Chocolate

Peppermint Jawa Brownies

November 23, 2014

Dark chocolate brownies cut into little Jawas and filled with peppermint dark chocolate ganache. Don’t forget the cute candy eyes for these Peppermint Jawa Brownies! These are irresistibly adorable and easy!

Things just got real folks. Christmas is so close! Only 33 more sleeps until that glorious morning is here! Yes, I am using way to many exclamation points right now, but I’m super giddy. The season has definitely started, evident in the fact that it took me 15 minutes longer to find a parking spot at the mall, and peppermint is everywhere! I tried to hold on to the pumpkin and sweet potato for as long as I could, but I’m just gonna give in.

Lately my son has been asking me to make something Star Wars again. Oliver is smitten. The first words out of his little mouth every morning are “Pew Pew Pew”. You Star Wars geeks will know exactly what that is. So to appease him, and my Christmas craziness, I made these Peppermint Jawa Brownies. Jawas are kind of the Christmas elves of Star Wars, right? You might be thinking…Star Wars and Christmas? Eh. Well let me give you this link: Star Wars Holiday Special. It will explain everything. If you ever get a hold of the footage, you might feel a little uneasy. It’s that bad. So bad it’s good.

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Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie Pumpkin Bars

November 12, 2014

Lovely moist pumpkin bars with gooey and buttery chocolate chip pecan pie filling baked right on top. I’ve taken my two favorite flavors this fall and married them in these Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie Pumpkin Bars.

Let’s get real for a moment. I’m going to rewind to about September when I posted this monstrosity. I was so excited for those blondie-brownie-pie-bar-things. Maybe I was a little over ambitious with three massive layers of brownie, pumpkin blondie, oh…and chocolate chip pecan pie filling. The first mistake I made was trying to fit it all in a 9×9 pan, so in the recipe I noted as an option to maybe half the blondie portion. I wrote it like I was baking with the lazy and sugar high segment of my crazy little brain. Nevertheless, I still posted it to my blog because I thought it turned out yummy. Also I thought, “Who the heck even knows my blog exists?”.

One evening while checking my email for goodies (a.k.a. nice little comments), I came across this:

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Chocolate Toffee Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

November 9, 2014

Miniature whoopie pies stuffed with fluffy pumpkin butter cream frosting and dipped in buttery chocolate walnut English Toffee. These Chocolate Toffee Pumpkin Whoopie Pies are perfect this Thanksgiving!

If you’ve had a Whoopie Pie then you know two things. They’re super yummy and they’re usually super huge. Huge and yummy together are a recipe for something perfect, but Thanksgiving is coming and I need to leave room for Sweet Potato Casserole. Like this and this. Seriously, just forget the turkey. Hand me a massive bowl and a wooden spoon and I’m a happy little pilgrim.

I wanted to make some Whoopie Pies that wouldn’t be overkill but still a perfect little treat after the big feast. I used a tiny cookie scoop for these to keep them “miniature” and they were the perfect size. Keeping with the Thanksgiving theme and all that is pumpkin, I used my favorite pumpkin butter cream frosting. The chopped buttery English toffee adds a little hint of indulgence.

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Chocolate English Toffee Cupcakes

November 1, 2014

German chocolate cupcakes frosted with both chocolate cream cheese and salted caramel buttercream frosting. These Chocolate English Toffee Cupcakes are the ultimate salty and sweet treat.

October has been such a blur. I remember thinking about how little the kids were last Halloween. Last year, Jovi was still a newborn in a stroller while we chased a three year old Oliver around to each house on the street. We had to repeat, “Remember to say Thank you!” after each stop. Tonight though, Mr. four year old Oliver had it down perfectly. “Trick or Treat!” and promptly, “Thank you!” would follow. That’s my little guy.

Although he’s growing so fast, he still does little things that let me know his innocence in still intact. For instance, one afternoon a ridiculously sexualized commercial for a fast food restaurant was on the television. It was a young lady eating a rather large cheeseburger in a super sensual way. There’s my son, Oliver right in front of the T.V. (with his nose two inches from the screen), large eyes and mouth wide open. He turns to my husband right after the commercial, and says, “Daddy…” . I think “Dear God, here it comes…”, but he finishes by saying,

“That’s a big sandwich!”

I just wonder how long that innocence will last.

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Chocolate Witch’s Cauldron Cupcakes

October 23, 2014

Wickedly delicious chocolate cupcakes frosted with vibrant green and orange vanilla buttercream frosting and topped with a miniature brownie cauldron bubbling over with salted buttery caramel. These Chocolate Witch’s Cauldron Cupcakes are the perfect ghoulish treat for little goblins and witches this Halloween!

I’m gonna go ahead and say it. Everybody says it. You hear it said by everyone everywhere.

“Christmas decorations in the stores already?!”

The only thing is…I’m totally okay with it and super excited about it. Hey, I start listening to Christmas tunes when August comes around. I’m the last person you should be complaining to about the commercialization of Christmas. Sorry Linus from Charlie Brown, but I’m the gal with my Christmas tree up and decorated before you can finish saying Happy Thanksgiving! That being said, this is my last spooky cupcake post! Bring on the cinnamon, cloves, apples, and all things jolly!

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Chocolate Spider Nest Bundt Cakes

October 18, 2014

Miniature chocolate bundt cakes covered in a hard chocolate ganache shell, then smothered with melted marshmallow spider webs. The perfect little home for a friendly little chocolate spider!

Blogging this October has been so much fun! Halloween and all her spookiness has sparked my baking imagination. First came the Ferrero Rocher Spiders which turned into Chocolate Tarantula Cupcakes, and then my Monster Strawberry Cupcakes (my favorite so far). I’m a Christmas girl through and through, but I gotta say I’m kind of sad to see Halloween go. There’s only a little under 2 weeks left of October and it will all be over.

These little Chocolate Spider Nest Bundt Cakes were incredibly easy to make! A tiny bit messy, but if you have little kids they would have a blast getting their little hands dirty with you. It’s the perfect fall kiddie afternoon project, and the end result is edible. Win win!

When I mean messy…I mean messy. But all in good fun! I got the idea from The Cake Blog. You just microwave the marshmallows for 30 seconds and stir until they’re cool enough to touch. Then just stretch thin strands all over the little cakes. Easy!

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