chocolate – Page 12 – The Pajama Chef

SRC: Quick Chocolate Pudding

March 4, 2013May 6, 2015 Sarah

Have you ever made homemade pudding before? I never knew until this weekend just how simple it is–and how utterly delicious the results are! This month for the Secret Recipe Club I was assigned to Shannon’s blog, Searching for Dessert and I am so glad that I was–otherwise I may never have discovered the wonder of homemade pudding!! And this version is luscious, rich chocolate pudding so it is very wondrous. 🙂

If you’ve missed my past SRC posts, the premise is this: you’re assigned a different member’s blog every month. You visit their blog, choose any recipe you want, then make it and share it on your blog… all while keeping your assignment a secret! Everyone else posts about their secret blog the same day. It’s fabulously fun to try out new blogs. If you have a blog, definitely check it out and consider joining! I highly recommend it.

If you’ve never visited Shannon’s blog, you’re missing out! As the name implies, the focus is on dessert… as well as meatless recipes! Yum to both! There are SO many new recipes I’d love to try, like these Cranberry and Pecan Granola Bites and this Parmesan Pizza Dough. Everything I saw looked amazing, but since Shannon is an excellent photographer and a former pastry chef, that is no surprise. Now, she is a student [graduating this year, like me… yay! By the way, I don’t think I’ve announced this here yet but I turned in a FULL DRAFT of my thesis a couple weeks ago! I’ll have to do revisions later this month, but this is a big step forward. :)]. Shannon is also a wife and a mother–most recently the new mom of a little girl. So fun! I’m sure her family loves it when she makes this quick chocolate pudding for dessert at night. It’s no pastry but it sure is tasty.

This rich, fudgy chocolate pudding is amazing! It comes together in a flash [hence the quick part]. Probably the hardest part is straining the lumps out at the end. Seriously. You just gotta be prepared and have all the ingredients ready as you go along. Even if it was a bit more complicated, I think I would still love it just as much because it is SO much better than any pudding mix you can buy at the store.

Since the pudding cooks and thickens on the stove, there is really no need for refrigeration prior to serving. I had never had warm pudding before, and man, was it good! It was like eating a bowl of milky hot fudge. It was also great cold, but it was such a treat hot out of the pan. Shannon’s original recipe called for flavoring the chocolate pudding with fruit, specifically black cherries. I intended to buy some, but just never did, so we enjoyed the pudding plain and also with coconut and mini chocolate chips. Be sure to check out her original post for more fruit ideas… she had a ton.

I feel like this post is super scattered, but just to emphasize again… this Quick Chocolate Pudding is superb! It is rich and chocolatey, with richness drawn from the coffee, vanilla, and butter. If you aren’t a coffee fan, don’t be scared–you don’t actually taste it, it just serves as a flavor enhancer. I won’t go so far as to say I’ll never make boxed pudding again… but I really shouldn’t. I’ve been enlightened… and I can’t wait to find more pudding recipes now. Anyone have some they wanna send my way? 🙂 Enjoy… and go show Shannon and her new baby girl some love at Searching for Dessert!

Quick Chocolate Pudding [from Searching for Dessert]

Ingredients:

1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 cup coffee, hot
1 cup milk, hot
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate [I used a block of chocolate but Shannon used chips]
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 cup fruit, if desired [Shannon used frozen black cherries]

Directions:

Add sugar, cornstarch, and cocoa powder to a medium saucepan and whisk well to blend. Then pour in the hot coffee and whisk again until fully incorporated.

Then, place the saucepan over medium high heat. Gradually pour in the hot milk, whisking after each addition. Using a wooden spoon, consistently stir the mixture for 2-3 minutes as it thickens.

Add chocolate, and stir until melted. Remove from heat. Add vanilla and butter, stir until melted.

Set a fine strainer or sieve over a bowl and push the pudding through to remove any lumps. This will take a few minutes, but the results are well worth it.

Serve immediately, with 1/4 cup fruit per 3/4 cup serving [if desired]. Alternatively, place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap [touching the pudding] and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

Time: 20 minutes.

Yield: 4 servings [3/4 cup each].

