Brutti Ma Buoni Cookies (Ugly but Good)

These are so good. If you like meringues and Nutella and Ferrero Rocher, these are for you. (If you don't like those, you're nuts, but you won't like these.) These are Italian cookies that mean ugly but good, and oh man, they live up to the name, at least the latter half. Mmmm. I brought them into the office and they're a big success. Also, they don't have any butter or flour so are healthier than most other cookie options - but there is a lot of sugar, so not that healthy. This is perfect for if you make cinnamon rolls or ice cream or other egg yolk-heavy recipes and have some extra whites to use! I used the Smitten Kitchen recipe but made it a little bigger and cut back on the chocolate a little.

Makes About 40 cookies
Ingredients:
2 cups hazelnuts
1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
1/3 tsp salt
6 egg whites
8oz semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

Mini Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie with Ice Cream

Yum! I want to eat this again right now. It's a big, gooey, melty chocolate chip cookies covered in vanilla ice cream. What's not to love? This serves two in a 5" inch skillet, but there's leftover dough. You can also do ramekins to make individual servings. 

Ingredients:

6 tbsp unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup packed dark brown sugar

1 large eff

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp kosher salt

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Vanilla ice cream

Make-Ahead Individual Chocolate Souffles

Everyone is afraid of making souffle, but it's really not that difficult. I had some time to kill the other day when I was making dinner and I already had all of the ingredients, so I whipped up a few individual souffles. Cook's Illustrated (thanks for the book, Kara!) has a good recipe for make-ahead souffles where you assemble them and then just put them in the freezer until you want them. They were really chocolatey and rich and perfect with a scoop of ice cream. There's still one in the freezer - maybe I'll eat it tonight. This would be great to do the night before you have people over, then just throw them in the oven 15-20 minutes before you want dessert.

Serves four

Ingredients:

2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" pieces plus 1/2 tbsp softened

2 2/3 tbsp sugar, plus 1/2 tbsp

4 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (I used my favorite, Belgian chocolate, Cote d'Or - it's the best. It's hard to find in the US, but I just found that the Garden of Eden on my street sells it, so I'm thrilled. Another point for Brooklyn Heights.)

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

pinch of salt

3 large eggs, separated, plus 1 large egg white

2 tbsp powdered sugar

pinch cream of tarter

Lara's Chocolate Mousse

My sweet friends gave me a cook book at my wedding shower and everyone put in a recipe. For my first one, I tried Lara's chocolate mousse. She had told me about it before and it sounded delicious, and also easy. It was fabulous! Thank you for the recipe, Lara! It's so easy and so rich and chocolatey. I only wish I could find the amazing Belgian Cote D'Or chocolate in the US, but maybe she can bring me some next time she's in Belgium...

Ingredients:
Cote D'Or dark chocolate (or another kind - I used Ghirardelli)
Eggs (one egg per bar)
Milk
Sugar (one small spoon per bar)

Directions:

Chocolate Meringue and Mint Chip Ice Cream Cake

I've been drooling over this recipe since last summer and finally pulled my act together this weekend to make it. Yum! I love ice cream cake, I love mint chocolate chip ice cream, I love meringues. It's a win, win, win. The meringues are light and fluffy and chocolatey and the whole combination is great. Also looks super impressive. I halved the original recipe because there were only three of us and made it round.

Ingredients:
5 1/4 tbsp sugar, divided
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 large egg whites
1 pint mint chocolate chip ice cream, softened

1/4 cup chilled whipping cream
powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Ina Garten's Outrageous Brownies

The batter bowl after Jamie snacked on it

I love Ina Garten and have probably watched all of the Barefoot Contessa episodes. She and Mario Batali are my favorite Food Network chefs because their recipes are always great. I saw these brownies on her show a while ago and have always wanted to make them. I got a craving for some super chocolaty, home-made brownies the other day, so I whipped these up. It's a labor of love - much more time consuming that boxed brownies, but sooo tasty. I might cut back on the butter next time (they were a little crumbly) but they were so chocolaty and rich. Jamie and I each brought them into our offices - big hit. The coffee really makes the chocolate flavor stand out (a great Ina trick).

Outrageous Brownies
Ingredients:
1 lb butter (4 sticks)
1 pound plus 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
6 extra-large eggs
3 tablespoons instant coffee granules
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups chopped walnuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.