Category: Chocolate Cheer

Categories
Chocolate Cheer Classic Favorites Fancy Pantsy Holiday desserts Pies

Sweet And Sappy And Pies And FOOD! A Sad Shibow Thanksgiving

FRIENDS!
How was your Thanksgiving? Seriously, tell me. As you all [hopefully] know by now, Thanksgiving is, according to yours truly, the best holiday there could possibly be. There is food and booze (uh, where I come from at least…) and desserts and, most importantly of all, the people you love and lurrrrve for whom to be especially grateful. I love it.

So, this year, we went to my parents’ house and insisted on doing almost all of the work. My dad handled the turkey, mostly because a 15-pound bird would be screwed in my care. More importantly, the people who would be consuming that 15-pound bird would be screwed in my care. It’s just not my thing.

Know what is my thing? Fresh baked bread, three-cheese macaroni and cheese, fresh cranberry sauce, roasted brussels sprouts, and three pies. (I only kept it to three desserts since there were six of us and I had to make some savory dishes as well 😉 ) Boyfriend made the most amazing mashed potatoes, and Sylvapotamus killed it with homemade stuffing and some chocolate mousse that I did very bad things to (more on that later).

SONY DSC
SONY DSC
SONY DSC
SONY DSC

Take a look at that bird! Gorgeous, right? Ahhhhh….

So, anyway, it has been quite an interesting year. It’s been both trying and wonderful, stressful and blissful. I’m honestly kind of shocked by how different things are from the way they were last year. And by different, I mean better. I’ve got a lovely, handsome gentleman to share a couch (and a kitchen, and a hamper, and, well, a home) with, and I have parents and sisters who’ve welcomed him with open arms and three fingers of Johnnie Walker Black (nice job, Dad). Certainly, life is far from perfect and there is a LOT of work to be done in many aspects of my life. But I’m grateful to have the time to do it, and I’m really fortunate to have the company I have while I do it.

Well, that’s enough of that sap. Geez. Who invited the mushball to this sad-fest? Let’s move on to my favorite part of all of this: DESSERT!

Now, I need to confess something that is incredibly embarrassing for me: I cannot freaking make a freaking pie crust. I have freaking tried so many freaking times and every time my freaking pie crust sucks. Many recipes call for a food processor, which I am too boogie-down-broke to have right now, but I can’t even seem to follow the ones that don’t call for one. I mean, I’ve watched Youtube tutorials and consulted cookbooks and food blog forums, and I just have not gotten down the freaking process. I am so angry about this that I spent time debating whether or not to bust out ANOTHER f-word, but then I decided to keep this post a family show. How lucky are YOU?

So, yeah, there’s that. If you’re making a pie crust from scratch, please consult some other, better resources. I’d provide you with some but I’m not going to help you fail. :(. Anyway, I used frozen ready-made pie crusts. Now, these do not suck, but as many of you know, I hate the idea of not making all dessert components from scratch. But, after many tries and many sticks of butter wasted (R.I.P. hopes and dreams), I decided I had to go with the store-bought stuff, since pies are pretty much mandatory at Thanksgiving dinner.

Now, which pies, you wonder? I went with pumpkin, pecan and chocolate meringue. All three were deemed “must-haves” by various sweet-toothed guests. Since I used a pretty standard recipe for the pumpkin pie (the one found on the Libby’s Canned Pumpkin label), I’m only going to get into the latter two pies. Let’s start with the pecan!

Pecan Pie (makes one 9″ pie)

1 9-inch unbaked pie crust of your choice 😦

2 cups of coarsely chopped pecans + a few whole pecans for the top if you’d like to get fancy up in this pie

2 eggs

1/2 cup of light corn syrup

3/4 cup of brown sugar

1 tablespoon of molasses (if you’d like something milder, I would suggest pure maple syrup)

2 tablespoons of melted butter

2 tablespoons of flour

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of vanilla

Preheat your oven to 375ºF. Distribute your chopped pecans evenly along the bottom of your crust. Mix the remaining ingredients and then pour them over the nuts (pecans will rise to the top of the crust at this point).

SONY DSC
SONY DSC

Top with whole pecans if you please.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the filling is set. If you’re worried about the crust burning, you can create a pie shield (basically a foil ring cut to cover the pie crust) and place it on top of the crust about halfway through baking. Once the pie’s done, remove from the oven and allow to cool on the counter completely.

