Tag Archives: chocolate

Stove-top Hot Chocolate

It’s cold … freezing cold here in PA. Below zero wind chills. I want to crawl back into bed, wrap myself in blankets, snuggle with my dog and watch Lifetime movies all day. But alas, as a Mom, my job is never done and there’s no time for relaxing when my kids are off school.

Speaking of my kids, they’re constantly asking for hot chocolate. So, I decided to whip them up a special treat – homemade hot chocolate! I can’t drink it with my sensitivity to dairy, but they both loved it … so did my husband. It’s so easy to make, I’m not sure why I have never done it before! I don’t think I’ll be able to pass hot chocolate made from powder past them anymore.

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Chocolate Cherry Almond Braid

This year’s #Choctoberfest is quickly coming to a close, but I couldn’t go without sharing this delicious braid. We may have eaten it all in one night…whoops! Flaky crust wrapped around a chocolate and cherry filling. It was really delicious, quick to make and will impress your family and friends.

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Monster Mash-up Filled Cupcakes

Today is National Chocolate Cupcake day  and the perfect way to celebrate is with these Monster Mash-up Filled Cupcakes. It’s also the fourth day of #choctoberfest and today’s cupcakes features a product from one of our sponsors, Sprinkle Pop. Sprinkle Pop creates trendy sprinkle mixes that you can’t find anywhere else. I used the Monster Mash-up mix – which included pumpkins, eyes, ghosts, and so much more. I love that they color over 50% of their sprinkles in-house, so each batch is a one-of-a-kind experience. Even better – all their orders are shipped for free in the US. What sprinkle mix would you love to create something with?

I made these cupcakes for my cheerleading squad. They’ve been working really hard on their half-time routine and parade routine that they deserved a little treat. Really..I didn’t need 2 dozen cupcakes sitting on my kitchen counters for days calling my name to eat all of them! HA! The chocolate cupcakes are moist, the frosting has the perfect amount of sweetness and then the center is filled with sprinkles. Surprise!

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Instant Pot Triple Chocolate Cheesecake

Triple chocolate cheesecake. Do I need to say anything more?

I was nervous to try making a cheesecake in my IP again as the last time I made one, I accidentally dropped it and made it again. I didn’t want that to happen again, so I was super careful … and as you can see, it came out perfectly. These cheesecake is for all the chocolate lovers – chocolate cookie crust, rich chocolate cheesecake, and a layer of chocolate ganache. It is a super rich dessert – a little piece goes a long way. My husband thought it was too chocolately …. who is this man?!?!? There’s nothing as too much chocolate!

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S’mores Bread Pudding

My kids love s’mores and are always asking to have a fire pit. The weather has not cooperated, it’s rained, rained and rained most of the summer. Needless to say, there have been no s’mores making at our house. I wanted to make something that would give the feeling of eating s’mores but without the fire. This recipe sure accomplished that!

You get gooey marshmallows, melted chocolate and crunchy graham crackers all in a soft bread pudding. It was really good and definitely satisfied my kids need to make s’mores.

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Chocolate Quinoa Cake

I had recently made a batch of quinoa for another recipe and had a lot of left over. I didn’t want to throw it away, so I went on a search for recipes that use leftover cooked quinoa and came across a recipe for a chocolate cake. Hmm…that might be interesting!

I’ve used cooked quinoa in muffins and cookies before, so I thought it would be something to try. Boy am I glad I gave it a chance. This cake was delicious! Super moist, full of chocolate flavor and easy to make. I topped my cake with a peanut butter frosting…which made it very rich. You could swap out the frosting for a dusting of powdered sugar and it would be just as delicious.

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Chocolate Almond Flour Waffles

I was looking for an alternate to traditional waffles and came across this recipe for chocolate waffles using almond flour. I was really intrigued by them and like that they are high in protein and healthy fat…plus dairy free! I made a batch for my kids to sample and they both loved them. I was surprised since they have been quite picky lately, but they’re a delicious treat.

I’m planning to experiment more with almond flour as I’m looking at ways to reduce using traditional all-purpose flour in my recipes. Almond flour is blanched (skins removed) or unblanched almonds that are ground into a fine flour-like product. When using it in baked goods, it’s a 1-to-1 replacement for regular flour. Since it’s higher in fat, you won’t need as much butter or shortening that you would use in a traditional recipe. The one thing that is needs is a binder, like eggs, because it lacks the binding property of gluten.


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Fudgy Avocado Brownies

I bought two avocados last week and hoped they would have been ripe to eat before I started a 3-day juice cleanse, but of course they weren’t ready. I was looking for recipes to use them up since I knew no one else in my family would eat them. I found this recipe for brownies and figured I’d give it a try.

They were easy to throw together on a whim especially since I had all the ingredients in my pantry. I didn’t tell my kids what were in the brownies, just that they had a secret ingredient. My daughter chimed in “it’s love.” Ah, how sweet! ❤ I’m going to keep the secret a little longer. 🙂

Fudgy Avocado Brownies | Join Us, Pull up a Chair
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Peppermint Chocolate Delight

I hosted dinner for my family on the Saturday before Christmas and I was looking for an easy and quick dessert to make. This dessert was perfect! It had all the flavors of the holidays – chocolate and peppermint! I was able to make it the night before and it was ready for dessert. It’s so much goodness layered together – starting at the bottom is a layer of chocolate graham crackers, peppermint cream cheese, chocolate pudding, whipped topping and finished with crush peppermint chocolate candy bars. YUM!!!

Peppermint Chocolate Delight | Join Us, Pull up a Chair
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Bite-Sized Peanut Butter Pies

Bite-sized desserts are just too cute! Last weekend was my company’s holiday party and we have a dessert bar made by all of our employees. I always try to make something new and this year I was craving something with peanut butter and chocolate. I found this recipe for bite-sized peanut butter pies with a chocolate crust. Flaky, chocolate crust filled with a rich peanut butter mousse and then topped with a drizzle of a chocolate and crushed peanuts – they are to die for!

Bite-sized Peanut Butter Pies | Join Us, Pull up a Chair

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