Brown Ajah Chocolate Week – Kitchen Counter Recipes

[E James Todd]

WELCOME!

 

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Hello all!  Welcome to a particularly favorite topic on my part: the making of chocolate things!  Here I'll be sharing recipes from the Todd family kitchen, straight from the recipe box on our counter, and hopefully watering your mouths just a bit with all the talk about chocolate that will ensue!  Many of these are recipes that I either grew up with or that are squirreled away in the ever-growing library of "food to make some day," so if it ends up there it's bound to be tasty and scrumptious!

 

I'll be posting a new recipe each day, and I encourage others to join in and post their own favorite recipes.  Please don't feel like there needs to be some "standard" of quality.  This is just a lighthearted place to come and share things that we love.  If you have a picture of a recipe, even better!  Words can only do so much to whet one's appetite, after all.

 

I look forward to seeing what everyone brings!  Knowing me, I may just have to go build my own extension to the kitchen just to make all of these.

 

Me in a week's time

[E James Todd]

For my first recipe, I'll be sharing one of my favorites:

 

Boiled Cookies

 

Sometimes I've heard them referred to as "no-bake cookies," which I guess they are, but on the recipe card they're referred to as "boiled cookies."  These generally appear in the Todd household around the holidays, and they're a wonderful and fairly quick way to get your chocolate hankerin' fixed.  This goes back at least as far as my grandmother, possibly even her mother before her.

 

Basic Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar

• 4 tablespoons cocoa powder

• 1/4 lb butter (one stick)

• 1/2 cup milk

• 3 cups rolled oats

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1/2 cup peanut butter

• 1/2 cup diced walnuts*

 

Put sugar, cocoa powder, butter, and milk in large saucepan; bring to rolling boil for 1 minute.

Remove from direct heat.  add rolled oats, vanilla, peanut butter, and walnuts.

Drop by tablespoon on waxed paper and let cool.

 

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And that's it, at least for the basic recipe.  Now, I've experimented with a couple ingredients and I'll address them in turn, because this recipe is so very versatile it's not even funny.

 

• Cocoa powder: You can use either milk chocolate cocoa powder or dark chocolate cocoa powder, depending on your taste.  I tend to dark chocolate cocoa powder simply because I find the rest of the ingredients mellow out the more bitter punch that would be there, but this is a personal taste kind of thing.

• Rolled oats: I prefer the rolled to the instant for this recipe, primarily because it lends itself to being a thinner oat than instant.  If you want more substance per bite, however, or if you're just short on rolled oats, you can substitute instant oats.  Just know that it'll feel like they're thicker.  Also, if you're making these for someone allergic to peanut butter, you can substitute in 1-2 tablespoons more to get the proper consistency.

• Peanut butter: You can use either chunky or creamy for this.  I've always used crunchy, and it's the only time I'll admit to doing as such.

• Extra ingredients:This is really where the "to taste" portion of the recipe comes into play.  Walnuts actually fall into this category, which is good since I'm not big on walnuts as a general rule.  You can add in raisins, pecans, chocolate chips, a kiss of mint extract, and even marshmallows!  With marshmallows you have to be careful, though, and add them in just before you set them out to cool; otherwise, the marshmallows dissolve into the rest of the cookie.

 

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You can make as much or as little from this recipe at one time as you want.  What we normally do in the Todd household is coat the entire table in three layers of newspaper and then a layer of wax paper on top.  A hot pad goes in the center, for the pot of chocolaty goodness, and then we have two tablespoons per person.  One spoon carves out a good-sized bit into its curvature, the other spoon scoops it out to be placed on the wax paper.  Depending on weather conditions, they dry in about 20-30 minutes.  It's a bit difficult to say how many they make, because dollop size is important.  A good average is between 25-35 per go.

 

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And that's my first one of the week!  Hope you enjoy it, and I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else has to share.  Until the next recipe, that's it from behind the kitchen counter.