Now, on to the next pie (don’t worry…the pictures are coming 😉 ). Now, the chocolate meringue is something I’m very fond of, mostly because it was one of the first successful desserts I ever made. Heart you.

Chocolate Meringue Pie(makes one 9-inch pie)

1 9-inch baked pie crust of your choice 😦

For the filling

3 egg yolks

1 cup of granulated sugar

3 tablespoons of flour

4 tablespoons of cocoa powder

1/8 teaspoon of salt

2 cups of milk (I used skim)

1 tablespoon of butter

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

For the meringue

3 egg whites

1/8 teaspoon of salt

1/3 cup of granulated sugar

Preheat your oven to 400°F. In a medium-sized saucepan, stir together egg yolks, sugar, flour, cocoa and salt. Whisk in milk, and cook over medium heat. Stir constantly until the mixture comes to a full boil.

SONY DSC
SONY DSC

Remove from heat, stir in your butter and vanilla, and then pour into pie shell.

Now, let’s make our meringue. So, it’s really important, when beating egg whites, to work with an absolutely spotless bowl, and clean whisks. There shouldn’t be any moisture or bits of batter kicking around, or else you won’t have the stiff peaks a meringue needs. To start, using a stand or hand mixer on high, beat egg whites and salt together until foamy.

SONY DSC
SONY DSC

Gradually add in your sugar while mixer is on, and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. This may take a little while, so just be patient.

SONY DSC
SONY DSC

Once done, spread meringue evenly on top of custard, making sure to spread so that the chocolate isn’t visible. Obviously I took the above picture before I finished spreading. Anyway, bake for 10-12 minutes, until the meringue is lightly browned.

So, how did it all turn out?

SONY DSC
SONY DSC

Pretty well, if I do say so myself. Boyfriend was partial to the pecan, which I was not as crazy about (I guess pecan’s just too sweet for my blood), and I was all about the chocolate meringue. I was also really into Sylvapotamus’s chocolate mousse, to the point where when I accidentally knocked the entire bowl of it over (and broke the bowl) I was still trying to figure out ways to eat it off of the floor. I am sorry Sylvapotamus. 😦

So, that was my Turkey day. And I miss it already.

Categories
Chocolate Cheer Classic Favorites Fancy Pantsy Holiday desserts Pies

Sweet And Sappy And Pies And FOOD! A Sad Shibow Thanksgiving

FRIENDS!

How was your Thanksgiving? Seriously, tell me. As you all [hopefully] know by now, Thanksgiving is, according to yours truly, the best holiday there could possibly be. There is food and booze (uh, where I come from at least…) and desserts and, most importantly of all, the people you love and lurrrrve for whom to be especially grateful. I love it.

So, this year, we went to my parents’ house and insisted on doing almost all of the work. My dad handled the turkey, mostly because a 15-pound bird would be screwed in my care. More importantly, the people who would be consuming that 15-pound bird would be screwed in my care. It’s just not my thing.

Know what is my thing? Fresh baked bread, three-cheese macaroni and cheese, fresh cranberry sauce, roasted brussels sprouts, and three pies. (I only kept it to three desserts since there were six of us and I had to make some savory dishes as well 😉 ) Boyfriend made the most amazing mashed potatoes, and Sylvapotamus killed it with homemade stuffing and some chocolate mousse that I did very bad things to (more on that later).

A small portion of the spread. Oh yeah. We bad.

Take a look at that bird! Gorgeous, right? Ahhhhh….

So, anyway, it has been quite an interesting year. It’s been both trying and wonderful, stressful and blissful. I’m honestly kind of shocked by how different things are from the way they were last year. And by different, I mean better. I’ve got a lovely, handsome gentleman to share a couch (and a kitchen, and a hamper, and, well, a home) with, and I have parents and sisters who’ve welcomed him with open arms and three fingers of Johnnie Walker Black (nice job, Dad). Certainly, life is far from perfect and there is a LOT of work to be done in many aspects of my life. But I’m grateful to have the time to do it, and I’m really fortunate to have the company I have while I do it.

Well, that’s enough of that sap. Geez. Who invited the mushball to this sad-fest? Let’s move on to my favorite part of all of this: DESSERT!

