Kahlua Chocolate Cake

First off, apologies for letting it be so long (almost a week!) since my last post. Time flies when you're not getting much done!

Now, onto... cake! I first had this when hanging out with a couple friends on Valentine's Day two years ago. We were missing one of the ingredients - the sour cream, I think? - and it still came out pretty yummy, but if you get this recipe right, it's perfectly moist and chocolatey.

Ingredients

1 box devil's food cake mix
1 small (4-serving size) box chocolate instant pudding mix
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup Kahlua

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine all ingredients except the chips in a large bowl. Blend well and beat either by hand or on medium speed with electric mixer for 4 minutes. Stir in the chips.

Pour cake batter into greased 10" tube or Bundt pan and bake for 45-55 minutes or until cake tests done. Let sit in pan until slightly cooled (10-20 minutes) before removing the cake.

Blah blah blah

This cake is so good that it doesn't need frosting, but if you wanted something super-decadent I think a ganache frosting would be a great way to go. And though you do have to let this cool a little bit to get the cake out of the pan without breaking it, eat it warm!

Quigley's Cookies

The story of how I invented these cookies is a long, complicated tale that - okay, it isn't; I was bored, craving sweets, and my mom mocked the way I pronounced the name "Quigley" (I said it kinda like, quig-uh-lee. Hey, I think it's cute). Thus, deliciousness was to be had.

Some credit should go to Jif and to Tollhouse; this recipe is basically a mash-up of their respective peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies recipe. Because of the cinnamon-sugar coating, these are also part snickerdoodle.

Ingredients

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
3 tbsp milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 egg

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 2/3 cups chocolate chips

1 tbsp plus 1 tsp white (granulated) sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 375F.

In a large bowl, combine the peanut butter, shortening, brown sugar, milk and vanilla until well-blended. Add the egg and beat just until blended.

In another medium bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking soda. Add to the peanut butter mixture (by hand, or on low speed if using a mixer) just until blended.

Stir in the chocolate chips (I find using a large spatula the easiest for mixing in the chips).

On a plate or in a shallow bowl, combine the granulated sugar and cinnamon until thoroughly mixed. Roll tablespoonfuls of cookie dough into balls, then roll them in the cinnamon-sugar until coated on all sides. Bake on ungreased baking sheets for 12-14 minutes or until browned.