Bourbon Sables with Chocolate

Tags

bakery, baking, bourbon, butter, chocolate, christmas baking, cookies, cooking, delicious, dessert, eat, eating, eggs, entertaining, food, holiday, holiday baking, sables, simple entertaining, sugar, thanksgiving, vanilla, vanilla beans

A must for Christmas this year 🎄

Rich and buttery shortbread cookies infused with bourbon and chocolate! What’s not to love! Inspired by the lovely Sarah Kieffer.

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Refrigeration Time 2 hours

Servings 20 – 24 cookies (I did personally triple the recipe as these fly off the baking sheet)

Ingredients

• 1 cup [227 g] salted butter at room temperature
• 1 cup [200 g] granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg yolk at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla bean paste or extract if that is all you have
• 2 cups [284 g] all-purpose flour
• 227 grams of dark chocolate (I used a mixture of bar chocolate cut into chunks and dark chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons of bourbon
• 1 cup [200 g] turbinado sugar or sanding sugar

Instructions

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Add the granulated sugar and salt, and beat again on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and add the egg yolk, bourbon and vanilla, and mix on low speed until incorporated. Add the flour and mix on low speed until just combined. Add the chocolate and mix again until combined.
• Transfer the dough to a workspace and form the dough into a 12 inch [30.5 cm] long log. Place the log on a large piece of plastic, a few inches longer than the log. Sprinkle the turbinado sugar over each side of the log, covering the outside of the dough. Gently press the sugar into the dough with your hands. Wrap the log in plastic and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours. I personally froze all three logs!
• Position the oven rack in the middle of the oven, and preheat the oven to 350F [180C]. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Using a serrated knife, slice the dough log into ¼ inch [6mm], and place the rounds about 2 inches [5 cm] apart on the prepared pans.
• Bake, one batch at a time, until the edges are very light golden brown and the centers are still pale, 14 to 16 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking. Move the pans to wire racks and let cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

The Bomb Banoffee Pie 🤤

Tags

baking, banoffee pie, butter, chocolate, comfort food, cooking, delicious, dessert, Easter, easy cooking, eat, eating, entertaining, food, holiday, holiday baking, kid friendly, pie, pies, simple entertaining, sugar, toffee, vanilla, vanilla beans, whipping cream

Description

Banoffee pie is an English dessert pie made from bananas, cream and toffee, combined either on a buttery biscuit base or one made from crumbled biscuits and butter.

In simple terms it is a pie that is freaking delicious!

Ingredients

• 1 and 1/2 cups (150g) graham cracker crumbs (about 10 full sheet graham crackers)
• 5 Tablespoons (72g) unsalted butter, melted
• 1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar
• 1 and 1/4 cups dulce de leche**
• 2 large bananas, sliced

Whipped Cream

• 2 cups (480ml) cold heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar or granulated sugar*
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• optional toppings: chocolate shavings, chopped nuts, or toffee bits for garnish

**

What is Dulce de Leche?

Dulce de leche is similar to caramel, but a little sweeter and creamier. It’s prepared by slowly heating sugar and milk until everything caramelizes. If we’re getting all scientific, I learned that a lot of the flavor comes from the Maillard reaction. Interesting! Dulce de lecheis Spanish for candy made/of milk. There are a few ways to prepare dulce de leche including:

1. The classic method of cooking down and constantly stirring milk and sugar
2. The shortcut method of cooking sweetened condensed milk

We’re using the shortcut method today, Both are delicious!

You need 1 can of sweetened condensed milk, a non stick frying pan, spatula and patience.

Pour the can of sweetened condensed milk into a non stick frying pan. Put heat on medium and stir with a spatula. You want the milk turn into a deep caramel colour that we will use for the banoffee pie. This whole process will take anywhere from 15-30 minutes. Whatever you do don’t stop stiring it! You can also do it on medium low heat too. This is a marathon not a sprint.

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C).
2. If you’re starting out with full-sheet graham crackers, you can use a food processor or blender to grind them up. Or crush them in a zipped top bag with a rolling pin. Mix the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and granulated sugar together in a medium bowl until combined. The mixture will be thick, coarse, and sandy. Press the mixture into the bottom and slightly up the sides of a 9-inch pie dish. Make sure it is tight and compact. Use the bottom of a flat measuring cup to press it down tightly. Bake the crust for 15-16 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes (and up to 2 days) before adding the layers. Meanwhile, make the whipped cream. (Next step.)
3. For the whipped cream: Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla extract on medium-high speed until medium peaks form, about 3-4 minutes. Medium peaks are between soft/loose peaks and stiff peaks and are the perfect consistency for topping and piping on desserts.
4. Spread dulce de leche on top of the crust. Arrange banana slices in 1-2 layers on top of the dulce de leche, then spread whipped cream on top.
5. Refrigerate pie uncovered for at least 2 hours and up to 1 day. Garnish with toppings before serving, if desired.
6. Cover and store leftover pie in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. It won’t last 5 days…. just sayin’.

