dark cocoa powder

I toasted the rolled oats called for in Ms. Fields's recipe, just to get a little more texture out of them. Make sure the mixture is hot when you drop the cookies or the texture will be too crumbly.

Kelly Fields’S Haystack Cookies

dark cocoa powder/28 grams

evaporated milk/60 grams

salt/1 gram

vanilla extract/5 grams

Kelly Fields’s Haystack Cookies

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spread rolled oats on a baking sheet and toast for 20 to 30 minutes, until slightly darker and toasty smelling. Remove from heat.

Line baking sheets or your work surface with parchment or wax paper. In a heavy saucepan, combine sugar, butter, cocoa powder, evaporated milk and salt and bring to a boil, stirring. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract, oats and coconut.

Immediately drop the warm mixture by scant tablespoons onto parchment or wax paper. Allow to cool and store in a tin.

Chocolate and caramel is a match made in heaven and makes for a special breakfast treat. The soft, light, fluffy, moist buttermilk pancakes are the perfect sponges for the sweet and lightly salted caramel sauce. Recipe may be doubled and extra pancakes can be frozen and reheated for busy mornings. Chocolate, it’s what’s for breakfast.

Chocolate Buttermilk Pancakes with Homemade Salted Caramel Sauce

all-purpose flour

cocoa powder (I used

Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa Powder)

sugar

light brown sugar, packed

cinnamon

baking powder

baking soda

salt, optional

buttermilk

canola or vegetable oil

vanilla extract

water

heavy cream

rum, optional

butter (half of 1 stick, salted or unsalted may be used)

kosher salt, or

For the Pancakes – In a large mixing...

For the Pancakes – In a large mixing bowl, whisk together first 8 dry ingredients (through optional salt); set aside.

In a large measuring cup or bowl, whisk...

In a large measuring cup or bowl, whisk together final 4 wet ingredients.

Add wet to dry, and fold gently to...

Add wet to dry, and fold gently to combine. Don’t overmix; batter will be lumpy. It’s a thick batter, but if it’s too thick for your liking, add a splash of additional buttermilk to thin it.

Spray a large non-stick skillet with cooking spray,...

Spray a large non-stick skillet with cooking spray, and place over medium heat.

Using a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop or spoon that’s...

Using a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop or spoon that’s been sprayed with cooking spray (helps batter to slide right off), place heaping 2-tablespoon mounds of batter in skillet. Cook pancakes on first side for about 3 minutes, flip and cook on second side for about 2 minutes, or until done. Repeat until all batter is gone, respraying both skillet and scoop with cooking spray as necessary.

Serve pancakes immediately with butter, syrup, or your...

Serve pancakes immediately with butter, syrup, or your favorite topping. If making the salted caramel sauce, place pancakes on a baking sheet and keep them in a preheated 250F oven while making the sauce so they stay warm. Pancakes can be wrapped or kept airtight in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 4 months.

For the Salted Caramel Sauce – In a...

For the Salted Caramel Sauce – In a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan with tall enough sides to accommodate the mixture when it starts bubbling, combine the sugar and water. Heat over medium-low heat until the sugar dissolves, stirring occasionally.

Increase the heat to medium-high and bring mixture...

Increase the heat to medium-high and bring mixture to a boil without stirring. Using caution, use a wet pastry brush or damp paper towel to wipe down any crystals that are clinging to the sides of the saucepan. Failure to remove them could result in a grainy sauce. Boil until the mixture is a deep amber color, about 5 to 6 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat, and using...

Remove the pan from the heat, and using caution, whisk in the cream. The mixture will bubble up vigorously.

Add the vanilla and optional rum. It will...

Add the vanilla and optional rum. It will bubble again.

Stir in the butter and salt to taste;...

Stir in the butter and salt to taste; or omit salt for regular caramel sauce. If using table salt rather than Kosher salt, add less because it’s finer-grained and 1 teaspoon of table salt is much saltier tasting than 1 teaspoon of Kosher salt.

Transfer caramel to a glass or heatproof jar...

Transfer caramel to a glass or heatproof jar with a lid. Caramel sauce will keep airtight for many months in the refrigerator.

Say hello to tasty and cute! This Neapolitan Cake has strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate cake batters swirled together for an ice cream parlor-themed treat. I used four 6-inch round cake pans, but three 8-inch pans could be used instead. The cake batter recipe is adapted from Rebecca Sutterby’s White Almond Sour Cream Cake, which uses a box of white cake mix as an ingredient. Unlike her recipe, I use no cooking oil in my version. The texture is still moist and soft with a slightly sturdier crumb. You can use any brand boxed cake mix you prefer.The ice cream decors pictured are made with the multicolor cones from Mellow Cones candies. I removed the marshmallow candy topping and piped in a Neapolitan buttercream swirl (see blog post for shopping link). If you can’t find Mellow Cones, use miniature ice cream cones, which can be found at most US grocery stores next to the ice cream toppings.

