Lemon-Chocolate Pinwheels

After a LONG absence in posting if not in spirit, this is K with a cookie recipe. Be forewarned, these were a bit of a pain to make. The result, however, was a delicious combination of flavors in a shortbread-like treat.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3 cups flour
1 fresh lemon
1 oz. semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted and cooled
1 Tbsp. cocoa

In large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and beat well. Gradually add flour and mix thoroughly. Dough will be crumbly. In medium bowl, mix melted chocolate and cocoa. Mix in half of plain dough. Grate zest of lemon (the yellow part of the skin) and add to other half of plain dough; add a couple squirts of the lemon's juice (to taste). On 2 large sheets of wax paper, roll out doughs to large thin rectangles. Carefully place lemon dough on top of chocolate dough (may have to reassemble a little; dough is crumbly). Start rolling doughs from long side, using wax paper as a guide and pressing together every little while. When dough is formed into log, use sharp knife to cut 1/4-in. slices. Place (and patch as necessary) on large baking sheets that have been greased and floured OR lined with baking parchment. Bake @350° F. for about 12 minutes. Cool slightly before removing from sheets.

--K

Our 100th Post

Chocolate-Ribboned Peanut Butter Banana Bread

Topping:

1/2 C. all-purpose flour

1/2  C. packed brown sugar

1/4 C. creamy peanut butter

1/2 t. ground cinnamon

Batter:

1/2 C. butter, softened

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 1/4 C. sugar

2 eggs

1 C. mashed ripe bananas (3-4 bananas)

1 t. vanilla extract

2 1/4 C. all-purpose flour

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

1 t. ground cinnamon

1 1/2 C. semisweet chocolate chips

For topping: In small bowl, stir flour, brown sugar, peanut butter, and cinnamon until crumbly; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, beating well. Beat in bananas and vanilla. Stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon until just moistened.

Divide half of batter between two greased 8"x4" loaf pans. Sprinkle with half of topping and top with chocolate chips. Repeat layers of batter and topping.

Bake at 350° F. for 45-55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire rack.

Enjoy with a glass of milk.

Note: This tastes even better when you prepare it with your friend and blogging partner!  Thank you for sticking around 100 posts!  ~H&K

Morsels of Chocolate is 2!

I missed posting our anniversary, but this blog is officially two years old!  Thank you to our faithful readers who have followed us this long!

Hint of Mint Double Chocolate Cookies

1 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
3 drops mint extract
2-ish c. flour
cocoa powder to taste (approximately 1/4 c. or so)
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
chocolate chips (probably a cup or so)

Preheat oven to 375°F.  Cream butter and sugar; add eggs and flavorings and beat well.  Add flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.  Add chocolate chips to taste.  (Taste dough to make certain it is yummy.)  Drop by teaspoon onto papered cookie sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes or until slightly underbaked.  Cool approximately 1 minute before transferring to a plate to cool.  While cookies are warm, enjoy one--or two--with a glass of milk.  Take the rest with you to the fireworks display on July 4th to win instant friends.  ;)

Apologies for the approximations.  K and H developed this recipe from a regular chocolate chip cookies recipe, so we added the cocoa powder until it looked right.  And H never measures chocolate chips--whatever looks good is what I add.  So have fun with it and let us know how it turns out!  ~H & K

Asparagus with Cream Sauce

Found this and edited it till it made a perfect sauce. Do steam the asparagus instead of boiling it; boiled asparagus can have a bitter taste.

Ingredients:
Asparagus spears, hard end cut off
4oz. cream cheese
1/4 cup milk
1 Tbsp lemon juice
dash salt
2 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese
Ground chives, to taste

Directions:
Steam asparagus until tender. In small saucepan, whisk cream cheese, milk, lemon juice, and salt over low heat until smooth. Add parmesan and chives and heat through. Serve warm over asparagus. Serves: 4-6.

--K.

Happy birthday, MC!

As of tomorrow, Morsels of Chocolate will be one year old! As we reach this milestone, I must confess a discovery: I do not try new recipes as much as I used to think I did. I thought this blog would be bursting with new recipes every week; but the fact is that I use the same old favorite recipes time and again. When a new recipe is tried, I might like it; but it will probably fall back into obscurity until I have a taste for something different again. As my family knows, the desserts I make the most are variations on the brownies theme. So as MC enters another year, I can't promise more recipes than before. I can only say that I, and K with me, hope you will keep checking back for more--because new recipes will get posted eventually!

