Fudge cakes (low carb/no sugar)

If you aren't allergic to tree nuts, we've found that almond meal (almond flour) is a wonderful substitute for flour in making muffins & dessert breads.  My husband is diabetic (insulin-dependent) and has found that his blood sugar levels aren't really affected after eating a muffin. Or two... :)

Heat oven to 350º and line standard sized cupcake/muffin pans with paper liners.  This recipe made 16.

In a bowl, mix together:
2 large eggs
1/3 c lite sour cream
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
4 T vegetable oil
1 T honey
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Stir in:
4 T cocoa powder
pinch of salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 C almond meal (Trader Joe's is the best @$5.99 LB, which is half the price of meal purchased elsewhere)

If you like, stir in a handful or 2 of sliced almonds or chopped nuts, dried cherries or Craisins... before spooning into papers.

Fill the papers 1/2 way and bake for 20-25 minutes.  Test center with toothpick to make sure they're baked thoroughly.

Remove from pan & cool on wire rack.

Hot Chocolate Pudding cake

Hot Chocolate Pudding Cake

Baking time for these pudding will vary based on what you bake it in. If you use a small/medium ramekin, it may take as little as 10 minutes. My cups took exactly 15 minutes. If using a larger bowl, they may need as much as 20 minutes in the oven. Whichever size, just bake them until a crust forms on top that has some deep cracks and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out with some gooey batter attached.

I used small ramekins/souffle dishes and filled them 1/2 (not 3/4) - also used unsweetened butter melted with Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips.

You can refrigerate the batter before baking. Let sit at room temperature for a bit before baking and note it may take a few minutes longer to bake if the batter is cold. Eating fresh from the oven is best, but if necessary, you can also bake ahead, let cool, cover and keep at room temperature for several hours or cover and refrigerate. Re-heat for a few minutes or microwave to re-warm. Puddings will puff back up a bit when re-heated.

Ingredients

• 4 oz./1 stick (115g) unsalted butter, cubed
• 6 oz. (170g) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped (somewhere around 70% is good)
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup (134g) white sugar
• Pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375° F. (190° C), with rack set in lower third of oven. Set ramekins or baking dishes on a baking sheet. No need to grease.
2. Put the butter and chocolate in a medium-sized bowl, then set the bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Stir gently until smooth. Remove the bowl from the heat and set aside.
3. Using an electric mixer or by hand with a whisk, whip the eggs, sugar, and salt until the mixture is light and foamy, and just holding its shape (like soft whipped cream). This should take about 5 minutes with an electric mixer, or longer if doing by hand. Fold one-third of the beaten eggs into the chocolate to lighten it, then scrape the lightened chocolate mixture over the beaten eggs, and fold it in just until there are no streaks of eggs visible.
4. Divide the batter into the baking dishes, filling them no more then 3/4 full (They will rise). *Note: If you like, you can cover and refrigerate batter in dishes now to bake later. Note that a cold batter will take longer to cook.
5. Bake the puddings for about 12 to 20 minutes (depending on size of baking dish) until the puddings are puffed up and the top is crusted and deeply cracked. A toothpick inserted into the centre will come out with some soft chocolate attached.
6. Serving and Storage: These can be served immediately, or you can let cool, cover, and keep at room temperature for up to a day. You can also refrigerate the batter before baking and then bring them to room temperature before baking
7. 
   

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

Heat your oven to 350º.

Have a 8-9" springform pan ready, with the bottom lightly greased.

For the crust - in a small mixing bowl, combine ingredients and press onto the bottom of the prepared pan:

1-1/2 cups crushed Oreo cookies

1/2 cup crushed graham crackers

4 Tblsp. melted butter

Place in oven and bake 10 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool slightly and lower the oven temperature to 325º.

