Bizcocho de Chocolate y Chipotle and Crispy Oatmeal Cookies

Today I needed 2 desserts.  One is for a Mexican-style supper my co-worker is having and another is for a friend who could use a little butter-and-sugar-and-chocolate-goodness.  I even remembered to take some photos - although the first several were from my Blackberry... someday I'll upgrade and take wonderful photos.

Before I show you what I made, I have to share with you some of my exciting new kitchen equipment.
Starting with....

AHHHHH. SO LOVE IT.  I have been wanting one of these for so long.  I was turned on to cookteen's blog by her sister's friend from school, who happens to be my best friend since I was about 2.  Reading her blogs about new attachments and using her standing mixer had made me desire one more than ever.  Thank goodness for my amazing aunt who made the dream come true!  Isn't it gorgeous?






Also - in case you thought I had normal oven mitts... you were wrong.
Check out these babies....

They are silicon (my mother swears by silicon oven mitts) but also have a separate glove finger for your index finger.  Given that my thumb is still not so strong after being hit by a car severely dislocating it a month and a half ago, the use of my index finger comes in mighty handy.

(I'll save the x-ray for another time, I am trying to convince you to eat here.)






And with these tools I created two desserts.

For the Mexican supper I made...
Chocolate Chipotle Brownies courtesy of Emeril Lagasse.

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon plus 1 cup butter (2 sticks)
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon ground chipotle chile pepper (I used a chipotle seasoning, which also had salt etc in it, simply because I couldn't find ground chipotle)
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup chopped Mexican chocolate or semisweet chocolate morsels

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Grease and flour an 11 by 7-inch baking pan or dish with 1 teaspoon of the butter and 1 tablespoon of the flour.

Heat the remaining butter and the unsweetened chocolate in a saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly, until melted.

In a medium bowl, stir together remaining flour, sugar, cinnamon, and ground chipotle. Add sugar mixture to melted chocolate mixture, stirring to combine.

Add eggs, mixing until smooth. Stir in chopped chocolate or chocolate morsels.

Pour mixture into the prepared baking pan or dish.

Bake until the center is set, 35 to 40 minutes.

 And then remove from the oven...

Cool completely and then cut into small squares.

Review:  This recipe was super easy to make.  The brownies had a subtle hint that you couldn't quite put your finger on, but they weren't so spicy that you couldn't use them as a normal brownie recipe.  I'll update when I get the final review from everyone - but I thought they were pretty good!  I could have cooked them a couple minutes longer (45-50 min) and they would have been fine, they still seemed a little fudgy.  Overall, a unique twist on the traditional brownie (and an easy way to make them from scratch!); an easy dessert (way easier than flan) for a Mexican-themed party.

Rating: 4 - JAMMY

And then for my lovely friend....

Crisp Oatmeal Cookies adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup flaked coconut (optional, I didn't include them but they'd be very good in it!)
• 1/2 cup morsels - I used a combination of white chocolate and semi sweet chocolate.  Butterscotch or peanut butter chips would also work well.

Instructions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or use a non-stick sheet.

 

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar. 

 

Mix in the egg and vanilla until well blended. 

 

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt (ahh there were our friends missing from the ingredients picture...)

 

Stir flour mixture into the batter until well blended. 

 

Mix in the oats, coconut (if using) and morsels until evenly distributed. 

 

Roll dough into walnut sized balls.... (now I'm allergic to walnuts, so what size are they??)....and place 2 inches apart onto prepared cookie sheets. 

Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are lightly browned. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Review: I'll just say it - this is my new go-to cookie recipe.  I'm a huge fan of adding oatmeal to any cookie, and for many years the "Oatmeal Scotchies" recipe on the back of the Nestle Butterscotch Chips has been my standby favorite.  These were better.  They didn't have quite as much oatmeal which was actually very good and had a lot less butter than many other recipes (which often call for 2 sticks).  The original recipe called for shortening but I've never cooked with shortening in my life so I did a simple conversion of 1 cup shortening=3/4 cup butter.  Thank you, Google! The girls, AB and ED, really enjoyed them as well - they went great with Guacamole and the Bachelorette!  These will definitely be made again, especially in the new standing mixer!

 I officially need to stop baking and start running now.  The next few recipes will need to be low fat!  I did pick up some lovely golden beets and fresh lettuce at the farmer's market this weekend!!

yelleBELLYboo