Chocolate Caramel Macchiato Pie

This is serious guys.  Chocolate. Caramel macchiato. Pie.  All rolled into one bit of fabulousness.

Tomorrow is the Roaring 20's Lawn Party on Governor's Island.  This will be the first time attending.  For the last 5 years or so I was either working or in a yoga teacher training program.  This year I was determined to BE THERE.

That said, my sister-in-law informed me of a pie contest at the event and encouraged me to register.  So I did.  Then the big question of which pie would I make arose.  I tried experimenting with a few different options, but I'm pretty sure this chocolate caramel macchiato pie is the one I'm going with.  It's YUMMY.  And...it's pretty much all my own creation.  Well - at least the combination of layers involved.  The recipes are all from different places - none I can truthfully say are all mine.

I started with a sugar cookie layer, then espresso chocolate chip, then caramel, topped off with Oreo cookie truffle.

Here it is...

CHOCOLATE CARAMEL MACCHIATO PIE

INGREDIENTS:

For the sugar cookie layer:

1 1/4 C flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 C plus 2 TBLS margarine (I use butter sometimes)
1 C granulated sugar
1 Egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the espresso chocolate chip layer:

1/2  stick butter, softened

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/2 of a large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tsn instant espresso coffee powder

3/4 C semisweet chocolate chips

For the caramel layer:

25 caramel candies
2 Tbls heavy cream

For the Oreo cookie layer:

1 package Oreo cookies
1 8oz. package cream cheese, softened

DIRECTIONS:

For the sugar cookie mix:

Combine flour, baking powder and salt then set aside.  Using a mixer, cream together margarine and 2 C sugar until fluffy.  Beat in eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla. Slowly beat in dry mixture.

For the espresso chocolate chip mix:

Cream the butter with the sugars using an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy, approximately 30 seconds. Beat in the egg and the vanilla extract for another 30 seconds.

In a mixing bowl, sift together the dry ingredients and beat into the butter mixture at low speed for about 15 seconds. Stir in the espresso coffee powder and chocolate chips.

For the caramel layer:

Place the caramel candies in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the heavy cream and stir until completely melted. Pour hot caramel mixture over shortbread crust and spread into an even layer. Refrigerate until set, 30 minutes to 1 hour.

For the Oreo cookie truffle layer:

Using a blender or hand held mixer, mix Oreos and cream cheese together. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place a layer of sugar cookie mix on bottom of 8x8 pan (or just use a pie pan).  Chill at least 30 minutes (or an hour) then layer on the espresso chocolate chip mix.  Bake for about 10-15 minutes (or until edges turn brown) and allow to cool for about 20 minutes. 

Drizzle on the caramel and chill for about an hour.

Top off pie with the Oreo cookie truffle mix and chill again for about an hour.  Serve and enjoy!

PERSONAL NOTES:

Oh my, are these just yummy!  Since I pretty much put all of these layers together myself I already included any important notes.  If you let the pie sit out for a few minutes before eating it will be a little softer.  Either way it is DELICIOUS! Plus, my husband gave it 2 thumbs up so it passed the test :)

Keeping my fingers crossed it wins tomorrow!!!

Slutty Brownies. You just gotta have them.

Any recipe called "Slutty Brownies" is going to get your attention.  It did mine.  When I saw the pictures I was instantly hooked.  It has 3 of my favorite things: brownies, chocolate chip cookies and Oreos!  Hel-lo!

By the way, finding this recipe kinda falls into the category of "Why Didn't I Think of This Before?"  It's true.  For someone as creative as myself I really have no excuse as to why I hadn't come up with something like this.  It's genius.
Just take a look at them, looking all sexy lounging on the plate.  They're asking for it!

SLUTTY BROWNIES

INGREDIENTS:

For the brownie layer:

10 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter

1-¼ cup White Sugar

¾ cups Cocoa Powder

½ teaspoons Salt

2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

2 whole Eggs

½ cups Flour

For the cookie dough layer:

1 cup Butter

½ cups Brown Sugar

1-½ cup White Sugar

2 whole Eggs

2-½ teaspoons Vanilla extract

2-½ cups Flour

1 teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon Baking Soda

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

2 cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

1 package Oreo Cookies, 15 Ounce Package

DIRECTIONS:

For the brownie layer:

In a medium-sized sauce pan, melt the butter over medium high heat. Add the sugar and cocoa powder once the butter is melted. Whisk to combine and remove from heat. Add the salt, vanilla and eggs and continuously whisk until the eggs are combined. Add the flour and continue to mix. Set batter aside.
For the cookie dough layer:

Cream together the butter and sugars using a mixer. Add the eggs and vanilla, making sure to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl. Add the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder and mix on low until everything is incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips. Set dough aside.

For the assembly:

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Line the bottom of a 9×9 baking pan with tin foil and then spray the tin foil with a layer of baking spray.

Layer half of the cookie dough on the bottom of the prepared baking pan, pressing down to form the bottom of the Slutty Brownies. Reserve the remaining cookie dough to be used to make cookies later in the day.

Layer as many Oreos as you can on top of the cookie dough. No need to overlap. One single layer will do.

Pour the brownie batter on top of the Oreo layer and make sure it’s spread evenly on top.

