Chocolate

Chocolate Caramel Crisp Cookies

/ Jodi / 9 Comments

Chocolate + Crisp, Salty, Buttery Ritz Crackers + Rolo Candies = PURE BLISS in my book…
Do you agree?

chocolate caramel crisp cookies 1

Oh THANK YOU, Ruthanne at easybaked.net for sharing this super easy, wonderfully delicious recipe!

chocolate caramel crisp cookies 3

It is literally THREE (3) ingredients + any embellishments you want to add – or not.

Ritz Crackers
Rolo Candies
Chocolate

Now seriously – anyone can do that – right?

chocolate caramel crisp cookies 5

chocolate caramel crisp cookies 6

And according to Ruthanne’s Dad, they are the BEST cookies he’s ever eaten…

chocolate caramel crisp cookies 2

Here is Ruthanne’s recipe from her awesome website:  easybaked.net:

INGREDIENTS: (makes about 50 cookies)

  • One box of Ritz Crackers
  • One bag of Rolo caramel candies
  • Two bags of Wilton’s Candy Melts in dark (or milk) chocolate – ( I used one of each)

DIRECTIONS:

  • Unwrap all those little Rolos…this is the hardest part of this recipe….booooring!
  • Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
  • Place Ritz Crackers, bottom side up, on a cookie sheet and set one unwrapped Rolo on each one.
  • Put these into the oven and leave them for one to two minutes until the Rolo is soft enough to press flat with another cracker- I actually just kept checking until they were soft enough.
  • Remove them from the oven and use another Ritz cracker to make a little sandwich of that soft Rolo.
  • Allow these to cool completely.
  • Melt Candy Melts in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between until they are completely melted and smooth.
  • Cover each cookie with melted chocolate and use a fork to lift the cookie up. Tap the fork against the side of the bowl to allow excess chocolate to drain off, slide bottom of cookie along edge of bowl to remove extra off bottom, and tip gently off fork and allow cookie to slide onto parchment or wax paper. Sprinkle/ decorate as desired and allow cookie to harden completely.

ENJOY!

chocolate caramel crisp cookies 4

Cheers & Chocolately Hugs,

Jodi

 

 

Holiday Gift Ideas: Chocolate Uranus? Suitjamas?

/ Jodi / 10 Comments

It is December 3rd.     22 days till Christmas.     That’s like a blink – right?

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And I have not even begun my Christmas shopping.

When the kids were young, I had organized lists well ahead of time, letters to Santa sent early, Christmas club accounts cashed out, layaways picked up, gifts wrapped and hid… and likely all done by December 3rd.

Not so much these days….

So even though I’m saying again this year we are downplaying the gifts, I’ve been scouring the internet looking for “just the right” little sumthin sumthins.

Here are a few things I am considering.  What do you think?

Did you ever wonder whSolar system Choco Kaiseki (nine sets)at Uranus tastes like?

For my chocolate-loving friends, Chocolate Boutique Rekura RIHGA has these gorgeous chocolate planet balls each with their own unique flavor.

For $50 a box, I think I’ll pick up a dozen or two to keep on hand for those last-minute gifts you always find yourself needing.

suit-pajamas
And you know how hard it is to find a gift for your boss that pretty much can buy anything he wants?  Well, I’m betting since he loves being in a suit so much all day that he would just be super-thrilled to have these suitjamas from ZBoss to wear all night too!  And they are quite the steal at only $99.95!    Check √

Now for that hard-to-buy for hubby…

Well – If I would not have just spent $100 and several hours of Jake and Nick and Colleen’s time buying and re-felting the pool table Marty got on Craig’s list, I would for sure have got snatched up this Ford Mustang pool table, which is a total steal for $9,995.  Dang!  It’s even in his favorite shade of red.  Oh well – sorry dear!
1965 Mustang Pool Table

pet-hoodiesBut I did find just the thing for my grandkitten!

Wonder if she will love her pet hoodie as much as her Mom and I love wearing our hoodies?

Score!

So thanks to the This is Why I’m Broke website for the great start on my holiday shopping!  If you have any more great ideas, please share.  I’m still looking for a bit more inspiration…

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

 

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin Top Cookies

/ Jodi / 11 Comments

There are certain foods that just love each other…
peanut butter & jelly… bacon & eggs…. macaroni & cheese…
and bananas & chocolate!

