chocolate – Page 14 – The Pajama Chef

Chocolate Chip Banana Pancakes

July 2, 2012July 3, 2014 Sarah

So, even though I love Jack Johnson… I don’t really like banana pancakes. I’m not a fan of globby, warm, overripe banana goo. What can I say? I prefer underripe bananas. I’m weird. All that being said… I absolutely adore these banana pancakes. They are so light, fluffy, and just sweet enough to be a little extra treat in the morning [or at noon or in the evening… pancakes are good anytime!].

So what makes these banana pancakes so great? Let me give you a hint: It’s not just the chocolate chips.

The bananas in the mix are mashed, not sliced, which give each bite full of banana flavor without that warm banana goo. This batter reminds me so much of banana bread, it’s uncanny! I cannot say enough good things about them, except to say that you should definitely check out the original post on Skinnytaste. Gina’s heart shaped pancake mold is absolutely precious… and I’m sure makes the pancakes taste a teensy weensy bit better. But I’m here today to say that even if you just make these the regular ‘ole way, they are still pretty amazing. 🙂

Chocolate Chip Banana Pancakes [from Skinnytaste]
click to print

Ingredients:

2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 large banana, ripe, mashed well
1 cup skim milk
3 large egg whites
2 teaspoons canola oil + more for cooking [or use cooking spray]
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
banana slices, chocolate chips, syrup, butter, etc. for topping

Directions:

Preheat skillet over medium heat. Add a little oil to skillet to heat up.

In a small bowl, mix together flours and baking soda. In a large bowl, beat together banana, milk, egg whites, oil, and vanilla until smooth. Then gently fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients.

Pour 1/4 cup batter onto hot skillet, top with 1 teaspoon mini chocolate chips. Cook for about 90 seconds to 2 minutes on each side, flipping when bottom is lightly brown and batter starts to bubble.

Repeat until all batter is used, and serve pancakes with additional banana slices, chocolate chips, butter, syrup, etc.

Time: 20 minutes.

Yield: 12 pancakes.

Appetizers, Recipes

Cookie Dough Dip

June 20, 2012June 19, 2012 Sarah

Umm, so you know how I like to engage in a bit of tomfoolery, or trickery, if you will with Ben in regards to food? Like the “meat” balls incident? Well, I’ve done it again. This time with cookie dough dip. Whaaaaat?

About a year ago when I first spotted this recipe for healthy cookie dough dip, made with chickpeas in a pseudo-sweet-hummus fashion. I giggled to myself in the kitchen one Saturday afternoon while making it, triumphing in my kitchen successes. Ben was in the living room, playing video games and I asked him to take a snack break.

“What have you made, my dear?” he asked.

“Cookie dough dip.”

“Mmmm, I’ll take some!”

No one I know can resist cookie dough. Especially chocolate chip cookie dough. It’s like, a law of being American or something like that. Ben certainly can’t. And I knew that. And played it to my advantages. I mean, wouldn’t you?

Wouldn’t you like to see your loved ones chowing down on a [semi] healthy bowl of cookie dough without a care in the world? I mean, fielding complements of “this dip is just like a bowl of cookie dough… velvety, vanillay, caramely…” is no hardship, now is it? Especially not when those compliments are laced with praise like “you’re the best wife in the world” and “this is the most amazing dip I’ve ever had the pleasure to taste and enjoy and savor and delight in!” Okay, so maybe I exaggerated a wee little bit. But you get the essence of it.

Slowly, surely, steadily guilt [and a little curiosity] got the better of me. I couldn’t let him go on eating this delicious treat thinking it’s full of fatty ingredients while it’s really full of chickpeas and natural peanut butter. So I dropped the bomb. The chickpea bomb, if you will. And his experience went from this to this in two seconds flat:

I am happy to report that he fully recovered and was chowing down on this healthy cookie dough dip a few minutes later, without any ill effects. In fact, he loved the dip so much that he recently suggested I make it for our small group party, which I did. It was devoured, and no one seemed all that concerned about the weird ingredient. So maybe it sounds weirder than it is, or my husband is a drama king. [Just kidding! Love you, JT]. Or maybe a little of both. Whatever it is doesn’t really matter. What really matters is that you try this cookie dough dip because it’s pretty much the best stuff around!

What secret ingredients do you like to surprise people with in your favorite recipes?

Cookie Dough Dip [from Chocolate-Covered Katie]
click to print

Ingredients:

1 15 ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
generous 1/8 teaspoon salt
generous 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons oats
1/4 cup peanut butter [or other nut butter]
1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

Add chickpeas, milk, and vanilla to a good food processor and blend until very smooth. Then add salt, baking soda, oats, and peanut butter and pulse until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips. Serve with animal crackers, graham crackers, apple slices, etc.

Time: 10 minutes.

Yield: 2 1/2-3 cups.

Bars, Desserts, Recipes

Dark Chocolate Crumb Bars

June 14, 2012May 22, 2014 Sarah

***Edited April 5, 2013–this recipe can now be found on my site here 🙂

Do you like dark chocolate?

If so [and who doesn’t??!?]… go check out my post on Today’s Housewife for this awesomely ooey gooey recipe. I know you’ll love it! Happy Thursday!

Cookies, Desserts, Recipes

Triple Chip Coconut Cookies

May 23, 2012May 23, 2012 Sarah

So as Ben shared on Monday, last Tuesday I just wasn’t in the mood for making dinner. I wanted chocolate chip cookies. Like, yesterday. Or more accurately, last Monday. So many yesterdays ago. Late in the night, I understood why… it was National Chocolate Chip Day! But I promise I didn’t know that when my craving hit. Nope nope nope–I just needed cookies, which is weird because I’m not much of a cookie person. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I baked cookies. Probably Christmastime! Clearly, that was going to change. And fast! In fact, I planned on making cookies for dinner and was pretty satisfied with that choice. I mean, wouldn’t you be?

