Classic Chocolate Cake

Layered cakes aren't my forte. If you've peeked at my recipe index you'll notice that it's seriously lacking in the cake department. I've always struggled with issues like rise, sticking or texture. I'm sure many of you have faced similar problems. It's downright frustrating to go through all of that work (and ingredients) only to end up with a cake catastrophe. That's why I usually prefer making cupcakes. They're easy, you can scale down the recipe and they're just more fun! So when you do see a cake recipe pop up on here, you know it's gotta be a good one!

Chocolate Peppermint S'mores Bars

Now that Christmas is over it's a great time to use up all of that peppermint bark you've got sitting around... and I've got a perfect recipe for it! These are a spin on one of my favorite treats, Hershey's Chocolate S'mores Bars. You start off with chocolate graham crackers as the base, then scoop mounds of chocolate cookie dough on top, then cover the cookies with chocolate chips, crushed graham crackers, peppermint marshmallows and a whole lot of peppermint bark. They're best served straight out of the oven when they're all gooey and warm, because that's just how s'mores should be eaten! I prefer piling up a plate full and eating mine with a mug full of cocoa, but a glass of milk would do too! I can't tell you just how good these are- even the hubby who doesn't care for peppermint was seriously digging 'em! I made us a standard batch, but next year I'll be doubling this for sure! Enjoy!!!

Chocolate Peppermint S'mores Bars

Ingredients
1 c. all-purpose flour
¼ c. natural unsweetened cocoa powder
½ c. sugar
¼ c. brown sugar
⅔ c. semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
8 tbsp. (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. vanilla extract
¼ tsp. peppermint extract

1 sleeve chocolate graham crackers, more if needed
1 c. miniature peppermint marshmallows
½ c. regular miniature marshmallows
½ c. semisweet chocolate chips
1 Ghirardelli peppermint bark baking bar, chopped

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x13 or a quarter baking sheet with parchment paper. Use the chocolate graham crackers to cover the parchment, set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together butter, sugars, vanilla and peppermint for 2-3 minutes. Add melted chocolate chips, mix until combined. Add egg, then egg yolk, mixing just until combined.
3. In a medium size mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. With mixing speed on low, add dry ingredients. When no flour pockets remain, turn off and remove bowl from stand. Spread cookie dough over the graham crackers, in an even layer.
4. Place in oven and bake for 6 minutes, remove and gently press in remaining graham crackers (broken into pieces), marshmallows, chocolate chips and baking bar pieces. Place in oven and bake for an additional 10-12 minutes or until the marshmallows become lighty golden in color. Remove and allow to cool in pan for 25-30 minutes before removing and cutting into bars.
Yield: Approximately 15 bars (but depends on how big or small you cut them)

Nut Lovers Rocky Road

Rocky road is one of my go-to recipes! We make it for ourselves and to take to parties & activities. The thing I love the most about it is how easy and delicious it is! It comes together in just 5 minutes and then gets tossed into the refrigerator to chill until you're ready to serve it. Sometimes I like to substitute some of the semi-sweet chocolate for bittersweet, making these intensely rich and dark! You can definitely play around with what goes inside- today we did a nut lover's version. They're crammed full of peanuts, almonds, walnuts, and of course marshmallows. If you're feeling extra adventurous, I think chocolate chunks or even some kind of chopped up cookie would be tasty too! Our batch is going quickly- if they last over the weekend these effortless treats will be perfect for the holidays!

Nut Lovers Rocky Road

Ingredients

1 (14-oz) can Eagle Brand® sweetened condensed milk
2 tbsp. butter
2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 c. dry roasted peanuts
½ c. roasted almonds
½ c. walnuts
1 (10-oz) bag miniature marshmallows

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a large glass bowl (big enough to fit in your microwave), combine chocolate chips, condensed milk and butter. Microwave on medium heat for 3 minutes. Remove from microwave and allow to cool enough that the marshmallows won't melt (a couple of minutes or so).
2. Fold in nuts and marshmallows, making sure to coat evenly with chocolate.
3. Pour mixture into a 9x13 pan, lined with wax paper. Press mixture firmly down into the pan.
4. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to cool for 2-3 hours before serving.
Life Made Simple Family Recipe | Gluten Free | Makes approximately 24 bars

