Tag: chocolate chips

Categories
Dessert Snack

Cherry Garcia brownies makes friends ‘Grateful Fed’

Cherry Garcia brownies are patterned after the Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor of the same name.
Cherry Garcia brownies are patterned after the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor of the same name.

Over the seven years since I started writing this column, my family has gotten very used to being guinea pigs for new recipes.

So much so, that when I showed up with a dish of still-warm brownies for a board game night with my sister and brother-in-law last weekend, my sister looked at me and said, “I’m going to get quoted about this, aren’t I?”

I just shrugged, but yes, Sis, you are.

As I often do when summer rolls around, I bought a big bag of fresh cherries last week, and these brownies seemed like the perfect candidate to include them. I also might have spent some time sampling cherries while I baked, too. Job hazards.

My sister said she generally hates the taste of cherries and chocolate together (she might be adopted), but she gave two thumbs up for the new recipe.

I found this one by Lauren Miyashiro on the website “Delish.” You can find the original at https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/recipes/a48932/cherry-garcia-brownies-recipe/. I doubled the vanilla, added more cherries and specified a dark chocolate brownie mix in my version.

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Cherry Garcia Brownies

Cherry Garcia brownies are patterned after the Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor of the same name.
Course Dessert
Keyword brownies, cherry, dark chocolate

Ingredients

  • 1 box dark chocolate brownie mix plus ingredients it calls for
  • 8 ounces cream cheese slightly softened
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 cup pitted and quartered fresh cherries
  • 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and prepare an 8-by-8-inch baking pan by spraying it with cooking spray.
  • Prepare the brownie mix according to package instructions and dump into the prepared pan. Set it aside.
  • In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, vanilla, egg and sugar until it’s light and fluffy (mine actually ended up mostly soupy, which works, too. Just make sure it’s well combined).
  • Stir in the cherries and chocolate chips and dump the cream cheese mixture over the brownie mix in the pan. Swirl the mixture with a knife to get some of the cream cheese layer into the brownies.
  • Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted down into the brownie layer comes up clean (mine took a bit longer than 45 minutes) and the cheesecake layer on top is set up.
  • Let the brownies cool a bit before slicing. I stored mine in an airtight container in the fridge.

I would recommend cutting these on the smaller side, because they’re a bit rich. The top is creamy, and the bottom is dense and chewy. And then there’s a little layer in the middle between the cheesecake and the brownie layer that’s perfectly gooey.

We had a great time playing games and eating brownies together, and we all decided the recipe was a winner, which was the only winning I did all night.

Maybe next time we get together I can earn some victories with the board games in addition to the kitchen.

This piece first appeared in print on June 13, 2019.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Cookies Dessert

Baking Mom’s cookies makes me a chip off the old block

Sometimes all you want is a classic, delicious chocolate chip cookie, just like Mom used to make.
Sometimes all you want is a classic, delicious chocolate chip cookie, just like Mom used to make.

Every time it was our family’s turn to bring snacks for any event—youth group, school functions, you name it—my friends would immediately ask, “Is your mom going to make cookies?”

When my sister or I would announce that we needed to bring something yummy to share, Mom didn’t need to ask us what we wanted her to whip up. The default was her chocolate chip cookies, and we rarely brought any home at the end of the evening.

She would sometimes shake her head in disbelief when people would ask for her secret recipe, saying she just got it off the back of a bag of chocolate chips at some point, but though she’ll probably still deny it, there was always something special about those cookies.

Last week, I needed to make cookies for an event, and rather than do my normal thing and try out a new recipe, I pulled out my recipe box and decided to make Mom’s chocolate chip cookies.

As in the days of my childhood, they were the first cookies to disappear from the snack table.

I don’t have an official source for you for these cookies other than to say that the recipe once appeared on a chocolate chip bag somewhere, but if I know my mother as well as I think I do, I’m guessing the vanilla was doubled at some point in its history.

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Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sometimes all you want is a classic, delicious chocolate chip cookie, just like Mom used to make.
Course Dessert
Keyword chocolate chips, cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 cup shortening
  • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon water
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 375.
  • Beat together the shortening, sugars, vanilla, water and eggs until well combined. Beat the flour, baking soda and salt into the mix, and then mix in the chocolate chips.
  • Drop by the spoonful about two inches apart on a baking sheet.
  • Bake for eight to 10 minutes or until the cookies are lightly browned. Let them cool for a bit and then transfer them to a sealed container while still a little warm to keep them a little chewier.

There’s nothing Earth-shattering about these cookies, but they are definitely one of the tastes of my childhood. It’s funny that those cookies were the background for so many of my favorite memories growing up—spending time with friends in the church fellowship hall, dipping them in milk with my sister, sharing them with classmates between taking final exams in high school.

It was nice to share a batch with some of my adult friends, too. It’s amazing how relationships can form around something as simple as a chocolate chip cookie.

This piece first appeared in print on June 28, 2018.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Dessert

No-bake pie is better chocolate than never

A small piece is the perfect serving size for this rich, chocolaty pie.
A small piece is the perfect serving size for this rich, chocolaty pie.

We recently had a get-together with my mom’s side of the family. As always, we had an amazing spread of way too much food and had lots of fun catching up.

I volunteered to bring a few pies for dessert, and my family is used to being guinea pigs when it comes to me trying out new recipes.

One of the pies I made was this week’s recipe—a no-bake chocolate truffle pie that was super easy to make. When I pulled it out of my Tupperware container, my cousin’s little girl gasped and immediately grabbed me around my middle.

She could barely wait to finish her lunch before diving into a piece of pie. If you’re wondering, Miss Avery gave it two thumbs up.

I found this recipe on the website “Kitch Me.” You can find it at http://www.kitchme.com/recipes/no-bake-chocolate-truffle-pie-5-ingredients. I added ingredients to make a homemade whipped cream to top it and used a graham cracker crust instead of the chocolate crust the recipe called for.

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No-Bake Chocolate Truffle Pie

A small piece is the perfect serving size for this rich, chocolaty pie.
Course Dessert
Keyword chocolate chips, graham cracker crust, no bake, truffle, whipped cream

Ingredients

  • 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream divided
  • 1/4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 9- inch pre-made graham cracker or chocolate cookie crumb pie crust
  • about 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

  • Combine the chocolate chips (save a few to decorate the top of the pie, if you like) and 3/4 cup cream to a microwave-safe bowl, and microwave 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between each time, until the mixture is smooth.
  • Set it aside and let the chocolate cool to room temperature.
  • Once the mixture is cooled, mix in the sugar and vanilla.
  • In another bowl, whip another 3/4 cup of cream until stiff peaks form, and then beat in the chocolate, a little at a time, until it’s all fully combined.
  • Spread the filling out evenly into the pie crust and refrigerate at least eight hours. Before serving, whip the remaining cream, one tablespoon powdered sugar and one teaspoon vanilla together until stiff peaks form. If the cream is not sweet enough, whip in a bit more sugar until it’s where you like it.
  • Top the pie with the whipped cream and some chocolate chips or chocolate shavings.
  • Refrigerate any leftovers.

Several people who taste tested this pie for me said they really liked the dark chocolate flavor and were surprised when I said it was made with only semi-sweet chocolate. Letting it set overnight really developed a deep flavor.

I’d also suggest cutting this into smaller pieces, because it’s a very rich flavor, and it’s tough to eat a big piece in one sitting.

I’m guessing I’ll need to work this recipe into my regular rotation—at least when bringing pie to my little cousin. The pie was delicious, but the big hug really made it worth it.

This piece first appeared in print on April 26, 2018.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

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