Chocolate

Peanut Butter Pretzel & Chocolate Chip Cookies

/ Emily / Leave a comment

Snow days mean something different to everyone. You see the die hard skiers cross county-ing across the park, kids flinging themselves into piles of questionable snow and others staying burrowed into their cozy homes. As many times as I experience the snow, it always feels like an adventure to get out there. Even if it’s just a trip to the store to get “rations” (sounds way cooler than groceries) I feel a sense of pride and rugged sensibility. But it is also nice to get home, cook a hot meal and stoke the fire. These cookies conjure up a similar feeling of comfort and adventure. Hope you enjoy these salty & sweet treats!

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Peanut Butter Pretzel & Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • 1.5 cups broken peanut butter pretzels**

How to:

  1. Combine flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
  2. Cream butter and sugars. add in eggs and vanilla, mix well.
  3. Gradually add in flour mixture. Stir in pretzels and chocolate chips. The pretzels may not want to totally incorporate, so as you are preparing to bake the cookies, try to integrate any pieces at the bottom into the spoonfuls. They will bake into them beautifully.
  4. Chill for 30 minutes.
  5. Drop by spoonfuls onto a cookie tray. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 8-10 minutes.

**Trader Joe’s sells peanut butter pretzels! If you can’t find peanut butter ones, just go for the regular pretzels, it’ll still give you the salty flavor & crunch!

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Berk loves the snow.

Pots of Chocolate-y Goodness

/ Emily / 1 Comment

You know that song about heaven missing an angel? I am pretty sure it was written about these. And before you say, “that looks too fancy for me to make” read the recipe and see how simple it actually is. Our friend and brother came to visit this weekend and luckily, these guys enjoy food as much as we do. Kyle planned on making a French inspired dinner so I wanted to make a complimentary dessert. I had planned to make creme brulee, but didn’t get enough whipping cream so I had to go back to the drawing board. The result was a super decadent to eat, impressive to look at and easy to prepare dessert.

Trust me…

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Chocolate Pots de Creme

makes about 6 individual 4 oz. servings

Ingredients

  • 8 oz. semisweet chocolate (2 boxes of the Baker’s brand bars or 1/2 bag of chocolate chips)
  • 1.5 cups whole milk
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 6 egg yolks
  • 4 TBL sugar
  • pinch of salt

How to:

  1. Break up chocolate into pieces and put in your blender or food processor. Pulse it until it becomes like a coarse powder.
  2. Separate your eggs so you just have the yolks (save the whites for an omelet or something!), whisk in the sugar just until blended.
  3. In a saucepan over medium heat, whisk together milk, heavy cream, egg & sugar mixture and a pinch of salt. Cook this for about 5 minutes while stirring constantly. Watch the temp of your burner. You don’t want this to get to a boil. Just a very, very light simmer. Cook until your mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon (see photo). Take off the heat.
  4. Pour the mixture directly into your blender over that chocolate powder from earlier. Pulse your blender until everything is smooth and incorporated, scraping the sides if you need to. Divide among ramekins (6) and give each one a few little taps to get out the air bubbles. Put in the fridge to chill for about 3 hours.
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This is what “coating the back of a wooden spoon” looks like.

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Ready for the fridge.

Toppings (optional, but encouraged!)

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  • 1/2 c. whipping cream
  • 1 t. vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
  • 1/2 Tablespoon powdered sugar

1. Whip it all together!

Fruit Topping

  • 2 heaping tablespoons cherry preserves (you could do raspberry, blackberry etc.)
  • splash of whiskey

1. In a small saucepan or skillet over medium heat heat the preserves. Once they start to bubble a bit, add the whiskey. Enjoy the poof of whiskey aroma as the alcohol cooks off and then let it simmer for just a minute more. Remove from heat.

The final moment…. Your pots should be set and firm. Top with the whip cream, add a drizzle of the warm fruit and then prepare to sit around the table in silence while everyone savors these pots of deliciousness!

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Side note: I have ramekins, so I used those. But since there is no actual cooking in the vessel, you could use tea cups, little jars, etc.