Madhu Knits and Cooks

Recipe, knitting, and sewing project notes

Tag: Cooking — Desserts

  • White Chocolate Dipped Chocolate Chip Cookies

    There have been a number of summer birthdays in my current workplace, and I have promised all of the members of my department that I will bake them something delicious for their birthday.  For Danielle, who I sit next to, I recently made her (and of course for the rest of the staff!) some white chocolate dipped chocolate chip cookies.

    White_chocolate_dipped_cookies_2

    To make these cookies, I followed the same Allrecipes.com recipe I used here:  http://madhuknitsandcooks.typepad.com/madhu_knits_and_cooks/2006/10/simple_chocolat.html

    After baking the cookies and letting them cool, I then slowly melted about 1/2 – 2/3 cup of white chocolate chips in the microwave.  You should be really careful with melting chocolate in a microwave by using a reduced power and only microwaving in 30 second or less increments until just melted.  I then dipped the cookies in the melted white chocolate and used a butter knive to evenly spread the chocolate over a sizeable part of the cookie. 

    I would then place the dipped cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet, where they would then be placed in the fridge for about 45 minutes for the chocolate to harden (until the cookies can be lifted off of the parchment paper without leaving any chocolate behind).   

  • Dark Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies

    As the weather has been getting colder, I remembered that there is no better winter snack than shortbread.  I wanted to do something a little bit different though, so I decided to make use of some leftover dark chocolate chips from the dark chocolate cake I recently made to create a batch of delicious dark chocolate dipped shortbread cookies.

    Dark_chocolate_dipped_shortbread_cookies

    To make these cookies, I used this simple recipe from Allrecipes.com http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Shortbread-Supreme/Detail.aspx.  Most shortbread recipes are almost exactly like this, though some use confectioners sugar instead of regular sugar — it just depends on the consistency you want.   Another shortbread tip is that you really want to make sure you are watching them while they are in the oven — it’s really easy to overcook shortbread either by leaving it in the oven for too long or by having the oven too hot.  To that end, try to put your cookie pans (or pie pan, depending on how you want to make it) away from the heat source.   I had many a ruined shortbread attempt when I was growing up because of over-cooking the shortbread.

    After the shortbread had cooled, I melted the leftover Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips in the microwave on 50% heat.  When using the microwave to melt chocolate, you should also use low power and only cook in short bursts.  At first, it’s ok to start with 45 seconds to a minute, but after that, melt in periods of 15-20 seconds until the chocolate is JUST melted.   

    From there, I just dipped a side of the shortbread into the melted chocolate, and used a spoon to wipe away the excess on the bottom of the cookie. 

    Then place the cookies onto cooled cookie pans or cookie wires lined with parchment paper.  Don’t forget the parchment paper or you have a really fun time trying to get the cookies off the pan. 

    Put the pans or wires then in the the fridge until the chocolate has cooled, and you can easily remove the cookies from the pan without any mess (it should be very easy to lift them up, leaving no chocolate behind). 

    Remove the shortbread at that point immediately from the fridge and serve or store.

  • Dark Chocolate Cake — Easy, Fudgy, and Different.

    I got this recipe from the New York Times, which in turn got it from Loretta Keller of the San Francisco restaurant Coco500.  It’s absolutely delicious, and definitely a nice change of pace from the standard homemade cakes.  I recommend making it for an adult special occasion (not sure if the kids will like it so much, especially given that it doesn’t have frosting and it’s dark chocolate). 

    Dark_chocolate_cake

    Here is where you find the story of the cake:  http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/08/dining/08temp.html?ex=1297054800&en=c37544e81344a9e6&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

    Here is where you can get the recipe:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/08/dining/081trex.html?ex=1160452800&en=9bbb49631c667c6b&ei=5070

    A note of caution:  Although it is SUPER easy to make (you don’t even need a double boiler to melt the chocolate!), and it bakes quickly, you do need to cook and refrigerate it for awhile so make sure you make it about 4 hours before you have to serve it.   It’s also really easy to transport because you make it in a springform pan, so it’s a great way to take a dessert to a friend’s dinner party. 

    A quick recipe note:  For the dark chocolate, I picked up a bag of Ghiradelli’s dark chocolate chips and they worked perfectly in the recipe.

    Dark_chocolate_cake_slice

  • Simple Chocolate Cookies — Good Standard Recipe

    I made these simple chocolate chip cookies last week because I was trying to use up a stick of butter.  And, truthfully, I was also trying really hard not to work on my first law school memo.

    Chocolate_chip_cookies

    I got this recipe from Allrecipes.com (surprise, surprise):  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/best-chocolate-chip-cookies/detail.aspx.  I halved the recipe to accomodate using my one stick of butter, and it worked out just fine.  They were a big hit in my Contracts class.

  • Decadent Chocolate Caramel Shortbread Bars

    Last weekend was a crazy cooking weekend — there were two law school potlucks and I wanted to use up some of the ingredients I had purchased the previous weekend.  One of the items I made was a batch of chocolate caramel shortbread bars, which were very simple to make and a big hit with my law school small group.

    Chocolate_caramel_shortbread_bars_2

    I’m not sure if you can fully see all of the layers of these bars, so check out this picture as well: 

    Chocolate_caramel_shortbread_bars_side_v_1

    I got this recipe from Allrecipes.com, you can get it here:  http://christmas.allrecipes.com/az/CaramelShortbreadSquares.asp

    The only variations to this recipe I made is that I used an 8×8 square pan instead of a 9×9, and after chilling the bars, you should take them out of the fridge just a little bit before cutting them.   If you don’t give them some time to get closer to room temperature, it can be really hard to get a knife through the chilled bars straight out of the fridge.  I also cut the bars a bit larger than the recipe recommends (so I got about 25 bars) because they should be small because they are so rich, but not THAT small. 

    I would recommend making these for a simple snack for kids, or for a casual lunch/afternoon gathering.  I don’t think they would work the best in really warm weather though because the milk chocolate might get a little gooey and messy.