Homemade Holiday Truffles

Whether they're a co-worker, your child's favorite teacher, a neighbor across the street or your go-to dry cleaner, everyone deserves a little a holiday cheer and what says cheer better than homemade truffles??

Sunday afternoon I spent the day with my mother making chocolates for Christmas gifts. 

We talked about friends and family and gossiped over the latest Real Housewives, all the while filling candy molds with melting chocolates and whipping up different varieties of fillings.

It's afternoons like this that I'm extremely thankful to be so close to home, especially around the holidays. 

Not only are these truffles extremely easy to make, they're absolutely delicious and make for a perfect gift.

All you need are some flavor boosters including liquors, wine, peanut butter and different flavored chips...

melting chocolates, whole bunch of chocolate chips, heavy cream, a paint brush, some candy melt bottles and candy molds (all bought at your local Michaels).

I wish I would have taken some pictures of the process, but I left my camera on the counter as I rushed out of our house on my way to my moms so all the photos are from my iphone. It's pretty easy though and hopefully this tutorial will do the trick!

First thing you have to do is make your fillings... I started with a basic ganache and then added the flavor boosters. Make sure you add your flavors at the end of the process or your ganache will separate and it will not be pretty or tasty for that matter.

Ganache

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup heavy cream

3 TBS butter

Flavor boosters

1/4 cup liquor 

1/2 cup sweet red wine

2 heaping spoonfuls of peanut butter

In a small saucepan, heat 1/4 cup of water till boiling- you'll be using this for a double boiler.
Place chocolate chips in a large, heatproof bowl.
In a medium saucepan, heat heavy cream over medium heat until just simmering. *You don't want your cream to boil so make sure you keep stirring and really watch it.
Pour heavy cream over chocolate chips and mix gently so cream starts to melt the chocolate.
Move bowl on top of boiling water and stir until chips are completely melted and mixture is smooth.
Stir in butter and mix until mixture is smooth and butter is completely melted.
Slowly add in flavor booster- stirring until combined. (If you just wanted chocolate truffles, you don't have to add a flavor booster)
Place bowl in fridge and allow to set for at least 15 minutes before using.

Meanwhile, start to prepare candy molds.
In a small bowl, melt half bag of dark chocolate candy melts in microwave as directed on back of bag.
Using the paintbrush, coat the inside of the mold with layer of melted candy melts. *Make sure there are no holes and that when you look at the filled molds from the bottom you can't see through the chocolate.
Place coated molds in the freezer to set. Repeat with remaining molds.
Candy melts cool very fast so you have to act quickly- if your melts start to re-harden just pop them back in the microwave for about 30 seconds.

Transfer cooled ganache to candy melt bottle.
Add remaining candy melts to other bottle and heat in microwave just as you did the first batch.
Knead bottle once completely heated to ensure smoothness.
Remove mold from freezer and squeeze ganache into each mold, leaving enough space at the top to cover with a layer of melted candy melts. Knock on counter a few times to eliminate air bubbles.
Using other bottle, squeeze layer of candy melts over ganache, covering completely- knock on counter a few times to smooth layer.
Once all molds are filled and covered, pop back in the freezer to set for about 10 minutes.
Carefully flip candies out onto a kitchen towel.

Repeat process as many times as necessary.


My mom and I made 4 different kinds of chocolates- Irish Cream, peanut butter-chocolate, red wine and mint (we used Andes flavored chocolate chips in place of the semi-sweet). It took us all afternoon, but it was well worth it!

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Truffles

Chocolate Mint Truffles

Red Wine Chocolate Truffles

What are you making for gifts this year??

Happy Baking!

Peanut Butter Cup Surprise Cupcakes

Peanut butter and chocolate: is there any better combination?

If you're hesitating with the answer you're wrong...the answer is no.

Peanut butter and chocolate is and always will be, hands down, the best combo in the world.

I know, I know... It's a bold statement, but you can't fight the truth people.

One of the guys at the office had a birthday a few weeks ago and being a huge fan of the dynamic duo, I knew what had to be done.

Last year I made him an ultra rich Chocolate & Peanut Butter Overload Cake, so this year I mixed it up a little and made cupcakes.

I used my Dark Chocolate Cake recipe (which also happens to be my favorite) filled each with a peanut butter cup surprise and topped 'em with some delicious Peanut Butter Buttercream (recipe below).

Peanut Butter Buttercream
1 stick butter
1 cup peanut butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
*possibly some milk or cream if its too thick

In a large bowl beat butter and peanut butter until smooth and creamy.
Slowly add powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth and creamy.

Cupcake Construction

Whip up your favorite chocolate cake recipe.

Prepare cupcake pan with liners and unwrap all your mini peanut butter cups.

Place one peanut butter cup in the bottom of each cupcake liner.

