chocolate chip banana oatmeal cookies

I modified a recipe for Banana Oatmeal Cookies into Chocolate Chip Banana Oatmeal Cookies. It's so good if you love banana with chocolate!!

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Chocolate Chip Banana Oatmeal Cookies
(original recipe by Lois, modified by Philip)
This cookie recipe takes about 10 minutes to prepare, approximately 15 minutes cooking time per batch, and about 36 servings ready in about 1 hour 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and grease cookie sheets. It will be easier to clean the cookie sheets later if you use parchment paper instead of greasing the sheets.

Whip and fluff:
3/4 cup butter at room tempurature
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup Turbinado (raw cane) sugar

Add to sugar mixture:
1 large egg
2/3 cup mashed, very ripe banana
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In a separate bowl, sift together:
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
one big pinch of ground nutmeg

Pour flour mixture into the banana batter and mix well. Measure and add:
3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup crushed almond slices
1/2 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup semi-sweet regular chocolate chips

Mix until even. The batter should be thick and chunky. Drop one inch spoonfuls of batter onto the cookie sheets and leave room for spreading. Prepare them in rows and ready for baking.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in a preheated oven. Depending on your oven, cooking times might vary. Allow cookies to cool on cookie sheets for 5 minutes, then place the cookies on racks. I tend to watch the cookies at the end of 8 minutes and make a guess if it needs more baking time or just pull them out to cool.

ENJOY!

Tags: recipes, cookies, fruits, chocolate

an oreo dessert.

I was at the mall last Saturday with Neal and his daughter. After we ate lunch in the food court, I saw a dessert that I haven't seen before. So, I bought a piece.

It was good, it was okay.. It felt a little cakey, but I expected a more of a brownie texture and flavor for that type of chocolate. This dessert is almost like an Oreo® cookie, with crushed Oreo® cookies on top and drizzled with chocolate syrup. The level of chocolate was satisfactory, though.

I'm sure when I make my version, it's gonna taste better than this one!

Tags: desserts, cakes, chocolate

hell riesen sauce.

Now, I came up with a great chocolate caramel sauce recipe by chance!
I'd like to share it with you. It is perfect and great on warm
chocolate cake or vanilla bean ice cream. Enjoy!

Hell Riesen Sauce

1 cup Betty Crocker® Rich & Creamy Dark Chocolate Frosting
10 oz. (32 pieces) Stork® Riesen® Chewy Chocolate Caramel covered in
Rich European Chocolate

Unwrap all the 32 pieces (usually just the 10 oz. bag) of Stork®
Riesen® Chewy Chocolate Caramel covered in Rich European Chocolate. In
a small glass or ceramic bowl that is microwave safe¹, put in 1 cup
Betty Crocker® Rich & Creamy Dark Chocolate Frosting. Stir in the
Riesen® pieces. Set the bowl in the microwave and heat for 30
seconds². Stir immediately. Then heat in the microwave for another 30
seconds. Let it sit for a minute or so. Stir again. Repeat with the
microwaving and stirring until you are satisfied with the consistency of
the dark chocolate sauce.

Serve hot on cake, brownies or/and vanilla bean ice cream.

Makes about 16 to 18 oz. Serves about 7 people, depending on how much
was portioned. I haven't weighed it to be sure of the ounces because I
don't have a food scale for that. It would be safe to say the serving
size would be 2 Tablespoons. Ohhh, the Hell with it!! Please be a
little devil and go overboard with the Hell Riesen sauce!

note ¹ - the caramels would be too hot to microwave in plastic bowls,
so be extra careful making it.

note ² - do not go over 30 seconds everytime you heat the sauce. If
you do, you run into the risk of burning it! 30 seconds at a time, ok?

Tags: chocolate, sauces, recipes

raspberry double devil's food pound cake

raspberry double devil's food pound cake

filling:
1 cup melted ganache
1 cup Trader Joe's® organic reduced sugar raspberry preserves

pound cake:
1 package Duncan Hines® Moist Deluxe® devil's food cake mix
1 package (4-serving size) devil's food chocolate instant pudding and pie filling mix
1 Tbsp cocoa powder (add another Tbsp to darken flavor)
4 large eggs
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups water
½ cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt® or tube pan.

