Chocolate Archives - Busy Moms Helper

50+ Slow Cooker Desserts

March 8, 2019 by Danielle Leave a Comment

As a super busy mom, I really dread spending too much time cooking. I love cooking, don’t get me wrong, but there’s so many days where it’s just not going to fit into the time I have. That’s why I absolutely LOVE my slow cooker! But did you know that you can make more than just dinner with it? That’s right, you can make delicious desserts, as well! To help get you started, here’s 52+ Slow Cooker Desserts!

That’s right, fabulous desserts with very little effort! You just may be wishing you had a larger slow cooker so you could make even MORE! I can’t help with the size of your cooker, but now you’ve now got 52+ Slow Cooker Desserts….that’s one every week for a year! You’re welcome 😉

Apple Cake

Peanut Butter Cup Cake

Apple Crisp

Ginger Orange Cheesecake

Triple Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Cake

Pina Colada Lava

Rocky Road Chocolate Cake

Apple Spiked Monkey Bread

Peppermint Coated Pretzels

Chocolate Coconut Peanut Butter Balls

Cinnamon Almonds

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Turtle Pudding Cake

Pumpkin Pie Cinnamon Rolls

Copy Cat Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies

Molten Chocolate Lava Mud Cake

Reese’s Spoon Cake

Lazy Lemon Delight

White Chocolate Candy Corn Fudge

S’mores Cake

Mexican Custard Flan

Triple Chocolate Brownies

Dulce de Leche

Paleo Almond Bark

Peanut Clusters

Angel Cake with Cherry Sauce

Hot Cocoa Cake

Sour Cream Cheesecake

Pumpkin Pudding

Pumpkin Pie Custard, Sugar Free

Applesauce

Pumpkin Pie Dip

Caramel Apple Cider

Chocolate Cherry Cola Cake

Pumpkin Bread

Nutella Crunch Cheesecakes

Tiramisu Bread Pudding

Simple Homemade Peach Cobbler

Melted Chocolate

Mini Salted Caramel Mocha Cheesecakes

Chocolate Cake

Red Velvet Cake

Quite the selection of Slow Cooker Desserts, right?! I love using my slow cooker, and now with cold weather hitting will be pulling it out even more often! My kitchen is sure gonna smell delicious!

Cookie Dough Frosting

February 15, 2019 by Danielle

Ah, frosting….how I love thee!!! Seriously, frosting is just Da Bomb! So for my twins’ birthday Saturday, we made some cupcakes for them to take to preschool (although we’ve now had snow days since, so still haven’t taken them – I may have to eat these ones and make more) for their special treat. I wanted to try a different frosting, something unique from the common whipped or butter cream (I do love these, too, just do them all the time). Then, as I was baking the cupcakes, I started craving cookie dough. Wait – let’s try some Cookie Dough FROSTING! Oh yeah, I totally went there! This turned out delicious – perfectly pipe-able, creamy, and tasting JUST LIKE COOKIE DOUGH (no eggs, no worries)!

This recipe did about 18 cupcakes, piped as shown above.

Ingredients
1 cup Butter, softened
1 1/2 cups Light Brown Sugar, packed
3 tsp. Vanilla Extract
2 1/2 cups All-purpose Flour
1 tsp. Salt
9 Tbsp. Milk (roughly – more or less depending on desired consistency)
Chocolate Chips (mini or normal) for sprinkling on top

Directions
With a fork (or beaters) SMOOSH (aka Cream) together the Butter, Brown Sugar and Vanilla.

Add the Flour and Salt and mix until well combined.

Carefully add the Milk just 1 tbsp. at a time – until you reach your desired consistency. I used exactly 9 Tbsp, but you may prefer more or less.

Pipe onto your cupcakes (or cake, or whatever you’re frosting), then top with Chocolate Chips as desired.

Nestle Tollhouse VS. Dad’s Recipe: The Healthier Cookie

February 1, 2019 by Danielle

Today I’m sharing you one of our absolute FAVORITE cookie recipes, and it isn’t even my own! My Dad, who loves to experiment with recipes to make them more healthy, came up with this one and was kind enough to share it (and gave me permission to pass it on to y’all)! For a bit more fun, we’re even comparing it so you can see the nutritional difference between Nestle Tollhouse VS. Dad’s Recipe: The Healthier Cookie!