Here are some random MC statistics:

*There are two contributors, although one of them rarely posts anything. ;)

*We have seven followers! Although I suspect that in reality, we have only two. At least, we have only two who leave comments. Thank you, Preciosa and Angela, and keep the comments coming!

*There have been around 60 posts, although not all of them are recipes.

*Main dish recipes are rare around here; mostly we post desserts. (But what did you expect, considering our name?)

Because of Jesus Christ,
H

Colorful Veggie Pasta

Hello, M of C readers! At long last, I return to the world of blogging. In the time since I last posted, changes have arrived in my food life: namely, I have declared vegetarianism! This both expands and complicates my eating habits. On the one hand, I search out more interesting choices and recipes; on the other, it can be very difficult to find such choices/recipes. For your non-meat-eating pleasure, I present Colorful Veggie Pasta. This was a hit with the carnivores, as well.

Ingredients;
1 medium zucchini
1 medium yellow squash
1 medium-large red pepper
large handful uncooked spaghetti noodles + water for boiling
olive oil
Italian seasoning (basil, rosemary, oregano) to taste
3/4 cup or to taste shredded mozzarella or Italian blend cheese (could probably substitute grated Parmesan)

Instructions:
Boil water for pasta; add pasta when water reaches rolling boil. (You may want to add a little oil to the edge of the water to keep it from boiling over.)
Meantime, cut up vegetables into roughly quarter-size pieces. Sautee in saucepan with a little olive oil until tender (I like them to still have just the tiniest bit of crunch).
Drain and rinse cooked pasta. Add vegetables, Italian seasoning and cheese; stir until cheese is melted.
Serve warm.

--K

Mouthwatering Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies

I had these for the first time this semester, courtesy of one of my professors. They are now my favorite cookie! It's been a long time since I've posted (fortunately H has been keeping up quite well), and I thought this would be an excellent way to get back to the blog.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup shortening (softened)
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp (at least) grated orange rind
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp soda
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups chocolate chips (or 1 cup choc. chips, 3/4 cup English walnuts)

Directions: Cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla and grated orange rind; beat until smooth. Mix soda into sour cream and add. Add flour w/baking powder and salt. Stir until mixed. Fold in chocolate chips and drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheet. Bake @ 350 Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes until bottom edge begins to brown.

Glaze:
1 1/2 tsp. (at least) grated orange rind
1/3 cup orange juice
1 cup granulated sugar
Mix all ingredients to a thin paste.

Remove cookies from baking sheet while still hot and immediately drizzle glaze over top so it drips down and all over the cookies (cookies must be hot for this!).

Note: More orange is better. 2-3 large oranges should produce enough zest and possibly enough juice as well if you don't have orange juice around.

Enjoy!
K

Hmmm....

...What happened to K? Truth is, I'm wondering that myself. Did you fall off the face of the Internet, my friend?

Mocha Truffle Cookies

My most popular recipe to date.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup margarine or butter
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
OPTIONAL 1 Tablespoon instant coffee crystals (my family doesn't like coffee; the cookies are still amazing without it)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
In large saucepan melt margarine/butter and 1/2 cup chocolate chips over low heat (can also be microwaved). Remove from heat. Stir in coffee crystals (OPTIONAL). Cool 5 minutes. Stir in sugars, eggs, and vanilla. Mix cocoa, flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir into chocolate mixture. Stir in 1 cup chocolate chips. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake @ 350 F. for about 10 minutes (not nearly as good if overbaked). Let cool 1 minute and remove from sheet.
These only make maybe 3 dozen; if they won't be eaten in 2-3 days, refrigerate or freeze--they dry out quickly.

--K

What's in a name?

As oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies cool in the kitchen, we are setting up our delicious blog. How did we decide upon "Morsels of Chocolate?"

From the time we first discussed creating this blog, we have tossed around various ideas for a name. We had thought about using a portion of a Bible verse, but the one we thought of had already been taken. We thought about combining our names, but it sounded too boring. Since one of us speaks French and the other a little Spanish, we thought about finding a food word that was the same in both languages. But the Internet yielded no results.

Now, together again for the first time in two months, we were determined to finally create our blog. Seated in the kitchen (where else?) baking the aforementioned cookies, we hit upon the word "Morsels" followed immediately, of course, by the notion of "Chocolate!"

And thus, our blog was born.