Chocolate-It's What's for Dinner

I had to wait to Christmas to actually get this knife , it was well worth the wait (I do confess to giving it a go before the actual day - right out of the box the day it arrived -ssshhhh!). It's a beauty. I had my other chef's knife for a number of years and was quite pleased with it. It is a conventional 25 degree blade. This one is a 15er.  I can't say that I wasn't happy with my old knife but this one looked mighty pretty - come on it's blue! It seemed like a decent good quality knife for the price and Santa agreed. I have used it now for almost a week and I have to say I'm pretty pleased with it. I did send them an email to confirm the sharpening angle. They were less than helpful in responding. They recommended learning how to sharpen your own knife - duh! (That's what I was trying to do), but never confirmed the angle. They have since updated their website with a video and it confirms the 15 degree. They are still vague about honing but I...

This recipe was from the urban legend in the 1990s about how a woman went to the Neiman Marcus cafe. She loved the cookies served and asked for the recipe. She received a bill for some outrageous amount, like $500, for the recipe. She vowed to share this recipe with everyone. Utter nonsense but a good cookie recipe. 1 c butter, softened 1 1/2 c sugar 2 eggs 1 t vanilla 2 c flour 1 t baking powder 1/2 t salt 2 c oats 1 c raisins 1 c cranberries, coarsely chopped 1 T orange peel, grated 12 oz white chocolate chips Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time; beating after each addition. Add vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to sugar/butter mixture. Gently stir in, oats, raisins, cranberries, orange peel, and white chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspoon onto greased baking sheet 2" apart. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes. At work we had a cookie exchange and I made these cookies. It makes a lot. We had to bring in 3 dozen and I easily sent t...

Sort of like the ugly step-sister but with lots of character  I  really don't know what to make of this, but I made this exactly one year ago - weird huh? It wasn't exactly the same recipe because I didn't use left-over cranberry sauce. This time around I added some whole garlic cloves. I then smashed them while I was making the gravy. I did take a photo of it this time around (duh - you can see that). And I was right pot roast really isn't an attractive thing. It is, however, a delicious thing. I also made my garlic mashed potatoes to go with it. I mean really people, what is pot roast without mashed potatoes??!

Now you might be looking at this picture saying those are not blueberries and you would be right. They are cranberries. I had some leftover cranberries from the Cranberry Oatmeal cookies and needed to use them up. I've made this cake before with cranberries and it is quite nice. Blueberry Coffee Cake (Adapted from Chocolate & Zucchini ) 1 c flour 1 1/2 t baking powder 1/4 salt 1/2 stick of butter 3/4 c sugar 3 eggs 1 c yogurt (or sour cream works well) 1 t vanilla 3c fresh blueberries (cranberries, raspberries) 3T brown sugar Grease a 9" round pan. Sift togther flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing between each addition. Add yogurt and vanilla. Mix. Add flour mixture. Pour half the batter into prepared pan. Spread half of the blueberries across the batter. Cover with remaining batter. Spread the remaining blueberries over batter. Sprinkle evenly with brown sugar. Bake at 350 ...

The title of these cookies is way too long. Flourless Almond Cookies w/Cardamom, Orange Zest & Pistachio (Adapted from Epicurious ) 1 c sugar 1/3 c  coconut oil, softened at room temperature 1 egg 1 T grated orange zest 2 c almond flour 1/4 cup potato starch (or cornstarch) 1 1/2 t ground cardamom 1/4 t kosher salt 1/2 cup pistachios, finely chopped 3 oz dark chocolate (for drizzling; optional) Cream sugar, coconut oil in a large bowl. It should look like wet sand. Add egg and orange zest. Whisk in almond flour, potato starch (cornstarch), cardamom, and salt. Fold into wet ingredients. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour. Spread pistachios on a baking sheet. Divide dough into 2 balls. Roll into a 1 1/2" log. Roll logs in pistachio nuts to coat. Wrap logs in plastic wrap and chill 1-2 hours. Slice off 1/4" thick slices and place on baking sheets lined with parchment (or Silpat). If not using chocolate to decorate, sprinkle with leftover pistachi...

