Bready or Not Original: Cocoa Nib Brownies
Cocoa nibs add chocolate flavor and a crunch to baked goods, and they are fantastic atop these Cocoa Nib Brownies!
Cocoa nibs are strongly flavored like dark chocolate. You don’t need a lot of them to add a boost to these brownies.
The original version of this recipe involved melting the chocolate and butter on the stovetop. Ain’t nobody got time for that. I ended up reworking the entire recipe.
I’m all about using the microwave whenever I can. Fast to heat up, convenient to stick the bowl in the dishwasher afterward!
Of course, you can go back to the stove top method if you want. Either way, you get a delicious, chewy brownie packed with chocolate flavor plus a crunch.
Bready or Not Original: Cocoa Nib Brownies
Equipment
- 9×13 dish
- big microwave-safe bowl
- uneven spatula
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks
- 10 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips
- 1 3/4 cups white sugar
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup cocoa nibs plus 1 Tb
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line a 9×13 pan with foil and apply nonstick spray or butter.
- In a big microwave-safe bowl, in short bursts melt together the butter and 1 1/4 cups of the bittersweet chocolate chips, stirring well between each pass, until everything is melted together and smooth.
- Whisk sugar into the chocolate. It’s okay if it still looks somewhat grainy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla, following up with the flour and salt. Once no streaks of white remain, fold in the last 3/4 cups of chocolate chips.
- Pour batter into the pan and use an uneven spatula to spread it to corners. Sprinkle the cocoa nibs evenly all over the stop.
- Bake for 25 to 28 minutes, until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean. Set out to cool completely. Use the foil to lift the contents onto a cutting board, and slice into pieces. Store in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not Original: English Toffee
English Toffee is a classic, timeless candy for a reason: IT IS DELICIOUS. With this recipe, you’ll have a whole bunch of candy made in as fast as 15 minutes!
Make this to feed a crowd or to assemble for gifts. The recipe makes a lot, and trust me, you don’t want to be home alone with this temptation.
There is nothing healthy about this candy. It is pure indulgence. It’s also a cheap indulgence–you’d pay a lot of money at the store to get this much candy of quality!
And homemade is always better, right?
Bready or Not Original: English Toffee
Equipment
- 10x15x1-inch jelly roll pan
- candy thermometer
- uneven spatula
Ingredients
- nonstick spray
- 1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks
- 1 1/4 cup white sugar
- 2 Tablespoons water
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cups almonds slivered or sliced, divided
- 1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips use medium-sized chips, not gigantic gourmet ones
- Maldon sea salt or other fancy salt for top, optional
Instructions
- Apply a generous amount of nonstick spray to a 10x15x1-inch jelly roll pan. Measure out the almonds and the chocolate and set them aside in separate dishes.
- In a large saucepan on medium heat, melt the butter. Add the sugar, water, and salt, and continue to stir it as the sugar cooks and dissolves. Bring everything to a boil, then reduce temperature to simmer. Continue to stir frequently for the next 5 to 6 minutes as the mix darkens to the color of a brown paper bag; on a candy thermometer, it should be 300-degrees.
- Remove pan from heat. Stir in 1/4 cup of the almonds (meaning there is still 1/2 cup reserved for later). Pour the toffee onto the prepared pan. Use a greased uneven spatula or tilt the pan to carefully spread the candy into an even layer.
- Immediately sprinkle the chocolate chips all over the top. Let them sit for a minute or two to soften, then use an uneven spatula to spread the chocolate across the toffee. Promptly sprinkle the remaining almonds over the top. Add Maldon or other fancy flaky salt, if desired.
- Cool to room temperature, then chill for a while to completely set. Use hands to break toffee into pieces. Some nuts and chocolate will fall off, but it’s all good.
- Store between layers of waxed paper in sealed containers. Keeps for at least 2 weeks.
*OM NOM NOM!*
Bready or Not Original: Pumpkin Pie Biscotti
The 2020 pumpkin theme ends with a perfect fall treat: Pumpkin Pie Biscotti.
These things are dangerously good, and yes, they really do taste like pumpkin pie–in crisp, crunchy form.
I always keep pumpkin kernels around. I always use them in my Healthy Breakfast Cookies and in other things I make for myself, including salads. Use unsalted ones, if you can, or reduce the salt in the recipe.
Like all biscotti, these are great not simply because they are delicious, but because they should keep quite well if kept in a sealed container.
Enjoy these twice-baked treats with your hot drink of preference and feel appropriately autumnal.
Bready or Not Original: Pumpkin Pie Biscotti
Ingredients
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter half stick, softened
- 2/3 cup white sugar
- 1 1/4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1/2 cup pure pumpkin puree
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsalted pumpkin kernels also called pepitas
- 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, blend the butter, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt, until smooth and creamy. Mix in the egg and pumpkin puree. Gradually mix in the flour followed by the pumpkin kernels.
- Divide dough in half. Place each piece spaced out on parchment. Dough will be very sticky, so shape with plastic spatula or greased or floured hands into 1-inch high flat rectangular logs.
- Bake biscotti for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let set for 5 minutes. Use a long bread knife and slice down--don't saw--into long, even cookies. Space out cookies upright, if possible, or lay on sides.
- Bake for another 25 minutes; if cookies are laying on sides, flip them to other side halfway through. Set out on stove or counter to cool and dry for several hours.
- Melt chocolate in microwave or using a double-boiler on the stove. Drizzle chocolate over the ends of the biscotti and set again on parchment to set.
