Flourless Brownies

eatwithclarity.com
5 stars

Wow - these brownies were so good that I'm sad that we finished them and I'm debating whether to make them again right away or try a different recipe! It's my FAVORITE brownie recipe -- and so EASY!

Ingredients: semi-sweet chocolate chips, eggs, refined coconut oil, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, tapioca starch, cocoa powder, salt

Tips/Notes:

• Used avocado oil instead of refined coconut oil (I knew this was a good substitute from research and other recipes)
• Used cornstarch instead of tapioca starch per the recipe's notes

Recipe: Chocolate-Amaretto Pudding Cake

Chocolate-Amaretto Pudding Cake

Food & Wine Magazine, Feb 2025, p.42

4.8 stars

I'm starting to bake again(!) and decide on this "easy" recipe because of its description: "At first glance, pudding cakes may look like classic cakes with a breadlike crumb, but they actually bake into two different textures."

I loved that this had a cake-like texture on top and then a gooey pudding/lava-like cake at the bottom -- and chocolate chips that added crunchy texture throughout when eating it cold. It was an interesting process making this as there were essentially 3 "layers" I created, including the coffee and almond extract that were poured on top.

Ingredients: all-purpose flour, unsweetened cocoa, dark chocolate chips, coffee, sour cream, amaretto, vanilla extract, unsalted butter, granulated sugar, dark brown sugar, baking soda, Kosher salt, water

Ingredients for serving: vanilla ice cream, fresh berries

Tips/Notes:

• Used decaf coffee
• We were out of amaretto, so used almond extract (did research and used one-eighth amount of almond extract)

Recipe: Fudgy Almond Butter Brownies

Fudgy Almond Butter Brownies

Dr. Mark Hyman Blog
4.7 stars

Finally! A pretty good dessert made with better-for-you ingredients.

Because of the lack of gluten, the brownies are a little crumbly, but the texture is good and moist because of the almond butter. 

Ingredients: cassava flour, almond butter, unsweetened cacao powder, coconut sugar, ground flax seeds, vanilla extract, maple syrup, coconut oil, baking soda, sea salt

Optional Topping Ingredients: 100% unsweetened cacao chocolate, coconut oil, sea salt

Tips/Notes:

• Used date sugar instead of coconut sugar
• Used melted butter on the pan instead of coconut oil
• Didn't add the optional topping yet but think it would give the brownies more richness

Recipe: Kahlua Coffee Chocolate Layer Cake

Kahlua Coffee Chocolate Layer Cake

Live, Love & Sugar

4.8 stars

Instead of making this as a layer cake, I decided to make it as a Bundt Cake... something I hadn't made in years. I mean, I don't even own a bundt pan and had to borrow one from a friend!

This cake turned out really great -- super MOIST, and while I wish I personally could taste more of the Kahlua, friends and family said that they could taste it. It does use 1/2 a cup of Kahlua!

I did not make the Kahlua Coffee frosting; instead we topped it with a chocolate ganache.

Ingredients: all purpose flour, sugar, natural unsweetened cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, eggs, milk, vegetable oil, Kahlua, vanilla extract, hot coffee

Tips:

• If making this as a Bundt cake, it will need to bake for 87 minutes

Tiramisu

Tiramisu

savorysimple.net/tiramisu

5 stars

I'd never made Tiramisu before -- and it was surprisingly very easy! Authentic Tiramisu uses raw eggs, but this recipe has directions for cooking the yolks over a double boiler (note that it took almost 25 min to get the eggs up to temp vs. 10-15 min noted in the recipe) -- this was the "hardest" part.

For our guests, we eliminated the alcohol and used decaf coffee.

DELICIOUS!!!!

Ingredients: ladyfingers, strong coffee or espresso, rum or brandy or amaretto, egg yolks, mascarpone cheese, heavy cream, granulated sugar, Kosher salt, bittersweet chocolate, Dutch-processes cocoa powder for dusting

Recipe: Crunchy Peanut Butter Cups

Crunchy Peanut Butter Cups

dominosugar.com

5 stars

I found this recipe while reading some industry trade news -- it caught my eye because I love Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. My sister actually made these while visiting, and they were delicious and overall really easy to make! Only 6 ingredients!  The texture of the peanut butter center was spot-on, just like Reese's. Now I'm thinking about all the variations and flavors we can potentially make!

