Chocolate Covered Gingerbread Madeleines

I do this thing every year where I decide to vacation during the month of November.  It's awesome because I get to to escape the city and the mundanes of daily life and sneak away for one last sun kissed tan in before the sun goes away for four months.  It's awful because I come home, catch a cold, have to wear pants because it's dropped 20* and oh look it's December!  I have no idea where November went this year... one minute I was on a boat in the Bahamas, the next I was back in the states, downing Gingerbread lattes, shopping for Christmas mugs at Target and planning fancy holiday outfits.

When it came time to decide what to bring to my friend Rachelle's cookie exchange -- while wearing my favorite hot pink fleece gingerbread pajamas and sipping gingerbread tea out of my gingerbread man mug mind you  --it was no surprise that I went with something gingerbread.  My first thought was my gingerbread chocolate chip cookies.  They're easy to make.  I've made them before.  But that seemed too boring for a cookie exchange.  Then I thought about how easy madeleines are to make and contemplated making some of those instead -they just look fancy.  While debating the hard question of which cookie to bake, I came to the realization that instead of choosing between the two, I could combine the two.  Hashtag Cookie Genius.

Taking a page from the chocolate dipped orange madeleines I made last year, I finished these gingerbread madeleines with a dark chocolate drizzle.    Gingerbread plus dark chocolate is one of my favorite holiday flavor combinations afterall.  Remember the Gingerbread S'mores Cupcakes?  

Gingerbread Madeleines
Adaptation Source.
Makes 34. Bake at 375* for 7-8 minutes.

4 room temp eggs
2/3 c. sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
4 tbsp molasses
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 cup unsalted butter melted and cooled
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
(Optional:  1 cup mini chocolate chips)

Directions:
1. Whisk together flour, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger and set aside.
2. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat eggs on high for about three minutes.
3. Add salt to the eggs, and then the sugar.  Sugar should be added slowly over the course of five minutes by the spoonful.  Eggs will become white and frothy.
4. Add in vanilla and molasses and beat on high speed until fully incorporated.
5. Stop the stand mixer and fold in flour and butter in additions, starting and ending with the flour.  Mix until smooth.
6. Scoop batter into butter and floured madeleine pan and bake for about 7 minutes.
7.  Melt chocolate in microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring in between.  Scoop melted chocolate into a piping bag and decorate cookies once they are cooled.

Tip:  Madeleines taste best 1-3 days after baking.  This allows the butter flavor to really set in.

Do you know what taste's good with these?  Gingerbread tea.  In a gingerbread mug... lol.  I'm totally that girl.

I apologize for my Gingebread Cheer.  No not really.

Do you know what else you can do to these bad boys?  Add in mini chocolate chips to the batter (about 1 cup) for EXTRA chocolately goodness.  See?

How was the cookie exchange you may ask?  Awesome.  Who doesn't love a giant plate of cookies?

Or 10 plates of them.  Don't worry we did more than just eat our weight in butter and sugar.  We mixed up some royal icing and decorated some sugar cookies too. That counts as activity, right?

I have to bake again this weekend ('tis the season to get fat afterall).  I'll try not to wear my penguin pajamas as I think of a cookie/cupcake because I don't want to find out what penguins taste like.  =/

xoxo,
Anna

Dark Chocolate Amaretto Bread Pudding with Raspberry Cream Sauce [Giveaway]

I wanted to make something grown up.  Now don't get me wrong, I like cutesy cupcakes and pretty cookies with frosting and sugar and hearts and stars and sprinkles... oh how I love my sprinkles.  But I wanted to make something really grown up, something that tasted as rich and decadent as it looked.  And this dark chocolate dessert certainly is all of that and more.

Bread pudding is delicious on its own but when you make it with croissants?   It's buttery, flaky magic.

When you add a few cups of  Nestlé® Toll House® Dark Chocolate Morsels?  And throw in some amaretto liqueur, slivered almonds, a raspberry cream sauce AND amaretto infused whipped cream?  Life changing.  No really, consider your life changed.  You are welcome.

Can I offer you a spoon? Because I know I just made your mouth water.  And I do apologize for that.  (Kinda, not really.)  To make it up to you though I'll give you the recipe so that you can make it on your own.

Check it out here, it is every featured on Nestle's Pinterest page!


Dark Chocolate Amaretto Bread Pudding
Ingredients:
8 day old croissants
1 1/2 c. heavy cream
1/2 c. whole milk
3/4 c. amaretto liqueur
1 2/3 cups (10-oz. package) plus+ 1/2 c. Nestlé® Toll House® Dark Chocolate Morsels
1/3 c. sliced almonds
3/4 c. granulated sugar
3 large eggs at room temp.
1/4 c. unsalted butter
Pinch of salt
1/4 c. sliced almonds

Directions:
1.Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Melt butter in large saucepan over medium low heat and add in heavy cream, milk and liqueur and stir until mixture
starts to simmer, but does not boil.
3. Add in 1 2/3 cups (one 10-oz. package) of Nestlé® Toll House® Dark Chocolate Morsels, stirring until chips
are completely melted. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, sugar and pinch of salt. Very slowly add in small teaspoon amounts of chocolate
mixture into the egg mixture until tempered. Whisk continuously while doing so to avoid cooking eggs.
5. Tear day old croissants into 1-2 inch pieces and toss in a big bowl with 1 1/2 cups of chocolate sauce. Fold in 1/2
cup Nestle Toll House Dark Chocolate Morsels.
6. Scoop croissants into a buttered 13 x 9- inch glass baking dish. Pour all of the remaining chocolate sauce over the
croissants evenly and bake in a preheated oven.
7. After 20 minutes, remove from oven and sprinkle sliced almonds over croissants. Return to oven and bake for an
additional 20 minutes, or until croissants are crisp on the outside, but soft on the inside.
8. Top with a drizzle of Raspberry Cream Sauce and a dollop of Amaretto Whipped Cream.

