Lonohana ONOMEA Chocolate Droplets

Disclosure: some links are referral

I ordered some Lonohana ONOMEA Milk Chocolate Droplets on Farm Link just so I could bake cookies! I made Salted Chocolate Chip + Droplet Cookies . . . the Droplets offered an indulgent bite of chocolate bliss!

You can also eat the Droplets straight out of the bag like candy if you're not in the mood to bake.

For the cookies, I used this recipe from Joy Food Sunshine, and just did some minor tweaks (I dropped 2 T balls of dough and added the Droplets; I baked for 13 minutes at 50 degrees Fahrenheit; sprinkled flaky sea salt at the end. I'm sure you could use your favorite cookie recipe and add in the Droplets!

Get the Chocolate Droplets and more at Farm Link!

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Recipe: Chocolate-Dipped Chocolate Chip + Kaki Mochi Cookies

I bake every week, and I gave one of my kids options as to what I could possibly bake for the week, and the decision was to make Chocolate-Dipped Chocolate Chip + Kaki Mochi Cookies.  

He gave it an unsolicited rating of 8/10.  He said he would've rated it higher if the entire cookie was dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with crushed kaki mochi.

I thought it was great as it was - I love Sweet & Salty!

Chocolate-Dipped Chocolate Chip + Kaki Mochi Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 c unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1/2 c brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 large egg
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 2 c flour
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1/8 t salt
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided
• 1 1/2 cups crushed kaki mochi, divided

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars.
• Beat in egg and vanilla.
• In a separate medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and salt.
• Slowly stir the flour mixture into the sugar mixture.
• Mix in 1 cup of chocolate chips and 1 cup of crushed kaki mochi
• Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto parchment-lined baking sheet.
• Bake approximately 12-14 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat remaining 1 cup of chocolate chips in microwave for 60 seconds on high, and mix until smooth.
• Dip finished cookies into the chocolate, and sprinkle with remaining crushed kaki mochi.

Enjoy!

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Chocolate Macadamia Spread Swirl Bars Recipe

I love Farm Link because I find things from local businesses that I never tried before.  One such item is the Chocolate Macadamia Spread from Manoa Chocolate, and I ended up baking with it!

I made Chocolate Macadamia Spread Swirl Bars which turned out really soft, chewy, and delicious!

Chocolate Macadamia Spread Swirl Bars

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c creamy peanut butter
• 1/3 c butter, softened
• 3/4 c brown sugar
• 3/4 c white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 t vanilla
• 1 c flour
• 1 t baking powder
• 1 c chocolate chips
• 1/4 c Chocolate Macadamia Spread

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Mix peanut butter, butter, and sugars until smooth.
• Add in eggs and vanilla and mix well.
• Mix in flour and baking powder.
• Stir in chocolate chips.
• Spread mixture into 9x13 pan.
• Add dollops of Chocolate Macadamia Nut spread to top of mixture and swirl with a knife.
• Bake for 33-35 minutes.
• Enjoy!

 

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Cookie-Making: Butter vs Shortening

 

I don't bake with shortening.  Even if a recipe calls for shortening, I use butter instead.  But a friend gave me a chocolate chip cookie recipe that called for shortening, saying that it was the secret ingredient.

I read up on the differences in cookie results between baking with butter and shortening, and I think for a better comparison, I would need to taste the cookies side by side, but I was very impressed with how yummy the cookies turned out.  

I still have my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe (that uses butter), and I'm also still on the search for THE recipe, but I'm always game to try new recipes.

Do you use butter or shortening in your cookies?

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Recipe: Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

It's been a while since I've been inspired to bake banana muffins or banana bread with extra ripe bananas. But when the mini saw our bananas getting black in color, he asked if we were going to make banana muffins, and I said "sure, if you're going to help me".  And sure enough, he washed his hands, put on his toque, stepped up to the counter to start mashing the bananas.

I went to all recipes.com and searched for a banana muffin recipe. I decided to this this one called "Banana Muffins II", since it had an average of 5 stars based on  over 4,000 reviews. Yep, that's how I select my recipes! I also scan the ingredients list to make sure it doesn't require a whole lot of ingredients or steps, and to make sure that I have everything on hand.

