Chocolate, Need I Say More?

Hello Sweets,

Well it has been a long weekend of moving but it's finally complete, and again I am sleepy lol.  However, Nathan was in Canadia to help me with everything, he actually went above and beyond anything you'd expect!  He not only put up every shelf, and picture, he also assembled furniture and bought me a new tv :D  Seriously I am one lucky girl, well except he is now on his way home :(  The hardest part of our relationship has to be the "see you soon" goodbyes, it never gets any easier.  He was a HUGE help in making my new apartment a home, and even though it's almost done it just isn't the same.  I now consider this apartment "our" apartment because we did so much together, he'll be back sooner than later and until then I'll complete the look and it will be a home!

Even though I had lots of help on Saturday, it still was quite difficult for me.  On the bright side, this whole ordeal is almost over.  This process has been wreaking havoc on my body :(  Since I had family and some friends helping me move, I decided to give them food as thanks :)  Nathan and I marinaded a roast Friday night to serve Saturday, and I will threw it in the oven while all the moving hoopla took place so it wouldn't be long before we could eat.  Of course there were plenty of sweet treats as well.  The pumpkin pie bars made their debut appearance, the oh so delicious pumpkin spice cupcakes (happy accident not intentional for there to be a pumpkin theme), and of course today's recipe.  No today is not a pumpkin recipe, although with the left over pumpkin from the cupcakes I could have made something.  Nathan requested I bake these though, so I thought I would make sure there was something sweet for him when he got here.

Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

2C flour

1/2tsp baking soda

1/2tsp salt

3/4C butter, melted

1C brown sugar, packed

1/2C sugar

1Tbs vanilla

1 egg

1 egg yolk

2C semi sweet chocolate chips

 

Directions:

1)  Preheat oven to 325F.  Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.  Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

 

2)  In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until well blended.

 

3)  Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy.

 

4)  Mix in sifter ingredients until just blended.

 

5)  Sift in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon.

 

6)  Drop cookie dough 1/4C at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets.  Cookies should be about 3" apart.

 

7)  Bake for 15-17 minutes in the oven, or until edges are lightly toasted.  Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

 

  

These little bad boys are perfectly soft, not so soft it crumbles apart in your hand but that perfect way that I remember my high school cafeteria serving.  Normally this is not my first choice of cookie, but this recipe is so yummy even I can't stop from eating a couple.  The dough even reminds me of the cookies my mom used to make, and I love me some cookie dough.  It was hard to not eat all of them before Saturday lol.

Well I've got a few more things to try and tackle tonight, but to be honest I really just want to have a nap lol.  If Nathan was here he would tell me to take one, maybe I will since everything isn't going anywhere :p  Hopefully afterwards I will be more energetic and can tackle yet another good chunk organization done.  Until next time....

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo

Not Quite a Cake, Yet Not Quite Pudding

Hello Sweets,

Well tomorrow is the day I get my keys!!!  I am doing as much packing as possible tonight so I feel as though it's not such a daunting task, but the mandatory naps aren't helping.  I just woke up from one and am feeling quite groggy, so I figured I write a post to help wake my brain up before I do anything else.  As much as I am looking forward to moving, the stress of the final days is getting to me lol.  I just hate the packing part lol.  Oh well, it has to be done right?  On the plus side, I found this super soft and super awesome bath mat.  Do statements like that mean that I've become old?  I am finding that new household objects are super fun for me, lol yea I am old.

So today we are delving right into chocolate!  Are you a "chocoholic"?  If so then you've picked the perfect day to stop by my little blog :)  I'm not a chocoholic, but if it's the right dessert I will be all over it.  This dessert is the quintessential chocolate craving quencher, if you really want chocolate and can't wait to get it, then this is the recipe for you.  Let's get to the good stuff, so I can get back to packing *yawn*

Gooey Chocolate Pudding Cake

Ingredients

(cake)

3/4C flour

1/2C sugar

1/2C unsweetened cocoa

1 1/2tsp baking powder

2/3C milk

1tsp vanilla

2Tbs vegetable oil

(topping)

2/3C packed brown sugar

1/4C mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4C cocoa

1 1/4C hot water

 

Directions:

1)  Preheat oven to 350F.  In a 2qt casserole dish, combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, and baking powder.

