Baked Chocolaty Marshmallowy Deliciousness

My parents brought us Graham Crackers, Hershey's Chocolate Bars and American Marshmallows when they came to visit in April.  We decided we'd try baked s'mores ... We'd been to an event where we'd eaten them ... the lady who made them used the recipe over at Wit and Whistle.  

I pretty much did it exactly as she did except that I had to make my own graham cracker crumbs ...

1/2 cup butter,  softened

1/4 cup brown suager

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 and 1/3 cups flour

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (or just bash up some graham crackers in a ziplock)

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

milk chocolate bars

1 and 1/2 cups marshmallow fluff

Preheat oven - 350F/175C

Cream together butter and sugar until light.  Add egg and vanilla.  Beat. 

In another bowl, mix flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt.  Add that to the butter mixture and mix on low until combined.  Put half of this bowl into a prepared 8inch square baking pan.  Press it down.  Cover this with chocolate bars, breaking bars if necessary.  Top that with marshmallow fluff. 

Roll out the remaining dough in small segments and place on top.  

Bake 30/35 minutes or until lightly browned.

She said to let it cool completely before cutting into bars.  Yeah, that didn't happen here.  We cut that sucker up and ate it!  

So good.

Hazelnut Chocolate Spread

 

You will need to play with this recipe to get it how you like it.  I will play with it more next time I make it ... but the kids loved it and have almost finished this whole jar already !  They say it tastes more like Milo than actual Nutella but they are happy with that !  

I got this recipe out of a magazine.  It was an advertisement for natVia ... a natural sweetener made from the Stevia plant. 

I modified it a bit ... and then just played around til it tasted right ... you'll have to do the same to get it to your tastes !

100g raw hazelnuts, you could roast them.  I didn't.

100g chickpeas (don't throw away the liquid in the jar)

80-100g sweetener of your choice ... I used natVia and I started with 80g.  

15g skim milk powder

20g pure cocoa

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

100 ml chickpea liquid

Milk

optional ... 1 teaspoon lecithin (I couldn't find this stuff so didn't use it ... supposed to make it smoother/creamier but not essential)

In your food processor, process hazelnuts until they resemble almond meal.  Add remaining ingredients ... minus chickpea liquid.  Process and then gradually add liquid while continuing to process.  On first taste, the cocoa flavor was overpowering so I added some milk.  I just kept adding it until the flavor was nice and the consistency was good.  If it's too runny before the flavor of the cocoa is right, just use more milk powder.   I think I added a little bit more of the sweetener too ... just a teaspoon at a time until it was a sweetness I knew the kids would be happy with.

Once this is gone, I'm going to try another recipe that uses just four ingredients.  Hazelnuts, condensed milk, choc bits and honey.  I'll let you know how that one goes too ...

Churros

Growing up in Spain, churros are a food that takes me back to my childhood. My sister was visiting me last week and brought a block of 'chocolate de la taza' with her.  We decided making churros was in order.  I'm glad we did.  They were delicious !

125ml water
125ml whole milk
110g butter
pinch salt
2 pinches sugar
150g bread flour
3 eggs
canola oil, for frying

Bring water, milk, butter, sugar and salt to the boil in a medium saucepan. Add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon until it comes together into a smooth ball.

Mix this ball in an electric mixer and mix on meduim low speed. When most of the steam has evaporated, add the eggs one at a time. Mix until it comes together. It should be thick and smooth.

Transfer, in batches, to a pastry bag fitted with a star tip.

In a wide pan that has tall sides, fill with canola oil about 3 inches deep. Heat it til a wooden spoon stuck spoon side up in the oil has bubbles around it. Pipe the batter into the oil and cut with scissors. Fry them until golden brown. Remove the churros from the oil and sprinkle with sugar. Serve immediately with spanish hot chocolate.

Chocolate Croissants

A most simple, yet decedent treat...

-1 can refrigerator croissants
-a few chocolate chips per croissant

Roll chocolate chips into each croissant.
Place on baking sheet.
Bake as directed on package.
Let cool a bit, then bite into a little bit of heaven!
A truly naughty treat!

Chocolate Marble Banana Muffins

A friend of mine made these a few weeks ago...then my sister...so Saturday when I had a few bananas that needed to be used up I gave in and finally tried them. Delicious! I found the recipe here.

I only did a couple things differently, which are highlighted in orange.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 medium ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
• 1 cup buttermilk (I poured 1 Tablespoon white vinegar into a 1 cup measuring cup then filled it up with Vitamin D Milk and let is set for 5 minutes. Ta Da! Buttermilk!)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 cup chocolate chips, optional

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray 12 count muffin tin.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. In a medium bowl, mash the bananas, then whisk in the buttermilk, sugar, oil, egg, and vanilla extract.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture, and whisk until just blended.
5. Remove one cup of the batter, and add it to a medium bowl. Whisk in the cocoa powder, just until blended.
6. Mix chocolate chips into the regular, white/yellow batter.
7. Divide the regular, white/yellow batter between muffin cups.
8. Scoop 1 tablespoon of chocolate batter on top of the batter in each muffin cup.
9. Using a toothpick, swirl the chocolate batter into the banana batter.
10. Bake for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Alia's Chocolate Oat Treat

So ... Alia made these the other day and by the time I thought to take a photo there was only this one left !! These were super easy and super yummy ! Such a fun treat.

