The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

I’m actually embarrassed to make the forthcoming confession, but I’m going to do it anyway, because this is a safe place of sharing. 

Here it is:  I went to one of those yuppy suburban high schools, the kind that’s very similar to West Beverly High on “90210,” where the kids go to a school with uniforms and the scoreboards provided by Pespi, and have an Olympic-sized swimming pool and a field house with joint-cushioning springs underneath.  

I’m not ashamed of my high school, because I got a great education and had a great time.  More than that, I had some amazing lunches.  Because our cafeteria was awesome.  It was better than the food served in college, and even in some restaurants.  I had access to salads, burgers, fries, hot pretzels, chicken sandwiches, fried cheese on Tuesdays, and even had two different flavors of low-fat ice cream twice a week.  It was ‘til this day some of the best food I’ve ever had…and 11 years later, I still crave two things: salty French fries and nacho cheese, but mostly, the chocolate chip cookies.  

I am a Cookie Monster.  I inherited the gene from my grandmother, and the cookies I had at that school, the cookies I could smell baking in the hallway around the start of fourth period, were the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had.  And the reason my dessert of choice, my treat after a crappy day, my favorite snack to sneak into the movies is chocolate chip cookies.  

A year ago, I set out to find the best chocolate chip cookie recipe, one that rivaled my high school’s freshly baked delights.  

The recipe on the back of the Nestle Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chip bag was a good start, but I knew I could do better.  And I tried a few others that were good, but they just weren’t right.  I also refused to make a recipe by Jacques Torres that requires bread flour, a chocolate so fancy  I couldn’t even find or afford it and 24 hours. After awhile, I felt like the Goldilocks of Chocolate Chip cookies.  

Until I discovered this recipe.  

And they are by far, the most perfect chocolate chip cookie that’s ever come out of my kitchen.  They’re easy to make, chewy, chocolaty, decadent and with a little pinch of sea salt, they are a bit more complex than the average cookie.  

So I might not use calculus or chemistry, but this is one lesson from high school I'll never forget.  Go Highlanders!

Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Ever

Adapted from Savory Sweet Life

Yield: About 3 dozen

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened

½ cup granulated sugar

1 ½ cup dark brown sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 ¾ cup all-purpose flour

½ tsp. smallish-medium coarse sea salt, plus more for sprinkling (do not use table salt)

1 tsp. baking soda

1 ½ tsp. baking powder

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 360 degrees. 

Cream butter, white and dark brown sugar until it is nice and fluffy, about 3 minutes on medium-high.  Add both eggs and vanilla and beat for another 2 minutes. 

In a separate bowl mix in flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder.  Whisk to combine.  Add half of flour mixture to sugar and eggs and beat just enough to incorporate.  Scrap down the sides with a spatuala and add the rest of the dry ingredients and blend again.  

Add the chocolate chips.  Mix until well-distributed.  The batter should be somewhat thick but airy. 

Drop about 2 tablespoons (or you can use a medium cookie scoop) onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Gently pat or shape cookies into a smooth round shape.  Sprinkle cookies with a scant amount of sea salt.  This is optional, but it adds great texture and the burst of salt both highlights and contrasts the flavors. 

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or just until the cookies are a light golden broken.  Remove from the heat, but allow cookies to remain on the baking sheet for another 5 minutes, and then transfer to a cool, non-porous surface lined with parchment paper.  Allow cookies to cool for another few minutes. It will take the willpower of a saint, but try anyway.  ;)

Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes

I have already spoken about the Power of Ganche, how I believe it has the ability to heal many things.  Life, especially in these charged times, can be hard.  It’s hard dealing with things like prolonged unemployment and all of the frustration that comes with it.  I have been without a paying job for more months than I can share without shame, and some days—usually the ones when I know a job I was cautiously excited about is filled—are especially maddening. 

Early one morning, I stumbled across a peppy, can-do woman hosting a Food Network show called “Chic and Easy.” She whipped up these cupcakes in a flourish of movement and optimism. 

At a more reasonable hour, I did the same, needing to accomplish something that day.  The result was one of the best desserts I’ve ever had.  They were rich and decadent and not overly sweet.  I don’t like messing with sticky frosting, because I manage to get it everywhere, but coating these fudgy gems was a mess-less breeze. 