 

2)  Add milk, oil, and vanilla.  Stir until well mixed.

 

3)  In a small bowl combine brown sugar, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips.

 

4)  Sprinkle over cake batter.  DO NOT STIR.

 

5)  Pour hot water over top.  Again, do not stir.

 

6)  Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the top looks cooked.  Serve warm.

yummy!

chocolaty gooey goodness

  

This dessert is so hard to explain, as it's not quite pudding but it's not quite cake either.  What it is, is a warm, gooey, chocolaty plate of heaven.  I love chocolate lava cakes, but this will do in its place any day!  The fun part is when you serve a piece, because under the cake section is the gooey puddingness (totally just made up my own word lol).  This is something that will definitely be made again, as it was such a great hit.  Nathan sure did love it :)

Now it's time to get back to the fun stuff; packing lol.  Maybe beforehand I will bake up a treat, lol probably shouldn't, but I wanna lol.  Until next time....

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo

A Medley of Marriage

Hello Sweets,

Well the weekend is coming to an end, and unfortunately I am feeling extremely awful :(  An intense migraine coupled with being nauseated and shoulder/neck pain, is causing me to be an unhappy camper.  I think  I did too much on my own yesterday, normally I have some assistance to help me with things around the house but I was home alone (cue the "AHHHH" lol).  Even though I managed to get through what I needed to do, my conscience was telling me I'd most likely regret it in the morning and here I am.  But since I haven't done too much today I figured I would try and get y'all the last wedding cookie recipe :)

So far we've had a banana cookie, a peanut butter cookie, and a chocolate chip cookie.  The last cookie was going to be in the shape of their newly shared last name initial "Z", so I wanted to "marry" the first three flavors together as to depict the vows of my sister and (now) brother in-law.  I know, I'm a complete romantic but I just thought it would be a really unique, fun, and different way to do a wedding cookie.  A single cookie that represents; my sister, my brother in-law, and my amazing nephew and their new endeavor as a married family.  My sister originally wanted me to do just a regular (possibly sugar) cookie, but when she heard my idea she liked it very much :)  So I present to you the "Zamora"!

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

1/2C + 1Tbs butter, softened

1/2Tsp cinnamon

1/4Tsp nutmeg

1/4Tsp cardamom

2/3C super fine sugar

1 large egg, lightly beaten

2Tbs milk

1 ripe banana, mashed

1/2C milk chocolate chips

1 1/4C self rising flour

1/3C peanut butter

Directions:
1)  Preheat oven to 375F, lining two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Place the butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat together until light and fluffy.

2)  Gradually add in the egg, beating well after each addition.

 

3)  Mash the banana and add it to the mixture, beating well until smooth.

 

4)  Add the peanut butter and mix thoroughly.

 

5)  Sift together the flour and spices into the mixture, folding in with a spatula.  Add the milk to give it a soft consistency, then fold in the chocolate chips.

 

 

6)  Drop tablespoons of the batter onto the baking sheets, spacing well apart.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until lightly golden brown.  Cool slightly on the baking sheets, then transfer to wire rack.

 There you have it, the final cookie in what I am now dubbing "the wedding series".  This cookie is soft and not too sweet, it was a big hit.  Even though all the cookies weren't finished at the wedding, I packed them up and sent the married couple home with them.  Needless to say I got an email about a week later stating all the cookies were gone lol.  And now as promised I'll share some of the wedding photos with you :)

 

on our way!

