Yum Peaceful Cooking: Whole Wheat Chocolate Goodies

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Whole Wheat Chocolate Goodies


I was really looking forward to this HBin5 assignment.



Chocolate? How could I not?

But I started hearing through other members about its lack of being "sweet". You see, the rest of our assignment was to make Chocolate Espresso Whole Wheat Bread and Chocolate Tangerine Bars from the Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day.

Something chocolate thats not sweet? ooooh noooo.....we can't let that happen!

So let me tell you what I did to make these....


Chocolate Espresso Whole Wheat Muffins filled with Nutella Frosting.

Now you're talking!

They were still "wheaty" but good. Moist and tasty. Not too sweet (as if thats even a possibility) but enough to where you feel like you're having a treat.

I started off by following the recipe in the book (can't tell ya how that works or I'll have to.....well, you know how the saying goes)...


Yes....They were in the shape of the Valentine icon




Did I mention that I sprinkled the top with quit a bit of white sugar? I needed sweet!

Earlier in the day I had made a simple icing which consisted of

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of butter
1 3/4 cups of powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

(you're see a chocolate version of this icing in a later post)

Cream the butter, add the sugar and mix until smooth...then mix in the vanilla.

The icing was for some cupcakes my daughter was making for her boyfriend so I borrowed about 1/3 cup and mixed it with 1/3 cup of Nutella. Filled up a zip-lock baggy with an icing tip fitted over a trimmed corner



From the bottom of each muffin, I then hallowed out the centers and filled it in


I then took the "core" of the muffin and trimmed it a bit and used that to plug up the hole


Good stuff....let me tell you!

I did find the dough a bit on the wet side. It was a little harder to work with...but it seemed to rise well. I just have to keep in mind that my kitchen is cooler in the winter (even though I'm in SoCal) and my counter tops are always cool...so I have to let the dough rise longer.

Now....with the same chocolate espresso dough, per the instructions, I added chopped bittersweet chocolate, craisins and tangerine zest


Have you ever tasted a craisin?


I had tasted a specific name brand kind from the grocery store several months ago and wasn't very impressed. I couldn't figure out what all the hype was about....but I figured to each his own, right?

I got this batch of craisins from a health food store.....scooped them out of a bin and got as many as I wanted.

WOW!!! Huge....I mean HUGE difference in flavor. They were wonderful. Tasty little morsels that burst all sorts of contrasting flavor in your mouth....sweet, tart, tangy, dry, moist, sour.....YUM!

Ok, now I'm excited about these "tangerine bars". But I wasn't feeling it. I mean...the "bars" part. We're still dealing with whole wheat here and as much as these would probably resemble brownies, I knew my taste buds would be disappointed. No matter how much I knew intellectually that they'd be "wheat" my taste buds just wouldn't be able to wrap themselves around the wheat.

Once again...I needed SWEET!!!

I don't know how I came up with this....but it totally worked and was totally awesome....

Biscotti!

Chocolate, Espresso, Tangerine, Craisin Biscotti

I formed this oblong rectangle-ish free form, super wet, super sticky loaf and let it bake for about 25 minutes (that was after it rose, not so much, for about 2 hours). I allowed the dough to cool a bit before slicing


I then popped them back into the oven (about 325' F) for 12 minutes on each side. Once they were cool I filled a drinking glass with some melted semi-sweet chocolate chips (added a tablespoon of crisco to make it more melty) and started dipping


Let me just say.....total success. Sweet, tart....and ooooh so chocolatey.

I think there's one small end left. I'll be fighting off the pack tomorrow morning so I can have that last morsel with my cup of coffee.

Please head on over to Michelle's at Big Black Dog so see everyone elses incredible versions of this months goodies

23 comments:

  1. They both look and sound amazing, Danielle. Especially love the biscotti, dipped in chocolate, yummy

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  2. Everythign you made here is absolutely ingenious. From those nutella filled cupcake/muffins to these chocolate-dipped biscotti - I can't think of a better way to enjoy this bread!

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  3. Haha! I dipped mine in chocolate, too :) I love how yours look like soft biscotti!

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  4. Love the chocolate-dipped biscotti...such a great idea! And the stuffed heart mini muffins are so cute!

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  5. Thanks everyone! I think I had more fun with this chocolatey, wet dough than any of the other ones. I still have a small amount left....havent decided what to do with it yet

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  6. well done! love these, and nutello ... Come on!

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  7. What a delicious post! It all made me hungry. Love the heart filled cupcake!

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  8. Awesome. Toss one of those muffins this way!

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  9. Wow! Chocolate, Espresso, Tangerine, Craisin Biscotti! It doesn't get much better than that! Great post!

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  10. You did a great job with the chocolate dough. The muffins and biscotti are so creative and they look delicious.

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  11. These look amazing! I'm watering at the mouth over the muffins! Love the hearts.

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  12. nutella filled cupcakes? Yes please! Great job on the cupcakes and the biscotti!

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  13. Those biscotti look delicious. My hubby was disappointed this didn't turn out a sweeter product, but I still loved it.
    ~Jenny~

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  14. Beautiful stuff, Danielle. When will the bakery be opening? Oh yeah, then it becomes work, not fun....Your pictures are very appetizing, I just have to say.

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  15. OM goodness, Biscotti! What a fabulous idea. they look great.
    the nutella in buns is great too. I bake it right into the buns, saves the filling afterwards. just spread the dough out a little, fill nutella in the middle and cover with the dough. work them round and voila. done.

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  16. Wow! I think you have managed two make a silk purse out of an ordinary sow's ear.

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  17. Oh yes, Nutella always makes things better! :0) The hearts are adorable!

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  18. oooOOOOoooo How long would it take for one of those to make it here? I am starting the coffee now... LOL

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  19. Beautiful pictures...Everything looks delicious!

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  20. Wow, what a way to save the day! If I had encountered a problem with baking some new recipe, I'm afraid I'd have said "hang it" and left the kitchen in a huff!

    Beautiful pics too!

    jessyburke88@gmail.com

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