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin Top Cookies

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin Top Cookies – photo by Nick

So when I saw a recipe for Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies on Rantings of an Amateur Chef’s Maggie Monday yesterday, I knew I had to try them.

And I had some perfectly over-ripe bananas on the counter just waiting to be used.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin Top Cookies

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin Top Cookies – photo by Nick

I hesitated a bit messing with chocolate chip cookies, but when I read that these were more like muffin tops in their taste and texture, I was sold.

Be warned, these are not your normal chocolate chip cookie, and they taste nothing like my “almost famous” chocolate chips cookies, but they are a surprisingly delightful treat.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin Top Cookies

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin Top Cookies

Even Nick, who was skeptical with me messin’ with chocolate chip cookies, gave them a big thumbs up (and shared some of his photography talent by taking some of the photos I’m sharing today).

If you are looking for something different, and you love banana bread, muffins, and chocolate chips cookies, these are a must try.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin Top Cookies

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin Top Cookie & Milk – Photo by Nick

Here is the recipe as posted yesterday on Rantings of an Amateur Chef:

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

2/3 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp baking soda
2 cup chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs, vanilla and bananas. Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then gradually add this to the creamed mixture and blend well. Stir in the chocolate chips. Chill dough for at least one hour. Drop by tablespoonfuls about 2” apart on baking sheets covered with parchment paper. Bake at 350° for 9-11 minutes until edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Enjoy!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

 

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Halloween Spider Cookies

/ Jodi / 11 Comments

spider cookies 2

Halloween is a week away, and I had more fun than any normal middle-aged (ugh) woman with no children left at home should have making these adorable little peanut butter and chocolate spider cookies!  Heck – we don’t even get a single trick-or-treater, but who says you can’t have fun anyway?!?

spider cookies 4

I had seen a photo of these somewhere, and then a friend texted me a picture from Pinterest by Sommer Collier of A Spicy Perspective saying, “You need to make these for your blog.”  Well… that’s about all it took to get me excited, so I went in search of candy eyes at the local Michael’s Store – but none to be found…

Not giving up, I went to good ole’ Amazon Prime and had them in my hot little hands in two days!

spider cookies 3

They are basically a simple peanut butter cookie with a chocolate truffle in the middle, much like the Hershey Kiss peanut butter cookies (just on Halloween steroids!)

spider cookies

I thought they would be adorable, but wasn’t sure if anyone around here would eat them.

Well – I was wrong!  They loved them!

And it was fun to send some to Nick’s girlfriend, Liz’s office for my blog-following girlfriends at TS 🙂 and deliver some to my daughter-in-law, Colleen at work for a silly surprise.

spider cookie

I must give credit where credit is due.  I found this recipe on A Spicy Perspective’s Blog (which I am a total new fan of!).  She used Lindt Lindor truffles, which I think would be awesome too!  Here is Sommer’s recipe, which I tweaked just a bit for my own brevity’s sake:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Spider Cookies

  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 24 round chocolate truffles (I used Ferrero Rocher Truffles, but you can use anything you like best)
  • 3/4 cup Nestle’s semisweet chocolate chips
  • 48 candy eyes
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Beat the butter and peanut butter until fluffy. Then add sugars, and beat again until fluffy. Scrape the bowl, and beat in the vanilla and egg.
  3. In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Slowly incorporate into the butter and sugar mixture.
  4. Roll the cookie dough into 24 – 1 1/2 Tbsp-sized balls.   Bake for 7 minutes. Quickly press a cavity in the middle of each cookie with your thumb or pestle, then bake another 6 minutes, until golden.
  5. Cool until almost at room temperature (but not very warm) and place a truffle in the cavity of each cookie.
  6. Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until melted and smooth. Scoop the melted chocolate in a zip bag. Close the bag and snip off a small portion of one corner to create a hole. Pipe 8 legs on each cookie, starting from the truffle body down.
  7. Use remaining melted chocolate to glue 2 eyes onto each truffle spider.

ENJOY!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

PS  Hope you enjoyed this T!  🙂

One Word Photo Challenge: Chocolate (Salted Caramel Brownie Bites!)

