Buttermilk Chocolate Cake

Original Recipe HERE

This was *J*'s first birthday cake.  Since he wasn't old enough to express a preference, I chose for him.  None of that "my children don't have a taste of sugar until they go to Kindergarten" baloney around here.  I don't know if he liked it, but I certainly did.  I didn't use the ganache suggested in the orignal recipe; I made a frosting that I could tint blue.

P.S. BTW FWIW FYI The above link has some tips worth reading to make the cake be as successful as possible.

Ingredients
3 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
2-1/2 cups sugar
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1-1/3 cups canola oil
1-1/2 cups buttermilk
3 large eggs
1-1/2 cups freshly brewed, extra-strong hot coffee
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions
(1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9" cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
(2) Sift flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder in a large mixing bowl.
(3) Using an electric mixer set on low, add oil, buttermilk, and eggs each separately into flour mixture.
(4) Add hot coffee in a thin stream, pouring down the side of the bowl.
(5) Add vanilla; mix until batter is smooth.
(6) Divide batter evenly into pans.  Bake until a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs, about 30-35 minutes. Let cool in pans for at least 20 minutes.
(7) When ready to frost, remove cakes from pans. Place one layer of cake on serving plate. Trim top with a serrated knife to make it even if necessary.  Frost.  Trim top off other layer and place untrimmed side on top of frosted layer, pressing gently. Frost top and sides.

Kid Participation:
* Sift dry ingredients
* Add wet ingredients while keeping little fingers far from rotating beaters

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Original Recipe HERE

I had made a chocolate zucchini cake for Husband's birthday the year before, and it was fabulous.  For some reason I didn't save the link.  Plenty of googling didn't result in anything familiar, so after admitting defeat I settled on this one.  It wasn't quite as good as the first CZC, but it's worth saving and making again.  I would have preferred it a little moister, so instead of completely squeezing out the zucchini juice, I'll leave some in.

I frosted this with a pumpkin-flavored cream cheese frosting (here), which was also worthy of repeating.  Husband liked it (I think?) because he's doesn't have a major sweet tooth, so my usual go-to buttercream frosting isn't his thing.  The pairing of this cake and that frosting made for a tasty dessert that wasn't too dessert-y.

Ingredients

1/2 cup fat-free milk [or buttermilk]

1/2 teaspoon white vinegar [only if using regular milk]

2-1/2 cups unbleached, all purpose flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 egg whites

1-3/4 cups sugar

1 cup fat-free vanilla yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups grated zucchini, slightly drained

3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions

(1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 13x9x2" glass dish or cake pan.

(2) If not using buttermilk, stir together the milk and the vinegar.  Let sit 10 minutes.

(3) Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt into a medium bowl.  Stir in chocolate chips, ensuring they are coated with flour mixture.

(4) In a large mixing bowl, using an eletric mixer, beat egg whites and sugar on low speed until well combined.

(5) Beat in yogurt, vanilla, and milk until just thoroughly blended.

(6) Gradually add sifted flour mixture to wet ingredients, stirring until blended.

(7) Using a wooden spoon or spatula, mix in zucchini until combined.

(8) Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 40-45 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center comes out dry.

(9) Remove pan to a rack. Allow it to cool at least 30 minutes before cutting into individual pieces.  Serve immediately or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Kid Participation:

* Sift dry ingredients

* Stir in zucchini

Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake Bars

Original Recipe HERE

These were really easy and really tasty.

I will give this recipe an extra shout-out for durability.  It was brought to a BBQ held on a day when the heat index was well over 100 degrees.  I was in a pool up to my neck and my head was still pouring sweat.  These were put out on a picnic table in direct sunlight, and my heart sank, knowing they'd be a melty mess within minutes.  Surprisingly, they held up really well.  Some condensation-type beads appeared on the top, but they stayed firm until I was able to move them into the air-conditioned kitchen.  I had ice-filled ziploc bags underneat the pan, so I'm sure that helped them stay cool...but the lesson is to not let the idea of cream cheese scare you from making these for a summer event.

Ingredients

2 cups finely crushed Oreo-type cookies
3 Tablespoons butter, melted

3 8-oz packages of cream cheese, softened [I used low fat]

1 14-oz can of Sweetened Condensed Milk

3 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 oz of chocolate, melted [I used semi-sweet chocolate chips]

Directions

(1) Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a 13x9" baking pan with foil or wax paper.

(2) In bowl, combine crumbs and butter and press firmly into bottom of pan.

(3) In another bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy.  Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla; mix. Pour half of the batter evenly over cookie crumbs.

(4) Stir melted chocolate into remaining batter; mix well. Spoon over plain batter.  Use a knife to swirl batter to make a marble-like design.

(5) Bake 45 to 50 minutes. Cool, then chill for a couple hours or overnight.  Yield: 24 bars.