Be sure to check out the other SRC posts today here:

Breakfast, Granola, Recipes

Peanut Butter Pretzel Granola Bars

February 22, 2013February 25, 2013 Sarah

So, I used to post once a month on a blog called Today’s Housewife. Last fall, the group decided together to stop posting due the busyness of life and families and such. Though sad, I enjoyed being part of the group. As of early January, the blog was officially taken down. But I don’t want to lose my recipes, so periodically I will be reposting them on here. Enjoy!

from April 12, 2012… these still get alot of traffic from my blog, even though the link is broken! and I figured it was high time to have the recipe here too!

I love granola bars. Love them for a snack after a workout, love them as a sweet treat in my brown bag [well, pink and black insulated tote] lunch, love them any time… day or night. But you know what I don’t love? I don’t love that my favorite varieties are sold for at least $1 a piece, and that the cheap kinds taste like cardboard and still run $3 for 8-10. $3 for a mediocre processed, packaged snack that contains tons of chemicals and/or preservatives? No thanks, I’ll make my own.

I’ve had a few successes in the homemade granola bar department… Chewy Granola Bars–your classic character with dried fruit, nuts, and chocolate chips as mix-ins. Or perhaps, Fruit and Nut Granola Bars are more your thing–they’re a little softer with more variety inside. Lastly, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Energy Bars–a crispy granola bar with a fall-flavored twist.

These Peanut Butter Pretzel Granola Bars are different. They’re more substantial. Flavorful and filling, but not heavy and dense. Sweet and salty. Pretty much unbelievable, til you try them. And you should, because they’re made up of mostly pantry ingredients, and take virtually no time to whip up. I promise they’ll make your lunchtime and snacktime fabulous!

Peanut Butter Pretzel Granola Bars [adjusted from How Sweet Eats]

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Ingredients:

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup puffed rice cereal
1 cup crushed salted pretzels
1/4 cup ground flaxseed or wheat germ
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup chopped dry roasted or honey roasted peanuts
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon honey
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips
1/3 cup coconut flakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13 inch baking pan with cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together dry ingredients: oats, cereal, pretzels, flax/wheat germ, brown sugar, flour, and peanuts. Then, add peanut butter and mix with a spoon or your hands to create a rough “dough.” This should take about 5 minutes.

In a smaller bowl, combine butter, vanilla, and honey. Pour into peanut butter dough and stir to combine completely. Fold in chocolate chips and coconut flakes.

Press dough into prepared pan, then bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. But don’t forget the golden rule of granola–it always hardens as it cools, so don’t overcook it! Let pan cool completely before cutting, refrigerating for an added chill if necessary. I let my granola bars cool overnight before cutting just to be safe.

Time: 40 minutes. [15 minutes active].

Yield: 18 servings.

Linked with: Weekend Potluck.

Bars, Desserts, Recipes

Chewy Peanut Butter Brownies

February 6, 2013September 14, 2015 Sarah

So, if you’ve never checked out Megan’s blog, What Megan’s Making, you’re missing out. I’m not sure how I first found it but I’m glad I did. Everything I’ve made from her blog has been incredibly delicious… and my most recent love are these Chewy Peanut Butter Brownies! They are seriously in hot contention for the best thing I ever ate. An indicator? I rarely make the same recipe twice, but this recipe was first posted in March 2012 and I have made them at least two, if not three times since then. For me, that equals a spot on the bus to Crazytown, USA. No joke.

I know it’s a little redundant but the best way to describe these brownies is to say that they’re uber peanut buttery, chocolatey, and chewy. I don’t use the word “uber” lightly, so when I say all those things, imagine I’m screaming it. And if you know me in real life, you know that me screaming is pretty rare. Sooooo… emphasis should be noted. 🙂

Even though these brownies are rich, I’d be lying if I said you just had to eat a small piece to be satisfied. You won’t. Don’t worry, if you’re anything like me, you won’t have any self control around these insanely addicting brownies. They’re nothing fancy–just a buttery and soft brownie with nutty, caramely peanut butter flavor. And the best parts are the bites with the melted bits o’ fudgy chocolate. Oh wait–that’s each bite. Whoops! They are definitely not for sharing… unless you want to make a second batch tomorrow. Enjoy! 🙂

Chewy Peanut Butter Brownies

Servings: 12
Time: 40 minutes
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from What Megan’s Making

Ingredients:

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips [or 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips + 3/4 cup peanut butter chips]

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×9 baking pan with cooking spray.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together peanut butter and butter. Add sugars and vanilla. Then mix until creamy, scraping the sides as needed. Next, add egg. Beat on low until light and fluffy.

