The first time I made this recipe I screwed it up. I didn’t allow the toasted coconut and pecans to cool before adding them to the batter. The chocolate chunks ended up melting into the batter so I had more of a chocolate cookie than a chocolate chunk cookie.

This time I made sure to allow the toasted items time to cool. But I think I actually liked the cookie a little better the other way.

On the other hand, my office mate loved them, as did Michael’s co-workers. So it could just be that I’ve never been a huge fan of chocolate chips, and I’d always rather have chocolate, instead.

Chocolate Chunk Coconut Pecan Chews
2 1/2 cups sweetened coconut
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
3 tbsp melted butter
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup flour + 2 tbs flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 oz bittersweet chocolate chunks (I measured out 3 ounces, and then just dumped in the rest)

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Toast the coconut and the pecans for 9 to 12 minutes (recipe says 9 minutes, but mine needed 12), stirring frequently.

Set aside toasted coconut and pecans to cool.

In mixer bowl, stir together milk, sugar, butter, egg, salt, egg, and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda.

Add the flour mixture to the batter.

Remove 1 cup of the toasted coconut and pecan mixture.

Mix in coconut pecan mixture and chocolate. The recipe said to refrigerate the mixture for ten minutes, but the batter was not at all thin, so I moved right along.

Scoop 1 tbsp of dough onto parchment paper covered baking sheets. (You can substitute foil.)

Sprinkle remaining coconut and pecan mixture over the cookies.

Bake, one sheet at a time, 12 minutes.

Cool on a wire rack.

Recipe is from
The All-American Dessert Book by Nancy Baggett, which is one of my favorite cookbooks.

I’ve got nothing special for you today, though I’m planning a post on what I’m making myself for my birthday.

So instead, here are some of my favorite ingredients:

Strawberries
Dark chocolate
Walnuts
Pecans
Lemon
Vanilla

With these ingredients, I love to make:

Bittersweet brownies
Molten lava chocolate cake
Lemon shortbread cookies
Sugar cookies with strawberry icing
Lemon no-bake cheese cake

You?

Yeah, how many times am I going to feature oreos?

Lots apparently.

This time oreos were for my first official UCF visitor, neurondoc and her family. Needed something good, but relatively easy, and this hits the spot perfectly.

Homemade Oreos (via Smitten Kitchen)
For cookies:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (150 g)
1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa (47 g)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar (200 g)
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 egg

For filling:
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 F. Cover 4 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk together dry ingredients until well-incorporated.

Slice butter into pieces, and mix until mixture is dark and crumbly.

Add egg and mix until dough pulls together.

Scoop out tablespoon sized balls, roll, and then smoosh the balls flat. A cookie scoop is precisely what you want here to get the cookies a relatively uniform size.

Bake cookies two sheets at a time, for 9 minutes (4 1/2 minutes then rotate the sheets.)

Allow cookies to cool on the trays for a minute or two, or they’ll become deformed when you remove them.

Cool the cookies, and then match for relative size and shape.

Beat together the butter, shortening, sugar and vanilla. (I think Mexican vanilla is perfect for this.)

Put filling into a zipper freezer bag, and seal. Cut one corner off the bag, and then squirt frosting onto one cookie in each pair.

Close cookies.

Eat.

Janiece is the most awesome human on the planet.

Thank you Janiece!

If a picture is worth a thousand words, I’ve got nine thousand words for you below the cut.
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I don’t care if I’ve posted about chocolate pudding before. I think I’m fighting off a cold, and I want chocolate pudding, and I don’t feel like writing about anything else.

This pudding is rich and creamy and I like to mellow it down a bit with fresh whipped cream, but it’s good without it (I just have a hard time eating an entire ramekin of it.)

Chocolate Pudding
2/3 cup sugar
3 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
3 tbsp cocoa
1/8 tsp salt
3 1/2 cups milk (not skim)
2 tbsp butter (if using low fat milk)
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (I like to use Mexican vanilla)

Whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, cocoa, and salt. Add a small amount of milk, and stir until all the the dry ingredients have been incorporated into the milk. Slowly add the remaining milk, stirring carefully. (Switch to using a spoon from here on out.)

Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly and making sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl. After the mixture has boiled for a few minutes it will thicken a bit. Remove from heat, and immediately add the bittersweet chocolate and vanilla. Stir until the chocolate is melted.


The author recommends putting the pudding through a sieve. I don’t bother, I just divide it into ramekins, cover the ramekins, and put them in the fridge.