I know that the Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chip recipe is many people’s ‘go-to’ for cookies, but now you’ll think twice once you not only see the healthy difference, but also TASTE the amazing deliciousness of my Dad’s Cookies!

This is comparing based on Cookie-to-Cookie of the same size, 1 tbsp scoop of dough size to be exact. It took a bit for me to go through everything, then divide appropriately, to find the correct nutritional values….but this is as close as I could get.

Nestle Tollhouse

110 Calories (60 from Fat)
7g Fat
3.5g Saturated Fat
85mg Sodium
14g Carbs
1g Fiber
10g Sugar
2g Protien

Dad’s Cookies

107 Calories (49 from Fat)
6g Fat
4g Saturated Fat
85mg Sodium
9g Carbs
.25g Fiber
8g Sugar
4g Protien

So for even more flavorful cookies, you get slightly less calories and fat, fewer carbs, little less sugar and double the protien. Woot woot!

Ingredients

1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Salt
1 cup Coconut Oil (just scoop, don’t melt)
3/4 cup Granulated Sugar
3/4 cup Brown Sugar, packed
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
2 Large Eggs
1 cup Chocolate Chips
1/2 cup Dried Oats
1 cup Vanilla Protein Powder
1 1/4 cup All-Purpose flour

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 Degrees F. Spray some cookie sheets, set aside.
Combine the first 7 ingredients together until well mixed. Mix in the protein powder, dried oats and flour slowly. Lastly, stir in the chocolate chips.
Scoop about 1 tbsp. sized dough per cookie onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake for about 8-10 minutes, or until the edges are BARELY brown. When you take them out, they’ll still look slightly undone, but that’s fine. Allow to cool just 2 minutes on the sheet, then remove to a cooling rack (carefully).

These cookies do AMAZING in the freezer! Make a big batch, toss some in a ziplock baggie into your freezer, then just pull them out whenever you need some cookies! My Dad likes to keep some on-hand in the freezer so he can grab a bag before a road trip. Fresh cookies during a long drive? Yes, please!

You can, of course, adjust the ingredients to fit YOUR preferred tastes! Want to try another flavor protein powder? Then go for it! I’m curious what Strawberry flavored would end up like, with maybe some white chocolate chips? Yumm-o!

Chocolate-Brownie Cupcake with White Ganache Frosting

February 24, 2018 by Danielle

I’ve been needing a chocolate fix lately – with all the stress of getting our house on market, frustrations with my kids’ school, plus regular busy life it’s nice to have a little treat as a pikc-me-up. So today I’m sharing this INCREDIBLE Chocolate-Brownie Cupcakes with White Ganache Frosting with you! They are just super moist-yet-flakey, flavorful, and Oh. My. Heck. ADDICTING! I *may* have had trouble ont just eating it all from the batter!

Chocolate-Brownie Cupcakes with White Ganache Frosting / Busy Mom's Helper

Seriously, I’m drooling just remembering this batch. And I have no idea which I like best, the cupcake or the frosting – they’re both just perfect. Even separate! But together it’s just like – WOW. Try them, they won’t disappoint!

Ingredients – Cupcakes

1/2 cup All-Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4 cup Butter, melted
3 Large Eggs
2 cups Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips, melted
1 cup Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips (NOT melted)
2/3 cup Granulated Sugar
2 tsp. Vanilla Extract

Directions – Cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 375 Degrees F. Spray or line two 12-cup cupcake tins. Set aside.
In a small bowl, mix the Flour, Baking Powder and Salt.
In a large bowl, beat the Eggs, Sugar and Vanilla about 3-5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Add the melted Chocolate and melted Butter, continue beating until well-combined.
Add the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture and whisk until just combined. Stir in the (not melted) Chocolate Chips.
Spoon the batter into the cupcake tins/liners, filling about 2/3 of the way to the top.
Bake about 10-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out MOSTLY clean (some moistness is fine).
Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Ingredients – White Ganache

2 cups Vanilla or White Chocolate Chips
1/3 cup Heavy Cream

Directions – White Ganache

In a small saucepan, over medium heat, bring the Heavy Cream to a simmer. Remove from the heat and add the Vanilla (or White Chocolate) Chips.
Stir until the chips are fully melted and the mixture is smooth.
Chill about 1-2 hours, then allow to sit at room temperature about 30 minutes up to an hour – just until it’s the right firmness to frost the cupcakes.

