Dark Chocolate Miso Rocky Road

This no-bake Dark Chocolate Miso Rocky Road is made of dried fruit, crunchy cookies and pecans covered in rich dark chocolate with butter and miso. It works wonderfully with any dried fruit, nut or cookie. Feel free to make substitutions! 

A couple of months ago, I was visiting a dear friend and she gave me a brand-new cookbook, Dominique’s Kitchen. The author had won the honor of being published after competing on Jamie Oliver’s 2022 show, The Great Cookbook Challenge. As the show’s blurb says, “Jamie Oliver and Penguin Books team up to find the next big cookbook author, as cooks compete to impress the judges for a one-of-a-kind publishing deal.”

Imagine being offered the potential opportunity to have your cookbook published by such a large and prestigious publishing company! So much more pressure than The Great British Bake-off where all they get for sure is a cake stand. (Many do end up publishing cookbooks but it’s not guaranteed.)

I had watched a few episodes but somehow missed the final. The cook who won, Dominique Woolf, trained at Leith's School of Food and Wine. According to Amazon, she’s a food writer, entrepreneur and home cook to her young family.

All I can say it that we have thoroughly enjoyed cooking several recipes from Dominique’s Kitchen and this recipe is adapted from one of hers. 

Dark Chocolate Miso Rocky Road

This recipe is a great use of any stale cookies you might have in the cupboard. In fact, that’s why I made this the first time. While cleaning out the snack bin, I came across some milk chocolate Hobnobs that were past their best. They were perfect for rocky road though! I’ll never throw stale cookies away again and you shouldn’t either.

Ingredients

7 oz or 200g 70% cocoa dark chocolate

1/3 cup or 75g unsalted butter

3 tablespoons golden syrup (or honey)

1 tablespoon miso paste

10 Hobnobs (or your favorite crunchy cookie)

3 1/2 oz or 100g dried fruit, chopped if large (I used a mix of strawberries and cherries I had dehydrated myself)

3 1/2 oz or 100g pecans

Method

Line a 9x9 in or 23x23cm baking pan with baking parchment.

In a large skillet, toast the pecans over a medium heat, shaking the pan frequently so that they don’t burn. 

Roughly chop the pecans with a sharp knife. 

In a large bowl break up the Hobnobs or your chosen cookie, and stir in the chopped pecans and dried fruit. 

Put the chocolate, butter, golden syrup and miso paste in a microwavable bowl. 

Heat in the microwave on medium for one minute. Stir well and heat again for 30 seconds and stir again. Repeat until everything is melted and well combined.

Pour the melted chocolate mixture into the dry ingredients and stir to combine.

Tip the whole lot into your prepared baking pan and spread it out to the edges.  

Cover with cling film and press the mixture down. Put the pan in the refrigerator to set. 

Once set, slide the baking parchment on to a cutting board and cut the rocky road into squares. Store chilled if you live someplace warm.

Enjoy!   

It's Sunday FunDay so today my blogger friends and I are sharing candy recipes. Many thanks to our host, Karen of Karen's Kitchen Stories. Check out the links below. 

• Chocolate Brigadeiros by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Chocolate Medallions by Mayuri's Jakoni
• Dark Chocolate Miso Rocky Road by Food Lust People Love
• Honeycomb Toffee by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Honeycomb Candy by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Milk Cream by Sneha's Recipe
• Snowberry Torrone by Culinary Cam

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Chocolate Chocolate Chip Mini Loaves #BreadBakers

These Chocolate Chocolate Chip Mini Loaves are baked with cocoa and chocolate chips. Applesauce adds moisture and nutrition - not that you’ll notice it’s there flavor-wise! It's all about the chocolate!

Like many of my friends who love cooking and baking, I have a lot of pans that I rarely use but still keep, you know, just in case. The little vintage loaf pans I used for this recipe are a good example. I inherited them, if memory serves, from my paternal grandmother who used them to make fruitcake to give away at Christmastime. 

I actually own six of these little pans but since there are just two of us at home, it seemed like a good idea just to make four mini loaves. If you don't have mini loaf pans, you can bake this batter as muffins.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Mini Loaves

This recipe is for a small batch of just four mini loaves but it’s easily doubled if you need eight. Or even trebled. This batter is very forgiving like that. My mini loaf pans have a capacity of one cup or 240ml by volume.

