chocolate chips

Cadbury Mini Egg Fudge

Claudia's Cookbook - Cadbury Mini Egg Fudge cover

Remember the time I decided to go on a Smoothie Diet? Yeah. Let’s pretend that never happened. I blame drinking smoothies 3 times a day for the lack of posts over the past few weeks. It actually wasn’t all bad. I lost a few pounds and learned that I could drink spinach and not gag. It actually tasted pretty darn good! But boy, did I miss chocolate (and pretty much any food that wasn’t in liquid form). At one point, I was even craving a salad. A SALAD! The world works in mysterious ways, my friends.

Well, I survived and I decided to make my triumphant return to you by featuring the most decadent, rich, chocolaty dessert on the face of the earth. That’s right, screw you smoothies! This recipe is an adaptation from a recipe my future Mother-in-Law gave me over Christmas. It was given to her a few years ago by her friend who sadly is no longer with us. My future Mother-in-Law was nice enough to give us some fudge over the holidays and I quickly fell in love (with the fudge…well, and I guess with her too!). She was kind enough to give me the recipe and I had to adapt it to include one of my favourite candy’s ever – Cadbury Mini Eggs! The original recipe called for chopped nuts, but I figured Mini Eggs were crunchy too – so why the heck not? I cannot begin to describe how unbelievable this fudge is. It’s seriously the best fudge I’ve ever tasted. Like, EVER. And that’s not the 2 week smoothie diet talking. It’s soft, sweet and oh, so rich. A little square goes a long way. Topped with the fact that there are delicious morsels of Mini Eggs inside, well my taste buds simply can’t handle it! I actually went into a mini chocolate coma yesterday. Truth.

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Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Stuffed Cupcakes

Claudia's Cookbook - Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Stuffed Cupcakes 17

June is my favourite month. Summer is in full swing, dinner and drinks on the patio, and my birthday. Yes, my birthday. It’s truly my favourite holiday. I even take the day off work and treat myself to a sleep in, guilty pleasure TV and perhaps even a spa treatment if I’m able to get in. In my friend group there are three of us who have June birthdays, and we had the opportunity to get together last night to celebrate. I figured it isn’t a true birthday celebration without cake, so I decided to poll my friends to see which flavour cupcake they wanted me to make. Well, with a tie between chocolate and red velvet, I decided to mix it up and make these delicious Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Stuffed Cupcakes! I chose right – they were a total hit! There were even a couple loud statements claiming they were “the best cupcakes I have ever had!” You can’t get much better than that. These cupcakes are rich, decadent and moist. A total treat for birthday’s, holidays or any day of the week!

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The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies in the World

You may think the title of this post is a little, let’s say, aggressive. There are a million different chocolate chip recipes out there, and how could I possibly possess the one for the best chocolate chip cookies in the world? Well, I have proof…sort of. You see, ever since I was a little girl, Claudia made this particular cookie recipe. You can actually see me helping out in the picture to the right of this post! Every time I would bring these cookies to school for a snack, my friends would go insane. They LOVED Claudia’s chocolate chip cookies. Who could blame them? They are moist, chocolatey and absolutely delicious. Unfortunately, they are also adapted from the NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® cookie recipe and not a guarded family secret. I could have made millions! Regardless, these cookies and this recipe continue to be a fantastic childhood memory. Oh, and the cookie dough isn’t half bad tasting either. But you didn’t hear that from me.

A few weeks ago I babysat my best friend’s 4-year old daughter, Julia. I figured there was no better time to make my favourite childhood recipe than with one of my favourite kids. Julia is probably one of the smartest 4-year olds in the world. She also was nursing a broken elbow, so I figured she needed some fun (and sugar). Baking with kids takes a lot of patience…and clean up. I had a blast, but as you can tell, the photographs came second in this baking experience.

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Chocolate Chow Mein Clusters

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, “I ate three times my body weight in holiday baking a mere month ago. Why would I want to bake and eat any more – especially when my New Years Resolution is to eat healthy?!” I hear what you are saying and feel the same way. Except when I am faced with these amazing chocolatey treats (like last night when I went over to my parents for dinner) and throw all my good eating intentions out the window.

Claudia has made these little treats for Christmas for as long as I can remember. I don’t know how it’s possible, but I seem to fall further and further in love with them every year. They are probably one of the simplest desserts to make and fulfill even the biggest chocolate cravings. Sweet with a hint of salty, these crunchy gems are a must try.  You will thank me – I promise!

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Monster Cookies

Although Claudia’s chocolate chip cookies were the ultimate staple dessert in our house while growing up, monster cookies were a close second. As you can see in the picture to the right, I was quite a fan of the cookie dough while baking. I’m not entirely sure where I got the idea that eating raw cookie dough was a good idea. I blame my Dad. After all, he was always the one who would say “Jaime, can you make me some cookies”.  I was 5.  All I knew in the end was that cookie dough tasted amazing, and so do these easy Monster Cookies.

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