Notes – Use chocolate shavings/curls for garnish

Need some other Chocolate ideas?

Chocolate Monster Cake

Caramel Milky Way Brownies

Creamy Chocolate Treat

Homemade Snickers

September 12, 2016 by Nikki Cole

Peanut butter and chocolate? Best combination ever! I love peanut butter and who doesn’t love chocolate. Well if you are like me then these Homemade Snickers are for you. These are simple to make and taste even better than the store bought.

This recipe isn’t very hard just mainly waiting for layers to chill in the refrigerator. The recipe makes a whole 9 x 13” pan of delicious, wonderful, and completely your own Homemade Snickers bars. Try freezing them to make a nice frozen treat, and it makes it last longer because you can’t devour it down in one bite. Like white chocolate instead of milk? Just substitute white almond bark and white chocolate chips instead of milk and you can have your own unique Homemade Snickers bar.

Ingredients:

8 squares almond bark (about 2 cups if you’re using candy wafers) divided
½ cup milk chocolate chips, divided
¾ cup creamy peanut butter, divided
¼ cup butter
1 cup sugar
½ cup evaporated milk, divided
1 ½ cup marshmallow crème
1 ½ cup salted dry roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped
1 tsp. vanilla extract
16 oz caramels

Directions

Line a 9 x 13” pan with aluminum foil so you can easily lift the bars out of the pan when finished. Spray foil with nonstick cooking spray, set aside.
In a small microwave-safe bowl, melt together 4 squares of almond bark (1 cup wafers), ¼ cup chocolate chips, and ¼ cup peanut butter in the microwave, stirring until smooth. Spread evenly over the bottom of prepared pan. Refrigerate until chocolate is hard.
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in sugar and ¼ cup evaporated milk until dissolved. Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in marshmallow crème and ¼ cup peanut butter, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in chopped peanuts and vanilla until well mixed. Spread evenly over chilled chocolate. Refrigerate until chilled.
In a medium saucepan over low heat, heat caramels and remaining ¼ cup evaporated milk until caramels are melted and mixture is smooth, stirring occasionally. Spread evenly over chilled nougat. Refrigerate until chilled.
In a small microwave-safe bowl, melt together remaining 4 squares almond bar (1 cup wafers), ¼ cup chocolate chips and ¼ cup peanut butter in the microwave, stirring until smooth. Cool for 5 minutes. Spread evenly over chilled caramel. Refrigerate for an hour. Remove candy from pan by lifting foil then cut into bars. If you want you can melt some additional chocolate and dip sides of the bars in so it’s completely covered with chocolate.

Summer Science Cold!

August 18, 2016 by Nikki Cole

All this heat has me ready for summer to end! Well, kind of, I love summer so let’s cool off with Summer Science Cold! where we will make a couple of cold treats to enjoy and hopefully cool us off.

I love summer but after several months of really hot weather it starts to not be as enjoyable. Enjoying some cooling treats helps a lot though. With this week’s summer science we are going to make homemade ice cream and homemade butter. Who doesn’t love ice cream and watching it form right before your eyes your kids will be amazed and then enjoy eating ice cream they actually made. Butter is a little bit of a stretch, yes it is cold but I served it over nice warm homemade bread but it still was fantastic to make and homemade butter seems to always taste better.

Homemade ice cream! This is where Summer Science Cold actually gets really cold. Ice cream is one of my favorite treats and with homemade ice cream I like how it is not super hard but it also is easier to get a brain freeze! With ice cream explain to your kids how freezing works. By filling the bag with ice and also salt the salt helps make the ice even colder causing the milk to freeze.