Now, I need to confess something that is incredibly embarrassing for me: I cannot freaking make a freaking pie crust. I have freaking tried so many freaking times and every time my freaking pie crust sucks. Many recipes call for a food processor, which I am too boogie-down-broke to have right now, but I can’t even seem to follow the ones that don’t call for one. I mean, I’ve watched Youtube tutorials and consulted cookbooks and food blog forums, and I just have not gotten down the freaking process. I am so angry about this that I spent time debating whether or not to bust out ANOTHER f-word, but then I decided to keep this post a family show. How lucky are YOU?

So, yeah, there’s that. If you’re making a pie crust from scratch, please consult some other, better resources. I’d provide you with some but I’m not going to help you fail. :(. Anyway, I used frozen ready-made pie crusts. Now, these do not suck, but as many of you know, I hate the idea of not making all dessert components from scratch. But, after many tries and many sticks of butter wasted (R.I.P. hopes and dreams), I decided I had to go with the store-bought stuff, since pies are pretty much mandatory at Thanksgiving dinner.

Now, which pies, you wonder? I went with pumpkin, pecan and chocolate meringue. All three were deemed “must-haves” by various sweet-toothed guests. Since I used a pretty standard recipe for the pumpkin pie (the one found on the Libby’s Canned Pumpkin label), I’m only going to get into the latter two pies. Let’s start with the pecan!

Pecan Pie (makes one 9″ pie)

1 9-inch unbaked pie crust of your choice 😦

2 cups of coarsely chopped pecans + a few whole pecans for the top if you’d like to get fancy up in this pie

2 eggs

1/2 cup of light corn syrup

3/4 cup of brown sugar

1 tablespoon of molasses (if you’d like something milder, I would suggest pure maple syrup)

2 tablespoons of melted butter

2 tablespoons of flour

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of vanilla

Preheat your oven to 375ºF. Distribute your chopped pecans evenly along the bottom of your crust. Mix the remaining ingredients and then pour them over the nuts (pecans will rise to the top of the crust at this point).

Top with whole pecans if you please.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the filling is set. If you’re worried about the crust burning, you can create a pie shield (basically a foil ring cut to cover the pie crust) and place it on top of the crust about halfway through baking. Once the pie’s done, remove from the oven and allow to cool on the counter completely.

Now, on to the next pie (don’t worry…the pictures are coming 😉 ). Now, the chocolate meringue is something I’m very fond of, mostly because it was one of the first successful desserts I ever made. Heart you.

Chocolate Meringue Pie (makes one 9-inch pie)

1 9-inch baked pie crust of your choice 😦

For the filling

3 egg yolks

1 cup of granulated sugar

3 tablespoons of flour

4 tablespoons of cocoa powder

1/8 teaspoon of salt

2 cups of milk (I used skim)

1 tablespoon of butter

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

For the meringue

3 egg whites

1/8 teaspoon of salt

1/3 cup of granulated sugar

Preheat your oven to 400°F. In a medium-sized saucepan, stir together egg yolks, sugar, flour, cocoa and salt. Whisk in milk, and cook over medium heat. Stir constantly until the mixture comes to a full boil.

Remove from heat, stir in your butter and vanilla, and then pour into pie shell.

Now, let’s make our meringue. So, it’s really important, when beating egg whites, to work with an absolutely spotless bowl, and clean whisks. There shouldn’t be any moisture or bits of batter kicking around, or else you won’t have the stiff peaks a meringue needs. To start, using a stand or hand mixer on high, beat egg whites and salt together until foamy.

Gradually add in your sugar while mixer is on, and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. This may take a little while, so just be patient.

Once done, spread meringue evenly on top of custard, making sure to spread so that the chocolate isn’t visible. Obviously I took the above picture before I finished spreading. Anyway, bake for 10-12 minutes, until the meringue is lightly browned.

So, how did it all turn out?

Pretty well, if I do say so myself. Boyfriend was partial to the pecan, which I was not as crazy about (I guess pecan’s just too sweet for my blood), and I was all about the chocolate meringue. I was also really into Sylvapotamus’s chocolate mousse, to the point where when I accidentally knocked the entire bowl of it over (and broke the bowl) I was still trying to figure out ways to eat it off of the floor. I am sorry Sylvapotamus. 😦

So, that was my Turkey day. And I miss it already.

Categories
Cakes Cheesecakes Chocolate Cheer Fancy Pantsy

Saying Goodbye To An Old Evil Friend….And Saying Hello To Cheesecake

Before I continue, there’s still time to donate any items you can to Sandy victims. From what I’ve been hearing, clothing donations and food donations, while appreciated, are no longer as necessary as money is. Also, many people are in need of cleaning supplies to get their houses back in some semblance of order, so anything you can do would be wonderful. This is probably the best place to do your donating. Thanks!

