Iced Mocha

Lately I have been on the lookout for a good iced coffee and I think that I have found it in this recipe! I will start off by admitting that I am a little bit of a wimp when it comes to coffee. I tend to go for the sweet coffee drinks that are probably more sugar than coffee. I'm working on it though!

This iced mocha is delicious and I think it has a good balance of coffee flavor and sweetness (I even toned down the sweetness from the original recipe! I'm so proud of myself!) It is extremely easy to adapt this recipe to your taste by varying how much coffee, sugar, or milk you add! Let loose, play mad scientist, and experiment! I love this recipe because I can make it ahead of time and drink on it for a week, but it would also be great to make for a party!

To take this drink up a notch, I made some coffee ice cubes! I did this by freezing brewed coffee in an ice tray. It's super easy and prevents your coffee from getting watered down as the ice melts!

To make just under 3 quarts of this delicious treat you will need:

• 1/3 cup INSTANT COFFEE GRANULES 
• 1/2 cup BOILING WATER
• 1 (14 oz.) can SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK (you could use fat-free to knock off a few calories)
• 1/2 cup CHOCOLATE SYRUP
• 3 cups COLD WATER
• 6 cups MILK (I used 1%, but you could use skim to knock off a few MORE calories)

Start off by putting the coffee into a  medium sized bowl. Next, whisk the 1/2 cup of boiling water into the coffee. (I made a half batch of this iced coffee in the pictures, so that's why it looks like so much less!)

Continue whisking the mixture until all of the coffee has dissolved.

Whisk the sweetened condensed milk and chocolate syrup into the coffee.

Pour the sweetened coffee mixture into your pitcher and stir in the cold water and milk. This is where tasting is important! If the coffee is too sweet add some more milk or water. If it doesn't have enough coffee flavor, dissolve a few tablespoons of the instant coffee in a few tablespoons of boiling water and mix it in.

Once the coffee is to your liking, chill it until it is cold (or just pour it over a glass full of ice) and then serve!

---

Iced Mocha

Ingredients:
To make just under 3 quarts of this delicious treat you will need:

• 1/3 cup INSTANT COFFEE GRANULES 
• 1/2 cup BOILING WATER
• 1 (14 oz.) can SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK (you could use fat-free to knock off a few calories)
• 1/2 cup CHOCOLATE SYRUP
• 3 cups COLD WATER
• 6 cups MILK (I used 1%, but you could use skim to knock off a few MORE calories)

Directions:

1. Start off by putting the coffee into a  medium sized bowl. 
2. Next, whisk the 1/2 cup of boiling water into the coffee. Continue whisking the mixture until all of the coffee has dissolved.
3. Whisk the sweetened condensed milk and chocolate syrup into the coffee.
4. Pour the sweetened coffee mixture into your pitcher and stir in the cold water and milk. 
5. This is where tasting is important! If the coffee is too sweet, add some more milk or water. If it doesn't have enough coffee flavor, dissolve a few tablespoons of the instant coffee in a few tablespoons of boiling water and mix it in. 
6. Once the coffee is to your liking, chill it until it is cold (or just pour it over a glass full of ice) and then serve!

---

I adapted my recipe from the following recipe: http://www.loriesmississippikitchen.com/2008/07/iced-mocha-latte.html

Oreo Balls

It seems like everyone has heard of cake balls these days, but I don't think Oreo balls have gotten near as much hype. I don't understand this because I like Oreo balls more and they are just as easy to make! They are basically the same thing, except instead of breaking up a cake and mixing it with cream cheese icing, you crush up some Oreos and mix it with cream cheese. I think the Oreos provide for a better texture in the balls and aren't so "mushy." 

To make 25-30 Oreo balls (depending on how big you make them) you will need:

• 1 package OREOS (roughly 30 cookies)
• 1 (8 oz.) package CREAM CHEESE, softened
• 10-12 oz. of CHOCOLATE CHIPS or CHOCOLATE ALMOND BARK

NOTE: I think chocolate chips taste better than the chocolate almond bark, but the almond bark definitely sets up better than the chocolate chips. If you don't want to have to have to keep the Oreo balls refrigerated, then use the almond bark!

Start off by crushing up the Oreos. I tend to put the Oreos into a large baggie and hit them with the flat side of my meat tenderizer to accomplish this. You could also use a food processor, but I've had issues getting a consistent texture when I've tried that. 

