Salty Pirate Monkey Cocktail

 

The toughest part of creating a new recipe is coming up with a name. I am TERRIBLE at naming recipes. I either go with way too much information in the title and it ends up being 4 paragraphs long, or I try to be all clever and completely miss the mark. 

This time I went to my friends on Facebook and had them help me out! 

My friends are all geniuses, in case you were wondering! They came up with names like "Bananas Faster (like bananas foster but with coffee)", "the boozy monkey", "the drunken monkey", "caramel banana dalgona", "spiked caramel banana split", and so many more great ideas. 

My friend Melissa came up with The Salty Pirate Monkey and I'm sticking with it. So fun, right? It has hints about what's in the drink and at the same time is just super fun to say. 

Let's make the Salty Pirate Monkey the new viral cocktail. It's half dessert, half drink and aaaaallll deliciousness! Recipe, as written, makes 1 large boozy milkshake cocktail but can easily be doubled or tripled. If you are a fan of boozy milkshakes then it is juuuuust the right size! 

The Salty Pirate Monkey Cocktail

Ingredients

Dalgona Coffee Whip

1 Tbsp instant coffee

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1 Tbsp very hot water

Banana Bailey's Milkshake

1 frozen banana

1/2 cup milk

1/3 cup salted caramel Baileys

2 Tbsp dark rum

ice

Directions

Prepare the dalgona coffee whip - in a small bowl, whisk (or use beaters) the instant coffee, brown sugar, and hot water until super foamy. This takes a few minutes and should resemble whipped cream when ready. 

Prepare the milkshake - place frozen banana, milk, Salted Caramel Baileys, rum, and ice into a blender and blend until smooth. If you like it thick then add more ice. I usually add 2 good sized handfuls of ice. 

Pour the milkshake into a large glass and top with the whipped coffee topping.

I like to serve it like that as it looks pretty impressive BUT when you go to drink it you definitely want to give it a good stir. 

The coffee whip is very strong so a mouthful of it right out of the gate will shock you. Make sure you mix it up well. 

Still looks pretty. 

And tastes soooooo good! Salted Caramel Baileys and rum, banana milkshake with a coffee twist. Everything you didn't know you needed. 

Bourbon Bacon Marshmallow Macadamia Nut Brownies

If you ever want to be pushed into coming up with recipes you normally wouldn't think of then I recommend hosting a Chopped-type contest. You give your participants 2 mystery ingredients that they have to use to create a recipe. I have been hosting a Chopped: Quarantine Edition contest for just over a month now and it has been so much fun. It definitely has been helping me think outside the box when developing recipes.

I came up with this recipe when I chose bacon and brown sugar as the 2 mystery ingredients. I went a little crazy and threw in some bourbon and marshmallows and macadamia nuts because... why not? Some people say less is more, but when we are talking brownies: more is more. 

Bourbon Bacon Marshmallow Macadamia Nut Brownies

Ingredients

1/2 cup flour

2 tsp instant coffee

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp butter

3/4 cup cocoa powder

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs + 1 yolk

3 Tbsp bourbon + 4 Tbsp of bourbon

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup macadamia nuts

1/2 cup bacon bits (divided)

1 jar marshmallow creme

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Line a 10 inch pan with parchment paper, set aside.

Stir together flour, instant coffee, and salt. Set aside. 

In the top of a double boiler, cook and stir butter, cocoa powder, and sugars for 8 minutes. 

Add in eggs and yolk, bourbon, and vanilla. Stir to combine well. Remove from heat and stir in flour mixture, macadamia nuts, and half of the bacon bits. 

Pour into prepared pan.

Drop the marshmallow creme by the spoonful on top. Swirl in with a butter knife. Top with the other half of the bacon bits. 

Bake at 350 for approx 30 - 40 minutes. Do not over bake or brownie will be dry.

Remove from heat and, using a pastry or basting brush, brush the 4 Tbsp of bourbon over the top of the brownie. 

Let cool completely. Run a knife around the edge of the pan and use parchment paper to help remove the brownie from the pan. Cut into 16 pieces. 

Can I just say.... these are perfect with a little bourbon on the side too. 

Father's Day is coming and I'm pretty sure a lot of dad's out there that would enjoy this!

A glass of milk would work too. Just sayin'

The bacon adds a salty crunch and the macadamia nuts have a wonderful crunchy yet not too crunchy texture. The marshmallow gets nice and toasty on top which is a whole other layer of flavor and texture. 

