HOMEMADE CHOCOLATE CAKE from Liv for Cake

This comes from Liv For Cake. It turned out good. It's yet another one that uses cocoa powder, this time Dutch process kind, vegetable oil and boiling water. I made half in a 9"x1.5" round pan. It was a little too much batter for the pan and took 26 minutes to bake. I did use one less tablespoon of cocoa. It's a sticky cake so make sure you line you cake pan/pans fully with foil that's been sprayed with nonstick spray. It's very moist. I used my own frosting recipe.

I give this 5 stars and would make it again.

BEST DOUBLE CHOCOLATE MUFFINS from Also the Crumbs Please

 

This recipe is from Also the Crumbs Please. They're made with Dutch process cocoa, vegetable oil and buttermilk ( I used homemade). This is the second time I made half a batch. The first time they were overcooked at 14 minutes on 350 (I got 10) so this time I baked them on 325 degrees and it took 16 or 17 minutes for 9. Make sure you fill muffin cups no more than 2/3 of the way or they'll likely bake up and spread out onto your pan and stick, like these did at the lower temperature. I had to loosen them up with a toothpick before I could remove them from the pan.

I didn't bake them on a very high temperature for a few minutes like the recipe said to do. Doing that is to help them rise quicker and get a domed top, which I care nothing about. This second time they turned out perfectly. They're even moist the very next day after being in an airtight container, which is very very rare for a chocolate muffin, in my experience. I made a thick glaze for these.

I give these 5 stars. I've made them about 4 times now, including just 1/4 of the original recipe (which makes 5) and they're my favorite of all-time.

THE BEST OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIES from Modern Honey

This comes from Modern Honey. I made half and they taste great....because I added double the salt. I used half the amount of vanilla and that's all that was needed. I used half the amount of raisins and added 1/2 c. chopped, toasted pecans. I got 29 1 T./1.5" diameter dough balls. My dough sat out 30 minutes before baking and they didn't spread as much as the ones on the website even though I baked them at a lower temperature, 350 F, which should have caused them to possibly spread a little more.

I have a bone to pick with the recipe creator. Most recipes use room temperature unsalted butter and she didn't say which type to use and if it should be at room temperature. Someone left her a comment asking if they could use unsalted butter instead of salted, as if the recipe originally stated to use salted. As it's written today, she doesn't specify. And her tip to plump up dried raisins, such as ones hard from being frozen or refrigerated, has you soaking them in hot water for too long. You only need to soak them in hot water for 3-5 minutes, then drain and blot dry.

I don't know how to grade these. Without the extra salt these would have been way too sweet and they're perfectly fine with half the vanilla. And the issue I have with salted vs. unsalted butter, I'd grade that part of the recipe a C/D. I'm not new to baking but for those who are, they'd have been really confused and likely would have just gone with another recipe. I've had issues with two of the three cookie recipes I've made from this site and I'm not comfortable making anything more for it as I don't trust it.

EASY CHICKEN CROQUETTES

These come from Food.com. I made half the recipe twice using one average size boneless, skinless chicken breast. I got six croquettes using a slightly heaping 1/4 c. ice cream scoop. I didn't add the suggested onion or celery because stuffing mix has all that in it already and usually too much of it. These are good, they taste just like whichever stuffing you use. I only use Stove Top low sodium chicken stuffing. These would probably be good with cream of potato soup in place of cream of chicken. I made chicken gravy for them using one tablespoon butter, one tablespoon flour, and 1/2 c. low sodium chicken broth added after the butter and flour mixture thickened, and a pinch of pepper.

I do think the bread in the stuffing needs to be broken up more so the patties hold together better, and make sure your chicken is chopped finely too. The second time I made these they didn't want to hold together because of the size of my chicken pieces.

I give these 5 stars. I'm not sure the egg is necessary in this.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES WITH CRISCO from This Is Not Diet Food

 

This recipe is from This Is Not Diet Food. I made half and used equal parts butter flavored shortening and regular. Not a fan of butter flavored shortening. I got 20 1T./1.5" dough balls. I used 1/2 c. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1/2 c. chopped toasted pecans. The first batch was a little overbaked at 10 minutes so the rest got baked for 9 minutes, 45 seconds. 

