Chocolate!
What more do I need to say? Everyone needs chocolate. Every day. But you can’t just eat chocolate all day. (Why isn’t chocolate nutritious? Who planned this anyway?) So when you do eat chocolate, it has to be the absolute best chocolate you have ever eaten.
That’s where these recipes come in. I have 61 (count ’em – 61) recipes that use chocolate on this site. They are all incredibly good. But these 20 recipes are the ones I would want if I were stranded on a desert island. And do you know how difficult it was to narrow my choices down to just 20??
So get into the kitchen, grab these ingredients (you really should use Guittard milk chocolate chips and semisweet chocolate chips), and start cooking and baking. Some of these recipes are complicated, and some use just two ingredients. Unless you just eat chocolate chips out of the bag, which isn’t a bad idea, you can’t get an easier recipe than that.
Chocolate!
Chocolate Peanut Butter Chewy Bars
This incredible recipe doesn’t even use any flour to make some of the best brownies I have ever eaten. They use crushed up peanut butter sandwich cookies! Yes, this recipe really works and it is just fabulous.
This recipe is from my Aunt Carol Sue. It uses milk chocolate and cream. That’s it. The chocolate is melted into the cream, the whole thing is chilled, then you beat the ganache to make it fluffy. These truffles melt in your mouth.
Fudgy Layered Peanut Butter Bars
There are three fabulous layers in this bar cookie. The bottom is cookie dough, which is topped with chocolate ganache, then frosted with a fluffy peanut butter frosting. Sigh.
Crunchy Peanut Caramel Layered Brownies
Special Kay Bars (see below) are so rich and crunchy and creamy and salty and sweet. So why not put them on top of a brownie, then top that with more chocolate?
You can’t make this recipe unless you have a candy thermometer. And it does take some experience in the kitchen. But there is no better fudge in the world. It’s velvety smooth, slightly grainy, as all good fudge should be, with a soft texture and intense chocolate flavor.
Well, let’s see. A crisp chocolate cookie base is topped with vanilla ice cream, then a decadent homemade fudge sauce that stays soft even when it’s frozen!
Peanut Blossom Cookies is a Pillsbury Bake Off winner. But I made them better (sacrilege!) by turning the cookie into a bar cookie, adding peanut butter cups, then topping it with more peanut butter cookies and a chocolate peanut butter frosting.
Brownies are fabulous all by themselves, of course. but add a creamy coconut walnut brown sugar topping and broil it for a luscious dessert.
Peppermint and chocolate are natural partners. This recipe for a homemade candy is so good. The peppermint filling is wrapped in soft milk chocolate. And they melt in your mouth.
A two ingredient recipe! If you love Heath Bars, this recipe is better. I mean it.
Frozen Peanut Butter Bombe Cake
This ice cream cake is a rich peanut butter pudding mixture layered with chocolate covered cookie crumbs. Oh, and there are little peanut butter balls that are like the inside of a Reese’s peanut butter cup.
Everyone needs a classic brownie recipe. And this one is mine.
A chewy oatmeal cookie base is topped with tons of melted caramel and tons of chocolate chips. Then it’s topped with more crumbled oatmeal and brown sugar for a decadent treat.
This cake was the precursor to lava cakes. And it’s better.
I took my classic Whipped Cream Truffles and made them into a tart. You’re welcome.
If you’ve never had a Nut Goodie candy bar, buy one now. Then make these bars, which are better. This pan weighs about 10 pounds. And every ounce is decadent.
Fudgy Peppermint Bonbon Ice Cream Dessert
This simple recipe uses just cookies, butter, ice cream, and chocolate fudge sauce. Really, what more do you need in life?
And this is another two ingredient recipe that tastes like so much more than the sum of its parts. You need Pepperidge Farm Mint Milanos to make this recipe, but I won’t stop you if you want to use your own favorite cookie. But you need to get the Milanos.
When I made this recipe, I usually leave out the caramel. Because it’s easier and because it’s the first way I made these superb no bake bar cookies. A crunchy and creamy peanut butter caramel is topped with my signature frosting: chocolate chips and peanut butter melted together.
Another classic bar cookie that is beautiful in its simplicity. What is better than a shortbread cookie, caramel, pecans, and milk chocolate? Nothing!
