Chocolate Cream Pie

 One of the two pies I make each Thanksgiving. 

Chocolate Cream Pie

1 pre-baked oreo crust
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1/3 cup cornstarch
3/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup whipping cream
3 tbsp butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
sweetened whipped cream

Stir together sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and salt in medium saucepan. Gradually add milk and cream, stirring until smooth. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Boil 1 minute.

Remove from heat; stir in butter and vanilla. Pour into prepared crust. Press plastic wrap directly onto surface, being careful to remove all air bubbles. Refrigerate 4-6 hours. Top with whipped cream and oreo pieces.

Triple Chocolate Cheesecake

I only make this once every other year or so, so I never remember the adjustments I make and decided to write them down this time.

• 1 package (9 ounces) chocolate wafer cookies (or 1/2 pkg family size oreos or 2/3 pkg regular size oreos)
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 3 bars (8 ounces each) cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup + 2 TBSP sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted
• Rich Chocolate Ganache, for topping
• 1/2 C heavy ceam
• 4 oz semisweet chocolate
• 1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Assemble a 9-inch springform pan with the raised side of the bottom facing down.
• 2. In a food processor, pulse cookies until finely ground. Add butter, and pulse to moisten. Transfer to prepared pan, and press crumbs firmly and evenly into the bottom. Place pan on a rimmed baking sheet; bake 10 minutes, and set aside.
• 3. Wipe out bowl and blade of food processor. Add cream cheese, sugar, and salt; blend until smooth. With motor running, add eggs, then sour cream, and finally chocolate; blend filling until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
• 4. Wrap bottom half of springform pan in foil, using one long piece, the length of the circumference of the pan. Pour in filling; place in a roasting pan. Place roasting pan in oven. Pour in boiling water to come halfway up side of springform pan. Bake just until set, 1 hour. Turn oven off, and let cheesecake sit 1 hour in oven, without opening (this helps prevent cracking).
• 5. Remove foil. Run a thin knife around the edge of the pan (this helps prevent cracking, too); leave in pan, and cool completely on wire rack. (After 1 hour of cooling, gently loosen pan edges to release any trapped water. Cover loosely and refrigerate, at least 6 hours or up to overnight.
• 6. Prepare Chocolate Ganache: Mix cream and chocolate in glass measuring cup. Heat in microwave at 10 second intervals stirring after each heating, until smooth and melted, about 1-2 min.
• 7.Unmold cheesecake. Spread ganache in center of cheesecake; let set before serving.
• 
  

Banana Bread

adapted from Flour Bakery's recipe

• 1 C all-purpose flour
• 3/4 C white whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 C sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 C oil
• 3-4 bananas, roughly mashed
• 1/4 C buttermilk (or 2 TBSP sour cream)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2/3 C chocolate chips (or walnuts)

Preheat oven to 335°F.
Sift together first four ingredients.
Beat sugar and eggs with a whisk until light and fluffy. At least 3 min, if not more.
Drizzle in oil.
Add bananas (make sure they're not pureed- some good chunks of banana are part of what make this bread so good), buttermilk, and vanilla.
Fold in flour mixture and chocolate chips/nuts.
Pour batter into a greased 9" x 4" loaf pan and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Or in 4 mini loaf pans for 35-40 min

Dark Chocolate Frosting

We ate this at Mom's house on this cake. The frosting tastes like truffles.

• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon boiling water
• 2 1/4 cups (4 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter room temperature
• 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar sifted
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 pounds best-quality semisweet chocolate melted and cooled

Directions

1. Combine cocoa and the boiling water, stirring until cocoa has dissolved. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter, confectioners' sugar, and salt until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Add melted and cooled chocolate, beating until combined and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in the cocoa mixture. If not using immediately, frosting can be refrigerated up to 5 days, or frozen up to 1 month, in an airtight container. Before using, bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth again.

From Martha Stewart

the best the processed foods industry has to offer

aka Bavarian Dessert aka Million Dollar pie

But let's be honest. Those names are stupid.

