No-bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

 

No-bake chocolate oatmeal cookies. Sounds unassuming, right? Maybe even sounds a touch healthy. But these little gems just melt in your mouth and taste absolutely amazing. I'm not even sure where I got the recipe. Many moons ago, I got a similar recipe from my high school English teacher who had made something she called boiled cookies. It is a very similar recipe, but just slightly different. Here's the card I filled out at least 30 years ago... and this one has definitely survived the test of time. If you've never tried them, you'll want to hurry to the store for the ingredients, because they are so worth it!

2 cups sugar (400 grams)
1 1/2 Tbsp cocoa
4 ounces evaporated milk (1/2 cup)
4 ounces unsalted butter (1/2 cup or 1 stick)
1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (180 grams)

3 cups oatmeal

I rarely ever make a single batch of these cookies, so you will see that my measurements look rather large. I made a quadruple batch in these photos.

In a pot large enough for your ingredients, combine the sugar, cocoa, butter, and evaporated milk and turn heat to medium-high. 

While that begins to heat up, measure out the vanilla, peanut butter, and oats to ensure a smooth and swift mixing process. You will also want to lay out parchment paper on several baking sheets or your counter. I normally just use the kitchen counter.

Bring the cocoa mixture to a roiling boil, stirring frequently. Not a light bubbling boil, but you want the mixture twisting and turning and bubbling everywhere. 

Add the vanilla and peanut butter and stir until smooth and creamy and you no longer see ribbons of peanut butter.

Stir in the oats and ensure they are disbursed throughout the mixture evenly.

Use a cookie scoop to make your cookies consistent and evenly sized. The scoop also makes it easier to get through the mixture before it cools and hardens. And you will want to move quickly. Once the mixture cools, you're just going to get crumbs - not cookies.

Let the cookies cool at least 30 minutes before trying to move them. Once you're able to pick them up, store the cookies, minus what you eat while packing them, in a sealed container. These will last for a couple of weeks if stored properly.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

 

Have you ever heard of or had caramel cream cheese frosting? No? You don't know what you're missing. Everyone should have this in their life. Every... one... and often. This little creation is very likely one of my best, and I'd bet money that if you like coffee flavor, carmel, pecans and chocolate, then you will LOVE this cupcake. One of my coworkers said it was the best cupcake he'd ever had, while another said that if I was ever able to enter a cupcake contest, then I needed to enter this one!

Back in October on our anniversary trip, my husband and I visited a number of small-batch distilleries in Tennessee and Kentucky. It was a fun trip. We got to sample many different types of alcohol and see how these small distilleries created their concoctions. We found several we enjoyed and purchased them for our collection. One of those gems we found was a liqueur from Nelson's Greenbrier Distillery in Nashville. It's called Louisa's and it has a coffee, caramel and pecan flavor. And it is amazing. I've used it in brownies; I made a frosting with it - which came out delicious; and then I decided to make a treat around those flavors so I could use it again. What you will read is the result! Fluffy, moist flavorful chocolate cake baked with Louisa's liqueur and caramel cream cheese frosting topped with toasted pecans. The only thing I may try to add next time is a little drizzle of caramel sauce. I bet it will look beautiful and taste amazing!

Cake

2 cups sugar
1 cup cocoa powder 
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp instant espresso
1 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup oil (vegetable works fine, but I use olive)
1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup Nelson's Greenbrier Distillery's Louisa's liqueur
1/4 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350. Line 24 muffin tins with liners. If you want to make this a cake, grease and flour two or three 9-inch round pans depending on how many layers you want, and then place parchment paper in the bottom of your pans. 

To make the best cake you can, unless you want this in your cake batter:

You must sift the dry ingredients: flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, espresso and salt, together into the bowl of your stand mixer.

In a separate container, a glass bowl or large measuring cup, mix the oil, buttermilk, eggs and vanilla, and whisk to combine.

Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with the mixer on low speed. Then increase speed to medium and mix for 2 minutes.

Combine the 1/4 cup boiled water and the 1/2 cup of Louisa's liqueur in a container. I use the same container as my wet ingredients to wash out any of the oil or buttermilk left. 

Scrape sides of the mixer and then slowly pour in the water/Louisa's with the mixer on low speed. Increase speed to medium for 20 seconds, and then increase to medium-high for 40 seconds to add some more air to the batter.

Use an ice cream scoop to portion the batter into 24 muffin tins.

Bake 14-18 mins until a toothpick inserted in the center of one of the inside cupcakes come out clean.