Ingredients

1 cup or 125g flour

1/4 cup or 20g cocoa

1/4 cup or 50g white sugar

1/4 cup, packed, or 50g brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup or 75g applesauce (I used homemade but store-bought works fine.)

1 egg

3 tablespoons milk

3 tablespoons canola oil, plus extra for the pans

1/4 cup or 50g semi-sweet chocolate chips plus a little extra for topping, if desired.

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your four mini loaf pans by brushing or spraying the insides with oil.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together your flour, sugars and baking powder. 

Mix in the chocolate chips and use your clean hands to separate any that are stuck together. 

In another smaller bowl, whisk together your applesauce, egg, milk and oil.

Pour your wet mixture into the dry ingredients and fold until they are just combined. 

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared mini loaf pans. Add a few more chocolate chips to the top, if desired.  

Bake in your preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes or until the mini loaves are puffed up and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes.

Run a offset spatula or butter knife around the edges of the pans and gently turn the  loaves out of the pans and cool further on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

It's the second Tuesday of the month so that means it's time for my Bread Baker friends to share their recipes. Our theme is chocolate breads! Many thanks to our host Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. 

• Chocolate Chip Breadsticks from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Chocolate Chocolate Chip Mini Loaves from Food Lust People Love 
• Chocolate Crepes from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Chocolate Fudge Sauce Star Bread from Sneha's Recipe
• Chocolate Protein Oat Banana Waffles from Cook with Renu
• Chocolate Swirl Buns from Passion Kneaded
• Double Chocolate Chip Bread from Palatable Pastime
• Lemon and Ginger Scented White Chocolate Sourdough from A Messy Kitchen
• Milk and Chocolate Rolls from Magical Ingredients

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

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Chocolate Zucchini Muffins #MuffinMonday

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins are baked with cocoa and chocolate chips. Grated zucchini adds moisture and nutrition, not that you’ll notice it’s there flavorwise! 

It’s the last Monday of the month so that means we are celebrating Muffin Monday all day long. I had a zucchini in the fridge that was getting a little past its best and needed to be used, hence these chocolate zucchini muffins. 

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

This recipe is for a small batch of just six muffins but it’s easily doubled if you need 12. Or even trebled. Muffins batter is very forgiving like that. 

Ingredients

1/2 medium zucchini or courgette (approx. weight 2 2/3 oz or 75g)

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup or 95g flour

1/4 cup or 20g cocoa

1/4 cup or 50g white sugar

1/4 cup, packed, or 50g brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg

3 tablespoons milk

3 tablespoons canola oil

1/4 cup or 50g semi-sweet chocolate chips plus a little extra for topping, if desired.

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 6-cup muffin tin by greasing it or lining it with muffin papers.

Grate the zucchini with the small holes of your grater and spread it around in a colander to drain.  Sprinkle with the 1/4 teaspoon of salt.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together your flour, sugars and baking powder. Mix in the chocolate chips and use your clean hands to separate any that are stuck together. 

In another smaller bowl, whisk together your eggs, milk and oil. Use the back of a spoon or rubber spatula to squeeze moisture out of the grated zucchini. Add it to the wet ingredient bowl and whisk.

Pour your wet mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until they are just combined. There should be some dry flour still showing.

Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups. Add a few more chocolate chips to the top, if desired.  

Bake in your preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes or until the muffins are puffed up and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes.

Remove the muffins from the pan and cool further on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

As I mentioned above, it’s Muffin Monday! Make sure to check out all the links below to see the muffins my blogger friends are sharing. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for her behind the scenes help this month!

• Buttermilk Muffins with Whiskey-Soaked Raisins by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Cherry Vanilla Muffins by Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Chocolate Zucchini Muffins by Food Lust People Love
• Churro Muffins by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Pineapple Rice Krispie Muffins by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Sourdough Raspberry Coconut Muffins by Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Strawberry Sweetheart Streusel Muffins by Palatable Pastime
• Whole Wheat Thandai Muffins by Magical Ingredients

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

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2-Minute Quick Fudge

This rich, nutty 2-Minute Quick Fudge is so easy that children can make it all by themselves. Even better, its main ingredients are store cupboard and refrigerator staples: powdered sugar, cocoa powder, butter and milk. 

