Dark chocolate & caramel on grilled brioche

If you follow my blog, you know I don't post a ton of desserts.  I'm not a baker by nature, don't crave sweets (I know...it's weird), and generally try to promote healthier kinds of cooking.

HOWEVER...in honor of love and chocolate and Valentine's Day, I came up with this incredibly easy, yet freakishly good dessert - Grilled dark chocolate-caramel brioche sandwiches - that would be awesome for the Day O' Love or anytime you want to impress & indulge in mere minutes.

If you have brioche bread available to you, USE IT - it's ridic!  If not, challah, or a Texas-toast style bread would be really good as well.

I love the dark chocolate-caramel flavor combo and found it perfect for getting all melt-y & oozy.  I used this Lake Champlain Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Bar and am in love with it.  But if caramel isn't your thing, straight dark chocolate (or milk choc - it's your world) is obviously delicious as well.






Serves 2-4 (depending on your sweet tooth!)

1, 3.5 oz. dark chocolate-caramel bar (I used Lake Champlain Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Bar)
4 slices brioche bread, cut thickly
unsalted butter - room temperature
Fleur de sel or Maldon salt

Preheat a cast iron, or heavy bottom, skillet over medium-low heat.

Very coarsely chop the chocolate-caramel bar into approximately 1/2-inch pieces.  Butter one side of each slice of brioche.

Lay the buttered side of 2 brioche slices down in the pre-heated skillet.  Cover with a single layer of chopped chocolate-caramel bar.  Top with the remaining brioche, buttered side up to the outside (like you are making grilled cheese).

Cook 3-4 minutes, until bread is golden & toasty and the chocolate-caramel has started to melt.  Carefully flip bread and cook the other side until golden brown.

Remove from pan, sprinkle with a little pinch of Fleur de sel, slice in half & serve immediately.  Groan with pleasure.

Dark chocolate croissant bread pudding

So, if you're experiencing one of those times that you decide you just need to let yourself be super indulgent & gluttonous, this is the recipe you should use to fulfill your chocolate/sugar-fiend craving.   

Bread pudding is always good, but bread pudding made with buttery croissants with chunks of gooey dark chocolate is ridiculous good.  You will also appear to all who taste this to possess amazing baking skills, even though the assembly of this dessert takes 5 minutes, tops.

To really take it to the next level, serve it warm with a little scoop of vanilla ice cream. And don't feel guilty for a sec...let yourself enjoy it for what it is and move on!  You can eat kale tomorrow :)

Serves 6-8

3 or 4 day-old, all butter croissants
3.5 oz. dark chocolate, chopped into chocolate chip size chunks
2 1/4 c. half and half
1/2 c. sugar
3 eggs
1 t. vanilla
a pinch of salt
2 T. turbinado/raw sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter an 8 x 8 (or 2 quart) baking dish.

Roughly tear croissants into 1 inch pieces. Place half of the croissants pieces in the bottom of the baking dish. Sprinkle in half of the chocolate chunks. Add the remaining croissants and top with the rest of the chocolate pieces.

In a large bowl, combine half and half, sugar, salt, vanilla and eggs. Whisk until sugar is dissolved. Pour over croissants in baking pan.

Allow the croissants to soak up the liquid for for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar.

Bake for approximately 50-55 minutes until puffed and custard is just set in the middle. Let rest at least 10 minutes before serving.

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Click HERE or on the screen below for an awesome step-by-step recipe video from Kin Community and me :)

chocolate cheesecake bars

As many of you know, baking is generally not my "thang" but cheesecakes are actually one of my few specialties in the dessert category.  One day I'll share my famous triple-layer lemon cheesecake, but today, it's decadent chocolate!

These bars are uber rich.  I converted the recipe to make them into bars so people could cut them to the size they like.  I suggest serving them quite small...even my sweets-loving kids can only eat one fairly average size one.  This are a great recipe for entertaining or a bake sale because one recipe makes a bunch!

For the crust I used Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers.  They are fairly common in grocery stores but can sometimes be placed in odd areas of the market, like with the crackers. I found mine by the ice cream toppings (random!) so ask around if you don't see them.  If you can't find them you could always make an Oreo cookie crust, but I'd scrape out the white filling if doing so.

Serves: many

1 box Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers
1/4 c. unsalted butter - melted
2 T. granulated sugar
1/8 t. nutmeg

2, 8 oz packages cream cheese - room temperature
3/4 c. granulated sugar
2 eggs - room temperature
10 oz. semisweet chocolate chips - melted, cooled
1 t. vanilla
1/8 t. salt
3/4 c. sour cream - room temperature

Shaved chocolate for garnish

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with cooking oil.  Line the pan with parchment paper that has a 2 inch overhang on each long side (the cooking oil will make the parchment paper stick to the pan).  You will eventually use these overhangs as handles to lift the cheesecake out of the pan for easy slicing.

Place chocolate wafers in a food processor.  Grind cookies into fine, even crumbs.  One box should give you a little over 2 cups of crumbs.

Combine chocolate crumbs, melted butter, 2 T. sugar and nutmeg in a bowl.  Stir until all crumbs are coated with butter.  Pour crumbs to 9 x 13 pan, press into an even layer, and bake for 5 minutes.  Remove from oven & cool slightly.

In a standing mixer, mix cream cheese until smooth.  Add sugar and mix on low until incorporated.  Add eggs, one at a time and mixing on low.  Add chocolate, vanilla and salt and mix on low until just combined.  Add sour cream and mix on low until just combined and smooth.

Pour cream cheese mixture over chocolate crust and smooth evenly.  Bake for 24 minutes until cheesecake is just set but still jiggly in the middle.  Remove and cool on wire rack to room temperature.  Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

Before serving, garnish with chocolate shavings.

When ready to serve, lift parchment paper “handles” and remove entire cheesecake onto a cutting board.  Slice into squares.

Peanut butter hot chocolate love

Holy moly, this is good!  It’s like a creamy, frothy, hot & melty peanut butter chocolate cup in a mug!  It’s decadent & comforting and oh-so-simple.  What a delicious (and easy) way to say “i love you”...perfect for a special breakfast treat, an after school surprise for the kiddos, or as a warm dessert.  Marshmallows are optional :).  

Also, check out the Kin Community video I did for their Valentine's Day special below.

serves 2-4 (depending on your mug size)

several large marshmallows

2 c. whole milk
1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips
2 T. smooth peanut butter


For the marshmallows(if using), work on a piece of parchment paper to prevent sticking.  Using a lightly oiled paring knife, cut marshmallows crosswise into 3 pieces. Place the two end sections on the parchment paper.  Lightly oil a mini heart cookie cutter and punch out hearts.  Set aside the mini hearts and the end pieces with heart cut-outs for garnishing.

Heat milk in a medium saucepan until just about to simmer.  Add chocolate chips and 2 T. peanut butter and whisk briskly to combine. 

Pour hot chocolate into mugs. Garnish with marshmallow hearts.