I’m a pastor’s wife.It is because of this minor life-detail that I can spiritually justify eating this brownie. Because I know…I know that my body has to forgive me, just as God has forgiven me of all the sins I’ve committed in my life. Granted, my body is not the Alpha and the Omega; still, I hope it’ll let this one slide. And because I haven’t read one health article regarding acceptable “cheat” foods that doesn’t include dark chocolate.
So there. Eat and be blessed.
Ingredients:
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cups 100% dark cocoa (I used Hershey’s Special Dark)
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ tablespoon vanilla extract ¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup dark chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°.
Lightly grease a 8″ x 8″ pan.
Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat and remove from heat.
Add sugar and stir in slowly to combine.
Return the butter mixture to the heat just until it’s hot, but not boiling.
In a smaller bowl, crack the eggs and combine them with the cocoa, salt, baking powder, and vanilla until smooth.
Stir the hot mixture into the egg mixture until smooth.
Stir in the flour and chocolate or chips until just combined.
Pour the batter into a lightly greased 8″ x 8″ pan and bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean.
I'm not going to try and act like this is some family recipe that my grandma wrote out and gave to me as some special family heirloom to hold on for years to come. If I'm being honest, I hit Google, trying to stifle the nerves that were building inside of me.
Chocolate souffle? Really?? I'm a burrito and lasagna kind of girl. But when Valentine's Day came around, I knew I had to step up my game.
I searched high and low for the easiest chocolate souffle recipe I could find. Being a newby, I was looking for simplicity. I came across this recipe by Curtis Stone, and it really was as easy as he said it was. This particular recipe is for two souffles, but the wonderful thing about this website is that you can change the amount of people you want it to serve, and it updates the ingredient list. I watched his step-by-step video, which was extremely helpful since it was my first time making this, and I would highly recommend doing the same if you're a scaredy cat like me.
And you didn't hear it from me, but he's not bad to look at.
I love you, honey.
I'm still going to copy his recipe and directions here, but like I said, I can't take credit for it. Enjoy!
1 3/10 ounces high-quality dark chocolate (62 to 70% cacao)
1/6 cup cold water
1/10 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Coat the interiors of six 7.75-ounce soufflé dishes completely with some of the butter. Refrigerate until the butter is cold and set about 2 minutes. Brush a second coating of butter over the interiors of the dishes. Coat the interiors completely with sugar. Place the dishes on a baking sheet.
Using an electric mixer beat the egg whites in a large bowl until they are foamy. Gradually beat in 1/3 cup of sugar. Continue beating until the egg whites are shiny and form medium-soft peaks when the beaters are lifted.
Meanwhile stir the chopped chocolate in a large bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat. Add the water and cocoa powder and mix until smooth. Fold a fourth of the egg white mixture into the chocolate mixture. Fold in the remaining egg white mixture (the mixture will resemble chocolate mousse).
Divide the soufflé batter equally among the prepared soufflé dishes. Using a large knife level the filling flush to the top of the dishes. Using a clean cloth wipe the very top edges of the dishes.
Bake the soufflés on the baking sheet until they puff but are still moist in the center about 12 minutes. Serve immediately.
This was my first ever experience eating a chocolate souffle, and it was just as good as you'd guess. My husband, whose whole life is on a diet, ate his entire souffle.
P.S. Please forgive the awful photo. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to take a decent picture by candle light with your husband trying to get a "thumbs up" in there. My life is complicated.
There were 5 other lovely ladies there who made fantastic cookies, and yes, they did "follow the rules" and make Christmas-themed cookies. I, on the other hand, am rebellious and pushed the limits.
Is there anything Christmas-y about my cookies? No. But man, were they good.
My apologies-I'm bragging. Let's just get on with it. This is so easy. It's easier than any other cookie recipe I've ever tried (literally). It's just a few basic ingredients, and they'll be a huge hit.
Here we go.
Ingredients:
1 8 oz. block of cream cheese, room temperature
1 stick butter, at room temperature
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (18-ounce) box moist chocolate cake mix
Powdered sugar
Directions:
Throw the block of softened cream cheese in a mixing bowl.
Add the stick of butter. Doesn't this have the makings of a healthy, nutritious dessert?)
Mix it up. A friend of mine at work made these cookies after I brought her some to taste, and she tried to mix it by hand. BIG mistake. Do yourself a favor and use an electric mixer.
Unless you want guns like this. Ow ow.
Add an egg
Add the vanilla
Mix it up.
Add the chocolate cake mix and mix it up. It should come out as a very thick, rich texture. Go ahead and eat a few spoonfuls. I won't tell.
You'll need to refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes; preferably an hour or two. When it's chilled, it's easier to roll into balls.
Once it's been refrigerated, roll them into little balls.
Pour some powdered sugar into a separate bowl.
Cover each ball completely
Put them on a non-stick pan about an inch apart.
Bake them at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. They are supposed to be gooey, so if they're still soft when you pull them out of the oven, that's a good thing. And the cracked look is how it's supposed to be.
And that's that, folks! Make these...they're insanely good.
