seriously intense cocoa nib brownies

One of the easiest things to bake are brownies. I've always used the recipe from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home since it always provides seriously awesome results. In fact, it's actually foolproof – I know because I've totally goofed the recipe and even with insane screw-ups, they've always turned out delicious.

A few weeks ago, I started seeing Smitten Kitchen's cocoa brownies floating around and decided to take a peek. The recipe itself is very similar to the Moosewood version, so I decided that I'd pass by the SK version (since it required extra steps including the use of a bain marie) and just tweak my old standby to push the chocolate-intensity to the max. Not only did I add in cocoa (actually a half and half blend of some regular cocoa and some fancy extra-black cocoa from France) but I also threw in some cocoa nibs to boot.

The results were amazing! Dark, fudgy and rich and, like the old standby, so easy to put everything together. One pot and one baking dish. No need to dirty up a bowl. I did add a heaping amount of salt because I knew the salt would help to up the complexity of the flavours - but it you don't like your salt with your sweets, just level your measurement instead. These are perfect to people who are allergic to nuts since the crunch factor comes from the cocoa nibs. Forget about frosting them as they are pretty rich on their own....but they do go well with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. You know, just saying.


seriously intense cocoa nib brownies
1/2 c unsalted butter
1 c sugar
1/3 c cocoa powder
2 squares of unsweetened baking chocolate
1/4 t (heaping) kosher salt
1/2 t vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c cocoa nibs

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Line an 8x8 glass baking dish with parchment paper (bottom and sides), leaving an overhang of paper to help lift the brownies out when they're done baking.

2. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt together the butter, sugar, cocoa, unsweetened baker's chocolate and salt. Stir often to make sure that everything is melting properly. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Let the mixture cool for about 5 minutes.

3. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs together. Quickly pour the eggs into the chocolate mixture and start beating the eggs vigorously so they don't end up scrambled. After your arm starts fatiguing, stir in the flour until it's just mixed. Gently stir in the cocoa nibs. Pour the mixture into your lined baking dish, smoothing out the top.

4. Bake for about 25-35 minutes or until a cake tester comes out relatively clean from the center. Let cool on a wire rack. When cool, lift the brownies onto a cutting board and cut into squares.

the no-bake chocolate peanut butter oatmeal "cookie"

To me, no-bake cookies come right out of old cookbooks with worn canvas covers. I've seen plenty of no-bake recipes while browsing through my vintage cookbook collection, but never thought to try them myself. Then I spied these no-bake chocolate peanut butter oatmeal cookies on Ezra Poundcake and something told me....Go! Now! No-bake these immediately! Well, that was last fall and I only made them a few days ago. Obviously, I'm tardy when it comes to following my gut. But no more. These are seriously the easiest cookies anyone could ever make, so what are you waiting for?

I'm actually hesitant to call this a cookie. They remind me of a chocolate haystack candy that my mom made when I was little. They were amazing and this no-bake recipe is the closest thing I've had since I was nine. It's like a sweet bite of memory overload. I followed the original recipe and used tablespoons to drop the mixture onto waxed paper, but in hindsight I'd use just a teaspoon. Smaller lumps would make for better bites. Plus, these babies are sweeeeeeeeeet! Next time I'd cut the sugar and increase the peanut butter, but I'm not sure if that would screw up the recipe. Thoughts? Oh and another bonus? Easy to make vegan by switching in soy milk and soy margarine!

These cookies/candies make use of the stove top, so they are perfect for summer sweets when turning on the oven would be criminal. Plus they are delicious served cold, which makes them a refreshing bite of chocolatey goodness. I tried a keeping a batch in the freezer and a batch in the fridge for testing sake. The ones in the freezer were stickier and gooey and the ones in the fridge were almost sandy in comparison. I liked the sandier fridge chilled cookies best, but do whatchya like! Either way, they'll go quickly.

no-bake chocolate peanut butter oatmeal cookies
(adapted from Ezra Poundcake)
1/2 c butter
2 c sugar (I used a scant 2 cups)
1 t salt
1/2 c milk
4 T cocoa
1/2 c natural peanut butter
3 to 3 1/2 c old-fashioned oats
2 T vanilla

In a medium sized saucepan, mix together the first five ingredients and bring to a boil. Let boil for 1 minute and then remove from heat. Add in remaining ingredients and then use a teaspoon to drop the mixture onto cookie sheets lined with waxed paper. Chill until set. Keep in refrigerator.

chocolate for breakfast: cocoa-coconut granola

Well, we made it back from our 10 days on the road no worse for wear. Our trip was amazing and I still have a ton more photos to upload onto Flickr. The painted hills in Oregon were beautiful, we had a great warm night of camping in the Washington Okanogan, we drank delicious beer at the Silver Moon Brewery in Bend (and also had some really good Hawaiian beer & my birthday dinner at the Kona Mix Plate)...and then there was Portland! Oh boy, do I love that city. We ate at Pine State Biscuits twice for breakfast, thought we might win at trivia at the Basement Pub (we didn't), played many games of darts at various locales, and drank my favorite beer at Amensia Brewing (their Copacetic IPA, if you must know).