This soup is a nice quick soup and quite tasty.  They recommended Feta cheese - I'm not a huge Feta fan so I found goat cheese worked well. Do make sure you add enough lemon juice - it adds a nice fresh taste to the soup. Hummus Soup (Adapted from Cooking Light*) olive oil 1 medium onion, chopped 5 cloves garlic, minced 2 c chicken or vegetable stock 2 c water 2 15oz cans chickpeas 1/4 c tahini 2T lemon juice and zest from one lemon salt goat cheese for garnish Add 1T olive oil, onion, and salt to large saucepan. Cook until onions are fairly tender (about 10 minutes). Add garlic and cook until fragrant. Add stock and water; bring to a simmer. Add chickpeas, cover, and cook for 8-10 minutes. Pour into blender (or use stick blender) and process until smooth. Add tahini, lemon, and zest. Ladle into bowls and drizzle with olive oil and top with cheese. I didn't find the pan roasted chickpeas that they recommended added anything to the soup so I skipped that here...

OK I must admit after I stopped saying "he Schnapped Me*" a million times, I got down to serious business and made this recipe. It was a pretty rich, delicious hot cocoa. I didn't have the pretty candy canes** to add to the mix for the photo op, but even without them, it was pretty darn good.  I added slightly more schnapps to the mix, 1/4 c was certainly not enough. The original recipe was for 8, I halved it and it made 3 large mugs. I'm not used to having a hot cocoa party, so the 8 is a bit excessive even for me. He Schnapped Me Hot Cocoa (Adapted from Cooking Light) 6T cocoa powder 13.5 oz can coconut milk 1 c milk 1/4 c sugar 1t espresso powder 1t vanilla 1/3 c Pepperment Schnapps In a saucepan, whisk cocoa powder into a small amount of the coconut milk. Add remaining coconut milk, sugar, and espresso powder. Heat over medium heat until very warm (not boiling). Stir in vanilla and schnapps. Garnish with candy cane or marshmallows. *Seinfeld epis...

I was looking for something quick and easy to make for Thanksgiving that was rather festive looking and I found that in this cake. I pretty much followed the recipe from David Lebovitz except his was prettier. I did the apples a little differently because I printed the recipe without the picture and was too lazy to go back and look at the way he laid out the apples. His version was definitely worth taking a look. Pre-bake All in all, it was a very moist, almondy cake. I served it with cinnamon whipped cream as he suggested. I liked his suggestion of grating the almond paste. It made the batter come together much easier. I used Gala apples for the inside and Granny Smiths for the top. I liked the tartness that the Granny Smiths provided. The Galas were nice and soft for the cake part.

Just wanted to pop in quickly between bastings to say Happy Thanksgiving! Here's a few tips on cooking the bird Now back to basting. Eat well!

I've been sitting on this recipe since July (not so bad compared to some other recipes that are patiently waiting). I'm sorry that I didn't make it sooner. This would be a great dish to make and bring to a barbecue. It makes a large portion and doesn't really heat up the kitchen too badly (if you use a blow torch instead of the broiler). Part of the wait involved graham crackers. I can't seem to keep them in the house long enough because of the Sous Chef. He loves them. Sheet Pan S'Mores (Adapted from Cooking Light ) 14.4 oz of graham crackers 1 c sugar + 3T 1/4 c butter, melted 1/2 t salt & 1/4 t 5 egg whites, divided 1 egg 12 oz bittersweet chocolate chips (or chocolate finely chopped) 1 t vanilla 1/4 t cream of tartar 1/3 c water In a food processor, process graham crackers to fine crumbs. Add melted butter, 3T sugar, 1/2 t salt, 1 egg, 1 egg white. Process to combine. Press into a 13x18 greased sheet pan.  Bake at 350 for 8 minutes or...

With my cranberry sauce stowed in the refrigerator already, I got to thinking about bread for Thanksgiving. I usually don't make bread for Thanksgiving because there's so many other things going on. However, I came across this on KAF about freezing the dough and then defrosting, baking the rolls. It got me to searching for a good roll recipe.  Sweet Potato Dinner rolls seemed to fit the bill. Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls (Adapted from Handle the Heat ) 1 medium sweet potato (about 8-10 oz) 1 c buttermilk 4 T butter, melted 2 eggs 2T honey 2 1/2 t yeast 1 t salt 4 - 5 c bread flour  1 egg coarse salt Pierce sweet potato with a fork and microwave for at least 4 minutes. A knife should slide in easily. Slice in half and let cool. Press the sweet potato through a ricer or mash until there are no lumps. Add honey to buttermilk and stir. Add to sweet potato. Add butter, eggs, and salt. Mix. Add 2 cups of flour and mix until well. Switch to dough hook and add additi...

