My Mom's 7 Minute Sticky Frosting Recipe with swirled Chocolate Chips on top of Betty Crocker Dark Chocolate Cake :0

I will never forget after meeting my husband we would talk about childhood memories and still do.  One of my fond memories involved Birthday Cake.  My mom would make an awesome chocolate cake and top it with "too die for" 7 minute Sticky Frosting.  She always added chocolate chips in the end and swirled them around gently.  I start to drool just thinking about it.  My husband always said "yuck".  He made it  very clear he didn't like cooked frosting. 

So being the good wife that I am.....I never made it until........I was pregnant with our 3rd son.  I wanted it so badly I decided even if I had to eat the whole cake myself I was going to make my mom's 7 minute sticky frosting.

The way we ate chocolate cake at our house changed from that day on.....My husband LOVED IT!!!  He asked why I never had made that frosting before.  I reminded him of the comments he had made years ago.  He explained he had never had cooked frosting like this before. 

Now it seems like almost monthly - like clock work he asks for this sweet treat - and so do our little boys. 

So first I made a wonderful box dark chocolate cake - but it is not just any dark chocolate cake - it has to Betty Crocker Dark Chocolate Cake mix with 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips sprinkled on top of the cake batter before baking.

Recipe for the 7 Minute Frosting.

Ingredients:

1 cup Granulated Sugar

1/2 cup Light Corn Syrup

3 Tablespoons of Cold Water

3 Egg Whites

1/4 teaspoon Cream of Tarter

1 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla

1/2 cup Chocolate Chips

Directions:

Over a large double boiler - I like to use a pot of water boiling on the stove with an large metal bowl over the top.

Beat all ingredients except the vanilla and chocolate chips.

Beat until peaks form - usually around 7 minutes - hence the name.

Remove from heat and continue beating while adding the vanilla.

Gently fold in the chocolate chips - they will begin the melt due to the heat of the frosting.

Frost the cooled cake - I like to coat the cake in a double batch of this addicting sticky frosting.

As the frosting cools the chocolate chips will set up and make tasty ribbons of goodness throughout the frosting.

The only problem with this recipe, but well worth it....It makes a big splattery mess...as you can see by the photo below.

Forget'em Poof Cookies Recipe

I came up with these easy cookies back in 2000.  They have became a holiday staple at our house.  My husband loves these because he rational is the cookies are way to fragile to give out in the goodie bags so he can eat all of them himself.  ***which by the way this year - he is well on his way to polishing them off...very quickly***

This cookies have a great crispy shell - that leads your mouth on an adventure...one you break the shell open the cookie "poofs" - hence the name and kind of crumbles into your mouth and all round.  The sweet chocolate chips and bitter walnuts balance this delightful unique cookie.

I love these because I can use one bowl to whip them up at night and put the cookie pans in the oven and just forget about them - so all there is for clean up in the bowl, beaters, cookie scoop and measuring cup - and when the pans come out in the morning - all you do is peal them off of the foil - throw the foil away and put the clean pans away!

Ingredients:

2 egg whites
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat egg whites to foamy soft peaks.

Gradually add sugar and beat approximately 7 to 10 minutes until thick and sticky.

Stir in vanilla, chocolate chips, and walnuts.

Drop by spoonfuls onto foil-lined baking sheets.

Place into oven and turn the oven off.

FORGET' EM til Morning!  Wha...La.... Cookies are done!

I love to use a cookie scoop to portion out the batter on the foil lined baking sheets.  The reason being is the batter is very sticky and the scoop works great and keep your fingers clean.



Make sure to store the cookies in an air tight container.

Ghirardelli Ultimate Double Chocolate Cookie Recipe

Last weekend my husband was looking at Allrecipes.com and one of the featured recipes was Ghirardelli Ultimate Double Chocolate Cookies.  Of course he mentioned how delicious this chocolaty recipe looked.  ....So I took that as a hint (plus I never can get enough chocolate!)....and I had to make this Chocolate treasures.

Wow - these were worth the wait - and I know these will not be just a Holiday favorite - but an anytime chocolate favorite.  What a great addition to my goodie bags this year.  The bittersweet chocolate helped to off set the richness of the semi-sweet chocolate.  The walnuts added a great bitterness and crunch to the cookies.

Ingredients:


2 cups Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 large eggs

1 cup granulated white sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 cups Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

Melt the bittersweet chocolate chips and butter in the top of a double boiler or in a heatproof bowl over barely simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth.


I purchased a double boiler a few years ago and I can't image cooking with out it now.  It was definitely worth the investment!



In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar with an electric mixer until thick.

Stir the chocolate mixture in egg and sugar combination.

In a small bowl, stir together the flour and baking powder; stir into the chocolate mixture. Gently mix in the chocolate chips and walnuts.

Using a sheet of plastic wrap, form the dough into two logs, each 2 inches in diameter and about 8 inches long. Because the dough will be quite soft, use the plastic wrap to hold the dough in the log shape.

Wrap tightly; refrigerate for at least 1 hour or until firm.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper.

Unwrap the dough. With a sharp knife, cut the dough into 3/4-inch slices. Place the slices 1 1/2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheet. ( I put the unused dough back into the refrigerator until I needed it for the next pans - to help keep in firm)

Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until a shiny crust forms on top of the cookies but the interior is still soft. Let cool on the cookie sheet. Then remove from the cookie sheet with a metal spatula.

The cookies turned out perfectly - as long as you follow the recipe.  The dough was soooo soft that I was concerned it would never firm to the point of being able to cut it - but it did just fine after a little time in the refrigerator.  And make sure you let the cookies cool on the pan - as they need the extra time with the heat of the cookie sheet to finish baking - gently.