Chocolaty Weekend Links

There are some holidays that you just can’t incorporate chocolate into easily. Valentine’s Day, Easter, Halloween — those are easy. But holidays like Labor Day or Memorial Day don’t usually have big displays of candy set up for them at the grocery store, which isn’t such a bad thing, it just means you get to be creative and come up with your own way to celebrate if you need that chocolate fix after a big barbecue!

My ideal way to celebrate a holiday on the brink of or middle of summer is to not turn on the oven, but since that’s not always practical, especially when so many of the yummy recipe links below require it, I’ll just focus on the delicious outcome instead!

~ Cornflakes Chocolate Marbled Squares at Angie’s Recipes

~ Decadent Chocolate Chip Brownies from Maple N’ Cornbread

~ Chocolate Pudding Hand Pies at Healthy. Happy. Life.

~ Cherry Garcia Profiteroles from Cookin’ Canuck

~ Chocolate Truffle Cupcakes at Erin’s Food Files

~ Chocolate and Brie Panini from Jam On Your Face

~ Banana Split Cupcakes at Conversations With a Cupcake

~ Low-Cal Chocolate Mousse from Cooking Pleasures

~ Mocha Ice Cream with Salted Caramel Sauce at Christie’s Corner

~ Root Beer Bundt Cake from One Ordinary Day

~ Two Tone Chocolate Popsicles at Mochachocolata

~ Chocolate Walnut Toffee Bars from Pastry Pal

[image: flickr]

High Schools Get Chocolate Milk Grants

Twenty eight high schools in nine states across the midwest United States have received upwards of $3000 in grants from Midwest Dairy Council this month.

Why? Because they’re helping to promote “better nutrition in high school athletes by encouraging the consumption of 16 ounces of chocolate milk within one-half hour after practice, workouts and competitions.”

Senior high schools in Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota and eastern Oklahoma received the Recover with Chocolate Milk grants. The winners included both male and female athletes representing football, basketball, baseball, softball, cross country and golf teams.

Low-fat chocolate milk was in the news just a few months ago after further testing has shown that it helps sore muscles recover from intense physical activity more quickly, and could be twice as effective as leading sports drinks in doing so. The unique combination of protein and carbohydrates in milk provides nine essential nutrients and since it’s 90% water it’s also great for quenching thirst and keeping you hydrated.

Chocolate Weekend Links – 6/14

I can’t believe it’s already the middle of June! It feels like it was just Easter. Warm weather around here means people are coming out of their houses and getting some work done outside before it gets too hot to do anything (we average 115 degrees by the middle of July!).

That also means a lot of neighbors helping neighbors, like the brand new ones next door who came over and helped us haul rock into our backyard this weekend. The best way I know of to repay generosity like that? Chocolate treats! I was thinking of some delicious chocolate chip cookies — who doesn’t like those? — but I might just surprise myself with something yummy from the links below instead:

~ Eggless Chocolate Tart from Tongue Ticklers

~ Toffee Topped Brownie Bites at Random Anderson

~ Guinness Stout Ginger Cake from Lemonpi

~ Rocky Road Bars at My Baking Addiction

~ Nutella-filled Ricotta Donuts from The Cookbook Chronicles

~ Dynamite Cookies and Pretzel Fudge at The Chocolate Fool

~ Tiramisu at Geng and Chip

~ Chocolate Caramel Tartlets from There’s a Newf in my Soup

~ Frozen Chocolate Covered Key Lime Pie On-a stick at Let Them Eat Cake

~ Mint Chocolate Cupcakes from A Gluten-Free Day

~ Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cookies at The Cooking Photographer

~ Peanut Butter Filled Chocolate Cookies from The Go Lightly Gourmet

~ S’more Brownies at Fahrenheit 350

~ Crème au Chocolat et Tofu from bibio

~ Triple Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake at Maple n’ Cornbread

~ Paris Famous Angelina’s Chocolat L’Africain from Almost Bourdain

~ Chocolate Pumpkin Pie at Sweet Beet and Green Bean

~ Sweet n Salty PB Fudge from Patticake

~ Aye, Aye Captain Cookies at Culinary Concoctions

[image: flickr]

Fun Chocolate T-Shirts

Though edible chocolate is definitely the #1 way to get a chocolate fix, wearing your chocolate can be almost as fun (and it lasts longer)!

This cute shirt from zazzle.com says “A Balanced Diet is Chocolate in Both Hands.”

There are also a few other cute chocolaty ones: Chocolate Diet; Chocolate: The Other Major Food Group; I Wash My Mouth Out With Chocolate…; and Bite Me.

HeSaysSheSays has this cute one that I’ve also seen as a bumpersticker (“Save the Earth: It’s the Only Planet With Chocolate“).

Obsession Design on CafePress has a ton of cute chocolate t-shirts, hoodies, and other clothing with Peace, Love and Chocolate on them. I like the tank top for summer.