Peppermint Frosted Brownie Sugar Cookies

On Tuesday I had the opportunity to go to Tatertots & Jello's cookie exchange with my good friend Mandy from Baking with Blondie. I always love getting together with her, especially when it involves food- because we're bound to have lots of fun! Anyway, we had a week or so to come up with a cookie to bring and it took me up until the day before to finally decide on one! I think it had something to do with the ease involved. I desperately needed a dough that I could make, refrigerate and bake once our little one went to bed for the night. These cookies were the perfect solution! The dough came together in a matter of minutes especially since there's no chocolate melting involved (which is always a big time hog). Instead the dough gets all of its rich fudgy goodness from cocoa powder and chopped semi-sweet chocolate. After a few hours of refrigeration I rolled it out, cut the snowflakes and placed them onto a Silpat-lined sheet and then in to the oven to bake. They puffed up beautifully, nice and thick! With only a few minutes of baking time required, they came out smelling incredible and had perfectly crisp edges with a soft chewy inside- just like brownies. I whipped up some peppermint frosting to spread over top and then added peppermint candy cane sprinkles as a finishing touch. They were absolutely delicious... and such a fun little twist on a Christmas classic!

Peppermint Frosted Brownie Sugar Cookies
Ingredients

3 c. all-purpose flour
⅓ c. unsweetened cocoa powder
⅓ c. dutch-process cocoa powder
1½ c. sugar
1 c. (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
2 tbsp. heavy cream
½ tsp. baking power
½ tsp. salt
1½ tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. peppermint extract
⅓ c. finely chopped semi-sweet chocolate (I used half of a Ghirardelli baking bar)

Peppermint Frosting:
2 ½ c. powdered sugar
½ c. (1 stick) butter, room temperature
2 tbsp. heavy cream
pinch salt
¼ tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. peppermint extract
1-2 drops red food coloring

Peppermint candies, baking chips or sprinkles for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add heavy cream, vanilla and peppermint. With mixing speed on low, add one egg, mix then add the other. 

2. In a medium size mixing bow, whisk together flour, cocoa powders, baking powder, and salt. With mixing speed on low, gradually add the dry ingredients mixing until no flour/cocoa "pockets" remain. Add the chopped chocolate and mix until incorporated. Wrap the dough in plastic and place in the refrigerator to chill for 1 hour.*

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove dough from refrigerator and roll out on a lightly floured surface to approximately ¼" thick. Cut into desired shapes, place onto a parchment-lined baking sheet for 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges are firm and the centers are soft and puffy. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

4. While the cookies are cooling, prepare the frosting by beating all of ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment for 2-3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Spread onto cooled cookies and top with desired peppermint garnishes.

*Dough can be made in advance and refrigerated overnight.

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen, Brownie Roll-Out Cookies | Makes 2-4 dozen, depending on cookie cutter size

Salted Caramel Hot Cocoa Cookies

Each year when the snow starts falling we hurry to the store to stock up on hot cocoa. Stephen and I usually pick out a few new flavors along with the classics. One of our new favorites is salted caramel. We've tried both the Ghirardelli brand and the Starbucks, they're both really good! I'm kind of addicted to the combo now! I wanted to bake a batch of cookies the other day and just happened to have everything I needed to make these salted caramel hot cocoa cookies. I started off by mixing up a bowl of chocolate hot cocoa dough in my stand mixer. While the cookies baked I made a saucepan full of the most beautiful amber color caramel I've ever seen! As soon as the cookies came out of the oven I covered them in marshmallows, miniature chocolate chips, caramel and sea salt. They were warm, rich and gooey- my kind of cookie! Definitely perfect for dunking in a hot glass of cocoa! Enjoy!

Salted Caramel Hot Cocoa Cookies
Ingredients:
1¼ c. all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ c. hot cocoa mix*
½ c. brown sugar
8 tbsp. (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1 egg
1 tbsp. milk
¼ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
¾ tsp. vanilla extract

½ c. miniature marshmallows
½ c. miniature semisweet chocolate chips
¼ c. salted caramel sauce (recipe below)

