For a real scary version, you must go with Graveyard Brownies, another super cool recipe from Ghoulatheart. The second version takes the cute approach, and is also much simpler to make. But, first things first, let’s visit the graveyard.
1 cup all purpose flour 3 tbsp cocoa powder ½ tsp. salt ½ cup butter, room temperature 1 cup sugar ½ cup brown sugar 3 large eggs 2 tsp. vanilla extract 1 tbsp. red food coloring
1 cup milk chocolate melting wafers, divided 8 Oreo cookies, processed into crumbs
Make the skull decorations: Place ½ cup of the milk chocolate melting wafers into plastic bowl and microwave gently until melted. Pipe into the skull mold. Freeze for a few minutes, un-mold and reserve.
Make the cookie dirt. Process the Oreo cookies in a food processor until crumbs form. Transfer to a bowl. Reserve.
Make the Red Velvet Brownies: Heat oven to 350℉ and line a 8 x 8 x 2-inch brownie pan with parchment paper.
Cream together the butter and sugars in a stand mixer. Lightly whisk the eggs, vanilla extract and red food coloring in a small bowl and add to the stand mixer and process on low until incorporated. Sift flour, cocoa powder and salt into a medium bowl and add it to the stand mixer and process on low until flour is incorporated. Take care to not overmix. Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Remove brownies from oven and sprinkle the remaining ½ cup chocolate chips over the top of the brownies. Let it sit for 2 minutes to melt the chips and then smooth the chocolate with the back of a spoon. Sprinkle cookie crumbs over the melted chocolate and allow to cool for 15 minutes. Garnish with chocolate skull chips over the cookie crumbs and allow to cool completely before cutting into 16 pieces.
Comments: Super fun bake! To make the little skulls, I used this mold. I used candy melts because I did not want to have to temper chocolate, but feel free to splurge! The skulls won’t be fully glued to the brownie, let your guests know about it so that they don’t spill skulls on the floor…
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HALLOWEEN BROWNIE CUPCAKES
Recipe for those can be found in this blog post from my past. I used Chai frosting for them. Orange dye, sprinkles and candy eyes. So simple! And delicious…
It is a bit hard to see Halloween at the corner and then ready to say goodbye for another year… Once again, I did not have a chance to bake all things I wanted to, but I will be back in 2025 for more!
Today I share three delicious recipes that center on that dreamy ingredient that almost every human being loves: chocolate. I have known a few members of our species who claim to “hate” chocolate, and my hope is that they get their genomes sequenced to solve the mystery. Anyway, I digress. The first recipe comes from my favorite baker-instructor-guru, Helen Fletcher. These are beyond amazing and not for the faint of heart. Rich. Decadent. Luscious. Special. They are Double Chocolate Truffled Muffins!
For the truffle component: ½ cup heavy cream 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (30 grams) 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (25 grams) 5 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (140 grams) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
for the muffin component: 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (210 grams) 1 cup Dutch cocoa (85 grams) ¼ teaspoon baking powder ¾ teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt (I use table salt) 1 ⅓ cups brown sugar, either dark or light (265 grams) ½ cup whole milk ¾ cup canola or vegetable oil 2 large eggs 1 cup sour cream (225 grams) 1 tablespoon vanilla 1 teaspoon instant coffee or espresso powder 1 cup chocolate chunks (114 grams)
Start by making the truffle filling: Heat the cream, butter and sugar together in a small saucepan just until steamy. Do not let it come to a boil. Submerge the chocolate under the cream mixture and let it sit for 3 or 4 minutes. Whisk until smooth, making sure to get into the corners. Using a rubber spatula, go around the edges of the pan and bottom to make sure all of the chocolate is incorporated. Add the vanilla. Cover the surface with plastic wrap and set aside to cool.
Make the muffins: Line 9 jumbo muffin holes with paper liners. Set aside. Heat the oven to 425°F.
Sift the flour into a large bowl. Sift the cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt on top of the flour. Whisk together to mix well. In a very small bowl stir together the coffee or espresso and vanilla until the coffee or espresso is dissolved.