Aim for a texture like the Oreos in the picture below. Then add the cream cheese.

Use your hands to mix the cream cheese into the crushed Oreos. You could use a spoon, but using your hands is so much easier!



Then roll the mixture into 1 inch balls. At this point I would recommend freezing the ball for a few hours (or overnight). It makes it so much easier to cover them in chocolate! Otherwise they tend to fall apart in the warm melted chocolate.

When you are ready to cover the balls, melt either the chocolate chips or chocolate almond bark in a small bowl.

Then poke a toothpick into an Oreo ball and dip it in the chocolate. If you are worried about the balls looking perfect, you can poke the other end of the toothpick into an empty styrofoam egg carton while the chocolate hardens as seen in the picture below. You can thank my husband for that idea!

That's it! Allow the chocolate to set up and then eat them!

Yum!

---

Oreo Balls

Ingredients:

• 1 package OREOS (roughly 30 cookies)
• 1 (8 oz.) package CREAM CHEESE, softened
• 10-12 oz. of CHOCOLATE CHIPS or CHOCOLATE ALMOND BARK

Directions:

1. Start off by crushing up the Oreos. I tend to put the Oreos into a large baggie and hit them with the flat side of my meat tenderizer to accomplish this. You could also use a food processor, but I've had issues getting a consistent texture when I've tried that. 
2. Add the cream cheese to the crushed Oreos. Use your hands to mix the cream cheese into the Oreos. 
3. Then roll the mixture into 1 inch balls. At this point I would recommend freezing the ball for a few hours (or overnight). It makes it so much easier to cover them in chocolate! 
4. When you are ready to cover the balls, melt either the chocolate chips or chocolate almond bark in a small bowl.
5. Then poke a toothpick into a ball and dip it in the chocolate. If you are worried about the balls looking perfect, you can poke the other end of the toothpick into an empty styrofoam egg carton while the chocolate hardens. 
6. That's it! Allow the chocolate to set up and then eat them! 

---

Buche de Noel

I went to my first Meetup on Sunday and of all things it was a baking Meetup! Unfortunately it started to snow about an hour before the event so I ended up being the only person (out of 15) that showed up! It really worked out in my favor though because I ended up getting several hours of one-on-one time with the hostess who is an experienced baker! I was able to ask her all kinds of questions and benefit from her experience. As you can see in the pictures we made a buche de Noel! 

We used a vanilla sponge cake, filled it with a rum pastry cream, and topped it with a chocolate ganache! Then we used marzipan to make mushrooms and holly leaves for decoration!

With some coaching, I think it turned out pretty darn well!

Close up!

One more, just because I'm proud of it!

Soft Baked Chocolate Chip Cookies

So, basically chocolate chip cookies are delicious. I think that's really all the explanation I need. You should make chocolate chip cookies. End of story. But I will go on... I think chocolate chip cookies are especially delicious when they are fresh out of the oven because they are warm and soft! This recipe for chocolate chip cookies is great because the cookies don't get hard the day after baking them. They stay soft for several days and after popping them in the microwave for a few seconds they taste like they are fresh out of the oven!

To make about 3 dozen cookies you will need:

• 3/4 cup BUTTER, unsalted
• 3/4 cup BROWN SUGAR, lightly packed
• 1/2 cup SUGAR
• 1 large EGG & 1 large EGG YOLK
• 2 tsp VANILLA
• 2 & 1/4 cup FLOUR
• 1 tsp BAKING SODA
• 1 & 1/2 tsp CORNSTARCH
• 1/2 tsp SALT
• 1 & 1/2 cup CHOCOLATE CHIPS

Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F. Then cream together the butter, brown sugar, and sugar until the mixture is fluffy and light. 

Next, mix in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Once that has been combined, add the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt.

Lastly, mix in the chocolate chips!

Form balls of dough about the size of a walnut and space them about 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet. Try to not eat all of the dough first ;)

Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes or until they are slightly brown around the edges and golden brown on top!