This recipe called for the usual ingredients - flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, 3 large bananas, one egg, sugar, and melted butter. 

We added our own mini chocolate chips, because we love chocolate chips!

The recipe yielded exactly 12 muffins, deliciously moist! 

Here's the recipe from allrecipes.com:

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 large bananas, mashed
• ¾ cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• ⅓ cup butter, melted

Directions:

• preheat oven to 350 degrees
• melt butter
• sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in one bowl
• combine mashed bananas, sugar, egg, and melted butter in another bowl
• gradually add the flour mixture to the mashed banana mixture, stir until smooth
• fold in chocolate chips (optional)
• fill muffin pan (lined with paper liners or greased) about half way
• bake approximately 20-25 minutes (for regular sized muffins)

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Peanut Butter-Stuffed Chocolate Cookies

I was craving peanut butter and chocolate, so I decided to make Peanut Butter-Stuffed Chocolate Cookies!

They are rich and decadent, and perfect for anyone who loves the PB + Chocolate combo!

Peanut Butter-Stuffed Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:

PB filling:

• 1 c creamy peanut butter
• ½ c powdered sugar 
• 1 t vanilla

Cookies:

• 1 c butter, softened
• 1 1/4 c brown sugar
• 1/2 c sugar 
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 t vanilla extract
• 2 1/3 c flour 
• 1/2 cocoa powder 
• 1 T cornstarch
• 1 t baking powder
• ¾ t salt
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

• Combine all peanut butter filling ingredients, and drop by 2-teaspoonfuls onto parchment-lined cookie sheet.  Place in freezer. 
• Mix butter and sugars in large bowl until combined.
• Add in eggs and vanilla.  
• In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. 
• Gradually add dry ingredients to wet, and mix well.  
• Stir in chocolate chips.
• Chill in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Roll dough into balls (about 2 teasponfuls)
• Sandwich the peanut butter filling between two balls of dough, and wrap dough around filling to form one giant cookie dough ball.
• Place balls onto parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake for 13 minutes.  

You can find the original recipe here on Sugar Spun Run.

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Unicorn Cookie Bars

Prior to the stay-at-home order, I picked up a bag of Unicorn Chips from the grocery store because I thought they'd be something fun to bake with.  I finally used them to make Unicorn Cookie Bars.

The chips were a little too sweet for my taste (vanilla-flavored), but the kids loved them, and I sure enjoyed the colors!

Unicorn Cookie Bars

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 c flour
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1/8 t salt
• 1 c butter, softened
• 1/2 c granulated sugar
• 1/2 c firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 2 cups unicorn chips, divided
• 2 T sprinkles

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. 
• In a medium bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt.
• In a separate large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
• Mix in egg and vanilla. 
• Pour in flour mixture and combine well.
• Mix in 1 c unicorn chips and the sprinkles.
• Pour batter in prepared 9x13 pan and top with remaining unicorn chips, and bake for 20-25 minutes.

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Honey Cinnamon Bars with Tolentino Honey

A jar of Tolentino Honey Co. Raw Hawaiian Honey was in my CSA Box from M by Chef Mavro, so I decided to bake with it!

I made these delightfully sweet Honey Cinnamon Bars.

Honey Cinnamon Bars

Ingredients

• 1 c sugar
• 3/4 c vegetable oil
• 1/4 c honey
• 1 large egg
• 2 c all-purpose flour
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 t ground cinnamon
• 1 c powdered sugar
• 2 T coconut milk
• chopped walnuts, to top bars (optional)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350°F. 
• In a large bowl, combine sugar, oil, honey, and egg. 
• Mix in flour, baking soda, and cinnamon.  
• Spread batter into 9x13 parchment-lined pan.  
• Bake for 15-18 minutes.
• Meanwhile, whisk powdered sugar and coconut milk until smooth.  
• Spread glaze over baked bars.  Top with chopped walnuts.  

You can find the original recipe here on Taste of Home.

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Mini Galette Recipe

Galette is a French cuisine term for freeform pastry with just about any fruit for filling.  I have always been drawn to the rustic charm of the open faced tarts.  When I found a recipe for mini galettes by Live Laugh Rowe, I was excited to try it and make different fillings for the family.  You can find the original recipe here. 

