For the Chocoholics

Every time I visit my parents, my mom and I email constantly the week before about what we will bake.  There are always too many things for us to try, so it’s usually a pretty fattening special looking recipe that makes the cut.  Last weekend we made Picky Palate’s Chocolate Chip Oreo Cookie Sandwiches and Candy Bar Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwiches.  They were amazing.

This weekend I couldn’t help but be inspired by those delicious cookies.  As if a chocolate chip cookie stuffed with a Snickers Bar or Oreo Cookie wasn’t enough, I had to take it a step further for all of the chocoholics out there.  Why not take one of my favorite chocolate cookie recipes and stuff it with chocolate candy?  I made Stuffed Triple Chocolate Cookies.

I’ll be honest, I haven’t tasted them yet.  I am on my 6th day of a week-long deprivation vegan challenge and baking these was an extreme form of torture.  Luckily, I have the Husband to do my taste testing for me in a time like this.  If the number of Hershey Kiss stuffed cookies he ate is any reflection of the verdict, I’d say these are a winner.  Trust me, though, when vegan week is over, I’ll be inhaling a dozen cookies doing my own “quality control”.  (More on Vegan week in an upcoming post!)

The Triple Chocolate Cookie dough is adapted from Jill O’Connor’s Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey.  I’ve made the cookies using her exact recipe as a standalone cookie and they never disappoint.  You may remember my Gooey Caramel Butter Bars were also from that cookbook.

To begin, you take semi-sweet and unsweetened chocolate along with a stick of butter and place them in a microwave-safe bowl

Microwave the ingredients for a minute and stir; microwave again for 30-second increments until everything is almost melted; stir the remaining lumps until smooth and do not overheat.  Set aside

Whisk together dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt) and set aside

In your mixer, combine eggs, sugars and vanilla

Beat on high speed for about 5 minutes or until mixture is light and fluffy

Reduce the speed of your mixer and add in melted chocolate and butter

When that is well-combined, stir in flour mixture but do not over-mix

Stir in chocolate chips

Refrigerate cookie dough for an hour or more prior to making the cookies

Choose any chocolate candies of your preference.  Smaller candies will yield more cookies.  I selected these chocolate meltaway Kisses  because, well, why not make these as intensely chocolate as possible?

Other candy included dark chocolate Peanut Butter cups and Peppermint Patties.  Once dough is chilled, pre-heat oven and unwrap your chocolates

Use a cookie dough scoop to form balls of dough; place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Place candy on top of dough mound and then push down

Gently form cookie dough around the candy until it is completely covered; it might be easier if you freeze your Peppermint Patties first because they can break if you push too hard with the cookie dough

Repeat process

Use just enough cookie dough to cover the candy; size will be about 50% larger than candy alone

Make sure your candy is completely covered with dough or you may end up with some oozing like my Peppermint Patty cookies experienced

Bake the cookies for about 9 minutes and set aside on a cooling rack to cool

This is the deliciousness you will experience when you bite into the different cookies:

Stuffed Triple Chocolate Cookies

Inspired by Picky Palate and adapted from Jill O’Connor

Makes ~50 cookies (more cookies with small candy, but less with large)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate

7 ounces unsweetened chocolate

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 large eggs at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Place semi-sweet and unsweetened chocolate with butter in a microwave-safe bowl

Microwave the ingredients for a minute and stir; microwave again for 30-second increments until everything is almost melted; stir the remaining lumps until smooth.  Set aside

Whisk together dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt) and set aside

In your mixer, combine eggs, sugars and vanilla; beat on high speed for about 5 minutes or until mixture is light and fluffy

Reduce the speed of your mixer and add in melted chocolate and butter

When that is well-combined, stir in flour mixture but do not over-mix

Stir in chocolate chips

Refrigerate cookie dough for an hour or more prior to making the cookies

Once dough is chilled, pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and unwrap your chocolates

Use a cookie dough scoop to form balls of dough; place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Place candy on top of dough mound and then push down

Gently form cookie dough around the candy until it is completely covered; repeat (make sure your candy is completely covered with dough)

Bake the cookies for 9-10 minutes and set aside on a cooling rack to cool

[Edited to add] Note:  The Peppermint Patty and Hershey Kiss versions were the most popular.  I think the larger Reeses Cups would be better so that the candy is in every bite.

