Chocolate Chia Pudding

1 can of reduced fat coconut milk (Trader Joe's brand, about 2 cups even though the can says it's about 6 1/4-cup servings)
1/2 cup chia seeds
~3 TBS granulated sugar
splash vanilla extract
dash of salt
1/4 cup cocoa powder (plus a little more?)

I used an immersion blender to blend everything well before adding the chia seeds, and I'm letting it sit at room temperature for a bit to set before refrigerating because coconut milk solidifies in the fridge and I imagine that chia seeds can't absorb solid coconut milk.

Verdict: tasty, but didn't taste like what I wanted, which was...honestly probably chocolate soy milk. Which is an unfair expectation of coconut chia pudding. 

Chocolate Bundt Cake

Modified from here

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces butter (2 sticks)
• 1/2 3/4?-1 cup Dutch process cocoa (I used regular, TJ's)
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 cups granulated sugar (I used slightly less, maybe 2-3 tbs less?)
• 1 cup sour cream I used the top of TJ's French Cream Line yogurt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, stir before measuring
• 1 teaspoon baking soda (+ 1/2 tsp, + 1/8 to every 3 TBS of extra non-Dutched cocoa)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preparation:

Grease and flour a 10- to 12-cup Bundt pan with Baker's Joy or another flour+grease spray. (Seriously, that stuff is magic for bundt cakes.) Heat oven to 350°. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat; add cocoa, stirring until smooth. Whisk in the water and remove from heat. To the warm cocoa mixture, add the sugar, sour cream, 1 tablespoon vanilla, and eggs; whisk until smooth. In another bowl combine the flour, soda, and salt. Add all at once to the first mixture, whisking until well blended.
Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until it feels firm to the touch and has slightly pulled away from the sides of the pan. Cool in pan on a rack for 20 minutes. Carefully loosen the cake with a knife and invert onto a large plate.

NOTES: the extra cocoa was good. The yogurt seems fine, it seems moist enough. I wasn't sure it was mixed all the way at the end--it felt like there were what were either bubbles or tiny lumps of flour, but it was fine. I think I actually cooked it for close to 45 minutes and it was fine, not dry.)


*If you're using a standard baking cocoa (not Dutch-process or high-quality) add 1/2 teaspoon more of baking soda to the dry ingredients.

chocolate chip cookies w/ oat flour

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/3? cup white sugar

^cream

1 1/4 cups white flour
1 cup oat flour
3/4 tsp (?) baking soda
too much salt (next time: 1/2 tsp? or get a goddamn measuring spoon.)
^mix really well

add 2 eggs and 2ish tsp of vanilla to butter mixture. beat til creamy. stir in flour mixture. add about 3/4 of a package of chocolate chips. Chill, perhaps. Bake at 350 degrees for some amount of time more than 10 minutes, on parchment paper. Perhaps add slightly more flour next time. Or chill longer. Or just stop spazzing out about the quality of homemade baked goods because any cookie is a good cookie.

almond brownies

Adapted from http://www.carascravings.com/2010/03/pps-best-brownies-ever.html

1 cup butter (salted)
8 oz unsweetened chocolate
~2 cups sugar
2 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
scant 1/2 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
1.5 cups almond meal

Melt butter and chocolate on stove. Stir in extracts and sugar. Let cool slightly. Add egg and baking powder. Stir well. Stir in almond meal. Spread into greased square (8x8?) pan and bake at 325.

We'll see what happens...

(white) whole wheat brownies

I'm going to try these: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/tasting-is-believing-whole-grain-brownies-recipe

1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter
2 cups light brown sugar
several (6?) Trader Joes unsweetened chocolate baking disks, broken into pieces
3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon espresso powder, optional but recommended
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups White Whole Wheat Flour

It promises the shiny top crust, which I'm a big fan of.