So it’s about to get real in here, readers.

Today my boyfriend posted some really awful news on my Facebook page. Did you hear? You must have. Do I even need to say it? Ok, fine, since you insist. Hostess is closing.

I need to say that again: HOSTESS IS CLOSING. Oh it hurts me so.

I guess I should tell you all, since I’ve kept it secret long enough. I don’t really care about Hostess treats. I can make my own damn Twinkies, and they sure as hell won’t be preserved and stabilized so as to survive the apocalypse. But Hostess owns Drake’s. When I was in high school, I basically kept Drake’s afloat all by myself. How, you ask? Um… ok… this is sort of humiliating, but as this is my blog and I do have to share stuff sometimes, here goes…

Does anyone else find it odd that the words “artificially flavored” and “freshness guaranteed” are on the same box? How did that escape me back then?

Now, I kind of really hated high school. I went to a pretty competitive, stressful one and was constantly anxious about something. I’m not much different now, but that’s for another sobby post. Anyway, so I was quiet and sad pretty much all the time for the first, oh, three years. And all the time I did not spend with other people was spent with the above handheld pies. They look disgusting, right? I know. But they treated me so well. And they were delicious! They were reliable, they were sweet, and they just kept showing up to comfort me. That might be the saddest thing I’ve ever typed, and I used to write some depressing stuff, man (yep, I’m letting it all hang out for you guys). I actually remember my little sister reaching inside of the box more than once, hoping to taste this glorious treat herself, only to be disappointed and perplexed that there was no pie to grasp. I’m honestly not sure if, to this day, she’s ever had the [dis?]pleasure of tasting one of these. Now as you can see, there are eight pies in each box. No one else in my family was really into these. And there are eight pies in each box. And there were many boxes purchased. I think you understand what I’m trying to tell you.

So, eventually, my dad got hip to my habit. I think it took my pediatrician not-so-gently explaining that my cholesterol was alarmingly bad and that I was starting to get kind of huge. And then the pies were gone from my life. And I haven’t had one since. Nor can I, for I fear relapse.

So now I’m in good standing health-wise, thanks to my abstinence from these fruit-filled Satan squares. I’m happy to have kicked the habit, but, well, I’m also kind of sad that I’ll never see them again. I mean, maybe I would have wanted one, one day. Just a taste, you know? And now I’ll just never even have the option. Farewell, old friends. Ugh, you treated me so poorly. See you in Hell.

Are you as sad as I am? No? Do you really just want to hear about a Peanut Butter Cheesecake I made? You’re right, I understand. Let’s talk about that.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake With Chocolate Ganache Topping (makes one 9″ round cake)

For the crust

1 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs

6 tablespoons of softened butter

For the cheesecake portion

12 oz of cream cheese or Neufchatel cheese, softened

1/2 cup of granulated sugar

1/2 cup +2 tablespoons of peanut butter (I actually used all-natural, which I found to be amazing, but you can use whatever you’d prefer, just make sure it’s stirred well!)

1 1/2 oz of semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled (I used chocolate chips)

1 egg

1/2 cup of heavy cream

1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

First, preheat your oven to 350ºF, grease a 9″ springform pan, and bring a large pot of water to a boil. We’ll be using the water as a “bath” for the cheesecake, since this will help keep the air in the oven moist and keep the top of the cheesecake from cracking. Also, cover the of your springform in foil if you’re worried about leaks.

In the bowl of a stand-mixer or hand mixer, cream together cream cheese, peanut butter, sugar and chocolate until the mixture is smooth. Mix in your egg, then blend in heavy cream and vanilla until everything is fully combined.

Pour the batter into your springform pan, and place this pan in a larger pan, then pour your boiling water into the larger pan so it reaches about halfway up the sides of the springform. Very carefully place this whole thing into the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes– so that it appears almost done but still jiggles around in the center quite a bit.

Now, this is a great tip from the author of this recipe: once you’ve determined the cake is done, don’t remove from the oven. Turn the oven off and let the cake sit in the oven as it cools down, which will allow the cake to cook completely without burning or curdling. This should take about an hour. After the hour’s up, remove the cake from the water bath and allow it to cool on your counter for another hour before placing in the fridge until you’re ready to add your ganache.

