Holiday Recipe Exchange 2011: Triple Chocolate Brownie Bites

I am having so much fun joining themed blog round-ups lately... There's Muffin Monday and Twelve Weeks of Christmas Cookies. And today, I am posting something for Holiday Recipe Exchange hosted by My Baking Addiction and Good Life Eats.

This week's theme is chocolate sponsored by  Scharffen Berger. Can't anything get better than that?

I don't think so! Well.. I love chocolate and I can never say no to a chocolate challenge.

Last week, I made triple chocolate brownie bites.

Chocolate indulgence at its finest. Hmm.

* I know this week is sponsored by Scharffen Berger, but since I can't find that where I live, I just used what I had on hand. *

Triple-Chocolate Brownies
Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker 

5 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 pieces tablea / native cocoa tablets, chopped
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into quarters
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
3 large eggs
1¼ cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour  

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter/spray an 8x8in pan and line with parchment paper, leaving a 2-in overhang. Butter the paper again. Set aside.  

In a medium heatproof bowl set over a pan of almost-simmering water, melt the chocolates and butter, stirring occasionally until smooth. Whisk in the cocoa until smooth. Set aside to cool.  

Whisk together the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a medium bowl until combined, about 15 seconds. Whisk the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture; then stir in the flour with a wooden spoon until just combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, spread into the corners, and level the surface with a rubber spatula. 

Bake until slightly puffed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a small amount of sticky crumbs clinging to it, 35 to 40 minutes.   

Cool on a wire rack to room temperature, about 2 hours. Remove from pan and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into squares.  

Makes 16 2-in brownies. 

Brownie Bites
loosely adapted from Bakerella  

8 pieces triple chocolate brownies
1/3 cup store-bought frosting, I used vanilla buttercream frosting (you can use any kind of creamy frosting)
1 cup chocolate melts / chocolate chips
lollipop sticks, optional  

In a medium bowl, break brownie pieces until fine. Mix in frosting and mash. You can use a fork or your CLEAN hands. ;) Everything should come together and when rolled, should not break apart. If you put too much frosting, you can add more brownies. If too dry, add a bit of frosting.  

Refrigerate for 30 minutes.  

Scoop or roll into 1-inch balls and set on a baking sheet. Chill in the fridge for 1-2 hours.  

Once the brownie balls have set, melt chocolate melts/chips (you can use the microwave or a double boiler). Stir constantly using a rubber spatula.  

Remove brownie balls from the fridge. If you're using lollipop sticks, dip pointed part into the melted chocolate and stick into the chilled brownie bites, about 3/4 way through.  

Freeze for 5-10 minutes. (I know, making these would test your patience... but you will be rewarded. I promise!) Skip this part if you’re not using lollipop sticks.  

Roll balls in melted chocolate and lay on wax paper until chocolate is firm. If you’re not using lollipop sticks, you can use a spoon to dip and roll in chocolate. 

Tap off extra.  

You can use sprinkles or pipe frosting for garnish. I made them plain.  

Dig in… and indulge.

Week 2 of 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies: Marble Chocolate Chip Oreo Cookies

I have (once again) joined a weekly blog round-up. This time it’s for Twelve Weeks of Christmas Cookies hosted by Brenda. The blog hop started last week, that’s why the title says “Week 2” even though it’s technically my first week. Heh.

But I’m still late. This should have been posted yesterday.

Enough with the explanations. Let’s get down to business.

I’ve been thinking hard and long of what to post for this week’s cookie or sweet… I’ve baked a couple of chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, double fudge Oreo crunch cookies, and cupcakes this week. But I can’t post all of them cos I’ve already blogged about them. And besides, I think I’m just cheating myself if I go that way. Buuuut… I didn’t have enough time to whip up (or experiment?) a new recipe – I’ve lots that I want to try!

When I woke up today, I still had that question in my mind - "What do I post? It's already Friday!"

Then... A light bulb struck me -- I still had two separate cookie dough sitting in my fridge. Chocolate chip and double fudge Oreo cookies, Hmm. Why don't I combine them to make one awesome cookie?

Why not?!

It's ultimate chocolate indulgence. If you hop on over to the recipes, you'd notice each cookie recipe already has more than its fair share of chocolate. Cocoa powder, Oreo cookies, almost more than 3 cups of chocolate chips...

Mix them together -- that's too much chocolate!

But one can never have too much chocolate, right?
 


I didn’t know what to call them until I started writing this post… but after looking at the photo above, I think it fits.

Marble Chocolate Chip Oreo Cookies 

For the Double Fudge Oreo Crunch Cookie base: 

1 cup butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup crushed Oreo cookies 

Cream butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until fluffy. Add flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt, mix until combined. 

Fold in chocolate chips and crushed Oreos. 

Refrigerate dough for 2-4 hours (or more). 

For the Chocolate Chip Cookie base: 

2 cups + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips 

Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. 

In a medium bowl, cream together melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended.  

Mix in vanilla, egg, and egg yolk and  beat until light and creamy. Add in flour mixture until just blended. 

Stir in the chocolate chips using a wooden spoon. 

Chill the dough for at least an hour.  

Assembly and Baking: 

When ready to bake, take out the two cookie dough.  Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

Scoop about one teaspoon of double fudge Oreo cookie dough then stuff the scooper with the chocolate chip cookie dough. You can also do it the other way around. What we want is both cookie dough to be rolled into one ball. You can also scoop bigger sizes. 

If you're baking small cookies, bake for 8-10 minutes, or until edges are set. If you're baking bigger cookies, bake for 12-15 minutes. Cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely. 

Best enjoyed with a glass of milk.

 

Be sure to visit all the other bloggers shown below to see what they’ve baked up today yesterday!

Muffin Monday: Zucchini Chocolate Muffin with Sesame Seeds and Chocolate Chips

When An sent the email for this week's muffin recipe, I literally had to force myself to read through everything. As I have already mentioned last week, I am not fond of carrots.. and well, let me set things straight. I am not fond of a lot of vegetables. Shameful as it is, in my 25 years of existence, I have only learned to appreciate vegetables about 6 or so years ago.

So, just like last week's recipe, I decided to face this challenge head on... with a few modifications, of course. Heh.

I honestly can't remember the last time I ate a zucchini. I don't know how it tastes, really. But I knew for a fact (thanks, Google!) that it goes well with chocolate. Who can say no to chocolate goodness? Definitely not me. ;)


 

Look how festive it looks. I’m getting ready for Christmas, isn’t that obvious? ;)

Zucchini Chocolate Muffin with Sesame Seeds and Chocolate ChipsLoosely adapted from 1 Mix, 100 Muffins  

1 small zucchini, grated
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground cardamom
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 egg
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup buttermilk
3 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 200C. Line muffin pan with baking cups.

In a bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. Set aside. 

In another bowl, whisk together zucchini, sugar and wet ingredients. Carefully pour over dry ingredients. Whisk until combined. Fold in chocolate chips. 

Scoop batter into prepared pan. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until tester comes out clean.

Muffin Monday is an initiative by Baker Street. A culinary journey of sharing a wickedly delicious muffin recipe every week. Drop in a quick line to join her on her journey to make the world smile and beat glum Monday mornings week after week.

Notes:
Recipe makes 4-6 muffins. 

I am glad to have made these muffins. Everything came together beautifully. The spices complemented the chocolate really well and the sesame seeds gave an unexpected crunch. 

I have to say that this goes to my list of holiday muffins. :)