/ Jodi / 8 Comments

salted caramel chocolate brownie bites

Since we are on the subject of Salted Caramel and Chocolate….

We were – weren’t we?!??

I came across a new One Word Photo Challenge (by photographer Jennifer Nichole Wells) via my friend, Colleen, at Silver Threading (who shared some glorious chocolate-colored rocks from Glacier National Park) where the theme this week is “Chocolate.”

Well – – I took it quite literally 🙂 and had to share this glorious recipe for these super simple yet amazingly scrumptious little gems I made last year at Christmas time.

And we were talking about Christmas too – right?!??  🙂

I originally found this recipe on InsideBruCrewLife’s blog.

Salted Caramel Brownie Bites

You will need:

Prepare 1 box brownies according to package directions for fudge-like brownies – let cool.
Unwrap 35 Rolo Candies (or a few extra if you are going to pop a few in your mouth – which is extremely hard to resist!)
12 ounces milk chocolate (Nestle Chocolate chips or any kind you prefer)
Coarse Sea Salt
Directions:
  • Cut the brownies into 35 small squares.
  • Place a Rolo on each square.
  • Wrap the brownie around the Rolo forming a ball.
  • Place on waxed paper covered baking sheet, and refrigerate for about an hour.
  • Melt chocolate (in microwave is easiest).
  • Dip the brownie bites into the melted chocolate.
  • Place on waxed paper and sprinkle with sea salt.

People are going to go GaGa over them, so watch out!

Enjoy.

And though it’s not an award-winning photo, I’ll bet your mouth is watering – and you are definitely thinking CHOCOLATE!  🙂

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

Sally’s Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread (and why I bake)

/ Jodi / 16 Comments

pumpkin bread sallys top down sliced 2

It’s pumpkin time!  Yippee-Skippee!

Here is another pumpkin recipe I found and tried this past week for a yummy, moist bread by one of my favorite baking bloggers:  Sally’s Baking Addiction.  Be sure to check it out!  Sally also recently published a cookbook, and this recipe is in it.  (and she is only 29 years old!)

pumpkin bread sallys cover

I’ve been following Sally’s blog long before lifeinbetween.me was even a twinkle in my eye (though I could be Sally’s mom).

She is such an inspiration – sharing a “sprinkle of fun and adventure” in every post.

pumpkin bread sallys slice 2Sally is getting married soon to a lucky guy named Kevin who “makes her happier than cupcakes.”

Thanks for a great blog, Sally, and best wishes on your upcoming wedding!

So we didn’t eat the entire loaf of bread ourselves at home, I sent half of it to work with Liz this past week to share with some of her work friends who follow my blog.

Look at these adorable smiles Liz got for sharing with them.

TSM Girls with pumpkin bread

That is why I bake!

So thank you for the smiles ladies!

You made my day. 🙂

TSM Girls with pumpkin bread 2

Here is Sally’s recipe, or go directly to her website here.

Sally’s Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

Ingredients:

  • 1  3/4 cups  flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin puree (you could certainly use fresh if you want to work that hard!)
  • 1/2 cup  melted coconut oil  (you could substitute vegetable or canola oil if you desire)
  • 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
  • 2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (feel free to change it up with cinnamon chips, butterscotch chips, milk chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, nuts, raisins, or a combination)

Adjust the oven rack to the lower third position and preheat the oven to 350F degrees.  Spray or grease and flour a 9×5 inch loaf pan (baking stone) with non-stick spray. Set aside.

Whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together until combined in one bowl. In another, whisk the eggs and sugars together until combined. Whisk in pumpkin, oil, and orange juice. Combine wet and dry ingredients and gently mix together.  Do not overmix – lumps are allowed. Gently fold in chocolate chips (or your desired add-in).

Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for approximately 1 hour.  Loosely cover bread with foil halfway through baking to prevent top from getting too brown. Bread is done when a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean with only a few small moist crumbs.

Allow the bread to cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before removing and slicing.  Makes 1 delicious loaf!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

Sometimes you just MUST have Chocolate!

/ Jodi / 6 Comments

rolo fudge brownies

Words are not needed…….

rolo fudge brownies 2

Sometimes you just MUST HAVE chocolate!

rolo fudge brownies 3

I could do nothing to perfect this amazingly decadent recipe for Rolo Fudge Brownies shared by one of my favorite bloggers, Cookies & Cups.  Thank you Shelly!

