Slow Cooker Chocolate Cake

I have to apologize right off the bat for this recipe. You definitely should not make it...because it will ruin chocolate cake for you forever! IT'S THAT GOOD. Beyond good, insanely awesome, ridiculously delicious. Chocolate cake made any other way will seem plain, unexciting, tasteless, and cold. This recipe is very easy to make and the result is out of this world. You don't even have to turn on your oven--a big bonus for those of us who have had to turn on our air conditioning already this year. And you eat it while it's still hot so it's also perfect for people, like my Montana family, who need something to warm them up since their Spring weather has not started yet.

You will need:

slow cooker
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
6T butter
2 oz (1/4c) semi-sweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup white sugar
3T Dutch-processed cocoa
1T vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup milk
1 egg yolk
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1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa
1 1/2 cups hot water
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2 paper towels



A word on the cocoa--in this recipe you really need to use the Dutch-processed. In my grocery store it's sold right alongside the unsweetened cocoa. Hershey's Special Dark is what I use and it's perfect. Dutch-processed cocoa has been treated to neutralize the acids in cocoa and is used in baked goods that call for baking powder, like this one. If you use regular unsweetened cocoa you will end up with a slightly bitter tasting cake. It's the same price as regular cocoa.


Mix together the flour and baking powder and set aside. In a medium-sized pot melt the butter and then add the chocolate chips. Stir until melted and combined and then remove from heat. (I melt the butter first because adding cold butter to chocolate can cause it to seize. That's happened to me many, many times.)



Whisk in the 2/3 cup sugar and 3T Dutch cocoa.



Now whisk in the vanilla, salt, milk, and egg yolk. Combine thoroughly.



Whisk in the flour/baking powder mix.



Pour the batter into a greased slow cooker. I used 2T of butter and rubbed it on the bottom and halfway up the sides of my Crock Pot. You can use pan spray if you like--just make sure it is greased well.



In a medium-sized bowl whisk together the brown sugar, sugar, and cocoa.



Slowly pour in the hot water (I nuked the water in the microwave for one minute) and whisk until smooth.



Pour into the slow cooker on top of the cake batter. DO NOT STIR.



Place two paper towels (do not rip apart) across the top of the slow cooker and put on the top. The towels will keep the condensation from dripping onto your cake.



Turn the slow cooker on HIGH and leave it alone for 1 hour and 15 minutes. The cake is done when it is set and pulls away slightly from the sides of the slow cooker. Turn off the cooker, take off the top, and lift out the removable bowl. Set it aside on a hot pad and leave the cake alone for 25 minutes. It will hard not to sample, but resist!



Heaven. On. Earth. You'll never see chocolate cake the same way again. The top of the cake is moist, chocolaty, and amazing, but the bottom is fudge sauce. Fudge sauce! (My pictures came out a bit unfocused. Maybe my hands were shaking in anticipation!)



There really aren't adequate words to describe how divine this cake tastes. There were no leftovers. I asked Bubba and the girls how it tasted and I got a bunch of grunts and "mmmmmmmm's." :) No need for ice cream with this cake!!





After she finished eating Goose said, "Wow. That's the most awesome cake ever."



Enjoy!!

Whole Wheat Banana Cake

This recipe for banana cake isn't low on sugar, but it is whole wheat and a great treat for the kids. I like to make it an hour before the monkeys get home from school so that it is still warm. On a cold day (which to us is anything less than 70 degrees) a nice big slice of warm banana cake and a cup of hot cocoa puts huge smiles on my girls' faces. It is also a great way to use up browning bananas instead of making banana bread or muffins.

You will need:

1 1/2 cups King Arthur white whole wheat flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup mashed bananas (about 3)
1 egg
1/2 cup butter, melted (Smart Balance stick)
1/4 cup milk (skim is fine)
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (optional)



Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13-inch baking pan.

I use my KitchenAid with the whisk attachment to mash the three bananas.



In a separate large bowl, add the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix together.





Back in the KitchenAid...switch to the paddle attachment and add the egg, melted butter (make sure it has cooled so that you don't cook the egg), and the milk. (I used half and half, but any type of milk is just fine. I usually use skim, but had a bunch of half and half that I needed to use up before the expiration date.) Then add half the dry ingredients.



Mix a little, but not completely and then add the rest of the dry. As always, be careful not to overmix.



Gently stir in the chocolate chips.



Spread the batter into your greased pan and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.





This cake needs no icing, no butter, no addition of anything. It's super yummy right out of the oven, but also delicious the next day. Just cover it with plastic wrap to keep out the air overnight. We never have leftovers past the second day, but I bet it would keep in the fridge for 3-4 days, wrapped tightly. I put a nice big slice in the kids' lunch the next day. With the whole wheat, I also feel comfortable giving the girls a small slice in the morning with their breakfast (as long as it's paired with an egg for protein).



So moist and tender. If you are a raisin person you can absolutely substitute raisins or even walnuts for the chocolate chips. Tink's braces make chocolate chips the safer choice for her. Not that anyone complains about the addition of chocolate. :)



Enjoy!!

my recipe card:

After School Snack

My girls love this after school snack. It's quick, easy, incredibly tasty, relatively healthy, and doesn't ruin their appetites for supper. (We eat supper at 4:30 and the kids get home at 3, so I only make one of these and split it between the Goose and Tink.)

You will need:

2 100% whole wheat tortillas
1 banana
1 T butter
chocolate chips
cinnamon sugar

Melt the butter in a frying pan.



While it's melting, cut up the banana and place the pieces on top of one tortilla.




Smash each piece with a fork.