For the pastry, you'll first need to whisk together: 1.5 cups flour, 2 tsp sugar, and 1/4 tsp salt.  Cut 1/2 cup of cold butter into cubes.  Cut into flour with pastry cutter.  I just use my hands to do this.  Use a fork to mix in 1/4 cup sour cream.  Divide the dough into 8 parts and roll into balls.  Sprinkle with flour and wrap separately in plastic wrap.  Chill in the refrigerator for an hour minimum.

Once the dough is ready, take out of the refrigerator and let sit out for a few minutes.  Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

For the filling, mix 2 cups cut strawberries with 1 tablespoon orange juice, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 1 tablespoon cornstarch.  I followed this recipe to make a blueberry filling as well.  Since my daughter doesn't like fruit, I looked online and found a recipe for a chocolate pecan filling.  Instead of using butter and sugar like the recipe said, I added salted caramel and it worked great.  Set aside the filling.

Prepare to roll out the dough by flouring your surface.  Roll each ball into a 5-6 inch diameter circle and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Fill the center with 1/4 cup of your filling choice.  Be sure to leave about 1 inch around the edge.  Fold this part towards the filling and brush with egg wash.  Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown and the filling is bubbling.  Cool and enjoy looking at your beautiful creations!

Circles don't need to be perfect since it adds to the look!

Love the mini size so you can play with different fillings!

They are ready to for the oven!

These galettes were so yummy and fun to make!

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Reese's Minis-Topped Brownie Cookies

I have had a bag of Reese's Minis just sitting on our countertop for a while, and I finally decided to do something with it, and made Reese's Minis-Topped Brownie Cookies!

The cookies are yummy even without the Reese's!

Reese's Minis-Topped Brownie Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 c flour
• 1/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 t baking powder
• 1 c chocolate chips
• 1/2 c butter
• 2/3 c packed brown sugar
• 1/2 c granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 7.6 oz bag Reese's Minis, chopped

Directions:

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder.
• In a microwave-safe bowl, heat the butter and chocolate chips on high for 60 seconds, then stir until smooth.  Let cool for 10 minutes.
• In a large bowl, combine the eggs, brown sugar and granulated sugar.
• Pour the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture, and stir to combine. 
• Add in the dry mixture, and fold until combined (do not overmix).
• Drop the batter by 2-tablespoonfuls onto a parchment-line cooked sheet.
• Top dough with Reese's Minis.
• Bake for 10-12 minutes.  

You can find the brownie cookie here on Gimme Some Oven.

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Ten Recipe Ideas for Graham Crackers

If you have graham crackers at home, here are some sweet treat ideas:

Energy Bites

Chocolate Graham Toffee Bark

Marbled Chocolate and Peanut Butter Treats

S'mores Pops

S'Mores Cookies

Chocolate-Covered Graham Cracker Peanut Butter Sandwiches

Magic Cookie Bars

Peanut Butter Bars

Salted Caramel Pretzel Bark

Peanut Butter Cheesecake Bars

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Papaya Muffins

I never baked with papaya before, but I looked up a recipe since I had papaya that was about to go bad if I didn't eat or do something with them, and luckily I found a very easy Papaya Muffins recipe.

The recipe I found used a lemon glaze, but I decided to just top the muffins with crushed walnuts instead.  I also made them in both regular and mini sizes (I just love mini muffins!).

The kids loved the muffins, and have been eating them for both breakfast and snack!

Papaya Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 c sugar
• 1/2 c oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 c pureed papaya
• 1/2 c vanilla yogurt
• 2 1/2 c flour
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 c crushed walnuts

Directions:

• Mix sugar and oil in large bowl. 
• Mix in eggs.
• Mix in papaya and yogurt.
• Mix in flour, baking soda, and 1/2 c walnuts.  
• Pour into prepared muffin tin, filling each cup 3/4 full. Top with more walnuts.
• Bake in pre-heated oven at 350°F for 25 minutes (for mini muffins, bake 10-12 minutes).

You can view the original recipe here on Toubab Recipes.

