Chocolate Wafers

Chocolate Wafer Cookies

Here is a recipe for a crunchy chocolate wafer cookie that goes great with a side of ice cream or a cup of coffee.  It comes from the Joy of Baking with a video that shows you how to make them as well. I didn't watch the video but I would definetly say you need to watch the cook time. When they come out of the oven they will be very soft but will take a few minutes to harden up a bit on the pan before removing to the cooling rack. The longer in the oven the crunchier they will be!

Chocolate Wafers: In a bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and margarine until well blended. Add the sugars and vanilla extract and beat on high speed for about one minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the egg white. Add the flour mixture and beat just until incorporated. Place the dough on your counter and, using your hands, evenly form the dough into a log shape that is about 9 inches (23 cm) long. Carefully wrap the dough in aluminum foil,parchment paper or wax paper and fold or twist the ends. Try not to flatten the log. Refrigerate until firm. This will take several hours or you can even chill it overnight. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a sharp knife, slice the log into about 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick wafers. Place the wafers on the baking sheet spacing, about 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart. Bake for approximately 10 - 12 minutes or until the the cookies puff and the tops of the cookies have cracks (ripples). Remove from oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Can be stored in an airtight container, at room temperature, for about 10 days. They can also be frozen. Makes about 36 cookies. Adapted from: Medrich, Alice. Cookies and Brownies. Warner Books, Inc.. New York: 1999.

Chocolate Wafers:

1 cup (130 grams) all purpose flour

1/2 cup (50 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder (regular or Dutch-processed)

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons (45 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

3 tablespoons (45 grams) margarine (or Smart Balance)

2/3 cup (140 grams) packed light brownsugar

1/2 cup (100 grams) white granulated sugar

Read more:http://www.joyofbaking.com/ChocolateWafers.html#ixzz1NE8Nc61y

Loaded Potato Salad

Loaded Potato Salad

Happy Victoria Day and for those living in the US, Happy Memorial Day! Hope everyone has had a nice long weekend. The weather here has been quite chilly so there was no bbqing going on today. We enjoyed some tomato mozzarella sausages on ciabatta sausage buns with a side of loaded potato salad. This potato salad is just your ordinary salad with a few punches. I used small red potatoes diced up with the skins on and boiled them up as well as boiled up my eggs. Once the eggs and potatoes were cooled, I added some light mayo, onion powder, dried parsley, salt, and pepper. Then I cooked up some bacon pieces and added it to the salad just before serving it and grated a bit of cheese on top. It is super delicious and a side dish that will come in handy this summer with the potlucks going on.

For dessert, I made up some chocolate fudge cupcakes and topped them off with some chocolate ice cream and caramel sauce with sprinkles. If you have any sundae glasses kicking around, stick a cupcake in one and it'll look like a sundae!

Blueberry Loaf Cake w/ streusel topping

Nothing like combining a couple different recipes to get the one you want! I was looking for a blueberry coffee type of cake on allrecipes.ca  and came across a Blueberry Loaf Cake but I wasn't a fan of the topping and wanted some with more punch, so I found another cake recipe which had a streusel topping and added to my loaf! The middle of the loaf caved in a bit because I think the topping might have been a bit too heavy. I won't be cutting into the loaf until tomorrow but I'm sure it'll be a hit! Here are the recipes I followed:

Blueberry Loaf Cake

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
• TOPPING:
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, milk and vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder; add to creamed mixture just until combined. Gently fold in blueberries. Pour into a greased 9-in. x 5-in. x 3-in. loaf pan. Combine sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over top. Bake at 350 degrees F for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Streusel Topping

• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup butter

Cut in the butter/margarine 

Pineapple-Glazed Cocktail Meatballs

Pineapple-Glazed Meatballs

Here is a super easy 'throw together' meal if you have some ground beef lingering or already made meatballs. I made my own meatballs with some ground beef I had leftover. All I did was add a few tablespoons of Italian bread crumbs, one egg, and some onion powder in a bowl and combined it and then made my balls. I heated up some olive oil in a frying pan and fried them up (about 5 minutes on each side until the middle is no longer pink). Then I put them on a plate and dabbed some papertowel on them to get off the excess oil. To make the sauce, all you need is some bbq sauce and can of pineapple pieces undrained. Heat up the bbq sauce and pinapple pieces in another pan then toss back in your meatballs just to get them warmed up. Here is the recipe for the sauce from Kraft!

what you need

1/2 cup KRAFT Original Barbecue Sauce

1/2 cup  undrained canned crushed pineapple in juice

30 frozen fully-cooked meatballs (16-oz. pkg.)

make it

MIX first 2 ingredients in large nonstick skillet.

STIR in meatballs until evenly coated.

BRING to boil on medium-high heat; simmer on medium-low heat 10 min. or until heated through, stirring occasionally.

kraft kitchens tips

SPECIAL EXTRA

For extra kick, mix 3/4 tsp. each ground ginger and garlic powder with other sauce ingredients before stirring in meatballs.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

It has been some time since I've been able to update my blog let alone find the time to bake in my kitchen. Both of my babies had a very bad case of the cold and flu virus which lingered in our house for a good two weeks. We also have bathroom renovations going on in our house at the moment which had to go on hold due to the sickness we were all under. My babes are on the mend now and I was very anxious to get back in the kitchen and get behind my camera and do what I love doing!

 Instead of making just chocolate chip cookies, I thought it would be neat to turn them into a cake! I found a cookie cake recipe and instead of spreading all the batter out on a 15 inch pan, I put them into two cake
pans. The first one I made I baked it for 20 minutes which it called for, but the middle did not cook. So, for the second cookie cake I baked it an extra 7 minutes which helped. They are really tasty and satisfy any chocolate chip cookie craving you have! I plan on putting the second cake in the fridge and will decorate it with some icing tomorrow. Yummy!

Here is the recipe! http://www.food.com/recipe/chocolate-chip-cookie-cake-233825

Ingredients:

Servings:

  15   15

15

• 1 cup butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups flour, plus
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Change Measurements: US | Metric

Directions:

Prep Time: 25 mins

Total Time: 45 mins

1. 1 Beat butter and sugars together.
2. 2 Add eggs and vanilla.
3. 3 Mix flour, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar.
4. 4 Add dry ingredients to the batter and mix until well blended.
5. 5 Stir in chocolate chips.
6. 6 Spread dough into a 15 1/2 inch round pan.
7. 7 Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.