Salted Caramel Sauce:
½ c. sugar
3 tbsp. butter
½ c. heavy whipping cream, room temperature
¾ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line one baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat mat, set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together brown sugar and butter until fluffy (2-3 minutes). Add vanilla extract, milk and egg, mixing until just combined.
3. In a medium size mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, hot cocoa mix, baking powder, baking soda and salt. With mixing speed on low, gradually add dry ingredients. Mix until no flour pockets remain.
4. Remove bowl from stand and scoop onto prepared baking sheet. Place in oven and bake for 10-12 minutes or until cookies are set on the edges and barely firm in the centers.
5. Meanwhile, to make the caramel sauce, in a small saucepan over medium heat, add sugar. Heat until the sugar turns a golden brown color (the deeper the color the deeper the flavor) making sure to stir constantly so that the sugar does not burn or form a hard crust on the sides of the pan. Add butter once desired color is reached, whisking to incorporated. Remove from heat and add cream, salt and vanilla extract (note: when you add the cream it will "splatter"). Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes.
6. Remove cookies from oven. Immediately sprinkle with marshmallows and chocolate chips. Allow to cool on the sheet for 3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. While cookies are cooling, drizzle caramel over top and sprinkle with sea salt.
Life Made Simple Original Recipe | Makes 12 standard size cookies

Chocolate Peppermint M&M Cookies

One of my favorite flavor combinations around the holidays is mint chocolate. I think it might have something to do with growing up in a family that's obsessed with it! So when I saw that Target had white chocolate peppermint M&Ms I pretty much had to buy a bag. Boy am I glad I did- they're so good! I devoured about half of the bag in just a few days and the rest I tossed into cookies. Yes, these cookies. I decided to combine the M&Ms with Andes peppermint crunch baking chips to really amp up the mint flavor. Did I mention that the dough has peppermint extract in it too? You may think I'm going completely overboard but I promise that the amount of mint is spot on and far from overwhelming. I tossed the cookies onto a baking sheet, popped them into the oven for 10 minutes and they baked perfectly. Nice and crisp around the edges and soft in the centers. The chocolate melded perfectly with the mint and made for one delicious cookie! 

Chocolate Peppermint M&M Cookies
Ingredients
1 c. all-purpose flour
¼ c. Hershey's natural unsweetened cocoa powder
⅔ c. Hershey's semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
½ c. sugar
¼ c. brown sugar
8 tbsp. (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. vanilla
¼ tsp. peppermint extract
1½ c. White Chocolate Peppermint M&Ms
½ c. Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat mat, set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together butter, sugars, vanilla and peppermint for 2-3 minutes. Add melted chocolate chips, mix until combined. Add egg, then egg yolk, mixing just until combined.
3. In a medium size mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. With mixing speed on low, add dry ingredients. When no flour pockets remain, turn off and remove bowl from stand. Fold in M&Ms and peppermint baking chips. Scoop onto the prepared baking sheet.
4. Place in oven and bake for 10-12 minutes, cookies should be firm around the edges but soft in the center. Remove and allow to cool on pan for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Life Made Simple Original Recipe | Makes approximately18 cookies

Death By Mint Chocolate Cookies

It's been a while since I've made a chocolate-based cookie, mainly because I've never been satisfied with any of them that are out there. So after a late night cookie fail, the following morning I decided to rework the recipe that Stephen and I had made and see what resulted. It turns out that I needed to adjust a few ratios and add some baking powder. These cookies are now one of our favorites! Thick, chewy, chocolately and moist- it doesn't get much better than that! Now onto the really impressive part. I decided that despite Stephen's ongoing protest against mint, I would make a few "death by mint chocolate" cookies. I chopped up Andes mints, tossed in a handful of mint chips and of course added chocolate chips too. To my surprise, Stephen actually ate a few... and really liked them! Success!!! You really can't go wrong with this dough, anything can be added to it (just sub out the peppermint extract) and it'll be delicious! Trust me, your friends and family will be begging you to make more!

Death By Mint Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients

2½ c. all-purpose flour

¼ c. Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder

¼ c. Hershey's Special Dark unsweetened cocoa powder

¾ c. sugar

1 c. brown sugar

16 tbsp. (2 sticks) butter, room temperature

2 eggs + 2 egg yolks

½ tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

1½ tsp. vanilla

¼ tsp. peppermint extract

¼ c. warm water + ¼ tsp. espresso powder (dissolve in water)

