Chocolate Cherry Cordial Cookies

I found this recipe in Parade magazine around Christmas time, and decided to give it a try . . . good decision, these are delicious! It sounds like a lot of work to put a cherry into each cookie, but really it's not, especially if you give a jar of cherries and a bowl of dough to 3 little boys then make dinner while they get the job done.  If you don't have 3 little boys, you could maybe sub in girls. Interestingly, these cookies were better the next day once the flavors had hung around together for a little bit. Yes, I bought rum extract for this recipe, but now I have a reason to make them again, so I'm not disappointed with the purchase.

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp rum extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
30 maraschino cherries, drained and patted dry with a paper towel
2 Tbsp sugar, for coating

For glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp rum extract
4 tsp maraschino cherry juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar, egg, and rum extract until light and fluffy. Add flour, cocoa, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Beat well.

Flatten out about 1 Tbsp dough. Place a cherry on top; mold dough around it. Roll in sugar.Repeat with remaining dough.

Place cookies 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake 8 minutes. Cool on a rack.

For glaze, whisk ingredients; spoon over cookies.

Pioneer Woman's Chocolate Sheet Cake

Mom made this for my birthday once. Amazing. Um, it's from Pioneer Woman. Verbatim.

Recipe: The Best Chocolate Sheet Cake. Ever.

Prep Time: 20 Minutes  |  Cook Time: 20 Minutes  |  Difficulty: Easy  |  Servings: 24

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• FOR THE CAKE:
• 2 cups Flour
• 2 cups Sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa
• 2 sticks Butter
• 1 cup Boiling Water
• 1/2 cup Buttermilk
• 2 whole Beaten Eggs
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• _____
• FOR FROSTING:
• 1/2 cup Finely Chopped Pecans
• 1-3/4 stick Butter
• 4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa
• 6 Tablespoons Milk
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• 1 pound (minus 1/2 Cup) Powdered Sugar

Preparation Instructions

Note: I use an 18x13 sheet cake pan.

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt.

In a saucepan, melt butter. Add cocoa. Stir together.
Add boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.

In a measuring cup, pour the buttermilk and add beaten eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet cake pan and bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes.

While cake is baking, make the icing. Chop pecans finely. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add cocoa, stir to combine, then turn off heat. Add the milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Stir together. Add the pecans, stir together, and pour over warm cake.

Cut into squares, eat, and totally wig out over the fact that you’ve just made the best chocolate sheet cake. Ever.

Chocolate Lava Cake

This is the most unhealthy thing ever. But also the most delicious. I crave this like crazy. At least it's not fried . . .
I always use this recipe off of Famous French Desserts. I'm always afraid the website won't exist anymore, so I'm rewriting it here. Oh, and I don't have a double boiler, and I don't pretend to make one. I just put it on super low heat and stir constantly. It all melts fast.

6 oz. Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate (or use your favorite 70% dark chocolate bar)
6 oz. Butter (diced, room temperature)
3 Eggs
1/2 cup Granulated Sugar (reduce sugar if you prefer darker chocolate)
1/3 cup Flour
Butter for Ramekins

How to Make It:

Preheat oven to 350°F

1. Melt chocolate on low flame in a bain-marie (double boiler). When melted, take of flame, and…
2. Stir in diced butter, until it melts.
3. In another bowl, beat eggs and sugar, until it starts to whiten.
4. Stir in melted chocolate and then the flour.
5. Butter 4 individual ramekins, and pour in chocolate batter.
6. Cook for about 10 minutes.
7. Tip ramekins upside down onto dessert plates and serve.

Voilà!

Tips:
You can definitely prepare your chocolate lave cake recipe ahead of time, and then bake 10 minutes before serving. I always do it this way!

In terms of buttering the ramekins: butter the bottoms first, and then butter the sides, wiping from the bottom up to the top. It helps the chocolate to rise even more.

In terms of baking time… well, it depends on how runny you want it! I like it with a super-liquid-oozing center -- so do my guests! For this, you want the top to be cooked through, but the center to be liquid. You can check with a toothpick after 10 minutes of baking. (If your oven cooks hot, check earlier. So disappointing when it doesn't ooze.)

If you don't like liquid-center chocolate desserts, just cook for a little longer, and you will have an incredibly moist chocolate cake. So, either way, you can't go wrong!

Let it cool for around 10ish minutes before attempting to invert onto a plate. It will be very hot.

Self-Frosting Chocolate Zucchini Cake

From my friend Kim. Tasty and oh, so healthy thing to do with zucchini.

½ cup margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup oil
½ cup sour milk or buttermilk
1-3/4 cup sugar
4 to 6 Tablespoons cocoa
2 eggs
½ teaspoon cinnamon **
2 cups finely grated zucchini
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2-1/2 cups flour

Mix the oil, margarine, and sugar. Add the eggs. Sift the dry ingredients including the cocoa. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the milk to the sugar mixture. Add the remaining ingredients except the zucchini. Blend well. Stir in the zucchini by hand and pour the batter into a 13 x 9 inch cake pan. Mix the following and crumble on the top of the cake:

¾ cup chocolate chips ¾ cup brown sugar
¾ cup chopped nuts

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes or until done. Serves 12.

** Omit the cinnamon to bring out a better chocolate taste. - That was in the original. I never use cinnamon. If you do, tell me about it.

Brownies

I got this recipe off of the internet (I don't remember where) forever ago, and discovered they are delicious!

oven- 350

1 cup butter, melted
2 cups white sugar
1 tsp vanilla flavoring
2 eggs
1/2 cup cocoa
2 cups plain flour

Cream butter and sugar. (can be done with a mixer, but I do it by hand because you have to do everything else by hand, if you don't the brownies get really tough.) Add the vanilla and eggs and mix until just smooth. Pour in cocoa and flour. Again, mix until smooth and lumps are broken up. Remember to not go too crazy because you really don't want tough brownies. Bake for approx. 22 minutes in a 9x9 pan.

Skor Cake

We've heard this cake called by lots of names, but Sarah and I like this one. Fantastic part about this is you get a yummy cake but it's fast to make.

1 box chocolate cake mix (I like Devil's food)
whatever you need to make the cake mix
1 8 oz. tub Cool Whip
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 small jar caramel or butterscotch ice cream topping (optional - I like caramel)
2-3 toffee candy bars (Skor or Heath - I say more is better)

Prepare cake according to box directions. When cake has cooled, take a straw and poke holes all over the cake. Pour entire can of sweetened condensed milk all over cake, making sure to get some in the holes. Then, pour ice cream topping all over cake. You may not need the entire jar, depending on the size - go with your preference. Next, spread the entire tub of Cool Whip on top. Finally, break up candy bars into small pieces and sprinkle on top of Cool Whip. It will be yummy if you eat it now, but way better if you refrigerate for several hours. The goo soaks into the cake, and makes deliciousness.