Chocolate Ganache (Hell yes)

2 oz of semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup of heavy cream

1 tablespoon of softened butter

Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Now, in a small saucepan, bring your heavy cream to a boil and then pour half of it over your chocolate. Let this mixture sit for about 30 seconds, and then gently whisk the mixture in small circles, starting in the middle of the bowl and working your way out in larger circles. Then pour in the remainder of the cream and repeat the circular motions until you’ve got something shiny and smooth. Stir in your butter and mix just until it’s incorporated. Pour the ganache over your cake and refrigerate until it’s been set.

Now, I added some pecan bits to the top to be fancy…do as you please, readers 🙂

Yes, I realize that thing is WAY too close to the edge of the counter, but don’t worry, miraculously nothing awful happened. I’d be pissed after all of the work I put into this cake. So, was it worth the effort? Well, I’m not going to say yes. I’M GOING TO SAY HELL YES. It’s coming close to being an all-time favorite cake. We actually had some guests over after this was made, who agreed that it was super delicious. Fortunately we had a whole half to ourselves once our guests left.

And you know it didn’t go to waste. 😉

Categories
Cakes Chocolate Cheer

Double Hot Fudge Something Or Other I Am In A Rut Help Me Because I Am In a Rut Oh And Here’s That Cake I Mentioned

Before I start on all of the bad stuffs, let me just brag about the good for a minute, if just so that this image is the first (or, um, second, after my creepy eyes in the banner above) that is seen when this post is published.

*cue the angels crooning*

This is THE stand mixer my boyfriend gave me for my birthday. It’s beautiful, and I teared up a little bit. Isn’t it beautiful? Sweet Jeebus, it is. I can’t. I can’t even. I’ve almost forgotten the bad. The bad…bad…oh wait.

There it is.

GRR.

Well, this is a blog about a sad lady baking, so I guess you came here knowing what to expect. Or, at least, I hope you did. The cake I’m going to talk about today is one I actually made about three weeks ago, but I’m still catching up on a bunch of things, including writing this very blog, so forgive me, please. Or don’t forgive me and run away. You’ll miss a concert featuring the tiniest violin, but that’s your loss I guess.

YOU GUYS. Seriously, I am in such a funk that I can’t even talk about it. The good thing (for this blog, at least, since it’s been pretty bad for my waistline 😦 ) is that I’ve kind of been baking like a madwoman to attempt to reverse the effects of said funk. You can see how well this has been working, I’m sure.

I guess that ever since my birthday I’ve been evaluating and examining what I’ve been doing with myself, and it’s getting me down. I suppose I’d hoped to feel more…capable by this age, and I don’t. I have no idea what to do with my life, peoples. Any and all suggestions (except ANY involving Stamos, ugh, gross) would be welcomed with open arms.

Oh, also, do you know what I just realized? I have no idea what my favorite cake is! How the hell does a person who runs  a baking blog not know this? How have I lived my whole life this way? It makes no sense. Do I just not like cake? Isn’t that something you should just be able to kind of recall? I find this very strange.

Why am I choosing now to talk about this? Well, around my birthday I got the lame idea to sit in my kitchen and feel sorry for myself by baking myself a cake. But then, I realized I didn’t know what it was I wanted. Story of my life, kids :(. Sigh.

Anyway, I decided to just make something, so I pulled a recipe for a Double Chocolate Hot Fudge Sundae cake out of my favorite flipping recipe book ever. Thank you, Betty. Thank you even just for the name of this cake. Let’s get started, friends.

Double Chocolate Hot Fudge Sundae Cake (I can’t tell you how many servings because I’m embarrassed at how quickly two people finished this)

1 cup of all-purpose flour

3/4 cup of granulated sugar

2 tablespoons + 1/4 cup of cocoa powder, separated

2 teaspoons of baking powder

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1/2 cup of milk

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1/2 cup of chopped pecans (optional but also awesomenal, please add these)

1/2 cup of chocolate chips

1 cup of brown sugar

1 3/4 cup of very hot water

Ok, another amazeballs thing about this recipe is that it is made directly in the pan, which means if you’re feeling lazy and kind of sad and zombie-like these days (ahem), there won’t be much for you to do in the way of clean-up. Yay!

Oh, also, did you know that you could sub two tablespoons of molasses for every cup granulated sugar for a cup of brown sugar? This is something I needed to know as my stash of brown sugar was gone (tragedy). Take a look (but do a better job mixing the two together than I did).