½ c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

½ c. mint chips

12-14 Andes mints, chopped

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a Silpat mat, set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together sugars, butter, vanilla and peppermint, until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Add in "espresso" (water + espresso powder) and one egg, mix until just combined. With mixing speed on low, continue to add in egg and egg yolks until mixture is smooth.
3. In a medium size mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powders, baking powder, baking soda and salt. With mixing speed on low, gradually add the dry ingredients, mixing until no flour pockets remain.
4. Remove bowl from stand and fold in chocolate chips, mint chips and chopped Andes bits. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
5. Remove dough from refrigerator, scoop onto prepared cookie sheets and place in oven. Bake for 10-12 minutes, being careful not to overbake! The cookies will look soft and gooey in the centers, but once they cool they will firm up (going over 13 minutes will result in hard cookies)! Remove cookies from oven, allow to cool on sheets for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Life Made Simple Original Recipe | Makes 36 standard size cookies

Mile High Mississippi Mud Pie

Remember how I said I was horrible at making layered cakes? Ok, so maybe just ones that involve various types of layers. When Stephen begged me to make this Mississippi Mud Pie from the Baked Explorations cookbook, I was really hesitant! It's not often that he requests that I make a dessert for him, or at least a very specific and complicated one :) But I wanted to give it a try, so I shopped for the ingredients and told him that if he would help me tackle it, I'd be happy to do it. The book has the recipe split up it steps, but I've made some adjustments to help things flow a little more smoothly (I love to simplify recipes and make it easier on home cooks). I also added a few ingredients and cut down the portions of others. I think that with these changes it turned out to be one tasty pie! I mean, look at all of those layers, how could you go wrong?! Oreo crust, flourless chocolate chip cake, dark chocolate pudding, marshmallows and homemade whipped cream... mmm. Stephen loved how dark and rich it was and I did too! I know the picture above is a little less than perfect, but it's mud pie right? It's bound to get a little messy when you cut into it!

Mile High Mississippi Mud Pie
Ingredients
Crust:

2 c. (16 oz.) Oreos, about 40 individual cookies, finely crushed
6 tbsp. butter, melted

Flourless chocolate chip cake:

1 c. sugar

6 oz. dark chocolate (60-70%), chopped
¼ c. warm water + 1 tbsp. espresso powder (dissolved in water)

4 tbsp. (½ stick) butter
6 eggs, separated

¼ tsp. salt

1 tbsp. vanilla

½ c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Dark chocolate pudding:

¼ c. + 2 tbsp. sugar

¼ c. dark unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tbsp. cornstarch
1½ tbsp. butter
2 egg yolks

1¼ c. milk

¹⁄₈ tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1½ oz. dark chocolate (60-70%), chopped

1½ c. miniature marshmallows, set aside for assembly

Homemade whipped cream:

1 c. heavy cream

1 tbsp. granulated or powdered sugar

½ tsp. vanilla

pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Lightly spray a 9" springform pan with baking PAM, then line with parchment paper, lightly spray again with PAM, set aside.
2. In a food processor or blender, grind cookies until they become fine crumbs. Place crumbs into a medium size mixing bowl and pour melted butter over top. Mix with a spatula until the crumbs are coated.
3. Firmly press crumb mixture into the bottom and sides of the springform pan, leaving about ½" inch between the top of the crust and top of the pan. It may take several minutes, but you want to make sure it's thin, even and it climbs up those sides! Place crust in oven and bake for 8 minutes, remove and allow to cool.
4. Meanwhile, to make the flourless cake, increase oven to 350 degrees.
5. Using a double boiler, melt butter and chocolate, mixing until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
6. In a 1 c. glass measuring cup, dissolve espresso powder in warm water. Add salt and vanilla, set aside.
7. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (note: I have two KitchenAid bowls so I used one for the whites and one for the yolks), beat the egg whites until foamy, about 2 minutes. Gradually increase speed to high and slowly add ½ c. sugar, beating until soft peaks form. If you've got the ice cream cone top when you lift your whisk out, you've gone too far! Set aside.
8. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the egg yolks with the remaining ½ c. sugar until the eggs are light and have almost doubled in volume, about 3-4 minutes. Add the cooled chocolate mixture and beat until just combined. Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl and with mixing speed on low, add the coffee mixture. Beat until just combined.
9. Remove the bowl from the stand and gently fold in 1 c. of the beaten egg whites. After about 30 seconds of gentle folding, add remaining egg whites and continue folding until almost completely combined, do not overmix.
10. Pour the batter into the cooled crust, gently sprinkle chocolate chips over top and place in oven to bake for 38 to 40 minutes. The cake will have a semi-crisp top and will still jiggle a bit. Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature. The center and edges of the cake will fall- this is normal. Once the cake is cool, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.