So. Much. Going. On. 

Rich and gooey and chocolaty. Everything a brownie should be. 

Giant Nutella Stuffed Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are big. BIIIIG BIG. 

I'm not going to lie, they're also pretty sweet, *shocker* I know... but I'm always surprised when people comment that a cookie recipe is "really sweet". Okay.... but it's a cookie soooo... To be fair, I suppose some cookies are not sweet.. like.. healthy cookies... but these are NOT healthy cookies. NooooOoooOOooo they are not. At all. 

What they are though, is delicious and addicting and totally worth making for an every-once-in-a-while indulgence. I took my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and stuffed in some Nutella because, why not? and then made them super jumbo... again, because why not?

Sure... you can make these "normal" size, if you want to *sigh* but I totally recommend giant. When we are talking cookies... size matters. 

Giant Nutella Stuffed Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies 

Ingredients

Cookies

2 1/4 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 heaping tsp instant coffee granules

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup BECEL original margarine

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips

Filling

12 Tbsp Nutella

Topping

mini chocolate chips for sprinkling on top

Directions

Prepare cookies - Preheat oven to 375. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside. 

Whisk together flour, baking soda, coffee granules, and salt. In another bowl, beat together BECEL brown sugar and sugar until creamy, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. 

Beat the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined. Stir in the mini chocolate chips. 

Using a large cookie scoop, about 1/4 cup in size, scoop cookies onto one of the cookie sheets. They can be close together because you are not cooking them right now you are going to chill them. Chill for about 30 minutes. 

While dough is chilling, prepare the Nutella. 

On a small tray lined with parchment paper, scoop 12 heaping tablespoons of Nutella about 1 inch apart. Try to leave the Nutella fairly heaped up and not spread out. Place in freezer until your cookie dough is chilled. 

Take one of the chilled cookie balls and press one disc of frozen Nutella into the center of it. You need to work fairly quickly as the Nutella thaws fairly fast and gets hard to work with. 

Top with another chilled cookie dough ball and form into a round ball. Continue with the remaining dough and Nutella. Place at least 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. You should get 12 jumbo cookies. 

Lightly press the cookies down with the palm of your hand and then sprinkle a few more mini chocolate chips on top of each cookie. 

Bake at 375 for about 11 - 18 minutes. Start checking at 11 minutes. The bottom and edges should be light golden brown and the center should look pale. Don't over bake or cookies will be crunchy instead of chewy!

Let cool on cookie tray for 10 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely. 

Recipe yields 12 ginormous mocha chocolate Nutella cookies. So good. 

In case you are in a hurry and DON'T chill these...

You'll be okay but they will spread out more and not be as high...

Also, instead of the Nutella being a blob in the center, it kind of spreads out throughout the cookie more...

Not that this is a bad thing. It's just different than if you let the cookie dough chill. 

Both ways result in a heavenly tasting cookie #justsayin

FYI - this is my new go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe. I ALWAYS use real butter when I bake but decided to try BECEL just to see what happened. Turns out everyone loved these more than my usual recipe. 

I'm as surprised as you are. 

But, for real though, try this one. It's a really good, soft but chewy, sweet but not coma inducing, chocolate chip cookie. Feel free to leave out the instant coffee granules if you don't like that hint of mocha-ness in there. 

Caramel Macchiato Donuts

I've been on a bit of a donut (doughnut?) bender lately. I've had so much fun creating new donut flavors so bear with me, there will be several donut posts coming your way in the next little while. 

I'm starting with my caramel macchiato recipe because caramel happens to be a little bit of heaven on earth, not to mention it is cold outside and coffee flavored things make life that much more bearable. 

Have you ever made donuts? You really should give it a try. The only thing that freaks me out a little is deep frying. All that hot oil is scary! I'm slowly getting over my fear though, getting to eat donuts is a pretty big incentive. 

Caramel Macchiato Donuts

Ingredients

Donut

2 cups buttermilk

2/3 cup brown sugar

4 1/2 tsp yeast

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 eggs, beaten

1 tsp caramel extract

2 tsp salt

4 - 5 cups flour

Oil for deep frying (about 1 liter)

Filling

4 cups whipping cream

2 Tbsp instant coffee granules

2 pkgs instant butterscotch pudding mix

Directions

Prepare donuts - Heat the buttermilk to steaming. Remove from heat and stir in the brown sugar. Let cool a few minutes - it should still be warm to touch but not hot. Sprinkle the yeast over the top and let sit 5 minutes to activate. 