Using an ice cream scoop, fill each cupcake and transfer to oven to bake for required time.

Allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

In the mean time, make your peanut butter buttercream.

Once cupcakes have cooled, pipe a good helping of buttercream on each cupcake.

Enjoy!

Happy Baking!

Peanut Butter Chocolate & Potato Chip Cookies

It's crazy right?

Potato chips in cookies!?

If you love that salty and sweet combination anywhere as much as I do then you'll really enjoy these cookies. After devouring a few, I actually wish I would have put more potato chips in them!

The idea came to me from a number of different avenues...

Remember when I used to work at The Sweet Factory? Well, they sold chocolate covered potato chips there and to be honest, they were surprisingly quite amazing.

A have I ever told you about how much I used to love crushing my potato chips and sprinkling them in my peanut butter sandwich? (Before you call me crazy I highly suggest you at least try it)

And of course, everyone knows the combination of peanut butter and chocolate is a no-brainer.

So if you're following my crazy logic you can plainly see it's a simple "if-then" equation:

If chocolate + potato chips = fantastic,
and peanut butter + potato chips = phenomenal,
and chocolate + peanut butter = amazing,
then chocolate + peanut butter + potato chips = fantastically & phenomenally amazing

Peanut Butter Chocolate & Potato Chip Cookies
Recipe adapted from allrecipes: tried & true favorites
Oven: 375 Bake time: 15 minutes
Makes 2 dozen cookies

1/2 cup peanut butter, warmed in the microwave for 10 seconds
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 TBS honey
2 TBS water
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups AP flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup crushed potato chips *if really craving salty increase to 1/2 cup
2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, cream peanut butter, butter, brown sugar and white sugar until smooth.
Beat in eggs one at a time, incorporating after each addition.
Stir in honey, water and vanilla.
Stir flour and baking soda into peanut butter mixture and mix until smooth.
Fold in crushed potato chips and chocolate chips.
Using a small ice cream scooper or a tablespoon, drop dough onto prepared baking sheets.
Bake for 12-14 minutes or until edges are golden.
Allow cookies to cool 1 minutes before moving to cooling rack.

Happy Baking!

3-Minute Microwave Muffins

Yes, you read that correctly..

Muffins made in the microwave in THREE minutes!

Unbelievable right?

When Mountain Man walked into the kitchen and groggily asked me what the heck I was going to make in the 20 minutes I had before I had to leave for work, I smiled and proudly proclaimed "microwave muffins."

Little did he know, that I had no idea if they would actually be any good or if they would even work for that matter.

Much to my surprise though, they turned out to be pretty darn good! Especially having been made in the microwave of such places!

Since discovering these perfect breakfast treats for the on-the-go business woman (or man), I've experimented with different ingredients and fillings, but the base recipe has stayed the same. They can be whipped up in a matter of minutes, popped in the microwave and ready to eat in 3 minutes...not to mention, they sit nice and cozy in a mug so you don't have to worry about muffin crumbs or messy hands.

So the next time you start to pour yourself another bowl of your same old cereal, use that bowl to whip up some delectable little muffins for your way out the door!

Microwave Muffins
Fills 3 small mugs (easily doubled for more people)

1/2 cup plus 6 TBS white whole wheat flour or AP flour
2 1/2 TBS sugar
dash of salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg (or mix 1 TBS flax seed meal with 3 TBS water and use instead of an egg)
6 TBS vanilla yogurt
2 TBS milk (I used skim)
2 TBS vegetable oil
dash of vanilla
*1/2 cup of mix-ins: blueberries, dried cranberries, blackberries, chocolate chips, bananas, etc.
*Brown sugar for sprinkling

In a small bowl, mix flour, sugar, salt and baking powder.
Add egg (or flax egg substitute), yogurt, milk, veggie oil and dash of vanilla and mix until combined.
If batter still seems a little thick, add a little more milk.
Fold in mix-ins of your choice.
Distribute batter evenly among mugs or small ramekins a little more than half way to the top.
*optional: sprinkle brown sugar over top before microwaving
Place in microwave on high for 3 minutes.

These are actually peanut butter and banana muffins: add a dollop of peanut butter, one chopped banana and a dash of cinnamon to your batter.

When I saw these little guys rise as much as they did, I was amazed. I wasn't around when Mountain Man got into his, but I did receive a lovely facebook shout out so I guess he liked em :)

Happy Baking!

Chocolate Peanut Butter and Banana Granola Bars

A while back I got on a granola kick and made the stuff pretty regularly.

Then, for one reason or another, I let my inner hippie down and haven't gotten around to making it in quite a long time...

Leave it to my resident barefoot hula-hooper to get on me about though; he's been bugging me to make it now for weeks okay, maybe even months.

