Walnut Chocolate Butter

中文菜谱： 核桃巧克力酱

I stock up nuts and chocolate lately.  Someday it just occurred to me why not make a batch of chocolate nut butter?  It would be awesome for breakfast or a quick nutritious afternoon snack. 

Ingredients：

2 cups of raw walnuts
1/3 to 1/2 cup dark chocolate
1/4 to 1/3 cup honey / syrup

*****Tips:  

·         The darker chocolate is, the more smoothly it will melt.  I use 85% cacao chocolate.  They are available at Whole foods, Sprouts and Texas local Central Market.  The one I am using here is bought from Sprouts. 

·         If you don’t want to roast raw walnut at home, buy the dry roasted walnuts.  And make sure they are not salted or seasoned.  *****

Directions：

Preheat a toaster oven to 375F/ 191C

Bake the raw walnuts for 8 to 10 minutes, or just until they turn slightly golden brown. 

Add roasted walnut, honey and dark chocolate in a vitamix blender.

  I use a dry container instead of regular container because it is more convenient this way.

Turn on the machine and grind at medium low speed.  

In a few minutes, walnuts are crushed and chocolate melts. 

You would need to pause several times in between to stir the mixture with a wooden spoon. 

Keep grinding at low medium speed. 

It is getting silkier and smoother.

It is kind of shiny now.

Continue grinding for another couple minutes.

Wo-la, it is done!

Transfer the walnut chocolate butter to a glass jar.  Seal and store at room temperature. 

It goes great with a lot of things: bread, cookies, crackers, fruits, crepes, and even salad! O(∩_∩)O~

Chocolate Soufflé Cookies

中文菜谱： 巧克力舒芙蕾饼干

These chocolate soufflé cookies are pretty much my favorite cookies.  They are so simple, made with just a few ingredients and yet have such deep rich delicate flavors.  It is like eating brownies, chocolate macaroons and cookies all at the same time.  Isn’t that amazing?

A big plus benefit for these cookies is that they don’t require any flour, which means they are gluten free! 

If you frequent a coffee shop or bakery, you might have noticed there are always “flourless chocolate cookies” displayed on the shelves, which look so fancy and delicate, and of course, so expensive too. 

Yep, they are the chocolate soufflé cookies we are making here today.  Let’s get started!

The recipe is adapted from：https://www.finecooking.com/recipe/chocolate-souffle-cookies.  Many thanks and appreciation to the original author!

Ingredients ：

1 cup dark chocolate chips/ pieces
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 egg whites
a few drops of lemon juice / white vinegar
3/4 cup finely chopped walnut

****Tip：Chocolate is the most important ingredient in this recipe.  Chocolate determines the finished cookies’ flavor and texture.  The better quality the chocolate is, the better taste the cookies will be. 

I use 90% cacao chocolate.  If you prefer sweeter taste, 70% to 80% will be great too.  ****

Directions：

Preheat the oven to 350F/ 176C

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler.  It might seem lumpy at first.

In a few minutes, the chocolate will become silky and smooth.

With a sharp knife, finely chop the walnut.

Add a few drops of lemon juice or vinegar to the egg whites.  With a hand mixer, beat the egg whites at low speed for a couple minutes.  Add 1/3 of the sugar, continue to whisk at medium speed for a minute.  Repeat the process until all the sugar is added and egg white is stiff.

With a silicone spatula, fold the chopped walnuts into chocolate mixture.

Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites.

It might be a bit dry and hard at first. 

This is what it looks like after I fold in the first 1/3 egg whites.

Add another 1/3 egg whites, and fold in very gently.

Continue folding the remaining egg whites, along with vanilla extract. 

The batter should be smooth and shiny.

Transfer the batter to a large piping bag.

Pipe the cookie dough to a cookie pan lined with silicone baking mat.  Each drop of cookie dough is about 3 tablespoons and 1 1/2 inches apart from each other.

Bake in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes.

Wait for the cookies to cool on the cookie pan.  Carefully remove them with a spatula.

And now go make yourself a fresh pot of black coffee and enjoy these heavenly chocolate soufflé cookies!  O(∩_∩)O~

Chocolate Covered Figs with Chocolate Ganache

中文菜谱：

香醇甜糯的巧克力无花果

I was inspired by an episode of Unique Sweets on Cooking Channel to make these chocolate covered figs.  I had never thought about pairing figs and chocolate together before until I saw that episode about chocolate.  Figs and chocolate make such a great couple in flavors and texture!

Figs are very sweet and a tiny bit chewy and gooey while dark chocolate is fruity, earthy, bitter and nutty.  They complete each other in such a perfect way that makes each bit like an explosion of flavors in your mouth. 

Ingredients：

1/4 cup chopped 100% cacao chocolate (for chocolate ganache filling)
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon coffee rum liqueur
8 to 10 dried but soft figs
1/2 cup chopped 100% cacao chocolate (for dipping)
3 to 4 tablespoons honey (use more if you like sweeter taste)

Directions：

Try to pick soft and large dried figs for this dessert.  Otherwise, it would be very difficult to fill figs with chocolate ganache.  

I bought mine from Central Market in Houston.  

Besides the golden soft figs, I also bought my 100% cacao chocolate there too.  They have Valrhona chocolate from 40% cacao all the way up to 100%.

Heat the heavy cream in a double boiler or in microwave oven until it gets very hot but not yet boiling.  Add to chopped chocolate.  Whisk until chocolate melts.  Add coffee liqueur and 1 to 2 tablespoons honey. 

Whisk until chocolate ganache is silky and smooth.  Cover with lid and refrigerate for a couple hours.

Spoon the chilled chocolate ganache to a piping bag.  Fill the figs with as much chocolate ganache as possible.

Melt the remaining chocolate along with 1 to 2 tablespoons honey together in a double boiler. 

Quickly dip each fig in melted chocolate.  Shake off excessive chocolate and set them on a board lined with plastic wrap.

Refrigerate for an hour until the chocolate inside and out are all set.

Bon Appetite！ O(∩_∩)O~

You don’t have to use 100% cacao dark chocolate here.  Any dark chocolate with more than 60% cacao would be perfect for figs.