11. While the cake is baking, to make the pudding, in a medium saucepan, whisk together sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch, salt, egg yolks and milk. Whisk until no clumps remain. Set pan over medium heat. Whisking constantly, bring mixture to a boil. Once the mixture has boiled it will begin to thicken immediately. Cook for one minute then remove from heat. 

12. Whisk in chocolate chunks, butter and vanilla. Pour into a bowl and let sit for 15 minutes before covering with plastic wrap (directly onto the surface of the pudding to prevent a skin from forming) and placing in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

13. While cake and pudding are cooling, to make the whipped cream, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat together all ingredients for 1-2 minutes until soft peaks begin to form. We like our whipped cream extra firm so we go until stiff peaks. Remove whipped cream from bowl, transfer to a smaller bowl, cover and refrigerate until needed.

14. Once the cake and the pudding have cooled for two hours (really you can let them go longer if you want), remove from refrigerator and spread the pudding over the top of the cake in an even layer. Gently press the marshmallows into the top of the pudding. Spread the whipped cream over the marshmallows, filling in the cracks and spreading until smooth. Refrigerate for 2 more hours before serving.

Adapted from Baked Explorations, Mississippi Mud Pie | Makes one 9" round cake or approximately 8-12 servings

Hershey's Chocolate S'mores Bars

Happy National S'mores Day!!! I'm super excited to share this recipe with you today. It's inspired by the graham cracker s'mores bars I made a few years back, only these bars are all chocolate! I was trying to come up with something to "snack on" over the weekend, something that would last a few days and that wouldn't require a lot of work. These bars were the perfect solution. All you need to do is whip up a batch of chocolate cookie dough and assemble the bars as you go. They only take 18 minutes to bake and are perfectly gooey and toasty when they come out of the oven- no campfire needed! I cut our bars into generously sized squares, but these are rich, so miniature squares would be perfect too. I hope you eat something wonderful today, even if it's just a classic s'more!

Hershey's Chocolate S'mores Bars
Ingredients
¾ c. all-purpose flour
¼ c. cake flour
¼ c. Hershey's natural unsweetened cocoa powder
½ c. sugar
¼ c. brown sugar
8 tbsp. (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. vanilla
⅔ c. Hershey's semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
½ c. Hershey's semi-sweet chocolate chips
⅓ c. miniature marshmallows

1 sleeve chocolate graham crackers, more if needed
1½ c. miniature marshmallows
1 Hershey's milk chocolate candy bar
1 Hershey's dark chocolate candy bar

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x13 or a quarter baking sheet with parchment paper. Use the chocolate graham crackers to cover the parchment, set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together butter, sugars and vanilla for 2-3 minutes. Add melted chocolate chips, mix until combined. Add egg, then egg yolk, mixing just until combined.
3. In a medium size mixing bowl, whisk together flours, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. With mixing speed on low, add dry ingredients. When no flour pockets remain, turn off and remove bowl from stand. Fold in ½ c. chocolate chips and ⅓ c. miniature marshmallows. Spread cookie dough over the graham crackers, in an even layer.
4. Place in oven and bake for 6 minutes, remove and gently press in remaining graham crackers (broken into pieces), marshmallows, and candy bar pieces. Place in oven and bake for an additional 10-12 minutes or until the marshmallows become golden brown in color. Remove and allow to cool in pan for 25-30 minutes before removing and cutting into bars.
Inspired by Graham Cracker S'mores Bars | Makes approximately 12 bars

Triple Chocolate Brownies

My search for the ultimate fudgy brownie is over. It's been a long journey but I think I've finally found a brownie recipe that I really love! It's dark, it's fudgy and it's really rich! Best of all, it's got a nice crisp top that cracks when you bite into it. Adding espresso powder helped to enhance the chocolate flavor and adding baking soda gave these an extra lift which eliminated any battery goo that might have otherwise resulted. I tossed in three kinds of chocolate to create the ultimate chocolatey brownie, but I think peanut butter chips or maybe even thin mints would be really good too! I took these to a family reunion and they were gone in about 15 minutes, everyone loved them! I hope you'll give this recipe a try, because I think you're going to love them too! P.S. See the note below if you're using an 8x8 pan.