Notes:
-omitted salt because I used salted butter
-used 1.5 c light brown sugar + 0.5c white sugar
-threw some trade joes unsweetened baking chocolate disks in with the melting butter because I wanted to use 'em up and because I wasn't sure how potent/fresh my cocoa powder was.
-sprayed the hell out of the pan with baking spray because I'm tired of having to chisel brownies out
-oven stayed at a pretty consistent 350 this time, miracle of miracles
-they rose a good bit, seem to have baked pretty evenly, and the toothpick came out clean after just 25 minutes, so I pulled them out of the oven.
-they're kind of cakey, and came out of the pan very easily - but maybe because of all the baking spray



Next on the roster is almond-meal-based brownies. My housemate brought one home from Whole Foods and it was pretty tasty. If I had a food processor I'd do this: http://www.hanneblank.com/blog/2011/04/22/elemental-chocolate-almond-cake/

placemarker

I made these a while ago:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Best-Cocoa-Brownies-108346

They were tasty and very rich and fudgy but hard to get out of the pan. I put them in a 9x13 instead of an 8x8.

3/11/17: made these again, in an 8x8, and they were good again.  I melted the butter + sugar + cocoa powder in the microwave in a glass bowl instead for convenience - I really did get it quite hot, stirring in between bouts of microwaving - and let it cool,eventually transferring to a metal bowl to help it cool faster.

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

I used to make chocolate crinkle cookies when I was in high school, using a modification of a recipe I'd found in a cookbook from the library. I *think* it was Better Homes and Gardens' Cookies, Cookies, Cookies.

The recipe I used is still somewhere in my mom's kitchen, written out in purple pen on a 4x6 index card, but she hasn't had time to look for it. I remember it had 4 eggs, oil rather than butter or shortening, and that it called for squares of unsweetened chocolate, which I replaced with cocoa powder and oil because melting chocolate and then letting it cool to the right temperature for $recipe is a pain.

At any rate, I just googled a bit and there's a recipe floating around on the 'net that's probably the same one, so I'm putting it here for safekeeping 'til I try it out. It's not a hot weather recipe because if it's hot the powdered sugar will dissolve into the dough and you won't get the gorgeous contrast between clean white powdery powdered sugar and the deep brown cracks of chocolate cookie.

1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 squares of unsweetened chocolate, melted sub 3 TBS cocoa powder + 1 TBS oil for each, so 12TBS (3/4 c) cocoa & 1/4 c oil
2 cups granulated sugar (some places on the net say 1 3/4)
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup a lot of powdered sugar

In a large bowl, combine eggs, granulated sugar, cocoa, oil, baking powder, salt, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until combined, scraping side of bowl occasionally. [I actually do this with a fork instead.] Gradually beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer [or stir with a fork.] Using a wooden spoon [or a fork], stir in any remaining flour. Divide dough in half [or don't...this just makes it easier to keep one half chilled while you're assembling the rest into cookies later.] Cover and chill for 2 to 24 hours or until dough is easy to handle.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a large cookie sheet; set aside. Set up a bowl with lots of powdered sugar.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls and drop them into the powdered sugar, rolling around to coat. I try to touch them as little as possible (try shaking the bowl) so that the heat from my hands doesn't work the powdered sugar into the dough. Place balls 1 inch apart on prepared cookie sheet. You will probably need to put the dough back into the fridge in between assembling each sheet's worth of cookies. The should look like this.

Bake in the preheated oven about 8 minutes or until edges are set and tops are dry. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; let cool. (Cookies will deflate slightly upon cooling.) These are definitely something you're "underbaking," or so it feels.

NOTES:
1) you will probably need to put the dough in the freezer, not just the fridge, for a bit
2) don't assemble the cookies in the kitchen, it'll be too hot. Dining room table is good.
3) parchment paper is awesome for these.

yet another brownie recipe

I still don't have a hand mixer. Until I do...brownies!