In a third smaller bowl, whisk together the milk, canola oil, eggs, sour cream, and coffee mixture. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir with a spoon or fold together with a rubber spatula just until everything is mixed well. Do not over mix.
With a #8 disher/scooper or a ½ cup measure, drop the batter into the paper lined muffin cups for the jumbo muffins. Top generously with the chocolate chunks. Bake at 425°F for exactly 6 minutes for the jumbo and lower the temperature to 350°F. Continue to bake for about 20 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Cool the muffins.
Starting about ½” from the edge of a muffin, insert a paring knife slanted towards the middle of the muffin and go all the way around the muffin. Remove the wedge shaped cake and set aside intact. To enlarge the hole for more filling, use a small spoon and scoop out additional cake.
Fit a piping bag with a ½” tip, fill with the truffle filling and pipe into the hole almost up to the top. Alternately, spoon the filling in. Replace the wedge shape piece pushing it into the filling.
Comments: Please make sure to read Helen’s blog post about them, as she gives detailed explanation of their origin and how she adapted the recipe to make it more user-friendly without any loss of deliciousness (I can testify to that, they are spectacular). The pictures do not make it justice, as so often is the case with brown food. Their texture is superb, and that filling is unreal! Thank you thank you thank you, Helen!
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Moving on to the second recipe, credit goes to my beloved husband, who suggested that instead of coating Oreos with chocolate, I could do small pieces of brownies. I used a very small pan from Wilton to bake them. Without further ado…
1 cup all-purpose flour (130g) 1 cup granulated sugar (200g) 1/3 cup cocoa powder (35g) 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1 egg, lightly beaten 3 tablespoons milk 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
to coat: compound chocolate like Candy Melts or Almond Bark to decorate: sprinkles (optional)
Heat the oven to 350°F. Prepare the pan with baking spray.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Add vegetable oil, egg, milk and vanilla extract; stir well until smooth. Divide batter evenly between cavities, smoothing into an even layer (about 1 tablespoon per cavity). Bake for 13-16 minutes, or until edges are set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean. Cool in pan on a cooling rack 5-10 minutes, loosen edges if necessary, and remove. Let cool completely on the rack.
Melt the compound chocolate until smooth using gentle power in the microwave. If too thick, add a small amount of coconut oil (refined). Coat the bites and decorate right away, or after setting, if going with drizzles of melted compound chocolate.
Comments: I got this pan at a sale in Jo-Ann store in town, and of course, could not resist it (info here). You can use silicone pans, or any other type of pan that makes mini-cakes. To coat, you can use two different methods. First, just melt the chocolate in a bowl and dip the cake to coat. That will give a rustic appearance, and you can add sprinkles right away. Second method will require you to clean the pan, then add melted chocolate in each cavity and quickly place the cake inside, pressing a bit so that the chocolate moves up along the sides. You can coat the bottom or not. Let it harden, remove from the pan, and if desired, make decorations with swirls of melted chocolate, I used white for that. Below you can see the different outcome.
And now for the last recipe, what might seem like your regular chocolate chip cookie, but it is truly special, due to the inclusion of an unexpected ingredient: buttermilk. You must give this recipe a try!
BUTTERMILK CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
BUTTERMILK CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES (slightly modified from Yesterfood blog)
2 cups flour (260g) 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup butter, unsalted, melted 3/4 cup cocoa powder (75g) 1 + 1/2 cups sugar (300g) 1 teaspoon vanilla 2/3 cup buttermilk 1 (12 oz.) bag semi-sweet chocolate chips (about 2 cups)
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine. Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk the cocoa powder and melted butter until very smooth. Stir in the sugar, vanilla, and buttermilk until well combined.
Add the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture in thirds, stirring each time just until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Scoop cookie dough onto prepared cookie sheets by heaping tablespoonfuls about 2″ apart. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until cookies are puffed, edges are set, and center is still moist. Place cookie sheets on wire racks for 5 minutes, then remove cookies onto wire racks to cool completely. Store tightly covered.