 

 

 

-EJT

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

Ooooooohhhhh that sounds delicious! I'm already thinking about small variations to make it lactose free for Mr. Gill. It's already gluten free with gluten free oats - GF cookies aren't east to come by. Thank you!

[Guest]

They look pretty easy to make O.O

 

I'll definitely have a try at these !

[E James Todd]

They are incredibly easy to make.  And it's a good way to spend a mort of time in the kitchen without too much in the way of labor-intensity, so you can use it as relaxation time.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

Hmmmm Okies imma throw in a no bake recipe to go with - chocolate pie.

 

Oreo crust - chopped/ ground Oreos with enough melted butter to hold together (about 1/4 cup butter to 2 cups cookie crumbs). Press evenly into a pie pan (easiest to spread them all over the bottom and sides and press down with another pie pan to get them even).

 

Filling - when I'm feeling lazy and evil, I'll just bring 2 cups heavy cream to simmer and melt in 2 cups good eating chocolate, cool it and food in whipped cream or cool whip. Chopped candy bars like snickers, Heath bars, or chocolate chips are nice sometimes. Top with more whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

 

When I'm less lazy and less evil, I'll make chocolate pudding for the base with milk, and proceed with the chocolate melting in and etc. above.

 

If this isn't for kids, it will take quite a bit of liqueur and/or liquor at the point after you've melted in the chocolate. Rum works and amaretto, framboise, grand mariner, tia Maria, etc., all work well.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

They are incredibly easy to make.  And it's a good way to spend a mort of time in the kitchen without too much in the way of labor-intensity, so you can use it as relaxation time.

This is one of those things that the cats will keep coming to check out and look at us like.... where's the meat?

 

Do these work with something like truvia or is the sugar integral to the consistency?

[blank]

Ohhh, sounds lovely James - and I'm glad you put a substitution for walnuts, not a fan of them myself!

 

Mr Blank is crazy about nuts in general - have you tried substituting out the peanut butter for anything else?

[E James Todd]

 

They are incredibly easy to make.  And it's a good way to spend a mort of time in the kitchen without too much in the way of labor-intensity, so you can use it as relaxation time.

This is one of those things that the cats will keep coming to check out and look at us like.... where's the meat?

 

Do these work with something like truvia or is the sugar integral to the consistency?

 

I haven't tried it without sugar, so I would say try a single batch first to see if it holds up.  Most of the consistency comes from the oats and the peanut butter, but I can't say with certainty that no consistency comes from sugar.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

 

 

They are incredibly easy to make.  And it's a good way to spend a mort of time in the kitchen without too much in the way of labor-intensity, so you can use it as relaxation time.

 

This is one of those things that the cats will keep coming to check out and look at us like.... where's the meat?

Do these work with something like truvia or is the sugar integral to the consistency?

I haven't tried it without sugar, so I would say try a single batch first to see if it holds up.  Most of the consistency comes from the oats and the peanut butter, but I can't say with certainty that no consistency comes from sugar.

Thanks! It sounds worth a shot.

[Cairos]

I'm going to try these out when I have free time.

[Ryrin]

Me too. Awesome!

[Whosangie]

Oh I make something similar to that with no sugar. I call them chocolate chip granola bar cookies. But you could substitute cocoa powder for the chocolate chips to have absolutely no refined sugar. I mix 1 cup peanutbutter (You could substitute half with coconut oil) and 1 cup pure maple syrup/honey 2 cups oats 1 cup chocolate chips 2 cups whatever add ins you like. I love sun flower seed kernels and almonds or walnuts. After you stir it up you can let them dry in wax paper or put them in cupcakes holders. They are sticky at room temperature but perfect chilled.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

Oh I make something similar to that with no sugar. I call them chocolate chip granola bar cookies. But you could substitute cocoa powder for the chocolate chips to have absolutely no refined sugar. I mix 1 cup peanutbutter (You could substitute half with coconut oil) and 1 cup pure maple syrup/honey 2 cups oats 1 cup chocolate chips 2 cups whatever add ins you like. I love sun flower seed kernels and almonds or walnuts. After you stir it up you can let them dry in wax paper or put them in cupcakes holders. They are sticky at room temperature but perfect chilled.