So when life is bearing down a little too hard, try out these Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes and let the ganache do its job.

Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes with Ganache Frosting

by Mary Nolan

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt 6 tablespoons butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons

1 egg, at room temperature

2/3 cup milk, at room temperature

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons mini semisweet chocolate chips

2 tablespoons chopped pecans

Ganache frosting, recipe follows

Directions

Place rack in the middle of oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.

Line 12 muffin cups with cupcake papers.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt, and set aside. Using a mixer, cream the butter and 3/4 cup sugar until pale yellow, about 1 minute. Add the egg and stir until just combined. Gently add half of the flour mixture and stir until just incorporated. Mix in the milk. Add the remaining flour mixture and stir until combined. Set aside.

In a small bowl, mix together the cream cheese, 2 tablespoons sugar, and vanilla.

Stir in the chocolate chips and pecans.

Fill prepared cupcake liners with enough chocolate batter to just cover the bottom. Add a dollop of the cream cheese filling to each (about a tablespoon), then top with remaining batter.  Filling cream cheese filling should not be visible.

Bake for 20 minutes. Let cupcakes stand in the pan for 3 minutes and then remove and allow to cool completely on a rack.

Dip each cupcake into the ganache, forming an even layer of frosting. Top with chopped pecans if you wish.  Place in the refrigerator to set, about 15 minutes.

Ganache Frosting:

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder, optional

Place a heat-proof bowl over a pot of simmering water, and whisk together the chocolate, cream, and espresso powder (if using). Continue whisking until chocolate is melted and the mixture is thick, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes.

Saturday Chef's Easy Marshmallow Pops

When I was little and bored, my dad and sister and I would play the taste-test game.  We would close our eyes and try to guess the item of food we were given.  Looking back, I think it was just a way for my parents to get more fruit and veggies in our systems, but back then it was wholesome family fun.  (At least until my dad gave me vinegar and we retaliated with liquid soap.  Needless to say that was the end of the taste-test game). 

I think that’s where I learned that playing with your food could be fun.  Thus one day when it was raining and hailing in late April, and my niece was visiting, I decided it was time to play with chocolate and marshmallows and whatever toppings I could find.  Marshmallow Pops are just now starting their fifteen minutes of culinary fame, and I see why.  They are delicious, easy and fun to make, and did I mention they are delicious.  The combinations of toppings are endless and they are perfect for entertaining.   

Going to a friend’s baby shower?  Use pink or blue sprinkles.  Have a boyfriend who loves S’Mores?  Use graham crack crumbs.  Want something fabulous and unique?  Try chopped bacon if you’re nasty!  

                                                       28 marshmallows and 28 lollipop sticks. 

                                                               Ready for a chocolate bath. 

                                                                Yes, I went there, and it was delicious!

Marshmallow Pops

12 ounces milk chocolate

25 to 30 large marshmallows

Toppings: 

chopped, toasted nuts

toasted coconut

sprinkles

graham cracker crumbs

bacon, cooked and chopped

Special Equipment:

25 to 30 lollipop sticks or popsicle sticks

Wax Paper

Push sticks into marshmallows.  Line a baking sheet with wax paper.  To toast coconut or chopped nuts, toss lightly in a skillet over medium heat.  Remove from heat and skillet when coconut is a light brown and/or when nuts darken slightly and are fragrant, about 3 to 5 minutes.

You will need to make a double-boiler.  Find a medium sized pot and heat-proof bowl.  Make sure you can set the bowl just inside of the pot.  There should be room between the bottom of the bowl and the bottom of the pot. 

Add some water in a pot and simmer it over low heat.  Place chocolate in a heat-proof bowl.  When water simmers, place bowl of chocolate inside the pot, making sure the water does not touch the bottom of the pot.  Stir chocolate frequently.

When chocolate is melted, remove from heat.  Submerge marshmallows in chocolate.  If necessary, use a spoon to coat the entire marshmallow.  Holding by the stick, remove the marshmallow, shaking gently to remove excess chocolate.  Immediately coat with desired toppings.  Place stick-side up onto baking sheet lined with wax paper.  When all marshmallows are coated, place in the fridge to harden chocolate.  Serve!  

