Recipe: Deep Dark Chocolate Cookies

When I saw this recipe, I thought of my mother who has celiac. This cookie recipe has no flour or butter...that's right. NO flour or butter. I was afraid that it might not taste very good, but I was so wrong!
Mike and I were watching a movie after having dinner, and I really wanted something sweet to wrap things up. This didn't take me very long to mix up and once they were finished, I had to control myself to keep from eating them all! They really are that good!
My only mistake was not allowing the egg whites ample time to peak. Also, I just saw that I didn't have the eggs at room temperature either...oops! Lesson learned, but it didn't really impact the taste, just the look of them!

Here's the recipe!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips, divided (I used semisweet instead)
3 large egg whites, room temperature
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, divided (I used two cups and it was still pretty sweet)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon corn starch
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350*. Spray two cookie sheets with non-stick spray, set aside.
Melt 1 cup (I accidentally did 1 1/2 cups) chocolate chips in a small bowl, using the microwave. Set aside. (takes about two minutes)
Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until they are soft peaks.
Gradually beat 1 cup of sugar. Continue to beat until the mixture resembles a marshmallow creme.
In another bowl, whisk together 1 cup of sugar, cocoa powder, corn starch and salt.
On low speed, beat the dry ingredients into meringue.
Stir in melted chocolate and 1/2 cup chocolate chips. The mixture will start to become stiff.
Roll the dough into balls, roll them into powdered sugar coating generously, and place them on the cookie sheets.
Bake at 350* until the cookies puff and the tops crack, about 10 minutes. Let them cool on sheet for 10 minutes, then remove to cool surface to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Recipe: Eggnog Pound Cake

I found this recipe on...*gasp* Pinterest...ahaha! Seems to be a theme these days. I wonder what we did before this site? Oh, that's right. We actually looked things up in cook books.
Anyways, the thing that attracted me to this recipe, was not only the eggnog part, but the fact that they said that it was the best pound cake recipe.
It was good, but I'm not convinced it was the best that I've ever had. It's pretty quick to make, so if you need something now, then this is the best that you can do, without having to make things from scratch. I have another recipe that is from scratch, and will try that later, but because we wanted something sweet, I made this quick one.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

16oz pound cake mix (plain)
1 1/4 cup eggnog (I used organic eggnog, but I don't think it matters.)
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (I used the dry, and used the same amount. FYI dried spices are usually more potent than fresh, so if you don't want it to be too "spiced" then use less)

Preheat oven to 350°.
Beat all ingredients together at low speed with an electric mixer until blended. Increase speed to medium, and beat 2 minutes.
Pour into a lightly greased 9- x 5-inch loaf pan. (I used a bundt pan, because my loaf pan was small!)
Bake at 350° for 1 hour to 1 hour and 5 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pan to wire rack, and cool completely (about 1 hour).

Enjoy!