Slowly add flour and baking powder and beat until incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Spoon batter into prepared pan and smooth out with spatula.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely before cutting.

Bars, Breakfast, Recipes

{Healthy} Mexican Hot Chocolate Breakfast Bars

January 22, 2013February 23, 2017 Sarah

Would you like a rich, chocolately, fudgy bar for breakfast? They have a hint of cinnamon and cayenne reminiscent of the fancily flavorful Mexican Hot Chocolate that is so addicting once you get past the fact that you’re drinking something with a little heat. I bet you’ll love them.

But…… I know, I know. Chocolate for breakfast is everyone’s dream. Emphasis on dream, not reality. Especially in near brownie form, complete with chocolate chunks and coconut flakes. Perfecto! Nah, you say. No can do. Welllll, what if I told you they were healthy. What if I told you they were healthy without seeming healthy. What would you say then? I hope you’re in. I hope you’re game. Because these Mexican Hot Chocolate Breakfast Bars are secretly healthy. Made with a base of [gasp] sweet potatoes and black beans, this is one breakfast treat that anyone can get into eating.

I don’t usually calculate nutrition stats for my recipes, but I did for this one and discovered that each bar is 247 calories each, with 6 grams of fat. Thanks to the sweet potato and black beans, each serving has as much protein as an egg [6 grams] and as much potassium as a small banana [300 milligrams]. Add in the 6 grams of fiber and high amounts of vitamin A, this is a breakfast to be proud of. Unfortunately, the sugar content [29 grams] is higher than many breakfasts, but there are a couple ways this could be lowered–by using less honey or unsweetened versus sweetened coconut [or even subbing nuts for coconut altogether]. But that stat aside, I [the non-nutritionist, dietitian, and professional that I am] feel pretty good about eating this for breakfast. A bit indulgent, yes, but homemade, nutrient rich, tasty, and satisfying. Paired with a piece of fruit or some skim milk to round out the meal, these bars are really filling. Seriously… for the girl who usually eats a midmorning snack, a couple days when I ate one of these for breakfast at 8 am after a workout with a piece of fruit I wasn’t hungry until 1 pm. CRAY cray!

But don’t just take my word for it. Nutrition and all that boring info aside, I’m guessing you might be a bit hung up on the sweet potato/black bean base. I have two words: don’t. worry. I promise. Pinky swear, in fact. No one will be able to tell.

Case in point: the whole time I made these, Ben was playing video games in another room. True to routine, after they were baking, I visited him with the batter spoon for a test taste. Mum was the word, and he licked the bowl with a vengeance. They were pulled out of the oven and set on a cooling rack next to an assortment of clean dinner and baking dishes air-drying on a towel. Ben said they looked like brownies, and that he was looking forward to a breakfast treat. He even tried a piece that had cracked off the top and said it was delicious. Still, I said nothing. It was only when we had gotten into bed that I fessed up. What can I say… I can’t go to bed in deceit. Without batting an eye [at least, I think so… it was dark], Ben just laughed. He’s used to my kitchen games by now. And then, the next morning he took one to work for breakfast, along with a few others for his co-workers to try. That night, he came home with rave reviews. If that’s not an awesome testimony, then I don’t know what is.

I mean, I FINALLY tricked my husband into eating [and loving] something secretly healthy. I mean, I did here, so it’s been done before. But I failed here, and also have failed with a smattering of other dishes over the years. Believe me, Ben eats plenty of healthy foods, but when it comes down to it, he would choose a rich, chocolately brownie over a bowl of sweet potatoes. Who wouldn’t? But why should you have to choose? If no one can tell, then I say game on and serve a secretly healthy Mexican Hot Chocolate Breakfast Bar in the morning. You won’t regret it…. especially if you heat ’em up for about 20 seconds before enjoying. Melty chocolate in the morning is the bestttt!