Kid Participation:
* Crush cookies
* Stir chocolate into batter
* Marbelize batter

Homemade Latte

I love Starbucks lattes but can't justify the price - especially since it was just raised again.  I've reached my breaking point.  I've also given up on them - and mochas - because an unacceptable amount of room is now being left at the top of the cup (I even heard another customer talk to a barista about that, and he confirmed it, so it's a bona fide conspiracy).  And I'm tired of being handed a cup of regular coffee and immediately popping the top off and asking them to fill it some more.  Yes, I have a lot of rage towards Starbucks (which has been channeled into several complaint emails), but I keep going back...it's an abusive relationship.  "I just can't quit you."

Tangent over.  Anywho, I experimented at home with what I had on hand.  The result is just as good as what I get in the store.  I've only made them cold, but I'd think that it'd work well if heated.  The only challenge I have is that the drink "settles" pretty quickly, and I have to keep stirring (not a problem since I'm usually drinking it with a straw).  I have to play around with preparation time, like whether making it the night before gives more time for the ingredients to fully dissolve in the milk.

Unfortunately, I haven't escaped Starbucks' hold completely, since I use the VIA packets.  However, you get 12 for under $7.00, so it's still a good deal and gives you something very close to that particular Starbucks-y taste.  Also, I was pleasantly surprised to see a recipe guide included in the VIA package with how to make ?eight? different drinks.  So if I can scale back my addiction to just VIA packets and two minutes of effort at home, I'm OK with that.  No need for any 12-step programs.

Ingredients

1 to 1 1/2 cups milk [I use a combination of skim and 2%]

1 Starbucks VIA packet

1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder [optional; use if making a mocha]

1/2 to 1 Tablespoon sugar

cinnamon [optional]

Directions

(1) Add all ingredients to a small food processor or blender (I use a Magic Bullet).  Blend until combined.

(2) Taste and add ingredients as needed.

Notes: I don't like how much sugar goes into this, but it's too bitter otherwise.  I will experiment with other sweeteners (like the unopened agave in my pantry).  Also, adding a drop or two of an extract (mint, almond, coconut) could be just as good as paying $0.40 for a flavor shot.

Kid Participation: None...no caffeine for them!

Mini Maple Chocolate Chip Pancake Muffins

Original Recipe HERE

Chocolate chip pancakes (CCPs) were my brother's and my favorite breakfast, hands down.  On the extremely rare occasion our family went out to eat, we usually went to IHOP (because 20+ years ago, the one near us was a lot more respectable than they are now).  Chocolate pancakes with chocolate chips with whipped cream put us in heaven.  This love affair has continued throughout our entire lives, including ordering CCPs at the breakfast buffet in Disney World.  When we were in high school.  So when I saw this recipe, I was eager to try it.

I was surprised at how much they resembled pancakes in taste and texture.  I'm sure part of this is due to using real maple syrup (thankful to have family friends who tap trees and bottle their own syrup in the great state of New Hampshire).  The trick of adding the chocolate chips to the flour mixture, instead of into the batter at the end, helps keep them from sinking to the bottom of the muffin as they bake.  In hindsight, it probably wasn't as necessary in this recipe since the batter was so thick (but keep it in mind when baking things with runnier batter).  Also, stirring the "cold" ingredients together and allowing them to lose their chill a bit helps keep the melted butter from re-solidifying into not-very-appealing chunks when it's added later.

The recipe's name is a mouthful for such petite treats.  These are dangerous because you can eat them in two bites, so having "just one more" is tempting.  The original recipe says to serve them immediately with maple syrup or melted butter for dipping.  I tried them warm from the oven, a few hours later, and the next morning.  They were good each time, though I think reheating them in the toaster oven so the pancake resemblence is more obvious would be a good idea.

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt [optional]
2 Tablespoons white sugar
⅔ cup buttermilk
1 egg
2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
½ cup chocolate chips, plus more for garnish [optional]
Directions
1) In small bowl, stir buttermilk, egg, maple syrup.  Set aside.
2) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease 24-cup mini-muffin pan with nonstick spray.
3) Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar in medium bowl. Sift together with a wire whisk.
4) Add chocolate chips to flour mixture and stir until thoroughly coated.
5) Melt butter.  Add to buttermilk mixture.
6) Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Stir until combined.
7) Spoon batter into muffin tin [filling 24 cups almost completely].  Garnish each with several chips [optional].
8) Bake for 8-9 minutes.  Test for doneness by inserting knife.  Muffins should not brown.
9) Let cool slightly and remove from the pan onto cooling rack.

Notes: This recipe has potential to be tweaked to resemble other pancake recipes, like substituting blueberries for the chocolate chips, adding pumpkin spice, or putting some mashed banana (with cinnamon?) in the batter.

Kid Participation:
* Crack egg
* Stir wet ingredients
* Measure dry ingredients
* Whisk dry ingredients
* Whisk batter
* Garnish with chips (prepare for a melty, chocolatey mess)

Watermelon Sugar Cookies

Original Recipe HERE

Can you tell which one she decorated?

We made these on a whim after seeing their picture in a blog sidebar.  We had all the ingredients, and it seemed like something *N* would enjoy doing because don't all kids like food-that-looks-like-something-it's-not?  They were somewhat time-consuming, but they can be broken up into steps throughout the day: 1) make dough, 2) make cookies, 3) glaze cookies.  The two difficulties I had were that rolling out the dough between two sheets of parchment made it slide all over the counter.  Perhaps there's a better method, but I didn't bother figuring it out - just held the paper steady with one hand and awkwardly used the roller with the other.  Also, I worked as fast as I could when cutting out shapes and applying chocolate chips, but the dough still got somewhat soft and a little tricky to transfer because I didn't put the cookies on the baking sheets until after the chips were on.