Since my husband and I don't need to eat 3 dozen cookies at once and I like cookies fresh out of the oven, I only bake up a few cookie at a time and wrap the rest of the dough in cling wrap which I store in the fridge. This also allows me to eat some of the dough when I make the next batch... ;)

Yummm... cookies... :)

---

Soft Baked Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup BUTTER, unsalted
• 3/4 cup BROWN SUGAR, lightly packed
• 1/2 cup SUGAR
• 1 large EGG & 1 large EGG YOLK
• 2 tsp VANILLA
• 2 & 1/4 cup FLOUR
• 1 tsp BAKING SODA
• 1 & 1/2 tsp CORNSTARCH
• 1/2 tsp SALT
• 1 & 1/2 cup CHOCOLATE CHIPS

Directions:

1. Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F. Then cream together the butter, brown sugar, and sugar until the mixture is fluffy and light. 
2. Next, mix in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Once that has been combined, add the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt.
3. Lastly, mix in the chocolate chips!
4. Form balls of dough about the size of a walnut and space them about 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet. 
5. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes or until they are slightly brown around the edges and golden brown on top!

---

I based this recipe on one that I found on the following blog:
http://lingonberryjam.wordpress.com/2013/06/20/soft-baked-chocolate-chip-cookies/

Thanksgiving 2013

I had such a wonderful Thanksgiving this year! My husband and I recently moved away from where our families live, but we were lucky enough to have our siblings and one of my closest friends come visit us for the holiday!

We ended up having a total of 8 people over for Thanksgiving dinner this year so I took full advantage having so many people to cook for and made all kinds of things!

I started off Thanksgiving week by making some kolaches, which are traditional Czechoslovakian pastries. They are made of a sweet dough and generally have a fruity filling. I made my brother and my favorite flavor, cherry!

Look how gooey and yummy they were! I will post the recipe for these soon!

Then, my brother helped me make my favorite spinach artichoke dip to snack on during Thanksgiving day!

We even made the bread! I used the crusty bread recipe, but rather than shaping it into a ball I shaped it into a loaf. 

My husband made his favorite Thanksgiving food, dressing!

My husband and I decided that rather than making turkey for Thanksgiving, we wanted to make a ham. Some of our guests on the other hand, decided that they could not have Thanksgiving without a turkey. So one of them volunteered to make a turkey....and then another one volunteered to make a turkey... and then there was a little bit of a miscommunication and we ended up with 2 turkeys!!!

Here is a picture of turkey #1, your classic turkey:

And here is turkey #2, the 'burkey':

And here is the ham that we made:

And here are the sides! We had mashed potatoes, sauteed Brussels sprouts, sweet potato casserole, potato salad, dressing, green bean casserole, and rolls! Whew! That was a lot of food! And it was all so good!

Here is a picture of the guys trying to figure out how to carve their birds!

And here is my plate! Look at all of that delicious food!

We weren't done yet! Now time for the desserts! My friend and I started off by making Oreo balls! They are super easy to make and so good! They are the perfect dessert for a chocoholic!

And then we made a mini carrot cake using my mother-in-law's recipe! It was so delicious!

Look at that yummy cake!

Welp, that's all! I will be posting some of the recipes for things that we made over the next few weeks. If you have any questions or recipe requests just let me know! Happy Thanksgiving!

Easy Chocolate Fudge

Fudge is so easy to make and it is delicious! To make a basic chocolate fudge you only need 3 ingredients!

• 3 cups CHOCOLATE CHIPS
• 1 (14 oz.) can SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK
• 1/4 cup BUTTER, unsalted
• Optional: 1 cup WALNUTS

Put all of the ingredients into a microwave safe bowl and microwave in increments of 30 seconds (stir in between) until all of the ingredients have melted together! Then pour the chocolaty goodness into a wax paper lined 8 in. x 8 in. baking dish. Smooth the fudge so that it is spread evenly in the pan and then refrigerate until it is hard. Once the fudge has set up, use a heavy knife to cut the fudge into small pieces! Then eat them!

I only had a 10 in. x 10 in. pan so my fudge was a little bit thinner than usual...it was still delicious though!

---

Easy Chocolate Fudge

Ingredients:

• 3 cups CHOCOLATE CHIPS
• 1 (14 oz.) can SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK
• 1/4 cup BUTTER, unsalted
• Optional: 1 cup WALNUTS

Directions:

1. Put all of the ingredients into a microwave safe bowl and microwave in increments of 30 seconds (stir in between) until all of the ingredients have melted together! 
2. Pour the chocolaty goodness into a wax paper lined 8 in. x 8 in. baking dish. Smooth the fudge so that it is spread evenly in the pan and then refrigerate until it is hard. 
3. Once the fudge has set up, use a heavy knife to cut the fudge into small pieces! Then eat them!