Bake for 30-35 minutes. Test with a knife to see if the center is done. If the knife comes out clean, then remove the pan from the oven and let the brownies rest before serving. If the knife comes out with batter still on it, allow the brownies to bake about 5 minutes more.

Serve with ice cream!


PERSONAL NOTES:
As per usual, I had to change things up.  Not intentionally, but more out of necessity.  I didn't have enough butter.  So when it came to making the brownie layer I only had 4 tablespoons of butter.  To compensate, I used 2 tablespoons of Olivio butter substitute and 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) apple sauce.  Wonderful.  And I also used Egg Beaters instead of regular eggs.  Just a little way to cut down on the cholesterol and saturated fat. 

By the way, these are absolutely delicious.  They're gooey and decadent.  Just the way nature intended ;')

The Best Fudgy Brownies Ever!!!

For starters, I'm not on my home wireless connection and this one at my mother-in-law's is dodgy. Apparently. I've already lost my post once.  Fingers crossed it doesn't happen again.

Getting back to what I originally came here to do... these fudgy brownies are incredible!  I made them for my husband for Valentine's Day so he could enjoy his favorite treat.  It doesn't hurt that brownies are among my all-time favorite goodies too ;')

So back to trolling online I went in search of THE recipe that would deliver me decadent, chewy, gooey brownies.  I found them here on allrecipes.com

They're easy to make and the longest part of the process was actually mixing it all together.  No biggie.

FUDGE BROWNIES

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup butter, melted

3 cups white sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish.

Combine the melted butter, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each, until thoroughly blended.

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Gradually stir the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture until blended. Stir in the chocolate morsels. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared baking dish.

Bake in preheated oven until an inserted toothpick comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove, and cool pan on wire rack before cutting.

Pumpkin Chocolate Swirl Muffins

What more can I say about pumpkin?  I simply love the stuff and it's versatility.  You can do so much with it.  I mean, you can have it as dessert, make it as a bread, have it in soup or as a main dish.  So many options.  And although pumpkin is a winter squash I'll be eating it pretty much all year.  Plus, since you all know how much I love muffins as either a breakfast food on the go or as a midday snack, I had to try these out...

PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE SWIRL MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 egg

3/4 cup egg substitute

1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin 

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup canola oil

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

In a mixing bowl, combine the first eight ingredients. In another bowl, combine egg, egg substitute, pumpkin, applesauce and oil; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Stir in chocolate chips. Coat muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray; fill two-thirds full with batter. Bake at 400 degrees F for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

PERSONAL NOTES:

The recipe originally states to use chocolate chips.  Something in my mind made me think that melting the chocolate first and making chocolate swirls would be a little more fun, more whimsical.  It tastes absolutely fine.  My only recommendation with making swirls is mix the melted chocolate with about 1/2 cup of the batter first.  Since it's just the melted chocolate, it has a different consistency in the muffin.  As I said, still yummy, just different.  Next time I'll be mixing it with the batter first. 

Super yummy!

(Original recipe can be found here from allrecipes.com)

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Muffins

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Muffins?  Yeah, there was no way I was avoiding these guys.  Holy Moly - they're yummy.  The muffins are very light and fluffy - almost cake-like.  The amount of chocolate chips is just the right amount - not too overpowering.  And that's coming from someone who LOVES chocolate.  This was perfect. 

At first I was a little unsure because the dough seemed a little bit on the gummy side - like it had too much flour in it or something, but really, they came out just fine.  Even the next day the consistency and freshness remained unsullied.  So wonderful.  In terms of grabbing this and eating on the go, they're probably better than some of the of the other muffins I've made.  There's nothing sticky on the tops to create a mess (like if you put one in a sandwich bag for "on the go").  They're just easy.  And the batch only took about 10 minutes to whip up.  Easy all around.  Plus, they're only about 160 calories each!

You can find the original recipe here from allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS:

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 egg, room temperature

1/2 cup cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup white sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease 12 muffin cups or use paper liners.

Beat cream cheese and butter together until fluffy. Beat in egg, cream and vanilla. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir flour mixture into cream cheese mixture until flour is moistened. Fold in chocolate chips. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups filling them 3/4 full.

Bake in preheated oven until tops are golden, about 20 minutes.

Makes 12 muffins*
PERSONAL NOTES:

As I mentioned above, you really don't need to smother the muffins in chocolate chips. They have just enough in what the recipe calls for. Also, I used skim milk where it called for cream and Egg Beaters for the egg. YUM!

*Actually, they made more like 14...

Chocolate Chip Muffins

I tried this this week for the first time and while I think they're tasty, I also think they're lacking more of a chocolate "bite".  They'll have to have another go and either with more cocoa or more melted dark chocolate.  Oh, and the chips I placed on the muffin tops all sank in as they baked.  Can't remember if I've had that happen to me before.  Odd.  Although, it was a nice little surprise to bite into the muffin and catch a bit of milk chocolatey heaven.

Anyway, they looked really good...

The original recipe can be found here. 

CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS:

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup baking cocoa

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, beat the eggs, sour cream, water, milk, oil and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 325 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

PERSONAL NOTES:

I substituted applesauce for the oil and milk chocolate chips in place of the semi sweet.  These definitely need more than milk chocolate chips!  While the taste is nice, I felt like it could use more of a chocolate punch.