Chocolate Dulces

I know I’m not the only one who occasionally gets a craving for chocolate, only to find that there is none in the house. Okay, okay, I did have a bag of chocolate chips, but I wanted something that I could really sink my teeth into. Enter this old recipe for Chocolate Dulces and I’m in business. 

I’ve had this recipe forever, but never made it, so as I am wont to do, changed things up a bit by adding a tiny bit of cinnamon, and made things easier by melting the chocolate in a microwave instead of a double boiler. I also used parchment-covered cookie sheets, which made it very easy to slide the cookies off to cool. Because I find dropping cookies to be tedious, I used a disposable pastry bag to pipe mine. This made the job much faster and easier. The recipe claims that it makes 50 cookies. Umm, no. Piping a teaspoon for each cookie, I finally stopped at 178. That is not a typo. They are small bites, very chewy and chocolaty, and very good, so you can eat a number of them and still feel virtuous. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it.) 

Chocolate Dulces

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup sugar

1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup butter

1 cup flour

1 cup finely chopped pecans

1 t. Mexican vanilla extract

A whisper of cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix chocolate chips and sugar together in a large microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high at 30-second intervals, stirring after each, until melted, 1-2 minutes. Add condensed milk and butter, stirring until blended. Stir in flour, nuts, vanilla, and cinnamon, until combined. Let stand for 10 minutes. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for exactly 10 minutes. Remove at once to a sheet of waxed paper to cool.

Makes lots! 

 PRINT RECIPE

 

This post is linked to: Inspire Me Tuesday, Tuesdays At Our Home, Two Cup Tuesday, Celebrate Your Story, Wow Us Wednesday, Work It Wednesday, Wine’d Down Wednesday, Wake up Wednesday, Full Plate Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Share Your Style, Coffee and Conversation, and Foodie Friday & Everything Else

Panera Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

I got this recipe from my daughter-in-law.  It very closely replicates the delicious cookies sold at the St. Louis Bread Company (Panera to those of you not in the St. Louis metro area), and there is not a thing at BreadCo (as we locals fondly refer to it) that I do not like.  Truth be told, I would like the recipe for every single thing that they serve.  This is a good start.

If you like a cookie that is thick, chewy, studded with mini chocolate chips so that the chocolate flavor runs throughout, and doesn’t leave you hungry after eating one, then this is the recipe for you.  Each cookie is pretty much a meal in itself, and that is the way a good cookie should be.

Copycat Panera Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup shortening

1-1/2 cups dark brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 extra-large eggs

4 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 bag mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

In the work bowl of a stand mixture combine butter, shortening, and sugars.  Mix at high speed until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, followed by vanilla, and beat until well combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. With mixer on the lowest speed, gradually add dry mixture, scraping down sides as needed.  Continue to mix until all dry ingredients are well incorporated.

Pour in the bag of mini chips and beat for 30-45 seconds at medium speed until they have been fully distributed.

Using a large cookie scoop or ¼ cup measure, scoop out dough and form into a ball. Place balls on a cookie sheet.  Continue until all dough has been used.

Place cookie sheet of dough balls in the freezer for 2 hours (or up to 3 months).

To bake:  Preheat oven to 350°F.  Place frozen cookies onto parchment or Silpat®-lined baking sheets and bake for15 minutes.  Remove from oven, flatten slightly with fingertips, return to oven, and bake 5 minutes more.

Allow to cool 2 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 24 large cookies

This post is linked to:

Totally Tasty Tuesdays

Try a New Recipe Tuesday

Tasty Tuesdays

Wow Us Wednesday
What’s In The Kitchen 
Work It Wednesday

Chewy Toffee Almond Bars

Ever since hitting on such great success with the mushroom soup recipe that I found on the package of Monterrey mushrooms, I find myself stalking packaging these days.  Today the people at Hershey’s enticed me with this recipe on the back of the Bits ‘O Brickle Toffee Bits bag and suddenly I had to make them. You’re probably wondering why a frantic woman like me would stop what she’s doing to make cookies.  Honestly, I don’t know.   Perhaps it’s some form of brain damage. What I do know is that these cookies are addicting!  I don’t know if it is the caramel deliciousness, the chewy texture, the nutty goodness, or the shortbread crust, but I think, given enough spare time (that, thankfully, I did not have), I could have polished off the pan of them all by myself. 


Gather your ingredients...

Here's the recipe, try them for yourself, and don't say I didn't warn you!

Irresistable, no?