Whisk together melted butter, eggs, caramel extract, and salt. Stir the yeast mixture into the egg mixture. Add enough flour to form a sticky yet solid dough. Knead for 2 minutes. You may need to add a pinch more flour if it is too sticky. Place in an oiled bowl, cover, and set in a warm place to rise for an hour. 

After dough has doubled, roll out dough on a floured work surface to about 1/2 inch thickness. Cut out using a round biscuit/cookie cutter. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. (You can re-roll scraps once to get more circles.) 

Cover with a tea towel and set somewhere warm to rise for 45 minutes. 

After donuts have risen for about 30 minutes, start heating your oil over medium heat. It takes me about 15 minutes to get my oil to 350. 

Fry donuts, 3 or 4 at a time, in the hot oil for about 1 minute on each side - they should be golden brown. You need a thermometer in the oil to make sure your oil stays at 350. If it is too low, your donuts will absorb too much oil and be greasy. If it is too high, they will be uncooked on the inside and burn on the outside. 

Set on paper towel, or on wire racks with paper towel underneath, to drain any excess oil. 

After all donuts are cooked, set aside to cool completely. When cool, take a serrated knife and carefully cut each donut in half horizontally. 

Prepare cream - In a large bowl, dissolve 1 Tbsp instant coffee granules in 2 cups of whipped cream.

Sprinkle 1 pkg of butterscotch pudding on top and beat until it stiffens up enough to pipe. 

Pipe coffee cream into the middle of each donut. You will need to repeat mixing the remaining granules, cream, and pudding. (I don't like to do it all at once as it sometimes makes for a weird texture. If you do half at a time it always works out!) 

Once they are all filled I like to go back and pipe a little star on top and then top with a half of a caramel candy.

Mmmm.... caramel and coffee. Is there anything better?

They look fabulous all snuggled up in a box to give as gifts.

This recipe makes about 2 dozen plus about 3 extra using a 3.5 inch cutter. You can half the recipe but, seriously, whyyyyyy? Make them all. Give them to people. Make new friends. 

Below they are pictured with the other flavor I just made... London Fog!

Click HERE for the link to that recipe!. 

Coffee and tea donuts. Best idea ever. 

As with most donuts, these are best eaten the day they are made. Next day they are still okay but they start to get stale after that. You can, instead of cutting them in half, simply pipe the cream into the donuts using a piping bag and long tip. You wouldn't need nearly as much if you do that. Of course, that means there isn't nearly as much in the donut to enjoy. 

Mocha Layer Cake

Just when you thought chocolate cake couldn't get any better, along comes MOCHA chocolate cake. 

That's right. 

Throw some coffee into a regular chocolate cake, cover it in a delicious mocha pudding frosting and *voila* you have the most amazing cake in the universe. 

Not even lying.

I'm willing to wager that even non-coffee lovers will dive into this cake with wild abandon. Know how I know that? Because I am NOT a coffee drinker... at all... but I could probably eat this whole cake. All of it. In one sitting. 

We used our never fail, moist and delicious Vanderwolf's Secret Chocolate Cake recipe (link HERE) and altered it to get this mocha version. Be sure to visit HERE for the original!! 

Mocha Layer Cake

Ingredients

1/2 cup baking cocoa

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

2 cups sugar

1 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup oil

1 cup very hot cappuccino (or VERY strong brewed coffee)

Mocha Pudding Frosting
1 Tbsp instant coffee granules
1 Tbsp hot water
3 cups whipping cream
1 1/2 pkgs (4 serving size) Chocolate Pudding

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 (YUP, 325 not 350). Lightly spray 3 - 8 inch cake pans with cooking spray. Set aside. 

Prepare cake - In a large mixing bowl, whisk together cocoa, flour, baking soda, salt, and sugar.  Make a hollow in center of the dry ingredients and add the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, oil, and cappuccino.
Whisk all together until well blended.
Pour into prepared baking pans. 

