Mexican Chocolate Cookies

Ever since trying the Chocolate Diablo Cookie at Tacofino, I have been striving to recreate the spicy chocolate cookie. This recipe makes a darn good cookie, maybe not quite as good as Tacofino but I think anything out of a food truck just tastes better...

 

Adapted from Cooking Channel, makes 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter
4 ounces baking chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Line cookie sheets with Silpat or parchment paper.

In a heatproof bowl set over simmering water, melt the butter and chocolate, whisking until smooth. Cool to room temperature.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the brown sugar, sugar, vanilla extract and eggs on low speed until well combined. Pour in the cooled chocolate mixture and continue to mix until well combined.

Add the dry ingredients to the batter and mix on low speed just until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
Using a cookie scoop, scoop balls of dough onto the prepare cookie sheets. Bake the cookies, for 12 to 14 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. The cookies should still be fairly soft when removed from the oven.

Allow to cool slightly before serving. These cookies are best eaten warm.



♥  Amy

Carrot Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

I made this carrot cake for Dave to take into work on Easter weekend - according to his coworkers, it was one of the best treats I have ever sent into the hospital. A pretty tall compliment!

The original recipe notes 25 minutes, my cake took over 60 minutes. It may work better to split the batter in to two cake pans and create a two layer cake with additional frosting in between. In that case, double the frosting recipe.

Adapted from Sophistimom, makes 1 large cake

Ingredients

1 cup coconut flakes
1 15 ounce can crushed pineapple, including juice
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 pound carrots, peeled and shredded
2 cups sugar
1 1/3 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 teaspoon orange extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice

8 ounces (1 package) cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cups icing sugar
1 teaspoon orange extract
1/2 cup heavy cream, cold

Orange zest, for garnish

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a large cake pan (12″ round springform pan) with parchment paper. Lightly butter the parchment paper.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, place the coconut, pineapple, zest, carrots, sugar, eggs, extract, flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and allspice. Mix just until combined.

Pour into the prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. 

Let cool on a wire rack for about 5 minutes, then use a knife to loosen the cake all around the edges. 

In the mean time, beat the heavy cream to nearly stiff peaks in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Remove to a separate bowl and set aside. In the stand mixer bowl, next beat the cheese, sugar and extract until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Fold in the whipped cream and briefly beat to combine. Do not over mix.

When cake has completely cooled, frost using a knife or piping bag with your favourite tip. Garnish with orange zest.

♥  Amy

Whipped (Lemon) Frosting

Usually when I bake, everything is from scratch. However, one night when a miscalculation of butter, left me with out the ingredients for buttercream frosting, I was left searching the back of the pantry for anything, anything, that could be turned into frosting. I managed to find one package of Dream Whip and one package of lemon pudding, two ingredients I would never use and could not even remember why I had them in the first place...

Anyways, the end result was one of the lightest, fluffiest, perfectly lemony frostings I have ever made. It got rave reviews.

Compared to the agony that usually surrounds trying to get lemon juice to incorporate into buttercream, I think I might actually resort to this when I need a citrus frosting again in the future.

You could make this with any flavour of instant pudding. I added lemon extract to make my frosting extra lemony but you could also add any extract flavour. The combinations are endless.

Adapted from Kraft, makes 3 to 4 cups

Ingredients

1 1/3 cup milk, cold
1 package instant pudding, any flavour
1 envelope whipped dessert topping
1 teaspoon extract, any flavour, optional


Directions

Place the milk in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Add the pudding powder, whipped dessert powder and extract. Beat slowly until combined.

Increase the speed to high. Whisk until soft peaks form, about 6 minutes.

Use on your favourite cake or cupcakes.

♥  Amy

Stout Barbecue Sauce

This is a savoury barbecue sauce - if you prefer a sweet barbecue sauce I would suggest adding more brown sugar, molasses or honey.


Adapted from Serious Eats, makes 2 cups

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bottle (341 mL) Guinness Beer
2 cans (398 mL) tomato sauce
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Salt
Pepper

Directions

In a medium saucepan, saute the onion and garlic in the oil until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer until reduced to a medium-thin thickness, about 30 to 45 minutes.

Transfer to a blender. Puree until smooth.

Store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

♥  Amy