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Bakery Style Buttermilk chocolate chip muffins

Tags

bakery, baking, butter, buttermilk, chocolate, dessert, eat, entertaining, food, kid friendly, kids, kids baking, mini muffins, muffins, simple entertaining, sugar, summer, summertime, treats

First let me start by giving credit where credit is due, this recipe was given to me by a friend who found it on Pinterest these have got to be some of the best chocolate chip muffins I have ever eaten. I have tweaked the original recipe a bit, so here is my version. 

Chloe makes them at least every 10 days or so, they freeze incredibly well all you need to do is take a muffin out of the freezer put it in the lunch bag and by snacktime it’s thawed, Voila! These are a winner winner.

 INGREDIENTS:

1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup granulated sugar or vanilla bean sugar 

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 larges eggs beaten 

1 tbsp vanilla bean paste or the best extract you can find 
1 1/2 cups miniature chocolate chips

sanding sugar for sprinkling on top – makes all the difference. 

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 425ºF. Use muffin liners or Grease a 12-cup muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. This recipe makes 12 large and 12 mini muffins.
In a larger bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Add the butter, eggs, vanilla, and the buttermilk. Stir JUST until a batter with lumps forms.

Fold in the chocolate chips.

Fill each cup in the muffin tin to be completely full (about a heaping 1/4 cup).

Bake at 425ºF for 5 minutes. Then decrease the heat to 375ºF and bake for another 13 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 2 minutes before removing from the tin and serving.

Enjoy! 

http://www.monicaskitchen.com (new website coming soon!) 

The BEST salted chocolate chip cookies in the world

Tags

baking, butter, chocolate, chocolate chip cookies, cookies, salted, sugar

I have been searching and searching for the best salted cookie recipe and I have created one. Hands down the best. It is chewy on the inside and crunchy on the outside. I honestly could eat 6 in one sitting.

Do yourself a favour and make these as soon as possible.

The Ultimate Chocolate Chip Salted Cookies

Ingredients

3/4 cup granulated sugar (I used vanilla bean sugar)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips (2 cups)

Flaked maldon sea salt

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375ºF.

2. Mix sugars, butter, vanilla and egg in large bowl. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt (dough will be stiff). Stir in chocolate chips.

3. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten them out a bit and sprinkle lightly with a few sea salt flakes.

4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light brown (centers will be soft). Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet. Pace back and worth until they are cool. Mine took exactly 9 minutes to bake.

Devour !

Christmas Baking 101

Tags

baking, butter, buttertart bars, chocolate, christmas, cookies, holiday, holiday baking, shortbread, sugar

You need a cookie ✔️

Something with chocolate ✔️

A bar of some kind ✔️

Feel free to mix it up but a sure fire way to have a successful Christmas dessert buffet is shortbread cookies, Christmas crack and butter tart bars. 

I have shared the crack and bars before and will again but today I will share my secret 100 year old shortbread recipe. 

Shortbread Cookies

INGREDIENTS

1 1/4 cup butter, softened

1⁄2 cup superfine sugar

2 1⁄2 cups flour

4 tbls of corn starch

Preheat oven to 300°.

Cream butter and sugar together.

Add flour and mix till texture is like clay.

Press dough into ungreased 9 x 13 inch pan, prick all over with a fork, and sprinkle with sugar (tilt pan to cover the top evenly, then shake excess sugar back into the sugar canister).

Bake for about 40-45 minutes (till very lightly browned–just golden around the edges).

Let stand for 2 minutes, then cut into 2 inch strips while warm… You should get 4 dozen per 9 by 13 pan. 

Leave in pan to cool thoroughly. (Shortbread will not be crisp until cool.).

Butter tart bars

Christmas crack

Enjoy!!!!!!

http://www.monicaskitchen.com

Easter Egg Flourless Chocolate Torte

Tags

chocolate, classy dessert, dessert, Easter, entertaining, flourless, Nigella lawson

I love Nigella Lawson, always have, always will. I read her cookbooks like novels. Her cookbooks are fun to read and evoke memories of my own childhood.

