Croissant Bread Pudding

Croissants are one of my all time favorite foods. I could eat one every day and be a happy, happy girl. So when a friend of mine sent me a picture of this on twitter I knew I had to try it. 

She used the original recipe found here at the Stone Soup blog. There's even a handy video you can watch!

I don't have a loaf pan, so I just used a glass casserole dish and watched it closer to the end of baking. The original recipe also calls for dark chocolate and that happened to be all I had in my pantry at the time. I used 72% I think? Anyway, it was too dark for me but I'm not a huge fan of dark chocolate to begin with. I ended up sprinkling some powdered sugar on top to help balance out the bitterness of the chocolate. Next time I'd love to try this with Nutella instead. 

Anyway, onto the recipe! You can start with any croissants, but I highly recommend the frozen ones from Trader Joes. If you love croissants you need to go pick up a box. There are 8 in a box and they look itty bitty, but you set them out to rise overnight and they triple in size. If you use those for this, overcook them just a bit so they're nice and crispy. I didn't do that and it made them a bit hard to work with when cutting them.

The original recipe calls for 3 large croissants sliced up into rounds. I ate one of the 8 (I couldn't resist!) and then sliced the rest up minus a few pieces that ended up so mangled they were fed to the dogs. 

Let the croissant pieces soak in the cream/sugar/egg mixture in a large bowl for a few minutes to soak up the custard, then throw them in your baking dish and that's it! Easiest recipe ever. 

Ingredients:

-Croissants (3 large, or 6-7 smaller ones)

-2.5 cups whipping cream

-1/2 C sugar

-3 eggs

-handful of dark chocolate broken into chunks (or use chocolate of your choice!)

Preheat oven to 350. Slice croissants into rounds. Combine eggs, sugar and cream in large bowl. Add croissants and let soak for a few minutes. Layer half of the croissants in baking dish, add chocolate on top and then layer remaining croissants. Pour some of the remaining custard on top. Bake 40-50 minutes (adjust depending on what size dish you bake it in!) or until no liquid custard comes out when you press on the top. 

In the original recipe they let it cool and removed it from the loaf pan to slice & serve it so she lined it with parchment paper. I served mine in the baking dish and served it warm with whipped cream. It's really up to you!

Chocolate Chips

Have I Mentioned my Love for Chocolate Chips?

I'm currently waiting on a batch of chocolate chip cookies to cool so I can put them away before heading to bed. This feels like an exact repeat of last night... it's totally normal to make chocolate chip cookies two days in a row, right? Healthy life choices will start tomorrow... after I finish the cookies, of course.

In my defense(?) its really an experiment of sorts. I've read that letting cookie dough chill for 24 hours in the fridge produces a better cookie. Last night James had to work until almost 10pm, so I decided to be a good girlfriend and have some fresh baked chocolate chip cookies ready for him when he got home. As always I got distracted and they weren't even in the oven when he got home, but they only bake for ~10 minutes so no biggie :)  Anyway, I decided to save half the dough and put it in the fridge to test this theory. 

The verdict? I think its true. 

These are from the batch that was refrigerated. The texture is perfect and I feel like they have more flavor. It's quite possible this is all in my head, but I think it worked. Chances are I'll never actually have the forethought and/or patience to make dough ahead of time and wait 24 hours before I can have cookies, but I may just start splitting batches - have half before to soothe my impatient soul and the other half the next day. It's portion control, really. See? Healthy life choices starting already ;)

ps - Since I was making these at 10pm last night, I just used the recipe on the nestle tollhouse chocolate chip bag. They were good, but try it with your favorite recipe and see how it works! Or, if you're lazy like me, just use the tollhouse one ;)

Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie - Healthy!

You'll Never Guess What This is Made of...

Have you guys heard of Chocolate Covered Katie? If not, you should go check out her blog right now. It's filled with tons of healthy dessert recipes. I posted already about my love for chocolate chip cookies here so when I stumbled across her recipe for a deep dish chocolate chip cookie pie that was healthy I knew I had to try it. To be honest, I really just tried it as an experiment and to see if anyone would be able to guess what it was made of. For the record, no one did. 

