Tag Archives: chocolate

S’mores Cookies

S’mores pretty much have the ooey gooey dessert genre on lock.

ooze

Few treats come close to this level of oozing decadence.

gooey2

When something is that delicious the obvious next step is to shove it in a cookie…right?

…maybe not…  but we’re doing it anyway…and it’s going to be delicious.

doughball

If you’re gonna do this, there are some pitfalls to avoid.  Believe it or not, there is such a thing as a disappointing batch of s’mores cookies.

Maybe there’s no graham cracker to be found,

graham

or maybe the marshmallows just melt and disappear into the dough.

mallow

Or maybe the baker (mistakenly!) thought the chocolate chips rendered the milk chocolate bar unnecessary.

chocolate

Without the graham, the ‘mallow or the chocolate bar-you’re basically just eating a chocolate chip cookie.

(Your life could be worse.)

But let’s make s’mores cookies.  For real.

A thick soft cookie layer.

halfbaked

Graham cracker crunch.

halfbaked2

Obvious marshmallow presence.

extra

and an actual chocolate bar.

realchoc

Great success.

bars

All the gooey, melty, drippy deliciousness of a s’more..

gooey

…in a cute little square.

barclose

Enjoy!

❤ Ellen

S’mores Cookies

So this isn’t really a recipe.  It’s more like an idea to make s’mores cookies better.

You’ll need:

  • One batch of chocolate chip cookies (I’m partial to this recipe for this purpose.  It’s the one I used in the photos.  The cookies stay nice and soft.  You’ll notice I substituted chocolate chips for the m&ms it calls for)
  • 8 graham crackers
  • About 12 large marshmallows
  • 1 jumbo chocolate bar, broken into pieces (doesn’t have to be exact!)

*Note:  The above measurements are for the recipe I linked.  If your favorite cookie recipes yields more or less than mine, you may need more or less of everything else.  Adjust to suit.

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  This works best if you cookie sheet has walls like mine.  You could also put everything in a sheet cake pan.
  2. Whip up a batch of your favorite cookie recipe.  Don’t bake them yet, speed racer, just make the dough.  Chill the dough overnight.
  3. Break the graham crackers in half so you have 16 squares. Lay them in your pan in a single layer.  Leave no space in between, you want them to touch.
  4. Spoon large portions of cookie dough onto each square.  Mine were about 1 1/2 – 2 tablespoons each because I wanted a fairly thick cookie layer.  Less dough will yield a thinner cookie layer…duh.
  5. Bake 5-6 minutes and remove from the oven.  The cookies should not be finished baking but they should be starting to spread.  Distribute the marshmallows and chocolate pieces evenly among the cookies.
  6. Bake for another 4-6 minutes (depending on the thickness of your cookies) or until the edges start to brown and the centers set.  The marshmallows should be melted and hopefully a little toasty!
  7. Allow to cool completely before attempting to cut these bad boys.  They’ll be much easier to manage.

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Filed under Cookies, Dessert, Uncategorized

Secret Ingredient Chocolate-Peanut Butter Fix

That title is how I got around sending out an e-mail with the title “Date Balls.”

That’s a ticket straight to the spam folder if I ever saw one.  So…hey, inbox.  Nice to see you (I hope).

Ok, I know you’re thinking this is weird.

It’s not weird.  At all.  I promise. It’s good.  Reeeaaally good.

I’ve seen these things everywhere with every different flavor and add-in you can imagine…

..except this one.

Turns out I’m happiest with just 3 ingredients:

1.  Dates.

2. Chocolate.

3. Peanut Butter. (Also peanuts for some crunch..same thing)

Might as well be a peanut butter brownie.

And I might as well be in heaven.

And also slightly ball-shaped from eating WAYYYYY too many of these.  Good thing they’re nutritious?  Or something?

Whatever.

Enjoy!

❤ Ellen

P.S. Don’t be afraid of the dates!  They just add sweetness and let the whole mess stick together.  They seriously taste like a super fudgy peanut butter brownie.  Delicious.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Date Balls

Recipe inspired by basically every blog out there…but the “recipe” is all my own.

10 pitted mejdool dates
3 tablespoons peanut butter, maybe a tablespoon chopped peanuts if you want some crunch
2 tablespoons cocoa powder (plus extra for rolling)

1. Place the pitted dates in a food processor fitted with the blade attachment.  Pulse until the dates have been reduced to roughly pea sized pieces.

2. Add cocoa powder and peanut butter.  Pulse until combined.  ((If you want to add the peanuts throw them in at the very end and pulse just once or twice)) The mixture will look crumbly but it is ready when you can press it into ball shapes that hold together.

3. Press the mixture into whatever size ball you want.  This recipe made eight 1-inch balls.

4.  Roll in cocoa powder (or topping of your choice…crushed peanuts?)  to prevent sticking.

**These are delicious at room temperature but if you want to freeze them (which I recommend!) spread them out on a wax-paper lined baking sheet and freeze for about an hour. Once they are partially frozen you can throw them all in a bag or even individually wrap them. They’re an awesome grab and go snack or delicious sweet bite for dessert.  Feel free to experiment with flavors!

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Banana Bites

Sometimes, I just want a bite for dessert.

Just one little perfect bite to complete a delicious meal.

So….I made bites!!

I have to warn you though…they’re frozen bites.

Listen, I know it’s really cold outside.  I know ice and snow cover the trees right now.  I know this because I will officially be cold all all all the time until May and I hate hate hate hate it.

(Word repetition for emphasis.  I really mean it).

I know better than most that it is a really bad time to eat frozen things that will just complete your transformation into ice cube by chilling from the inside.

But…this is a banana, peanut butter, chocolate situation.

It’s warmth for your heart.

Sometimes, we make exceptions.

This is a banana. Chunked.

This is a banana and peanut butter.

That’s quite the stylish hairdo you’ve got there, banana.

A peanut butter hat AND a chocolatey plunge into dreamy silky chocolate drippy deliciousness?

Some guys have all the luck.

aaaaand FREEZE!

Now go have a bite.

The banana gets so creamy it might as well be ice cream.  With crunchy peanut butter these remind me of those Snickers ice cream bars!

Enjoy!

❤ Ellen

Banana Bites

Recipe from pictures on pinterest.  I found a recipe AFTER I did this here and it’s pretty much exactly what I did.

A banana or two

Some peanut butter

Some chocolate chips (about 1/2 cup)

some milk (about 1/4 cup)

1. Line a cookie sheet with wax paper…that’s where you’ll put your drippy bites so it’s good to be prepared

2. Slice bananas into little medallions..how thick depends on how much banana you want in each bite.  Mine were about 1/2 inch to and inch

3. Spoon a bit of peanut butter on top of each banana slice.  Again..how much is entirely up to you.  Don’t go too crazy, though.  It should still fit within the area of a banana slice =)

4. Put the chocolate chips and milk in the container you’re going to use for dipping.  Deep-ish is good because you want to get the whole banana bit in there and completely covered.  Microwave in 10-15 second increments until the chips easily combine with the milk.  Mine was ready in 30 seconds

5.  One by one, place each banana/peanut butter slice on a fork (so that the excess chocolate can run off) and somehow cover it with the chocolate/milk mixture.  You can spoon chocolate over the banana, dip the fork in, or just drop the banana in there and fish it out with a fork.  Not gonna lie…that’s what I did.

6. Arrange on the wax-lined cookie sheet and freeze overnight or until they’re little frozen bites of heaven.  Remove from the sheet and store in the freezer in an airtight container.

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Filed under Dessert, Snacks, Uncategorized