Mexican Hot Chocolate Breakfast Bars

Servings: 12
Time: 1 hour
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heavily adapted from Eliza’s Edibles

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups no salt added black beans, drained and rinsed [a 15 ounce can or cooked my way]
1 cup honey
1 large sweet potato, scrubbed, peeled, and cooked [about 1 1/4- 1 1/2 cups]
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 egg
3 tablespoons natural peanut butter
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
3 tablespoons whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
dash of cayenne pepper [optional]
1/4 cup chocolate chunks + more for sprinkling on top
1/4 cup sweetened coconut flakes + more for sprinkling on top

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Thoroughly grease and “flour” [using cooca powder] a 9×9 pan.

Add black beans and honey to a food processor and process until smooth, taking care to scrape the sides periodically to eliminate unsightly black bean chunks. Then chop sweet potato into small chunks and add to food processor along with the buttermilk, egg, peanut butter, and vanilla. Process again until everything is fully combined and very smooth. Mixture will be thick but not heavy.

In a small bowl, stir together cocoa powder, flours, baking powder, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper.

Transfer black bean mixture from food processor into a large bowl, then fold dry ingredients in. Stir until well combined, then add chocolate chunks and coconut flakes.

Spoon batter into prepared pan, then top with extra chocolate chunks and coconut flakes. Bake for 40-45 minutes, covering with foil for the last 10 minutes or so to ensure coconut on top toasts, not burns. Test with a toothpick to ensure bars are done, then cool completely before cutting. Keep refrigerated.

Cookies, Desserts, Recipes

White Chocolate Peppermint M&M Cookies

December 24, 2012December 24, 2012 Sarah

Soo….these cookies. Total Pinterest find. Wasn’t really sure how I felt about the recipe itself even though they looked amazingly delicious. See, I’m not a big chocolate cookie fan. But I loved the idea of the M&Ms, which then became the sole reason for a trip to Target, the only place where White Chocolate Peppermint M&Ms can be found. As if you need a reason for a Target trip. Right? [But truthfully, for me, I do… as Target is pretty much on the opposite side of town and a huge pain to get there.] I digress…

White Chocolate Peppermint M&M Cookies | The Pajama Chef

These cookies are everything I thought they would be… AND MORE! They are rich and chewy… and absolutely beautiful. Don’t you think?

Two kinds of chocolate and two kinds of mint is a combination that cannot be beat. I mean, chocolate and mint together is classic, but white chocolate peppermint in the M&Ms provides the extra boost to the more traditional cocoa that makes the cookies uber chocolatey and thick as well as to the epitome of peppermint during the Christmas season: candy canes.

I know it’s Christmas eve, and you probably have a billion things to do. But I highly suggest that you head on out to Target to get some White Chocolate Peppermint M&Ms before it is too late and they disappear for another year. These cookies are so worth it. And in case you’re finding this recipe many months after Christmas, do not despair–I think the base chocolate cookie for this recipe is the best I’ve ever had, so other M&Ms and candy/chips would be an awesome substitute. I’m thinking peanut butter M&Ms and peanut butter chips? Or Reese’s Pieces and dark chocolate chips? Or Coconut M&Ms and semi-sweet chocolate chips? Or even something really outlandish like Skittles and sprinkles? Why doesn’t anyone ever bake with Skittles? Oh, the mysteries of this life… [note to self: try this one day]. In the meantime, I think I’m off to have another cookie.

P.S. I’ll be back with more recipes, menu plans, and more after the New Year, but until then probably won’t be around much. 🙂 Merry Christmas!!

White Chocolate Peppermint M&M Cookies [slightly adapted from no. 2 Pencil]
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Ingredients:

14 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
10 small candy canes, crushed [~ 1/3 cup]
1 bag White Chocolate Peppermint M&Ms

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugars. Add vanilla and peppermint extracts and mix on low until combined. Then add eggs one at a time, mixing on low after each addition.

Slowly add flour and baking soda, mixing on low until dough forms.

Fold in candy cane pieces with spatula, then roll dough in balls of about 1 tablespoon each.

Place on cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Flatten slightly, then press in 4-5 M&Ms on top of each cookie.

Bake for 10 minutes, then cool on cookie sheet for 3 minutes before removing to cooling rack to cool completely.

Time: 30 minutes.

Yield: 28-30 cookies.