This post is linked to:

Foodie Friday

Sunday's Best Party

Sweets for a Saturday

Themed Baker's Sunday

Tate's Bake Shop Chocolate Chip Cookies

I was looking forward to being snowed in today and spending all of my time in the kitchen testing new recipes from the enormous stack of coffeetable-sized cookbooks that I collected from the library recently, nearly throwing my back out when I lugged them to the car.  I did just that - for TEN HOURS - and when push came to shove, none of them really thrilled me.  I tried Marsala Mushroom Soup from The Italian Slow Cooker cookbook and it didn't hold a candle to the recipe I currently use.  I tried Whole Lemon Muffins from The Pastry Queen Royally Good Recipes cookbook and despite the fact that an ENTIRE lemon (skin, pith and all) goes into this recipe it just didn't taste all that lemony to me (although my husband loved them, so I may write about them later).  I also tried a new recipe for barbecue sauce when I found that I didn't have any to cover my seared ready-for-the-oven pork steaks and had to make some.  Sadly the bottled variety I usually use was better than the homemade version, alas.  

I did learn something though.  I learned that sometimes old favorites are the best.  So I lifted the lid on the cookie jar and pulled out a chocolate chip cookie.  Nothing says comfort like chocolate chips, and while it did nothing for my stiff neck, sore back, and aching feet, it did wonders for my soul.

Thin and crispy, yet rich and chewy, indulge yourself in a batch of Tate's Bake Shop Chocolate Chip Cookies.  You deserve them!

Tate's Bake Shop Chocolate Chip Cookies.

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed

1 teaspoon water

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 large eggs

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease, or parchment-line 2-3 cookie sheets.  In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and salt. In another large bowl, cream the butter and sugars, then add the water and vanilla.  Mix until just combined.  Add eggs to the butter mixture and mix them lightly.  Stir in the flour mixture.  When flour is mixed in, fold in the chocolate chips. Drop 2 tablespoonfuls of the cookie dough, 2-inches apart on prepared cookie sheets.  (I used a cookie scoop for this.)  Make sure the cookie sheets are well greased.  I like to use parchment paper.  Bake for 12-17 minutes or until the edges and centers of the cookies are golden brown.  Remove from oven and allow to cool on wire racks.

For more tasty recipes from Tate's Bake Shop, I recommend their cookbook.  It is chock full of deliciousness.

Gooey Butter Cookies from The Blue Owl

I've decided to have a fabulous array of desserts at my annual Christmas Dinner.  I bought a three-tier plate holder at World Market and found I liked it so much at Thanksgiving when it held all three swoonably delicious desserts, that it would be the perfect venue for serving dessert at Christmas.  The top tier, I've decided, will feature mousse shooters (This idea comes from the "Tasting Party" section of the Pier 1 website, recipe and all.  Clearly, I spend waaaaay too much time on the Pier 1 website!)  The second tier will hold the molded and shaped cookies that are always so delicious and eye-catching, and the bottom tier will hold traditional holiday offerings such as pecan tassies, mini whoopie pies, Mexican wedding cakes, and other family favorites.

The delicious-looking cookies pictured above, derive from the Gooey Butter Cake*, a St. Louis, MO creation, and are hugely popular in this area. As much as I do like the Gooey Butter Cake, I'm not sure I like the cookies quite as well. They are soft and cake-like, and I prefer a crunchy cookie, but people seem to go wild for them here, so I'm making a batch for the holidays.

This recipe comes from The Blue Owl, a delightful restaurant and bakery in Historic Kimmswick, Missouri, located 25 miles south of St. Louis.  It is family owned and operated and has been for the past 24 years.  They specialize in an incredible assortment of desserts (along with serving a delicious lunch); their "Levee High Caramel Apple Pecan Pie" (truly a sight to behold) was featured on The Food Network's "Paula's Party" program.

GOOEY BUTTER COOKIES

The Blue Owl Restaurant and Bakery (Kimmswick, MO)

(Printable Recipe)

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened (no substitutions)

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 (about-18-ounce) box yellow cake mix

1 cup powdered sugar

In large bowl of electric mixer, beat together butter, vanilla, egg and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add cake mix; beat until well blended. Cover dough and chill 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll in powdered sugar. Place about 1 1/2 inches apart on a lightly greased cookie sheet (see note). Bake 12 minutes; do not let brown.

Let cookies cool, then sift additional powdered sugar over the tops.

Yield: About 4 dozen cookies

Note: Recipe may be doubled.

Tester's note: It isn't necessary to shake off excess powdered sugar after rolling. Baking on a greased sheet results in just enough spreading to make the cookies a perfect two-bite size. If you bake on parchment paper, the cookies spread a bit less and are more ball-shaped. These should not brown; baking 12 minutes allows the cookies to stay soft. I also tested this with chocolate cake mix with good results.

*The St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake story and original recipe.