The other weekend was one of the first in a long time that we had absolutely nothing to do- we went on a lovely date Friday night, spent the next morning weeding the garden, met some friends for fantastic Texas BBQ, and spent the rest of the time between the couch and the backyard.

Needless to say, I had no excuse but to make MM his ever so desired granola. Of course, I wasn't going to stop there, which is where these granola bars come in.

After whipping up some Basic Granola with dried cranberries and blueberries, I decided to make use of the bag of banana chips I had in the pantry..

And what goes perfectly with bananas? Peanut butter and chocolate of course!

Chocolate Peanut Butter and Banana Granola Bars

1/2 cup quick oats
1/2 cup rice krispies
1/2 cup bran flakes
2 TBS pumpkin seeds
2 TBS sunflower seeds
1/2 cup dried bananas (lightly crushed)
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 TBS oil

Preheat oven to 300 and line a small loaf pan with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, mix oats, krispies, bran flakes, seeds, bananas and chocolate chips.
In a small saucepan, over medium heat, stir peanut butter, honey and oil until peanut butter becomes thins and mixture is smooth.
Pour warm mixture over dry ingredients, mixing until granola is evenly coated- the mixture should start to clump together.
Press granola mixture into prepared pan and flatten with back of spoon or spatula.
Transfer to oven and bake for about 8 minutes.
Allow granola to cool slightly before placing in fridge to continue to cool for at least 20 minutes.
Use a plastic knife and cut into bars.

Happy Baking!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

Warning: This pie is for chocolate and peanut butter lovers only. I repeat, if you do not like the oh-so-chocolately-peanut buttery flavor this pie is not for you. 

Still here?

Good.

Even for peanut butter lovers, this is a very rich, very decadent pie, absolutely not for the faint of heart. But if you love peanut butter as much as I do, then you'll absolutely enjoy a slice, even if it is a small one.

We start with a chocolate cookie and peanut crust...

topped with a layer of peanut butter filling...

 and finished off with chocolate whipped cream.

Wonderful, right?

All I have for you here is pictures though... If you want the recipe you're going to have to head on over to Little Bitty Bakes where this pie is featured in Liz's Chocolate Chip Thursday. I do hope you'll drop by.. Liz has a great little site full of some delicious treats and I was so excited to participate in her monthly guest post spot!

What are you waiting for?? Go eat pie!

Happy Baking!

Monster Cookies

Normally when the word monster comes up in conversation negative things are to follow, but that is not the case with these cookies.

It's quite the contrary actually. When you hear monster cookies in conversation only positive things are to follow.

I think monsters get bad raps really...they're just misunderstood if you ask me.

Take Cookie Monster for instance- does his passion and love for all things cookie make him a monster?

If that's the case then I'm a Baking Monster and more recently a Wedding Monster (not to be confused with Bridezilla- she is nasty).

When I say wedding monster I mean to say that I now find myself consumed by everything and anything wedding. The Knot, Wedding Channel and WeddingWire have become my new best friends... I find myself browsing Martha Stewart Weddings for ideas, stalking facebook wedding albums for inspiration and scouring the internet for the perfect dress at all times of the day.

I've also thought long and hard and finally decided that I am going to make my own wedding cake- it just seems right. Am I crazy for doing this? Maybe, but let's hope not...

But enough about the wedding monster...I'm sure she'll be making an appearance or two in the coming months.

Lets make some cookies!

Monster Cookies
A Paula Deen recipe
Oven: 350 Bake time: 8-10 minutes
Yields 2-3 dozen cookies (depending on size)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla
12 oz peanut butter
4 1/2 cups Quick Oats
1/2 cup m&ms
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup raisins* optional

Preheat oven to 350 and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars.
Add eggs, salt, vanilla and peanut butter.
Stir in quick oats, baking soda, m&ms, chocolate chips and raisins*- mix well.
For Monster-sized cookies, use an ice cream scoop to get a heaping spoonful of dough or just use a small scoop for regular sized cookies.
Place on parchment paper a few inches a part from each other.
Bake for 8-10 minutes or until just browned.
Transfer to cooling rack and let cool completely before eating.

What kind of monster are you??

Happy Baking!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Squares

Do you have one of those treats that you know is always going to be there during the holidays? 

One of those cookies that your mom makes sure to have made by the time you get home to visit?

That sweet that just goes perfectly with a warm cup of hot chocolate and christmas music?

To me, these Chocolate Peanut Butter Squares fit all above criteria.

For as long as I can remember my mom has been making these during the Christmas season. I can always be sure to find them nestled somewhere in the giant cookie tin my mom uses during the holidays, snuggled up between the raspberry squares and chocolate dipped shortbread.

I think it's amazing how something as simple as a cookie can elicit a feeling or a memory.. just another reason why I think I love baking so much. You never know when you'll be creating an edible memory for someone.

