Cranberry Chocolate Chip Biscotti

Biscottis are wonderful complements to a warm cup of coffee or tea.

Well, that's what I heard.

I've never had biscottis before in my life, let alone bake any, so I had no idea what they were supposed to taste like. I usually prefer soft or chewy cookies, rather than hard ones, so I always skipped the biscotti recipes when I looked through cookbooks or websites. 

But I guess it was about time I at least tried some, just to know what it's like.

Not too sweet, but full of flavor, these crunchy little cookies are indeed yummier when they are dunked in warm coffee. The original recipe had white chocolate coating, but I felt that if those were dipped in coffee, they wouldn't really soak up anything, so I threw in some chocolate chips in the batter instead:)

They actually taste wonderful, and I would bake them again soon - probably with a dash of cinnamon to spice'em up!

But umm... I still prefer soft and chewy cookies.

Cranberry Chocolate Chip Biscotti
recipe adapted from cinnamon, spice & everything nice
Makes 5 dozen biscottis
Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chocolate chips


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Add eggs one at a time, beating at low speed with an electric mixer. Mix in vanilla extract. Add dried cranberries and chocolate chips and stir to combine.
Divide batter into two, and shape each one on a cookie sheet into a rectangular log, about 15 inches long and 2 inches wide. 
Bake for 30 minutes, until edges are golden brown; cool on a wire rack until warm to the touch. Transfer logs onto a cutting board and slice diagonally into 1/4-inch thick cookies. 
Arrange back on parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 8 to 20 minutes, depending on how crisp you want them.
Cool completely on wire rack.


Enjoy!

Mini Raspberry Heart Cakes

Have you ever tasted a chocolate cake and had an irresistible urge to gobble down the whole thing?

I have.

And it's this cake right here.

And you can't even go for the rest of the cake because it is "portion controlled".

Hmm.. I say this cake is good for your waistline.

It's incredibly moist and soft, it practically melts in your mouth. I actually made this for my mom, who recently had a dental surgery, so that she could enjoy her food without having to bite into it too hard.

Of course, she enjoyed it too, but she said that the doctor told her to avoid sweet stuff.

Oops...I forgot about that. Silly me:)

So I ended up eating the whole batch with my dad!

I got this recipe from the Hershey's website, which has the most amazing chocolate cake photos EVER. Once I start looking at all the chocolatey treats, I sit in front of my computer drooling at them for at least 3 hours. I had a very hard time choosing which one to make, so I chose one that didn't yield a lot of servings. Just to experiment. This one was a recipe for two, but I doubled it and made four lovely mini chocolate cakes:)

Chocolate Sweetheart Cakes for Two

Recipe from HERSHEY'S 

Ingredients:

For the Cake:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup water

1/2 teaspoon white vinegar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Chocolate Frosting:

1 tablespoon butter or margarine

2/3 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

2 to 3 teaspoons milk

1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

Garnish:

4 raspberries

Fresh mint leaves

Caramel syrup (optional - I used smucker's sugar free caramel syrup)

Directions:

Heat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 8-inch square baking pan.

Stir together flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Add water, oil, vanilla, and vinegar; beat with spoon or whisk until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Transfer to cutting board. Using a 3-1/4-inch heart shaped cookie cutter, cut cake into 4 hearts. Spread chocolate frosting on top of two hearts. Press remaining hearts on top. Drizzle with caramel syrup, if desired, then garnish with raspberries and mint leaves.

For the Chocolate Frosting: Place butter in a small microwave safe bowl. Microwave at medium (50%) 20 seconds or until butter is melted. Stir together powdered sugar and cocoa; add to butter mixture alternately with milk, beating with spoon or whisk until smooth. Stir in vanilla. Makes about 1/3 cup frosting.