Coconut-Banana Tartlets

Well, bummer... I failed at the challenge. There was just not enough time to use up all those chocolate chips. If my grandmother doesn't use them before the holidays, then you guys will probably see the return of the challenge once I get home from school!

These tartlets I made for a dinner party at my mom's house. They turned out awesomely, and so pretty (especially considering I don't own tartlet pans), but they were heavy. Whipped cream improved the taste a lot, balancing the heavy flavors with the light.

Coconut-Banana Tartlets

Adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients:

For crust

• 1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/3 c. sweetened shredded coconut
• 3 tbsp. granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 c. chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp. ice water

For filling

• 1 1/3 c. sweetened shredded coconut
• 3 ripe bananas, cut into 1/2 in. pieces
• 3/4 c. whipping cream
• 3/4 c. granulated sugar

To Make:

1. Blend flour, coconut (for crust), sugar and salt in a large bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix in vanilla and water, and knead until doughy. Wrap in tin foil and freeze for 45 minutes. 
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray 6 jumbo muffin tins with non-stick spray.
3. Divide dough into 6 parts. Keeping other parts in the freezer while you roll each one out into 6 in. rounds on a floured surface. Gently place rounds into muffin tins, folding the extra dough where it creases. Freeze for 15 more minutes.
4. Bake crusts for 20 minutes, popping any bubbles that form. Cool crusts in muffin tin. Reduce oven to 350 degrees F.
5. In a large bowl, combine coconut and banana. In a medium saucepan stir cream and sugar together until the mixture boils. Pour mixture oven bananas and coconut. Stir to combine and spoon into shells, making the tartlets level.
6. Bake tartlets for 25 minutes. Cool in pan, then remove.

Some Notes:

• Definitely use whipped cream in your serving of these tarts.
• Next time I will also cut the banana more coarsely to make the tarts easier to eat.

Cinnamon-Chocolate Swirl Bread

My grandfather loved this bread toasted in a toaster oven with some butter on it. It was very rich but a little dry, I thought. There are some changes that could be made to counteract that problem however. See the notes.

Cinnamon-Chocolate Swirl Bread

Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2/3 c. buttermilk
• 1/4 c. vegetable oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 c. plus 3 tbsp. granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 2 tbsp. wheat flour
• 2 tbsp. butter

To Make:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and lightly flour a loaf pan and set aside.
2. Separate one egg, putting yolk in a large bowl and white in a medium bowl. Mix the chocolate chips with the eggs white and set aside.
3. In the large bowl add the second egg, buttermilk, oil and vanilla and beat for a minute.
4. In another medium bowl, sift together WHITE flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, 1/2 c. sugar and cinnamon. 
5. In yet another bowl, combine WHEAT flour, butter, 3 tbsp. sugar, and a little more cinnamon until crumbly. Spread 1/3 of this mixture on the bottom of the loaf pan.
6. Combine wet and dry ingredients until just blended. Add chocolate chips, but do not mix too much. Pour batter into pan and top with the rest of the streusel mixture. 
7. Bake for 1 hour. Cool completely before taking out of pan.

Some Notes:

• If I make this bread again, I will probably add about 1/3 c. sour cream to try to make the bread a little less dry.

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Glaze

Wow. I completely forgot how stressful moving from one place to another, 200 miles away is. Please forgive me for the lull in posts, but I have a backlog of delicious goodies to post for you guys! First on the agenda... these absolutely luscious peanut butter-chocolate cupcakes with chocolate glaze. Everyone from 10 year-olds to college guys to my grandparents' friends loved them; they're definitely a new go-to recipe for me... the classic pb/chocolate combination is beloved by many so you can't go wrong with these.

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Glaze

Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts 

Ingredients:

• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2/3 c. smooth peanut butter
• 1/3 c. butter
• 1/3 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/3 c. milk
• 1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

• 1 1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 c. hot water
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

To Make:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line about 16 muffin tins with cupcake liners.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl.
3. In a large bowl cream together peanut butter, butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating after additions. Still in vanilla (1 tsp.). Alternately fold in the flour mixture and the milk by thirds. Fold in the chocolate chips (1 c.).
4. Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full and bake for 25 minutes. Cool completely.
5. Combine the last three ingredients in a double boiler and brush onto cupcakes after they have cooled.