Place the banana-covered tortilla in the pan and sprinkle with chocolate chips. As many as you like! I used mini semi-sweet, but regular size would be great, too. You could also try butterscotch, white chocolate, or peanut butter chips.



Top with the second tortilla and cook until the bottom tortilla is crunchy and light brown. About 2 mins.



Flip over. I know it seems like this would be a hard step, but I just use a wide spatula and it flips over with ease. Just be quick.



Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the newly flipped side.



When the second side is crispy, remove to a plate and let cool for one minute.



I use a pizza cutter to cut the tortilla sandwich into fourths, two for each monkey.



Gooey, warm, delicious!! This recipe is reminiscent of Elvis' favorite sandwich, the fried peanut butter and banana. Actually, spreading PB on the tortillas would be fantastic.



Enjoy!

Anything Muffins

I call this recipe "anything muffins" because you can add pretty much any flavor, fruit, or confection to them and they taste amazing. From this one recipe I can make blueberry, orange, lemon poppy seed, cheddar, cranberry, chocolate chip (the kids favorite), and many more. The possibilities are endless. No matter what you add to this base recipe your muffins will be perfect and impressive. You'll never go back to those disappointing mixes.

You will need:
2 cups all-purpose flour (if you haven't switched to King Arthur...hurry up!)
3 tsp baking powder (aluminum free)
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 cup milk (more on what kind later)
1/4 cup oil



Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. I know it seems high. I would never bake a cake at 400 and cookies never bake at higher than 325, but the higher temperature is necessary for muffins. It's what gives them their dome tops!



Add your flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar to a large mixing bowl. If you use King Arthur you don't need to sift. :) Mix well.



Add your milk to a 2-cup measuring cup. Now, what kind of milk. It really doesn't matter, but remember that the higher the fat content, the fluffier the muffin. So use whole if you have it or mix 1/2 skim and a 1/2 whole or 2%. I used a mixture of skim and half and half. It makes a difference and let's face it, you aren't making muffins because they are healthy. Add the egg to the milk cup. (Thank you Smores for donating the egg.) Mix the egg and milk with a fork.



Now add your oil to the milk cup.



Make a well in the center of your dry ingredients.



Add your milk, egg, oil mixture all at once.



Stir just until combined. Overstirring will make tough muffins. The batter will be lumpy.

The fun part! This time around I made chocolate chip muffins for my girls. I added 1/3 cup of mini chocolate chips. Okay...I dumped a good portion of the bag into the mix and it was probably more like 1/2 cup.



Orange muffins: add 1 tsp of orange extract and 1/2 tsp of orange zest, drizzle with an orange powdered sugar glaze
Lemon Poppy seed: 2 tsp lemon extract and 1 tsp poppy seeds
Bacon and Cheddar: 1/4 cup bacon and 1/4 cup cheddar cheese
Blueberry: 1 cup blueberries
Cranberry: 3/4 cup dried cranberries that have been soaked in apple juice (or use craisins)
Snickerdoodle: 1/4 tsp cream of tartar (decrease baking powder by 1/4 tsp) and sprinkle tops with cinnamon sugar
Peanut Butter Cup: 3/4 cup chopped peanut butter cups

Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners and evenly divide batter between each cup. I added a bit too much to each of my muffin cups this time around and only ended up with 11 muffins. You'll get 12 muffins out of this recipe just like I always do...except this time because I was taking pictures. If you do end up with an empty spot or two keep the liner in the cup so that the pan doesn't scorch while the muffins bake. And please excuse the sad state of my muffin tin. It has been baking muffins for me for 15 years and can't help how old and abused it looks.



Bake for 18-20 minutes. Check them at 16 minutes. If they have started to brown on top and a toothpick comes out clean, they are done. Nothing worse than a dry, overbaked muffin.



(My new green frying pan wanted to be in the picture. I never put it away because I like looking at it.)



So fluffy, so tender, soooo delicious. The perfect weekend morning treat!



I don't make these for the kids during the school week because of all the white flour, but they are the perfect muffin for the weekend. Just keep them in a bowl under a towel and your family can snack on them all weekend. They also freeze really well. Wrap in tin foil, place in a freezer bag, and pull one out whenever you want a quick treat. Let it thaw and then warm one muffin in the microwave on half power for 8 seconds.



Enjoy!!

Homemade Whole Wheat Pancake Mix

This recipe was born of necessity. I am entirely too tired during the week to get up and start measuring flour, baking powder, etc for the kids' before-school pancakes. So, I made this mix and keep it in a plastic bag in the freezer. Then in the morning I scoop out some mix, add milk, an egg, and a little flax seed and viola! Perfect whole wheat pancakes. I usually drop blueberries onto the pancakes as they cook. But chocolate chips are an awesome addition, too.



6 cups flour (your choice of variety. I used 4 cups whole wheat, 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour)
2/3 cups sugar
2 T baking powder
1 T baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Make sure you mix the ingredients thoroughly so that you evenly distribute the baking soda and powder.



For the pancake batter I whisk together one cup of mix, 3/4 cup skim milk, one egg, and 1 T ground flax seed.



1/3 cup of batter for each pancake is perfect for my frying pan...because I am also too tired to get out my electric griddle. While they are baking on the first side I drop a few blueberries (or mini chocolate chips, sliced bananas, strawberries) on top.



They deserve a closer look, don't you think?




The pancakes will bake up around the blueberries a bit. Flip them when they start to look done around the edges. I'm not sure how long you can keep this mix in the freezer. I would think a good long while, though. We never seem to keep it around for more than a week and a half. Tip: flour stays fresher in the freezer. I keep all of my flours there in their original bags with a plastic bag on the outside.



Sometimes I sneak sugar-free syrup onto the pancakes. My kids can't tell the difference. :)