Comments: These cookies will definitely please any chocolate lover out there. It almost feels as if you are having a brownie. Excellent texture, I reduced the sugar from the published version and I think it was a good move. I do hope you give it a try…
So, that’s all for now, three real nice recipes celebrating chocolate!
I am not quite sure why they are described as cookies, to me they are more like little cakes. They are often served during the holiday season in Italy, known as Almond Rainbow Cookies. To mimic the colors of the Italian flag, the layers are green, white and red. I used the basic recipe and turned them into Halloween creatures. What do you think?
HALLOWEEN SESAME-ORANGE ALMOND COOKIES (from the Bewitching Kitchen)
4 eggs (separated) 1 cup sugar 7 oz almond paste 2 + 1/2 sticks unsalted butter 1 tsp almond extract 2 cups all-purpose flour ½ tsp salt 2 tsp black sesame paste 1/2 tsp orange emulsion black and orange food coloring raspberry jam (I used SOLO raspberry filling) 7 oz semi-sweet chocolate small amount of white chocolate and orange fat-soluble dye for decoration (optional)
Heat your oven to 350°F and line 3 baking pans (13 by 9 inch) with parchment paper. Reserve.
In an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites using the whisk attachment on medium-high speed and add 1/4 cup of the sugar a little at a time. Beat at high speed until you have glossy stiff peaks then transfer to another bowl and reserve until needed.
Clean the bowl and switch to the paddle attachment. Mix the almond paste and remaining 3/4 cup sugar until well incorporated, about 3 minutes. They will look like small pebbles. Add the butter and beat until pale and fluffy, another 3 minutes. Next add in the yolks and almond extract until well combined. Reduce the speed to low, then add flour and salt and mix until combined. Fold half of the egg white mixture into almond mixture to lighten, then fold in remaining whites gently until everything is mixed all together.
Weigh the batter and add 1/3 to one bowl, 2/3 to another. To the smaller portion, add the sesame paste and the black dye, mix well to incorporate. Add the orange extract and orange dye to the other bowl.
Spread the black batter into one of the prepared pans. Spread the orange batter divided in the two other pans. Bake each pan for about 12 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let them cool completely. Now it is time to assemble.
Place one orange layer onto a baking sheet with some parchment paper. Spread a thin layer of jam, then place the black layer on top, and spread another thin layer of the jam. Place the second orange layer on top of the black and cover with plastic wrap. Place another baking sheet on top with some weight and let it chill in the fridge for 4 hours.
Remove the weight and plastic and bring layers to room temperature (so that the chocolate won’t set too fast when you spread it). Melt chocolate in a microwave at 50% power until smooth. Trim the edges of the assembled layers and spread a thin layer of the chocolate on top of the cake. Place it back in the fridge to chill and until chocolate is firm. Cover with a sheet of parchment paper, place another baking sheet on top, carefully flip the cake. Spread a thin layer of chocolate and chill again until firm. Melt some white chocolate and dye it with fat-soluble orange dye, then make swirls on top (optional).
With a serrated knife cut the cookie/cake in rectangles while still very cold.
Comments: I cannot lie to you, as it stands right now, I am not sure I will ever make these again… Labor of love, yes, no doubt. Maybe a second time will be easier but I was quit exhausted at the end and until I cut the pieces and looked at them all lined up, I was not sure of the outcome. For starters, it is hard to judge the thickness of the batter as you spread it on the baking sheet, so it was not easy for me to make sure the three layers had the same dimension. But overall, I think it was all fine. The taste (I tasted some trimmings) was really pretty spectacular. I love almonds and any sweets made with almonds so if you are part of my cheerleading team, you will love these!
Lemon Cakes can be a bit tricky as far as flavor goes. I have made a cake from a super reputable source that promised to deliver the most intense, most lemony flavor coupled with a moist and tender cake. It was tremendously convoluted, a ton of work and to be absolutely honest with you, the America’s Test Kitchen version delivered it all for 1/10 of the trouble. Which is saying a lot, as they are known for never cutting corners.
