Dark Chocolate Heart Cookies

“These cookies are great, but they would be so much better if they were shaped like tanks.” That’s right people, my taste testers are getting picky about the shape of the cookies I feed them. Another mentioned that the hearts were cheesy. If you guessed that my taste testers were boys, then you were correct. If you guessed that they were twelve-year-olds, then you would be wrong. Apparently the shape of the food still affects the taste, even when you are in your mid-twenties.

What the boys didn’t realize is my thought process behind the heart cookies. Other than cutting squares or triangles, hearts are the shape to use when you want to get the most out of your dough. I hate re-rolling dough and the hearts fit together like a little puzzle. So few dough scraps!

These cookies are super rich and dark. My taste testers decided that they would be good as sandwich cookies or with a little frosting. If you love dark chocolate then these cookies are perfect on their own. If you like your chocolate a little on the sweeter side, then choose a dark chocolate bar with a lower percentage of cacao. I inherited this chocolate bar after it was bought by accident, by a coworker looking for a sweet fix. FYI, 90% cacao is not good for eating, but it is amazing for baking.

Pork, Cranberry and Pear Salad

Oh boy! I just had the best dinner! In order to properly feed myself, and make my mom happy, I decided to make a real dinner. My mom is slightly concerned with my wacky eating habits of late. Let’s just say yesterday for breakfast I had a slice of chocolate tart. For breakfast this morning I had some cookies. Several nights last week dinner consisted of lettuce.

Now it’s not that I’m a bad eater, it’s just that there was no food in my house! I returned from my thanksgiving vacation Monday afternoon to a slice of bread and some far-past expiration milk. There were a few onions and maybe some mustard. It was a sad state of affairs. This is how things usually are when I return from a trip, except this time I came back with a cold. It slowly took over and made me lazier and lazier. I managed to buy some milk and cereal from the Dollar General across the street, but beyond that, I had eggs.

After some concern from my mom (talking about protein and nutrients) I decided I should probably go to the grocery store. Armed with this recipe, I bought my ingredients, substituting here and there for what was one sale (I’m cheap too!). I was not disappointed; this was the best meal I had in a while. Please enjoy, and eat your vegetables!

Salted Caramel and Chocolate Crostata

Here it is, my third and final crostata. I had so much fun with this particular Daring Bakers’ challenge! And I think that this is the best one yet. I even had a slice for breakfast! There is something about eating a decadent chocolate tart at eight o’clock in the morning. Really fuels you up for the rest of the day!

Looking at the recipe for this dessert you would expect to be in the kitchen for quite some time. In fact, I had this crostata on the plate in two hours. From flour to delicious in the time it takes to watch a movie! Don’t be scared of this recipe. The words caramel and ganache tend to do that to people. I know I was a little concerned when this idea came to my mind. I have never made caramel before. I have never made ganache before. Plus, I would have to blind bake the crust. All together this makes for one fancy-sounding dessert.

I decided to stop being such a pansy about my recipes. We’ve discussed this before, I’m a chemist. I handle chemicals on a daily basis that have the ability to spontaneously light on fire, burn through my $200 jeans or cause damage to my DNA. Making caramel should be a breeze, right? In fact, it was. And you will love it.


Look at that caramel ooze!

 Don’t worry about how fancy it sounds, you can handle it. I know, I had to talk myself into trying this, but you can do it too. Just be sure to read through the recipe before you start. Gather up your courage, put on your big-boy pants and get ready to do some chemistry. Some delicious, delicious chemistry.