Quick and Easy Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Rolls

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Weekends are for breakfast and sometimes you need some homey, comforting baked goods.

I grew up with mom making quick cinnamon rolls from biscuit dough.  While they weren't the big and fluffy rolls we are used to these days from a yeast dough they sure where mighty tasty!

But what do you do when you don't have a lot of time to make something from scratch?

Turn to my...

QUICK AND EASY CHOCOLATE CHIP CINNAMON ROLLS

These are the perfect dish to make for a quick sweet breakfast treat.  A little help from refrigerated cinnamon rolls along with a addition of chocolate chips turn these rolls into a heavenly chocolatey breakfast pastry that everyone is going to love!

Items you will need:
9" round baking pan
semi-sweet chocolate chips
or sugar-free chocolate chips
refrigerated cinnamon rolls

These are quick and can be on the table in under 30 minutes.  They are a decadent treat for breakfast, with coffee, or for a snack.  Try these today!

Enjoy!





Quick and Easy Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Rolls

1 can refrigerated cinnamon rolls (I used lowfat)
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (regular or sugar free)


Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Open cinnamon rolls and remove from package.  Carefully unroll each cinnamon roll and flatten just a bit with your fingers.  Place about 1 Tablespoon of chocolate chips along the length of the dough, depressing them into the dough.   Re-roll the cinnamon rolls and place them into a 9" round baking pan.  Bake for 13-15 minutes until cooked through and golden brown on the top.

Remove cinnamon rolls from the oven.  Heat the icing package for 10 seconds in the microwave.  Drizzle glaze over the warm cinnamon rolls.  Serve immediately.

Valentine's Day Dessert: Chocolat en Croute (Product Review)

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Today I wanted to share with you a product that I found that would make the most perfect dessert for Valentine's Day!

Trader Joe's  has a wonderful product that I found in the freezer section.  It's a Chocolat en Croute dessert that you can take home and bake in your own oven.   It's filled with the most decadent almond crème and chocolate and is enveloped in a heavenly braid and topped with slice almonds.  A quick bake in the oven produces a decadent dessert.

Oh man!  What's better than a hot gooey chocolate filled pastry straight from the oven?  Nothing!  And for Valentine's Day, chocolate is our go to treat and this dessert totally takes this special occasion over the top.  Everyone will be amazed with this dessert, and it is so easy to make!  

This is one great product find, and it's at Trader Joes.  The perfect way to impress your loved ones with a hot and fresh from the oven dessert!  Run to Trader Joe's today and get yourself a treat!  It's so worth it.

Enjoy!

Small Batch Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

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I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday filled with love, family, friends, and lots of good food!

Let's talk about leftovers.  One of the best things about the Thanksgiving feast is all the leftovers that you can eat for days! Don't you agree?  Some just love having another plate of that turkey dinner with all the sides and a slice of pie.  Some want to re-create those leftovers into a totally new dish like my Turkey Tex-Mex Quesadillas, Turkey and Swiss Panini, or my Turkey Wild Rice Soup.  These are great ways to use that leftover turkey, but what do you do with extra cans of pumpkin?

Well, I have several ways that you can use a can a pumpkin!  Let start out with a breakfast dish.

SMALL BATCH PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

These are perfect to whip up on the weekend or anytime over the cold winter months.  The kids LOVE them, and they are great for quick breakfasts on the go, or as a little sweet something with a cup of coffee or tea in the afternoon.  This is a small batch of 6 muffins which is just perfect when you want just a little something.  

The pumpkin flavors pop in this moist muffin that's studded with mini chocolate chips.  Heaven!  The combination of pumpkin and chocolate is hard to beat.  I used mini chocolate chips so that the chocolate flavor is plenty throughout the muffing although you can use regular chips if you like.  Dark chocolate chips would be awesome as well. 

What equipment do I need?  I always keep this six cup muffin tin on hand for small batches.  It works perfectly.  I also can't make muffins with out my trusty scoop.  This is a "necessity" for even sized muffins in my house! Other staples such as this and this help make baking easier.  

This recipe won't use up that whole can of pumpkin, so make sure to save the rest in a sealed container in the refrigerator so you can make my next pumpkin recipe coming up!  

Enjoy a hot breakfast and the flavors of the season.  These muffins will leave you wanting more!




Small Batch Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

yield: 6 muffins

1 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup canola oil
1 large egg
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray a 6 tin muffin pan with cooking spray and set aside.

