Bittersweet Cocoa Nib Brownies
A couple of weekends ago, Kevin and I went to a chocolate and beer tasting at the Taza Chocolate factory store in Somerville . The event was put on by Taza Chocolate and Drink Craft Beer, and featured four beer and chocolate tastings, as well as many chocolate samples along the way. The event was open to the public, and all proceeds went to The Greater Boston Food Bank – I found it a pretty great way to spend a Saturday afternoon, drinking beer, eating chocolate, and giving to charity all in one. After we’d made our way through all of the samples, we picked up a few key pieces of Taza merchandise, including a tin of chocolate covered cocoa nibs, and a bottle of their Chocolate Extract. I wanted to bake with the cocoa nibs right away, so I set out to find the perfect recipe. (more…)
Double Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes
Chocolate. My all-time favorite food, and favorite baking ingredient (only second to butter)… the word excites so many senses. Chocolate bark, chocolate bars, chocolate chips, cocoa powder, cocoa butter, cacao beans, cocoa nibs, I’ll take it any way I can get it. I hear the mention of chocolate and I feel giddy with excitement. Chocolate is my first love, and while not my only one, I still find it to be completely perfect, and delicious in it’s perfection. Especially the extra dark, extra bitter variety — can’t go wrong there. So it’s with a great proclamation of love that I bring you this, the masterpiece to end all chocolate masterpieces, DOUBLE CHOCOLATE FUDGE cupcakes. (more…)
Chewy Chocolate Chip Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
Cookies are a great dessert. Simple to make, entirely portable, perfectly sized, and always delicious. I’ve been making cookies for as long as I can remember – in fact, they were probably the first thing I ever made. I’ve always had a soft sport for chewy oatmeal cookies, and plain old chocolate chip cookies. Individually they are always fantastic, but putting them together makes pretty much the most perfect cookie combination I can imagine. There’s just something about the way it feels to bite into an oatmeal cookie that is crispy and crunchy and chewy all at the same time, studded with bittersweet chocolate and sweet dried fruit. It’s a euphoric experience! (more…)