Crust option 1:

1 stick butter, melted

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup flour

Bake at 350 for 15 min

Crust option 2:
1 stick butter, melted
1 1/2 C crushed Oreos
1/2 C flour

Bake at 350 for 10 min

Layer 1:

1 8 0z. pkg. cream cheese (softened to room temp)

1 C powdered sugar
1 C cool whip (from 8 oz tub)

Layer 2:

1 large box chocolate instant pudding, prepared according to box directions

Layer 3:
the rest of the cool whip from the 8 oz tub

Just try and feel bad about all the gross stuff that's in oreo cream filling, cool whip, and boxed pudding. It's impossible in the face of this deliciousness.

Chocolate Raspberry Ganache Cake

from 17andbaking





This is one showstopper of a cake. Triple layer, lusciously moist, not too sweet. I dream about this kind of cake. I want to try it again with some chocolate butter cream frosting to get an ultimate chocolate experience.

Chocolate Raspberry Ganache Cake
Including Sour Cream Chocolate Cake from Sky High: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes
Makes a three layer 8″ cake

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup canola oil
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
Raspberry Ganache (recipe follows)
2/3 cup raspberry jam

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter three 8″ cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Butter again. [ I just buttered and dusted with cocoa. It was extremely hard to get the cakes out - don't skip the parchment paper.](Note from Heather: I just buttered and floured my pans well and had no problem getting the cakes out. Also, I used 9" pans since that's what I had and it turned out fine.)

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl and whisk to combine. Whisk in the oil and sour cream, then gradually beat in the water. Add the vinegar and vanilla and mix to combine, and finally beat in the eggs until the batter is well combined. Divide among the three cake pans.

Bake for about 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out almost clean. Cool in the pans for 20 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack and peel off the parchment paper, letting the cakes cool completely. These cakes are very soft, and it helps to freeze them for 15 minutes at this point. While the cakes cool, make the Raspberry Ganache.

If the cakes are not flat, use a serrated knife to even the tops. Place one layer onto a parchment-lined cardboard cut out and spread 1/3 cup raspberry jam. Cover the jam with a thin, 1/4″ thick layer of raspberry ganache. Top with the second layer and repeat. Then invert the final layer and place on top.

To frost the cake, start with a crumb coat: barely cover the entire cake with a thin, see through layer of ganache. This is to help create a smooth finish later. Chill the cake for 10 minutes.

Frost the cake with the remaining raspberry ganache and top with fresh raspberries. I would recommend leaving the cake at room temperature to prevent the ganache from becoming too brittle.

Raspberry Ganache
Makes just enough to fill and frost a three layer 8″ cake

15 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped * (Note from Heather: I used about 2 C bittersweet Ghiradelli chocolate chips since that's what I had. It worked fine.)
1 2/3 cups frozen raspberries
8 oz (2 sticks) butter, room temperature

Bring an inch or two of water to a simmer in a medium saucepan. As the water heats, microwave the raspberries in 1 minute intervals, stirring and mashing with a fork, until they become a smooth liquid. Pour through a strainer (should yield 1/3 cup raspberry juice) and set aside to cool.

Place the chopped chocolate and the butter in a large heatproof bowl and set over the saucepan. The bowl should not touch the water or fall more than halfway into the saucepan. Stir until the chocolate and butter melt, then gradually add in the slightly warm raspberry juice, whisking to combine.

(Note from Heather: I just microwaved the butter and chocolate together at 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until it was almost melted. Then I stirred till it was all melted, added the raspberry juice, and let it cool.)

Take the ganache off the heat and let cool until spreadable, stirring once in a while.

* The ganache was almost too sweet, but I used a combination of semisweet and bittersweet chocolate. Use the bitterest, darkest chocolate possible to counteract the sweetness of the berries.

Cheesecake

The basic cheesecake recipe I use. Nothin fancy.

