Author: Chocolate Covered Weekly

Here’s an amazing and incredible recipe to share with you! Sure you have tried many cookie recipes but this one is super easy and delicious. You only need 2 ingredients. ONLY 2! You will love this cookie dessert and surprise everyone! For specific directions check out the YouTube demonstration HERE.

Ingredients;
2 Egg Whites
80 gr bitter chocolate

These tiny pies get their name from the Scottish and French words for small cup or glass. A tender, buttery crust encases a dark chocolate, brownie-like filling. Add a pinch of flaky sea salt to the top of each one to bring out the sweetness of the dark chocolate. Tassies are best the day they are baked, but the dough and filling may be made up to 3 days in advance. You’ll need a mini muffin tin to make these. If your tin has 24 cups, you can double the recipe, or make another filling flavor. It’s not necessary to grease the tin.

Active time: 20 mins; Total time: 40 mins, plus 1 hour for chilling dough

Make Ahead: The dough must be refrigerated for 1 hour. Dough and filling can be made up to 3 days in advance. Bring the filling back to room temperature before portioning it into cups and baking.

Storage Notes: Leftover tassies may be covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days.

SERVINGS:
12

INGREDIENTS:
FOR THE CRUST
4 tablespoons (2 ounces/60 grams) unsalted butter, softened, but still cool to the touch
1 1/2 ounces (40 grams) cream cheese, softened, but still cool to the touch
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon (70 grams) all-purpose flour
FOR THE FILLING
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Dutch processed
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup (65 grams) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
1 large egg white (see NOTE)
1/8 teaspoon fine sea or table salt
1/4 cup (45 grams) chopped dark chocolate (60 to 70 percent) or chocolate chips, chopped
Flaky sea salt, for garnish (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
Make the crust: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment — or, if using a hand mixer, in a large bowl — beat together the butter and cream cheese until smooth, about 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and add the flour. On low speed, mix until no streaks remain and the dough starts to come together, about 1 minute. Scrape any stray dough from the sides of the bowl, gather into a ball and flatten into a smooth rectangle or disc. Cover tightly and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Cut the cold dough into 12 equal pieces, about 1-inch cubes, and, using your fingers, evenly press each piece into the bottom and up the sides of 12 mini muffin cups, making sure there are no holes. Refrigerate, uncovered, while you make the filling.

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.

For the filling: Place the cocoa powder in a small, heatproof bowl. In a small skillet over medium-high heat, heat the butter just until it’s melted. Immediately pour it over the cocoa, and stir until smooth. Stir in the sugar, flour, egg white and salt just until combined. Stir in the chopped chocolate until the mixture is combined, but still chunky.

Retrieve the muffin pan from the refrigerator, and using a soup spoon, fill each dough cup about 3/4 of the way.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the filling is puffed and set. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely before removing the tassies. Top each with a pinch of flaky sea salt, if desired, before serving.

NOTE: If doubling this recipe, you can use 2 egg whites or 1 whole egg.

Scott Suchman for The Washington Post; styling by Lisa Cherkasky for The Washington Post, as posted on WashingtonPost.com.

 

 

These not-your-average chocolate chunk cookies boast big caramel flavor—but there’s no caramel in the ingredient list. Instead, the sugar and butter in these slice-and-bake one-bowl cookies brown in the oven for a deeply sweet, nutty, caramelly flavor, and the cookies are baked in muffin tins for extra toasty, crisp edges. If walnuts aren’t your thing, feel free to substitute with more chopped chocolate.

Ingredients
Makes 24
½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
½ cup (55 g) powdered sugar
1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature, plus more for pans
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2¼ cups (281 g) all-purpose flour
3 oz. bittersweet, semisweet, or milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
½ cup coarsely chopped walnuts
Preparation
Step 1
Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat granulated sugar, powdered sugar, salt, and 1 cup butter in a large bowl until creamy, about 2 minutes. Beat in vanilla; scrape down sides of bowl. Add flour and pulse mixer a few times, then beat on low speed until flour is almost fully incorporated, about 1 minute (don’t overbeat; dough should be more clumpy than smooth). Beat in chocolate and walnuts just to blend.

Step 2
Turn dough out onto a surface and knead gently to bring together. Divide in half and form into 6″-long logs about 2″ in diameter (no need to be perfect about shape of logs). Wrap in plastic and chill until firm, at least 2 hours.

Step 3
Place racks in upper and lower thirds of oven; preheat to 350°. Butter 2 standard 12-cup muffin pans. Unwrap logs and mark at ½” intervals, then cut into rounds with a chef’s knife. Place rounds in muffin cups.