Frosting

8 oz. softened cream cheese (full fat version)

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup caramel ice cream topping

2 tsp pure vanilla bean paste

1/4 tsp salt

6 cups powdered sugar

1-1 1/2 cup toasted diced pecans

While the cupcakes are baking, put the diced pecans in a medium-sized skillet and toast over medium heat until slightly darkened and fragrant. Stir them often to avoid burning them.

Cream the butter and cream cheese in your stand mixer with the whisk attachment until smooth.

Add caramel topping and vanilla and whisk until combined and smooth.

Add powdered sugar and salt and whisk on medium speed until combined, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl. Once combined, turn the speed up to high and whisk for a minute or so until fluffy. Don't overmix or you could make the cream cheese runny. If you want to up the decadence of these cupcakes, core them out and add some of the frosting in the center before frosting the cupcakes.

Then, frost the cupcakes. You can go old school and use a knife, or use a disposable bag and a tip for a beautiful frosting mound that looks professional. Then dip the top of each cupcake lightly into the toasted pecans. The pecans, in addition to the wonderful flavor they impart, help to keep the cupcakes from being too sweet - I mean, caramel cream cheese frosting. Come on! Then enjoy and share these with those you love. They will be very grateful.

Chocolate White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Again with the chocolate. I know. I have a problem. But it is such a delicious problem. It's double chocolate. Chocolate cookies with white chocolate chips... oh my! I'll take chocolate in nearly every concoction conceivable. I search for chocolate recipes to try. This one here though, I didn't have to search for. This recipe I bought and brought right into my home. Years ago, this recipe used to be on the back of Nestle's white chocolate chips, but then they replaced it. It was so good that I searched for it so that I could make them again. Here's Nestle's recipe: White Chip Chocolate Cookies. These cookies are amazing. They are so soft and the texture is almost like a brownie, but the white chocolate add a wonderful flavor. The only improvement I made to the original recipe is some instant espresso to intensify the chocolate flavor.

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2-1 tsp instant espresso
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
12-oz. pkg. white chocolate chips



Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, espresso, and salt.



Beat butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar in large mixer bowl until creamy.



Add eggs and vanilla extract; mix well.



Gradually beat in flour mixture.



Stir in morsels.



Use a 1-inch or 1.5-inch cookie scoop to portion cookies onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet.



Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until centers are just set. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. These cookies will be very soft for a while, but they set more as the cool, so do not overcook them.

Mounds Cake

Oh. My. Gosh. This cake was soooooo very decadent. Just pure chocolatey, coconutty, delicious decadence. I ran across the recipe for Mounds Layer Cake on Pinterest, and it looked like something my daughter would love, so I pinned it. It's not exactly a simple cake to make, but it's definitely worth the work. The cake had so much delicious chocolate flavor that it's difficult to describe. It was so moist and just... delicious. If you like Mounds bars and coconut, then you definitely need to try this cake the next time you have friends or family over for dinner.

Filling

14 oz bag sweetened, shredded coconut
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Filling: In a large bowl, combine coconut and sweetened condensed milk. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Cake

2 cups sugar
1 cup Dutch Process Cocoa Powder (I used Hershey's Special Dark)
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour three 9-inch round pans. It's a good idea to use parchment paper in the bottom on your pans, but not required. If you only have two pans, just fill one pan a little more than the other. You will split the taller cake in half.

Cake: In the bowl of your mixer, combine sugar, cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. 

Add eggs, oil, and buttermilk and beat on medium speed for two minutes.

 

Scrape sides of bowl and stir in boiling water. Divide batter into cake pans (batter will be thin) and bake for 30 minutes or until tops spring back until lightly touched. Allow cakes to cool in pans for about 5 minutes, then remove to cooling racks to cool completely.

Ganache

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup light corn syrup (you can use honey if you are opposed to corn syrup)

Ganache: While cake bakes, in a microwave safe bowl, combine chocolate chips and heavy cream. Microwave for about 2 minutes, stopping every 30 seconds to stir until smooth. 

Stir in corn syrup and refrigerate until slightly cooled and thickened.

Frosting
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, slightly softened
1/3 cup cream of coconut (I buy this in a squeeze bottle with the drink mixers)
1/4 cup heavy cream
3 cups powdered sugar

Frosting: While cake bakes, in the bowl of your mixer, beat butter, cream of coconut, and heavy cream on medium speed until smooth. With the mixer set on low, slowly add powdered sugar. Once the powdered sugar is just barely mixed in, increase speed to high and beat for one minute until fluffy.

Spread coconut filling between 3 layers. 

Frost with coconut frosting.

Spoon ganache on top to the very edges of the cake, letting it drip down the sides.

 

Garnish with a scoop of coconut filling if desired. Let ganache set, and then prepare for a bite of heaven.