Raspberry Heavy Cream Sauce 
Ingredients:
1/3 cup raspberry puree (6-oz. carton fresh raspberries)
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 c. heavy cream
1 tbsp flour
1/4 c. unsalted butter

Directions:
1. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium low heat.
2. Add in heavy cream, 1/3 cup raspberry puree, sugar and flour and cook, stirring constantly until sauce becomes
thick and can coat the back of a spoon.


Amaretto Whipped Cream  
Ingredients:
1 c. heavy cream
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp amaretto liqueur

Directions:
1. Mix heavy cream, sugar and liqueur in a chilled bowl of a heavy stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment.
2. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy.

Make this for someone you really like.  Or send this recipe to someone who really likes you and is willing to make it for you.  Do whatever you have to do because you must try this.  This is warm, melt in your mouth buttery croissant with intense dark chocolate and amaretto flavor.  It is sweet but tangy raspberry cream sauce that compliments the chocolate just perfectly, with the added bonus of a very light but delicious whipped cream.  You can't even imagine all these flavors in your mouth until you are a spoon full in.  Then there's no stopping you.  This is the dessert that you never knew you always wanted. 

And to help you even further, Nestle is helping me give away packages of  Nestlé® Toll House® Dark Chocolate Morsels!  

Yours truly was hand-picked as one of only ten bloggers to enter their new Nestlé® Toll House® Dark Pinspirations Contest.  This is what I came up with.   

To get some of your own packages, all you have to do is go the campaign's Pinterest page and vote for my entry.  Then come back and leave a comment with your Pinterest username and email address on this post.   

How do you vote for me?  By repining and liking my dessert!  Click here to go to the vote page.   Make sure that you are not pinning the pictures on this blog, but that you are pinning my dessert from their campaign's page.  Repin and hit the little HEART icon.  'Cause yeah, I know you heart it too.  

You can also get an additional entry if you subscribe to me on Google Friend Connect.  Just do the same thing.  Add me (or tell me that you already have me on GFC) and leave me a separate comment telling me so! So easy!

The contest runs through March 30th. I will randomly select 50 winners and email you if you're a winner after that.

So repin me!  Share with your friends!   And spread the chocolate -- i'll help!

xoxo,
Anna

P.S.  You can also follow me on Pinterest here!

Chocolate & Coconut Dipped Shortbread Cookie Hearts

You are going to see a lot of cookies in the coming weeks.  And a lot of dark chocolate.  But that's all perfectly acceptable because those two things are much better than green smoothies made with kale and pencil shavings.  Promise you there will be none of those recipes here.  Exclusive buttery goodness.

And oh yes, these shortbread cookies are full of buttery goodness. And dark chocolate.  And toasted coconut flakes. And since I used heart shaped cookie cutters they are full of LOVE too.

I used SprinkleBakes's recipe for the shortbread because I kind of love her.  It's like she's with me in the kitchen!

 And I am glad I did.  I am still working out the kinks of rolling out dough, and had some trouble but it had nothing to do with the recipe and all to do with me running out to order pizza and refrigerating the dough for too long.  So just don't do that all you're all set. I was also making these at a friend's, so unfortunately I had some trouble with the oven as well, so they were browned more than I'd like.  Hopefully my next batch  (next week) will come out prettier.  But taste wise?  The shortbread was perfect.  Like a fine wine, they get better with age.  I would prepare these 2-3 days before you serve them.

Shortbread Cookies
Made aprox. 20 3-inch cookie hearts.
Bake for about 12 minutes at 350*

2 cups (4 sticks) non salted butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup confectioners/powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups flour
1 pinch of salt

Directions:
1. In a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar together until fluffy.
2. Add in the confectioners sugar, beating just until incorporated completely.
3. Add vanilla.
4. Add 2 cups of flour and mix on low until a dough forms.  Add additional 2 cups and continue mixing on low until a very stiff dough forms.
5. On a floured surface, separate dough into two equal sections and roll each piece with a floured rolling pin until dough is about 1 inch thick  Wrap well in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
6. While still cold, but pliable, roll our further until 1/4 inch in thickness.
7. Use cookie cutters in whatever shape you'd like.  Dough can be rolled out one more time.
8. Bake in oven until edges are slightly brown.  Set aside to cool on a wire rack.

Remember that any cookie cutter is fine to use with these.  Someone do a chocolate dipped dinosaur!!!

As you can see, those are two different shaped hearts.  No heart is the same right? :)

Dark Chocolate Glaze
6 oz dark chocolate chips
1 tsp butter

Directions:
1. In microwave melt chocolate chips in 30 second intervals, stirring in between each round.  Should take about 2 minutes total.
2. In a separate bowl, microwave butter until fully melted and add to chocolate and whisk until smooth.
3. Use chocolate to dip cookies. Simply dip into the bowl and use a spatula to cover any missing parts.  Place on wire rack to drip.

Coconut Topping
2/3 cup shredded coconut

Directions:
1. On parchment paper on a baking sheet, toast shredded coconut for 4-8 minutes at 200*.  This can be done in a small toaster oven as well.
2. Sprinkle desired amount on top of chocolate covered cookies while chocolate has not set yet.
3. Let cookies harden, store in air tight container.  3-4 day old cookies are delicious.

These would be perfect for a Valentines Day treat.  Nothing says  "Please Be My Valentine" like cookies.

Well no I lie.

Maybe give them three cookies.  The more cookies, the better.

xoxo,
Anna

P.S.  Thanks to Katie who was my sous baker for these. Even though her husband laughed when I insisted she did a good job helping, she DID!