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Bakerella’s MAJOR MINI CHIP COOKIES Recipe

 

When I saw these beautiful cookies on my favorite baker’s website, I immediately printed out the recipe. You can find the original recipe here. I planned to bake them with my daughter in the afternoon, but then my car battery died.  But I was not to be deterred and we baked after dinner.

We split the duties and while my daughter sifted 2 1/4 cups flour and 1 teaspoon baking soda in a medium bowl and then whisked together, I creamed 1 cup butter at room temperature with 2/3 cup granulated sugar and 3/4 cup brown sugar.  I cracked and added one egg at a time while she mixed. As I am typing this I realized that we forgot to add 2 teaspoons vanilla. We added the flour mixture a third at a time doing our best to scrape the bowl of all dough. 

The best part was making the mini chocolate chips rain! We mixed in 2 bags of semisweet mini chocolate chips. Yummmm! We couldn’t resist popping a couple in our mouths.  The hardest part was chilling the dough for half an hour.  You’re supposed to use a 2.5 inch scoop but we just made do with our ice cream scooper.  We baked 5 at a time at 350 degrees for 15 minutes and let cool. 

The cookies are amazing!! Each bite is super chocolatey. Our cookies were thinner than the original, but we liked that the edges were crispy and the centers were soft.  A definite cookie indulgence! 

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Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies

I was craving cookies, so I decided to make Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies (because is there any better combo??).

These cookies came out soft and chewy, just the way that I like them.

I didn't have time to refrigerate the dough as the original recipe recommends, but they still turned out amazing!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 c flour
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/2 c butter
• 3/4 c creamy peanut butter 
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1 c packed dark brown sugar
• 2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk
• 2 t vanilla
• 2 c chocolate chips

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350ºF. 
• In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
• In a large heat safe bowl, microwave the butter until melted. 
• Mix in peanut butter until smooth.
• Mix in sugar and brown sugar until well combined. 
• Add the eggs and yolk, one at a time, stirring well after each addition. 
• Mix in vanilla.
• Gradually stir in the flour mixture. 
• Fold in the chocolate chips. 
• Drop dough by heaping tablespoonfuls.
• Bake for 12 minutes on parchment-lined baking sheet.
• Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool.

You can find the original recipe here on Handle the Heat.

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Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip French Toast Casserole

I found myself with several loaves of old bread on hand, so I decided to make a French Toast Casserole, which kind of turned out to be more like a sweet dessert once I sprinkled on chocolate chips and drizzled peanut butter.

In any case, it was an easy and great way to use up old bread (I doubled the recipe), and I'm thinking about making a savory version the next time!

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip French Toast Casserole

Ingredients

• 5 c bread, cubed
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 c soy milk
• 1/4 c  sugar, divided
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1 T butter, melted
• 1 t ground cinnamon
• 1 c chocolate chips
• 1/2 c peanut butter, melted

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Line bottom of 8x8 prepared pan with bread cubes.
• In a large bowl, combine eggs, milk, 2 T sugar, and vanilla.  
• Pour egg mixture over bread.
• Dot with melted butter and let stand for 10 minutes.  
• Mix together remaining sugar with cinnamon, and sprinkle.  
• Bake for approximately 45 minutes.
• Immediately sprinkle with chocolate chips and drizzle with melted peanut butter.

You can find the original recipe here on All Recipes.

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Hokey Pokey Chocolate Chip Cookies

I brought back a lot of Whittaker's chocolates from New Zealand.

A lot.

Included in my chocolate stash were several blocks of Whittaker's Hokey Pokey bars, so I decided to bake cookies with them!

The Hokey Pokey chocolate consists of honeycomb bits to give the cookies a nice crunch.

These cookies are crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, just the way I like them!

Hokey Pokey Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 c butter, softened
• 2⁄3 c packed brown sugar
• 2⁄3 c sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1⁄2 t vanilla extract
• 2 c flour
• 1 1⁄4 t baking soda
• 1 c chopped walnuts
• 1 c chocolate chips
• 1 200g block of Whittaker's Hokey Pokey, chopped

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars.  
• Mix in the egg and vanilla.  
• In a separate medium bowl, combine the flour and baking soda.  
• Add the flour mixture into the sugar mixture and combine.  
• Stir in the walnuts, chocolate chips, and chopped Hokey Pokey.
• Drop dough by rounded tablespoon onto a baking sheet.
• Bake for 10-12 minutes.

