Chocolate Caramel Pie

So this might not be our healthiest recipe – whipping cream, butter, chocolate – but boy oh boy, it sure is delicious! Save this recipe for a special occasion. I think a Wednesday afternoon qualifies as special enough!

Crust:

1 cup Partially Sifted Flour
3 tbsp sugar
½ tsp sea salt
1 tbsp cocoa powder
½ cup chilled butter, cubed
2 large egg yolks 

Caramel Filling:

1 cup sugar
¼ cup water
¼ cup heavy whipping cream
¼ cup butter, cubed
1 tsp vanilla
¼ teaspoon sea salt

Chocolate Ganache:

2 cups heavy whipping cream
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a tart or cheesecake pan with parchment paper and grease the sides. To make the crust, begin by blending together the dry ingredients – flour, sugar, sea salt and cocoa powder. Cut in the butter until mixture looks like oatmeal. Mix in two large egg yolks. Press the crust into the bottom of the pan and work up the edges. If needed, you can add a teaspoon of water to the crust mixture to help it stick. Bake for about 20 minutes. Take it out and let cool. 

To make the caramel filling, dissolve the sugar in the water in a sauce pan over low heat. Once dissolved, raise the temperature to medium-high and continue stirring until sugar caramelizes and turns amber. Be careful though, sugar burns easily. Once smooth, take off heat and stir in butter, vanilla and sea salt until mixture is smooth. Allow it to cool slightly before pouring into crust. 

To make the chocolate ganache, bring whipping cream to a slight boil. Whisk in the chocolate until melted. Cool mixture in fridge for 2 – 3 hours. Once cool, whip the ganache until thick. smooth mixture on top of caramel layer. To top it off, we melted chocolate and drizzled it on top and sprinkled a bit of sea salt. Cool the entire pie for a couple of hours before serving. Delicious!

Best Ever Banana Muffins

So I didn’t believe my mother-in-law when she said that these were the best ever banana muffins … but they are!

3 lrg bananas
½ cup sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup melted butter
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 ½ cups of Partially Sifted Flour
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Mash bananas then mix in the sugar, egg, butter, baking soda and powder until gooey. Add in the Partially Sifted Flour. When combined, add in the chocolate chips. Fill greased muffins tins 2/3 full and bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Lemon Biscotti

Biscotti is the twice baked potato of the cookie world. It is first cooked like a loaf then sliced and baked again. This gives the cookie its dry texture, which is perfect for dunking.

1 cup sugar
½ cup butter
2 tbsp lemon juice (the juice from 1 lemon)
2 tsp grated lemon peel
2 eggs
3 ¼ cups Partially Sifted Flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Beat sugar, butter, lemon juice, lemon peel and egg until smooth. Add in dry ingredients. Shape dough into two rectangles, each 10 x 3 inches. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for 15 minutes. Cut cookies into ½ inch slices and place back onto the cookie sheet with the just cut side down. Bake for 15 more minutes or until crispy and light brown.

Banana Oatmeal Cookies

Now, these cookies are so moist and chewy they’re almost like mini-loafs. Not to mention, they’re even tasty frozen!

1 cup sugar
2 medium bananas, mashed
¾ cup butter
1 egg
2½ cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup Partially Sifted Flour
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Beat sugar, bananas, butter and egg in a large mixing bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients. Drop tablespoons of dough on a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes. 

Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake

This recipe is so easy and quick,  not to mention pretty darn affordable to make. Honestly, I don’t even have to worry about wrapping up the leftovers because once Jeff smells the cinnamon in the house, there are none!

½ cup sugar
¾ cup milk
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 ¼ cup Partially Sifted Flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon (or more if you’d like lots – I always do!)

Preheat oven to 350ºF. In a medium bowl, beat together the first ½ cup of sugar, milk, oil, vanilla and egg just until mixed. Add in the baking powder and Partially Sifted Flour.  Pour batter into a well-greased 8” baking pan. In a separate bowl, combine the other ½ sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle that mixture on top of the batter. Using a knife, gently swirl the cinnamon sugar thorough the batter. When done, bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.