But now I'm back home, the weather in Vancouver is not only sunny but HOT. Hooray! I made this granola a few weeks ago, but like all granola, once it's tightly put away in a cupboard it can last ages. And oh boy, it was the perfect breakfast treat to make a Vancouver homecoming breakfast truly worthwhile. I took Nigella's recipe for cocoa granola and omitted the peanuts (but golly, that sounds good too!) and added coconut and almonds instead. So far I've eaten it with strawberries while the husband enjoyed his with bananas...but the best was scooping up the deliciousness with Granny Smith apple slices. No spoon required! It also helped that I was eating my granola with my favorite store-bought yogurt, Liberté's coconut yogurt. It seriously made the chocolate and coconut in the granola just a bit more special.

While you might think this is a decadent breakfast (and it is), it's also low fat. There's applesauce instead of a lot of oil and if you don't have applesauce on hand, it's really easy to whip some up. This granola was crunchy, sweet (but not tooth-achingly so) and if you wanted to make this all vegan, just sub in some more agave or brown rice syrup to replace the honey. I'll definitely be making this again.

And if you want a bit more reading, why not check out my latest post over at the Food Network Canada blog, Bazaar. It's a post about my favorite Vietnamese sandwich which is found in Vancouver's Chinatown for a mere $3.15. And you can find out just how mis-named this blog really is...do I really like sandwiches? Find out now!

cocoa-coconut granola
1/4 c cocoa
4 1/2 c rolled oats
1 c shredded coconut
1/2 c sunflower seeds
1 c roughly chopped almonds
1 t kosher salt
2 t ground cinnamon
large pinch each nutmeg & cardamom
3/4 c brown sugar
1/3 c agave nectar
1/4 c honey
3/4 c applesauce
2 T olive oil

Preheat oven to 300. In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients together. In a small saucepan, heat up agave nectar, honey, apple sauce and olive oil just until extra runny and then pour over dry ingredients. Mix until everything has been coated with the wet sticky stuff. Pour into a large glass baking dish or several walled cookie sheets and place in the oven, turning over occasionally so that everything dries out evenly. After 40 minutes to an hour, remove from oven and cool on counter. Store in a tight lidded container.

can't stop, won't stop

I can't stop snacking on these cookies! Usually, I'm not much into double chocolate cookies, but these are just too good and I should have doubled the recipe. They are easy to make and twelve cookies the recipe makes just isn't enough. Make them now and send me your gifts of thanks after you've licked off all the crumbs.

double chocolate oatmeal cookies
3/4 c flour
1/4 c cocoa powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1/2 c butter, softened (or use a vegan margerine to make these cookies fully vegan)
1/2 c sugar
1/2 t vanilla extract
2 T oats (I used quick oats, but slow oats would work just as well)
1/4 c semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. In a medium bowl, sift together the first 4 ingredients. In a seperate bowl (or use your mixer), beat butter, sugar and vanilla until fluffy and well blended. Slowly add flour mixture until combined. Mix in oats and chocolate chips.

2. On a prepared cookie sheet (I covered mine with silpat), use a tablespoon to drop balls of dough onto the sheet, about 2 inches apart. Slightly flatten tops with fingers.

3. Bake cookies until center is slightly firm , about 14 minutes. Cool on sheet.

* It really is best to let these cookies cool on the sheet because when they are warm they are very crumbly and prone to break in half.

minty goodness

I've always been a huge fan of chocolate and mint. When I was little, I would only eat green mint chocolate chip ice cream and After Eight mints were always a holiday staple in our house and I'd always manage to find my dad's secret hiding spot for them.

When I saw the mint chocolate chip cookie recipe on Crystal's blog (she makes them at the Austin Folk House) I kept them in mind for future holiday baking. This afternoon when I headed out to refill my coffee supply from the local Italian market, I noticed a lonely bag of mint chocolate chips for only a dollar. I immediately popped them into my basket. It was destiny! I practically ran home to whip up a batch. These cookies were beyond fantastic and I'll definitely be making them again during the holidays.

Crystal notes that the cookie dough is a bit stiff. Luckily, I've got my hearty Kitchen Aid mixer working for me...but if you don't, be prepared for a bit of a workout.

Chocolate Andes Mint Cookies (I didn't use name brand chocolate chips!)

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 bag (12 ounces) Andes mint chips (my bag was only 10.5 oz but the resulting cookies were still minty good!)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chips. Drop by well-rounded teaspoons onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until centers are set. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 5 dozen cookies.