NOTE:  I generally keep my chocolate over the pot of water so it will stay warm for longer.  If it cools and becomes too thick for dipping, simply place make-shift double boiler over low heat to re-melt chocolate. 

Homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

I have another confession to make, and this one is actually juicy:

I killed the Easter Bunny.

At least I did for my eight-year-old niece, who loved the holiday so much she had adorable habit of wearing fluffy rabbit ear headbands everywhere starting March 1st. A few days after Easter last year, I mentioned shopping for a shirt she got in her Easter basket to my mother, not noticing my niece playing on the floor. Being the little genius that she is, she realized that there was no such thing as the Easter Bunny and was very upset.  I mady my munchkin cry.  I'm the worst auntie ever! 

Since then I make sure not to bring up Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy within a 100-mile radius of any child for fear of breaking more little hearts, and I send my munchkin little presents for the smaller holidays. Not because she needs it, simply because I feel guilty for killing the Easter Bunny!  And it's really fun.

For Valentine’s Day, I sent her a package of homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups. In a red box covered in glitter stickers. What eight-year-old wouldn’t want that?

These aren’t the store-bought chocolate peanut butter cups. They’re so much better. It’s a mouthful of smooth chocolate-peanut-buttery goodness and few things can top that. You can also use any type of chocolate you like, including bittersweet or even dark.

Growing up is hard, but luckily there is homemade candy to make it that much easier on the parents, aunties and the kids.

Think making them is hard?   These candies can be made in a few easy steps: 

Create the chocolate shell for the bottom and sides.

 



























Pipe in peanut butter filling.

 


























Spoon on chocolate to cover and freeze to set.

 
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
Adapted recipe by Martha Stewart 
 
Ingredients

2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

1 1/2 cups smooth peanut butter preferably all natural

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 pound semisweet or milk chocolate

36 1 3/8-inch paper candy cups

Directions

Combine sugar, peanut butter, and butter in an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium-low speed until combined. Transfer mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip, and set aside.

Melt chocolate in a double boiler over simmering water. Keep melted chocolate over hot water near work area. Use the back of a small measuring spoon to coat insides of the paper candy cups with the melted chocolate, making sure to cover the bottom and sides in a thin layer of chocolate. NOTE: I used the round back of a ¼ teaspoon to spoon in the chocolate and spread it evenly around the cups.

Transfer cups to a rimmed baking sheet or muffin tins (which will keep the cups from sliding around). Transfer to freezer until set, about 10 minutes.

Remove cold chocolate cups from the freezer. Pipe peanut butter filling into each cup until three-quarters full. Spoon melted chocolate into each cup to cover. Return to the freezer until set, 15 to 25 minutes. The candies may be served right away, or kept tightly sealed in the fridge or freezer. Eat cold or at room temperature.

The Power of Ganche: Chocolate Torte with Pistachios

Sometimes, I understand how silly foodies can be. I feel it when I’m running around the kitchen, photographing chopped blueberries in natural light and artfully arranging plates of food when everyone else just wants to eat it. Maybe it’s a romantic and slightly naïve sentiment, but I truly believe in the power of good food—that it can nourish the soul as well as the body.

There’s one food that I think has the power to heal the world. Two words, say it with me, Chocolate Ganache.

It’s a painfully simple mixture of chocolate and cream, yet I’m pretty sure it has supernatural powers. It could end the war, keep Charlie Sheen sober, make M. Night Shyamalan movies good again!

It already demonstrated its powers just this Thanksgiving. I was making a Chocolate Torte for the feast’s dessert. It baked perfectly, yet when I tried to remove it from the pan, it wasn’t coming out. After twenty tense, nail-biting minutes of scraping and running over the burner, and getting my mom to help, my sister had to bang and pry it out of the pan because I was too scared to do it.  It was mostly whole and still completely delicious, but it was rough around the edges. It wasn’t perfect, and I was upset. Because it was THANKSGIVING and IT NEEDED TO BE PERFECT! (Of course, the meal was anything but perfect, as most holiday meals are, but the food was excellent, and no one else cared that due to minor problems and setbacks, we didn’t eat until almost eight.  Dinner was scheduled for six.)