Supplies:

Gallon size freezer bag
About 6 tablespoons Salt (I use rock salt which is available at grocery stores)
Ice enough to fill a gallon bag
Sandwich bag
½ cup Milk
½ teaspoon Vanilla
1 ½ tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon Chocolate syrup, or cocoa powder for chocolate ice cream. (optional)
Toppings!

Directions:

In the sandwich bag mix together milk, vanilla, and sugar. (chocolate syrup or cocoa if desired).
Seal the sandwich bag really well (we placed the sandwich bag into another sandwich bag just in case it broke) and place into the gallon bag.
Fill the gallon bag with ice and pour salt over. Seal.
Shake! You might want gloves or a towel because it does get really cold!
Shake until the milk mixture is solid or at least ice cream like, scoop out of the bag and enjoy!

Homemade Butter will show your kiddos how cream goes through different stages to become butter and how to make it themselves. This experiment only involves a few simple ingredients, some muscle power, and you’ll have amazing tasting butter to enjoy! With this experiment I also made my homemade braided bread to go with the butter. Bread is also a great experiment to show how yeast rises and expands bread.

Supplies:

1 pint Heavy whipping cream (room temperature)
Mason jar
2 marbles (optional)
Medium sized bowl
Salt (optional)

Directions:

Fill a mason jar only about half way with the heavy whipping cream making sure there’s enough room for it to slosh around. Having the cream at room temperature helps it become butter a little faster.
Place 2 marbles in the jar, if you are worried about breaking the jars then you can leave them out, I didn’t have any problems and we shook them really hard.
Screw the lid on tight!
Shake!
After a couple minutes it’ll stop sloshing and seem more solid, if you open the jar you will find whipped cream!
Seal the lid again and Shake!
It’ll get harder and little ones might need some help shaking it. The whipped cream will start the change into what looks like curdled milk.
Shake until you see the buttermilk beginning the separate out and there’s a solid mass of butter.
Remove from jar and place in a bowl. Remove marbles.
Pour a cup of cold water into the bowl and knead out the butter milk rinsing every now and then until water becomes clear. Once rinsed add a little salt if you want and enjoy!

Who knew shaking butter could be so fun! They were having contests of who could shake the longest!

Summer Science Food!

August 6, 2016 by Nikki Cole

Who doesn’t want to play with food, especially kids? With these fun little experiments the kids can eat (most of them) and also see some fun reactions with these fun Summer Science Food experiments.

These experiments do take a little time anywhere between an hour to a week or two but are totally worth it! The smore’s activity is really fun especially for kids to see how to use solar oven and the heat to make food. Now if you’re like me having completely melted chocolate is not how I like my smore’s but the activity was fun to see the marshmallows get soft and the chocolate melt.

Growing Bears

Gummy bears have always been a fun treat for me, they’re fruity and gummy and shaped like cute little bears. Soaking gummy bears in 7up and making them bigger of course I’m up for that! With this experiment it shows osmosis or in basic terms the gummy bears absorbing the 7up while still maintaining its form. This is also a great recipe to make a flavored 7up or add some excitement to kids drinks this summer.

Supplies

Gummy bears
7up
Bowl

Directions:

Put gummy bears into a bowl and cover with 7up.
Leave overnight or at least a couple hours.
Drain gummy bears and see how they’ve grown.

Put gummy bears and 7up in ice cube trays, freeze.
Once frozen put the ice cubes in 7up and have a fun drink.

Wiggly Worms

Wiggly worms are all over the side walk during rain storms and wiggle all over. With this fun little experiment we will make colorful worms wiggle around in a glass. This experiment does take a little patience. Gummy worms also come way too big so slicing them into fourths helps make them lighter and more able to float around so this will require some adult help.

Supplies:

Gummy worms
4 tablespoons Baking soda
1 cup Warm Water
2 cups Vinegar
2 clear glasses

Directions:

Dissolve 4 tablespoons baking soda into 1 cup warm water.
Cut gummy worms into 4 thin slices and place in the baking soda water solution. Let sit for about a half hour.
Pour vinegar into another clear glass.
With a fork fish out some worms and place in vinegar. Bubbles should form and the worms will start to pop up and wiggle around. Only put in 4 pieces otherwise they’re too heavy and it won’t work.