I used the sugar cookie recipe listed in the original recipe, I'd think any other could be substituted.  I doubt it's possible to make healthy sugar cookies, but the amount of butter and sugar in these things had me on the phone to pre-arrange a triple bypass for next week.  Still, they were a nice treat and a fun "novelty food" to bring to a summer party.  Husband brought most of them to work, and he emailed me to tell me comments included, "These are very good," "Bakery quality!," and "Can I have another?" The recipe yielded approximately 36 cookies.

Ingredients for Cookies

3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 Tablespoon slices

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

8 drops red food coloring

1 cup miniature semi-sweet morsels

Ingredients for Glaze

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

2 1/2 Tablespoons milk

15-20 drops green food coloring

Directions

1) In medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

2) Add butter slices, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and red food coloring to mixing bowl. Beat on medium speed until incorporated (don't be concerned if there are small lumps of butter still visible).

3) Turn mixer to low and gradually add flour mixture. Mix until incorporated and no traces of flour are left. Gather all dough together using a sturdy rubber spatula.

4) Remove dough from bowl and separate into two batches. Place one batch between 2 sheets of parchment paper and roll out to 1/4" thick. Repeat with other batch. Chill in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

5) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and have baking sheets (lined with silicon baking mat or parchment) ready.

6) Remove one batch of rolled dough from refrigerator. Cut out circles with cookie cutter or biscuit cutter, then cut each circle in half.

7) Place halves on baking sheet about 1" apart.  Gently press chips into each half to resemble seeds.

8) Bake 6-8 minutes, checking after 6.  Cookies should be slightly puffed but not browned at all on edges.  Remove from oven and allow to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes.  Transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.

* For each batch of dough, after cutting out the circles, gather the scraps together and reroll them, place back in the refrigerator. Repeat until all dough has been used. [I didn't put dough back in the fridge because I needed to get them all done quickly]

9) In small bowl, whisk together all ingredients to form glaze.  Add drops of milk to thin glaze if too thick.

10) Cover counter with wax paper and place cooling racks over paper to catch drips. Roll round end of each cookie in glaze, allow excess to drip off into bowl, and place on cooling rack.  Allow glaze to set before transferring.

Notes: I used a drinking cup (because our cookie cutters seem to have been misplaced since we moved) that was about 3.5" diameter to cut out the shapes.  Next time I'll use a smaller one.  Also, I used 10 drops of green food coloring - approximately, since *N* squeezed the bottle so fast I couldn't count.  The green looked vibrant enough in the bowl, but on the cookies it wasn't bright enough.  Next time I'll use more.

Kid Participation

* Whisk dry ingredients

* Crack eggs

* Roll dough

* Cut out shapes

* Apply chips (watch for grabbing handfuls of chips at once and ending up with a mess of half-melted chips in each palm)

Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Original Recipe HERE

I had some flirting-with-rotten bananas that were asking to be used (because throwing them in the garbage would stink up my kitchen).  I'd been wanting to try this recipe, so...yeah.  Easy solution.  These turned out really well.  They had a light, almost muffin-y texture to them that would make it really easy to justify them as a breakfast food - because doesn't everyone usually put a few chocolate chips in their morning oatmeal anyway?  No?  Really?  You should.

The original recipe says that it makes 12 servings.  I got 25 good-sized cookies out of this, so maybe a serving = 2 cookies?  If that's the case, I need to talk to them about their math.  Because no serving of cookies should include only two.

Husband brought these to work so I wouldn't eat them all, and he was asked for the recipe.  That affirms that they were just as good as I thought they were.

Ingredients

¾ cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1-½ cups flour

1-¾ cups oats [I used quick cook]

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 to 3 whole, very ripe bananas

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 350ºF.

2) Using a mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix well.

3) In a separate bowl, combine flour, oats, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.  Stir in chocolate chips so they're coated with flour mixture.

4) Add flour mixture to wet ingredients [I used the hand mixer to expedite this].  Add bananas and stir [hand mixer, again] until combined.

5) Drop large balls of dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between them.

6) Bake for 10-12 minutes until cookies start to turn slightly brown at the edges.  They will still be soft in the middle; immediately remove from baking sheets and put on a cooling rack.

Notes: I think chopped nuts could be a good add-in.  I'm storing them uncovered - since they're so moist they might get too chewy (for lack of a better word...the first one that came to mind was "humid," though that doesn't make sense).  Though I liked them just the way they were, next time I'll try substituting half the white sugar with brown to see if I can get them more cookie-ish.

Update: Made again but with 1/2 cup white sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar as well as 1 cup white flour and 1/2 cup wheat flour.  I didn't notice much of a difference - just slightly more dense (less cake-like).

Kid Participation:

* Measure and mix dry ingredients.

* Mash bananas before adding to the dough.