Triple Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients

1 c. all-purpose flour

1¾ c. unsweetened cocoa powder

2½ c. sugar

1⅓ c. (2 sticks + 6 tbsp) butter

4 eggs

¼ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. espresso powder

1 tsp. vanilla

½ c. milk chocolate chips

½ c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

½ c. bittersweet chocolate chips (60%)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a 9x13 inch pan with parchment or foil, set aside.

2. In a large double boiler, melt butter then add espresso powder, mixing to dissolve. Add sugar and cook until the mixture becomes smooth and glossy. Remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool for 20 minutes. 

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cooled (really it can be slightly warm) butter mixture and vanilla. With mixing speed on low add one egg at a time, mixing just until incorporated. 

4. In a medium size mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. With mixing speed on low, gradually add dry ingredients. Mix until no flour pockets remain. Remove bowl from stand and fold in the three kinds of chocolate chips. 

5. Spread the brownie batter evenly into the prepared pan. Place in oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the brownies are set. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 45 minutes before cutting and serving.

NOTE: This recipe is for a 9x13 pan. You can make a half recipe and bake it in an 8x8 square pan for the same amount of time.

Adapted from Bittersweet, by Alice Medrich | Makes approximately 24 brownies

Chocolate Chunk Zucchini Muffins

One of my all-time favorite breads is my mom's zucchini bread. It's sweet, moist and loaded with garden-fresh zucchini. The other day I was craving something chocolaty for a late afternoon snack and I realized that I had a few extra zucchini laying around. I didn't want to bake anything that would require frosting, but I did want it to be a little decadent. So I decided to make some muffins that incorporated both chocolate and zucchini. I had the first batch of these in the oven and when it occurred to me that I forgot to add the sugars! Yep, we'll blame that one on my "pregnancy brain."I immediately pulled them from the oven and tossed them. A sad day indeed. Thankfully I had another zucchini on hand so I started over, this time being really careful to remember the sugars. I did. In my attempt to be slightly more healthy (slightly because this is a chocolate recipe), I used 1 c. all-purpose flour and ¾ c. whole wheat flour. The recipe below uses only all-purpose (for convenience), but I must say, the chocolate does a great job of masking any wheaty flavor that you might otherwise be able to detect (side note: my favorite brand is King Arthur Flour Premium 100% Whole Wheat Flour, in fact I use a lot of their products and get great texture and taste in my baked products). Anyway, these muffins turned out great! I ate three within about 15 minutes! No joke. There's something about the zucchini that convinced me that it was ok to keep eating more... or maybe it was all of the gooey chocolate bits ;) I'll let you decide!

Chocolate Chunk Zucchini Muffins
Ingredients
1¾ c. all-purpose flour
½ c. sugar
¼ c. brown sugar
¼ c. oil
½ c. sour cream
½ c. milk
1 egg
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
½ c. grated zucchini, pressed to remove moisture
½ c. chocolate chunks + ¼ c. for on top (one 4oz Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate bar, chopped)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line or lightly spray one standard size muffin tin, set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together sugars and oil for 30 seconds. Add sour cream, milk, vanilla and egg, mix until just combined.
3. In a medium size mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt. With mixing speed on low, gradually add dry ingredients until the mixture becomes smooth and no flour pockets remain.
4. Remove bowl from stand and fold in zucchini (I used the smaller "cheese" holes on my grater for the zucchini, the large ones would have been too thick and chunky) and chocolate chunks. Scoop batter into prepared muffin tin, filling each ¾ of the way full. Top with additional chocolate chunks.
5. Place in oven and bake for 16-18 minutes or until the tops spring back. Remove from oven and allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Life Made Simple Original Recipe | Makes 12 standard size muffins

Marbled Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

Besides zucchini bread, one of my all-time favorite kinds of bread would have to be banana. My mom always made buttermilk banana bread for us- it's something that I could eat slice after slice of! So the other day when I looked at the counter and saw that we had some brown bananas I knew I had to make some. This time I decided to add a swirl of chocolate to it and toss in some mini chocolate chips, just to mix things up a bit. I'm not sure which way I like better- plain or with chocolate. Either way this banana bread is perfect for breakfast, as a snack or even as dessert! What things do you like to add to banana bread? I'm a big fan of walnuts, but I'm thinking next time I'm going to try peanut butter or coconut. Mmm!