Solar Smore’s

Who doesn’t love Smore’s especially in Summer? I love Smore’s and while I rather my chocolate frozen on my smore this experiment was fun watching the marshmallows get soft and the chocolate melt. Pick a really hot day and show your kids how to make a solar oven to make delicious treats.

Supplies

box with a lid
tape
saran wrap
tin foil
marshmallows
chocolate
grahm crackers

Directions:

line the box with tin foil on the bottom of the lid and the whole inside.
tape the lid so it stands up and slightly hangs over to close but not closed, the idea is to catch the sun and direct it down into the box.
place your grahm cracker, marshmallow, and chocolate on the bottom of the box stacked like a smore.
cover the box with saran wrap.
leave out in direct sun hitting the lid and opening until chocolate is melted. Enjoy!

Super Addictive Brownies

August 1, 2016 by Danielle

You know I love a good brownie. Delicious, moist and full of chocolaty goodness! Well, now I’m totally obsessed with these Super Addictive Brownies, with a fabulous frosting and marshmallow layer adding to it’s perfectness!

Super Addictive Brownies / by Busy Mom's Helper #Brownies #Chocolate #Dessert

So today I’m in one of those moods where I really have no idea what to say. Nothing much going on, feeling a bit ‘blah’, so how about we just go right on to these absolutely delicious, superly addicting brownies? Luckily I made two pans, one for Flash to take to work (they raved about how yummy they were), and one for us. Or, I guess I should say half for me and half for the rest of my family. Ya, I was pretty bad calorie wise with these, but they were oh so good!

Ingredients – Brownies:

1 1/2 cups All-purpose flour
2 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp. Baking powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 cup Butter, melted
4 Eggs, lightly beaten
1 tbsp. Vanilla
1 cup Chocolate Chips
1/2 bag mini marshmallows (enough to do a full layer of a 9×13 pan)

Ingredients – Frosting:

1/2 cup Butter, melted
1/3 cup Unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup Evaporated milk
4 cups Powdered sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×13 pan, set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.Mix in the butter, whisked eggs, and vanilla for about 4 minutes, or until well blended. Add the chocolate chips. Spread the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Don’t overcook!
Remove from oven, spread the marshmallows in a layer on top, and return to the oven for about 3-4 minutes, or until the marshmallows are puffy and turning golden brown on top. Remove from oven and cool completely. (now you can turn the oven off)
For the frosting, beat together the ingredients until fluffy. When brownies are completely cooled, spread the frosting on top.

Makes one 9×13 pan of decently thick brownies.

Marshmallow Brownies

June 8, 2016 by Danielle

I may have a new favorite brownie recipe, guys! While I love all sorts of different ones, this is near the top – it’s super easy to make, and there’s so much creamy goodness in every bite. Give it a try and let me know if you love these gooey Marshmallow Brownies as much as I do!

I’m sure my favorite brownie recipe may change based on my mood, and there’s been so many good ones over the years. Remember this Gooey Caramel Brownie or even our Frosty S’mores Brownies? Those were fabulous – or how about the Super Addictive Brownies or even the Gooey Brownie Bars? Yup, they tasted amazing, as well.

Now I’m tempted to bake a small batch of every one I’ve shared and see for certain which one’s my favorite – but right now, it’s definitely these Marshmallow Brownies! The chocolate layer is creamy and soft, while the marshmallow is gooey on top. Perfection!

Ingredients

2 cups Granulated Sugar
1 cup Butter, Melted
4 Large Eggs
3 tsp. Vanilla
2/3 cup Cocoa Powder
1 cup All-purpose Flour
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 – 1/2 cup Chocolate Syrup
1/4 – 1/2 cup Caramel Syrup
2-3 cups Marshmallow Cream/Fluff (can use this recipe)
1/4 cup Chocolate Chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F. Spray or line a 9×13 baking pan. Set aside
Whip the sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla until creamy. Add in the cocoa powder, flour, salt and baking powder until well-mixed. Pour into the prepared baking pan. Drizzle the chocolate and caramel syrup over top, then use a spatula or butter knife to gently mix in (not entirely, still in pretty ribbons).
Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out ALMOST clean. Remove and set the oven to low Broil.
Carefully spread the marshmallow cream over top, and sprinkle with the chocolate chips.
Return to the oven (set to low Broil, remember) for just 2-4 minutes. WATCH IT CLOSELY. It’ll go from lightly brown to burnt in less than a minute. Once the marshmallow starts to brown, remove.