Enter the ganache. I poured it over the cake and it covered the tears and small divots, and kept me from having to resort to cake surgery and the consequent “it looks weird, but it tastes GREAT!” dance for my family.



It was a Thanksgiving Miracle!! And the power of ganache!

Ultimately, the dessert came together winningly, the torte was dense and sweet; the ganache was velvety and robustly chocolate; the pistachios added some crunch and luxury to an already elegant dish.

So you work on making this torte and believing in the power of food. And I’ll go feed some of this to M. Night Shyamalan, and see if we can get another miracle.



Torte

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, plus more for pan
1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pan
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk

Ganache
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup shelled, unsalted pistachios, coarsely chopped


Directions
Make cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour an 8-inch round cake pan; line bottom with parchment or waxed paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.

In a large heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, melt butter and chocolate, stirring frequently, 4 to 5 minutes Make sure the water does in the saucepan does not touch the bowl. Remove bowl from pan. Whisk in sugar and vanilla, then eggs, and buttermilk. Fold in flour mixture just until combined.

NOTE: The chocolate wasn’t too hot after melting, but tempered in the eggs by whipping them slightly with the buttermilk adding a bit of the chocolate before adding that mixture to the chocolate. I didn’t want to take the chance of the eggs cooking when added to the warm chocolate.  Also, you want to make sure the buttermilk is at room temperature or close to it.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 55 to 70 minutes, depending on your oven. Let cool in pan 5 minutes; run a knife around edge, and invert onto a wire rack. Remove paper, and let cool completely, about 3 hours. (To store, wrap in plastic, and keep at room temperature, up to 3 days).

Make ganache: In a small saucepan, bring cream to a simmer, stirring often. Remove from heat. Add chocolate, and let stand 5 minutes; whisk until smooth. Let cool until mixture falls back in ribbons when lifted with a spoon. It shouldn’t take more than 5 to 10 minutes.

Set cake on a serving platter; tuck strips of parchment paper under edge of cake to prevent ganache from dripping on platter. Pour ganache onto center of cake; using a table knife, spread evenly over the top and let it drip down the sides.  Let set, about 30 minutes. Remove paper from under cake; sprinkle top with pistachios.

Chef's Note: Make sure you remove the torte from the pan 5 to 10 minutes after baking.  I didn't, and you know what happened.  ;-) 

Fantastic Five Layer Bars

It is time for another Saturday Chef Confession: I hate the heat. As much as I enjoy being free of coats and boats, and bright, colorful days, summer is my least favorite season. It is hot, humid and sticky, which leaves me grumpy, uncomfortable, and lazy. Don’t get me started on my fear of bathing suits and short shorts. I don’t want to turn on the stove to make scrambled eggs, let alone braise brisket that’s dangerously close to third-degree freezer burns.


This summer has been nothing but rolling heat waves and choking humidity. And I’m miserable.

I had to throw together a quick dessert for a work party.  I was sick of boxed brownies mixes and we didn’t have a freezer to store ice cream or popsicles until party time. I also had a taste in my head, an amalgam of salty and sweet, rich and crunchy.

So I found a great recipe for Five Layer Bars. It seemed impossible to serve a dessert bar with no flour or eggs, but it all worked because of the wonders of heat. Yes, the heat that I despise thickened the sweetened condensed milk and it bounded the bar together. It reduced the chips to melty, gooey morsels and intensified the crunch and salt of the pecans.

Maybe the heat isn't so bad after all. 




Five Layer Bars

Recipe by Paula Deen

Ingredients
1/2 cup chopped pecans

1 cup butterscotch chips

1 cup shredded coconut

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1 jar Five Layer Bar Mix

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine graham cracker crumbs and melted butter. Press evenly in a buttered glass 13 x 9 baking dish. Sprinkle pecans, butterscotch and chocolate chips and coconut over graham cracker crust. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over the layers. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a light golden brown.

Allow to cool almost completely and cut into bars.