- Store biscotti in sealed containers at room temperature for days or weeks.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not Original: Chewy Coffee-Cocoa Nib Cookies
Espresso-flavored chocolate chips are a new fad in American grocery stores, and I use them in this original recipe for Chewy Coffee-Cocoa Nib Cookies!
I’ve tried two kinds of espresso chocolate chips. My favorite of the two was Tollhouse, which had a nice, clean coffee flavor that stayed nice and strong in the baked cookies, too.
I also mixed in cocoa nibs. Nibs are VERY strong in flavor, so you don’t need much to add a boost of flavor and crunch.
The flavor in these cookies is up-front when they are fresh from the oven, but after a day, I found the flavors deepened a good deal.
These make for a perfect snack paired with coffee or tea, and remember, they contain some caffeine! Perhaps eat them for breakfast rather than as a midnight snack.
Bready or Not Original: Chewy Coffee-Cocoa Nib Cookies
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter 1 1/2 sticks, softened
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup bread flour
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup espresso-flavored chocolate chips Tollhouse recommended
- 1/3 cup cocoa nibs
Instructions
- In a large bowl, beat the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and honey and beat until creamy and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then mix in the egg and vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients: bread flour, all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Sift together.
- Slowly stir together the wet ingredients and flour mix until just combined. Sprinkle in the chocolate chips and nibs. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and stash in the fridge for several hours or days; dough can also be frozen at this stage.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven at 350-degrees. Use greased stoneware, parchment paper, or silpat mats. The cookie dough, even straight from the fridge, has a soft Play-Doh-like consistency, and will spread when it bakes; keep this in mind when spacing cookie dough.
- Teaspoon-sized cookies need to bake 9 to 12 minutes; Tablespoon-sized take 11 to 13 minutes. Let set on cookie sheets for 10 to 15 minutes before moving to a rack to cool completely.
- Store cookies will keep in a sealed container, between waxed paper or parchment layers. Coffee and chocolate flavors will likely deepen after a day,.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not Original: Spiced Maple Macadamia Nut Cookies
These Spiced Maple Macadamia Nut Cookies mix maple sweetness and warm spices and chocolate with the wonderful crunch of macadamias. They are perfect for fall–and throughout the year.
A food processor will be a big help in this recipe. The nuts and chocolate need to be in fine slivers. If the chunks are too big, the sliced cookies won’t be cohesive.
These are fridge cookies. Form the dough into tube shapes, wrap up well, then stash them in the fridge or freezer. Then thaw, slice, and bake when you need cookies.
If you do the full batch at once, you’ll likely get a lot of cookies, depending on your tube size and how you slice them. I got about 70 cookies.
These are perfect cookies to warm up your belly on a cool autumn or winter night (or in Arizona, to make-believe in such a temperature shift).
Bready or Not Original: Spiced Maple Macadamia Nut Cookies
Equipment
- food processor
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter 3 sticks, room temperature
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 3/4 cup real maple syrup
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons ground ginger
- 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 cup macadamia nuts
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips semisweet or dark or mixture
- 1/3 cup candied ginger finely chopped
Instructions
- In a food processor or by knife, finely chop macadamia nuts, followed by the chocolate chips. Set aside. (If these are not in fine pieces, the dough will fall apart when sliced.)
- In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in maple syrup.
- In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, spices, salt, and baking soda. Gradually work this into the creamed mixture. Fold in the nuts, chocolate, and candied ginger until incorporated.
- Divide dough in half and shape into foot-long logs. Encase in plastic wrap. Chill at least two hours, or freeze for later baking.
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Unwrap log and cut dough into 1/4-inch thick medallions, reshaping with fingers as needed. Place spaced out on parchment-covered cookie sheet.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until set with a firm, golden base. Cool on pan for 5 minutes then move to rack to completely cool.
- Cookies keep for at least 3 days in sealed containers at room temperature.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not Original: Hazelnut Hand Cake [cake mix]
Doctor up a basic yellow cake mix box into an amazing Hazelnut Hand Cake!
It’s called hand cake because it’s convenient to eat without a knife and fork. Heck, napkins are optional, if you don’t mind a dropped crumb or two.
This cake has a mild chocolate flavor–milder than that of a typical chocolate cake, from a mix or not. Nutella (or use a store-brand equivalent, as I did) is whipped into the batter, with some extra chocolate chips adding a gentle layer of flavor.
This thing is all about convenience. The cake comes together fast. Bakes fast. Give it some initial time to cool at room temp, then stash it in the fridge, and you can eat it even faster.
The end result is a cake with a soft, high, very moist crumb. The scattered nuts and toffee add extra flavor and crunch.
My husband’s co-workers inhaled this cake. One guy said it was the best Cato treat ever. Considering the goodies that come their way, that is high praise indeed.
Bready or Not Original: Hazelnut Hand Cake [cake mix]
Equipment
- 13x9 pan
Ingredients
- 1 box yellow cake mix
- 3 large eggs
- 2/3 cup water
- 2/3 cup Nutella or similar hazelnut spread
- 1/4 cup canola oil or vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts toasted or not
- 1/2 cup Heath toffee bits
- confectioners' sugar to dust top, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line a 13x9-inch pan with foil and apply nonstick spray.
- In a large bowl, beat together the cake mix, eggs, water, hazelnut spread, and oil for several minutes, until thoroughly combined and no lumps remain. Fold in the chocolate chips, hazelnuts, and toffee bits. Pour batter into prepared pan.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until center is no longer jiggly and passes the toothpick test.
- Cool completely to room temperature; place in fridge to speed process along. Use foil to lift contents onto cutting board. If desired, sprinkle confectioners' sugar over top. Slice into pieces.
- Store in sealed container(s) at room temperature.
OM NOM NOM!
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