I found the recipe in Bon Appetit (February 2011 issue). They were pretty good, very dense and chocolately, but I kind of messed up in following the recipe exactly.
-------------------

Ingredients

• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder (spooned into cup to measure, then leveled)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, chilled
• 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 cup walnut pieces

Preparation

• Position rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 325°F. Line 8x8x2-inch metal baking pan with foil, pressing foil firmly against pan sides and leaving 2-inch overhang. Coat foil with nonstick spray. Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Continue cooking until butter stops foaming and browned bits form at bottom of pan, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; immediately add sugar, cocoa, 2 teaspoons water, vanilla, and 1/4 teaspoon (generous) salt. Stir to blend. Let cool 5 minutes (mixture will still be hot). Add eggs to hot mixture 1 at a time, beating vigorously to blend after each addition. When mixture looks thick and shiny, add flour and stir until blended. Beat vigorously 60 strokes. Stir in nuts. Transfer batter to prepared pan.
• Bake brownies until toothpick inserted into center comes out almost clean (with a few moist crumbs attached), about 25 minutes. Cool in pan on rack. Using foil overhang, lift brownies from pan. Cut into 4 strips. Cut each strip crosswise into 4 brownies. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

aaand a post-mortem:
1. In a sudden fit of laziness, I measured the cocoa powder the wrong way - put the 3/4 c scoop (yes, we have one for that specific amount) into the jar of cocoa and leveled it off and dumped it in, without thinking. I was pretty sure this made it too bitter, so I added more sugar (maybe 1/4 or 1/3 cup.)
2. I used salted butter and did not add any extra salt
3. Melting the butter was weird. I got to the 5-minute mark and there were all sorts of different stages and kinds of foam, but it never *stopped* foaming, and I never saw brown bits on the bottom. Eventually, somewhere around 6-7 minutes, I felt it stick to the bottom a tad, and it started to smell different (maybe like browned butter), so I pulled it off the stove.
4. I didn't do the aluminum foil business; that seems wasteful. I just greased the pan with a mixture of butter and canola oil.
5. My fucked-up oven wasn't quite at 325 when I put them in (it had been, and then it randomly cooled itself off). It was at 325 about 10 minutes later. So I left them in the oven for between 30 and 35 minutes.

2nd post-mortem, 6/19/2011:
1. Browning butter is definitely weird and tricky. I think I let it go too long and noticed brown particles - wasn't sure if it was *burnt* or just browned, so I started over with new butter. Next time: read better instructions for browning butter.
2. I gave in and lined the pan. Definitely easier to get them out of the pan this way.
3. There was that nice flaky crust on part of the tray, not all of it.
4. They're not as thick/high as last time, oddly, especially since last time they seemed pretty solid.
5. Still needed 30-35 minutes and they don't seem dried out, but my oven was on crack again and the temp was inconsistent. Are all ovens so all-over-the-place or do I only notice it now that I have a good thermometer? It is a mystery.
6. Tasty. Oh yes.

another brownie recipe

I just made these using "pastry flour" (white, not whole wheat) from the bulk bins at Whole Foods (instead of cake flour) and the discs of unsweetened chocolate from Trader Joe (I used 38 of the discs.) I used salted butter and didn't add any additional salt, and I'm trying to keep the oven temp pretty exact, courtesy of my new thermometer. I didn't do the aluminum foil deal, I just greased a regular 9x13 with a mixture of butter and oil (because the only pan spray around here is faux-butter-flavored, ugh) and put the batter directly into it. To be updated when I see how they turn out...which is certainly not going to be after the two-hour waiting period suggested by the recipe.


Aaand they're done. Notes:
1) my oven's temperature fluctuates like crazy in a way that can't really be explained by heat loss from opening the door
2) these took 35ish minutes before I felt they wouldn't be too gooey in the center. But given (1), who knows how this would be in another oven.
3) I need to buy wooden toothpicks.
4) Butter + canola oil is fine for greasing a pan, at least for brownies and blondies. I think butter was fine when I made banana bread, too. Supposedly the water content is a problem, but in practice it's been fine. Project "I am too cheap and lazy to buy regular non-stick spray" is a continued success.

Chocolate Dump Cake/Wacky Cake

Some people mix this in the (ungreased) baking pan. I think it's a pretty fast, easy recipe even if you use a separate bowl, and I think the tiny additional effort is worthwhile.

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup cocoa

3/4 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla
2 TBS vinegar
2 cups water

Combine dry ingredients. Add in wet ingredients, mix well, dump into greased 9x13 pan and bake for 40-50 minutes (or until done) at 350°F.