Coconut Pavlova with Chocolate Chantilly Cream and Strawberry Coulis

*This recipe was revised on November 3rd*

I wrote a novel two years ago and I need to re-start the difficult process of selling it.  Yesterday, I went to a seminar on query letters. I walked in feeling extremely shy and nervous and like a misfit (because I was the youngest person in the room, probably by decades) and walked out feeling an incongruous combination of inspired and terrified. The woman hosting the seminar published a book eight years ago. While it wasn't a best-selling jaggernaut like Twilight or Eat Pray Love, she had what we all wanted: a published novel. But the speaker was breathless with angst over her currently stalled new manuscript and discouragingly candid about how hard the publishing world is.


Afterwards, I desperately needed security in my passions. I found it in both the kitchen—ironically with fire and knives—and in beautifully intriguing words like "pavlova" and "chantilly" and "coulis." I'm still nowhere closer to the perfect query letter or literally agent, but I did create something: the best dessert I've EVER had. It is light yet decadent. It is chocolatey and sweet and tangy. And it's reassuring that if I can make this tiny dream tangible, then maybe I can take on the bigger ones.





Meringues

Adapted from recipe at epicurious.com


Toasted Coconut, recipe as follows
6 egg whites (about 1 cup of egg whites)
1 ½ teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup boiling water
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment.
Using an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, beat egg whites, cornstarch, vinegar, vanilla and salt until foamy. Gradually add sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Beat in 1/4 cup boiling water, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until whites are stiff and glossy. Pipe or spoon meringue onto baking sheets in circular shapes about 4 to 5 inches in diameter and 1 inch thick.  (NOTE: If you have a piping bag or piping tips, it will be easier to make the meringues uniform, but a spatula works too).
Bake meringue for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 200°F and bake until dry and crisp outside and just cooked through inside, about 1 hour, although it may take a little longer. My meringues were a dusky light brown on the outside and squishy like marshmallows in the middle.  Turn off oven. Let meringue stand in oven 1 hour and leave in oven until completely cool and ready to serve.
Store between layers of parchment in an air-tight container for up to 4 days.
Toasted Coconut
1 ½ cup sweetened coconut flakes
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Spread coconut on a baking sheet. Toast until a light golden brown, stirring every few minutes to prevent burning, about 8 to 10 minutes.  Do not leave the kitchen.  It will burn very quickly.  Cool.
This can be made the day before.  Store in an air-tight container.
Chocolate Chantilly Cream
1 cup of heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
Chill metal mixer bowl in freezer for about 5 minutes.  Sift sugar and cocoa together in bowl or onto parchment paper.  Whisk heavy cream at high speed, gradually adding cocoa mixture while beating.  You may need to scrape the bowl a few minutes to full incorporate cocoa and sugar.  Whipped cream should be the consistency of shaving cream.  (NOTE: Mixture should not be overly sweet.)  Refrigerate any leftovers.
Red Berry Coulis
16 ounces fresh or frozen strawberries (if fresh, hulled and cut in half)
6 oz fresh or frozen raspberries
1 cup sugar plus more if needed
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
*If using frozen berries, make sure they are thawed.
Add all ingredients into a saucepan.  Cook over medium heat until it boils slightly at the sides.  It only takes a few minutes.  Taste and add more sugar if needed.  Transfer to blender and blend until smooth.
This can be made the day before.  Refrigerate until ready to use and up to a week.
Chef’s Note:  It won’t last a week.  It makes fantastic margaritas, toppings for pancakes or base for smoothies.
Assembly
Remove a meringue from cooking sheet.  Place onto saucer.  Spread a generous dollop of Chocolate Chantilly Cream on top.  Drizzle with Coulis.  Sprinkle on toasted coconut.  Repeat process.  Garnish with chopped fresh strawberries, if you have them.  Enjoy!

A Very Foodie Christmas: Kira's Awesome Chocolate Toffee Pretzels

A Very Foodie Christmas

Let's face it. Every year, Christmas has become increasingly materialized. Stores have started preparing for the holiday before the autumn leaves even fall. It is all about the gifts, gifts, gifts, and not about counting one’s blessing and being around family. But even though I’m aware of it, even I get caught up in the scramble for stuff. Just twenty minutes ago, I was upset because I couldn't afford to buy my niece a $50 video game (Really, $50?! After you pay $400 for the gaming system?!! How is that legal?!!!!!).