Bake 25 - 35 mins or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (Keep an eye on it!)  Remove from oven to cool 5 minutes on wire rack. Invert cake onto wire cooling rack and allow to cool completely.
Prepare frosting - In a tiny bowl, stir together the 1 Tbsp of coffee granules and 1 Tbsp of hot water to dissolve the granules. In a large mixing bowl beat together whipping cream, coffee, and chocolate pudding until smooth and thickened.
Assemble cake - Place one layer of cake on a serving platter. Frost with a generous scoop of the pudding frosting. Place second layer of cake on top. Spread another generous scoop of frosting on that cake. Place last layer of cake on top.

Use the rest of the icing to frost the sides and top of cake. 

Optional - decorate with a smidge of darker chocolate icing and some hazelnut crisp cookies. 

I used canned frosting for the darker swirls for a different texture and flavor. I thought the hazelnut cookie crisps went really well with the coffee flavor. 

Are you ready to see the inside?

Hang on to your seats....

Oh. My. Heck.

LOOK AT ALL THE CHOCOLATY MOCHA GOODNESS. 

*sigh*

This is actually less sweet than it looks. The coffee adds a bitterness that totally compliments and balances the chocolate. 

And... the pudding frosting is awesome. It sets up well, spreads very smoothly, is not at all sweet, and is a perfect mousse-like texture. 

What are you waiting for????

Be sure to visit this fun linky party at Carole's Chatter!

Baked Zucchini Bread Oatmeal and Baked Chocolate Zucchini Bread Oatmeal

It's been a while since I was experimenting with new oatmeal flavors so I thought I better get back at it.

Baked oatmeal is a fantabulous way to eat oatmeal. It's not at all mushy like the stove top version can be. This version just happens to taste like zucchini bread. Moist, chewy, streusel topped zucchini bread. Then I went ahead and made a chocolate version because..... well..... chocolate.

D'uh.

I'm not sure which one is my favorite. They are both soooooooo yummy.

Even better -- they only take about 5 minutes to whip up and then 30 minutes to bake. 

Warm, delicious, hearty, even a little bit healthy -- what more could you ask for in a breakfast?

First up.... Baked Zucchini Bread Oatmeal.

Baked Zucchini Bread Oatmeal

Ingredients

1/3 cup large flake oats

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp baking powder

2 pkg Stevia

2 pecan halves, finely diced

1/3 cup zucchini, shredded

1/3 cup 1% milk

1 tsp vanilla

Topping

1 tsp butter

1 pecan half, finely diced

1/2 tsp brown sugar

Directions

Preheat over to 350. Lightly spray a ramekin or single serving oven safe dish with cooking spray. Set aside.

In a small bowl, stir together oats, cinnamon, baking powder, Stevia, pecans, and zucchini. In a separate small bowl, stir together the milk, and vanilla. 

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until well mixed. Scrape into prepared ramekin.

Prepare topping - stir together the butter, pecan, and brown sugar. Crumble on top of the oatmeal into the ramekin.

Bake at 350 for 20 - 30 minutes, until top is golden brown and toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.

And now.... on to the chocolate version.

Baked Chocolate Zucchini Bread Oatmeal

Ingredients

1/3 cup large flake oats

pinch cinnamon

1/4 tsp baking powder

2 pkg Stevia

2 pecan halves, finely diced

1/2 Tbsp baking cocoa

1/2 Tbsp mini chocolate chips

1/3 cup zucchini, shredded

1/3 cup 1% milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 Tbsp coffee, prepared

Topping

1 tsp butter

1 pecan half, finely diced

1/2 tsp brown sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly spray a ramekin or single serving oven safe dish with cooking spray. Set aside. 

In a small bowl, combine the oats, cinnamon, baking powder, Stevia, pecans, cocoa, mini chocolate chips, and zucchini. In a separate small bowl, stir together the milk, vanilla, and coffee.

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until well combined. Scrape into prepared ramekin.

Prepare topping - stir together the butter, pecan, and brown sugar. Crumble on top of the oatmeal into the ramekin.

Bake at 350 for 20 - 30 minutes, until top is golden brown and toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. 

Now you can have zucchini bread for breakfast. And it's even a little bit healthy. 

The regular version is 238 calories, 30 carbs, 10 fat, 7 protein, 4 fibre.

The chocolate version is 283 calories, 37 carbs, 12 fat, 8 protein, 6 fibre.  

Can't decide which one to try? 

Make both. 

No.

Really.

Make both.

We're sharing at these fab linky parties - Dizzy Busy & Hungry, Adventures of Mel, Carole's Chatter