Dirt Cake – Gail Matthews

1 – 16 oz pkg oreo cookies
1 – 8 oz pkg cream cheese
1/2 cup margarine
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 – 3.5 oz pkg pistachio pudding
2 cup whole milk
1 – 12 oz pkg Coolwhip

Crush cookies. Place half on bottom of flat container. In a separate bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, margarine and vanilla until well blended, set aside. Combine pudding mix and milk, fold in Coolwhip. Gently fold cheese and pudding mixtures together. Pour over first layer of cookie crumbs. Top with remaining cookie crumbs. Cover and place in fridge. Serves 12.

For another version of Dirt Dessert – see http://cravinggrace.org/2007/01/10/dirt-dessert/

Snack Attack Chocolate Cake from Pamela Stephens (from BetterRecipes.com)

Cake:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
4 Tbsp cocoa
1 cup water
½ cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla

Frosting:
½ cup butter
4 Tbsp cocoa
5 Tbsp buttermilk
4 cups (1 box) powdered sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 9×13 pan. Sift together flour and sugar and set aside. In saucepan over high heat, bring butter, cocoa and water to a boil. Pour over sugar/flour mixture and mix well. Add buttermilk, eggs, baking soda and vanilla and mix well. Pour into pan. Bake for 25 minutes.

Frosting: In a saucepan over high heat, bring butter, cocoa and buttermilk to a boil and remove from heat. Add sugar and vanilla and beat with wire whisk until well blended. Stir in nuts. While frosting is still warm, spread on cake. Serves 16-20.
I must say - this sound delicious. I just might have to try it out the next time I have a somewhat legitimate excuse to bake!!

Per Anna’s request (see article featuring Jen as the UPC woman of the week) here is the recipe for the Outrageous/Ultimate brownies.

Outrageous/Ultimate Brownies from Jennifer Herr (from the Barefoot Contessa)

1 pound unsalted butter
1 pound plus 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips, divided
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
6 extra-large eggs
3 tablespoons instant coffee powder
2 tablespoons real vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided (1 cup for batter and 1/4 cup in the chips and nuts)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 cups diced walnut pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 13 by 18 by 1 1/2-inch sheet pan.

Melt together the butter, 1 pound chocolate chips, and unsweetened chocolate on top of a double boiler. Cool slightly. Stir together the eggs, instant coffee, vanilla and sugar. Stir in the warm chocolate mixture and cool to room temperature.

Stir together 1 cup of the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to cooled chocolate mixture. Toss the walnuts and 12 ounces of chocolate chips with 1/4 cup flour to coat. Then add to the chocolate batter. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until tester just comes out clean. Halfway through the baking, rap the pan against the oven shelf to allow air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough. Do not over-bake! Cool thoroughly, refrigerate well and cut into squares.

These take a little longer than normal brownies but are so worth it. It makes a TON of brownies which is good for parties (or sending with your husband to work). They also freeze well so make the whole thing and save half in the freezer for a night you are REALLY craving chocolate.

Congratulations to Anna, Matt and Evie on their new baby Ransom Eli - born yesterday!!!

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake from Anna Limber

Ingredients
* 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
* 1/3 cup white sugar
* 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1/3 cup butter, melted
* 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
* 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
* 3 eggs
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
* 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar, butter and cocoa. Press onto bottom and up the sides of a 9 inch springform pan. Set crust aside.
2. Beat cream cheese until smooth. Gradually add sweetened condensed milk; beat well. Add vanilla and eggs, and beat on medium speed until smooth. Toss 1/3 of the miniature chocolate chips with the 1 teaspoon flour to coat (this keeps them from sinking to the bottom of the cake). Mix into cheese mixture. Pour into prepared crust. Sprinkle top with remaining chocolate chips.
3. Bake at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) for 1 hour. Turn off oven (do not open oven door) and leave the cake in the oven to cool in the oven for another hour. Remove from oven and cool completely. Refrigerate before removing sides of pan. Keep cake refrigerated until time to serve.

I had these recently, and they were good (especially if you like Espresso.) Of course, Anna said she was up all night because she couldn’t sleep after eating so much espresso!!

Espresso Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies from Anna Limber

2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 Tbsp instant espresso powder
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
7 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate coarsely chopped

Mix first 4 ingredients. In a small bowl, stir together espresso powder, vanilla and 1 Tbsp water. In another bowl, cream butter and sugars with mixer until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes.) Add egg and yolk to butter and mix thoroughly. Add espresso and mix well. Add flour mixture in small batches, mixing until just combined. Stir in chocolate chunks by hand.

Using a 2″ ice-cream scoop, scoop heaping balls of dough and place 3″ apart on cookie sheets covered with parchment paper. Bake for 20 minutes at 325. Remove from oven and let cool completely before removing from pan. Makes 18 cookies.