chocolate chips – Page 3 – Bead Yarn & Spatula

Bite-Sized Goodness

As they say good things come in small packages and bite sized treats are no exception. You get all the flavor in a nice small portion. For Mother’s Day I decided to bake up some small treats as opposed to a large cake or pie and it was an overall hit.

First up are Mini Chocolate-Chip Cheesecakes. I came across this recipe a few years ago in a now defunct magazine and it was an instant hit amongst my friends. It’s been a while since I’ve made them so needless to say they didn’t last all that long.

I started off by making the cheesecake part of the bites by mixing together cream cheese, an egg and sugar. I then folded in the mini-chocolate chips and set this aside while I made the cake portion.

To make the cake portion I mixed together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, water, oil and vanilla.

Now it was time to assemble the mini cheesecakes. I spooned the chocolate mixture into the muffin tins until they were half full and then dolloped about a tablespoon of the cheesecake mixture on top.

And after baking in a 350 degrees pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes they were all done.

Up next… Pineapple Upside-Down Bites. I clipped this recipe out of the May 2013 issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray. The recipe sounded quick and simple and only required a few ingredients: butter, light brown sugar, maraschino cherries, pineapple and yellow cake mix.

I started off by preparing the cake mix per the directions on the package. The recipe actually calls for a 16.5oz box of cake mix, but since the recipe states that there would be cake batter left over I decided to use a smaller bag that is meant for 12 cupcakes or an 8×8 cake.

Up next it was time to prepare the muffin tin for the pineapple portion of these mini bites.

I spooned a 1/2 teaspoon of melted butter into each cup of the tin and then layered a 1/2 teaspoon of brown sugar, a cherry piece and a layer of pineapple on top of it. Also, while the recipe didn’t call for it I sprayed the muffin tin with baking spray to ensure that the bites wouldn’t stick to it.

I then spooned about a tablespoon of cake batter into each cup and then baked it in a 350 degrees preheated oven for 12 minutes.

Once out of the oven I inverted the muffin tin on a baking sheet so the pineapple bites could cool.

They tasted as good as they looked…

Mini Chocolate-Chip Cheesecakes

Makes about 4 dozen

1 1/2 lbs (2 12-oz packages) cream cheese

1 egg

1 1/3 cups sugar

1 1/4 mini chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups flour

1/4 cup cocoa

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup water

1/3 vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla

1. In a bowl, mix cream cheese, egg and 1/3 cup sugar

2. Add mini chocolate chips

3. In another bowl, mix remaining sugar with flour, cocoa, baking soda, water, oil and vanilla

4. Spoon chocolate mixture into mini muffin cups until half full

5. Place 1 teaspoon cream cheese mixture on top of each cupcake

6. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until top springs back when gently pressed

7. Cool on rack for 10 minutes before serving

Pineapple Upside-Down Bites

Makes 24

Prep 30 Minutes

Bake 15 Minutes

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar

5 maraschino cherries, quartered

1/3 cup diced pineapple, patted dry

1 box (16.5oz) yellow cake mix, prepared into batter

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In the cups of two 12-cup mini muffin tins, layer 1/2 teaspoon butter, 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar, a cherry piece, a single layer of pineapple (about 5 pieces) and about 1 tablespoon cake batter (cups should be about two-thirds full; save remaining cake batter for another use).

2. Bake until golden-brown and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cupcakes, about 12 minutes. Immediately run a knife around the edge of each cake and invert to cool on a baking sheet. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Sour Cream – Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

This past week I went to dinner at a friend’s house and offered to bring dessert. I decided to bring a pound cake of some sort and remembered that I had a cookbook with different variations of the traditional pound cake. I tend to get cookbooks, mark off a few recipes that I like but then seem to never make them. Cookbooks are not my first go-to when I want to make something new and different. I got this recipe from Elizabeth Alston’s Best Baking cookbook which offers numerous recipes for pound cakes, angel food cakes, chiffon cakes, coffee cakes and tea breads.

To start off here are the ingredients: sugar, cinnamon, unsalted butter, vanilla extract, eggs, sour cream, baking powder, baking soda, salt, flour and semi-sweet chocolate-chips.

I began by preheating my oven to 325 degrees and prepping my loaf pan by spraying it with baking spray, lining it with aluminum foil so that it would hang over the sides for easy removal of the cake and then spraying the foil with more baking spray. I also made the topping of the cake by mixing 2 tbsp. of the sugar with 1/4 tsp. of the cinnamon. I set these two things aside then and got to making the cake.

I started making the batter by mixing together the butter, which should be at room temperature but I took a short-cut on this and warmed it up in the microwave for about 15 – 20 seconds, and the sugar. Unfortunately I wasn’t at home while making this cake so I didn’t have the advantage of using my stand mixer but my hand mixer works just as well with double, or maybe triple, the time. I mixed the butter and sugar until the mixture was pale and fluffy, per the directions.

Next I beat in the four eggs one at a time.

Following that I added in the sour cream, baking powder, baking soda, salt and the remaining cinnamon.

And then I added in the flour. Up to this point the batter was pretty smooth and thinned out but once I added in the flour it became quite thick and heavy.

Once the flour was incorporated I stirred in the chocolate chips.

I then spread the batter out evenly in my prepared pan and sprinkled the cinnamon sugar mixture on top and put in the oven.