---

Molten Chocolate Cake

Ok, so you know how the cake in the picture above looks delicious? Well that's because it is!!! Oh my goodness, it is so good! It is warm and chocolate-y and gooey and overall just fantastic! AND it's super easy!

To make a dozen of these wonderful cakes you will need:

• 3/4 cup of BUTTER 
• 12 oz. CHOCOLATE CHIPS
• 1/2 cup HEAVY CREAM
• 5 EGGS
• 3/4 cup SUGAR
• 2/3 cup FLOUR

Add 3/4 cup butter, the chocolate chips, and the heavy cream to a microwave safe bowl. Microwave the contents 30 second at a time, stirring in between, until the ingredients are melted together and smooth.

Allow the mixture to cool slightly so it is no longer hot to the touch. While the mixture is cooling, prepare the cupcake pan. Either coat the cups with some extra melted butter and then sprinkle in the cocoa powder OR just put some nonstick cooking spray in the cups!

After the chocolate mixture has cooled and is just warm, mix in the eggs, sugar, and flour. 

Once all of the ingredients are well mixed, fill up the cups in the cupcake pan. They won't rise very much so you can fill them almost all the way to the top. Then refrigerate for a minimum of one hour (and up to a few days). 

When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. If you are using a regular sized cupcake pan (12 cupcakes/pan) bake them for 8-10 minutes. If you are using a large cupcake pan (6 cupcakes/pan) bake them for 13-15 minutes.

When the cakes are done they should be set around the sides and most of the top, but be a little runny at the center. (The ones in the picture below are slightly over cooked.) Let them cool for about 5 minutes after taking them out of the oven before removing them from the pan.

Once they have cooled, turn them out onto a cookie sheet or clean surface and get ready to enjoy! I served mine with ice cream and a little bit of chocolate syrup, but whipped cream, caramel sauce, hot fudge, or any number of other things could also make a delicious topping. I highly recommend the ice cream though!

Look how gooey and yummy it is! They even reheat well! Just microwave for about 30 seconds!



**** I made these cakes again and refrigerated the batter for a few days before baking and they baked up a little differently (but were still delicious!) so here are some more pictures below...

You can see in the picture below that the cake has set around the edges but are still a little runny at the center. This is what you want!!

Here is what it looked like when I cut into it! Warm and gooey and yummy!

---

Molten Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup of BUTTER 
• 12 oz. CHOCOLATE CHIPS
• 1/2 cup HEAVY CREAM
• 5 EGGS
• 3/4 cup SUGAR
• 2/3 cup FLOUR

Directions:

1. Add 3/4 cup butter, the chocolate chips, and the heavy cream to a microwave safe bowl. Microwave the contents 30 second at a time, stirring in between, until the ingredients are melted together and smooth.
2. Allow the mixture to cool slightly so it is no longer hot to the touch. While the mixture is cooling, prepare the cupcake pan. Either coat the cups with some extra melted butter and then sprinkle in the cocoa powder OR just put some nonstick cooking spray in the cups!
3. After the chocolate mixture has cooled and is just warm, mix in the eggs, sugar, and flour. 
4. Once all of the ingredients are well mixed, fill up the cups in the cupcake pan. They won't rise very much so you can fill them almost all the way to the top. Then refrigerate for a minimum of one hour (and up to a few days). 
5. When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. If you are using a regular sized cupcake pan (12 cupcakes/pan) bake them for 8-10 minutes. If you are using a large cupcake pan (6 cupcakes/pan) bake them for 13-15 minutes. When the cakes are done they should be set around the sides and most of the top, but be a little runny at the center. (The ones in the picture below are slightly over cooked.) 
6. Let them cool for about 5 minutes after taking them out of the oven before removing them from the pan.
7. Once they have cooled, turn them out onto a cookie sheet or clean surface and get ready to enjoy! I served mine with ice cream and a little bit of chocolate syrup, but whipped cream, caramel sauce, hot fudge, or any number of other things could also make a delicious topping. I highly recommend the ice cream though! 
8. They even reheat well! Just microwave for about 30 seconds!

---

I found this delicious treat on this website:
http://jennysteffens.blogspot.com/2013/04/chocolate-molten-cakes-in-cupcake-pan.html