Ooey Gooey Choloatey Cookies

*Disclaimer-Ooops, please forgive me, but I accidentally made a mistake in the video. Please follow the recipe below. The flour should be mixed in after the eggss, sugar and vanilla have been beat. Good thing this isn't the Food Network!*

I have to admit that I don't have a serious sweet-tooth. Well actually, I think I am just able to execute deep restraint. Restraint that is so resolute, it baffles my husband, who has the second biggest sweet-tooth in his family. (Second to his brother, whose idea of a holiday breakfast is to devour an entire soft-dough kuchen, a German "cake," which consists of nearly 2 cups of sugar, 1 cup of heavy cream, and 1 cup of shortening....that some serious sweet devotion!)

To be honest, I think it's part of the Conn genetic make-up to love sweets. Holidays at my in-laws are never short of cookies, pies, and pastries galore. The household consumes so much sweets come holiday time, or any family gathering, it's amazing they don't perspire sugar.

This brings us to the reason my husband (and kids) love these cookies so much. After tasting them for the first time, it became clear to me why Martha Stewart proclaims them to be "outrageous." They are perfectly sweet, and soft enough to leave a gooey trail of chocolate all over my kid's fingers. To me, that is a tell-tale sign of a perfect cookie! Just watch out....they don't last long.

The secret to making these truly magical is to use really good quality chocolate. It is so worth the investment!




Outrageous Chocolate Cookies
Adapted from Martha Stewart

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chunks

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat chopped chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl in 20-second increments, stirring between each, until almost melted; do not overheat. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla on high speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; beat in melted chocolate. Mix in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in chocolate chunks.

Drop heaping tablespoons of dough 2 to 3 inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are shiny and crackly yet soft in centers, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on baking sheets 10 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Personalized Individual Cheesecake

I am a huge fan of miniature desserts, and lucky for me, they have become quite popular. (This is only evident by the HUGE come-back that cupcakes have made.) Near me, several restaurants serve desserts in small shot glass containers which allows me to taste a variety of sweet treats. Oh happy day!

What I love most about this recipe is that you can customize each cake to accommodate different members of your family. In our house, my husband and I love fruit desserts, however our kids have a very divergent concept of what dessert is. In short, if their isn't chocolate in it, it is certainly not dessert. When I make these, I usually fill them with two or three different surprises. It keeps everyone happy.

Personalized Individual Cheesecake

For the crust:
1 1/4 cups of graham cracker crumbs (you can also use Oreo cookie crumbs)
1/4 cup butter, melted
3 TB sugar
2 TB agave nectar (substitute for sugar if you do not have)
treats of your choice (i.e. fruit, M & Ms, chocolate chips, etc...)


Filling:
2 (8 ounce) packages of room temperature cream cheese
1 cup + 2 TB of sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon put vanilla extract
2 eggs

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a standard muffin pan with cupcake liners.

To make the crust, combine the crumbs, sugar, agave nectar and butter in a bowl. Spoon about a tablespoon into the bottom of each muffin cup. Place whatever treat you have chosen on top of the crust.

To make the filling, beat the cream cheese until it is fluffy and add the sugar, flour and vanilla until well combined. Add one egg at a time and continue to beat. Spoon cream cheese mixture over filling and crust. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Allow to cool completely. Once cooled, top each cake with some extra treats to allow your guests to know what is in side each cheesecake.

Serves 12

Yummy Banana Fosters in my Tummy

So this is my very first experience with iMovie, let alone with a blog post. I can assure you that as the posts go on, my webisodes will greatly improve!

So now, onto the food! Banana Fosters is truly a favorite at our house. Normally, I am very health conscious, but my love of food has taught me that a little indulgence is always needed. I do try to keep things somewhat healthy by using Smart Balance Butter Blend Sticks with Omega-3 which has almost 30% less saturated fat than traditional butter and due to my lactose intolerance we keep frozen yogurt around the the house rather than ice cream. Edy's Slow Churned line is so tasty you would never know you are eating something low fat.

Let me know if you try this out! Can't wait to hear about it! Happy eating!

Banana Fosters Recipe

1/4 cup of butter

2/3 cup of brown sugar

pinch of cinnamon

splash of almond extract (use vanilla extract if not available)

3-4 Tablespoons of rum

3 ripe bananas

Melt the butter over medium heat. Add the sugar and stir until combined. It should have a thick consistency. Add the cinnamon, almond extract, and rum and cook until bubbles start to form. Add the bananas and cook for about 5 minutes, until the bananas have softened and have been heated through.

Serve over your favorite vanilla ice cream.