It’s perfect for slumber parties, unexpected midnight munchies and, especially important this time of year, it makes a great gift for neighbors and friends. Who doesn't like fudge?!

I miss the days when my daughters still lived at home and we’d have a fairly steady stream of overnight guests and sleepovers on the weekends. I was in my absolute element cooking and baking for a crowd. 

One of our favorite sleepover meals was homemade pizza. I’d make the dough and pizza sauce and set out all of the toppings. Each girl would get a ball of dough to spread out on a pan and top her own custom made pizza. It took awhile to make and bake them all so the pizza was both entertainment for part of the evening, and dinner. 

As they got older, I’d head off to my room to read after we ate, knowing that they were quite capable of baking up a pan of brownies and more on their own, if the munchies hit. The muted giggles and games and music from downstairs were joy to me. 

I originally created this recipe post for a sleepover theme blog event so I was determined to find a quick fudge recipe that children could make on their own with simple ingredients. No condensed milk or marshmallow fluff since a lot of folks don’t keep those in the cupboard. I didn’t want the stove involved either. Flames and unsupervised children should never mix. Unfortunately, most quick fudge recipes call for one or both those things. 

Until I found this one in my archives. I’d love to give credit where it’s due, but the source wasn’t in my notes. It did say that nuts were optional. I had scratched through Nuts to write Pecans. Because pecans are my favorite nut. And I added the mini M&Ms. 

The bottom line is, you can eat the base quick fudge all on its own. It’s perfectly chocolate-y and rich. Or you can add in whatever you like. Chopped candy bars, mint chips, peanut butter chips, mini marshmallows, other nuts? They’d all be excellent. 

2-Minute Quick Fudge

Technically, this does take just a bit longer than two minutes because you have to chop the pecans and measure all of your other ingredients out. It’s still super quick and worth it!  

Ingredients

1 lb or 450g powdered sugar

1/2 cup or 40g unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/4 cup or 60ml milk

1/2 cup or 113g butter 

1 tablespoon vanilla

1/2 cup or 57g chopped pecans, plus more for decoration, if desired

1/2 cup or 100g mini M&Ms, plus more for decoration, if desired

Method

Grease an 8 x 8 in or 20 x 20cm pan or line it with baking parchment across the bottom and up at least two opposing sides, so that the fudge can be lifted out of the pan by those ends. 

In a large microwavable mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, cocoa and salt in mixing bowl. 

Add milk and butter. Do not mix. 

Cook uncovered in a microwave oven on high for 2 minutes. Remove bowl from microwave and stir well to mix the ingredients into a lovely thick chocolate.

Add the vanilla, pecans and mini M&Ms.  Stir until blended. 

Pour or spoon the fudge into your prepared pan. 

Press it out evenly in the pan. 

Sprinkle on the extra mini M&Ms and pecans, if using. Press them down with a spoon so they stick into the fudge. 

If your kitchen is warm, you can put the pan in the freezer for 20 minutes to cool and set. My quartz countertop is cold this time of year so mine set up quickly without chilling. 

Cut into small squares with a sharp knife and serve. Store in an airtight container. 

Tip: If you are giving this fudge away as a gift, cut a piece of thick cardboard into a square. Cover it in foil and stack the pieces of fudge on top. Cover with cling film, ribbon optional. Voilà – a pretty gift package! 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing recipes for holiday sweets and treats. Check out all the links below. Many thanks to our host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on a Farm and her able stand-in, Sue of Palatable Pastime. 

• Christmas Tree Peanut Butter Blossoms from Amy’s Cooking Adventures
• German Chocolate Caramel Bars from Palatable Pastime
• Homemade Jujube Jelly Sweets from Sneha’s Recipe
• Maritozzi from Culinary Cam
• Two-minute Quick Fudge from Food Lust People Love
• Vegan Air Fryer Churros from Cook with Renu

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes

These dark chocolate pumpkin cupcakes are made with special dark cocoa and canned pumpkin, then topped with buttercream frosting and pumpkin candy for a delightful seasonal treat.

