Totally chocolate chocolate chip cookies

I made these cookies for one of my co-workers – she’s a secretary, too, and such a sweet person!

I was flipping through the book and couldn’t decide which recipe to bake for her – should I go with ginger? Walnuts? Peanut butter, perhaps? So many options…

Then I thought that one just can’t go wrong with chocolate, especially when it comes with more chocolate. :D

Totally chocolate chocolate chip cookies
from Big Fat Cookies

2 2/3 cups (450g/16ounces) semisweet chocolate chips*
1 cup (140g) unbleached all-purpose flour
¼ cup (23g) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, slightly softened
½ cup (85g) packed light brown sugar
¼ cup (60g) granulated sugar
1 large cold egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 165ºC/325ºF.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Put 2/3 cup (112g/4 ounces) of the chocolate chips in a heatproof container or the top of a double boiler and place it over, but not touching, a saucepan of barely simmering water (or the bottom of the double boiler). Stir the chocolate chips until melted and smooth. Remove from the water and set aside.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed beat the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until smoothly blended, about 1 minute.
Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. On low speed, mix in the melted chocolate chips until blended. Add the egg and vanilla, mixing until blended, about 1 minute. Add the flour mixture, mixing just until it is incorporated. Mix in the remaining 2 cups (338g) chocolate chips.

Using an ice cream scoop or measuring cup with a ¼-cup capacity, scoop mounds of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing the cookies 3 inches apart.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until they crack slightly on top and a toothpick inserted in the center of a cookie comes out with moist crumbs, not wet batter, about 18 minutes (if the toothpick penetrates a chocolate chip, test another spot).
Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then use a wide metal spatula to transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. The outsides of the cookies will become crisp as the cookies cool.

The cookies can be stored in a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
* I used 112g/4 ounces of chopped semisweet chocolate for the cookie dough and then only 220g chocolate chips (instead of 338g) – they were pretty chocolatey to me.

Makes 12 – I used a tablespoon to measure the cookie dough and got 38 cookies

My BBM package has arrived!

Yay!!! My Blogging by Mail package has arrived!!!

And all these fantastic things were sent to me by the sweet Molly, from the wonderful blog Batter-Splattered - all the way from Alaska!! Not only is she a terrific baker, but also a very thoughtful person!



She sent me these delicious chocolate bars (it was sooo hard NOT eating them before taking the photo) and I was so glad because I’ve read about Dagoba chocolate but it’s impossible to find it here in Brazil; some environmental friendly paper bags I knew nothing about (I’ll be filling one of them today with freshly baked cookies), these lovely napkins and a moose cookie cutter!

And she sent these gifts beautifully packaged.

Molly, I was delighted to receive these gifts - thank you, thank you, thank you!

And I also want to thank Steph, from Dispensing Happiness, for organizing and hosting this magnificent event!

Parmesan-stuffed chicken breasts

Ever since I bought this book I’ve been meaning to make every single recipe from it – the food looks delicious!

These chicken breasts were good, but not what I expected - I truly believe that marinating the chicken for a couple of hours - instead of seasoning it right before baking it - would do wonders in the flavor department. Not sure I’d give this a go again, though.

I reduced a little balsamic vinegar just to decorate the plate.

Parmesan-stuffed chicken breasts
from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast

1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
¼ cup plain dried breadcrumbs
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
grated zest of 1 lemon - about 1 tablespoon
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
4 bone-in chicken breast halves - about 1,350g/3 pounds (the ones I bought were much too large, I guess the chicken was a mutant or something)

Preheat the oven to 230ºC/450ºF. In a small bowl, mix the parsley, breadcrumbs, parmesan, and zest. Season the mixture with ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper.
Divide the parsley mixture into 4 mounds. Carefully loosen the chicken skin with fingers, tuck the parsley mixture under the skin – I needed to use a couple of toothpicks to secure the stuffing inside. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Place in a greased 22x33cm (9x13in) roasting pan.
Bake until the skin is crispy, the chicken s cooked through and an instant-red thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the meat register 73ºC/165ºF, about 30 minutes – I baked mine for 1 hour.

Serves 4

Brazilian anthill cake

This cake is called “anthill cake” because when you slice it, it looks like there are a thousand ants inside it:

Don’t be scared! These are chocolate sprinkles. :)

I think I had not eaten this cake in 8 years or so – I’m not kidding!
It’s a very traditional cake here and delicious even without any icing. Some recipes call for desiccated coconut, but the one I grew up baking doesn’t.
I used to bake this cake all the time when I was a teenage baker. It would be the perfect afternoon snack for me, my brother and Julio (my stepmother’s son) after we finished our homework.
The first time I made this cake was bit tragic, though: I poured too much batter in the pan and then it started to overflow… The batter on the oven got burnt and the kitchen was full of smoke. As I was a silly girl, I gave up the cake and went to my room to cry.

That day, we had company at home: my cousin Daniel and a friend of the boys’ were there, too.
Half an hour or so after the disaster, the 4 boys came to talk to me. They told me they had cleaned the oven and also washed the cake pan; they asked me to bake the cake again – of course I couldn’t say no to such a sweet request!

This time I used a recipe from a friend for the cake and chose the same chocolate icing I used for my Brazilian carrot cake. And apparently I haven’t learned my lesson – again, cake pan was a bit too small:
Brazilian anthill cake

3 eggs
pinch of salt
240g sugar
200g unsalted butter, room temperature
200ml milk
300g all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
6 tablespoons chocolate sprinkles

Chocolate icing:
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
4 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons milk

For the cake: Preheat the oven to 180ºC/355ºF. Grease and flour a 24cm ring pan.
Separate the egg whites from yolks being careful to not contaminate the whites with the yolks. Beat the egg whites with the salt until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
Using a mixer, beat yolks, sugar and butter until light and creamy. Start adding the flour, alternating with the milk and beat well.
Add the baking powder and the chocolate sprinkles and mix well with a spoon. Fold in the egg whites – the batter is very thick. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes then invert the cake onto a serving plate.
Make the icing: mix all the ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over high heat until it boils.
Remove from heat and pour it over the cake.

Serves 10-12.

Tomato, hearts of palm, olive and parmesan salad with basil dressing

Every time I visit Kalyn's blog - and I just won't do it on a daily basis in case I'm sick or loaded with work - I feel like cooking everything she posts! Her food has a healthy tone and looks delicious. Hard to resist.

This is my take on one of her recipes - I have made this salad several times already and even João likes it, even though he's not into tomatoes (crazy, I know).

I used parmesan shavings instead of feta because I couldn't find it where I live. I also changed the dressing a bit.

Make sure you check the original version - you'll be glad to!

Tomato, hearts of palm, olive and parmesan salad with basil dressing

4-6 small tomatoes, sliced
1 cup hearts of palm, sliced (or more)
½ cup black olives
½ cup parmesan shavings

Basil dressing:
1 cup fresh basil leaves (packed)
extra virgin olive oil, to taste – I didn’t use a lot because I wanted a low-calorie salad
lime juice
salt
freshly ground black pepper

In salad bowl, layer tomatoes, hearts of palm, olives and parmesan.

Using a mortar and pestle, mash the basil leaves and salt together. Add the pepper, olive oil and lime juice, mix well.
Drizzle basil dressing over salad.

Serves 2