First, warm up ganache in a small bowl to soften into a thick liquid state. Put the melted ganache into a small baker's piping bag. Ziploc® bag can also be used as a substitute for baker's piping bag with one corner cut off on the bottom. Also, before measuring raspberry preserves, stir it in the jar to loosen the contents. Then measure out one cup preserves into another small baker's piping bag. Again, you can use Ziploc® if you don't have the baker's piping bag. Set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together cake mix, pudding mix and cocoa. In a medium bowl, beat eggs, vanilla, vegetable oil and water. Pour the liquid mixture into the sifted cake mix, and beat at medium speed with electric mixer for 2 minutes. Pour into pan.

Take the bag of ganache and carefully squeeze around the contents evenly into the cake batter throughout the Bundt® pan. The ganache filling should be on top, but almost to the center inside the cake. Do the same with the bag of raspberry preserves. The raspberry filling will settlea bit as it bakes in the oven. The ganache will also settle some but it will thinly coat part of the cake's crust with a layer of crispy chocolate.

For a few seconds, gently tap the cake pan to remove excess air bubbles. Put the cake pan in the center of the oven to bake. Bake at350°F for 50 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Be careful not to insert toothpick into the filling part, you don't want to underbake or overbake!

Cool the pound cake and turn upside down onto a serving plate.Completely cool before chilling.

*I like to eat this cake warmed up with a scoop of natural vanilla bean ice cream!

**I would suggest putting a sheet of foil under the cake pan just in case it overflows. Mine almost did!

cold stone creamery.

Last Friday, I went to Cold Stone with Neal and his 2 daughters for ice cream. Neal thought Cold Stone would be closed because other ice cream joints closed on October 1st for the winter.

Believe it or not, it was somewhat busy when we went in to get our servings of hand-made gourmet ice cream, prepared in our selections of flavors and toppings. When it was my turn to order, I wasn't sure what I wanted. We had already eaten at Don Pablo's for dinner and I was so full! That sure didn't help my ice cream decision-making.

Finally, I thought of something and made my choices. I'm not a big fan of dishes or desserts made with pumpkin. But this time, because pumpkin happened to be a seasonal flavor. Why not? It only comes around the Fall season! I ordered 'Like It' size of:

• pumpkin ice cream
• crushed graham crackers
• crushed pecans (I prefer roasted, but I don't see any)
• hot caramel syrup
• whipped cream (I didn't use whipped cream, but I know other people love it on pumpkin desserts)

Neal and his 2 daughters asked me what did I order. I thought about it and all I could come up with is "Pumpkin Pie Delight" ice cream.

Not bad for a seasonal, gourmet ice cream!

http://www.coldstonecreamery.com/

fat-free chewy chocolate cookies

Recipe from FatFree.com:

fat-free chewy chocolate cookies

1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. Karo (light or dark)
3 egg whites

Spray cookie sheets with cooking spray. In large bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Stir in corn syrup and egg white until blended (dough will be thick and slightly sticky). Drop by rounded teaspoon onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 7 to 9 minutes or just until set (cookies will be soft when pressed). Do not overbake. Cool on rack.

chocolate chip peanut butter cookies

chocolate chip peanut butter cookies

1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. shortening
1 c. sugar
1 c. brown sugar
2 eggs (well beaten)
1 c. peanut butter
1 t. vanilla
2 c. flour
1/2 t. salt
1 t. soda
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cream sugars and shortening. Add eggs, peanut butter and vanilla. Sift flour, soda and salt together. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture and blend well. Add chocolate chips and mix until evenly distributed. Shape into balls the size of walnuts and place on greased cookie sheet. Flatten with fork prongs into 1/4" thickness and bake in preheated oven.

Bake at 350°F for 12-15 minutes.

Makes approximately 6 1/2 dozen.

brownie madness

My mom made these for a wedding reception last year.  They tasted great, too!

