Silver James

Today’s recipe is quick and easy and just hits the spot if you are a chocolate chip cookie fan but want something just a little different.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Rescue Moon Pie
Prep Time: 15 miutes
Bake Time: 55 minutes
Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients
1 (9-inch) deep dish pie pastry unbaked
2 large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar packed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter softened
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup pecans or walnuts chopped
vanilla ice cream to taste, for serving

Directions
1 – Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2 – lace the pie shell into a pie plate.
3 – In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the eggs on high speed until they are foamy and pale in color.
4 – Beat the flour, the granulated sugar, the brown sugar, and the vanilla into the egg mixture until it is combined.
5 – Beat the butter into the sugar mixture until it is combined.
6 – Stir the chocolate chips and the nuts into the filling mixture.
7 – Spoon the filling into the pie shell.
8 – Bake the pie until a knife inserted halfway between the edge and the center comes out clean, about 55 minutes-1 hour. Tent the pie with foil if the crust begins to brown too quickly.
9 – Cool the pie on a wire rack.
10 – Slice and serve warm with the ice cream.

As Dana Peterson is quick to agree, sometimes a girl just needs chocolate chip cookies but she doesn’t always have time to make, scoop, bake, scoop, bake… She tumbled across this recipe and realized how simple and quick it is and it comes with all the mouth-watering rewards of a soft, warm chocolate chip cookie. As a bonus, her mate Hawkins “Hawk” Greenwood always makes sure that she has plenty of ice cream to go on top. And yes, Hawk has been known to eat one or two slices himself. Hawk rescued the former anthropoligist and prep school teacher from a Mexican drug cartel. Their hair-raising adventures are recounted in RESCUE MOON. For those of you who have read it, maybe it’s time for a reread and if you didn’t leave a review the first time, maybe now? If you’re new to the Moonstruck world, this one stands alone even though familiar characters pop up on cameos. Interested? Just click on either pic or the title and you’ll be whisked away to Books2Read where you can find your preferred on-line bookseller. Now tell me…who doesn’t love chocolate chip coookie anything?

Who doesn’t love coffee cake? Especially when there’s chocolate invovled? This recipe creates a soft, moist cake full of flavor and perfect for a morning coffee break, midnight snack, or breakfastt.

Cinnamon Coffee Chocolate Chip Cake

Prep time: 15 Minutes
Cook time: 40 Minutes
Total time: 55 min

Serivings: 6-8 slices

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons instant coffee (dry, not liquid)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup plain yogurt
1 cup chocolate chips

Let’s Make It:
1 – Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare a round cake pan by greasing and flouring.
2 – In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and coffee together.
3 – In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the sugar with the butter until light and fluffy.
4 – Add in the eggs, one at a time, mixing in between.
5 – Mix in the vanilla.
6 – Add half the amount of flour mixture to the wet mixture and start to mix together.
7 – Add half the yogurt and mix then add the remaining half of flour mixture and remaining half of yogurt. Continue to mix until everything is combined.
8 – Fold in the chocolate chips.
9 – Bake for about 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool slightly before turn out of pan. Ice and enjoy.

Icing (if desired)

1¼ cups confectioners’ sugar
4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
⅛ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons milk or water
1½ teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons corn syrup optional

Make It:
1 – Sift together the sugar, cocoa powder, and salt in a medium mixing bowl.
2 – Add the milk, then mix in the vanilla and corn syrup to make a smooth glaze. If the glaze is thick, add a little extra milk to loosen to a pourable consistency.
3 –  Pour over slightly-cooled cake, alowing it to drip down the sides

Tips + Notes
1 – Don’t skip the sifting – this will save you the headache of a lumpy glaze.
2 – To make a nondairy glaze, use water in place of the milk.
3 – For a deeper color and flavor, use dark cocoa powder. (Toll House makes a “rich deep choclate)

Today’s recipe is brought to you by BLOOD & FIRE. Celina Monaghan will do anything for her father and his pack—well, almost anything. The idea of an arranged marriage to a strange Wolf in this day and age has the feminist side of this Dallas Fire & Rescue EMT reaching for her go-tos: coffee and chocolate. What could be better than a combination of the two, with a dash of cinnamon for spice? Luckily, lone Wolf Rhys Kendric will straighten things out. If she ever gets over being mad at him for pretending to be…well, that might be a spoiler. You’ll just have to read the book. In the meantime, Celine will be enjoying her cake. You can click on either the title or a pic with cover to head over to Books2Read to find your favorite on-line book seller.