Chocolate French Macarons

Molten Lava Cakes

Original Recipe from Bon Appetit  https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/bas-best-molten-chocolate-cake

(Makes 6 individual cakes)

6 T. heavy cream

11 ounces bittersweet chocolate (Divided 3oz for ganache/ 7.5oz for cakes)

9 T. butter

4 large eggs

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

4 1/2 T. flour

1/2 tsp salt

Ganache: heat chocolate and cream in double boiler until smooth. Chill until smooth, about one hour. Shape into 6 balls and return to the fridge.

Preheat oven to 425*

Butter the ramekins.

Combine 9 T. butter and remaining 7.5 oz chocolate and melt over double boiler or in the microwave. Beat eggs and brown sugar about 4 minutes. Add vanilla. Fold in flour and salt.

Divide half the batter into the ramekins, place ganache, and put the remaining batter in the ramekins. Bake 13-15 minutes until tops are firm but cakes wobble. Let cakes cool 30 seconds before plating.

French Dip (Sarah Dunn)

1 (3-pound) cross rib, rump, or eye-of-round beef roast
1 (10 3/4-oz) can beef consumme
1 1/2 cups water
1 Good Seasonings Italian dressing packet
1 au jus gravy packet (any brand will do)

sliced Swiss cheese (for melting)
hoagie buns (to toast)

Place roast in a crockpot. Whisk ingredients together and pour over roast. Cook on high in the crockpot 6-8 hours or until you can easily shred with a fork.

Place shredded meat on hoagie rolls and top with Swiss cheese. Broil sandwiches open-faced until cheese is melted and rolls are browned. Serve with strained au jus mixture.

Perfect Pumpkin Muffins (5BoysBaker)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/3 cups packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/3 cups canned pumpkin purée
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

---

INSTRUCTIONS

1.  Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and  preheat to 350°F. Line a 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper liners (or you can spray with cooking spray instead).
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and salt; set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition until well combined. Add the pumpkin and vanilla extract and mix until well combined.
4. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until just combined. Do not overmix! Divide the batter evenly among the muffin wells (they will be at least 3/4 full).
5. Bake until the muffins are set and a toothpick inserted into the center one comes out with just a few moist crumbs, 18 to 22 minutes.
6.  Let the muffins cool 10 minutes before removing from the pan.  (If you greased the pan, run a thin knife around each muffin to loosen it from the pan first if needed.) Serve warm or at room temperature.

Easy Chili (Sarah Dunn)

1 pound ground beef or turkey
2 cans 8-oz tomato sauce
1 can kidney beans, undrained
1 package (1 1/4-oz) McCormick Chili seasoning
for toppings:
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
chopped onions, sour cream, chips

Cook ground beef in skillet until done. Then add everything into a slow cooker on low for 1-2 hours or on high for 45 minutes.

Big Fat Double Chocolate Cookies (Mel's Kitchen Cafe)

INGREDIENTS

•  1 cup (2 sticks, 8 ounces), cold butter straight from the fridge cut into tablespoon-size pieces (I use salted butter)
•  1 cup (7.5 ounces) lightly packed light or dark brown sugar
•  1/2 cup (3.75 ounces) granulated sugar
•  2 large eggs, cold from the refrigerator
•  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•  1 1/2 cups (7.5 ounces) all-purpose flour
•  1 cup (4 ounces) cake flour
•  1/2 cup (1.75 ounces) dark or Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa powder (see note)
•  1 teaspoon baking soda
•  1/2 teaspoon salt
•  1 1/2 to 2 cups semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips or chunks

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two half sheet pans with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the cold butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar. Start the mixer on low (the butter will fly around a bit since it's cold) and gradually increase to medium speed. Mix for 4-6 minutes until the mixture is creamy and very well-combined, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
3. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined and the batter is light in color, 2-3 minutes. Add the flour, cake flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together (and so the dry ingredients don't fly everywhere). When just a few dry streaks remain, add the chocolate chips or chunk and mix just until combined and there are no dry spots.
4. Scoop very large balls of dough (I measured out about 4-4.25 ounces for each cookie) and place several inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. I did five cookies per sheet. Bake for 9-10 minutes until set on the outside but still soft in the middle. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheets to cool for 5-7 minutes before removing. These cookies are amazing warm (with ice cream), chilled, or at room temperature.

Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies (5 Boys Baker)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup cold butter, cut into small chunks
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups chocolate chips (*see note)
• 2 cups walnuts, roughly chopped (*see note)

---

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 410 degrees. Line cookies sheets with parchment paper or silpat liners.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the cold cubed butter, brown sugar, and sugar 3 to 4 minutes or until creamy. Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each one.
3. Stir in both flours, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Mix until just combined (don’t over mix). Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts (if using).
4. Separate dough into 4-oz balls and place on cookie sheets, 4 cookies per cookie sheet. 
5. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until golden brown on the top. Let them rest for 15 minutes to set up.

Volume 90%

NOTES

• I am not a fan of nuts in cookies, so I leave them. But you have to replace the volume of the nuts so the cookies will hold their shape. I add an extra 1/3 to 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour and an extra 1/2 cups of chocolate chips.
• Cake Flour can be found in the baking aisle of most grocery stores. I usually buy it in bulk at Winco because it’s super inexpensive there. If you can’t find it or don’t want to buy any, you can make your own. Measure out 1 cup of all-purpose flour. Remove 2 tablespoons of the all-purpose flour and place it back in your flour container. Replace the 2 tablespoons of flour with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch then sift the flour 4 to 5 times.