Ingredients: semi-sweet chocolate chips, all-natural crunchy peanut butter (no sugar added), powdered sugar, vanilla extract, unsalted butter, salt

Tips:

• Made half a batch and it still yielded 17 cups.
• Used a mix of semi-sweet and dark chocolate.
• It's easier and more efficient to fill each paper liner with all of the chocolate, push the peanut butter mixture into the center and then smooth the chocolate on top.
• To chill these faster so we could taste them, we put them in the fridge. If you do this, you definitely need to let them come down to room temperature so it's easier to remove the paper liner from the chocolate.

Recipe: Chocolate-Almond Pear Tart

Chocolate-Almond Pear Tart
Bon Appetit Magazine, Oct 2021, p. 63
4.5 stars

We had 2 pears and almond flour that I needed to use so when I saw this recipe, I thought it would be perfect especially since I really love the flavor and also texture of almond flour.

This recipe took a couple of days to make because the tart dough needs to sit and then chill in the freezer. Overall, it was an easy recipe, and I liked the flavor.

Two issues: The pears that I used were too ripe, so it caused the tart to be a little too "juicy." Also, the tart filling rose and overflowed so beware if you make it and make sure to put the tart pan on a sheet pan.

Tart Dough Ingredients: Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa powder, all-purpose flour, unsalted butter, granulated sugar, egg, Kosher salt

Filling and Assembly Ingredients: pears, almond flour or meal, all-purpose flour, Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa powder, unsalted butter, granulated sugar, eggs, bittersweet chocolate, vanilla extract, almond extract, Kosher salt; sliced almonds and powdered sugar

Recipe: Dark Chocolate Panna Cotta

Dark Chocolate Panna Cotta
Laylita.com

4.6 stars

Nice dessert that we served to guests with whipped cream and berries. The panna cotta was a bit more pudding-like so I may try a different recipe next time. This was delicious, though, and not very sweet which I liked.

Ingredients: milk, heavy cream, gelatin, sugar, dark chocolate, unsweetened cocoa powder, vanilla extract

Tips:

• The milk boiled so fast on our induction stove that it boiled over a little bit (I need to watch it more closely next time!)
• Half the recipe made 4 martini glasses plus a little leftover

Recipe: Chocolate Banoffee Pie

Chocolate Banoffee Pie

Bon Appetit Magazine, March 2021, p. 25

4.5 stars

I hadn't made a pie in a pretty long time. This was good for a chocolate banana pie -- but probably wouldn't make it again unless we have a NEED for a Banoffee pie. I was afraid that it was going to be too sweet, but it wasn't -- the high cacao % in the ganache helped keep the sweetness level down.

The crust was DELICIOUS -- I'm a huge fan of Biscoff cookies, the ones you get on the plane and would use this crust recipe again. One note is that the crust fell apart when eating it so would add more butter potentially to bind it together better. In addition, this ganache recipe was great.

Crust Ingredients: Lotus Biscoff cookies, unsalted butter, sugar

Ganache Ingredients: semisweet chocolate (at least 64% cacao), heavy cream, unsalted butter

Pudding Ingredients: heavy cream, eggs, light brown sugar, milk, unsalted butter, sugar, cornstarch, Kosher salt, chocolate, bananas

Tips:

• As noted above, add a binder (more butter) so the crust holds together better.
• Not sure about the egg step -- I followed the directions exactly constantly whisking the egg yolk mixture with the butterscotch and couldn't get it smooth. It was lumpy like the egg cooked in it.

Recipe: Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies

BobsRedMill.com

4.8 stars

I've had almond flour in the pantry (to make macarons, actually) and had been meaning to make the cookie recipe on the back of the package. A friend of mine had brought them to a get together a while back, and we were all addicted to them! Love that they're so easy to make.

Ingredients: Bob's Red Mill Natural Almond Meal, dark chocolate chips, toasted sliced almonds, coconut, maple syrup, egg, egg whites, vanilla extract, almond extract, baking soda, sea salt

Tips:

• I like the hint of coconut from the oil but wonder how butter would work instead
• Didn't use the almond extract which is optional but will next time
• Leave out the toasted sliced almonds to make it lower calorie
• Half a batch made 11 cookies

Recipe: Pizzettes

 

Pizzettes

Bon Appetit Magazine, Dec 2020/Jan 2021, p. 96

4.7 stars

The photo in the magazine looked amazing, but I wasn't sure how these were going to turn out. They were so delicious and turned out like the photo! As I'm typing this, I'm thinking I need to get a pizzette (not to be confused with pizzelles) right now to have with my coffee. The soft brownie-like texture with the glaze on top, along with the winter spices, citrus and texture of the almonds makes this a new winter cookie favorite for me. I love that this cookie isn't too sweet either.