In a small bowl whisk together pumpkin puree, oil, egg, and vanilla.  Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl add flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice.  Stir to combine.  Add wet ingredients and mix until the flour is just blended.  Don't overmix.  Fold in mini chocolate chips.

Scoop batter into 6 muffin tin wells.  Bake for 20-22 minutes.  Remove from the oven an cool on a wire rack.  Serve with butter if desired.

This post contains affiliate links to items you can purchase, in which I get a small amount of compensation for at no cost to you. I bring you items that I actually use that are of great quality that I can pass along suggestions to you.

French Chocolate Bark

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Is everyone ready for Christmas?  

I'm as ready as I'm going to get this year.  Our tree's been up for a week or so, the presents are wrapped, the outside is decorated with lights, and the menu is planned....sort of!

So Monday night I made several batches of goodies for MGG to take to work and share with his staff of about 80 guys.  I usually make "The Fudge" which is the original type that you boil, but this year I made a quicker, faster, take on fudge.  I'll share that with you next.  I also made a chocolate bark.  I LOVE bark.  It's easy to make, you can add all sorts of toppings, and make a different flavor variation every time.  

FRENCH CHOCOLATE BARK

I just happened to be watching the Food Network on Sunday and watched Ina Garten (The Barefoot Contessa) make a French Chocolate Bark.  Her version had a sweet salty thing going on with nuts and dried fruit PLUS it had TWO TYPES OF CHOCOLATE!  I new that was the bark I wanted to make this year.  Boy, the flavors did not disappoint!  What a heavenly combination.  Dried apricots, cranberries, and dried cranberries top a mixture of dark and semi-sweet chocolate.  Deep and rich with sweet, tart, and crunchy bites!  WOW!

So after taking a test taste, or two...I promptly stashed some of the bark for us, and packed the rest for the work crew.  It came out perfect, was really easy to make, and was the hit of the holiday treats.

Enjoy!!

French Chocolate Bark

adapted from Ina Garten's French Chocolate Bark

8 ounces very good semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
8 ounces very good bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup whole salted, roasted cashews
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup dried apricots, roughly chopped

Place the semisweet chocolate and the bittersweet chocolate in a glass heatproof bowl over simmering water and stir with a rubber spatula constantly, until melted. Line a sheetpan with parchment paper.

Pour the melted chocolate onto the parchment paper and spread it lightly into a 9x10" rectangle. Sprinkle the cashews, apricots, and cranberries over the chocolate. Set for 2 hours or until firm. Break bark into pieces and serve.

Ultimate Chocolate Walnut Fudge

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Let's talk fudge!

There are so many versions out there such as peanut butter, rocky road, chocolate chip mint, and even snickerdoodle, but today I want to talk about a classic.

Ultimate Chocolate Walnut Fudge is a classic marshmallow fudge with chocolaty, nutty goodness!  This is the original Kraft Fantasy Fudge that your grandmothers and their grandmother's before used to make.  My mom made it every Christmas and I make it as well!

This technique combines the sugar, butter, and milk and boils it to a candy state.  This part is key to the success of making this fudge set up correctly.  (don't skip this!)  Other more modern versions of fudge making include using a sweetened condensed milk and they doesn't call for boiling the mixture.  These are good and all but I really want that "old fashioned" true version of fudge.  I brings back good memories, and food is about memories right?

This fudge isn't done lickety split, but is well worth the wait.  Once you've boiled the mixture, added in the chocolate and nuts you need to pour it out and let it set.  Please try to control your temptation to stick your finger in it and lick off a big chunk.  The fudge needs a good while to set up perfectly.

Once it's done, HEAVEN!  You guys have to make this version of the Ultimate Chocolate Walnut Fudge now.  Pick up the ingredients soon, and I promise you that you'll want to make this time and time again.  Perfect for giving as a gift, or not....!  This makes a lot so there's enough for friends and family.

Enjoy!






Ultimate Chocolate Walnut Fudge

source:   Kraft's Fantasy Fudge

3 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter or margarine
1 small can (5 oz.) evaporated milk (about 2/3 cup) (Do not use sweetened condensed milk.)
3 pkg. (4 oz. each) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, chopped
1 jar (7 oz.) JET-PUFFED Marshmallow Creme 

1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 tsp. vanilla

Line a 9x11" pan with foil or parchment paper, with ends  extending over the sides. 