Rolo Fudge Brownies (as originally posted by Shelly at Cookies & Cups)

Ingredients

  • 1 box prepared Fudge Brownie mix
  • 1/2 cup caramel sauce
  • 2 cups unwrapped Rolo candy, candies cut in half after measured
  • 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
  • 3 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
  • 2 tsp vanilla

 

  1. First make Fudgy Brownies in a 9×13 pan lined with aluminum foil and sprayed with cooking spray.
  2. Let brownies cool completely.
  3. Pour and evenly spread caramel sauce over brownies, it will be a very thin layer
  4. Spread chopped Rolos over caramel sauce
  5. In a medium saucepan over low heat melt sweetened condensed milk and chocolate chips together.
  6. Once melted remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
  7. Immediately spread over Rolos using an off-set spatula.
  8. Let fudge set for at least 2 hours and cut into squares.

Notes

Store airtight for up to 5 days. If you are using a boxed brownie mix, make according to package directions, but line the pan with foil and spray with cooking spray. It will make removing and cutting much easier. ( I missed this note when I prepared!)

TIP:  Did you know you could make sweetened condensed milk from a evaporated milk?  I was bummed when I realized I didn’t have sweetened condensed milk in the pantry, but had a couple of cans of evaporated milk.  I know there had to be a way to “convert.”  I googled – and Voila! – yep – simple – you just need to take a can of evaoporated milk and add (ahem – yikes – are you ready for this??!! ….) – 1 1/2 cups sugar!  Boil and let cool.

ENJOY!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chunk Cookie Bars

/ Jodi / 5 Comments

Peanut butter chocolate chunk cookie bars

Does the name just say it ALL?!?!?

PEANUT BUTTER & CHOCOLATE CHUNK Cookie Bars

Oh My!!!!    I first saw this simple recipe on the AverieCooks Blog.  Have you seen Averie’s blog yet?  It’s one of my faves.   I think she could take a picture of a piece of cardboard, and I would want to eat it!

Oh #AverieSunshine – I think you are my hero! (Check out her amazing BLOG here.)    I can only aspire to be like Averie Sunshine (sigh).

 I wonder if it would help if I had a cooler name…??!!  

Maybe I could use Marty’s “pet” name for me……  Do you think Gertrude PIA Wisenheimer has a cool ring to it??!!??  (and if you are wondering… PIA is an acronym for Pain in A$$). 

I guess that’s what I get for calling him Merv.  🙂

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Anyway – We were going to a barbeque picnic Saturday – one of those parties where everyone brings something to share.  (with our buddies from John’s Bar btw)
Marty suggested I make a dessert.   Seems I’m always the dessert lady.
Too bad I don’t L O V E baking!

So I remember these amazing looking cookie bars from AverieCooks, and decided that is what I was making.

But I had to somehow “Jodi – ize” them.   Hmmm…. ????  What could make a peanut butter chocolate chunk cookie bar any better??  I know!  A sprinkling of Peanut Butter M&Ms on top!  Am I a genius or what??!!

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This recipe is seriously so easy and basic.  You probably have all the ingredients on hand already (if your pantry looks anything like mine).  You really don’t even need a mixer, and they only take a few minutes to mix together and 20 minutes to bake.

IMG_9311Note how I measure my peanut butter….  teeheehee!

So here’s the recipe:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp vanilla
1 Heaping cup creamy peanut butter
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
Pinch of salt  (did you know a pinch is 6 shakes?  Trivial Pursuit Question!)
1 Bag Nestle Semi Sweet Chocolate Chunks

Garnish:  1 cup (ish) Peanut Butter M&Ms

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 13×9 baking pan with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray.

Mix butter, egg, sugars, vanilla.

Stir in the peanut butter.

Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and stir until just incorporated.

Stir in chocolate.

Turn batter out into prepared pan, smoothing it lightly with a spatula.

Bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until center is just set and golden.  (Underbaking is always better!)

Bars will firm up more in pan as they cool.

ENJOY!

IMG_9344Let me know if you make them and how you like them.

IMG_9340Cheers and Hugs,

Jodi