In a mixing bowl, using an electric mixer (low speed - don't use a high speed!!), combine the following ingredients:

4- 8 oz. packages of softened cream cheese

1-1/4 cup sugar

4 eggs

1 teasp. vanilla

2 Tblsp. flour

1/2 cup heavy (whipping) cream

FOLD IN:

1-1/2 cups mini semisweet chocolate chips.

Spoon into pan over crust.  Place in oven and bake for 1 hour.  Open the oven door - gently tap the side of the pan. If the center is still a little 'jiggly' close the door and bake another 10-15 minutes.  Check again.  Do this until the center isn't jiggling anymore, but being careful NOT to OVERbake it - or the top will crack.  Once the cheesecake is done, turn the oven off but LEAVE it IN the oven with the door ajar for an hour or two, until it sets.  Remove from oven and place on a wire rack (room temp) until it's completely cool.

You can either leave it 'as is' - or 'frost' it with sour cream (sweetened with a little sugar & a splash of vanilla) OR you can spoon a chocolate ganache over the top. Then it must be refrigerated for at least several hours.

To make the ganache,   in a small sauce pan over a VERY low heat,  heat 1/2 cup of heavy (whipping) cream, stirring occasionally.  Once it's hot - slowly add  chocolate chips (I use a 1/2 & 1/2 combination of bittersweet and semisweet chips) - approx 1-1/2 cups total.  Stir continually until the chocolate is fully melted and then remove it from the heat.  Spoon it over the top of the cooled cheesecake and then refrigerate until ready to serve.

You can garnish it with more crushed Oreos, chocolate chips, whipped cream... whatever you like!!

Chocolate thumbprints

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, cream together thoroughly:
1 cup softened butter with 1 cup powdered sugar.
Mix in 2 teasps. vanilla extract
Gradually stir in 2-1/2 cups flour

On parchment lined baking sheets, roll dough into balls (use 1 tblsp. or a bit more of dough), making balls around 1-1/4" rd. Place them at least an inch apart.

Bake the balls for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and using your thumb (I use the wooden handle of my pizza cutter, which is approx. 3/4" diam.), make a good sized dent in the center of each cookie ball - make sure you don't go all the way to the bottom!

Return the cookies to the oven and bake another 10 minutes. Remove from oven and slide parchment to counter or table top and allow cookies to cool completely.

For the filling:
In a heavy saucepan over LOW heat, melt:
1-1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate
2 tblsp. butter
2 teasp. corn syrup
Stir until melted - turn off heat immediately when the chocolate is fully melted, stir well and allow to cool slightly.

Using a small spoon, fill each cookie dent with chocolate filling. Cool completely - it'll take a while.

Highland Fudge Bars

Preheat oven to 350-----see instructions for baking times

1 cup softened butter (2 sticks)
1/2 cup powdered sugar (make sure there are no lumps)
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups unsifted flour

Cream butter, powdered sugar and salt. Add flour and mix well.
Pat it out into a 9 x 13 cake pan with your fingers.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes to make it into shortbread crust. Remove from oven but don't turn oven off. While crust is baking in the oven, prepare the fudge topping:

4 beaten eggs (just whip with a fork)
1 cup melted butter, cooled to room temp (2 sticks)
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup flour(don't bother to sift)
2 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (I use 1-1/2 C. Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips and 1 C. Nestle's semisweet chips) - measure them BEFORE you melt them! If you don't want to mess with a chocolatey mess in a bowl, melt half the chips at a time on a paper plate (microwave carefully until JUST melted) before adding to the mixture.

Mix eggs with melted butter and white sugar. Add baking powder, salt and flour and mix thoroughly.

Melt the chocolate chips - when melted add them to the egg, sugar etc. mixture and mix well.

Pour this mixture over the crust you just baked and carefully spread it so all the crust is covered.

Bake it for another 25-30 minutes. Remove it from the oven. Cool for an hour and then sift 1/3 C. powdered sugar over the top of the chocolate.

Let them cool thoroughly and cut them into small brownie bars; these are RICH. You can refrigerate them, but cut them before you do. They get very solid when they're cold.