So, preheat your oven to 350°F. Now, in a 9×9″ un-greased square pan, mix your flour, granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons of cocoa, baking powder and salt together. Stir in milk, oil and vanilla until the batter is smooth, then fold in nuts and chocolate chips. Sprinkle the 1/4 cup of cocoa powder and cup of brown sugar evenly over the top, and then pour hot water over the mixture.

Send the pan into the oven for 40 minutes, or until the top is dry. Let cake cool for about 5 minutes, then scoop into dishes and top with ice cream if you’ve got any (I didn’t have any! The hits just keep on coming!).

Now, while I enjoyed this cake warm, I freaking overdosed on it cold. It is amazing after a day in the refrigerator. I suppose it’s just easier to appreciate all of the different textures of the cake when it’s cool. I like to tell myself that that is why I kept visiting this cake in the fridge…to appreciate it.

So, is this my favorite cake? No, no it is not. I will certainly be making it again, but the search continues for the one cake that will solve all of my many problems (yup, I took it there). Stay tuned, readers.

Categories
Chocolate Cheer Classic Favorites Easy Baking No-Bake Recipes Vegan Desserts

I Created A Monster. I Tried To Stay Away From The Monster. The Monster Was Too Delicious, So It Won. And Then I Won.

YOU GUYS.

I’m going to keep you in suspense when it comes to what I made for this post for just a little longer…

…But only so I can show you the AWESOME spot I helped put together!

I can’t tell you how proud I am of this thing. Really, I am so, SO happy that I was even able to be a part of it. It was so much fun, and I personally think it’s a pretty brilliant little piece, thanks to an amazing cast and crew (the writer/director knocked my socks off with this one, and no that’s not because I’m a little biased toward him ;)).

So, yes, being able to finally debut this was exhilarating. My mood has certainly improved thanks to all of the kind words attached to this video, even though most of the credit isn’t mine. Still, I’m super happy.

Weird, right? Weird to see “super happy” on this blog. Ah well. Let’s all just try to deal with it as best we can, shall we?

Ok, on to the actual dessert portion of today’s meal. Aren’t you just dying to know what I made? Ok…deep breaths everyone…I made…

Peanut butter cups!

Wait! Hear me out! I know there have been many stranger, more complex, more interesting baked goods on this site. I know. But nothing, and I mean NOTHING, works for me quite the way the magical combination of chocolate and peanut butter does. I’m not even exaggerating. That these were incredibly easy to make only rocked my already-rocking world until up was down and happy was Sad Shibow. Let’s get it, kids.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups (makes 24 mini cups)

3 cups of semisweet chocolate chips (I used Trader Joe’s brand, of course)

1 cup of all-natural peanut butter

1 cup of confectioner’s sugar

A handful of Peanut Butter Puffins (Sorry again for the product placement, but these things rule my universe. If they somehow do not rule yours, use a handful of graham cracker crumbs)

Big pinch of salt

Line a 24-cup mini muffin tin with cupcake liners.

So, some of you will be pleased to know that these particular cups are vegan as well. Hoorah to you, and me, and everybody!

Set chocolate chips in a large bowl over a pot of simmering water. Stir constantly until completely melted. Now, drop about half a teaspoon’s worth of the melted chocolate into each cupcake liner, and use the back of the spoon to coat the bottom and sides completely. You will have leftover melted chocolate, which we’ll be using in a bit, so please don’t get crazy with what you’ve got left.  Once you’ve coated every liner, send the tin into the refrigerator for about 15 minutes, or until the chocolate hardens up.

While you wait, start in on the peanut butter mixture. In a medium-sized bowl, stir together peanut butter, sugar, Puffins and salt. You should be able to hand-stir this thing. You should also probably taste test, to mentally prepare yourself for the awesomeness you will be dealt once this whole thing comes together.

Once your chocolate’s hardened, remove the tin from the fridge and evenly distribute your peanut butter filling among the cups.

Then, drop more of your melted chocolate (you may need to re-melt at this point) on top to completely cover the peanut butter, and flatten the tops with the back of a spoon as best you can. Send back into the fridge for about half an hour or until the chocolate has hardened completely.

So…how were they? Well, fortunately I was not alone in making and trying these, as the lovely Sylvapotamus was available and generous enough to assist. I cannot tell you how lucky I was that someone else was present to devour these with me, because I’m pretty sure eating 24 of these things would be deemed unacceptable in most circles…

…not in mine though. 😉