Cooking Light does it to me every time. My subscription is coming due and I start to think about not reviewing because I didn't see too many interesting recipes AND THEN they go and do it. I find an issue with a bunch of interesting recipes. This was one of them. This seems to be slow cooker week for some reason. I really need to get a new one (maybe Santa will bring me one). I got this "crock pot" for my wedding shower (ancient I know). It has that horrible orangey insert. It isn't the original because the insert is at least removable. It still works well but I'm worried since it is so old that it might just give out mid-slow cook. Maple Onion Jam (Adapted from Cooking Light*) 1/2 c brown sugar 2 clove garlic, minced 1 t ground cardamom 1 t cinnamon 1/4 t pepper 5lb onion, sliced 1/2" thick 2t salt 2T maple syrup 1T white balsamic or sherry vinegar Mix brown sugar, garlic, cardamom, pepper together. As you put the onions into...

In starting to get ahead of myself in preparing for Thanksgiving (after recovering from the shock of this week's election - ARRGGH! OK still not recovered), I decided to try this recipe for slow cooker mashed potatoes . I thought it would free up the stovetop on the big day. I used homemade bouillon instead of chicken broth and it worked well. I decided to use the mashed potatoes in my Potato Torta . I used fresh tomatoes along with fresh mozzarella . The slow cooker worked great. My only reservation is that I usually use milk and heavy cream for my garlic mashed potatoes . I'm a little worried that the milk and heavy cream might scald a little too much in the slow cooker. I won't have time to test this out again before Thanksgiving so I think I will use the stovetop method and save the experimenting with the milk/heavy cream to a less high-stakes day. I will definitely revisit this recipe. It's so great because you're not babysitting the potatoes to ensur...

So I've committed yet another sacrilege. After previously posting a vegetarian version of Cornish Pasty (remember pronounced Pahs-Tee), I've now gone and used minced (ground beef to you AMER-i-cans).  I used the same dough recipe but a slightly different filling. The only minor correction is divide the dough in half before you roll it out (DUH otherwise you don't have a lid that I talk about later on). Filling: 1 onion, chopped  1T olive oil 1 clove garlic, chopped 1/2 lb ground beef (or turkey)  1/2 c red wine 1 t fresh thyme 1 T Worcestershire sauce 1 medium potato, large dice salt/pepper Saute onion and salt in skillet in olive oil until it starts to turn brown. Add garlic and cook until fragrant. Add beef until it starts to brown. Raise the flame and add the wine and thyme. Cook until the wine cooks off. Add the Worcestershire sauce and potato. Stir in and let cool while you roll out the dough. I was sloppy this time a...

The Sous Chef and I went to a book Q&A and signing last night. The book is Classic German Baking by Luisa Weiss. David Lebovitz was on hand to ask the questions. He asked some great questions. It was fun to hear about living as expats in Paris (David) and Berlin (Luisa). It was surprising to hear that they don't have such great supermarkets in Paris. I guess that's because they have great markets? So who needs a supermarket. I learned that Germans are very big on Christmas cookies - I think I would fit in quite well there but might up putting on a bit of weight! They also start making their cookies in October. One particular ginger cookie, the dough ripens for 2 months! I don't know if I could stand the anticipation. They also use a lot honey so the cookies stay fresh tasting longer. We didn't stay for the signing part - it was a bit chaotic and by that point, I was annoyed with the stupid questions some of the audience asked (it was all me, me, me).  But all...

I once again had an accumulated of fastly ripening bananas. So I went to my trusty recipe archives and found that I had marked this one off to try. Since I followed the recipe (shocking I know), I'm just posting the link. I used the butter and opted for using 2 eggs as mentioned in the header notes. It is a very nice moist cake with nice banana flavor. It reminds me of my French Toast recipe because of the way you combine the brown sugar and butter and use it to "line" the pan. There is a lot of banana flavor since basically you use 5-6 bananas. I think next time I would try to add 1T of rum to the brown sugar and butter and go for a Bananas Foster type thing. I think it would add some additional flavor.