Cookie Ingredients: raw skin-on almonds, flour, baking powder, Kosher salt, unsalted butter, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, sugar, Dutch-process cocoa powder, egg, egg yolk, bittersweet chocolate chips, lemon zest, orange zest

Glaze Ingredients: bittersweet chocolate, powdered sugar, unsalted butter, Kosher salt

Tips:

• For our oven, we baked these for approx. 11 minutes (5 min + 6 min)
• Because the cookies were on the softer side, we didn't dip them into the glaze but instead, poured the glaze on top

(Find recipe under: Dessert - Pretzel and Potato Chip Moon Pies)

Recipe: Pretzel and Potato Chip Moon Pies

Pretzel and Potato Chip Moon Pies

Bon Appetit Magazine, Dec 2020/Jan 2021, p.96

4.3 stars

These cookies were good, but I'd make some changes if I make them again -- see tips below.

Ingredients: pretzels, potato chips, marshmallows, semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coconut oil, flour, sugar, unsalted butter, Kosher salt, Pretzel salt or flaky sea salt

Tips

• Don't wait for the cookies to turn golden brown (which means they're overdone)
• Don't use organic marshmallows as I don't think they melted as well. May make my own marshmallows!
• Instead of coconut oil, make a ganache or glaze with oil so the the chocolate actually hardens.

Recipe: Molten Chocolate Crackle Pie

Molten Chocolate Crackle Pie

Half Baked Harvest

4.5 stars

We made this for Thanksgiving and I think it's one of the best chocolate pie recipes ever. It was chocolatey, RICH and had a nice complexity to it because of the hazelnut liquor and also the texture of the chocolate chunks. I'll definitely be making this again. No need to ever buy pie from other places like Emporium Pies. This beats it hands down.

Tips:

• We used Frangelico for our liquor.
• Definitely make the Hazelnut Whipped Cream! It's a nice balance to the richness of the pie.
• Make sure to let the pie cool; otherwise, it'll be a molten mess when you serve it, and you won't get the texture of the chocolate chunks.
• Half Baked Harvest's recipe didn't have instructions on how to best braid the pie crust so I got the help of blog contributor the grandcruman who has watched many a British Baking Show episodes who was able to help me.

Recipe: No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
livingsweetmoments.com/no-bake-chocolate-peanut-butter-bars
5 stars

This is a crazy-good, restaurant-worthy dessert.  Believe me as I've eaten a lot of dessert.  There are 5 layers to it: 1) a graham cracker crust, 2) a cereal crunchy layer, 3) peanut butter mousse, 4) chocolate ganache and  5) peanuts on top as a garnish.  It's the mix of textures and salty/sweet from the chocolate with peanut butter that makes this a top dessert for me.

There not a lot of ingredients, but it does take a little time to make because of all of the layers.

Ingredients: graham crackers, butter, Honey Bunches of Oats cereal, peanut butter, semi-sweet chocolate, cream cheese, confectioners sugar, heavy cream, chopped peanuts

Tips:

• Definitely use Honey Bunches of Oats cereal as it gives the right amount of crunch and also imparts a nice complexity from the honey flavor
• Used regular crunchy peanut butter (not unsweetened)
• Next time, will try beating the peanut butter mousse much less as it looked like the mixture was breaking up
• Sprinkled sea salt on top since our peanuts for the garnish were unsalted
• Forgot to line the pan with aluminum foil!

Recipe: Chocolate-Olive Oil Crisps

Chocolate-Olive Oil Crisps

Martha Stewart Living, Mar 2020, p. 102

3.5-4 stars?

I'm not sure if I'll make these cookies again. I liked their texture and depth of chocolate flavor, but to me, they tasted like there was a bit of sesame oil in it. Not sure why or if the honey, vanilla or extra-virgin oil was imparting some odd flavor -- or maybe my tastebuds!

Ingredients: all-purpose flour, Dutch-process cocoa powder, egg, honey, vanilla extract, extra-virgin olive oil, granulated sugar, baking soda, Kosher salt, turbinado sugar

Recipe: Almond Torta with Chocolate Chips

Voila!

