chocolate

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

coldfishie 1 Comment
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

One of my worst habits has to be over paying for coffee, and some type of pastry before work.  Yes, Starbucks takes so much of my money that I actually contemplated getting a job there so I can get free stuff.  I decided to challenge myself this week by not going into a Starbucks this week.  For this to happen I would actually have to make my own coffee and my own breakfast treat.  And before anyone tells me that I shouldn’t eat a carb for breakfast, and how bad it is – ME AND MY BIG BUTT ALREADY KNOW THIS.  I’m Mexican, we love our pan con cafe. LOL.  I’m taking small steps to change my habits.

We are not really big banana eaters in this house, but for some reason we always seem to have bananas lying around getting brown.  Some weeks we’re like monkeys, the next we’re over them and they just sit there getting all brown and soggy.  Most of the time they get thrown into the freezer and saved for a smoothie later.  And it just so happens we have a bunch of brown, soggy bananas sitting in a fruit bowl.  I decided to make banana muffins because they are so easy to throw together… and it seemed like a healthy option.

Banana bread is good on its own, but add chocolate chips to the mix….. wooooooo! This will not disappoint your taste buds, especially when you bite into a warm muffin.  Sweet enough for your tooth, healthy enough for your guilt.

Ingredients
2 cup all-purpose flour
2/3  c. old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick cooking)
2/3 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
12 tbsp. melted butter
6 tbsp. sour cream (or buttermilk)
1 c. mashed ripe bananas, about 2 bananas
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. chocolate chips ( I really didn’t measure)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together melted butter and sugar. Add sour cream and mashed bananas, mix on low for 30 seconds. Add egg and vanilla, mix until just combined.
3. In a small mixing bowl, combine flour, oats, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together then with mixing speed on low, gradually add dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Remove bowl from stand and fold in chocolate chips. Scoop into muffin tin.
4. Place in oven and bake for 18-22 minutes. The tops should be lightly golden brown and they should be nice and firm. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pans for 2-3 minutes before removing and stuffing your face.

 

MOH – LAY!

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Mole sauce with grilled chicken, and rice.

Mole sauce with grilled chicken, and rice.

While I was talking to my dad the other day he told me that he was cooking – the man can throw down in the kitchen!  So when he said that he was making mole, of course my inner fat girl wanted some!  Mole is probably on my top ten list of favorite things to eat.  I was so happy that he knew how to make it, and started asking for his recipe.  Then he said those four words that I hate “it’s from a jar.” WOMP, WOMP.  If you have ever had mole from a jar, you know it has a weird sugary taste… so not authentic.  Like really, who buys that stuff???  My dad, poor guy.  Needless to say he hated it, and had to add ingredients to make it edible.  It’s so hard to find good mole these days.

Part of it is because mole gets a bad rap.  People tell all kinds of stories about how complicated, or how many hours it takes to make.  I was fooled into thinking that I could never master the secrets to mole, just like you probably are.  Fool no more!  Yes I’m sure the traditional way of roasting and grinding of all the ingredients does take hours upon hours to do, but I ain’t got time for all of that!  After researching mole recipes, I figured out a way to make mole in less than an hour.  It has the entire flavor you expect – creamy, with a smokey chile kick, and hint of nutty sweetness. Ugh, its damn near PERFECT! Or as my Husband would say “it taste like, a little more.”

Ingredients: 

  • 10 dried guajillo chiles
  • 7 dried mulato negro chiles
  • 7 dried pasilla chiles
  • 4 table spoons of olive oil
  • 2 oz. pumpkin seeds
  • 3 table spoons sesame seeds
  • 1 hand full whole almonds
  • 2 oz. raisins (small box)
  • 3 whole star anise
  • 1 small white onion, diced
  • 5 whole garlic cloves, peeled
  • 2 teaspoons cumin
  • 2 teaspoons ground cloves
  • 2 teaspoons oregano
  • 2 teaspoons ground pepper
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 3 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 chicken boullion cube
  • 2 table spoons peanut butter
  • 1/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
  • 2 cups of water or chicken broth

Directions:

1. Stem, seed, and de-vein chiles, reserving seeds.

2. Place chiles in a small pot with water, bring to a boil or until peppers are soft.

3. In a large sauté pan add 2 table spoons of olive oil, pepper seeds (I used about 3 table spoons, the more you use the hotter it will be) add in the whole garlic cloves, star anise, almonds, pumpkin seeds, raisins, and sesame seeds, stir around until toasted.

4.  When chiles are soft place them into a blender with some of the water from pot.

5. Blend then add in all of the toasted ingredients, salt, ground pepper, cumin, cloves, cinnimon, chicken bouillon cube (or chicken stock) and blend adding more water if needed.  The consistency should be like a thick smoothie.

6. When that is well combined, pour into the pan used to toast ingredients with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil on low heat.

7. Stir in chocolate, and peanut butter it should just melt right in.

8. If the mole seems to be too thick you can add water or chicken broth as needed.

9. Serve over chicken, turkey, and steak -really any kind of meat you want and top with left over sesame seeds.  I served this over grilled chicken and rice. Yummy!

 

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

coldfishie 2 Comments
Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

 

In this house when something is good it doesn’t last too long.  And when I made these double chocolate chip cookies it was pretty hard not devouring them as soon as they come out! These are so decadent that you will definitely need a cold glass of milk near by.  After letting them cool for about 5 minutes they are just so deliciously gooey and it’s almost like your eating a mini brownie.  If you can possibly let them cool longer say overnight (this was almost impossible) they turn into a crispy cookie perfect for dunking in milk.  These will not turn rock hard – let me repeat that – these will not turn rock hard.  If you like chocolate, you will fall in love with these cookies, you will start talking like the Cookie Monster, “yum,yum,yum”  and your eyes will roll around just like his when you take your first bite!

Let first say that I really don’t like making cookies mostly because I have no patience, all that waiting for them to cool down is for the birds.  A couple of weeks ago I made some regular chocolate chip cookies – which were also very good, and now that I think about it… they were more than just regular!!  I would have posted the recipe but we ate them so fast I didn’t get a good picture of them, and all that means is that I have to make them again – everyone is this house will be happy!

Back to the double chocolate… I wanted to make a chocolate cake, but decided on cookies because I got lazy all that cooling, making frosting, layering, and frosting just seemed like too much work to do on a Sunday afternoon.  Not to mention I ate like a pig and all I wanted to do is sit on the couch and watch HBO.  So the cookies won!  These were so easy to make, and not as much work as I thought so I will be making these again.  Not by choice, my Husband loved them so much he wants me to keep them in stock!

Ingredients

  • 2-1/2 sticks Butter, Softened
  • 2 cups Sugar
  • 2 whole Eggs
  • 3 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
  • 2 cups Flour
  • 3/4 cups Cocoa Powder
  • 1-1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • 1 teaspoon corn starch
  • 1-1/2 cup Good Quality Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350°F.
  • Using a mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy, scraping the sides once.
  • Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition. Mix in vanilla.
  • Sift together dry ingredients, then add in batches to the mixer, mixing until just combined after each addition.
  • Gently blend in chocolate chips.
  • Make 1 tablespoon portions to baking sheet.
  • Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until cookies are barely done but still soft and chewy.