Adventures in Cooking: Molten Chocolate-Nutella Pudding Cakes Edition

 

Ready for a super rich chocolaty dessert? 

Ingredients

• 1/2  cup  all-purpose flour
• 1/2  cup  unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2  teaspoon  baking powder
• 4  ounces  semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 8  tablespoons  (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 4  large eggs
• 1  teaspoon  vanilla extract
• 1  cup  sugar
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 6  tablespoons  Nutella

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Mist 6 6-oz. ramekins with cooking spray. Place a roasting pan in oven; pour in 1/2 inch of hot water. In a bowl, whisk flour, cocoa and baking powder.
2. Combine chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl; cook on high, stirring once or twice, until almost melted, 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk until smooth.

3. In a bowl, with an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat eggs, vanilla, sugar and salt until pale yellow, about 5 minutes. Beat in melted chocolate mixture. Stir in flour mixture. Spoon half of batter into ramekins. Drop 1 Tbsp. of Nutella into center of each. Cover with remaining batter.
4. Transfer ramekins to roasting pan. Bake until cakes have risen and are cracked on top, about 30 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes. Serve warm.

Adventures in Cooking: 3 Musketeers Puffs Edition

I know it sounds a little different, but I actually liked these! It's kinda like a fast way to make pain au chocolat!

Ingredients 

• 1 package Pillsbury Crescents
• 1 packages of 3 Musketeers Funsize Bars (usually group of 8)

Directions

1. Place one piece of candy in the center of each crescent.
2. Fold crescent around candy, being sure to cover all of it. Pinch seams closed.
3. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
4. Bake in a 375 degree F oven until golden brown, about 11 minutes.
5. Serve warm.

Adventures in Cooking: Brownie Cheesecake Edition

Looks delicious, no?

Everybody loved it and said it was the best cheesecake they had ever had! 

What else can I say?

Ingredients:
10 oz. (1 pouch) brownie mix
16 oz. cream cheese, softened
3 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup milk chocolate chips, melted

Brownie Cheesecake Directions:
1. Grease bottom of 9-inch springform pan.
2. Prepare the brownie mix as directed on package. Pour batter into pan, bake for 15 minutes at 350F.
3. Combine cream cheese, whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla. Mix on medium speed with an electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Pour cheese mixture over brownie layer.
3. Spoon melted chocolate over the cream cheese mixture, then cut through with a knife for a marble effect.
4. Bake at 350F for 35 minutes. Loosen cake from rim of pan; cool before removing rim of pan. Chill.

Adventures in Cooking: Tollhouse Pie Edition

I had an extra pie crust, so let's try another pie! This time I went for a Tollhouse pie. According to the recipe, "the sweet, creamy richness of a brown sugar base makes this chocolate chip pie a perfect foil for chopped nuts and whipped or ice cream." It did have a creamy, rich, sugary base. But as for perfect foil? I dunno. Don't get me wrong! Everyone who tried a piece loved it. Personally, I don't care for nuts. If I made it again, I'd probably leave the nuts out and then the chocolaty-ness of the pie would be perfect with some vanilla ice-cream! 

Recipe:

• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup butter, melted and cooled
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 9 inch deep dish crust pie shell

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
2. In a large bowl, beat the eggs until foamy. Add the flour, white sugar and brown sugar; beat until well blended. Blend in the melted butter. Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts. Pour batter into one unbaked 9 inch pie shell.
3. Bake at 325 degrees F for 1 hour. Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream, if desired.

 
 

Adventures in Cooking: Chess Pie Edition

Let me start this post with a little story. Several weeks ago, when out on one of our adventures in tiny towns, we found a very dumpy, albeit delicious barbecue restaurant. Now, I'm not that big a fan of barbecue, but they had mini-baby pies that were so cute I just had to try one. I picked (can you guess?) a mini chess pie and have wanted to make one ever since (a full sized one though- why make a mini? It just has more crust!). Tonight I finally did- it was scrumptious and everybody loved it! Yum!

For those who would like a taste, try it out for yourself:

Old-Fashioned Chess Pie Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 c. sugar
• 2 tbsp. (heaping) flour
• 1 tbsp. (heaping) cornmeal
• 1/2 c. butter, melted
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 c. buttermilk
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 10-in. unbaked pie shell (I used a 9-in pie shell and just didn't pour all the mix in)
  

1. Mix sugar, flour and cornmeal; stir in butter, eggs, buttermilk and vanilla.
2. Mix well; pour into pie shell.
3. Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes.
4. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees; bake for 30 minutes longer. Cover pie with foil, if necessary, to prevent burning. (I actually baked it for 40 minutes longer- it got a nice flaky crust on top!)

Bon appetit!