Marbled Banana Chocolate Chip Bread
Ingredients
2½ c. all-purpose flour
1¼ c. sugar
½ c. butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
2 c. very ripe bananas, mashed (3-4)
½ c. buttermilk
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla

For the chocolate swirl:
2 tbsp. Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 tbsp. warm water
⅓ c. mini chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:
1. Move oven rack to position where pans will be in the center of the oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease the bottoms of 2 loaf pans using non-stick baking spray or butter and flour.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, lightly beating until incorporated.
3. In a medium size mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt, set aside.
4. Mash bananas on a plate using a fork. Add bananas, buttermilk and vanilla, mix just until incorporated. With mixing speed on low, gradually add in the dry ingredients. Remove bowl from stand and place about 1/4 of the batter into a mixing bowl. Combine the warm water and the cocoa powder, add mixture to the removed batter creating a chocolate batter. Pour in mini chocolate chips.
5. Pour plain banana batter into pans, dividing evenly between the two. Then pour the chocolate batter on top. Gently swirl with a knife or spatula (if you overdo it you wont have nice swirls).
6. Place in oven and bake for approximately one hour, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, and the loaves are golden brown on the top. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes, then loosen the sides of the loves and remove from pans onto wire rack. Let cool completely (about 2 hours) before slicing and eating.

Recipe adapted from my mom's buttermilk banana bread | Makes 2 loaves

Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes

Chocolate and raspberry is one of Stephen's favorite flavor combinations. Every time we go to the Cocoa Bean he gets their version of this cupcake. I'll admit that I'm not the biggest fan of raspberry but these are pretty awesome! I made a similar recipe a while back and have since improved it (back then I use a doctored cake mix, now it's all from scratch and so much more delicious). The moist chocolate cake combined with the gooey ganache and sweet raspberry frosting is absolutely perfect! Enjoy!

Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes

Ingredients

¾ c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1½ c. all-purpose flour

1½ c. granulated sugar

1½ tsp. baking soda

¾ tsp. baking powder

¾ tsp. salt

2 large eggs

¾ c. warm water + 1/8 tsp. espresso powder

¾ c. buttermilk

3 tbsp. canola oil

1 tsp. vanilla

Chocolate ganache:

½ c. heavy cream

3 oz. bittersweet chocolate

¾ tbsp. corn syrup

Splash of vanilla

Raspberry Buttercream Frosting:

16 tbsp. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2-3 tbsp. heavy whipping cream

2½-3 tbsp. seedless raspberry puree (from 6 oz. of fresh raspberries)

1½ tsp. vanilla extract

2½ - 2 c. powdered sugar

¼ tsp. salt

12 raspberries for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 1 cupcake pan with liners, set aside.

2. In a medium size mixing bowl, whisk or sift together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add eggs, warm water w/ espresso powder, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. Mix on medium speed until smooth. Turn down speed to low and slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Mix until smooth (no flour/cocoa pockets remain), about 3 minutes.

4. Divide batter evenly among cups, filling ⅔ of the way full. Place in oven and bake for 20-21 minutes, or until the tops spring back when touched and a cake tester comes out clean. Be careful not to over bake!

5. Remove from oven, allow them to sit for 3-4 minutes in the pan, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool. Prepare ganache and frosting. Dip in ganache, frost and top with raspberries.

For the ganache:

1. Heat cream in a small saucepan over medium heat. In a separate bowl, combine chocolate, corn syrup and vanilla. Once the cream is heated through, pour over chocolate and whisk until smooth. Let cool for 10 minutes.

2. Turn cooled cupcake upside down and dip into ganache. Swirl to remove excess. Place right side up on a wire rack to set (about 5 minutes or so). Repeat processed as many times as desired.

For the frosting:

1. Puree 6 oz. of fresh raspberries in a food processor or blender. Pour through mesh sieve over a small bowl. Press all of the juice out until all that remains is seeds.

2. Cream the butter, salt, vanilla, seedless raspberry puree and milk in the bowl of a stand mixer (beat on high for 1 minute).

3. With mixing speed on low, begin adding in the sugar a ½ c. at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add additional cream until desired consistency is reached.

4. Remove bowl from stand. Frost cupcakes with the buttercream and garnish accordingly.

Stephen + Natalie | Makes approximately 12 cupcakes