Enjoy warm and gooey, or allow to cool and STILL enjoy it gooey and great!

These photos are from just a bit after I took it out of the oven – the marshmallow on top is still partially melted and oh-so-good. It also left the chocolate chips a bit melted, adding a creamy chocolate.

They’re also still really moist and fabulous when cooled, so you choose which way you prefer. I still can’t believe how perfectly timed it was – the brownie layer almost done, but still soft, with the marshmallow layer only starting to bake. Seriously, they’re AMAZING – I can’t get enough of them! Which means I better not make them too often or the scale won’t be very nice to me 😉

Other Yummy Dessert Recipes

Easy S’mores

June 3, 2016 by Nikki Cole

First attempt fails! I hate when you think you have an amazing idea and then WHAM! It fails and ends up awful. I attempted these Easy Smore’s with little tiny 2 inch pots and they did not light and ended up not being a fun experience for my awesome family which made me feel terrible. But after a sleepless night over it I tried it again with a 6 inch pot and it was amazing! Perfect Easy Smore’s that I can whip up for my family every night if I wanted without breaking the bank or having a big fire pit in my yard with all the kids being able to make their own personal Smore! So next family get together I’ll be the awesome Aunt/sister who does exciting desserts!

Yes this is nothing new, everybody knows how to make smores, over the camp fire, in the microwave, or even on the grill but those are either dangerous for kids, not as good, or not all of us are lucky enough to have a fire pit in our back yard. I love smore’s but in a microwave it is just not the same and kind of boring especially for kids or love seeing the marshmallow burn or melt or just see the fire. These Easy Smore’s are perfect because they don’t cost a lot, you don’t need a lot of space, and they’re a lot easier to keep your kids from falling into or burning themselves. Make sure you use at least a 6 inch terracotta pot because smaller ones I guess don’t have enough oxygen or what not so they won’t burn.

Our failed attempt but they were awesome sports about it!

What you will need

6 inch terracotta pot
Tin foil
Charcoal
Lighter fluid
Skewers

Have fun with s’more toppings – there’s so many more options than just regular chocolate.

Grahm crackers
Marshmallows
Chocolate bars, kit kats, reeses, symphony’s, cookies n crème, rolos, kisses, etc.
Also you can roast strawberries and air heads, it makes them soft!

Start by lining the pot with the tin foil and folding over the sides.
Next put about 7 – 8 pieces of charcoal in the pot and pouring lighter fluid over them just so they get wet, now light them.
Usually wait about five minutes for the lighter fluid to burn off, sometimes it can cause weird tasting food if you start cooking on it too soon.
Put a marshmallow on a skewer and roast it! I love mine totally burnt but golden brown is pretty good too.

Have fun with these! There are so many different variations of smores that are so good and keeps them exciting for everyone. Also roasting starbursts or air heads are pretty good as well, it gets them soft and gooey or you can burn them a little if you like. These Easy Smore’s are a fun, quick, and easy summertime activity for any age.

Copy-Cat Disneyland Churros

May 18, 2016 by Nikki Cole

Disneyland has some of the best Churros ever, wait, no they DO have the best Churros ever! At least my favorite, I’ve tried different Churros at stores, frozen ones, or other amusement parks but they didn’t taste the same. My husband decided one day he wanted to make Copy-cat Disneyland Churros and they are just as good, maybe even better, than the Disneyland treat.

The recipe is pretty simple but squeezing the dough out into the fryer is a little tricky but not to horribly bad. These Churros are perfect for dessert, a light snack, or an impressive dessert to bring to all those parties coming up in the summer. The chocolate sauce is nice and chocolaty, but personally I almost would rather just plain churros – but it does add a nice twist to a favorite treat.

