Do you want a breakfast treat for this Valentine weekend? You can make your own pop tarts! These are so rich and fudgy! They have a wonderful deep chocolate flavor – you could also use them for a dessert or snack – yep – they are that good!

This recipe was the monthly baking challenge on Sally’s Baking Addiction blog, so the directions are very thorough and there is also a video to help guide you through the steps.

Such a fun recipe to try! It is one you need to start early – or the day before – because total time is about 4 hours, including the chilling. My favorite way to eat these is to warm them up in the microwave about 20 seconds – just enough to warm the pastry tart and to make it gooey! Happy Valentine’s Day!

For the recipe and complete instructions, click on the link below:

It is National Chocolate Cake Day! What is your favorite kind of chocolate cake? Here are some of our favorites:

Enjoy your day!!!!

Cocoa Bombs are very popular this winter! Many bakeries and specialty food stores offered a holiday version to give as gifts or to enjoy! Did you know you can make your own? We still have a few months of wintery weather here – and hot chocolate is always a welcome treat after spending time out in the cold. If you do a search for Cocoa Bombs online or on Pinterest you will find literally hundreds of recipes with so many creative variations.

While they are relatively “easy”, there is a learning curve. I think you should read over several recipes and see which ones would work for you. It will depend on what type of chocolate you like, what type of mold you want to use and the flavorings you want on the inside. I grated up semi-sweet chocolate bars, used a silicone mold, Nestle hot chocolate mix and mini-marshmallows in mine.

Then I drizzled them with melted chocolate and added sprinkles. Ready for fun – place the Cocoa Bomb in a mug or cup.

Then pour 8-16 ounces of hot water or hot milk over the cocoa bomb and watch it slowly melt to reveal all the goodies inside. Stir and enjoy. Try pouring hot coffee over a cocoa bomb for a tasty mocha drink.

I made some of these for Christmas and added crushed peppermint on the inside and outside.

Be creative – Valentine’s Day will offer a whole new theme for decorating these!

Below are links for the basic directions:

https://boulderlocavore.com/hot-chocolate-bombs-recipe/

https://sugargeekshow.com/recipe/shiny-chocolate-bombs-with-marshmallows/

My Notes:

1. I melted the grated chocolate in 15 second intervals in the microwave and stopped when the chocolate was almost melted, then stirred until the chocolate was smooth. You don’t want to overheat the chocolate.
2. I used the back of a spoon to coat the silicone mold and used a 1/4″ brush to fill in the spots that were missed.
3. Then I placed in the refrigerator about 15 minutes. Many recipes say to pop in the freezer for about 5 minutes, but it seems to make the chocolate brittle and most of my shells that I put in the freezer broke when I was trying to assemble them.
4. Repeat, applying a second coat of chocolate and refrigerate until firm. Run a bench scraper across the top of the domes to smooth the upper edges. Gently remove the domes from the mold. If some break, just melt the pieces and try again.
5. I put cupcake liners in a cupcake tin and placed half of the domes in the liners, then fill each of those with 1 tablespoon hot chocolate mix and 1 tablespoon marshmallows.
6. One at time, dip the remaining domes into remaining melted chocolate and place on top of a filled dome. You can also pipe or use a knife to place a thin bead of chocolate around the edge of the filled dome and gently press together. Fill the spots that were missed with melted chocolate (making sure it is not too warm – or it might melt the shell- and create a larger hole). You can smooth out the chocolate with the back of warm spoon or your finger.
7. Place back in the refrigerator for about 5 minutes to firm up chocolate.
8. Drizzle with additional chocolate and decorate with sprinkles, mini-marshmallows, crushed candy canes, etc. The drizzle and sprinkles can easily hide all the imperfections! No one will ever know!!!
9. To serve, place the cocoa bomb in a mug or cup and pour very hot water, milk or coffee over it. Watch the bomb “explode”, then stir and enjoy!