This made 9 pieces the size you see pictured ...

150g chocolate ... we used a Lindt Milk Chocolate
8 TBLS rolled oats
2 TBLS butter
3 TBLS golden syrup
something sweet to put on top of each piece ... we used soft jubes

All you do is boil water in a small pot, put your chocolate in a heat proof bowl on top of the small pot to melt. Add the golden syrup and butter. Melt. Stir. Add oats. Pour mixture onto a small tray lined with baking paper. Put sweet decorations on top of each piece (you'll have to determine how many pieces you are going to cut it into !) Cover and put the tray in the fridge for a couple of hours til the chocolate is solid again. We left it over night. Cut into pieces and try to get one before they disappear !!

The Ganache ....

Jono wanted to try making this Chocolate Ganache, Lavendar Cream and Raspberry Tart that we saw on Masterchef. We gave it a whirl. We liked it. Mostly. We changed the base to be whole wheat and it is delicious ... we've made it again for another tart that I'll share the recipe with you for soon !

We did not like the lavender flowers in the cream. Sort of tasted like someone had spilled perfume into the cream and you just wanted that perfumy taste to go away. It wasn't in every bite ... just the bites where you got a little flower petal !

We thought it was a bit too chocolaty. I know, I know ! How can something be too chocolaty ? It can ... when you are using dark chocolate. Also, the raspberries were a bit tart. We added some strawberries to it the second day and that was way nicer ! We think we'll also add banana next time !

So ... here's the recipe ... with our modifications ... click on the link above for the original recipe and a video from the show !!

240g good whole wheat flour, I sift mine
160g butter
Pinch of salt

300ml thickened cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 punnet strawberries, 1 banana

160ml cream
40g butter
180g dark chocolate, finely chopped

To make the dough ... this was so easy !! Put the flour, butter and a pinch of salt in a food processor and blend until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Add 1-2 teaspoons cold water and blend again until the dough just comes together. Tip out onto a lightly floured board or clean bench and form dough into a disc, enclose in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes. (if you do it too much longer than that it gets really hard to roll out ...) Roll pastry out to the size of whatever tart pan (or pans) you are using ~ I used a glass quiche dish ... actually, I used a tart pan but then the bottom popped out and the side of the pan burned me and I dropped it and lost the sides of my pastry so I transferred the half cooked pastry to a quiche dish !! ....poke the base with a fork, then place back in the fridge to rest for about 20 minutes.

For the ganache, place the cream and butter in a pan and stir over medium heat until butter has melted. Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl, pour over the warm cream, then stir until the chocolate has melted.

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line the pastry case with baking paper and pastry beads or uncooked rice (finally I found a good use for brown rice !!!) . Blind-bake for 7-10 minutes, then remove baking paper and beads and bake for another 5-10 minutes until just golden. Press down any bubbles that have risen up and let it cool.

Meanwhile, whip thickened cream with vanilla. Cover and refrigerate until needed.

Pour the chocolate ganache into the tart shells. Spread evenly with the back of a spoon or palette knife. Top with whipped cream and then with fruit ...

Peanut Butter / Choc Chip Popcorn

I got this recipe from my friend Kris.
She's an extraordinary cook !
I hope that one day I can convince her
to start posting recipes here !

I did this exactly as she told me, except that I had some choc chips in the pantry that begged me to throw them into the mix ... I just couldn't resist their pleas !



This is so simple.
Not to mention yummy.

All you need is:
30g butter
45g peanut butter ~ I use one that is 100% peanuts, no sugar
1 tablespoon PURE maple syrup
choc chips ~ optional, if you can resist them
popped popcorn

I pop my popcorn in a pan. A big pan. I cover the bottom of the pan with olive oil, add the popcorn, put the lid on, turn on the heat. I use a med/high heat. I have experimented a bit and found the high heat burned my pan. Med/high doesn't. If you have a popcorn popper, use that. Just get some popped popcorn. Kris says this covers 3 cups of popcorn. I did it the other day and it was probably more like 6 or even 9 cups and it was still deliciously plenty !!

Put the butter, peanut butter and maple syrup in a bowl and microwave ... not even a minute. You just want the butter to melt. Mix thoroughly. Pour on top of popped popcorn and give it a good mix with a spoon. YUM YUM YUM. Don't forget to add the choc chips ....

The kids love this. I love it too ... and I'm not a big fan of peanut butter. Jono says it tastes like caramel.

Peanut Butter Cups

This is for Bonnie.

1 cup semi-sweet or milk chocolate morsels

3 T butter

1 T oil

¼ cup smooth peanut butter

1 T powdered sugar

If you have those cool Teflon muffin cups, spray with a little non-stick spray. Otherwise, line a muffin pan with cupcake papers.

Melt chocolate, butter and oil. Melt peanut butter and sugar together.

Using a spoon or a pastry bag (I used a spoon but I imagine bags would be MUCH easier), divide half the chocolate mixture between the muffin cups (how many depends on how thick you want your finished candy. I used 6 and they were a little too hefty).

Next, divide the peanut butter evenly among the cups, making at least a half-hearted attempt to keep the peanut butter in the middle.

Cover each cup with the remaining chocolate mixture.

Put muffin pan in freezer for 30 minutes, or until it sets up.

Snarf.