 

my cutie nephew playing the shy guy

 

the kiss

Nathan, myself, Jose (groom), Asha (sister/bride), my mother Trish, and my step-dad Dan 

  

yea we're pretty awesome (except for my paleness :( )

 

celebrating and a special moment between mother and son <3  

 

"THE" cookies, in all their glory :)

 

tiny little table (so cute) for the kids

 

the candy bar, yum!

 

family dance :)

 

yup it's true I caught the bouquet and a special moment between my love and I during our dance

 

Finally caught him for a picture at the very end of the night

I hope you enjoyed the four recipes, if you have any questions or feedback regarding them just drop me a line :)  I also hope you enjoyed the pictures of my sisters special day that I've shared with you.  It was a day full of love, laughter, celebrations, and most importantly family.  It's a day that will forever hold a place in my heart and there were plenty of memories that were made.

Now that the matrimonial posts are all done and finish, we can get back to just creating more delicious treats in the kitchen to share with you :)  With that being said, tomorrows post will be another celebration for a very good friend of ours.  Yes it will be a birthday themed post, only because I was requested to bake his cake for him (apparently my reputation is spreading).  Until next time...................

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo

A Treat to see Tereza Smile :)

Hello Sweets,

Happy Thanksgiving to all my USA readers!!  I hope you all had a wonderful Thursday full of turkey and family :) , mine was fairly quiet.  We had to postpone the second half of my pastizzi adventure until tomorrow, but don't worry, I will have the rest of the savory information :)  Today I was honestly going to take off a day from the kitchen and blog about "passion" and what it means to me, however my roommate had gotten some disheartening news, so I decided to make her my yummy peanut butter chocolate chip banana bread (she loves it)!

I don't know how this recipe has not made it in to a blog yet, it is really yummy and fairly easy to prepare.  I have a recipe my grandmother gave me for her banana bread.  It's so moist and delicious, but I wanted something more.  Then it was like a giant light went off in my head, why have I not incorporated my love of peanut butter?!?  So I decided to marry the flavors together, and why not throw a little chocolate in there too.  Who doesn't love chocolate and peanut butter right?  So with my grandmothers recipe, I started researching on the Internet to see if there was another recipe out there, and All Recipes has a great one, so I combined the two to make mine own :) Now that the delicious smell is wafting through our house, let's get to the jewel of this post :)

Canuckette's Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread (inspired by All Recipes

Ingredients

1/2C butter, softened

1C white sugar

2 eggs

3/4C peanut butter

2 bananas, mashed

2C all-purpose flour

1 Tsp baking soda

1C chocolate chips

Directions:

1)  Preheat your oven to 325F.  Lightly grease a 5"x9" loaf pan, set aside.

2)  In a large bowl, cream together the butter and eggs.

3)  Add eggs and beat until fully incorporated.

4)  Stir in bananas, peanut butter, flour, and baking soda until fully blended.

my bananas were frozen, they're not bruised lol

5)  Fold in chocolate chips, pour into greased pan.

looks like yummy cookie dough 

all set and ready to go!

6)  Bake at 325F for 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (I use a butter knife because I would loose the toothpick in the loaf lol).  Remove to a wire rack to cool, and enjoy!

Yummy!!

I'm actually really glad I made this because it's just so darn good!  This is a great bread for a snack. The flavors are subtle, but so delicious together, you could probably get away with enjoying a warm piece for breakfast.  I really enjoy a warm slice with a little butter and a hot cup of tea :)  This is also a great bread for children too, because the chocolate chips are quite enticing.  I really hope this helps Tereza to just have a moment to herself and get lost in the flavors of this yummy bread.  She's my bestie, and I only want to see that beautiful smile of hers.

Do you have a go to pick me up snack, either for you, or someone you love?  Tonight is one of the reasons I love to bake.  If I can make someone smile for even just a moment, because of what I've made, then everything is all worth while :)  Also I wanted to remind you guys to check out Dave's blog over at Impact's Views, my logo is coming along famously and I cannot wait to show you guys :)  Until next time...........

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo