Can you have Too much Chocolate?

I think NOT! These cookies are soooo chocolatey and will satisfy any Chocoholic's craving! Be sure to read the directions, you combine the baking soda with the wet ingredients, not the dry like many other cookie recipes.

Because they are a dark cookie, it is hard to tell when you should take them out of the oven, I like to err on the side of caution and remove a bit early. In my opinion a gooey cookie is better than a dry one ANY day!! These pair nicely with vanilla icecream and hot fudge!!

Triple Chocolate Chocolate Cookies

2 sticks butter

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp Vanilla

2 large eggs

3 oz. Unsweetened Chocolate, melt and then cool

2 cups Flour

1/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chunk

1/2 cup white chocolatechunks

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks (milk chocolate would be great!)

1/2 cup chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans, macadamia) optional

Preheat oven to 350.

Melt 30z chocolate in 15 second intervals in microwave safe bowl, stirring after each interval.

Heat until able to stir smooth, Do NOT overheat or it will seize and taste burnt. Set aside to cool.
In a mixing bowl, beat the butter, sugars and baking soda until combined. Add the vanilla and eggs and beat until mixed well. Fold in the cooled melted chocolate until combine.

Slowly beat in the flour and mix until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks and nuts. Form dough into balls using medium scoop and place on parchement lined baking sheets.

(At this point I chilled and then transferred to tupperware containers to freeze once the balls had set. ) *I would recommend chilling balls for a few minutes before baking to prevent overspreading.

Bake on parchment lined baking sheet for 10-14 minutes or until edges are firm to the touch.

Cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes and then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.

Sinless Chocolate? That is Heavenly!

So, I am never one to shy away from full fat/full calorie baked goods. I mean, come on, all that butter and sugar is what MAKES many desserts taste so darn good! Well, these little devils have sugar but are butterless and let me tell you, they deserve a place at the top of the dessert chain right along my Death by Chocolate Brownies (pic and recipe yet to be blogged about) and my Basic Blondies! I first saw this recipe a while back on a website for Weight Watcher users (I am not on WW but like to lurk around different boards). This recipe reappeared on TheNest's cooking board and I knew I had to make them. These cookies are so chocolatey, so rich and so sweet that you will swear you have died and gone to heaven. The best part is, these have all the flavor and texture as butter hoarding baked rivals but are much lower in fat, making them a fairly "sinless" dessert when looking at the alternative baked goods. I wouldn't call these a health food but I would call these little devils DELISH! Especially with a scoop of FroYo sandwiched between two of them.

Sinless Chocolate Chews

2 1/4 cups powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon espresso powder
1 cup cocoa powder, (I used Ghiradeli unsweetened)

3 large egg whites

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, salt, espresso powder, and cocoa. Set aside.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, stir together the egg whites and vanilla with a fork.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the egg whites, and mix either by hand with a spatula or at low speed with a mixer for 2 minutes.

The batter will seem dry at first, but will become shiny and smooth as it mixes.

Cover the bowl, and refrigerate the batter for 3 hours, or up to overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchement paper (or these babies will stick!) Drop the dough by balls onto the prepared baking sheets using a medium icecream scoop (like from pampered chef)

Bake the cookies for 10-11 minutes or until set around the edges.

Remove them from the oven, and cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.

Christmas in August (at least in MY kitchen)

Wow, August is almost over, I can NOT believe it! Pretty soon Christmas will be right around the corner.

Well, this weekend I baked up a tasty little cookie that reminds me of the Christmas cookies my mom always bakes. I didn't take a picture but let me tell you these need to go in your holiday rotation! They are chocolatey, pepperminty, and oh so sweet (even if you have not been).

The real key here is a good quality cocoa powder. I LOVE Ghiradelli chocolate. I like Hershey's cocoa as much as the next gal (HELLO Perfectly Chocolate Cake and Frosting) but these cookies really deserve some high quality cocoa.

These cookies are sweet (may be too sweet for some: (cough, chickens!! cough)) so rolling them in sugar before baking is optional. However, doing so will produce the most glorious sugar crusted, crackly topped chocolate peppermint piece of heaven you have ever had the pleasure to indulge in.

*Can be easily doubled, I got about 14 cookies, just enough to eat some a freeze some.
Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup butter flavor Crisco
3/4 cups + 2 TBS sugar
1 egg, room temp
1/2 tsp peppermint extract (not oil)
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Ghiradelli cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup White chocolate chips
1/2 cup Andes Peppermint chips (the white and red ones) (NOT the regular green/chocolate Ande's mints!!)
Sugar (for rolling dough balls)

Preheat oven to 350.Line baking sheet with Parchement paper.
In medium bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, soda, baking powder and salt. Set asideCream the butter and Crisco. Add the sugar and beat until blended. Add egg and peppermint extract, beat until well combined.

Fold in with a spatula the flour/cocoa mixture. Mix with a blender 10 seconds to combine. Fold in the white chocolate chips and Andes chips. Using a medium cookie scoop form dough into 1-inch balls. Roll each dough ball in a cup of sugar to lightly coat. Place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 9-10 minutes or until edges are firm and the center appears slighlty soft, don't overbake. Cool on baking sheet 3-5 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks and cool completely.