Step 4
Bake cookies, rotating pans top to bottom and front to back halfway through, until golden on top, browned around the edges, and slightly soft in the center (cookies will firm up as they cool), 20–22 minutes. Let cool in pans 3 minutes, then transfer cookies to wire racks and let cool completely.

Do Ahead: Dough can be formed into logs 3 days ahead; keep chilled, or freeze up to 2 months. Thaw 1 hour at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator before slicing and baking. Cookies can be baked 7 days ahead; store airtight at room temperature.

Excerpted from ‘Baking With Dorie: Sweet, Salty, & Simple’ 2021 by Dorie Greenspan, as posted on BonAppetit.com.

Add pretzel legs to REESE’S Peanut Butter Pumpkins and garnish with candy eyes. Part recipe, part quick Halloween craft, these pretzel spiders use HERSHEY’S MIlk Chocolate Chips to boost the flavor and fun.

Ingredients:

8                REESE’S Peanut Butter Pumpkins (1.2 oz each)
32              large pretzel twists (2-1/2 to 3 in)
1/4 cup    HERSHEY’S Milk Chocolate Chips, HERSHEY’S SPECIAL DARK Chocolate Chips or HERSHEY’S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (this amount of                                                                              chocolate will make about 8 spiders)
candy eyes

Directions:

Equipment Needed:
Tray or Cookie Sheet
Wax Paper
Microwave-Safe Bowl
Microwave
Measuring Cup
Rubber Scraper
Food Storage Bag

1. Line tray or cookie sheet with wax paper. Remove wrappers from desired number of peanut butter pumpkins. For each spider, cut 8 matching curved sections from pretzels which will form the legs. Set aside remaining pretzels pieces.

2. Place milk chocolate chips in small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at medium (50%) 30 seconds; stir. If necessary, microwave at medium an additional 10 seconds at a time, stirring after each heating, until chips are melted and smooth when stirred. Transfer to small heavy duty plastic food storage bag. Cut off one corner of bag about 1/4 inch from the tip.

3. For each spider, place peanut butter pumpkin on prepared tray. Attach pretzel legs and candy eyes to spider with melted chocolate. Allow chocolate to set before moving spiders.

As posted on Hersheyland.com

Nutritionist Brittany Gordon shares a tasty snack idea for your kids’ school lunches.

Chocolate Sunflower Energy Bars

Ingredients:

1/3 cup sunflower seed butter (melted)
3 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cup Rice Krispies-type cereal
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
28 grams dark chocolate chips (Enjoy Life brand to keep it nut safe)

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl combine melted sunflower butter, maple syrup, ginger and ground cinnamon until well combined. Then gently fold in the rice cereal and sunflower seeds.

2. Line an 8 x 8 casserole dish with parchment paper making sure the parchment comes up and over the sides to make it easy to pull out later.

3. Press the rice cereal mixture into the prepared dish. To keep your hands clean, place a piece of parchment paper or wax paper on top and press down to even out the mix. Be sure to really press down to make sure the mixture sticks together.

4. Put your dark chocolate into a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for no more than 30 seconds at a time, until the chocolate has melted. Using a spoon drizzle chocolate all over the top of the Rice Krispies mixture, get creative with it.

5. Place in the freezer for at least 30 minutes, then slice into 6 bars.

Pro tip: Double the batch and save yourself snack prep for a couple of weeks. These delicious bars will keep for up to two weeks in the fridge or two months in the freezer. Serves six.

As posted on CBC.ca

 

Convert your kitchen into a chocolatier’s heaven and wow family and friends with smoky chocolate brownies. These delicious brownies are coated in rich chocolate and topped with smoked paprika and salt.

Ilse’s Double Chocolate Brownies with Smoked Paprika & Salt

You’ll need:

230g butter; 375g sugar; 125g cocoa powder; 10ml smoked paprika, plus extra for sprinkling; 2,5ml salt; 5ml vanilla extract; 3 XL eggs; 100g cake flour; 100g walnuts, roughly chopped; 80g coffee flavored dark chocolate; smoked salt, for sprinkling

How to:

Preheat the oven to 170°C and position the rack in the lower third of the oven. In a medium pot over low heat, melt the butter (do not boil).

When completely melted, remove from the heat and add the sugar, cocoa powder, paprika and salt to the warm pot. Stir with a wooden spoon until well mixed, then add the vanilla and one egg at a time, mixing very well between the additions of each egg.

When the mixture is thick and glossy, stir in the flour (no need to sift) until no streaks remain, then keep stirring for exactly 40 strokes.

Now stir in the chopped walnuts. Line a 30x20cm baking tin with non-stick baking paper, then transfer the brownie mixture into the lined tin, edging it evenly into all corners.