I am hosting 12 for dinner tomorrow to celebrate Easter and I wanted to mix it up in the dessert department. I made a carrot cake (my favorite) but I know my husband loves chocolate. Hello flourless chocolate torte! It really easy to make and will be easy to eat I am sure.

If you are looking to try something new tomorrow, try this!

Happy Easter!

 

Get Ready To Eat The Best Chocolate Cheesecake Ever. I’m Serious. Ever.

Tags

bailey's, baking, callebaut, cheesecake, chocolate, ghirardelli, www.monicaskitchen.com

I’m not sure where to begin. I was looking for a really good cheesecake recipe to since I was entertaining guests and I stumbled upon this recipe. I of course made tweaks here and there and everywhere and the end results was O.M.G. I had people eating this cheesecake that “hate cheesecake”.

The keys to this dessert is to use quality ingredients, a food processor and bake it in a water bath.

Ingredients

Crust:

2 cups Oreo cookies smashed
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Cheesecake filling:

3 (8 ounce) packages softened cream cheese
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup Bailey’s (or other Irish cream liqueuor)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate Ganache:

1/2 cup heavy cream
4 ounces dark chocolate (Ghirardelli or Callebaut)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Begin to bring a large pot of water to boil. Place the spring form pan in the middle of two large pieces of heavy duty aluminum foil. Bring the foil up the sides of the pan. Crimp the pieces together around the pan. Make sure it is tight and secure so no water gets in during the baking process. Combine smashed Oreo cookies and butter together in a bowl. Press into the bottom of the prepared spring form pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.

While the crust is cooling, use a food processor* and cream together soft cream cheese and sugar. Add in the eggs one at a time, being sure to scrape down the sides after adding each egg. Add in flour and cocoa powder. Add in the Bailey’s, sour cream and vanilla extract. Continue mixing until smooth and silky. Pour over cooled crust.

* So some of you maybe asking why a food processor? The why is because you do not want to add any air bubbles into your cheesecake. In order to get a smooth and silky cheesecake you need to keep the air out of the cheesecake mixture.

Place cheesecake into a roasting pan. Place in the oven and pour the boiling water into the roasting pan, quickly close the door. Bake for 45 – 55 minutes or until the cheesecake is set. The middle will still be jiggly. Turn off oven, keep oven door closed and allow cheesecake to cool 1 hour in oven. It will finish cooking during this time. This will also stop your cheesecake from cracking.

Remove cheesecake from oven, carefully remove it from the water bath. Remove the aluminum foil, being careful of any water that may have worked its way in.

Chill cheesecake in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, use a knife to gently loosen the cheesecake. Remove the sides of the pan.

To prepare the ganache, place the chocolate in a bowl. Then heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until it is almost boiling. Remove from heat, and pour over the chocolate chips and let sit for 30 seconds. (same way you make truffles) Then stir until the chocolate chips have melted and are mixed in well. Pour over the top of the cheesecake. Put back in the fridge and in 30 mins it is ready to serve!

Get ready to eat the best cheesecake ever!

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I am a girl who loves food. I grew up with a Mom who was an excellent cook. She wrote a cookbook when I was a child, and as they say, the rest is history. Started a catering business in 2005 and haven’t looked back. I am a mom to 2 beautiful girls and I want them to love food as much as I do. In the meantime, I love life and love my job @ http://www.monicaskitchen.com

The World’s Best Banana Bread

Tags

baking with kids, banana, banana bread, chocolate, comfort food, easy baking, easy cooking, one bowl cooking, simple baking

I have been making this banana bread for years and years now. It can also be made with egg replacer or apple sauce instead of the egg for those with egg allergies (mainly my 2 daughters).

No need to use a mixer for this recipe. It is so easy your kids could make it! Clean-up is easy too, if you want, you can mix everything in one bowl.

The best bananas to use for banana bread are those that are over-ripe. I typically have 10 to 20 frozen bananas in my freezer at one time (it annoys my husband to no end) but they make the best banana bread! If you are using non frozen bananas, make sure the yellow peels are half browned, and the bananas inside are squishy and browning.

Delicious Banana Bread

Recipe:

• 4 very ripe bananas, peeled (or frozen bananas that have been thawed)
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 2/3 cup of sugar (can easily use 1/2 cup) – I used vanilla sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (if you are not using vanilla sugar)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• A pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup of chocolate chips (Ghirardelli is my favorite brand)

Step by Step Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F, and grab a 4×8-inch loaf pan. Line it with parchment paper with overhanging sides.

In a mixing bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork until smooth. Add sugar and stir. Stir in the melted butter into the mashed bananas and sugar. Add vanilla.