Crust:
A package of Oreos. Off-brand cheap Oreos will work just fine.
1/2 stick of margarine or butter.
2 tbs water.

Filling
24 oz. of cream cheese. It needs to be the kind in the cardboard
boxes, not the tub. I'm pretty sure that that's 3 of the little boxes.
It has to sit out for at least 30 minutes before it starts to bake.

break and beat briefly
add



2 eggs
8 oz. sour cream (half a normal-size package)
1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla



The equivalent of a bag of fun-size Snickers. It can be whatever
flavor you want, really.

Glaze. This is optional. It's good, but you don't have to have it.
Totally your call.
1 cup of chocolate chips
2 tbsp. butter
5 oz. whipping cream.

350 degrees for 1 hour

Homemade Power Bars

I like to make these as a snack for that late afternoon slump when I'm tempted to eat chocolate or ice cream but should really have some protein.

Mix:
1 C peanut butter
1 C honey
1 C protein powder (I use soy)

Add 4 C of other stuff like:
quick oats
chocolate chips
flax seed
pumpkin seeds
sunflower seeds
craisins
raisins
golden raisins
dried fruit
chopped nuts

(My favorite sweet/tart mix is at least 3/4 C oats, chocolate chips, craisins, flax seed, sunflower seeds, and chopped almonds)

Stir until combined. Add more honey if you need things to stick together better. You can then roll this out and cut it into bars and wrap it in saran wrap. Or, roll it into balls and place in cupcake liners. Keep them in the fridge if you want them to last longer than a couple days.

Brownie Truffles

One box of brownie mix- the kind with the extra fudge/syrup packet
2 Tbsp of light corn syrup
1/4 c of water

Mix brownie mix, fudge/syrup packet, corn syrup, and water together to form a dough. Roll in to bite size balls and then in to any coating that you please such as nuts, sprinkles, sugar, etc. Store in the refrigerator (or in the freezer if it is longer than a week).

Sam and I had these at a wedding reception we went to last weekend. We really liked them and asked for the recipe. On our way home we brainstormed more ways to make these.

TOPPINGS
cocoa powder
cinnamon sugar
crushed candy canes
chopped candy
chopped chocolate chips
toffee bits
fruit drizzle
powdered sugar

ADD TO MIX
peanut butter
mint extract
almond extract and chopped cherries
mint extract

Easy Oreo Truffles

These are so yummy. A lady at work made them last Christmas and I devoured most of them. She had a great idea and made them with mint Oreos too. I can't wait till Christmas!

Prep Time:
30 min

Total Time:
1 hr 30 min

Makes:
3-1/2 doz. or 42 servings, one truffle each

1 pkg. (1 lb. 2 oz.) OREO Cookies, finely crushed, divided

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

2 pkg. (8 squares each) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted

MIX 3 cups of the cookie crumbs and the cream cheese until well blended. Shape into 42 (1-inch) balls.

DIP balls in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. (Any leftover melted chocolate can be stored in tightly covered container at room temperature and saved for another use.) Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs.

REFRIGERATE 1 hour or until firm. Store any leftover truffles in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

from Kraft

Chewy Granola Bars

2 1/2 c. Oats - quick rolled oats (use GF oatmeal)

1/2 c. Rice Krispies (use GF rice cereal)

1/4 c. coconut

1/2 c. M&M minis (these appear to be GF from what I've found online)

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 c. butter, softened

1/4 c. honey

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Add all of the ingredients and mix together until combined. Press into a square 8×8 pan. Bake at 350° for 18-20 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes and score into bars. Let it set completely and then cut into bars. For thinner bars, press mix into a 9×13 pan. They seem to set a little better in the 9×13 pan.

from Make and Takes

NYTimes Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from Jacques Torres

Time: 45 minutes (for 1 6-cookie batch), plus at least 24 hours’ chilling

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour

1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract

1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content (see note)

Sea salt.

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.

4. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.

Yield: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/dining/091crex.html