What kind?  I can figure out 3 kinds:

• Raspberry swirl.
• Peanut butter cups.
• German chocolate.

double-chocolate dream cookies

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Baking Cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (12 oz.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in eggs for about 2 minutes or until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until cookies are puffed. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely

Makes about 4 1/2 dozen cookies.

riesen cheesecake

Ever since Neal bought a big-ass bag of Riesens, I was researching and trying to find the recipe I had lost years ago. I made a Riesen Cheesecake before with chocolate wafer crust and 1 tsp of almond extract in the vanilla part of the cheesecake. It was SO good!

I emailed and wrote to Storck about the recipe. They mailed me a letter of apology and several coupons for 3 dollars off the next time I buy some Riesen candy. Damn.

So, earlier today, I posted a request on the Craigslist's Food Forum. No later than 10 minutes, someone responded with the recipe!

Thanks to the people on Craigslist! Enjoy the recipe as a Halloween treat!

Riesen Cheesecake

Crust

2 cups crushed vanilla wafers
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter

Melted Caramel filling

25 Riesen chocolate caramel chews
3 tablespoons milk
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Cheesecake filling

1 cup chocolate chips, melted and cooled
3 packages cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs

For crust: Mix all ingredients and press onto bottom and 1-inch up sides of a 9- or 10-inch springform pan.

For caramel filling: Melt Riesen with milk in small saucepan or in microwave. Stir until smooth, then stir in pecans. Pour mixture on crust and chill for 30 minutes.

For cheesecake filling: Beat cream cheese at high speed until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar, mixing well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well to incorporate. Stir in melted, cooled chocolate and vanilla. Beat until well blended.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool. Refrigerate at least 3 hours before cutting. Garnish with whipped cream; drizzle with caramel and chocolate, if desired.

(The original recipe called for 30 caramels. I used 25 Riesen because they're a little bigger, but I don't think it would hurt to use more.)

Tags: cheesecakes, chocolate, recipes

dessert at centerstage

Neal, Gerri and I went to see a Russian play, "The Three Sisters" in Baltimore. I had the honor to meet two actors, Wawa Snipe and Willy Conley. Wawa was there to watch the play. Willy is in the play. His wife and her friend were also there. It was great making friends with new faces!

Anyway, Neal, Gerri and I had a quick dinner before the play started. I bought dessert and got this some kind of chocolate covered, layered cake with a slight taste of mocha with molasses or maple. I have no idea what it is called! Never seen such dessert before!

If you know, please tell me what that dessert is called and its recipe!

nestlé toll house cookies

Original Nestlé Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies

Estimated Times:

Preparation - 15 min | Cooking - 9 min Cooling Time - 15 min cooling | Yields - 60

This famous classic American cookie is a treat no matter what the age or occasion. Enjoy it with a glass of cold milk.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
• 1 cup chopped nuts

Directions: PREHEAT oven to 375° F. COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. PAN COOKIE VARIATION: Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan. Prepare dough as above. Spread into prepared pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan on wire rack. Makes 4 dozen bars. SLICE AND BAKE COOKIE VARIATION: PREPARE dough as above. Divide in half; wrap in waxed paper. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm. Shape each half into 15-inch log; wrap in waxed paper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.* Preheat oven to 375° F. Cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices; place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Makes about 5 dozen cookies. * May be stored in refrigerator for up to 1 week or in freezer for up to 8 weeks. FOR HIGH ALTITUDE BAKING (5,200 feet): Increase flour to 2 1/2 cups. Add 2 teaspoons water with flour and reduce both granulated sugar and brown sugar to 2/3 cup each. Bake drop cookies for 8 to 10 minutes and pan cookie for 17 to 19 minutes.

Tags: chocolate, cookies, recipes

ganache

chocolate ganache

1 ½ c. heavy cream
3 T. unsalted butter
22 ounces semisweet chocolate, broken into ½-ounce pieces

Prepare the ganache, heat 1 ½ c. heavy cream and 3 T. of butter in a 2 ½ quart saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil. Place 22 ounces of semisweet chocolate in a stainless-steel bowl. Pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. Keep at room temperature until needed.