That sounds really yummy. My sister would probably love that, she doesn't do refined sugar either.

[E James Todd]

Alright.  Time for the next one!  I'm not posting early... -nudges the minute hand forward with a finger-

 

Easy Chocolate Mousse

 

This next one isn't as old a tradition, but it's old enough that I had to manually track the ingredients so I could post it here.  This is a recipe from my mother's youth (which is funny, because she doesn't like chocolate products), and one I tried to make sure it still tasted good.  It does.  I feel fat. ;)  Because the card is written in a very insouciant voice, I'll write it out as-is so you can enjoy the change of pace.

 

Basic Ingredients:

• 4 bars of chocolate, solid

• 1/8 cup water (depending on your pan, this may be too much or too little)

• "4" tablespoons sugar

• 1/2 lb butter (two sticks)

• 4 eggs, separated

 

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Transcription of the recipe:

In a saucepan put 4 bars of chocolate with very little water and let them melt on a very gentle fire.  Add 4 large spoons of granulated sugar, 1/2 lb of good butter, 4 yolks of eggs & mix carefully.  Let it cool & you will have a smooth paste.  Beat the whites of eggs to a snow & mix them, while stirring into the paste.

---Variation--- 1/2 lb semi-sweet chocolate, 4 heaping tbsp sugar.  Add egg yolks after chocolate mixture has cooled.

 

Translation of the recipe:

In a medium saucepan on low heat, melt the 4 bars of chocolate with about 1/8 cup water.  The water should be thin enough to keep the chocolate from burning initially, but not so much as to liquefy the chocolate more once melted.  Add 4 generous tablespoons of sugar, two sticks of butter, and 4 egg yolks.  Mix carefully, allowing the chocolate to gain a smooth texture without hardening or burning on the sides of the pan.  Let cool.  With a blender beat egg whites into a foam, folding and mixing  into the chocolate.  Place in serving containers and chill.

 

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You may scare yourself with the water when you first make this.  I know I was concerned that I'd burn the chocolate with too little water and have to clean burned sugar-stuff off; but it actually turned out rather nice.  I'd say you can air on the side of a touch too much water and still be safe.  Also, don't be afraid to put the egg whites in a blender and let it do its thing; they can take more strenuous beating sessions than heavy cream, or something messy like peanut butter.  Depending on your dish size, this makes between 4-6 servings.  Or 3, if you're like me and just want to eat half of it in one go.  Then again, with chocolate I'm more the type of person that skips past the regular nutrition facts and looks for the "what if I at the whole damn thing" section.  Math is helpful that way <3

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

I like the transcription as is makes good sense and it's not overwhelming. I'd love to see Alton brown do a translation he'd take an hour to explain it and dirty every dish in the kitchen twice,

[E James Todd]

For tomorrow's recipe I'm going to go on reader input! You guys have a choice of one of the following:

 

• Cake

• Ice cream

• Candy

 

The winner gets posted at noon-ish tomorrow, with second being the next day and the third on the day after that. Let me know what has the most interest in the replies here!

 

 

 

-EJT

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

I would say yes yes and yes.

 

Ummmmm but if I had to pick one I'd say cake.

[Sooh]

definitely cake!

[blank]

ice cream!

[E James Todd]

Two cakes and an ice cream. If I didn't know any better, I'd say there was a dessert conspiracy going on ;)

[Whosangie]

Icecream!!!

[E James Todd]

And we have sudden death between cake and ice cream!  Who's going to be the deciding vote?

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

well.... what's cake without ice cream, really?

 

maybe both? * sad kitty eyes *

[Daruya]

ice cream!