Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

Make up a few loafs of this delicious bread, and your kitchen will smell like heavenly fall!  A nice treat during a cool fall or cold winter day.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups white sugar
• 3/4 Cup of plain greek yogurt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 tablespoon orange zest

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Grease 2 9x5 loaf pans

Sift together, into a medium bowl, flour, baking powder, salt, spices and baking soda. *If you don't have a sifter, you can use your wire whisk to stir these ingredients works the same.

In a large bowl beat the eggs until light and fluffy.  Add sugar and continue beating until well blended.  Stir in oil, vanilla extract, zucchini, chocolate chips and orange zest.  Stir into sifted ingredients.  Mix well. Pour into loaf pans, about half to three quarters of the way full.  Bake 50 min or until top is springy to touch, and toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.  

Thin, Crisp, Chewy Chocolate Chip cookies

 The perfect chocolate chip cookie.  Everyone has a recipe, the back of the tollhouse chocolate chip bag has a pretty good recipe!  I have a few go-to recipes.  Today I wanted a thin, crisp but chewy chocolate chip cookie...bonus no eggs in the batter and therefore worry free eating if that kind of thing occurs to you :)  These cookies turned out perfect, just as they claim to be.  Here is a useful site to help you determine what type of cookies you want to make, for example higher moisture content helps cookies be soft and chewy!

Thankfully, Matt spent some time with the guys this weekend and I was able to send a bag off with them instead of eating them for breakfast, as I mostly likely would have done otherwise!

Thin, Crisp, Chewy Chocolate Chip cookies
original source: here

1 Cup of butter, melted and cooled to room temp
1 C firmly packed brown sugar
2/3 Cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 Cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 cups chocolate chips

preparation:
1. In a bowl, I used my kitchen aid and therefore my Kitchen Aid bowl, beat butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until well blended.  Beat in 3 tablespoons of water and the vanilla until smooth, scraping down the sides of bowl as needed.

2. In another bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt.  Stir or beat into butter mixture until well incorporated.  Stir in chocolate chips.

3. Drop dough in 1 Tablespoon portions, 2 inches apart, onto buttered cookie sheets

4. Bake in a 300 degree oven until edges of cookies are browned, but an area about 1 inch wide in the center is still pale, about 14 minutes; if baking more then one pan at a time, switch pan positions halfway through baking.

5 With a wide spatula, transfer cookies to racks to cool.  If hot cookies start to break, slide a thin spatula under them to release; let cool completely

Brownie Batter Dip

 There is a blog I follow that I get some really great recipes from called Crumbs and Chaos...maybe I just relate to the name or maybe I just really have good luck with the recipes I try from there, either way check these lovely ladies out! 

While perusing their site the other day I came across a recipe for Brownie Batter Dip.  Now I like chocolate and all but sweets are not necessarily my thing, I'm more of a savory girl but, alas, this did catch my eye and I knew I had the perfect opportunity to make it coming up so make it I did!

This yummy concoction was a crowd pleaser and, I think, it's a great option if you looking for something a little outside the box to take or make for a shower or party!

Brownie Batter Dip

• 8 oz CREAM CHEESE (I used 1/3 less fat)
• 1/2 cup BUTTER (room temp)
• 2-3 cup POWDERED SUGAR -- varies by desired consistency I only needed 2 C
• 1/4 cup Greek Yogurt
• 5 Tablespoons FLOUR
• 5 Tablespoons COCOA POWDER
• 2 Tablespoons BROWN SUGAR
• 3+ Tablespoons MILK -- varies by desired consistency
• a few chocolate chips and a sprig of mint for garnish

Preparation:
 Using a stand mixer, blend the cream cheese, yogurt and butter.  Add 2 cups of powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time.  Add 2 Tablespoons of milk.  Add flour, cocoa powder, brown sugar and vanilla.  Blend until smooth.  You may need to add more sugar to stiffen the dip or milk to loosen it a bit.

I used graham crackers, Nilla wafers and pretzels for dipping,

Triple Threat Brownie Bars

So if your as obsessed with Pinterest as I am (and if you're not why ever not??) then you have definitely seen some version of these bars 1000 times.  I, however, have made them today from my cousin Tracy's recent post on our family blog.  She cleaned up the title as well :) So if you have desire to sabotage any semblance of a diet you may be on....these are worth it!!!  Things to consider: You can certainly use your own chocolate chip cookie dough, I didn't because I didn't have the time or ingredients today.  You can use any cookie you want in the center, I was thinking caramel delights or thin mints but Oreos were on sale.  Spending an extra 50 cents on the fudgey brownie batter...is money well spent :)  After I poured the brownie batter on top I wished I'd drizzled Caramel sauce on top of the oreos...it was too late for me but you may still have time!

Triple Threat Brownie Bars

2 rolls of refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough
1 package of Oreos, or cookies of your choice approx 30 cookies
1 box of fudgey brownie batter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Grease a 9x13 pan

Spread cookie dough into the bottom of the pan in an even layer.  Lay cookies on top of cookie dough. ( I want to say that I did 4 across and 8 down but I could be making that up and I didn't take a picture and they've been cut already so bear with me.)  Pour brownie batter across the top and smooth over the Oreos.

Bake at 350 for about 45-50 minutes.  Mine were still pretty fudgey but that's my preference.
Enjoy!!