Chocolate Therapy Cookies

• 1.5cups butter, softened
• 1.25 cups granulated sugar
• 1.25 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 Tb vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 2..5 cups flour
• 1.5 cups cocoa
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 cups dried cranberries
• 1 cup chopped pistachios

Heat oven to 350. In a large bowl, beat butter, sugars, vanilla, and eggs on medium speed until light and fluffy. Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir in chips, cranberries, and nuts.
On ungreased cookie sheets (I use silicone mats) drop dough by tablespoonfuls or #40 cookie/ice cream scoop, 2 inches apart. Flatten slightly. Bake about 10 minutes. The centers will be soft. Cool 1-2 minutes, remove to a cooling rack.

You can double the recipe and freeze cookie dough balls to make any time.

Molten Lava Cakes

• 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate
• 4 oz. semi sweet chocolate
• 1 stick plus 2 tablespoons (10 total) of butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 3 eggs
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp orange extract

Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between until smooth. 

Add in the flour and sugar and start mixing in a mixer on low. add in the eggs and flavorings and mix till smooth. 

Grease 6 ramekins with butter. Split the batter evenly between the ramekins.

Bake at 425 degrees for 18 minutes. 

Run a knife around the edge of the ramekin and put a plate on top then invert it and take off the ramekin. 

Serve with ice cream.

Lavender Chocolate Pots De Creme

Lavender is one of my favorite flavors. After trying a few different recipes, this is my version of the deliciously decadent Lavender Chocolate Pots de Crème. Pots de crème are a custard dessert in between the thickest- crème brulee and the lightest-flan.

2 cups cream, ½ cup milk

3 tablespoons dried lavender flowers

6-7 oz. semisweet chocolate chips

3 egg yolks and three whole eggs

¼ cup sugar

1 cup cream

2 tbs sugar

1tsp vanilla

Slowly warm the cream and lavender together in a small pot over the stove for 20-30 minutes, then put the pot in the fridge for at least 2-3 hours. The longer the lavender sits in the cream, the stronger the flavor will be. Once it has chilled long enough, warm it a little, and strain out all the lavender flowers. Put the cream back in the pot with the chocolate chips and slowly melt everything together, mixing well.Make sure the chocolate is completely melted and blended in the cream. Preheat the oven to 325.

At the same time, mix the eggs and sugar in a mixer until foamy.Be careful not to over mix.

When the chocolate is melted, let it cool for just a minute or two then add into the eggs with the mixer running. Make sure your cream mixture isn't too hot or it could start cooking the eggs early and then you get a slightly scrambled egg texture in the custard.  Then put the mixture into six ramekins. Place the ramekins in a baking dish with water that goes halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

Bake for 45-55 minutes and then chill the ramekins for 2-3 hours. The custards should still have some jiggle to them when you take them out. Since my ramekins were different sized, I cooked the larger ones 10 minutes longer than the shallow ones.

1 cup cream

2 tbs sugar

1tsp vanilla

Top with homemade whipped cream by putting the cream, sugar and vanilla in a mixer at medium speed until the cream thickens.

Brownies

These brownies are one of the few things that my dad says my mom makes better than what he ate growing up. I absolutely love them and they aren't really any harder than a box mix.

• 1 stick of melted butter (1/2 cup)
• 6 TBS. Cocoa powder
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder

Mix together the butter and cocoa powder, then stir in the sugar and eggs. Mix in the remaining ingredients until smooth and bake in a greased glass 9x9 pan at 350 for 25 minutes.

Best served warm with ice cream or whipped cream and berries. 

As you can see, I couldn't wait long enough to take a picture before eating some. 

Chocoflan AKA Impossible Cake

This cake is a favorite in our house. It has a dense chocolate cake and a lovely flan (egg creme custard with caramel). After many attempts, this recipe has come with the most success. 

Cake Recipe:

10 Tbs. Butter

1 Cup Sugar

1 Egg

1¾ Cup flour

¾ tsp each baking powder and baking soda

1/3 cup plus 1 TBS of cocoa powder

9 oz Buttermilk (about 1 1/8 cup)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Flan recipe:

1/3 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup evaporated milk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

Also needed:

 ¼ cup flour for Bundt pan

1/3 – ½ cup Caramel sauce

Bundt pan

Large roasting pan that will fit the Bundt pan inside it for a water bath.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a regular size Bundt pan by lightly greasing it then coating it with flour and dumping out the excess flour. Then pour the caramel sauce into the bottom of the pan all around the ring. Use more caramel if you really enjoy caramel sauce.

In a mixer, prepare the cake mix by beating the butter and sugar together until it lightens in color. Then beat in the eggs. Alternate adding the remaining wet and dry ingredients and then when all ingredients have been added, mix for 1 minute on medium speed and pour mixture into the Bundt pan.

Finally, mix all the flan ingredients together until the eggs are well mixed into the cream mixture. Carefully and slowly pour this over the top of the cake mixture. If you really like flan, half again the recipe and it should just fit into a standard size Bundt pan.

Pull the rack partly out of the oven and set the roasting pan on it. Then place the Bundt pan in the roasting pan and carefully pour water around it until the water reaches about 1-2 inches.

Bake for 55-60 minutes. During baking, the cake and flan will change places so the flan ends up on the bottom of the pan. The cake should start cracking slightly and a knife inserted should come out mostly clean. Take the cake out of the water bath  and let it cool to room temp. This is important, if you try to take the cake out early it falls apart and becomes a big mess. Once the cake is cool, place a plate or platter over the top of the pan and quickly invert it and remove the Bundt pan. You should now have a beautiful dense chocolate cake with a layer of flan custard baked right on top. Serve with a freshly whipped cream and extra caramel sauce.