The Loosle Chronicles

Ok…so not the best picture in the world, but I promise you this cake was the BOMB.COM!! lol! I LOVE Texas Sheet Cake. It takes me back to living in Chicago with Teri and the Sears familia. I think it was the first time I’d ever had it. Anyhow, those were the days. I think between the three of us we put that entire cake away within 2 days. lol! What heffers! heehee. Anyhow, I used a recipe I got from thepioneerwoman.com. So go and make it now! DELICIOUS!!

Pioneer Woman Chocolate Sheet Cake
(adapted from Ree, thepioneerwoman.com)

Combine in a mixing bowl:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

In a saucepan, melt:
2 sticks butter
Add 4 heaping tablespoons cocoa. Stir together.
Add 1 cup boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.

In measuring cup, pour 1/2 cup buttermilk.
Add:
2 beaten eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet cake pan and bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes.

While cake is baking, make icing:
Chop 1/2 cup pecans finely.
Melt 1 3/4 sticks butter in a saucepan.
Add 4 heaping tablespoons cocoa, stir to combine, then turn off heat.
Add:
6 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 lb minus 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Stir together.
Add pecans, stir together, and pour over warm cake.

Cut as desired. And devour! So delicious.

Good story to go along with this. Every year Jon would ask what I wanted for Christmas and I would say, “Just buy me some Ferrero Rocher.” And every year he would spend hundreds of dollars and not one peice of chocolate! Well this year we decided we were going to spend all our money on a Cannon Rebel XSI. Well, Jon couldn’t go without buying me something so he bough me 2 very large boxes of Ferrero Rocher. I think all together there were 96 pieces. He said it’s to make up for all the previous years!  heehee. He’s so funny. If you haven’t tried this yet you MUST! It’s delicious!

I was craving some hot fudge today. Probably because Jon bought vanilla ice cream and root beer. I’m not a huge fan of root beer floats, but I do love hot fudge sundaes! So…I went online and found this Peanut Butter Hot Fudge Sauce recipe. Unfortunately I can’t remember what site I found the recipe on. It was one of those that just lists a ton of recipes no pictures. Anyhow, here’s the recipe…enjoy!

Peanut Butter Hot Fudge Sauce

1 cup corn syrup

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 cup chocolate chips

Place all ingredients in microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds. Stir. Microwave another 30 seconds. Stir. Then pour over some ice cream!

Ok…so I was on Bakerella’s website and found this recipe! How could I possibly pass it up? Obviously, I couldn’t! heehee. I know. I’m supposed to be losing weight, but I couldn’t resist. I promise you these were EASY and DELICIOUS!! You’ve got to try it. If you’re a coupon person you’re in luck because this will probably be one of the cheapest desserts you’ll find because all it calls for is one box Betty Crocker Brownie Mix and one Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip Cookie mix. Just follow the directions on the brownie mix and on the cookie mix. Pour the brownie mix into a 9×13 inch pan. Then drop cookie dough by rounded tablespoon. I pressed my cookie dough into the brownie batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Then to top it off you can mix up some ganache! Jon preferred it without the ganache, but I liked it with. So…please go and try this…RIGHT NOW!! It’s free points & free calorie day! hahaha. Enjoy!

Here’s the recipe for the ganache from Bakerella’s site!

Chocolate Ganache
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate morsels
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
6 Tbsp butter

• In a small saucepan, heat cream and butter until just before the boiling stage.
• Pour over the chocolate morsels.
• Let stand about 20 seconds and stir until smooth.
• Pour over brownies and let set before cutting.

These are my husband, Jon’s, favorite cookies! He LOVES chocolate chip cookies. One night (midnight) we were watching Alton Brown’s, Good Eats, on the Food Network. His entire show was on chocolate chip cookies. He made thin, chewy and puffy chocolate chip cookies. What I loved was that all three recipes were based on the Nestle Toll House recipe. He showed that a few slight variations created three totally different cookies. Anyhow, Jon and I love chewy cookies so we tried it…probably the next day. When I made them for the first time we couldn’t stop eating them. I promise you these are DELICIOUS!! The only variation I’ve ever made is the type of chips. My favorite is semi-sweet, but you can use milk chocolate or whatever you like. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 2 sticks unsalted butter
• 2 1/4 cups bread flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Hardware:

• Ice cream scooper (#20 disher, to be exact)
• Parchment paper
• Baking sheets
• Mixer

Directions

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.

Pour the melted butter in the mixer’s work bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar. Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed. Add the egg, yolk, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Chill the dough, then scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet. Bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.