I only have a small 3 C mini food processor so it took way longer than it should have, I wouldn't really recommend trying this unless you have a better food processor than me! I had to make this in several small batches of 'dough' and then combine it all so it was kind of a pain - way more trouble than I'm willing to go through for a cookie. With a larger/better food processor though I think it would be fairly simply and definitely worth a try. It would probably turn out even better than mine did.

Anyway, enough chatting and onto the recipe.

Look at her pictures, they're way better!

Ingredients:

-2 cans white or garbanzo beans - drain & rinse (500g)

-1 C quick oats (I used gluten free ones)

-1/4 C unsweetened applesauce

-3 tbsp oil

-2 tsp vanilla extract

-1/2 tsp baking soda

-2 tsp baking powder

-1/2 tsp salt

-1 1/2 C brown sugar

-1 C chocolate chips (or more! ;))

Preheat oven to 350F. Dump everything but chocolate chips into a *good* food processor (that also happens to be large enough to hold everything!) and blend well. Then just mix in chocolate chips & pour into greased pan - I just used a 9' round cake pan, but a springform pan would probably be preferable. Bake for 35-40 minutes and let sit before serving.

Eat & Enjoy - and share with others to see if they guess what it's made of! I did sneak 1tbsp butter into mine just because I had to. I did 2 tbsp oil and 1 tbsp butter. I can't help it, I love butter and just had to throw some in. I'm sure it'd be just as good (and even healthier) without the butter. 

**Original recipe post here

Easy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Chocolate Chip cookies are one of my favorite things. Ever. However, as I've discussed on here numerous times, I'm lazy. Making individual cookies just seems like too much work to me when you can just make cookie bars instead. Plus I got a pan for my birthday one year that has the insert that just forms a bunch of squares so I don't even have to cut anything into bars. Easy made easier, just the way I like it ;)

Anyway, my brother was in town recently so my parents were hosting a family dinner and I, being lazy, had nothing planned to bring for dessert. I also took an afternoon nap that may have lasted a bit too long. I woke up with about 45 minutes before I needed to leave the house. I have a cookie bar recipe that I've used a few times in the past and like, but it takes too long and I didn't have all the ingredients for it so I consulted my friend google and came across this recipe. It seemed easy, used only a few ingredients and would fit into my time frame. Done.

All you have to do is melt some butter, cream it with some sugar & eggs, and throw in your dry ingredients. The recipe calls for 1 egg and 1 yolk, but I was in a hurry and didn't feel like separating an egg so I just threw in 2 eggs. It also says to fold in dry ingredients with a spatula, but again, no time for that. I just dumped in my dry ingredients and let them get stirred in until they were just mixed in. 

I did, however fold in my chocolate chips with a rubber spatula so I guess that counts as following directions, right? Original recipe called for 2 cups of chocolate chips. I just had a bag of mini chips in the pantry and dumped what was left in. I have no idea how much it was, but like always, I think I could've used more... there's always room for more chocolate ;)

Finally I just poured it into my heavily greased pan with the also heavily greased insert. If you don't have one of these, you should probably get one. I use mine all the time. I also opted to top 1/2 the bars with chopped pecans - if anything makes cookies better, it's pecans :)

Then I just popped it in the oven for 20-25 minutes rotating halfway and voila, cookie bars!  These were simply & delicious. I've been on a quest for the Best chocolate chip cookie - you know, the ones that are gooey, chocolatey & oh so buttery all at the same time?!? These weren't quite that for me, but they were delicious. What wasn't gone at dinner was quickly eaten for breakfast this morning. And the fact that these were ridiculously easy and used ingredients you probably always have in your pantry definitely makes them a winner in my book.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

-2 cups + 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

-1/2 tspn salt

-1/2 tspn baking soda

-1 1/2 sticks butter - melted and slightly cooled

-1 cup light brown sugar

-1/2 cup granulated sugar

-1 lg egg & 1 lg egg yolk (again, I just used 2 eggs)

