Famous Secret Recipes

Chocolate has been a favorite with kids and women for centuries, and with more than a few men enjoying the delicious dessert too! If you’re a chocoholic, then chances are you came to this page in hopes of hunting down some delicious ideas for chocolate recipes. Well, you won’t be disappointed.

While these particular chocolate recipes are not “famous” they are certain delicious!

Let’s start off with some chocolate truffle recipes:

Chocolate Truffles

½ Cup unsalted butter
2 1/3 C confectioner’s sugar
½ C cocoa

1/4 cup heavy or whipping cream 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Centers: pecan, walnuts, whole almonds or after-dinner mints

Coatings: coconut, crushed nuts,confectioners sugar

Makes about 3 dozen truffles
Cream butter in large mixer bowl. Combine 2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar and the cocoa; add alternately with cream and vanilla to butter. Blend well. Chill until firm. Shape small amount of mixture around desired center; roll into 1 inch balls. Drop into desired coating and turn until well covered. Chill until firm.

Chocolate Covered Truffles

1/4 C butter 1 1/2 lbs. real semisweet chocolate 3/4 C non-dairy coffee creamer, any flavor 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 1/2 pounds real milk chocolate for dipping 1 cup finely chopped chocolate, milk or semisweet for decoration

Makes about 3 dozen truffles
Melt semisweet chocolate in double boiler over hot water. Heat butter, creamer and vanilla in another saucepan to 125° F on a candy thermometer. Add to semisweet chocolate all at once, beating until smooth and creamy. Chill in refrigerator until nearly set but still pliable. Beat with mixer until light and fluffy. Spread in 9 inch buttered pan until set enough to roll into small balls. Melt milk chocolate over double boiler. Dip truffles in melted chocolate, then sprinkle generously, or roll in, chopped chocolate

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Truffles

1 C peanut butter chips 3/4 C butter 1/2 cup cocoa 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk 1 tablespoon vanilla
Coatings: crushed graham cracker crumbs, confectioners sugar or crushed nuts

Makes about 3 dozen truffles
In a heavy saucepan, over low heat, melt chips with butter. Stir in cocoa until smooth. Add condensed milk and vanilla. Cook and stir until thickened and well blended, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat. Chill until firm enough to handle. Shape into 1 inch balls. Roll in desired coating. Chill until firm. Store, covered in refrigerator

Chocolate comes in many forms, including powdered, chips, and bars. With these simple forms, thousands of original chocolate recipes can be created. Chocolate bars, crunches, cookies, cakes, pies, and brownies all equal chocolate satisfaction.

One chocolate recipe that can be altered every which way is the chocolate cake. The basic packaged chocolate cake mix can serve as a platform for a chocolate dessert “made in heaven”. Combine Dutch-processed cocoa, sugar, a dab of butter and a little water to form a rich liquid to swirl through the prepared batter just before baking. The result is a sinfully rich cake fit for a Queen.

The same mixture also doubles as a rich glaze to drizzle on top of the finished cake. If a richer frosting is your desire, nothing beats one made with cocoa, butter and powdered sugar. Very simple, but as chocolate recipes go, a real winner. For the ultimate chocoholics delight, top the frosting with shavings of a chilled dark chocolate bar containing 70% cocoa. The high cocoa content produces a velvety, melt-in-your-mouth good taste, rich but not overwhelming, in the proper size!

Here’s an interesting way to prepare chocolate cake by putting it in a jar.

Chocolate Cake In A Jar

1 stick plus 3 T. butter or margarine
3 c. white sugar
4 eggs
1 T. vanilla
2 c. applesauce, unsweetened
3 c. white flour
3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt

Prewash 8 pint-sized wide mouth canning jars (be sure to use the kind
that have no shoulders) in hot, soapy water. Rinse well, dry and let
them come to room temperature. Grease insides of jar well with
butter.

Beat together butter, and half of sugar until fluffy. Add eggs and
remaining sugar, vanilla and applesauce.

Sift dry ingredients together, and add to the applesauce mixture a
little at a time. Beat well after each addition.

Pour 1 c. of batter into each jar, and carefully remove any batter
from the rims.

Place jars in a preheated 325 oven, and bake for 40 mins.

While cakes are baking, bring a saucepan of water to a boil, and
carefully add jar lids. Remove pan from heat, and keep lids hot until
ready to use.

When the cakes have finished baking, remove jars from oven. Make sure
jar rims are clean. (If they’re not, jars will not seal correctly)

Place lids on jars, and screw rings on tightly.

Some chocolate recipes don’t require a special occasion. A case in point is the brownie. For thick, dense, moist brownies, swirl some chocolate syrup through the batter just before baking. Another chocolate recipe trick uses chocolate chips stirred through the brownie batter. Ten minutes before they’re done, sprinkle chocolate chips over the top. There’s (almost) no such thing as too much chocolate, you know! By the way, do you know that recent studies have shown chocolate to be heart healthy? Yes, really!

A simple chocolate brownie recipe:

Rich Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients
3/4 cups flour
1/4 t. salt
1 1/2 squares unsweetened chocolate
1/2 c. margarine or butter
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 t. vanilla
1 ripe banana, well mashed
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup broken walnut meats
No baking powder or soda. This makes them extra dense and moist.
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F, (325 for a glass pan). Combine flour and
salt in a small bowl. Set aside. Melt margarine or butter and
unsweetened chocolate in a small pan on low heat. Cool to room
temperature. In a large bowl, beat eggs, sugar and vanilla. Add
mashed banana. Stir in chocolate mixture. Gradually sift and
stir in flour mixture. Add chocolate chips and walnuts. Pour
into an 8″x 8″ pan that has been sprayed with Pam or cooking
oil. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.

Another classic brownie recipe:

Tollhouse Golden Brownies

3/4 c Margarine, softened
3 Eggs
3/4 c Sugar
2 c Unsifted flour
3/4 c Packed dark brown sugar
2 ts Baking powder
1 ts Vanilla
1 ts Salt
1 c Chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine margarine, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Add the flour, baking powder and salt, and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread the batter evenly in a well-greased 9″x13″ pan. Test the batter. Bake the remaining brownie (heh, heh, just kidding) for 30-35 minutes. Cool and cut into squares.

If you want to promote your dessert as a “health food” to reluctant friends and family, add nuts. Cashews, pecans, and peanuts are all heart-healthy, due to high vitamin E content and antioxidant activity. Granola bars topped with chocolate are filling and healthy.

For a s’mores-like bar, melt marshmallow creme with a little butter, chocolate chips and nuts. Surpass the ordinary chocolate chip cookie with a chocolate cookie batter made with the addition of dutch-processed cocoa and sugar.

Here’s an easy “healthy” chocolate recipe using granola:

Chocolate Crunch Bars

1/2 c Honey
1/3 c Margarine
1/4 c Cocoa Powder, Sweetened –
1 c Granola
1 c Dry Milk
Blend together everything except the granola to a stiff dough. Knead in the granola, or roll the shaped bars in granola.
* Carob powder may be used also.

When you find yourself craving chocolate, make a weekend of creative chocolate recipes! It’s a good idea to write down the quantities and combinations of your additions for repeatable results. You and your fellow chocolatiers will applaud your artistry!