Baking Edition: Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Last week's baking edition was Double Chocolate Chip Cookies, inspired by Beantown Baker. I often use her recipes as they feel very "home-y" and quite simple. I pretty much used her recipe, found here, with just minor changes based on my personal liking.

 Yummy...

This recipe is supposed to make big cookies but I personally like smaller cookies. You don't feel as guilty eating them lol. Also, they're good for portion control, and just light snacking when you're between meals.

What treats do you like eating?

♥B

Baking Edition: Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake

Happy Sunday Mel and everyone!

I bought a new toy this weekend...

They're mini springform pans :D! These babies are about 4" in diameter making it perfect for smaller sized cakes. I have regular cake pans but find that between Hubs and I, we struggle to finish an entire cake before it goes bad. Thus, I came across these smaller sized pans that I just had to get. For anyone watching their waistline but not willing to give up sweets, this is a great way to portion out your dessert servings too  ;)

For my weekly baking, I chose a chocolate swirl cheesecake to make. Cheesecake is my absolute favourite type of cake because of how creamy and dense they are. This recipe was my own creation but used the swirl technique from Zoe Bakes - she's a great blogger and always has good recipes to offer! I did make a minor *noob* mistake that caused my crust to not be as crispy but the flavours were there at least.

Preparing the crust!

WARNING:
The following pictures might make you hungry...

Okay, I'll admit I'm a little lazy to post the whole recipe here.

But if you would like the recipe, please feel free to email me at belleplusmel@gmail.com and I'll happily share it.

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend!

♥B

Island in the Sun

Today was so fun! It was ridiculously warm outside today and we had to take advantage of it, duh. Hubs, baby and I headed downtown for a day of walking, shopping and eating. I didn't get to take as many pictures as I wanted to mostly because I was stuffing my face with food lol. But I'm going to say this is quite a pic-heavy post compared to my previous posts. Look how gorgeous it was today!

We went shopping and decided to buy shoes.

Matching shoes :) I know, we're so corny. Take a look at our purchase!

 His: Converse PC2 in Black/White (similar here)

Mine: Converse All Star in Black (similar here)  

My AS on me. Teehee. They're sooooooo comfortable it's unbelievable!

 

To end the day off before hubs went to work, he spoiled me with chocolate. But not just the regular chocolate from convenient stores... Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. YUUUUUM.

I wish I remembered the exact names of these things but I think the white ball is a cheesecake chocolate bomb, and the flat chocolate piece is a chocolate and caramel pretzel mogul. There was also another one that I quickly shovelled down my mouth right outside the store and it was a banana cream pie white chocolate bomb. It was soooooooo gooooooooood omggg. Then hubs bought some chocolate almond brittle for take-home. He really knows how to treat a woman ;)

To end the day...

DINNER: 

Grilled Chicken with Mushroom Sage Gravy

Garlic Bacon Mashed Potatoes

Garlic Pan-fried Asparagus

Goodnight!

♥B

Baking Edition: Choco Muffs

Saturday evenings are usually my dedicated baking days since hubs is at work and baby is asleep by then. It's something I try to do every weekend to fill my house with goodies. I love to bake because I know what goes into what treats I'm eating and I can control the amount of ingredients that goes in each baked good. Plus, it's ridiculously therapeutic!

Today's treat is Chocolate Chip Muffins. Just like chocolate chip cookies, there are probably about a million recipes out there that claim themselves to be the best choco muff out there. But you never know until you try. This recipe was adapted from a coworker but I did make some changes to suit my taste. Also, they didn't brown on top as much as I would've liked them to mainly because I forgot to adjust my oven rack so please make sure your oven rack is in the middle rather than the bottom!

Classic Chocolate Chip Muffin

2 cups AP flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 cup whole milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup unsweetened chocolate chips

1. Preheat your oven to 400F. Line a muffin tray with paper liners or lightly oil them.

2. In one bowl, add the flour, both sugars, baking powder and salt. Mix well.

3. In another bowl, whisk together egg, oil, milk and vanilla.

4. Add the whole bowl of dry ingredients to the wet bowl and mix with spatula. Make sure that it's mixed just enough to incorporate the wet and dry ingredients. It's important that you DO NOT OVERMIX a muffin batter because it overdevelops the gluten in the batter and comes out very tough. You want your muffins light, airy and fluffy.

5. Now take it to your muffin tray and fill, fill, fill! Typically it's recommended that you fill each muffin cup just up to half or a teensy bit over. However, I like my muffins with a nice poofy crust, so I filled it to the top. It's totally up to you!

6. Bake for 20-25 minutes and then let it cool in the tray for about 5 minutes before you indulge.

This makes about 12 medium-sized muffins.

However, if you only fill your cups halfway, I'd say this makes about 18 medium-sized muffins.

Yuuuuuummmmy.

♥B

Baking Edition: Chocolate Fudge Brownies

I really thought I was recovering from my gastroenteritis. And I did. But since my body was so weak, it succumbed to the regular flu *pout*. I decided to stop wallowing in self-pity and whip up some delicious treats. Mostly for the hubs, since these are his favourite. These, my friends, are FUDGE BROWNIES! They're easy to make and easy to eat! I have to warn you, this is a pretty picture-heavy post and might induce the inner baker in you... but let's begin!

Chocolate Fudge Brownies

2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup butter

3 eggs

1/2 cup unsweetened chocolate

1/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated white sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

For Ganache:

1/3 cup whipping cream

1 1/3 cup unsweetened chocolate

1 tbsp butter

Crushed nuts (optional)

 

First, preheat your oven to 350°F or about 180°C.

1. Melt the unsweetened chocolate with the butter. I did this in the microwave for 40 seconds. Let this cool down to room temperature.

2. Prepare your pan. You can either use parchment paper, or tin foil (which I ran out of) but I find that tin foil is a lot more effective and easy to remove after!

3. In a mixing bowl, first mix your brown and white sugar together, then whip in the eggs and vanilla extract. Mix well!

4. Now add your chocolate and butter mixture into this and quickly whisk. Mix well.

5. Add the flour and the salt together. This is the most important part - DO NOT OVERMIX, as in, don't mix vigorously. You should just lightly mix it enough until you don't see the flour anymore. If you overmix it, your brownie will turn out too cakey instead of that dense, fudgy texture.

6. Prepare your ganache by heating up the butter and whipping cream first. Again, I just put it in the microwave for about 45 seconds until it was somewhat bubbling. Then I added the chocolate, let it sit, and whisked it all together until it was smooth and thick. Let this cool to room temperature.

7. Pour your brownie batter into your pan, and bang it on your counter a few times so it releases all the air bubbles. You want your brownies DENSE, not airy. Stick the brownies in the oven for about 20-25 minutes, depending on your oven. To check for doneness, simply stick a toothpick in. If it comes out still wet, it can go in for a few minutes longer. If it comes out clean, it's ready!

Keep in mind that once you take it out, you have to let it cool down completely so that it sets and firms up. Once it cools down, spread the ganache mixture over top evenly and sprinkle with nuts. You can omit the nuts if you don't like them. They will still taste good! Now, don't be tempted to cut them yet! Stick them in the fridge for at least an hour before cutting into them. It will make them even denser.

NOWWWWWW, you are done!

Like... OMG. Look at the texture of this brownie.

Looks yummy, doesn't it!

Psssst, click on the picture to enlarge for some HD goodness *wink*

Okay, just a few more pictures...

Needless to say, hubs loved it and I hope you will too :) Enjoy!

♥B