Chocolate Dipped Stackers

Although I've been having some issues with Pinterest recipes not working out lately, the website did give me some inspiration for today's recipe!

I call them Chocolate Dipped Stackers because you stack up some cookies and random tasty treats and then dip the whole thing in chocolate. 

The bag of Candy 'n Cookies was found at Dollar Tree.

Ingredients:
Oreos
Something for your center
Dipping chocolate

Cole was my photographer again this week!

We decided that we would separate the Oreos and only keep the halves with the cream attached. Then, we took two of the cream-coated cookies and stuck a candy cookie in the middle.

As if that wasn't enough sweetness overload, we dipped the whole thing in chocolate.

Freshly dipped.

Like the Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites, we set the Chocolate Dipped Stackers on plastic wrap to solidify.

My Tips:

Feel free to switch up the ingredients! For instance, instead of candy cookies, next time I want to try a marshmallow center. Reese's cups, soft chocolate chip cookies or a strawberry slice could also be tasty middles.

There are also other kinds of chocolate that can be used for melting. Michaels sells just about any color of chocolate wafers you can imagine! Whether you need red and green for Christmas, orange and black for Halloween, or pastel colors for Easter, you can dip whatever you wish into the colored chocolate of your choice.

Since Cole and I usually like our chocolate cold, we stuck the stackers in the fridge before going to work. Bad idea! They hardened so much that my taste testers had a hard time biting into them, so we had to set them out to warm up.

If you're in a hurry for the stackers to be ready to serve, it should be okay to place them in the fridge for a few minutes. I just wouldn't recommend leaving them in there for a long period of time. 

Happy stacking! Let me know how yours turn out.

Rocky Road Cookies

I was really excited for this week's recipe: Rocky Road Cookies. Chocolatey cookies with marshmallows and almonds- what's not to be excited about?

But unfortunately, Pinterest let me down again. 

This is how mine turned out. Not the prettiest...

In case I just made a mistake somewhere, here's the recipe for you all to try.

Ingredients:
3 cups powdered sugar
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 large egg whites
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup mini marshmallows
2.5 oz toasted sliced almonds

First, you'll need to preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In one large bowl, mix the powdered sugar, cocoa powder and salt. Then add the egg whites and vanilla. When combined, add the chocolate chips and almonds.

Mix it up!

Spoon out small blobs of the mixture onto your cookie sheets and top each cookie with a few marshmallows.

Stick in the freezer for 5-10 minutes to prevent the cookies from spreading on the pan.

They looked really good at this point, but they went south soon after.

Bake for 12-13 minutes until the marshmallows are golden brown.

My Tips:

I think the recipe calls for too much cocoa powder. It's not too often that you'll hear me say something is too chocolatey, but this is one of those situations. 

Also, this recipe doesn't contain flour, so the cookies don't really have a way to rise. I think the cookies might be a little softer with some added flour or baking powder.

I was so disappointed in these cookies that I ended up throwing all of them away, and that doesn't happen very often. But I guess not every recipe will turn out the way it's expected to. On to the next recipe!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites

With the weather being so beautiful the last few days, the last thing I wanted to do was waste a bunch of time in the kitchen making a huge mess with a new recipe. So instead, I spent a few minutes making heavenly bite-size treats of goodness.

The best part is that these Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites are super easy to make while not making your wallet protest.

Mm mm mm. They taste best fresh from the refrigerator!

Ingredients:
Peanut Butter Filled Pretzels
Chocolate (for melting!)

One bag of candy melts covers about 100 pretzel bites

I'm going to start off by saying how much I'm in love with my Chocolate Pro Melting Pot. It has to be one of the best inventions ever! I can easily melt loads of chocolate at once in order to form chocolate candy, use as fondue for fruits and snacks, and easily drench miscellaneous goodies in sweetness.

I got mine at Michaels for about 30 dollars.

First, you pour some of your chocolate wafers into your melting pot and turn it to Melt. If you don't have a melting pot, you can buy one, or melt your wafers in a bowl in the microwave on low heat.
 

The melting pot offers a feature to keep the chocolate warm after it's melted

When it has melted to a smooth consistency, turn the melting pot to Warm and dunk your pretzel bites. Make sure they're covered as much as you'd like. You can even dip them twice for a thicker coat of chocolate. Then, transfer them to a non-stick surface where they can harden up.

Plastic wrap makes for a good non-stick surface

They'll be ready in less than 10 minutes! Enjoy!

My Tips:

I bought these pretzels (approx. 200 in a tub) from Giant Eagle for about 5 dollars. The Wilton Candy Melts chocolate came from Michaels for about $2.49 a bag (cheaper if they're on sale that week). It's such a cheap, delicious treat.

For my non-stick surface, I used a piece of plastic wrap. It was easy to move around and the treats peeled right off when they were solidified. 

I like my chocolate chilled, no matter what it is, so I left my treats in the fridge for about an hour after they had solidified at room temperature. They were spectacular!

My first batch was about 50 bites, but I actually had to make a second batch because Cole and my dad were asking for more.

Try it out! Dip lots of things in chocolate and fall in love with each one, then tell me your favorites in the comments.