Thawed frozen bananas, just squeeze them into the bowl

2/3 cup of vanilla sugar (you can see the vanilla bean specks)

Add in 1 egg

Stir in the egg and mix. Mix in the baking soda and salt. Mix in the flour. Stir the batter and when it is almost done add in chocolate chips. DO NOT OVER MIX! If you over mix your dough your bread will be tough, and no one wants tough banana bread.

1/3 cup melted butter

1 tsp baking soda

11/2 cups of flour

1/2 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips

Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes at 350°F, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

Into the oven

50 minutes later

Remove from oven and cool completely on a rack. Remove the banana bread from the pan. Slice and serve.

Slice and serve

It is delish! Enjoy.

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I am a girl who loves food. I grew up with a Mom who was an excellent cook. She wrote a cookbook when I was a child, and as they say, the rest is history. Started a catering business in 2005 and haven’t looked back. I am a mom to 2 beautiful girls and I want them to love food as much as I do. In the meantime, I love life and love my job @ http://www.monicaskitchen.com

 

Tasty Chocolate Truffles

Tags

chocolate, eat, food, Jacques Torres, truffles

Everyone loves truffles. Not only are they easy to make, they are also very easy to eat. 🙂 I learned to make truffles years and years ago from Mr. Chocolate himself Jacques Torres. He was on an old PBS cooking show and I was mesmerized. He made it look so easy, and it is.

Here’s how:

For the Ganache you will need:

 

1. 600 grams of good chocolate (Callebaut, Valrhona) (bittersweet / semi sweet) In this case I used Ghirardelli. Use chocolate chips or a bar of chocolate. If you use a bar, chop it up into small pieces so it melts easily.
2. 2 cups of heavy cream 35%
3. 1/4 of liquor (optional but I love it) In this case I used Baileys, but you would use, Grand Marnier, Brandy etc.

To coat the truffles you will need:

1. 2 cups of sifted cocoa powder
2. 2 cups of toasted and cooled chopped nuts (I used almonds)

Directions:

Heat the heavy cream in a 2-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan until bubbles begin to form around the edge of the pan.

Heavy cream and baileys

 

When small bubbles form it is ready

Make sure that you have chopped the chocolate as finely as possible to allow it to melt quickly and easily. Place the chopped chocolate in a medium-size mixing bowl. Make a ganache by pouring about half of the hot cream over the chocolate and letting it sit for 30 seconds to melt the chocolate.

Pour 1/2 the cream over top, let sit for 30 secs and then whisk

Then slowly whisk until smooth and homogenous.

Do not add all of the hot cream to the cold chocolate at once; the shock of the temperature extremes would cause the fat in the chocolate to separate. As the chocolate melts, you will see some elasticity if there is no fat separation. This means the chocolate still has an emulsion; the fat molecules are still holding together. Once chocolate is starting to melt and you are whisking, add the remaining cream and whisk until is becomes shiny and all the chocolate is melted.

*IMPORTANT – If the ganache separates, it loses its elasticity, collapses, and becomes very liquid. Use a hand-held immersion blender to ensure a smooth ganache and to keep the emulsion of the chocolate. Add the remaining cream gradually and mix until all of the hot cream is incorporated and the ganache is smooth and homogenous. If the ganache separates, it is very easy to fix. Simply add a small amount of cold cream and whisk well. This will bring the ganache back together.

Ready to go in to fridge to cool

The ganache should be thick, shiny, and smooth. Cover the ganache with plastic wrap and allow it to cool for at least 4 hours at room temperature. I usually make the ganache at the end of the day and let it cool overnight. As it cools, it will thicken and set.

When the ganache has cooled to the consistency of toothpaste, you can start forming your truffles. I use a spoon to gather some ganache and use my hands to form it into a ball. This recipe should make ~60 truffles. When all the truffles are rolled into balls, they are ready to be coated. If they have become too soft, place them in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours until they are firm enough to coat. To coat just roll the truffles into the cocoa or toasted nuts.

 

The truffles will keep for up to 2 weeks in the fridge, when stored in an airtight container.

Now sit back, grab a cup of coffee or a glass of red wine and enjoy all of your hard work. I promise you cannot eat just one.

 

 

 

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I am a girl who loves food. I grew up with a Mom who was an excellent cook. She wrote a cookbook when I was a child, and as they say, the rest is history. Started a catering business in 2005 and haven’t looked back. I am a mom to 2 beautiful girls and I want them to love food as much as I do. In the meantime, I love life and love my job @ www.monicaskitchen.com twitter @monicawhite9