Ingredients

1 cup water
2 Tbls brown sugar
½ tsp. salt
1/3 cup butter
2 cups white flour
2 eggs
½ tsp. vanilla extract
¼ cup sugar
½ to 1 tsp ground cinnamon, depending on your taste

Chocolate sauce

1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 cups milk
4 ounces dark chocolate
¼ cup sugar

Directions

Preheat 1 ½ to 2 inches of vegetable oil in a 10 to 12 inch frying pan to 375 degrees. (we just used our deep fryer) In a separate dish mix the ¼ cup sugar and cinnamon and set aside. I just guessed on this to what I liked and I usually had extra but it sure made it easier trying to cover the churros.
In a 3 quart sauce pan add the water, brown sugar, salt, and butter and heat to a good boil. Remove from the heat and add the flour. Mix until well blended. We do this in our kitchen aid because it does get pretty tough.
In a separate bowl, mix the eggs and vanilla together and then add this mixture to the flour mixture. Stir until well blended and all the egg is completely mixed in.
Fill your decorating bag with the churro dough and attach the largest star tip.
Test your oil by placing a small amount of dough in it. the dough should bubble up right away or that means the oil is not hot enough and a soggy churro is on the way.
Once the oil is hot enough, squeeze some dough (with the decorator) into the oil about 4 inches long. I used a fork to release the dough from the decorator.
Cook them about 1 minute and turn them over with a slotted spoon. Cook an additional minute or two. You’re looking for that nice golden brown color.
Remove the churros with the slotted spoon and place them on a paper towel-covered plate to absorb excess grease. While still warm, roll each churro into the dish with the sugar and cinnamon until coated.

Chocolate sauce

In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in 1 cup of milk and reserve. Combine the chocolate with the remaining cup of milk in a saucepan. Stirring constantly, melt the chocolate over medium-low heat.
Whisk the sugar and the dissolved cornstarch into the melted chocolate mixture. Reduce the heat to low and cook, whisking constantly, until the chocolate is thickened, about 5 minutes. (add extra cornstarch if it doesn’t start to thicken after 5 minutes.) remove the pan from the heat and whisk until smooth then reserve in a warm place

2 Ingredient Copy-Cat 3 Musketeers

May 3, 2016 by Nikki Cole

Love candy bars? Well make your own then and enjoy cooking your favorites with the simplicity of 2 ingredient Copy-Cat 3 Musketeers! This recipe is incredibly easy and has only two ingredients and still has the smooth and comforting deliciousness. You’ll never buy store bought again!

I’ve been experimenting with different homemade candy bar recipes which can be dangerous sometimes like my lovely tootsie roll experience that ended up being a huge mess and didn’t even turn out anything like tootsie rolls (trust me, don’t try them) or like my homemade butterfingers where I end up eating the whole pan in a day. With these Copy-Cat 3 Musketeers I loved how simple it was and I made bite size and froze them and they are so nice to have a little chocolate treat to melt in your mouth whenever I need something small to get me by. With these, if you don’t have a loaf pan or an 8 x 8 pan make sure you double it or your 3 Musketeers will be mainly chocolate coating and no marshmallow gooeyness in the center. My first batch ended up like this and while they were still good what I really enjoy is the soft marshmallow texture in the center so use either a small pan or double the recipe to get about 3/4 inch thick center.

Ingredients

1 (7 oz) container marshmallow crème
(16 oz) milk chocolate almond bark

Directions

Spray a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray or line with parchment paper and set aside.
In a small microwave-safe bowl, melt 8 oz of the chocolate in 30 second intervals until smooth.
Heat the marshmallow crème for 30 seconds in a small microwave-safe bowl.
Combine chocolate and marshmallow crème.
Evenly spread the marshmallow mixture evenly into the pan and then chill for several hours until firm or place in freezer for 30 minutes.
In a microwave-safe bowl melt the remaining almond bark in 30 second intervals until smooth.
Cut the marshmallow mixture into bite size pieces or bars then dip into melted almond bark. Tap on the side of the bowl to remove excess chocolate then place on waxed paper until harden.