Before baking

After baking

Almond Torte with Chocolate Chips
4.5 stars
Recipe from Lidia Bastianich (Lidia's Italy)

The torte was a lovely end to our Italian meal this past weekend.  It was easy to make and turned out beautifully.  I was afraid that it was going to be too dense of a cake after a carb-laden meal, but it wasn't.

Tips:

• Added extra 1/2 cup of chocolate chips
• Created our own "topping" of chocolate snowflakes 
• Might add a tad more almond extract next time

Recipe: Chocolate Torta Soffice

Right out of the oven without the powdered
sugar and mascarpone whipped topping

Chocolate Torta Soffice
Food and Wine Magazine, May 2017, p. 107
3 stars as a regular chocolate cake;  4 stars as a chocolate tea cake

This is a chocolate tea cake, not very sweet and not suitable for a celebratory dessert.  However, as a tea cake or a non-so-sweet chocolate cake, it's good.

We had some ganache from another recipe I made;  topping the cake with the ganache, mascarpone whipped topping and a little ice cream was delicious.  We did not top it with the pistachios.

Ingredients:  flour, unsweetened cocoa, salted butter, baking powder, eggs, granulated sugar, whole milk, mascarpone, heavy cream, confectioners' sugar, chopped roasted unsalted pistachios

Recipe: Chocolate S'more Pie

Chocolate S'more Pie
Gourmet Magazine, Nov 2006
5 stars

Was looking for a dessert to take over to our friends' house and found this recipe we'd saved (10 years ago!) from the now defunct Gourmet Magazine.

The pie was a hit!  We were so excited to eat it, I neglected to take a photo of it.  Will update this blog post with a photo the next time I make it which will probably be soon.

It wasn't too sweet, and I think the pie was actually even better the next day after putting it in the fridge overnight.

Tips/Notes/My Modifications:

• Used a mix of 72% chocolate and 60% chips
• Took a while for the marshmallow topping to whip up and triple in volume
• Make sure to chill the pie (chocolate cream filling in the pie crust) and put the marshmallow topping directly on the pie.  We made the marshmallow topping in advance and put it in a container where the topping set and was hard to spread on the pie).
• Enjoy with your closest friends!

Recipe: Instant Chocolate Cake (5 min Chocolate Cake when you're craving cake at 8pm)

Instant Chocolate Cake

Food Network

5 stars!!!

I often crave dessert after dinner and we'll have nothing, no dessert at all, in the house!  Sometimes we'll go out to get dessert, but last week I didn't want to go anywhere.  It was 8pm, and I just wanted to sit on the couch and hang out after a long day at work.  I thought about looking at UberEats or Postmates to see if I could get dessert delivered but instead. . . 

Instant Chocolate Cake recipe to the rescue.

8 ingredients, 2 minutes in the microwave.  Voila.  Dessert enough for 2 people!

See link above to the simple recipe from the Food Network.

Ingredients are things we almost always have in the house:  flour, sugar, cocoa powder, egg, milk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, salt.

The cake has a bit of a souffle-like texture which I loved.  I'd seen e-mails and Facebook posts about 'microwave mug cakes' and turned my nose up at those recipes.  Not anymore.  This is my 'in a pinch' chocolate cake recipe that I'm filing away.  Next time:  I'm adding chocolate chips (and maybe some peppermint extract) and pouring a chocolate ganache on top.  

Recipe: NY Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

NY Times Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted on Bakelikeachamp.com
4.5 stars

I'm on the quest to test and find the best chocolate chip cookie recipe.  I've tried out recipes including Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery, Cook's Country, and of course the Tollhouse recipe on the back of the chocolate chip bag.

This NY Times recipe was really good, a solid recipe.  However, it requires refrigerating the dough for 24 or up to 72 hours, so this is not for those who have issues with immediate gratification.  Must plan ahead with this recipe!

Interestingly, this recipe uses bread flour;  and I like the use of chocolate chunks and the touch of sea salt flakes on top.

My favorite recipe so far; however, is still the Cook's Country recipe that requires browning the butter which gives the cookies a nice depth of flavor.  I just realized I haven't blogged about that recipe so. . .  looks like I'll need to make those cookies again and post about it!  Who wants some chocolate chip cookies?