin care and cookies) was more than appealing.

The tour was informative, fun and filling - we were stuffed with cocoa by the end of our journey! Our tour guide and other tour members were wonderful, too. What a special day to share with my Mother - the woman who passed down her chocoholic genetics unto me.

What an amazing holiday gift this would make for someone you really care about.  What better gift is there than a chocolate-filled day of memories? Gift certificates to the Boston Chocolate Tours are available on their website: Boston Chocolate Tours

A recap of our travels is featured after the break:

Ultimate Indulgence: Chocolate Almond Buttercream Frosting

 

I am in love with chocolate - that's no secret.  But for me, the perfect marriage of chocolate with chocolate comes in the form of a cupcake adorned with a generous dollop of rich, fudge-like chocolate almond frosting.

Now, for those of you who claim to be almond haters - listen up. You don't  know what you're missing! Especially when pairing the sweet yet strong flavor of almond with all the glory that is cocoa. The chocolate brings out the best in the almond, the almond brings out the rockstar in the chocolate.

This chocolate almond buttercream frosting is fast to make and impossible to resist.   I literally make it at least twice a month!  Keep this recipe on file...better yet, type it up in size 20 font and stick it smack dab on the front of your fridge. When your chocolate craving strikes, you'll need this recipe handy!

Chocolate Almond Buttercream Frosting

1 C. (2 sticks) butter, softened
3 1/2 C. confectionery sugar
1/2 C. cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 tsp. almond extract
3 tbsp. milk (whole milk is best in baked goods & frosting)

With an electric mixer, beat butter until soft and creamy.  Add in confectionery sugar 1/2 cup at a time (mixing at a slow speed to avoid having your kitchen look like the Swiss Alps). Add in 3 tbsp. milk. Mix well.

Add in cocoa. Mix well.  Add in salt & almond extract. Mix well.

Frosting will be slightly thick and fudge like, but should be easy to spread.  If frosting is too thick, add a 1/2 tsp. of milk in at a time until desired consistency is reached.

Voila. Chocolate lovers, rejoice.

For a fun look, top your frosted cupcakes with bright sprinkles.


For a sophisticated look, top your frosted cupcakes with slivered almonds.

Peanut Butter Balls

As I prepared to glue myself to a sofa from the hours of 8-10 pm to shamelessly indulge in part one of the televised Kim Kardashian wedding event, I felt the need for something sweet...and incredibly quick to make.  It was already 7 pm and I needed time to make something, decompress, get comfortable and flick to E! within sixty minutes.

I  knew that even going near the oven would result in minute-hogging cleaning and too much time spent preheating, baking, cooling and all the rest of it. It had to be *gasp* no-bake or it was going to be nothing at all.

Then I remembered this wonderful little twenty minute dessert....peanut butter balls. And almost as quickly as I decided on making them, they were done.  Here's the recipe. They are quick, easy, delicious and although simple, quite fancy looking.

Peanut Butter Balls

3 tsp. room temperature butter
1/2 C. Peanut Butter
1 1/4 C. Confectioners Sugar
3 1/2 tsp. milk

1 C. Chocolate chips or chocolate melting wafers

In a bowl, mix butter & peanut butter with an electric mixer. Slowly add in confectioners sugar - about a half cup at a time until all is mixed well. Add in milk to moisten mixture and mix thoroughly until dough forms.

Roll mixture into 1" balls and place on a piece of wax paper on a cookie sheet. Place in the freezer for ten minutes.

Pour chocolate chips (or chocolate melting wafers) into a microwave safe bowl  and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir. Continue to melt at thirty second increments until chocolate is smooth and completely melted.

Dip peanut butter balls into chocolate and cover completely with spoon. Place on a piece of wax paper to dry. Add sprinkles right away if you desire.

Store in an airtight container either on the counter or in the fridge.  Makes about 1.5 dozen peanut butter balls.

Enjoy...and Congrats Kim & Kris!

Moist Mocha Cake

Sunday dinners with my family have always been hearty. Raviolis, meatballs & sausages. Honey-roasted ham, mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables. Beef Stew with a hunk of french bread.

Today, after another carbo-load meal, I was craving a sweet, equally rib-sticking, sweet finale. Chocolate. Coffee. More Chocolate. I was aiming to create a Mocha Monstrosity....and create, I did.

 

 

Moist Mocha Cake 

(Adapted from Betty Crocker's Mocha Muffins Recipe )

 

2 C. Flour

2 Tbsp. Unsweetened Baking Cocoa

2 1/2 Tsp. Baking Powder

1/2 Tsp. Salt

1/3 C. Brown Sugar

1 C. Milk

1/3 C. Vegetable Oil

1 Tbsp. Instant Coffee Grains

1/2 C. Plain (or Vanilla) Yogurt

1 Egg

1/2 C.  Semisweet Chocolate Chips

1/2 C. Milk Chocolate Chunks

*Extra 1/2 C. Milk Chocolate for drizzle

Recipe continued after the break...

 

Fabulous Five Minute Fudge for Father's Day

All of the men in my family harbor a massive sweet-tooth.

My father's sweet tooth springs to life in the evening. Sometimes after I was supposed to be asleep, I would hear the cookie jar lid open (mostly when a Celtics game would cut to commercial) or the faint clinking of a spoon against an empty ice cream bowl after he'd just finished an impromptu sundae. My adolescent mind would seethe ("I can't wait until I'm a grownup so I can eat cookies whenever I want!").

My Nonno's sweet tooth is less predictable - he never knows when it will strike, only that it will. To be prepared, he hides Hershey miniatures all over his home - some in his desk, some on the stand next to the television. Ready, available and easily accessible should the craving strike.

I'm pretty sure that Father's Day is the only day where it's still acceptable for a grown-woman to give someone a homemade gift so this year, I'm going to give them exactly what they want. Chocolatey, marshmallow-y sustenance.


Five-Minute Rocky Road Fudge

1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12 oz) pkg. semi sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp. almond extract
1/2 C. chopped walnuts
1/2 C. miniature marshmallows

Line a 9x9 inch brownie pan with tin foil. Lightly grease pan & set aside.

In a microwave-safe bowl, combine sweetened condensed milk & chocolate chips. Microwave on high for one minute. Stir. Microwave for another minute. Stir. Chocolate should be smooth and creamy. Add almond extract. Stir.

Add in chopped walnuts & miniature marshmallows. Stir.

Pour mixture into the brownie pan & smooth evenly with a spoon. Refrigerate until set (1-2 hours). Cut into squares and enjoy!

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Does your guy like things simple?: Omit the marshmallows & walnuts. This fudge is delicious plain as well!

This fudge makes a great gift for any guy! Stack a few pieces - wrap in cellophane - tie with a ribbon and voila. Gourmet gift.