S’more Brownies

Pat traded a batch of ooey gooey brownies for a gym pass…  I know, go figure.  Anyway, these are the brownies he came up with…  S’more Brownies.  If you are looking for a pan filled with a days worth of calories… this is your ticket.  They were so good!!!  He just baked a pan of brownies according to the directions of the box.  Then he topped them with marshmallows, chocolate chips and crumbled up graham crackers.  He then put the pan back in the oven under the broiler to melt and brown the marshmallows.  Oh.  My.  We had to hurry and take a picture before they were devoured!  I mean… look at the smile on Claire’s face as she eats her piece.  That says it all. 

Chocolate Sorbet

I'm currently on a huge sorbet kick! I love it! Especially Raspberry! Actually, maybe I'm just in love with my new ice cream maker. So far, we've made homemade ice cream and sorbet at least a dozen times! Recently, I tried coconut sorbet, which was good and thick and creamy, but nothing to write home about (or post on a blog). So, when I saw this chocolate sorbet, I had to try it!

Oh, and I wanted it to be soooo good. I mean, it's chocolate! How can it not be great? I even took lots of photos to document this dessert. But when I tried the finished product it left me wanting to eat something else and not something with chocolate in it.

It's made from a lot of semisweet chocolate and unsweetened cocoa powder. Because it's sorbet it does NOT have any milk in it. So there it is. I should have known I wasn't going to be in love with it. Semisweet chocolate and no milk. It tastes just like it sounds. Don't get me wrong. It tastes very chocolatey. Just the wrong kind of chocolate.

Chocolate Sorbet

2 1/4 cups (555 ml) water

1 cup (200 g) sugar
3/4 cup (75 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
6 ounces (170 g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large saucepan (yes, you must use a large one or it will bubble over. Trust me.), whisk together 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) of the water with the sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. Bring to a boil, whisking frequently. Let it boil, continuing to whisk, for 45 seconds.

Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate until it’s melted, then stir in the vanilla extract and the remaining 3/4 cup (180 ml) water. Transfer the mixture to a blender and blend for 15 seconds.

Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. If the mixture has become too thick to pour into your machine, whisk it vigorously to thin it out. 

*Recipe from one of my favorite cooking blogs, Smitten Kitchen.

Brownie Volcano!

The other day to celebrate summer ending, we headed to the Rainforest Café. During dinner we discussed their dessert – the Volcano. It looks something like this.

 

It was $15. With tax and tip, we’d be up to almost $20 for dessert. So, we decided to make one at home. Ourselves. Here’s how ours looked. Yup. We even put a sparkler on top. Or two.

Here’s how I made it.

Ingredients:

• Box of Brownie mix
• Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
• Hershey’s Chocolate Sauce
• Sparkler. Or Two.

This is pretty self-explanatory, but here it goes. I made the brownies in an 8x8 pan. I let them cool and then sliced them in half. I put the two pieces on a plate in the freezer for about half an hour. or until they were a little firm. Then I took the 4x8 piece of brownie, set it on it’s side and cut in into 2 wedges by slicing lengthwise. I repeated this with the other side. Now, I have 4 brownie wedges. I put these back in the freezer for an hour until they were firm enough to work with.

When the brownie wedges were firm enough, I got out a plate and piled up 3 scoops of ice cream. One on top of the other.  Then I leaned three of the pieces against the ice cream, building the sides of the volcano. I put the thickest part down on the plate as the base. One more scoop of ice cream topped it off. Then I poured Hershey’s Syrup all over it and stuck in my Sparkler. We were ready to rock n’ roll!

Pass out spoons and enjoy!

I know the brownie cutting is hard to understand. Let me know if you have any questions.

Peanut Butter–Chocolate Banana Pie

Since I made 2 of these this week, (I LOVE this pie) I thought I should share the recipe. I’ve shared it with you before, but now I have pics with my cute helper.

ingredients:

1 graham cracker crust

1 1/2 squares BAKER’s Semi Sweet Chocolate

1/2 cup peanut butter

2 bananas, cut lengthwise in half, then crosswise into quarters

1 pkg Vanilla pudding (large 6 servings one)

1 1/2 cups milk

2 cups whipped cream, divided

make it:

lay the cut bananas in the base of pie crust.

Take 1 chocolate square and grate it for a second. Just enough to get a desired amount of shavings for the top of the pie. Set aside shavings.

Place Peanut Butter and remaining chocolate squares in a bowl and microwave for 1 minute. Stir. Microwave 1 more minute. Stir.

Pour chocolate mixture over bananas in pie crust. Try to cover the bananas as best you can.

Get a cute 4 year old to help you mix the pudding mix and milk.

Let her stir in about 1 1/2 cups whipped cream into the pudding.

Ignore her when she says that will make the pudding “disgusting”. Let her lick the bowl to prove her wrong.

Pour the pudding/whipped cream mixture over top of chocolate bananas.

Top with remaining whipped cream and some shaved chocolate.

Refrigerate for 3 hours . . . if you can wait that long.

"Homemade" Donuts

I made these yesterday. They were so much better then any time I have ever made donuts. I think it is because I bought the Pillsbury Buttermilk Biscuits.

(Fried in Veg. Oil on low heat)

Alma came home and was like WHOA they are so much better then any other time I made them.

The powder sugar made like a glaze on them, and i just cut them in forths and I did not roll them. I left them fluffy, I think that made them better. And NUTELLA on them... yum.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Poundcake

Cake:

Chocolate Cake Mix + 3 T. flour
4 eggs
3/4 cup hot water
3/4 cup oil
1 sm pkg instant chocolate pudding
1 cup sour cream
6 oz chocolate chips


Blend all ingredients except sour cream and chocolate chips at medium speed for 4 minutes.
Add sour cream and chocolate chips. Pour into greased bundt pan Bake at 375 for 45 -50 minutes.


Glaze:

1/4 cup cocoa
3 T. water
2 T. shortening
3 T. light corn syrup
2 cups Powdered Sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla



Combine cocoa, water, shortening and corn syrup in medium sauce pan. Stir over low heat until shortening melts and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and beat in sugar and vanilla. Drizzle (or spread) over cake.

Jessie's Chocolate Chip Cookies

I thought I'd make a recipe card for Jessie's cookies. If you click on it, you should be able to read it better or print it. {Just an experiment. I won't be doing this with other recipes I post.} But I can send you the blank template and you can use them to print your recipes on if you want.

Hello Dollies

2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F

Combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Press into the bottom of an 9x9 inch baking pan. Layer the chocolate chips, coconut and pecans over the crumbs. Pour the sweetened condensed milk over the top.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool and cut into squares.