Homemade Chocolate Raviolis

Pasta and Chocolate?! End of story!

 

When I found out how easy it would be to take the pasta I have been making, add some cocoa powder and voila! Chocolate pasta! I knew I had to make some. I highly recommend using a pasta attachment on your KitchenAid in order to make this because the dough needs to be very thin.

 

 

 

Prep Time: 45 Min

Cook Time: 10-15 Min

 

Ingredients

 

- 1 1/2 cup flour

- 1/4 cup cocoa powder

- 3 tbs sugar (I used evaporated cane juice)

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 3 eggs

- additional flour for rolling/shaping

- Filling: I used bananas with brown sugar and cinnamon. I also filled some with peanut butter.

- Chocolate sauce: You could just melt chocolate and drizzle. I mixed chocolate with a little coconut milk and shredded coconut and then whisked over low heat on the stove top.

- Powdered sugar

 

Directions

 

- Combine the flour, cocoa, sugar, salt and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Knead and then allow to rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes

- Using your pasta attachment, run the dough through multiple times to get very thin. You can break the dough into 4 small balls to make it easier to run through the machine.

 

 

- Lay the dough on a floured surface and cut out circles or squares to shape raviolis

- Place the filling inside the shapes and top with another

 

 

- Press the edges together with a fork to seal

- When ready, boil in some water with sugar for about 10 minutes until tender

- Top with chocolate sauce and powdered sugar

- If you are saving the ravioli for another day and plan on freezing it, be sure to freeze the pieces individually on a baking sheet before combining them or they will be become mush. I know from experience!

 

 

*NOTE* To make the banana filling, in a small pan, saute 2 bananas sliced with some brown sugar and cinnamon for about 5 minutes until tender. Place in a bowl in the fridge until ready to use.

 

With my leftover dough, I put it through the fettuccine attachment and made some chocolate fettuccine for future use!

 

 

 



Pumpkin Pecan Cookies

I stumbled upon this cookie recipe while in the bulk food aisle of Whole Foods; I knew I could use up the leftover pumpkin puree I had in the fridge. The cookies turned out to be yummy and nutritious. I added a chocolate drizzle because there is no sugar added to the cookies and I like mine to have a little sweetness. The recipe calls for orange juice which has a lot of sugar naturally; I ended up using an orange carrot juice blend instead with a little less sugar. I would suggest adding a tablespoon or two of maple syrup to the cookies for additional flavor depth. The original recipe also called for one cup of chopped pitted dates which I did not utilize and added some dried cranberries instead.

Pumpkin Pecan Cookies with Chocolate Drizzle

 

 

Prep Time: 10 Min

Cook Time: 20 Min

 

Ingredients

 

- 2 cups pecans

- 1/2 cup oats

- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

- 1 tsp baking soda

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 2 tsp cinnamon

- 1 tsp cloves

 - 3/4 cup pureed pumpkin

- 3/4 cup of orange juice (I used an orange carrot juice blend with less sugar)

- 2 tsp vanilla extract

- 1/4 cup dried cranberries

- chocolate drizzle (optional)

 

Directions

 

- Preheat oven to 375 F

- In a food processor or blender, pulse pecans and oats about 20 times until a coarse meal forms

- Add flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and cloves and pulse another 20 times to mix well

- Transfer to a large mixing bowl

- Add pumpkin, orange juice, vanilla and cranberries

 

 

 

- Stir to mix well. Mixture will be kind of thick like a frosting

- Drop on a lightly greased baking sheet in about 2 tbs size drops. Flatten the batter slightly to shape.

- Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom.

- Makes about 8 cookies.

- Drizzle with melted chocolate and refrigerate, if desired





 

 

Chocolate Bourbon Balls

For those of you that were at my Kentucky Derby Party this year, you will definitely remember the Chocolate Bourbon Balls...for those of you that were late, you didn't stand a chance :) These things were flying off the table and they were addicting, you couldn't have just one. Bourbon balls are a Derby Day staple. Never having previously made them, I got my recipe from browneyedbaker. 



You can see the bourbon balls in the center of the table, behind my roasted goat cheese summer salad.

Prep Time: 25 Min

Cook Time: 30 Min (to let sit, before forming into balls)

Ingredients

- 2 1/2 cups vanilla wafers, crushed into crumb size pieces

- 1/2 cup powdered sugar

- 1 cup of pecans, finely chopped

- 3/4 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

- 1/2 cup bourbon

- 3 tbs light corn syrup

- granulated sugar, for rolling

Directions

- Combine wafers, powdered sugar and pecans into a large bowl. Stir to combine.

- Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave, 30 second increments, stirring between each until melted

- Stir the bourbon and corn syrup into the chocolate

- Combine the chocolate mixture to the wafer mixture. Stir well to combine

- Let mixture sit for 30 minutes

- Spread granulated sugar on a plate or in a small bowl

- Roll the mixture into 1-inch balls, then roll in the granulated sugar to coat.

- Place balls in an airtight container and let sit overnight to allow flavors to develop. If the chocolate appears melty, place container in fridge until ready to serve. Enjoy!
- Makes about 25-30 servings