But Ben nixed that idea, and said he’d make dinner. So sweet! Probably raking up husband points since our anniversary was coming up [it’s today, actually! and I’m totally just kidding. He’d make dinner even if our anniversary wasn’t approaching. He’s sweet like that.] I flipped through my recipe binder and about a zillion cookbooks, and as he was almost done I found a winner [from this semi-local bakery, no less].

After scarfing down some dinner and doing some cleanup [round one, to Ben’s chagrin], I started in on the cookies. Only to discover I had no chocolate chips! Whaaaaat? So, I improvised. Meet Triple Chip Coconut Cookies!

They’re buttery, caramely delights! I used chocolate chunks, white chocolate chips, and butterscotch chips, but feel free to use what you’ve got–these cookies are perfect for using up half-full chip bags leftover from other recipes. Some dark chocolate chips would be fantastic, I think. My favorite part, beyond the traditional chocolate punch and vanilla aftertones was the chew and nuttiness added by the coconut flakes. Yum! Coconut is one of my new favorite flavors, and this cookie illustrates why. Coconut is amazing with everything it touches!

These cookies are simply the best combination of fabulous flavors, textures, and personality… perfect for cookies, and a perfect illustration for our three years of marriage.

Triple chip, three years! Works for me! Maybe I should rename [the renamed!] the cookies to Triple Chip Three Year Marriage Cookies? Hmmm…. gotta work the coconut in there somehow, I think I’ll leave the title the same. If you want more wedding photos, click the photo for some I shared last year. But if you just want the cookies, read on. They’re totally worth it!

Happy anniversary, dear Ben, and happy Wednesday to everyone else!

Triple Chip Coconut Cookies [adapted from Rene’s Chocolate Chip Cookies as featured in Midwest Living April 2010]
click to print

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
3/4 cup coconut flakes

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.In a small bowl, stir together flour, salt, and baking soda, then set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter for 30 seconds. Next add sugars and beat for 5 minutes or until mixture is light and fluffy, scraping the sides of the bowl every minute or so. Beat in eggs and vanilla.

Then, add flour mixture slowly while mixer is running on low. Turn off mixer and stir in chips and coconut with a wooden spoon.

You can cover and store in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours or bake immediately. [Obviously if you wait to bake, turn off oven!]

Drop 2 tablespoon size balls onto ungreased cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. Press down on each ball to flatten. Bake for 10-14 minutes [more if it’s chilled], or until light brown and still soft in the center as these cookies harden as they cool. Cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute, then remove to cooling rack.

Time: 45 minutes.

Yield: 48 cookies.

Notes: I found this dough was best popped in the fridge in between batches as it was hard to handle when soft.

Desserts, Pies, Recipes

Winning: Reese’s Blondie Pie

May 14, 2012May 13, 2012 Sarah

So, I don’t know about you, but I had a pretty exciting weekend. I mean, not to brag or anything, but it’s not every Saturday that you WIN A 5K!! Check it out–I was the first female finisher out of 500-some runners and walkers of an awesome semi-local race: Run Through the Jungle 5K. I got a trophy and everything!

My finish time of 22:20 wasn’t amazing, but it was pretty good considering most of the hilly course was on gravel roads and the last 3/4 of a mile had plenty of sharp turns. And I mean, it was obviously good enough to be the top female finisher. Ahh! I’ve only won a couple other races before in my life–a JV cross country meet where the top runner got lost, and a JV track meet that had only a few participants anyways–so this was so thrilling. But you know what’s better than winning? Knowing that the race was for a good cause.

Most people haven’t heard of the Exotic Feline Rescue Center, located in tiny Center Point, Indiana, but it’s one of the largest rescue centers in the country for abused, unwanted and neglected exotic felines. Their heart for taking care of these animals is just huge, and if you’re ever in Indiana, especially in the Bloomington or Indianapolis areas, be sure to take the time to visit because you’ll be within an hour of the EFRC. Don’t go expecting a fancy zoo atmosphere, but go expecting a fun walk through the jungle to see many lions, tigers, bobcats, and more. It’s absolutely awesome there!!

Ben and I have been twice now, and loved getting to run there, supporting the animals… and oh, winning too. 🙂 Here’s a write up of the race from a local paper. And speaking of winning… this recipe for Reese’s Blondie Pie is a winner, too!

Soon after we got married, I experimented with blondie recipes to find the perfect one: it’s buttery and vanilla-y, cooked to just the right ratio of chewy/crunchy perfection. But this time… instead of leaving them plain, I added a little bit of spunk–a winning combination of chocolate peanut butter bliss. Yes, I added some Reese’s! Best decision ever.

Oh, and I baked it in a pie pan to make it reminiscent of the cookie cakes I loved sharing with my sorority sisters in college. What can I say? There’s just so much winning going on here that I can hardly believe it. Reese’s. Blondies. Pie-like cookie cake. College. Sisters. Exotic Felines. Oh, and a race. This is gonna be a great day, I know it! 🙂

Reader Question ~ What’s winning for you today?

Reese’s Blondie Pie
click to print

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 Reese’s peanut butter cups, chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 inch pie pan with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, stir together flour and baking powder. Set aside.

In a saucepan set over low heat, melt butter then remove from heat and stir in brown sugar with a wooden spoon until it dissolves. Quickly add egg and vanilla, stirring until well incorporated.

Fold in flour mixture [batter will be thick], then press into prepared pie pan. Top with chopped candy, pressing into mixture with the back of a wooden spoon.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until set at center. Serve warm.

Time: 40 minutes [10 minutes active].

Yield: 8-10 servings.