Chocolate Amaretto Bars

This is by far my least favorite as of now... It's one of those recipes where you can't avoid the almonds, and not only am I allergic but I also don't like them. My parents LOVE this recipe, but I really don't... I found it dull and bland, despite all the chocolate. The almonds were just overwhelming. >< The recipe was odd too. The crust is made of simply flour, butter, and brown sugar. The filling honestly looks like someone ate too many almonds and chocolate chips and vomited it up. (Sorry to be so graphic in a food blog, but it's true.) There was 1/4 cup of amaretto liqueur called for in the recipe (or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract, but I figured since these are amaretto bars they should have amaretto liquer). Thanks to my dad for buying the liqueur for me - I couldn't find anything small enough for what I needed, and I was kind of reluctant to spend almost $10 on a bottle of alcohol I was only going to use a little bit of.

Anyway, as far as a rating, I'd have to give this a 2 out of 5... That is slightly generous, but I feel that it would be unfair to penalize the recipe for being comprised mostly of an ingredient I'm allergic to and don't like. Like I said, my parents love these bars though. I suppose it really is a matter of personal taste. If you love almonds and chocolate, this is right up your alley.

Cheers!

~Jesia

Cookie Pops

The picture does not do justice to how huge these cookies are. o_o The recipe calls for using a 1/4 cup mound of dough and putting a stick in the side. As you might imagine, a whole 1/4 cup of dough makes a large cookie. These have chocolate chips, oatmeal, and raisins in them, and they're decorated with frosting, candy, and sprinkles. ^-^ I could've gotten more creative with piping bags and colored icing, but my day was already pretty hectic, so I opted for a more basic decor. I don't like raisins, myself, but these cookies are yummy. The cookies themselves are pretty thick since they're so packed with stuff, and the icing makes them especially sweet. The recipe called for using wooden craft sticks (popsicle sticks) but I couldn't find any at Wal-Mart, so I opted for the Wilton 8" lollipop sticks instead. They worked out great! The cookies actually hold quite well on the sticks.

These cookies would be great for a party, especially for kids' birthdays or holidays. I'd give them... 3 1/2 out of 5, at least. Wow, so this is the end of the recipes of March. I've finished 19 recipes, and there are 50 left to enjoy throughout the rest of the year. Wish me luck!

Cheers!

~Jesia

Milk Chocolate Florentine Cookies

The cookies by themselves are plain but good. What makes them chocolatey is sandwiching them together with melted milk chocolate. Mmmm. <3 These are chewy yet crispy, which sort of reminds me of toffee. The batter was no trouble to make, but it does thicken up after standing a while which can make it difficult to spread like the recipe says. A couple of tips: 1. Make sure they're done enough; I recommend baking until at least the edges are browned. 2. When the cookies are cooled, peel the foil from the cookies instead of trying to peel the cookies from the foil. If the cookies aren't quite all the way done, they're more difficult to peel off and you'll end up leaving some of the cookie on the foil. =( But, even if this happens, it won't show once you sandwich the cookies with chocolate. And no worries if some of them break into a couple pieces - just piece them back together on the chocolate and it'll firm up that way. =)

These are tastyy~ I'd give them a 4 out of 5. <3 Yum yum. ^.^

Cheers!

~Jesia

Swirl-of-Chocolate Cheesecake Triangles

I'm not really into cream cheese or cheesecake, but this is tasty. <3 I've also never made cheesecake before, and while this isn't an actual cheesecake it does come close. You start with a graham cracker crust and pour cream cheese filling on top and swirl in a mixture of cream cheese filling and chocolate. Mmmm... This wasn't a difficult recipe. I had my apprentice Lucas crush up the graham crackers in the same way I did with the Chocolate Raspberry Layer Bars (in a gallon Ziploc bag with a rolling pin). Both the filling and the crust are easy to make, but since I had no prior experience with cheesecake-making I couldn't be absolutely sure when it was done baking. I just used my intuition; the recipe said to bake until it appeared set.

Like I said, these are yummmmy. They aren't fancy, but they're tasty. My parents love these. I'd give this recipe a 4 out of 5. To me, the chocolate is the best part. I just wish it was a little more diluted, spread out. As is, the swirls of chocolate are really rich, which is fine. This recipe came at a good time, because one of my best friends turned 21 last weekend, and her favorite dessert is cheesecake. =) Tonight we're celebrating hers and my other friend Caitlin's birthdays. Happy birthday Sara and Caitlin! <3

Cheers!

~Jesia <3

Chocolate Mini Chip Holiday Cookies

Mmm, these are gooood. <3 Very very sweet with chocolate and icing. I made this recipe for my fish's "birthday," so they were all fish-shaped. =3 The only problem I had was with rolling the dough, but I've always had trouble with that, especially when it's right from the fridge. Luckily, Luke was there to do the rolling (he's stronger than me). He also helped me decorate. =) That's the best part of cut-out cookies is decorating them. They're a lot like sugar cookies in that they're dense and easy to break (depending on the shape you cut out). They were a big hit at the party; there were only a few left at the end of the night. I'd give this recipe 4 1/2 out of 5. They're yummy. <3

Cheers! And happy birthday, Lambda Driver!

~Jesia