Better than Market O Brownies

I confess I used to buy those individually packaged Market O Real Brownies Original (from Korea? Japan?). At almost $2 for a small square inch piece of sweet, I only bought it to celebrate something and they were always too small to satisfy. Then I graudated to making brownies from Trader Joe's brownie mixes and you can only get a package or two to last you until your next trip to the US. Then one day I decided to make them from scratch. My neighbor said brownies are hard to mess up but that's not true. I've baked hard and dry brownies and overly sweet messes. I've made brownies that were sorely lacking in nuts. My dad likes to say all those mistakes are our tuition fee. I've paid my way to Better than Market O Brownies. 

½ cup butter
¾ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
½ cup cocoa powder (Dutch process is best)

⅓ cup flour

1 cup chopped walnuts

⅓ cup chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix in cocoa and flour. Fold in chopped walnuts and chocolate chips. Pour in parchment lined pan. Bake in preheated 350°F oven for 20 minutes. First 12 minutes covered in foil and last 8 minutes uncovered. After exactly 20 minutes take out of the oven to cool. Do not leave in the oven to cool or the brownie dries out. 

Goodbye Nantucket Cookies (Pecan Chocolate)

Every time I pass Costco's snack aisles (a dangerous place!), I feel Pepperidge Farm's Nantucket Cookies call my name. They look so scrumptious. I love Pepperidge Farm's Milanos so I know these would be just as addicting. But I refuse to spend ¥1,500++ on cookies. Fortunately, I can make cookies so good I don't feel Nantucket beckon me anymore. I know a lot of cookie recipes say the nuts are optional but in this recipe, they are absolutely essential.

½ cup butter
¾ cup sugar
1 egg
½ T vanilla
1 cup flour
½ t baking soda
½ t baking powder
½ cup oats
¾ cup chopped pecan nuts
¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda and baking powder. Fold in oats, pecan nuts and chocolate chips. Put balls of dough on a pan and freeze (After they have frozen, you can put the dough balls into a freezer bag for later use). To bake, put dough balls in a cookie tray spacing them properly. Bake in 350°F for about 12 minutes or until done. 

Abunai Chocolate Cookies

Abunai. A word uttered frequently by Japanese moms. It means "dangerous" or in the imperative, "Look out!"

It also describes this chocolate cookie. It is what my neighbor said when I gave her some. One has to look out lest an entire batch is consumed without thinking. It's that good.

½ cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 vanilla

1 cup all purpose flour

⅓ cup cocoa

½ t baking soda

pinch of salt

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg, and vanilla extract. Mix in dry ingredients. Fold in chocolate. Bake in 350°F for 9-10 minutes. Cool and enjoy with coffee.

Jack-Approved Chocolate Coconut Oatmeal Cookie

We have a neighbor named Jack who runs an organic vegetarian cafe. Every so often, I share with Jack some of my baked goodies. Jack is always grateful but sparing with his praise, but there is one cookie that he complimented and so his approval is especially memorable. If Jack says it's good, it must be good. I came across this recipe when someone gifted us with shredded coconut and I wasn't sure what to do with it. The original recipe from Ambitious Kitchen called for coconut oil but I like butter better. 

1 cup oats (original recipe called for quick oats. I used regular rolled oats just fine)

1 cup all purpose flour

1 t baking soda

¼ t salt (I omit this if I use salted butter which is sometimes the only thing available)

½ cup butter

¾ cups sugar

1 egg

2 t vanilla

1 cup shredded coconut

2 t milk

100 g chocolate (original recipe called for chocolate chunks. I just used semi-sweet chocolate chips)

Mix wet ingredients, then mix in the dry ingredients, chunkier ingredients last. Bake at 350°F for 9-11 minutes. 

Frances' Chocolate Cake

"Oh yes," said Mother, "you may be sure that there will always be 

plenty of chocolate cake around here."

- A Baby Sister for Frances, Russel and Lillian Hoban

Every family ought to have their own go-to chocolate cake recipe, and this happens to be ours. I got it off the back of the packet of Ghirardelli's Premium Baking Cocoa and it's their recipe for their Grand Fudge Cake (or cupcake). One time I ran out of confectioner's sugar and discovered a way to make a nice chocolate frosting without it. 

2 cups all-purpose flour

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa

1 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

½ t salt (I omit this if I use salted butter which is sometimes the only thing available)

1 cup butter 

1 ¾ cups sugar

2 t vanilla

2 large eggs

1 ⅓ cups milk

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two 9" round cake pans. In a bowl, sift together baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl,cream butter and sugar until well blended. Add vanilla and eggs. Alternately add flour mixture and milk (starting and ending with flour mixture) while mixing until smooth. Pour into the pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. 

No Confectioner's Sugar Chocolate Frosting

1 cup sugar

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa

¼ cup butter

¼ cup milk

1 t vanilla

Bring the first 4 ingredients to a boil for 1 minute. Turn off heat then add vanilla. Cool partially and then beat at high speed for 3 minutes. Spread on cooled cake. 

Feeling Rich Mousse Chocolat

I always thought that chocolate mousse requires gelatin to firm it up until a French friend showed me how to make mousse chocolat with just three ingredients (none of which included gelatin) and sent me home with a bar of dark chocolate straight from France. It is one of the easiest desserts to make that never fails to impress. Indulge in the chocolate decadence.

4 eggs
100g butter, melted
200g dark or semi-sweet chocolate

Separate the whites from the yolks. Beat the whites until they form stiff peaks. Melt the chocolate (I often steam my chocolate). Mix the yolks, melted chocolate, and melted butter with a whisk until smooth. Fold this mixture into the egg whites. Pour into serving containers and refrigerate for at least 6 hours (overnight is best).