But I love giving gifts, sometimes more than receiving them. During an agonizing time of unemployment, when I didn't have money for big-shiny-WOW gifts, I made them: chocolate-covered pretzels, granola, truffles, fancy cookies, even skin-softening scrubs. I learned that homemade gifts can be more heartwarming that store-bought, especially in this climate. And that giving homemade cookies to your cookie-loving grandmother will actually elicit cheers of joy. Thus, I will be posting some wonderful ideas for the rapidly approaching holiday or any festive occasion.

On Deck: Kira's Awesome Chocolate Toffee Pretzels

I'm going to warn you now: this recipe is hard. To prepare the following dish, it takes a culinary fortitude I'm not sure a lot of you have. It is something I think even Julia Child or an Iron Chef couldn't master. Wait, come back! I'm kidding, just kidding! With the holidays looming like a tidal wave, no one has time for complicated, involved recipes. People need quick, easy ones they can whip up the night before a work holiday party with the kids or in a few hours before heading to a realitve's house. This is it. It's a bit messy, but that is half the fun, especially when melted chocolate is involved!

These little gems are not an entirely original idea, but they are ingenius, fun, and a wonderful addition to any holiday-themed menu. I started making these last year for a christmas party with my writer's group. They went over so well that I get requests to make them, and the guests actually squabble over the leftovers at the end of the evening. Make a batch of these, add a plastic bag and a festive ribbon and you have yourself a wonderful holiday gift for family, friends and co-workers.




Ingredients

1 Bag Salted Pretzel Rods
2 12oz Bags of Milk Chocolate Chips
2 Bags of Toffee Bits
Parchment Paper

Pour the toffee bits into a shallow pie plate or dish.
Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
In a double-boiler (or a pot of simmering water with a metal bowl on top), add the chocolate chips. Stir with a stapula until chocolate is completely melted. Remove from heat.
Dip pretzels in the chocolate, covering them about two-thirds of the way. Holding the pretzel by the end, and shake off the excess chocolate. Immediately transfer the pretzel to the shallow dish and turn and cover with the toffee. Place onto the parchment paper. Repeat.
If chocolate becomes stiff, reheat the water and return chocolate to a double-boiler.
Note: I usually start with one bag of chocolate and one bag of toffee and melt more as I need it.
When all pretzels are coated, place in the freezer until the chocolate is complete set. Serve within two to four days.
You will probably have some gooey, chocolatey morsels of toffee left over. Oh, the horror!

Do-Able Chocolate Eclairs: A Saturday Chef Show-Stopper

When I go to the grocery store, I almost always pick up one pristine, fantastic éclair from the bakery. I feel that this pastry alone could solve all the worlds problems—the war, the recession, global-warming, even the swine flu. With most foods I love, I had to find out how difficult it was to make at home. Surprisingly, the dough is not hard to make at all. It’s a classic pastry dough with a variety of applications and can be made with simple ingredients that we all have in our fridges and pantries—flour, water, eggs, butter. The pastry cream and icing, however, can not only be time-consuming to make, but also incredibly fattening.

Last month I had to plan a dessert party at work, and I wanted a show-stopper. So with a little culinary ingenuity and some help from a couple supermarket staples, I came up with an easy way to make eclairs that will impress your co-workers or guests--no heavy cream needed.

Pastry:
1 cup water
1 stick butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 eggs

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add water and heat until boiling. Add flour and stir until mixture forms a smooth ball. Remove from heat and let cool before adding the eggs, one a time. Dough should be sticky.

Drop tablespoons of dough onto a greased cookie sheet. Note: Most chef use a pastry bag and pipe dough onto the cookie sheet, but this works just as well.

Bake in oven for about 30 minutes until light brown. Set aside to let cool.

Filling:
1 3.4oz box Instant French Vanilla Pudding
6 ounces of Cool Whip

Prepare filling according to instructions. Once pudding has thickened, add Cool Whip and mix to combine.

When pastries have cooled, slice puffs open lengthwise, but not completely through. Spoon in filling.

Frosting:
1 can Milk Chocolate Frosting

Microwave frosting until warm and running. Drizzle chocolate frosting all over filled pastries.
Eat immediately or chill and serve within 12 hours.