Some Notes:

• A pastry brush works really well for brushing the glaze over the cupcake.
• Serve the cupcakes with milk. :)

Chocolate-Cherry Muffins

These muffins work with a classic fruit and chocolate combination, to very decadent results. The ricotta cheese in the recipe makes these muffins extremely moist, and almost like cheese cake, but doesn't leave any taste. The only problem with these muffins is that they end up on the smaller side, even when filling the muffin tray 5/6th of the way full. I also got to use more of my chocolate chips... on my way to completing The Challenge! :)

On a related note, thank you to my cousin Kat for mentioning me on her blog The Ginger Cook! Hopefully it will help get people reading about my baking endeavors!

p.s. I can't wait to try her recipe for ginger snaps. It looks delicious!

Chocolate-Cherry Muffins

Adapted from Sunlight Cafe

Ingredients:

• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/8 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tbsp. lemon zest
• 1/2 c. granulated sugar
• 1 c. ricotta cheese
• 1 c buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• 1 1.2 tbsp vanilla extract
• 4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 1 dried cherries

To Make:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and spray about 12 muffins cups with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Combine in a large bowl the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, lemon zest and sugar.
3. In a medium bowl beat together buttermilk and ricotta. Add eggs one at a team and beat well, then beat in lemon juice and vanilla. Add wet mixture, cherries, and butter to the dry ingredients and stir until combined.
4. Toss chocolate chips in all-purpose flour to coat. Add to batter and mix to combine. Spoon batter into muffin cups to the top and bake for 20 minutes (until lightly browned on top).

Some Notes:

• I think next time I might use fresh pitted cherries for color and enhanced flavor. The cook time, if you use fresh or frozen cherries, is supposed to be between 25-30 minutes.

The Challenge

My grandmother's friend work for Nestle and when she learned that I love to bake she sent me... well, the biggest bag of chocolate chips I've ever had in my possession. 72 oz. of semi-sweet joy! My challenge is to use the whole bag before I leave for school on August 21st. Wish me luck!

Chocolate Gingerbread Muffins

Okay so these muffins are the definition of a delicious failure. I decided at the last minute that I wanted to add Hershey's cocoa powder to the dough to try to incorporate chocolate (you'll see why in the next post) and the muffins came out so densely that the lemon curd wouldn't go into them as filling. I abandoned that idea and just decided to run with the chocolate theme. It turned out really well, but I have ideas for next time I make them...

Chocolate Gingerbread Muffins

Adapted from New Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c. unsalted butter
• 1/2 c. granulated sugar
• 1 c. molasses
• 1 egg
• 2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp. cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 c. hot, strong chocolate-flavored coffee
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 c. chocolate chips (for topping)

To Make:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line about 2 muffin tins with muffin liners.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, beat egg into molasses, then add the creamed mixture. 
3. Sift together all dry ingredients except baking soda, then fold the dry ingredients into the wet ones.
4. Dissolve the baking soda in the coffee and add it to the batter, beating for several minutes. Place batter in muffin liners, about 3/4 of the way full. Bake for about 30 minutes.
5. To make topping, melt 1 c. chocolate chips in a double boiler until melted. Spoon into pastry bag and decorate.

Some Notes:

• Next time I make these, I plan on adding 1 c. of chocolate chips, coated in all-purpose flour, to the batter for a more chocolaty taste.
• Instead of a pastry bag, you can use a ziplock bag as a decorating tool. Just place all the chocolate into the ziplock bag, cut the tip off and squeeze.

Ginger Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

These are not the prettiest cookies, but they are DELICIOUS! I was a little skeptical at first about the combination of candied ginger and chocolate, but I had some candied ginger to use up that I bought at Jungle Jims forever ago, and I hadn't made cookies in a while. This recipe is definitely a keeper. The cookies can be baked to your exact liking, which is really neat. My first batch came out pretty dark and crispy, the second batch (after reducing cooking time by two minutes) came out snappy and golden, and the third batch (after another minute reduction) turned out chewy... and all three batches tasted great! You don't find many cookie recipes that can do that.

Ginger Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Adapted from Epicurious

Ingredients:

• 3 c. old-fashioned oats
• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 c. whole-wheat flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 c. unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/4 c. (packed) brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 c. honey
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 c. semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 c. chopped crystallized ginger

To Make:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with aluminum foil.
2. In a medium bowl, combine oats, both flours, salt and baking soda.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Add dry mixture to the mixer bowl and combine. Stir in ginger and chocolate chips. 
4. Drop batter onto baking sheets by tablespoonful. Bake until golden brown (about 10 minutes in my oven).

Some Notes:

• Make sure your batter mounds are compact so that the cookies do not crumble when removing from the baking sheet.
• The timetable for my oven was like this:

chewy cookies: 9 minutes

golden cookies: 11 minutes

crispy cookies: 13 minutes

• These cookies brown a little after they are pulled out of the oven. Plan accordingly.