What candy would you put in your cookies?

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Cookie Sandwiches Guest Posted

The below post is also being featured today on Liz’s blog, Blog is the New Black.  Check out her blog for great recipes for any part of the meal.

On New Year’s Eve, my husband and I went to his brother’s apartment for a fun but low-key night.  They made us a delicious dinner and I, of course, brought dessert.  There were four of us and I made two desserts, an ice cream pie, and “cookies” composed of my favorite flavor combination, chocolate and peanut butter.  What better way to end the year?!

This was actually a very last minute dessert.  I happened to have extra peanut butter filling in my freezer and an open package of chocolate wafers in my cabinet.  You don’t even want to know how much baking chocolate I have on hand… When I thought through my inventory and the last time I used peanut butter filling, this recipe just came to me.

This recipe is really easy!  First, prepare the peanut butter filling (recipe below) and lay out twenty chocolate wafers on a baking sheet lined with wax paper

Spread about a tablespoon of peanut butter onto each wafer

Press another wafer down to form a cookie sandwich

Repeat with all twenty cookies

Place tray of cookie sandwiches into the freezer for about an hour

Can you spot the tray? Welcome to my life…

Once cookies are chilled, set up your white chocolate for dipping

Melt chocolate by microwaving it in thirty second increments and stirring in-between

Then dip the cookie to cover about halfway on each side with chocolate

Make sure you get the chocolate around the edges

Set white chocolate cookies aside

Repeat the process with semi-sweet chocolate; Store cookies in the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before serving

Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookie Sandwiches

Makes 20 cookie sandwiches

Ingredients:

Peanut Butter Filling

1 package chocolate wafers (you only need 40 cookies)

8 ounces white chocolate chips

8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Prepare Peanut Butter Filling

Lay out twenty chocolate wafers on a baking sheet lined with wax paper

Spread about a tablespoon of peanut butter onto each wafer

Press another wafer down on top of peanut butter to form a cookie sandwich; repeat with all twenty cookies

Place tray of cookie sandwiches into the freezer for about an hour

Once cookies are chilled, set up your white chocolate for dipping

Melt chocolate by microwaving it in thirty second increments and stirring in-between

Then dip half of the cookies, covering half of each with chocolate; set white chocolate cookies aside

Repeat the process with semi-sweet chocolate

Store cookies in the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before serving

Peanut Butter Filling

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature

1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons salted natural creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

Beat butter until light and creamy

Beat in peanut butter

Mix in confectioners sugar on low speed and then beat until light and fluffy

What is your favorite thing to dip in chocolate?

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Delicious End to 2010

As I take a look at some of the last month’s activities I guess it shouldn’t be surprising that my pants don’t fit…

We had our 5th annual Thanksgiving with Friends

(the infamous dinner with 8 desserts)

Had and fulfilled intense cookie cravings

Tried to make the perfect cookie

Baked the Brown Eyed Baker’s Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Not pictured but worth mentioning, made Jessica’s Cookie Dough Dip in Chocolate Chip, Snickerdoodle and Chocolate Fudge

Went home to visit with family

The sister made chocolate covered pretzels

Dad gave me photography lessons

Mom made a zillion cakes

(Outrageous Brownie with Peanut Butter Icing and Chocolate Ganache)

(Pumpkin Cake with White Chocolate Buttercream and Cinnamon Whipped Cream)

(The third cake was a Chocolate Cake with Vanilla and Chocolate Buttercream)

Went home again for the 14th Annual Christmas Eve Brunch with my best friends from home

It snowed, so I rushed to the train to beat the blizzard

And since it was snowing, I had to make a trifle

We celebrated New Year’s Eve

With Frozen Yogurt Pie

And Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Sandwiches

This delicious food and the fun events with family and friends was definitely worth gaining a few pounds.  Better keep reminding myself as I fill up on vegetables over the next few weeks;-)

What memorable food did you eat this holiday season?

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