-2 tspn vanilla extract

-1 1/2 cups chocolate chips 

-chopped pecans or whatever else you want to add :)

Preheat oven to 325F. Grease pan & set aside. Melt butter - while butter is melting sift flour, salt & baking soda together. In mixing bowl combine melted butter & sugars until well mixed. Then add eggs and vanilla.  Once that is well mixed fold in flour mixture - again, I just dumped it in to the KitchenAid with everything else, just be careful not to over mix. Fold in chocolate chips and pour into pan. Bake 20-25 minutes, rotating halfway. Let cool, then eat and enjoy! 

Chocolate Fudge Brownies

My new favorite brownies...

On Mother's Day I was looking for something simple to make with ingredients I already had in the house. I decided to make brownies, but I haven't found a brownie recipe I've been crazy about so I consulted my good friend Google. After looking at a few recipes I stumbled across this one on Recipe Girl and decided to give it a try. These are simple, quick and delicious. They're topped with a chocolate 'glaze' that turns more into a fudge after they sit awhile. Needless to say I've found my new favorite brownies. 

*Excuse the bad picture, they didn't last long enough for a better one & clearly I'm not a photographer!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped (I used a Lindt 70% chocolate bar)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used mini chocolate chips)

GLAZE:
2/3 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (I used 4 squares of a Lindt dark chocolate bar and 0.5 oz semisweet Baker's chocolate)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 to 5 teaspoons hot water (or more, as needed)

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray 8" baking dish with nonstick spray. Line with parchment paper (leave edges hanging over) and spray that also. 

In one bowl mix flour, baking powder & salt. In another bowl melt butter & chocolate in microwave. I do this 30 secs at a time. Usually takes 60-90 seconds. Stir together until smooth and then add in both sugars followed by eggs, the extra yolk & vanilla. Mix in flour mixture and then add chocolate chips.

Pour batter into pan and bake for 25-35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean (there may be some chocolate from the chocolate chips).

Once brownies are cooled completely make the glaze. If you're using chocolate from a chocolate bar like I did you'll need to melt it first. Mix powdered sugar, chocolate, vanilla & hot water. Continue adding water 1 tsp at a time until glaze is just thin enough to pour over brownies. Let sit before serving. You can put them in the fridge to sit if you're in a hurry.

As always, eat & enjoy! 

I love Chocolate...

Have some leftover chocolate?

Over the weekend I made some delicious chocolate brownies with chocolate chips topped with a chocolate 'glaze' that turned into something resembling fudge overnight. Needless to say they were amazing and I'll share the recipe later this week. In the meantime I'll share something quick & easy that I did with my 'leftover' chocolate. 

I went a little crazy while picking out chocolate bars to use for the brownies. They are all so pretty and look so good! So, I picked up a few bars of the Lindt 70%. I also picked up a bakers semi-sweet bar. I had 4 squares left of a Lindt bar and decided I shouldn't let it go to waste. I also had some chopped pecans & almonds laying around so naturally, I decided to combine them.  And then this happened:

Delicious, fudgy, nutty clusters of goodness

Ingredients:

-Chocolate (I used 4 squares of 70% Lindt chocolate and 0.5 oz Baker's semi-sweet)

-2 Tbs butter

-2/3 C powdered sugar

-several tsp hot water 

-Nuts (I used chopped pecans & almonds)

-1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Line cookie sheet with parchment paper and lay out small clusters of nuts. Melt chocolate and butter - I do this in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time. Takes 60-75 seconds usually. Stir chocolate mixture until smooth and then pour over powdered sugar. Add vanilla and hot water and beat all ingredients until smooth. Add more water if desired - mixture should be thick, but smooth enough to pour over nuts. Almost the consistency of brownie batter.  Use a spoon and pour a spoonful over each cluster of nuts. I made ~12, but in all honesty I scraped the rest of the bowl with some remaining nuts and ate it myself, so you could probably get a couple more out of this. Cover lightly and let set. I let mine set overnight.

Eat & enjoy!