My baking time was off in comparison to the directions. According to the directions it should take about 70 minutes, but, after 70 minutes my cake was still not fully cooked in the middle so I lowered the temperature to 300 and baked it for an additional 15 fifteen minutes which did the trick. After letting it cool in the pan for thirty minutes I removed it from the pan and let it cool for another hour or two on the wire rack. I was thinking that the cinnamon-sugar mixture was actually going to be bake into the cake but it just seemed to sit on top which I wasn’t too happy about. After it was fully cooled I wrapped it airtight and let it sit at room temperature for optimal flavor, per the directions. This actually helped the cinnamon sugar topping sink into the cake a little which was good.

I would make this again but I would lower the oven temperature so that it could bake longer without sacrificing the moisture of the cake. While the cake was good I found it to be a bit dry and I am sure that had to do with the extra baking time.

Sour Cream – Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

From Best Baking by Elizabeth Alston

1 cup plus 4 Tbsp. granulated sugar

1 1/2 Tsps. ground cinnamon

14 Tbsps. (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 Tsps. vanilla extract

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1/3 cup sour cream

1 Tsp. baking powder

1/4 Tsp. baking soda

1/4 Tsp. salt

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

9 x 5 x 3 – Inch Loaf Pan

Heat the oven to 325F. Grease the pan and line with foil; letting it hang over the sides. Grease the foil.

Mix 2 tablespoons of the sugar with 1/4 teaspoon of the cinnamon, and set aside to use for the topping.

Beat the butter, the remaining 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, and the vanilla with an electric mixer on high speed, until pale and fluffy.

Reduce the speed to medium. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each.

Beat in the sour cream, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and the remaining 1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon. Scrape the sides of the bowl often.

With the mixer on low, stir in the flour until nearly incorporated. Add the chocolate chips and stir until the batter is well mixed.

Spread the batter (6 1/2 cups) in the pan (the pan will be very full). Sprinkle the reserved cinnamon sugar over the top. (It will look like too much topping, but it isn’t.)

Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for about 30 minutes. Life the cake from the pan by the foil. Let cool completely on the wire rack. Remove the foil. For best flavor, wrap airtight, being careful not to disturb the sugar topping more than necessary, and store 1 day at room temperature before serving or freezing.

Snowed-In Fudgy Walnut Brownies

So this past weekend I was held-up indoors after Nemo dropped 20 plus inches of snow in my area. While I was able to shovel the walkway & driveway and clean off my car – which was a painstaking task as I drive an SUV and cleaning the snow off the top of it is no fun (it’s one of the few times I wish I was an inch or two taller) – I couldn’t leave my block as the plows did clean the main roads in my area but didn’t get to the side streets. One of which I live on. So, what is a girl to do, well, this one decided to bake some brownies. I figured I deserved something sweet after all the hard work I did.

I remembered that I had a mini-recipe pullout from a Food Network Magazine with fifty different brownie recipes. I decided to keep it simple since I was sure I would have the ingredients for traditional brownies but not for anything too “wild.” There is a recipe for Cherry Almond Brownies that I am sure would be delicious, but, those will have to wait for another day. Hence, my Snowed-In Fudgy Walnut Brownies.

The ingredients were quite basic: Semi-sweet chocolate chips, butter, light brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, flour and salt. And since I like some texture to my brownies I added in walnuts. The last time I made brownies I actually used cocoa powder so I was taken aback by using chocolate chips instead. Luckily I buy them whenever they’re on sale and store them in my refrigerator because you never know what may come up… like a snowstorm!

I started off by melting the chocolate chips and butter in a saucepan over low heat.

Once the chocolate chips and butter were melted I removed it from the heat and whisked in both of the sugars. As you can see the mixture got quite thick.

After letting it cool for a few minutes I whisked in four eggs one at a time and then the vanilla extract. I was actually going to do this by hand but immediately changed my mind and whipped out my hand mixer instead. My arm already had a good workout from clearing the snow.

I did swap out the mixer for a rubber spatula though when I added in the flour and salt. I didn’t want to make too much of a mess since I wasn’t working with a deep bowl.

And finally I folded in the walnuts.

In prepping my baking dish I decided to go with the easy removal method and sprayed my dish with baking spray, lined it with aluminum foil ensuring that it was a large enough piece to overhang at the ends and then sprayed the aluminum foil with the baking spray. Once the batter was ready I spread into the prepared dish.

After baking for 45 minutes in a 325 degree oven my brownies were done.

I let them cool for about two hours before I sliced them into twelve almost perfect squares.

They were quite yummy and surprisingly not as sweet as I thought they would be considering they were made with chocolate chips and a cup and a half of sugar. They were also the perfect complement to my chai tea as I watched the Grammy’s on Sunday night!

Fudgy Walnut Brownies

Ingredients

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 stick unsalted butter

3/4 cup light-brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Coat a 9×13 pan with cooking spray. For easy removal, line the pan with foil leaving an overhang, then coat with more cooking spray.

Melt the chocolate chips and butter in a saucepan over low heat, stirring. Off the heat, whisk in each of the sugars; cool slightly. Whisk in the eggs one at a time and the vanilla extract. Stir in the flour and the salt. Fold in the walnuts. Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes.

Cool on a rack, then cut into squares.

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