Almond Bark - The White Canvas

Ever have one of those moments when you get a little tiny thought in your brain and it won't go away?  My little thought was Almond Bark.  I had a pound of  Almond Bark in my pantry that was calling my name.

As I stood in front of my pantry with block of said Almond Bark in hand, I thought of the various goodies I could put throw in.  I grabbed some roasted salted almonds and some dried cranberries!

Sweet Art!

Here's the steps...it's so easy even guys could make it!

1. Chop Almonds into small pieces - no measuring, just as much or as little as you like - I used 2 cups 
2. Chop Almond Bark into small pieces into a glass microwave safe bowl
3. Melt in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring between intervals
4. Pour melted Almond Bark over a sheet of parchment inside a cookie sheet
5. Sprinkle with chopped almonds
6. Sprinkle with dried cranberries
7. Allow to set and cool and break into small pieces

TA DA!  

Just a few other things I thought could be sprinkled on top:

• Peppermint candies
• Peanuts - I'm in a peanut free house...but that would be great!
• Dried Cherries with Dark Chocolate Chips
• Gummy Bears
• Heath Bar pieces
• The list is endless!

Go forth and create your own little gem of goodness!

Chocolate Chocolate Chewy Cookie - C^4

It's no secret, when I'm bored, I bake.  Tonight I was bored.  So I took my old standby chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe and doctored it up.  Let's see, let's add some Milk Chocolate...oh...let's see what some cocoa powder does to it.  Turned out pretty good (according to my kids and husband)!

The pile o'cookies!

-Mix together well in a mixer:
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
3 melted sticks of butter
2 egg yolks
2 egg whites

-Sift
4 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cups good quality cocoa powder
1 box vanilla pudding
1 tsp baking soda

Add flour mixture into the butter/sugar mixture and mix.  Add 2 cups of milk chocolate chips.

Drop by the spoonfuls (I made these big because I was lazy) on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes.

The Coconut Macaroon!

I have eaten all the Mounds Bars from the pile of Halloween candy.  As I wandered aimlessly through the kitchen, it hit me...I can make my own!  They are called Coconut Macaroons!

Ina Garten always comes through for me.  So I did a quick search and found this easy recipe:

Action Shot as they bake

14 ounce can of condensed milk
14 ounces of shredded coconut
1 tsp vanilla
-Mix in a bowl

2 egg whites room temp
-Beat into stiff peaks

Fold egg whites into the coconut/milk mixture.  Drop by teaspoonfuls onto parchment lined cookie sheets.

Bake for 25 minutes at 325 degrees.

To make them "Mounds Bars" I'm going to dip the bottoms after they've baked and cooled into melted dark chocolate.