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King Arthur Flour's Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

My husband likes his chocolate chip cookies crispy, but my daughter and I crave a good soft cookie once in awhile so I decided to bake these with her for a party.  While not a typical dessert to bring to a holiday party, they are great to serve to little ones who can grab them on their own.

These soft and chewy cookies are delicious and King Arthur Flour's 2015 recipe of the year.  You can even substitute King Arthur Gluten-Free measure for measure flour in this recipe.

Before you start, you'll need to make sure your eggs are at room temperature and your butter softened.  For the most part, we followed the recipe in the link, but we used salted butter and omitted the kosher salt.  First, we beat together 1 cup of softened butter with 1 cup of light brown sugar and 1/2 cup of white sugar.  Next, we added the 1 egg plus egg yolk and 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract.  In another bowl, we measured 2 cups flour, 1 cup oats, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and 1 teaspoon baking soda.  We whisked the flour mixture together and added to the wet ingredients.  Finally, we stirred in 3 cups of chocolate chips.  YUM!

We like BIG cookies, but we needed them to be easily packable so we settled for tablespoon sized scoops that yielded about 48 cookies.  We baked for 12-17 minutes on parchment and let them cool on the baking sheet until they were sturdy enough to move to a cooling rack.

The cookies were a hit and I plan to make them again soon!          


 

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Make This! Egg Tart Recipe

Making from-scratch egg tarts has been on my to do list for awhile now, but every time I see that you have to chill the dough I immediately shut the web browser.  But this time I was feeling a bit ambitious and I had found a very promising recipe on the web.  Worried that I might mess up the recipe, I halved it. 

First, the crust.  In a bowl, I mixed the flour and sugar. I didn't add salt since I was using salted butter.  I cut the room temperature butter into tablespoon pieces and worked into the mixture.  Your goal is to keep little pieces of the butter in the dough.  Add cold water to make the dough.  Cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough gently. I didn't overwork the dough for fear that it might get tough.  I followed the recipe's directions and formed into a rectangle and rolled the dough away from me in one direction making a long rectangle.  Once you've done that, fold the top third to the middle and bottom third over it.  Turn the dough one quarter and roll out to three times its length.  Fold like before and chill again for half an hour. 

While the dough is chilling, dissolve the sugar in hot water and allow to cool to room temperature.  Once it's at room temperature, whisk the eggs and evaporated milk.  Then whisk in the sugar water and vanilla.  I just realized I forgot to add in the vanilla.  Oh well, it stilll came out delicious.  This next step is to get the pretty glass-like custard. You'll need to strain the mixture to get rid of all the air bubbles. 

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and place a rack in the lower third of the oven.  We're getting closer!!

Roll out the dough and cut circles to fit in a muffin pan.  

Rolling and cutting out the dough.

I half attempted to make the scalloped edges with chopsticks because part of me was over it. 

You can do a better job than this!

Fill with your custard mixture.  See? No bubbles! The straining step was worth it! 

Looking promising!

Bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees.  Then drop temperature to 350 degrees and bake for another 10 minutes.  We let them cool just long enough to finish dinner.  I like them best when they are warm, but my daughter prefers them chilled.  To each her own!  Enjoy!!!

Amazed that these babies turned out most delicious!

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Carrot Cake Recipe

I love carrot cake. It's usually more moist than most cakes and the cream cheese frosting just makes it all the more yummy!  

I had never before attempted to make it at home, because, well, it just looks so complicated, with the shredded carrots and all.  But when I received the Trudeau Structure Round Cake Mold to review, I decided to test it out with an easy carrot cake recipe that I found on Betty Crocker's website.  I discovered that carrot cake is not as difficult to make as it seems, yet people will be amazed when you tell them that you made it from scratch!  And if you have kids, this is an excellent way to get a few servings of vegetables into their diet!

Click HERE to see the recipe I used. I only wanted to make one single layer 9" cake so I cut the carrot cake and cream cheese frosting recipe in half.  I also added about a cup of raisins to the cake recipe!

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