I know I was MIA again. This whole work thing gets in the way doesn't it?  I had this recipe waiting to be tried for quite some time (2007 to be exact - my "to try" recipe archive is quite large). Cranberry Blondies (Adapted from BHG) 1/2 c butter 1/2 c sugar 1/2 c brown sugar 2 eggs 1 t vanilla 3/4 t baking powder 1/4 t baking soda 1/4 t salt 1 c flour 1/2 c dried cranberries 1/2 c chocolate chips 1 c fresh cranberries Line a 9x9 square pan with aluminum foil, grease and set aside. Beat butter and sugars together until creamy. Add eggs one at a time and then beat in vanilla. Combine baking powder, soda, flour, and salt in a separate bowl. Add to butter sugar mixture. Stir in dried cranberries and chocolate chips. Spread into pan. Press fresh cranberries into batter with spatula. Bake 25 -30 minutes at 350 or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool on rack for 1 hour. Remove foil from pan. Cut into bars. These certainly aren't lookers bu...

I went searching for my posting on pancakes, as I was positive that I had posted one, but I couldn't find one. So either the search tool really sucks (which it does) or I never posted a pancake recipe. The one I use is from the Joy of Cooking (circa 1975). They call it a French Pancake, better known as crepes - I think, but I call it a thin pancake. Crepes are a whole different thing in my mind. I hate those thick buttermilk pancakes that you get from a box or in certain chain restaurants. My father always called them blow out patches. I think he was onto something there because that is exactly what they taste like. I much prefer a thinner pancake. Banana Chocolate Pancakes (Hardly recognizable from the Joy of Cooking ) 1 banana 2 eggs 2 T brown sugar 1t vanilla 1 c buttermilk (or milk) 1t cinnamon 1 t baking powder 1/2 t salt 3/4 c flour small amount of butter for griddle about 1/3 c chocolate chips In a bowl mash banana with a fork. Whisk in eggs. Add brown sug...

The Sous Chef is a huge pound cake fan - me not so much. Every once in a while I break down and make a plain cake for him. Sour Cream Pound Cake (Adapted from Cooking Light ) cooking spray 3T almond meal 4 c cake flour 1/4 t salt 1 t baking soda 3/4 c butter 2 3/4 c sugar 3 eggs 2 t vanilla 1 t almond extract 1 1/2 c sour cream Spray a 10-inch tube pan with cooking spray. Dust with almond meal and set aside.  In a small bowl combine flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside. Cream butter in mixer until fluffy. With mixer running, gradually add sugar until blended. Add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla and almond extract. Add flour mixture; alternating with sour cream (about 3 additions). Pour into pan and bake at 350 for 70 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Run spatula around edge and turn pan out onto rack to cool. This makes a big cake. It's fairly tall. The original recipe is a traditional cake with lemon juice a...

I ripped this out of a magazine in 2006. It's been waiting quite some time to see the light of day. It was worth it. The cake is very flavorful. It was also quite simple to make. Pear Upside-Down Spice Cake (Adapted from Cooking Light) 3 c pears sliced thin (Bosc, Bartlett, Anjou) 2-3 pears cooking spray 2 c flour 1/2 t salt 1/2 t baking powder 1/2 t instant coffee granules 1/2 t nutmeg 1/2 t ginger 1/4 t allspice 1/2 t cinnamon 1 c sugar 5 T butter 1 egg 1t vanilla 3/4 c buttermilk Glaze: 2T butter 1 1/2T lemon juice zest of 1 lemon 3/4 c brown sugar 1 1/2 T buttermilk Spray 9" pan with cooking spray.  Arrange pear slices spoke-like in the bottom of the pan.  In a small bowl mix flour and all spices; set aside. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; mix well.  Add flour and buttermilk alternating - beginning and ending with flour. Spread over pears. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out ...