From The All-American Dessert Book by Nancy Baggett. This is one of my favorite cookbooks. It’s got gorgeous pictures and I’ve loved every recipe I’ve tried.

I hate Monday.

This is a stupid way to start my vacation.

I’m pretty sure it is going to require chocolate cookies to repair this batch of Monday damage.

Anne took some interesting quizzes, so I figured they’d make a good lunchtime first-day-back-after-vacation break.

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By popular demand (and because I had an incredibly crappy week last week) And also as a guide for Gina, who views baking this recipe with trepidation… Bittersweet Brownies!

I do believe that these are the best brownies in the entire world. Seriously.
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Well, it’s Sunday night (you didn’t really think I wrote all those 8:00 AM posts that early did you?!) and I’m still tired and cranky.

Despite a long nap on Saturday and sleeping in on Sunday.

Not sure what this means for work on Monday (or today when you’re reading this) but I doubt it’s good. if it wasn’t so hot I’d go make some cookies, but it’s almost 9:00 PM and it’s 79 F outside, which means it’s really too hot to turn on the oven. I spent all summer looking at countertop toaster/convection ovens, and think I’d really like one, but we spent enough this summer that I couldn’t justify the expense.

But I think I will get one before next summer, because it would be really nice to be able to make a single batch of cookies without heating up the entire house. Especially since I tend to keep frozen cookie dough balls in the freezer. So if anyone has one or has any recommendations, let me know.

Now I think I’m going to curl up and think of all the chocolate baked desserts I’m going to make once it gets cooler.

I know a good meme to swipe when I see one!

As requested elsewhere, he is our favorite chocolate pudding recipe. It’s easy enough that Michael was able to make it by himself when I had the flu.

The recipe comes from Nancy Baggett’s All American Dessert Book, which has fast become one of the first books I reach for when I want something sweet. Not only are the recipes easy to follow, the pictures in the book are real, and by that I mean the pans looked like they’ve been used for years, and the desserts look scrumptious but also look like they were prepared by a human being–things are spilled and just a little bit messy. I sometimes even flip through this book just to drool over the pictures.

I also like the paragraphs that accompany the recipes, talking about how she found the recipes, or something interesting she thought about the recipe.

Chocolate Pudding
2/3 cup sugar
3 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
3 tbsp cocoa (I use Dutch process cocoa)
1/8 tsp salt
3 1/2 cups whole or reduced fat milk (NO skim)
2 tbsp unsalted butter (if using 2% milk)
4 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (I use Mexican vanilla rather than Madagascar bourbon vanilla in this recipe.)

Stir together sugar, cornstarch, cocoa, and salt. Add ~ 1/4 cup milk and stir until dry ingredients are incorporated. Add remaining milk and butter. Bring to a boil over medium heat, constantly stirring. Cook for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes, until mixture thickens, and then immediately remove from heat. Stir in chocolate, and then once all the chocolate is melted, add the vanilla.

Strain mixture through a sieve into individual serving ramekins. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 1/2 hours. Serve with fresh whipped cream.

I particularly like it with fresh strawberries and fresh whipped cream.

I know that there is no way I was good enough this year to deserve the surprise package I got from Tania.

Home. Made. Chocolates.

When I opened the package the cold packs had warmed, so I put everything into the refrigerator without looking at it. After dinner (and dessert–the last of the chocolate lava cakes) and getting my printer hooked up (my parents came over last night after dinner, for dessert, and we ended up trouble shooting computer problems for my mom) I went to the fridge to pull out the chocolates.

I am not worthy.

They’re in individual boxes! With paper ribbons! My eyes are tearing up just writing about it!

I haven’t even opened one yet, because I am stuffed from dinner. These chocolates requires that I savor the entire process from opening the package to eating the chocolate, and that’s just not something that should be done when one is uncomfortably full.

Meanwhile, I think I am lightheaded and may need to go lie down for awhile.

It’s been in the 90s for the past several days, which means I am particularly unexcited about turning on the oven to bake anything.

Luckily, I’ve got an excellent recipe for chocolate pudding. So I made chocolate pudding and served it with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.

I’m still feeling moderately crappy, so I decided it was time to pull out the big guns.

I picked up fresh organic strawberries today, I have whipping cream, and I just prepared (minus the baking) molten lava chocolate cakes.
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Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter. YUM! Best on whole wheat toast or toasted English muffins.