Everyone remembers that special birthday cake, the brownies they got from a girlfriend after a bad breakup or the dessert that no one could make like their grandmother.  Food can be powerful...

I honestly think about that kind of stuff when I'm baking- is this going to be the cake they remember? the cupcakes they talk about years down the road? "You know, no one could make a chocolate cake like Evan.." 

I sure hope so.

What can I say, the holidays make me sappy.

But seriously, I look forward to these squares every year... and who knows, maybe they'll create a new holiday memory for you.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Squares

Oven: 350 Bake time: 5 minutes 

Makes a 7x11 pan

1 cup peanut butter 

8 oz graham crackers, crushed (about 2 sleeves crushed)

1 cup butter, melted 

4 cup powdered sugar

1 12oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a large bowl mix crushed graham crackers, melted butter, powdered sugar and peanut butter until combined. 

Press mixture into pan and sprinkle chocolate chips on top. 

Bake in oven for 5 minutes.  

Using a spatula, spread melted chocolate chips evenly.  

Place in refrigerate for about 10 minutes so chocolate can harden.

Once cooled, warm a knife under hot water, pat dry and cut into small squares.

Note: If you leave it in the fridge too long your chocolate might separate from the peanut butter part when you cut them into squares. 

Happy Baking!

Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Peanut Butter Cookies

Remember the book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day? Yah? Well mine just happened.

I headed home from work yesterday afternoon very content with the way my Monday had gone. I'm dog sitting this week so I was excited to get home to let the little Irish car bomb (their names are Guinness and Bailey) out before heading to the grocery store and then it happened..

I get back to my car only to be greeted by a wonderful pool of brown liquid leaking from somewhere under the hood. I turn the car on and immediately the flashing light stares me in the face- something to do with the coolant.

Awesome.

At 630pm, why would anything be open? I mean, cars never break down after 5 and they can magically fix themselves after 6pm right? everyone knows that.. ugh.

Luckily the Walmart Service Center was open, but they couldn't do anything about it except add some coolant, which ended in the discovery of a busted hose, which meant no more driving for me, which meant towing in the morning...oh, and did I mention MM is out of town and so are the other 4 people I know in town?

To make matters worse, this morning I had to get back to my car for it to get towed and had to pay a taxi driver in quarters because I didn't have any cash on me...I paid a taxi driver in quarters.

Of course the dealership didn't have any lender cars (why would they?) and they don't know how long the fix is going to take, they had to order the part... I'm stuck at my apartment.

The moral of the story? Peanut Butter Cookies.

Peanut butter cookies make me happy. Peanut butter cookies make me forget that I'm stuck inside my apartment all day. Peanut butter cookies make me forget how much this is going to cost.

Peanut butter cookies give me a little peace in a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

Peanut Butter Cookies
Adapted from a recipe found on allrecipes.com
Oven: 350 Bake time: 10 minutes
Makes about 18 cookies

1 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1 tsp vanilla
1-2 TBS white sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl add all ingredients and mix until combined.
Roll dough into tablespoon size ball and place on baking sheets.
Sprinkle balls with white sugar and using a fork press criss-cross into top of cookie.
Transfer to oven for 10 minutes, then allow to cool on rack for at least 15-20 minutes.

I might eat this whole plate.. don't judge me.

Ever had one of these days?? I'd love to hear about.. what is your go-to treat in these situations??

An Engagement Cake in Dallas

When Ashley sent me a message a couple weeks ago about making her sister's engagement cake I couldn't have been more excited.  Ashley is no stranger to my sweets- we worked together while I was interning in NY and she has also been a lucky recipient of a Traveling Sweet: Lemon Whoopie Pies. But an engagement cake is a pretty big deal and a surprise engagement cake is even better!

Nicole got engaged a few weeks ago and Ashley (who lives in NY) was planning on coming to surprise her in Dallas for a little celebration to include a delicious cake. And can we say kismet?! I already had to be in Dallas that weekend for a wedding! PERFECT.

After a few phone calls, favorite flavors were discussed, color schemes were established and a couple requests were made. She also sent me a picture of a purse that her sister was thinking about using at her wedding and asked me to use that as inspiration for the decorations.

Chocolate Cake with Creamy Peanut Butter Meringue-Like Buttercream and Chocolate Ganache Filling

So after all the conversations, Reese's peanut butter cups, orange, the adorable clutch and a lady bug all came together to create Nicole and Cameron's engagement cake :)

I was so happy with the way this cake turned out!  But who cares about me- the best part of it all was how happy Ashley and her sister's were.

Congratulations Nicole and Cameron!! :)

The cake is one of my favorite chocolate cake recipes out of the Better Homes and Garden Magazine and the Creamy Peanut Butter Icing is from the latest edition of Cooks Illustrated.. If you want either of these recipes just shoot me an email and I'll be happy to get it to you: sweetebakes@gmail.com