Who remembers Pick-A-Mix? Back in the good old days, Brach’s candies were displayed in an open case in many stores with a big Pick-A-Mix sign. You helped yourself to a bag and filled it with your choice of candies, paying by the weight. Often these candy cases were near the front of the store, just by the lines for the cashiers. 

My grandmother was a real character and, while she had a generous heart where her grandchildren were concerned, she did not tolerate laziness or ineptitude well, even in us. If the store had long lines at the cashier and only one or two lanes open, Gram would instruct us each to choose a candy from the Pick-A-Mix. 

She considered that well-deserved compensation for a lengthy wait in line. As a child I was mortified to comply, but one did not argue with my grandmother! My favorites were the cinnamon or the butterscotch hard candies. 

Nowadays it’s a rare store that still has a Pick-A-Mix case, but one can buy those Brach’s candies in bags, some with seasonal variations like the autumn mix, the party mix and the old-fashioned holiday mix with red, white and green hard candies.

Can I confess that I’m not a huge fan of the autumn candy mix for eating? I do love them for decorating though! Nothing cheers up a cake, cookie or cupcake like a few candy corns or tiny pumpkins scattered about. Those instantly say autumn to me. Halloween is not far off AND Thanksgiving is coming just behind it! 

With that in mind, I’ve baked you some chocolate pumpkin cupcakes, topped with the little Autumn mix pumpkins I have on hand. Wouldn’t they be perfect as one of the desserts for your Halloween party or Thanksgiving table? 

Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes 

This recipe makes 18 cupcakes and plenty of buttercream frosting.  Using special dark cocoa ensures maximum chocolate flavor but if you don't have it, normal cocoa can be substituted. The addition of pumpkin adds a very subtle background taste even pumpkin haters might not discern, but it gives 

these cupcakes super moisture and creates a tender crumb. 

Ingredients

For the cupcake batter – makes 18:

2 1/2 cups or 315g all-purpose flour

1/4 cup or 30g extra dark special cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cups or 355g canned pumpkin – not pie filling

1 1/2 cups or 300g granulated sugar

1/2 cup or 120ml whole milk

1/4 cup or 57g butter, melted and cooled

2 eggs

For the vanilla buttercream frosting - makes about 3-3/4 cups:

1 1/2 lbs or 675g confectioners’ sugar

1 cup or 226g butter, softened

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

6-8 tablespoons milk

To decorate – optional 

Ground cinnamon

Sparkly sugar

Candy pumpkins or candy corn

Shavings of chocolate candy

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your cupcakes pans by greasing them with butter or lining them with paper cupcake liners. 

Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and baking soda in a large bowl. Set aside. 

Using your stand mixer or electric beaters, beat together the pumpkin, sugar, milk and butter. 

Add eggs in one by one, mixing well with each addition. 

Slowly add dry ingredients to wet as you mix. Mix until well combined. 

Spoon batter into your prepared cupcake cups.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cupcakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

Let cool completely before you top them with frosting. 

To make the frosting:

In large bowl, with mixer at medium-low speed, beat confectioners’ sugar, butter, vanilla, and 6 tablespoons milk until smooth and blended. 

Increase speed to medium-high; beat until frosting is light and fluffy, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Beat in additional milk as needed for easy spreading consistency.

Use a piping bag and a large tip to decorate the cooled cupcakes with frosting. 

From high above the cupcakes, sprinkle a small pinch of cinnamon on each cupcake, along with some sparkly sugar, if desired. Top each with a tiny pumpkin or other seasonal candy.

Enjoy!  

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing recipes with pumpkin! Many thanks to our host, Renu of Renu Cooks. Check out all the pumpkin recipes below. 

• Almond Flour Pumpkin Muffins from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes from Food Lust People Love
• Pumpkin and Black Bean Quesadillas from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Pumpkin Crème Brûlée from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Pumpkin Prune Quick Bread from Palatable Pastime
• Pumpkin Sweet Potato and Amaranth Patties from Cook with Renu
• Quick Pumpkin And Other Veggies Sabzi from Sneha’s Recipe

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join. 

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