There are also a bunch of cute ones from ChocolateQuote which state simply “I Love Chocolate,” and “I Need More Chocolate.”

Chocolate Weekend Links

I’m on chocolate overload this week – well, at least more than I usually am! Between leftover Easter chocolate and treats for kids’ classes, it’s been a full week!

~ Quintuple Chocolate Brownies at Nosh and Tell

~ Wholemeal Chocolate Cake from Gel’s Kitchen

~ Cherry Coke Float Cupcakes at Coco Bean

~ Chocolate Turtle Cheesecake from Culinary in the Country

~ Mocha Icebox Cake at Seven Spoons

~ Hello Dolly Squares from Thibeault’s Table

~ Chocolate Mousse with Raspberry Sauce and Whipped Cream at Cooking with Tien

~ Caramel Almond Cracker Bars from Cookworm

~ Oreo Footballs at Bake Me More

[image: flickr]

Happy Easter from Chocolate Bytes

Happy Easter from Chocolate Bytes!

What’s in your Easter basket this year? My girls got loaded up with chocolate bunnies, chocolate eggs, chocolate lollipops and sugar sticks. It’s going to be a fun day with all that sugar!

[image: flickr]

Chocolate Links for Easter Weekend

Easter is a big chocolate holiday, competing with only Valentine’s Day for the top spot! What are some of your favorite Easter treats?

This week’s chocolate link roundup contain a lot of recipes I’d love to try, and hopefully will eventually. For now there just aren’t enough hours in the day!

~ Bird’s Nest Cookies from The Cooking Photographer

~ Sinfully Rich Dark Chocolate Pudding at The Hungry Mouse

~ Chocolate Egg With Dulce de Leche Pannacotta from Clumbsy Cookie

~ Pomegranate and Chocolate Tarts at Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives

~ Chocolate Peanut Butter Tortes from Annie’s Eats

~ Gooey Peanut Butter Brownies at My Baking Addiction

~ Chocolate-Covered Caramelized Matzoh Crunch from A Work In Progress

~ Chocolate-Covered Coconut Macaroons at Off My Game

~ Kosher for Passover Brownies from Bittersweet

~ White Chocolate Bunny Cookies at I Bake For You

~ Frozen Chocolate Bananas from CookieMag

~ Goodbye Winter Cocoa Cookies at Healthy. Happy. Life.

~ Chocolate Apple Pie from Kayotic

~ Fauxstess Cupcakes at Beantown Bakers

[image: flickr]

White Chocolate Deviled Eggs

Two of the biggest food icons for Easter are now one: Chocolate and eggs.

Of course, the reality isn’t as gross as it may sound! These are just white chocolate, Rice Krispies cereal and red sugar:

Melt white chocolate chips over low heat on your stove. Pour into greased, horizontally split, plastic Easter eggs. Let cool and harden, then pop the white chocolate “egg whites” out of the plastic egg halves.

Melt yellow candy melts in microwave according to package directions, then mix with Rice Krispies until the consistency looks like real deviled egg mixture.

Spoon yellow mixture onto the hardened “egg white” halves and sprinkle with red sugar to resemble traditional paprika. Let your candy treat cool.

How easy is that?

[image: flickr]

Chocolate Body Scrub

If it’s not enough for you to just eat a chocolate bunny this Easter, you’re in luck — you can now smell like one, too!

Max Brenner has created a delicious-smelling Brazilian Brown Sugarcane and Cocoa Nibs Body Scrub made with Ghanaian cocoa beans, Ivory Coast cocoa butter, brown sugarcane and Indonesian cinnamon.

The little pot retails for $22.95 and is part of a spa collection that also includes a chocolate spa set, cocoa nibs body peeling scrub, and truffle candles.

[image: maxbrenner.com]

Cadbury Mini Egg Cookies

I don’t know that we’d ever have enough Cadbury Mini Eggs leftover from Easter to make these cookies, but if I hid some away from the husband and kids specifically so I could try them out, I might get away with it!

This recipe is from Dawn of Dawn’s Recipes, who has an amazing collection of recipes. These cookies used chopped Cadbury Mini Eggs (the dark chocolate variety would be yummy in these too!) and macadamia nuts:

Cadbury Mini Egg Cookies with Macadamia Nuts
from Dawn’s Recipes

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
10 ounces (about 1 1/2 cups) Cadbury mini eggs, broken into large chunks
1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts

Directions:
Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside. In a separate bowl, combine mini egg pieces and macadamia nuts. Set aside.

Cream butter until fluffy. Add the sugar and continue to beat until light and fluffy (a couple minutes). Beat in eggs one at a time, and vanilla.

Alternatively mix in the mini egg mixture and the flour mixture, a third at a time, until well blended. Chill cookie dough for about an hour.

Preheat oven to 350°F. On cookie sheets lined with parchment paper, spoon out the cookie dough in small 1-inch diameter balls. Place dough balls 3 inches away from each other on the cookie sheets.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges are just starting to brown. Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes. Then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

[image: flickr]

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