I like the idea of making these for friends and family and arranging them on a platter in the shape of a Christmas tree or even a wreath. Dying the coconut red or green is also a nice touch! These would be great for Valentine’s Day, too, come to think of it!

Chocolate Cherry Christmas Creams

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1 1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar
1/3 cup chopped nuts
1/3 cup chopped maraschino cherries, well drained
1 1/4 cup coconut OR chopped nuts

~ Melt chocolate and milk over low heat. Remove from heat. (Can also be melted in the microwave – check every 15 to 25 seconds.)

~ Stir in powdered sugar, nuts and cherries, mix well.

~ Chill until cool enough to handle.

~ Shape into 1-inch balls and roll in nuts or coconut.

~ Chill at least 4 hours. Keep chilled.

~ Makes 24 pieces.

Post from: Chocolate Bytes

Anyone can enter the contest, which encourages creative recipe creations for both sweet or savory dishes. The recipes must include Scharffen Berger Chocolate and at least one suggested ingredient from the “Adventure Ingredients” list, which includes fresh mint, crystallized ginger, pandan leaf, banana leaf, sumac, raw honey, cacao nibs, fresh or whole dried chili pepper, malbec, peanut butter, black-eyed peas, rice flour, papaya, cumin, paprika, and smoked sea salt.

Two grand prizes of $10,000 each will be awarded, one for a sweet dish and one for savory, and two second place prizes that include signed cookbooks and chocolate will also be awarded.

Full rules can be found at the Chocolate Adventure website, as well as a look at the judges. You can submit your entry online, and the contest submission deadline is January 3rd, so get cooking!

[image: flickr]

Post from: Chocolate Bytes

First off, pictures of pudding – especially rice pudding – never do the recipe justice.

Anyway, this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie was Black and White Rice Pudding (actually chocolate and vanilla!). I split mine in two batches, as was suggested in the recipe, because I knew my husband would appreciate the vanilla while the kids would devour the chocolate.

I’m also glad I read up on the Q&A for the recipe, otherwise I too would have ended up with rice soup instead of pudding and would have wondered what I’d done wrong!

I stirred the pudding every five minutes for about 50 minutes and it turned out perfectly. I didn’t put the full 1-1/2 teaspoons of vanilla in the white pudding because my husband likes it plain, but I may have put a little extra chocolate in the other one.

Maybe just a little.

Post from: Chocolate Bytes

Lots of yummy chocolate creations this week! Check out:

~ Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Cupcakes at Miss Cupcake Face

~ Mocha Chocolate Cookies at Baked Alaska

~ Bittersweet Chocolate and Cardamom Cupcakes at Tartlette

~ Chocolate Thumbprints at The Food Librarian

~ Double Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes with Spice Cream Cheese Frosting at Pinch My Salt

~ Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Blondies at Cinemon Girl

~ Fall Chocolate Cookies at Priscilla’s Baking Adventures

~ S’more-dillas at Chaos in the Kitchen

~ Mini Brioches Filled With Chocolate Truffle at Baking for the Cure

~ Quintuple Chocolate Brownies at Dreamy Desserts

~ M&M Studded Fudgy Oreo-Chunk Brownies at The Recipe Girl

Post from: Chocolate Bytes

Happy National Chocolate Chip Day!

NCCD always falls on May 15th and is intended to celebrate the wonderfulness that is chocolate chips and their popularity in our cooking and baking. While there is no congressional record or proclamation that today is officially a “national” anything, it’s still a valid holiday in my book! And of course, there are ecards.

The above video gives you some great tips on how chocolate chips should be added to baked goods. I’ve always kept my chocolate chips in the freezer by default (they get too melty in the cupboard), so I was glad to see that mentioned!

What’s your favorite recipe involving chocolate chips? What is your favorite brand of chocolate chips to use?

My favorite recipe is my pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, and I prefer the Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips.

Post from: Chocolate Bytes