Bring sugar, butter and evaporated milk to full rolling boil in 3-qt. saucepan on medium heat, stirring constantly. Cook 4 min. or until candy thermometer reaches 234°F, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

Add chocolate and marshmallow creme; stir until melted. Add nuts and vanilla; mix well.

Pour into prepared pan; spread to cover bottom of pan. Cool completely. Use extended paper/handles to lift fudge from pan before cutting into squares.

Banana Cinnamon Nutella Swirl Muffins

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Who needs a different variety of muffin?  I do!  I do!

How about a breakfast you can eat in bed, or on the go!

MGG and I snuck away for a long weekend not long ago and stayed at a wonderful little boutique hotel in Santa Barbara.  We just love this town and I have to tell you what impressed me quite a bit was the welcome basket full of baked goodies.  There were fresh chocolate chip and snickerdoodle cookies (who can resist that!) that were scrumptious.  They also gave us a few croissants, and some banana chocolate swirled muffins.

Those muffins were so moist and delicious they are definitely the inspiration for today's recipe.

BANANA CINNAMON NUTELLA SWIRL MUFFINS

So over the weekend I tried my hand at a combination of banana and chocolate using my basic muffin recipe.  Bananas always add great flavor and moistness to muffins and then adding Nutella as a swirl into the muffins just seemed necessary.  Let me tell you...they were easy and tasty!  Hot from the oven these mouthwatering, fluffy, and seductive (yes, I said seductive...) muffins should probably be hidden if you want to save some for yourself, because they will be gone once your family smells them!  After one bite, it's all over!

Can't wait to go back to Santa Barbara and get some more inspiration.
Enjoy!





Banana Cinnamon Nutella Swirl Muffins

Makes 6 muffins


1 1/2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 egg
1/4 cup canola oil
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Nutella

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray a 6 well muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large blow mash your bananas.  Add the egg, oil, milk, and vanilla.  Stir until combined.  Add flour, both sugars, baking powder and soda, salt, and cinnamon.  Stir just until combined.

Divide batter among 6 muffin tins that have been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.  Add 1 tsp of Nutella to the top of each muffin.  Using a toothpick drag the Nutella through the batter to swirl. 

Bake at 400 degrees for 20-22 minutes.

Old Fashioned Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Who ever said "Old Fashioned" is out of style is soooooo wrong!

Take a look around you.  Have you noticed clothing from the 70's lately?  Embroidered jeans anyone?  Haha! Even the colored hair that was so a punk rock style of the 80's is back in fashion.  I've been there, done that, but I still love it!  So what's old is also new.  Especially in the case of Old Fashioned Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies.

So times you just crave the things you grew up with.  Which led me to Mom's recipe box.  She has a box overflowing with recipes from the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's, and I have them all!  Sifting through that box brings back so many precious memories of my mom cooking, and all of my relatives as well.  It is such a treasure to pull out a recipe that's in her handwriting and smudged from cooking.  I can't tell you how many special moments we've had over the years cooking, but making a recipe of hers just brings her back as if we are doing it together again.

OLD FASHIONED OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

I'm not sure where she got this recipe from originally, but the card is pretty worn.  I do recall Mom making these cookies throughout the years so I was glad I ran across it.

Do you remember eating Oatmeal cookies growing up?  What makes these special is that they have mini chocolate chips inside.  The recipe called for regular chocolate chips but I thought the mini ones would be just a great hint of chocolate.  The cookie is slightly crispy on the edges, and chewy in the center, which I just love.  The oats give texture and the bits of chocolate make them a little decadent.  They keep well for several days but try and stop at one cookie!  They'll be gone before you know it.

Remember, "old fashioned" is new.  Try these cookies!

Enjoy!





Old Fashioned Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

make 4 dozen cookies


1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
3 cups oats
1 cup mini chocolate chips 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, add the two sugars and butter.  Using a hand or stand mixer, cream the ingredients together until smooth.  Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition.  Add the vanilla and mix until blended.  Add in the flour and baking soda and mix until combined.  Stir in the oats and the mini chocolate chips.   

Using a cookie scoop, scoop the batter and place it on a cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.  Bake 10-12 minutes, until they are light golden brown.  Remove from the oven and allow to sit 1 minute.  Remove from the pan to a wire rack to cool.