So I had some chicken breasts and I didn't know what to do with them. I was going to grill them but felt too lazy to start fire up the grill. So this is what I came up with. Sesame Soy Sauce Chicken Breasts (Adapted from my brain) 1lb chicken breasts, boneless canola oil salt/pepper 3T brown sugar 2T soy sauce 1t dried ground ginger 1t garlic powder 2T sesame oil Prepare chicken breasts using this technique (sorry I hate to refer you to another page but this is the best way to prepare chicken breasts). While chicken is sauteing, whisk together brown sugar, soy sauce, ginger, and garlic. Drizzle in sesame oil while whisking to ensure that it emulsifies. When chicken is done, pour into pan. Heat until sauce starts to thicken, turning chicken breasts to coat. This provides a lovely sticky coating to the chicken. I know, I know really garlic powder and dried ginger. I told you I was feeling lazy. Feel free to sub in the real deal, but also know sometimes it's OK ...

It almost looks like sauerkraut here - doesn't it? Every time I make spaghetti squash, I'm amazed at how much it really does look like spaghetti - I guess I amaze quite easily. It looks like regular old squash and then by magic it shreds perfectly. Roasted Spaghetti Squash (Adapted from Food 52 ) 1 medium spaghetti squash 3 T butter, melted 4 T brown sugar salt/pepper Parmesan cheese, grated Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (trust me you need to do this). Halve squash and removed seeds. If you are having difficulty halving the squash, microwave it on medium for a minute or two.  Brush inside of squash with 2T melted butter. Sprinkle with brown sugar and salt/pepper. Place cut side down and brush skin with butter. Bake at 400 for about 45 minutes, until the skin is browned in spots but before sugar and butter are burnt. Remove from oven and using a fork scrape out squash (this is where the magic happens). Toss the squash on the aluminum foil with the sugar an...

Well maybe failure is not the appropriate word. Maybe just meh is the right word. I love roasted vegetables especially if they get a little char on them so this sounded good. Alas, I was disappointed. So I'm posting this as a lesson learned - not everything blackened is good. I found this recipe here . They used green cabbage but I don't think that would make any difference. They were not kidding about opening your windows. I had a smoke filled kitchen even with the windows wide open. The smoke alarm even went off. Don't try this at home!

OK - I admit I was a little lazy with this soup. I didn't run it through the blender, I just used my stick blender and you know what?  It tasted the fine! It might not have looked the same but it tasted just fine AND I used frozen corn. I do think this would have tasted better with fresh corn but sometimes you have to make due with what you have. Chilled Coconut Corn Soup (Adapted from Epicurious ) 2T  coconut oil 1 medium onion, chopped 1 1/2 t grated ginger 1/4 t tumeric (ground) 6 ears of corn, removed from cob and cobs (about 5 1/2 c or frozen corn) 1 potato, 1/2" cubes 14oz coconut milk zest of 2 limes 1 1/2 c water 3T lime juice cilantro, lime wedges, coconut chips or toasted coconut for garnish salt/pepper Melt coconut oil in large pot. Add onion, ginger, tumeric, and salt.  Cook until onions are translucent - about 10 minutes Add corn, cobs, potato, coconut milk, lime zest, and 1 1/2c water. Bring to a boil on high heat and then lower to a sim...

This is a pretty good salad. Toasting the bulgur adds a lot of flavor.  I found the recipe here . I didn't add the spinach because I thought I bought it but I didn't. It was still good without it although I think it would be quite good with it. I did find that I needed to heat the leftovers a bit in the microwave. It is best served at room temperature.

Yet another zucchini recipe: Zucchini Carpaccio (Adapted from Epicurious ) 1lb zucchini, sliced paper thin 1/3 c mint leaves, cut into thin strips ( Chiffonade ) or Basil 2T olive oil 2T lemon juice salt/pepper 1/4 c pine nuts, toasted 1 oz Parmesan cheese, shaved Spread out zucchini in one layer on a large platter.  Sprinkle mint leaves over zucchini. Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, and salt/pepper. Drizzle over zucchini. Sprinkle pine nuts over zucchini. Let stand 10 minutes. Add shaved Parmesan and serve Easy-peasy. I used basil because my mint plants have not been looking too good.  The best way to shave the Parmesan cheese is to use a vegetable peeler. If you don't have a mandoline (get one soon - you will love it), you can also use a vegetable peeler to get thin slices.