I give these 4 stars. I'd made them again using plain shortening and less salt because they're too salty.

SPEEDY BROWNIES from Just a Pinch

This awful recipe is from Just a Pinch. These are made with melted shortening and cocoa powder. They don't taste good at all and the top has that dreaded hard layer. I ate two and threw the other four away. I do like the texture of these. I think they took 22 minutes to bake in an 8" square pan.

I give these 1 star.

CHOCOLATE VELVET CAKE from Rock Recipes

This recipe is from Rock Recipes. It uses cocoa powder, vegetable oil and shortening, no butter. They turned out great. I made half and got 12. They baked in 18 minutes. I made my own frosting for it and made a second frosting for it using Dutch process cocoa powder, which I spooned over the frosted cupcakes. The recipe just says "cocoa powder" yet in the comment section the author told someone who asked about it to use Dutch process, so that's what I used, Hershey's Special Dark Dutch process. I doubled the vanilla extract to 1 teaspoon. I used homemade cake flour and homemade buttermilk.

I give these 4.5 stars. These are good but not the best I've had. They're very moist and the next day were just as moist as the day I'd made them.

 

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE DROPS from Crisco

This recipe is from Crisco Canada. The cookies use all shortening. I used regular, not butter flavored. I made half the recipe and I used slightly less vanilla than called for. I used 1/2 c. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips. I got 28 1 T./1.5" dough balls. The dough is very soft and you'll need to refrigerate your dough at least 90 minutes before you can scoop it out with a cookie scoop. I waited 60 minutes and the dough stuck a little to the scoop. My cold dough balls baked in 9 minutes. They spread out nicely and I've got no complaints other than they need a pinch more salt. The recipe said for rounded tablespoons of dough, bake 10-11 but mine weren't rounded and took only 9. At 9 minutes, even after cooling, they're crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. 30 seconds more they'd have been crunchy (overcooked) throughout. 

I give these 5 stars.

MMM-MMM BETTER BROWNIES from All Recipes

These come from All Recipes. I made these several times over ten years ago but couldn't remember what they tasted like. They're made with oil. They definitely aren't worth making again. They don't have much flavor at all. They do have a nice, soft consistency but have the hard crusty top that I hate. 

I give these 2 stars. 

SPRITZ COOKIES from Pillsbury

This recipe gets 1 star from me. It comes from Pillsbury. Spritz cookies use a cookie press. The dough's not supposed to spread out or puff up much because they'll lose their shape. This dough did all the things it's not supposed to do. The flavor is good. They baked in 6.5 minutes. I added lemon extract in place of almond. I added 1/4 t. vanilla extract too and made just half the recipe. I divided the dough in half and baked half to see how they'd do. I'm not happy that they spread so I made slice 'n bake cookies with the other half of the dough. I baked them 7.5 minutes but that was a little too long. There's no point in baking cute small shapes if they'll bake up differently. A quarter of the full recipe will yield 8 slice 'n bake cookies but I don't know how thickly I cut the slices.

ONE POT SPANISH CHICKEN AND RICE from Creme de la Crumb

This is a good recipe and comes from Creme de la Crumb. I made half the rice, omitting lemon, and I added 1/8 t. red pepper flakes, and that was almost too much. There's too much smoked paprika and salt in this and I used less than called for. Other than that this is very good. I baked a piece of boneless chicken breast without adding Spanish seasoning to it, shredded it and added it to the cooked rice.

I give this 4.5 stars.

RICE PUDDING from Chow Hound

This stovetop, eggless rice pudding recipe comes from Chow Hound. I made half. The liquid-to-rice ratio was perfect but the rice wasn't nearly cooked in the time given, and it's cooked uncovered, which is a no-no with rice. I added chopped canned peaches near the end of the cooking time.

Because the cooking time was totally messed up, I give this 3 stars or so. You need to cover this and let it simmer for at least twenty minutes, then check the rice for doneness and go from there.