Chocolate Recipes

Snowy Day Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Madeleines

We’ve had lots of snow days in the Northeast.  I always choose baking over shoveling, so you also might want to do the same and make these quick and very delicious, chewy madeleines.  They use basic pantry ingredients and can also be scooped onto baking trays as cookies.  They’re snow good!

Snowy Day Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Madeleines

1 large egg at room temperature
1 large egg yolk at room temperature
1 cup (16 TBS.) unsalted butter at room temperature
½ cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar, pressed into cup
2 ½ tsp. vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour or gluten-free flour
1 cup old-fashioned oats or quick-cooking oats
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips or extra-dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven 325 degrees
Spray madeleine pans lightly with baking spray, set aside

In a medium size bowl blend the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and oats and set aside.
Using a mixer blend the butter and both sugars until very smooth.  Add the egg, yolk and vanilla.  Continue beating until smooth.
Add dry ingredients and blend until just incorporated.  Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl as well.
Stir in the chocolate chips.  The batter will be stiff.

Using a small scoop or a tablespoon, fill shells just to the top.  Press the batter down into the shells.

Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until light brown.  Remove pans to a cooling rack for 3-4 minutes.  Then remove the madeleines from their shells with a small offset spatula.

 

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chunk Madeleineschocolatechunk

I have found great success using King Arthur Flour Gluten-Free Flour as a substitute for all-purpose flour, cup for cup. These madeleines are fantastic!, very chocolaty, rich and will bake successfully with gluten-free flour or regular flour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bakes 12 madeleines

Prepare pan by spraying with a baking spray or brushing shells with melted butter.

INGREDIENTS:

¾ stick unsalted butter
½ cup sugar
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate
2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided into 1/3 cup and 1/3 cup
1 large egg, room temperature
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup gluten-free flour

In a Pyrex bowl, place butter, sugar, unsweetened chocolate and 1/3 cup chocolate chips. Microwave on low for 1 – ½ minutes. Stir to blend well. If additional time is needed, microwave at 15 second intervals. Let the mixture cool for 3-4 minutes.

Add the egg and whisk in well. Stir in the unsweetened cocoa powder and gluten-free flour. Blend in until just incorporated into the batter.

Stir in the remaining 1/3 cup chocolate chips.

Scoop the batter into the shells.

Bake 10 -11 minutes. The madeleines will puff up, be careful not to over bake these.

Remove the pan to a wire rack to cool several minutes and then remove each with a small offset spatula to finish cooling. These madeleines are rich and decadent and probably won’t make it to the freezer.

(The recipe doubles easily!)

Chunky Hazelnut and Chocolate Chip Madeleineshazelchocchip

It’s no secret, I love chocolate and hazelnuts together, always and always will. This is another easy to prepare madeleine recipe. Be sure to toast the hazelnuts first and rub the skins off. I keep a container ready to go at all times in the pantry.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Makes 12 mads

Prepare madeleine pan: either spray with a baking spray or brush each shell with melted butter, well. I prefer non-stick pans—the madeleines come out of the pan without any problems.

INGREDIENTS:

¾ stick unsalted butter
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup dark brown sugar
¾ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg, room temperature
1/8 teaspoon salt
½ cup all-purpose flour plus 2 level tablespoons
1/3 cup coarsely chopped toasted hazelnuts
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks or chips
Melt the butter and 2 kinds of sugar together in a Pyrex bowl for 1 to 1 ½ minutes in the microwave oven. Whisk well to blend together. Let cool 3-4 minutes.

Add the egg and whisk in well.

Add the vanilla and salt, stir in.

Add the flour and stir until just incorporated.

Stir in the nuts and chocolate chunks.

Using a 1 1/2 inch spring scoop, scoop the batter into the shells.

Bake 11-13 minutes or until puffed and lightly golden around the edges.

Remove pan to a wire rack to cool a few minutes. Remove each madeleine with a small offset spatula. These are best fresh when the chocolate is soft and oozy, but! They are also great cold from the freezer when the madeleines are chewy, chunky and delicious, you choose!

Milk Chocolate-Chunk Madeleinesmilkchocochunk

My husband prefers milk chocolate to dark chocolate. No one is perfect.

Yield: 24 madeleines

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Spray 2 12-shell madeleine pans with baking spray or about 4 TBS. melted butter and brush onto each mold. Set aside.

1 ½ sticks unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup milk-chocolate chunks

Place the butter and sugar into a 2-quart microwavable bowl. Microwave on low for 1-2 minutes. Stir until smooth and microwave in 15 second intervals if butter is not melted. Blend until smooth.

Let mixture cool for 3-4 minutes, then add eggs one at a time whisking well after each. Add vanilla, flour, salt and whisk until thoroughly blended.

Place mixture in the refrigerator 10-15 minutes before adding the milk chocolate chunks which get stirred into the batter. If the mixture is even slightly warm the chocolate will melt, we want chunks in this madeleine.

Using a 1 ½” diameter scoop, fill shell molds with batter until ¾’s full. Bake 10-12 minutes until the madeleines are puffed up and spring back when lightly pressed.

Remove from the oven to a wire rack, let cool 3-4 minutes. Either invert the pan, tapping onto the rack or remove each madeleine individually with a small offset spatula.

Deluxe Deep Dark Hot Chocolate
hotchoco

I’m a New Englander, born and bred. Winter has been a problem though. I hate the cold, always. I think my parents were lizards, I have no blood. So easing the winter challenges of soggy mittens, frozen ears and feet while growing up were snow days and hot chocolate. My mother always made our hot cocoa with Hershey’s unsweetened chocolate, whole milk and a choice of marshmallow fluff or whipped cream. We three kids chose both of course. She had a heavy hand with the chocolate powder making our treat rich and flavorful. So excursions to friends’ houses for hot chocolate were disappointing…it was bland, watery, not quite hot enough and it just didn’t hit that hot chocolate spot. Then, fast forward to college days exploring gourmet food shops in Harvard Square with hot chocolate in mind. There were European chocolates in big blocks, milk chocolates, semi-sweet, and extra-dark. I dreamed of escaping to Belgium, France or Holland to try as many kinds of chocolate as I could. That didn’t quite happen for a few years but I did play with my hot chocolate formula.

I read a few cookbooks and learned my hot chocolate could also be called ganache! a sublime mixture of melted chocolate and cream.

There are many variations of “European-style Hot Chocolate”. My experimenting involved grating very dark chocolate I bought by the pound into a saucepan. I would add cream, unless I only had milk, sometimes it was a blend of both cream and milk. That’s it. Heating it gently was important, stirring so it wouldn’t burn and be a difficult pot to wash. I always made my own whipped cream to top it off “and lighten it up” with an old-fashioned egg beater like my grandmother’s. It was important for my friends’ spoons to kind of stand up in the cup. This meant it was a good batch.

Possible variations are a pinch of salt, using a mixture of milk chocolate and dark chocolate, using only milk, adding a pinch of cinnamon…. It’s all good, so go with what YOU prefer!

2 cups of heavy cream, milk or a mixture of the two
6 ounces of bittersweet and/or semisweet chocolate, grated or finely chopped

Place the cream and grated chocolate in a heavy saucepan. Warm the cream carefully over a low-medium heat with the chocolate stirring until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is thoroughly blended. Remove from the heat. With a hand whisk, blend the hot chocolate until it is very smooth. Pour into 2 cups. Top with fresh whipped cream. Happy winter!

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