SESAME CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES: Sesame Street Day!

Today is National Sesame Street Day! What an amazing show! I came across this recipe for Sesame Chocolate Chip Cookies on the Whole Foods recipe page several years ago and adapted it slightly. It's perfect for today, and I know the Cookie Monster would agree! I won't say it's totally healthy, but with sesame seeds, whole wheat pastry flour, and tahini, it's on the verge. I cut back on the sugar and chocolate chips. And who doesn't need another chocolate chip cookie recipe? Cookie Monster would love these. Perfect for Sesame Street and the Chocolate Chip Cookie holiday!

SESAME CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Ingredients
1/2 cup light brown sugar
8 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
2 Tbsp tahini
1 egg
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips (mini chips if you're making mini-cookies!)
1/2 cup sesame seeds, toasted and cooled

Directions
In large bowl, beat sugar, butter, and tahini with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add egg and vanilla and beat again until combined.
In medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt, and then add to sugar mixture and beat until combined. Stir in baking chips and sesame seeds and shape dough into 4 1/2-inch-long logs, wrapping them individually in wax paper and twisting the ends. Chill until firm, 4 hours or overnight. (To help maintain their shape, arrange the dough logs in a 9x13-inch dish to chill.)
Preheat oven to 325°F. Slice each log of dough into 12 (for bigger cookies) or 24 (for smaller cookies) coins, arrange on parchment-paper-lined (or silpat) baking sheets about 2 inches apart and bake until golden brown around the edges, 8 to 10 minutes for smaller cookies, 10 to 12 minutes for larger cookies.
Cool.

Greek Yogurt Chocolate Bundt Cake: Greek Yogurt Day

Today is Greek Yogurt Day. I use Greek Yogurt in baking because it gives a bit of a tangy flavor to cakes, muffins, and breads. I often substitute Greek Yogurt for sour cream in recipes. You'll love this Greek Yogurt Chocolate Bundt Cake.

And, some background on Greek Yogurt. It is not necessarily from Greece. Greek yogurt refers to a yogurt making process. It differs from regular yogurt in that the whey is strained off in the process. Consequently it contains less sugar, fewer carbs, and a lot more protein. Real old fashioned Greek yogurt is made with goat's milk, while much American Greek-style yogurt is made from cow's milk. You can try either in the following recipe. As always, choose a good quality Greek yogurt, as you would a good cocoa.



Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter, plus more for bundt pan
1 cup water
1/3 cup DARK cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp instant espresso powder
1  3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 large eggs
1/2 cup plain Greek Yogurt
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Optional: Confectioners Sugar for sprinkling

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 10- or 12-cup Bundt pan.
Put butter, water, cocoa powder, espresso powder, and salt in small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until butter has just melted and mixture is combined. Set aside.
Whisk together flour, sugar, and baking soda in large mixing bowl. Add half butter mixture and whisk to combine. Add remaining butter mixture, and whisk until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Whisk in Greek yogurt and vanilla.
Pour batter into prepared pan and spread evenly.
Bake 40 to 45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
Cool cake in pan for 15 minutes.
Invert cake onto wire rack and cool completely.
Optional: Sprinkle with confectioners sugar.

CAPPUCCINO CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE PIE: Cappuccino Day

Today is National Cappuccino Day, and here's an awesome Cappuccino Creme Chocolate Truffle Pie to celebrate. This is great for today - or save the recipe for Thanksgiving! Recipe adapted from the Hershey's Kitchens.

CAPPUCCINO CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE PIE

Ingredients
1/2 cup DARK Cocoa
1/3 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 cup Chopped Dark Chocolate (65-70% cacao)
2 eggs, slightly beaten
9-inch baked pastry crust (prepared or make your own)

CAPPUCCINO CREME (wait until ready to serve): In mixer, combine 1 cup (1/2 pint) whipping cream, 1-1/2 teaspoons powdered espresso, 2 teaspoons DARK Cocoa, and 3 tablespoons powdered sugar; beat until stiff. About 2 cups.

Directions
Heat oven to 350°F.
Melt butter over low heat. Stir in cocoa and sugar. Add sweetened condensed milk, chocolate, and eggs; stir until smooth. Remove from heat. Pour into crust.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes - until center is almost set. Cool completely.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Just before serving, prepare and top with Cappuccino Creme.

BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE ALMOND BARK: Bittersweet Almond and Chocolate Day

As I've said many times before, every day is Chocolate Day for me, but today is National Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day. In this age of high end organic, fair trade, single origin chocolate, bittersweet seems to cover a broad range of chocolate. So bittersweet as defined below leaves one open to enjoying all kinds of chocolate today--along with almonds.

According to Wikipedia, bittersweet chocolate is chocolate liquor (unsweetened chocolate) to which some sugar (typically a third), more cocoa butter, vanilla and sometimes lecithin has been added. It has less sugar and more liquor than semisweet chocolate, but the two are interchangeable in baking. Bittersweet and semisweet chocolates are sometimes referred to as 'couverture' (chocolate that contains at least 32 percent cocoa butter); many brands now print on the package the percentage of cocoa (as chocolate liquor and added cocoa butter) contained. The rule is that the higher the percentage of cocoa, the less sweet the chocolate will be. The American FDA classifies chocolate as either "bittersweet" or "semisweet" that contain at least 35% cacao (either cacao solids or butter from the cacao beans).

In honor of Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day, I'm going to have a bittersweet chocolate bar with almonds. So many great bars out there including Green & Black, Dandelion, Seattle Chocolates, Valor, Ghirardelli, Alter Eco --and even Hershey's.

BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE ALMOND BARK

Ingredients
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1 cup toasted almonds (in the oven), coarsely chopped  (some people like them whole/your choice)
Sea salt

Directions
Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Melt chocolate until smooth in top of double boiler or saucepan placed over another saucepan with simmering water.
Set aside 6 Tbsp almonds
Stir remaining almonds into melted chocolate.
Pour mixture onto cookie sheet. Spread to 1/2 inch thickness.
Sprinkle remaining almond pieces over mixture. Sprinkle sparingly with sea salt.
Tap pan on counter until bark is desired thickness.
Refrigerate for 6 hours or until firm.
Break into pieces.
Store in an airtight container in cool, dry place.

How easy is that?