Bake for 20-22 minutes until the middle is risen but still very soft (it must look slightly under-baked), then remove from the oven to cool completely.

For the top layer, break the chocolate into smaller blocks and melt in a small bowl in the microwave at 30-second increments until fully melted. Pour over the brownies, then spread evenly all over.

Sprinkle lightly with smoked salt flakes and some smoked paprika, then cut into bars/ squares when the chocolate has firmed up.

Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Created by Ilse van der Merwe, as the perfect indulgence with a glass of Roodeberg, as posted on SouthCoastHerald.co.za

 

You don’t need to be a professional chocolatier to make beautiful tempered chocolate. Achieving its signature shiny, crisp finish may take a few attempts to master, but some common kitchen tools and a little patience can go a long way. Before you know it, you’ll be making confections worthy of a high-end candy counter.

How to Temper Chocolate

Time: 30 to 35 minutes
Cost: $15
Difficulty: Hard

Materials

1 large bar of premium baking dark chocolate

Tools

Large serrated knife
A saucepan, double boiler, or microwave-safe bowl
A spatula
A food thermometer
(Optional) A large bowl of lukewarm water

Instructions

1. Chop up the chocolate. Use a large serrated knife. Set one third of the chopped chocolate aside.

Note: Avoid using chocolate chips. They often have additives that will help them hold their shape during baking, but will disrupt the tempering process.

2. Melt the chocolate on low heat. You can do this in a microwave, a bowl placed over a pot of simmering water, or a double boiler. Stirring constantly is key, as it’ll prevent the chocolate from burning as it heats up, or solidifying as it cools down.

Pro tip: Use a spoon or spatula, as a whisk will add too much air into the mixture and keep the cocoa butter crystals from packing tightly together.
Warning: Don’t place a pot lid over your chocolate—this will cause any steam coming off of the chocolate to condense and drip back into it. Even the smallest amount of water can ruin a batch of melted chocolate.
3. Very carefully, heat your melted chocolate to 115 degrees Fahrenheit while stirring constantly. A couple degrees above or below this temperature is okay, but don’t let it exceed 120 degrees.

Pro tip: Be sure to use a thermometer that can accurately measure low temperatures—in the 80- to 90-degree range—as well as high ones. “A human thermometer actually works the best. You’re at really low temperatures for most things in the kitchen,” says food scientist Pat Polowsky, who currently works for Walmart’s health and wellness division.
4. Remove the chocolate from the heat and stir in the unmelted chocolate you put aside earlier.

5. Stir and monitor the chocolate until it reaches 84 degrees. This could take as long as 15 minutes. Be patient and don’t stop stirring.

Warning: “Never put [the melted chocolate] in the fridge—that’s a cardinal sin in chocolate-making,” Polowsky cautions. “If you put tempered chocolate in the fridge, even though it’s not melting, these [weaker] crystals will slowly form over time.”
6. (Optional) Dunk the bottom of your melting vessel into lukewarm water. If warm weather is giving you trouble lowering the melted chocolate’s temperature, this will speed up the process. Just make sure no water comes in contact with the chocolate itself.

7. Heat the chocolate again. Use low heat and monitor its temperature carefully. When it reaches 88 degrees, remove it from the heat source. Your melted chocolate is now ready to pipe, dip, spread, and mold.

If your end result doesn’t come out as planned, don’t fret—you can always re-melt it and restart the tempering process. And even if you aren’t satisfied with its appearance, poorly tempered chocolate still tastes great. This process is about adjusting the chocolate’s appearance and heat resilience, and doesn’t compromise the flavor at all.

So, what is “tempering” anyway?
Tempering is the process of using heat to break down the cocoa butter crystals in chocolate and then allowing only the strongest and most stable ones to re-form.

The cocoa butter in chocolate exists in several different types of crystals, which break apart at different temperatures. Tempering starts by thoroughly melting the chocolate to break up all the crystals and then cooling the mixture just enough to let only the strongest ones form again. When they do, they take a shape similar to a tuning fork.

As published on PopularScience.com.

It contains one of Vital Proteins’ chocolate powders, chocolate almond milk, maca berry, cinnamon, matcha, and spinach, with a few daily variants like banana and berries.

The smoothie consists of:

Vital Proteins Chocolate Collagen Powder or Chocolate Vital Performance Protein Powder
Chocolate almond milk
Cinnamon
Maca berry
Cacao
Matcha powder
Spinach

She’ll sometimes switch it up by throwing in a banana and handful of berries. “The chocolate-flavored Vital Performance Protein is also made with collagen and is my latest obsession,” she said. “It’s so filling, and it tastes like I just indulged.”