Yes - it is once again that time of year - my zucchini overflow-ith. I decided to do a chocolate zucchini cake instead of just zucchini bread Not that that recipe isn't good but I just wanted to try something different AND I came across a great sounding buttercream recipe. I think this buttercream might pair well with either recipe actually. What is with the indent in the center? I followed this recipe straight up - shocking I know. The only difference was that I did not have a full cup of bittersweet chocolate chips. I mixed the bittersweet with the milk chocolate. It was a tad bit sweet. I think I would stick with the bittersweet chocolate chips. Then I added this icing: Molasses Buttercream (Adapted from Epicurious ) 3 eggs 3/4 c sugar 1/4 t salt 3 sticks butter (softened) 1 t vanilla 2T molasses You will need to use a double-boiler (or use a saucepan of boiling water with a metal bowl that will fit on top). Heat water to boiling. Heat eggs, sugar, and salt ...

Got a little carried away with the cocoa powder  Aren't these just so cute you could puke (alright perhaps not the best words for a food blog). Nothing like a personalized cake . OK - I'm sure these are not supposed to be consumed in one seating but...it is possible - not that I speak from experience ;-) I used my Sunken Chocolate Pound Cake recipe. Now I'm undecided as to why they weren't sunken. Was it the cake pan or was it the new thing I tried? Instead of having the eggs and butter at room temperature, I took them cold from the refrigerator. OH NO! Now I'm going to have to make this cake again in a regular sized pan to see what happens. Oh, the sacrifices!

Whenever I make this cake, it is always a hit. It looks very impressive but is pretty easy to make. I had a work do and decided I hadn't made it in a while and it needed to be made. (Sorry no pictures of the inside - you know I had to bring it work without it being sliced). Chocolate Blackout Cake (Adapted from 365 Great Chocolate Desserts ) 1T cocoa powder 1 1/2 stick butter 3 c sugar 3 t baking soda 1/2 t salt 3 c flour 3 eggs 1t vanilla 1t chocolate extract (optional) 4oz chocolate, bittersweet, melted 3/4 c buttermilk 1 c boiling water Ganache 18oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate 1 1/2 c heavy cream 2 T butter 1 t vanilla 3/4 - 1 c sliced almonds Grease two 10" round pans. Place parchment round in bottom of each pan. Dust with cocoa powder. Shake out excess; set aside. Cream butter and sugar together in mixer until light and fluffy. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl mix together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. Add eggs one at a time t...

Have you got a lot of zucchini coming in from the garden? Well here's a slightly different take on what to do with it... Salt & Vinegar Zucchini Chips (adapted from Cooking Light ) 1 medium zucchini, cut 1/8" thick slices 1 T malt vinegar 1 1/2 t olive oil 1/8 t sea salt In a bowl mix vinegar, zucchini, and oil. Toss to coat. Let sit for 15 minutes. Place on parchment lined sheet pans. Sprinkle with salt. Bake 2 - 2 1/2 hours at 200. Flipping them halfway through. Chips should be crispy and lightly golden. Cool completely before serving. Do not add more salt than suggested in the recipe. I did and they were a little too salty. Remember these shrink down a bit and, therefore, the flavor concentrates.  I used two slightly small zucchinis, so I got small chips.

I refuse to give up on this cake. It sinks down in the middle and I have tried so many different things to make it stop: Fresh out of the oven - doesn't look to bad Reduced the baking soda (texture was not as good) Used baking powder (texture was not as good) Used cocoa powder (no difference) Not using room temperature butter (no difference) It looks so simple and plain but packs a lot of flavor SO I decided to embrace it and just call it Sunken Chocolate Pound Cake! Sunken Chocolate Pound Cake (Adapted from somewhere?) 4 oz bittersweet chocolate 1/2 c boiling water 1 stick butter 1 3/4 brown sugar 2 eggs 1 t vanilla 1 t chocolate extract (optional) 2 c flour 1 t baking soda 1 t salt 1/2 c sour cream (or Greek yogurt) Pour boiling water over chocolate and set aside. Meanwhile cream butter and brown sugar together in a bowl until creamy. Add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla and chocolate extract. In a separate bowl mix flour, salt, baking soda together. ...