Chocolate Orange Marmalade Grilled Cheese Sandwich: National Grilled Cheese Day

Today is National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day. I've posted many different variations on Chocolate Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, including  Grilled Cheese Nutella Sandwich, but here's a real favorite: Chocolate Orange Marmalade Grilled Cheese Sandwich! Grilled Bread, Butter, Cheese, Chocolate, Orange Marmalade! What could be better?

I love my Panini Press, but this grilled cheese sandwich should be made on the stove in an iron skillet. My mother used to make her fabulous grilled cheese sandwiches in an old iron skillet with the top of a smaller iron lid pressing down on the sandwiches. Both were inherited from my grandmother. I have the lid (with a 1950s era blue enamel handle), but not the original skillet. Interesting what we hold on to.

This recipe is great for Sunday Brunch. It's sweet-- a bar of chocolate, some goat or brie cheese--some orange marmalade--a bit or mascarpone--and place in between buttered challah or another bread. This recipe is too creamy (and oozing) for the panini press, so make it, too, in a big skillet. Reduce amounts if it's only two of you. 

Chocolate Orange Marmalade Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Ingredients
6 ounces Mascarpone
2 Tbsp Orange Marmalade
2 Tbsp unsalted Butter (room temperature)
8 slices Challah or Brioche (sandwich size)
8 ounces Brie (sliced 1/4 inch thick)
14 ounces Dark Chocolate (65-75% cacao, fair-trade, organic), chopped

Directions
Combine orange marmalade and mascarpone.
Butter one side of each slice of bread. Place 4 slices, buttered side down on work surface. Spread mascarpone on bread. Place brie slices over mascarpone mixture and sprinkle with chocolate chunks.
Top with remaining slices of bread, buttered side up.
Heat large skillet over medium heat for 2 minutes. Put sandwiches in pan, cover and cook for 2-3 minutes until golden brown. Watch carefully.
Turn sandwiches, pressing each firmly with spatula or heavy pot lid (smaller than the skillet).
Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes until undersides are browned.
Remove cover, turn sandwiches over and press firmly with spatula or pot lid again.
Cook until cheese has melted completely.
Remove from pan and let cool 2-3 minutes.

MILKY WAY BROWNIES

Milky Way Bars have been around for almost a 100 years. Lots of Milky Way Ads from WWII, but I chose to post to post this ad for Milky Way Bars from 1930 because the woman is reading a book and eating a Milky Way. My kind of rainy afternoon. 

When I was young, my friend Donna always had Milky Way bars in her freezer, and I'd stop by her house on the way to school and have one. BTW, it wasn't really on the way, but worth the walk in the wrong direction through the park before turning around and heading in the other direction. I love frozen Milky Way Bars. When we were older, Donna and I got a ride to high school with a neighbor. While we waited for him, we availed ourselves of the Milky Way bars on his family's coffee table! Maybe this wasn't particularly healthy, but it was a delicious way to start the day. And, I must admit, my parents didn't know about candy in the morning. They would have been horrified.

Now, I buy miniature Milky Way bars to give out at Halloween. We don't get many kids where I live, so I put the 'extras' (that would be all of them) in the freezer. How to use them up? In Brownies, of course. And, these two recipes for Milky Way Brownies are great! One's for home, and the other's for a crowd!

1. EASY MILKY WAY BROWNIES!

Make your favorite Brownie Mix (I like Ghirardelli), following directions by adding the 1/3 cup vegetable oil, 1 egg, and 1/3 cup water. At 20 minutes into baking (350F), put about 7 ounces of chopped up miniature Milky Way Bars or Milky Way Bites on top. Bake another 20 minutes. Oh yum!

2. MILKY WAY BROWNIES FOR A CROWD!

Have a crowd coming over? Want to make a batch of Milky Way Brownies from scratch? This recipe is the Bees Knees!

Ingredients: 
1 pound unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 pound dark chocolate (70% cacao), chopped
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate (or very dark - 90%), chopped
2 Tbsp instant espresso powder
7 large eggs
2 Tbsp pure vanilla
2 1/4 cups granulated white sugar
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
12 ounces miniature Milky Way bars, chopped
2 Milky Way Bars, sliced

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour 12x18x1-inch pan. Line with foil that hangs over sides (butter the parchment). This makes it easier to get brownies out.
In metal bowl or saucepan over saucepan of simmering water, heat butter and chocolate until melted and smooth; cool slightly.
In large bowl, whisk together eggs, espresso powder, vanilla, and sugar. Stir egg mixture into slightly cooled chocolate mixture. Cool to room temperature.
In medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt, then add to batter. Stir chopped mini Milky Way bars into chocolate mixture. Then pour into prepared baking pan and smooth top with rubber spatula.
Place slices of full-size Milky Way Bar on top of brownie batter.
Bake 25 to 35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Do not overbake!
Let cool completely, then cover tightly and chill overnight. These are very gooey, so be sure to chill if you want to cut them!

RAINY DAY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

We're having a late Spring rain today, and it's super wet and wild. We need the rain, though, since it's been dry for two months! If you're stuck inside, what can you do? Well, make Rainy Day Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies, of course.

You can never have too many chocolate chip cookie recipes! I have all the ingredients in my pantry and fridge, and I bet you do, too. I won't have to go out in this rain. Have fun!Your house will smell great, too!

Rainy Day Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients 
2-1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter
1-1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, plus 1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 Tbsp plain Greek yogurt
2 cups dark chocolate chips or chocolate chunks
Coarse sea salt

Directions 
Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside.
Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. When butter begins to foam, start whisking to prevent burning. After couple of minutes, butter will begin to brown on bottom of saucepan; continue to whisk and remove from heat as soon as butter browns and gives off nutty smell.
Immediately transfer butter to bowl to prevent burning. Set butter in refrigerator for 15-20 minutes or until room temperature.
Meanwhile mix together dry ingredients (except 2 sugars).
Once butter has cooled to room temp, with electric mixer, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in egg, yolk, vanilla, and almond extracts, and yogurt until combined. Add dry ingredients slowly and beat on low-speed until just combined. Gently fold in all of the chocolate chips.
Chill dough for 2 hours in refrigerator, or place in freezer for 30 minutes if you are in a hurry (DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP).
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Once dough is chilled measure about 1 heaping tablespoon dough and roll into ball.
Dip top of the ball into coarse sea salt.
Place dough on prepared cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake cookies about 11 minutes or until edges of the cookies begin to turn golden brown. Hint: Cookies will look a little underdone in middle, but will continue to cook once out of oven.
Cool cookies on sheets at least 2 minutes. Then transfer cookies to wire rack to cool.

DEATH BY CHOCOLATE COOKIE: Retro Ad with Recipe

Here's a great and easy Retro Cookie from Baker's Chocolate. I must admit I don't use Baker's Chocolate. Apologies to Baker, but I use high end chocolate, often reducing the sugar in the recipe. I, also, never use margarine -- only butter. And, because this is a  a Death by Chocolate Cookie Recipe, I add both Dark and Milk Chocolate Chips. It's all about the Noir!

So here's a fun and easyrecipe for Death by Chocolate Cookies. Recipe circa 1985. Be sure and incorporate the 2026 recipe changes above.