They are super strict about copyright issues, and rarely reply to requests asking permission to publish their recipes, however I was able to find this one online. If you’d like to make this deliciously lemony cake, pay a visit to this site. No difference from the recipe found in The Perfect Cake (2018), a cookbook I highly recommend. To bake this particular version, I used the Bavaria Bundt pan from Nordicware, but any pan with 10 to 12-cup capacity will do the job. I just love the way they un-mold like a dream!
When I make a Bundt cake, I donate it whole, so I cannot share a picture of the crumb, but I’ve had excellent feedback about this baby. In fact, I’ve made it three times already, using different Bundt pan shapes. Always a winner!
My first time making these, after flirting for a long time with the concept, while staring at my molds in a state of paralysis. In a way, they are not too different from Chocolate-Covered Oreos – that I make often – but the level of complexity goes up a bit. With cake pucks, you can use all flavors and kinds of cakes, as well as cookie dough, rice crisps, as long as you adjust the consistency to make…. the PUCK component. I see many of those in my future… For my first time, I chose Red Velvet with a thin Oreo inside. Check them out!
RED VELVET CAKE PUCKS WITH THIN OREOS (adapted from this recipe)
1 red velvet cake mix 1 cup water 1/3 cup oil 2 eggs 1tsp vanilla Oreo thins 1/2 cup buttercream Ghirardelli melting wafers, dark chocolate
Combine cake mix, eggs, water, oil and vanilla until fully mixed. Pour mixture in a greased 9×13 baking pan and bake at 350 F until done, with toothpick coming out clean as tested in the center of the cake (about 25 minutes).
Allow cake to cool, then crumble and mix in buttercream. Add about a tablespoon of cake mix to your small cake puck mold. Place one Oreo thin on top of the mix and then continue to fill the mold with cake mix. Use bottom of a measuring cup to gently pat the top of the cake puck centers down so they are level with the mold. Scrape off any excess mix.
Place mold in the fridge for 3 hours or freezer (45 min) to chill.
Melt 17 ounces chocolate (or the amount compatible with the number of cakes you will make) with one tablespoon of refined coconut oil for 1 minute. Continue to microwave in increments of 20 seconds until chocolate is smooth and fully melted.
Fill cavities of larger mold with chocolate a little less than half-full. Place chilled center on melted chocolate. Gently apply even pressure as you slowly press the center down until chocolate comes up from the sides and covers the top of the center. Scrape off any excess chocolate. If there is not enough chocolate to cover the center. Add chocolate and scrape away excess. Tap the mold tray on the counter to eliminate air bubbles.
Place mold in freezer for 10 minutes, they should set quickly because the cake component is very cold. Un-mold and have fu decorating your little cake pucks!
Comments: Before I started this new adventure, I joined this group on Facebook to see what others were doing and learn from their shared experiences. For the most part they use cake mixes for the “puck” component because home-made cakes can be overly moist. I decided to take that approach for my first time, as I was absolutely clueless about the whole thing. So I started from a boxed Duncan Hines Red Velvet, adapting the recipe as advised by the experts. Bake, let it cool, and crumble it. Mix with buttercream (I had some leftover from another project made with butter & cream cheese), add to the puck mold.
Once that part is done, marvel at how well they un-mold to reveal the smoothest little cake puck!
For the set covered with dark chocolate, I opted to decorate with Royal icing drizzle and molded fondant painted with luster powder gold + vodka.
Once you cut through, the little Oreo inside adds a lot of cute to the equation… and of course, a bit more contrast in texture.
The ones covered with white chocolate dyed pink, got a simpler decoration, just the white fondant sprayed with PME luster pearl.
That decoration also works well on a dark chocolate background…
Of course, the possibilities to make other types of cake pucks are endless, and I am just getting started. My next goal is to use warm cake crumbled without adding buttercream, as I heard it can work well, and of course opens the horizons to cakes made from scratch. Stay tuned for more “pucking” adventures!
Bewitching Kitchen 