Neapolitan Cake

white cake mix (16.25 oz.)

salt

sour cream

eggs

McCormick strawberry extract

neon pink gel food color (such as Chefmaster)

unsweet dark cocoa powder (sifted)

fine grain salt

unsalted butter

vanilla

pink soft gel food color (such as Chefmaster)

semisweet chocolate chips (melted and cooled slightly)

ice cream cones (or the cones from Mellow Cones candies)

white nonpareils

bright pink candy melting wafers (about 1/2 bag)

white candy melting wafers

strawberry candy flavoring oil (such as Lorann)

pink jimmies

Preheat oven to 350F. Coat four 6-inch round cake pans with flour-based baking spray (or grease and flour pans).

Whisk together the first 4 ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer. In a four-cup measure with a pour spout, whisk together the sour cream, water, eggs and vanilla extract. With the mixer running on low speed, gradually pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients. Scrape the bowl down and mix again. Divide the cake evenly between 3 bowls.

To the first bowl, add the strawberry extract and pink food color; mix well.

To the second bowl, stir in the dark cocoa powder and water. Mix until the chocolate is incorporated and the color is consistent with no white streaks remaining.

Leave the third bowl untinted.

Place dollops of each flavor of cake batter alternately into each prepared cake pan (or pipe them in as I did, see video for action). Use a butter knife or another blunt kitchen tool to swirl the batters together.

Bake for 25- 30 minutes, or until the cake springs back in the center when pressed. Turn the cakes out and cool completely on a wire rack. Level the cakes using a serrated knife or cake leveler.

Marbled Neapolitan cake layers

Place a saucepan filled 1/3 full of water over medium heat. Bring to a simmer.

In a large stainless-steel bowl, combine the egg whites, sugar, and salt. Set the bowl over the simmering water and cook while whisking intermittently. Cook until the mixture is hot (110°F) and you can no longer feel sugar granules when the mixture is rubbed between your finger and thumb. Transfer the hot mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on high speed for 10 minutes or until a thick, shiny meringue forms that holds stiff peaks. The bowl should feel cool to the touch. If it doesn’t, refrigerate the meringue in the bowl for 10 minutes. Return the bowl to the mixer and swap the whisk attachment for the paddle attachment.

Beat the room temperature butter into the meringue one cube at a time on medium-low speed, waiting to add the next cube when the previous cube disappears. The batter will deflate with the butter addition, and may even look curdled (if the butter was the slightest bit cold this happens), but this is normal. When all of the butter is added, beat the mixture on high speed until light in color and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the vanilla extract.

Remove 1 cup of buttercream to a bowl and cover; reserve for later.

Place a cake layer on a cake board or server. Fill with a thin layer of buttercream. Repeat steps with remaining cake layers. Coat the sides of the cake with an even layer of buttercream. Use a bench scraper or cake smoother to even the surface and smooth the top. Chill the cake until firm, about 20 minutes.

Divide the reserved 1 cup of icing between 3 small bowls (1/3 cup each bowl).

To the first bowl, add the pink food color and strawberry extract. Mix well to combine.

To the second bowl, add the melted chocolate chips and stir well. Leave the third bowl plain.

Place a sheet of plastic wrap on a work surface. Place a line of strawberry buttercream on the plastic in an approximate 6-inch line. Place a line of chocolate frosting next to the strawberry so that it touches. Place the vanilla frosting next to the chocolate in the same way. Roll the frosting up into a tube shape (see video for action) and twist the ends. Snip one end of the tube and place it cut-side-first into a piping bag fitted with a large open star decorator tip.

On a piece of scrap parchment paper, or a paper towel, pipe 2-3 small swirls of frosting until all three colors begin to extrude from the piping tip.

Swiss meringue buttercream

Stand the miniature ice cream cones upright in small shot glasses.

Pipe swirls of the Neapolitan frosting into the miniature ice cream cones; top each with white nonpareils. Refrigerate until set, about 10 minutes.

Mini ice cream decors

Place the pink and white melting wafers in a microwave-safe bowl. Pour in the heavy cream. Heat the mixture for 1 minute at 100% power. Let the mixture stand 1 minute then whisk together. Stir in the strawberry flavoring oil. Let cool until barely warm but still pourable, about 7 minutes.

Remove the chilled cake from the refrigerator and spoon the strawberry ganache drip over the top of the cake. You may not have to use all of the ganache, depending on how heavy a drip you desire (I used about 3/4 of the mixture).

Strawberry ganache drip

Place the ice cream cones on top of the ganached cake with the pointed ends meeting in the center of the cake. Toss pink sprinkles and white nonpareils onto the sides and top of the cake.

Refrigerate the cake until 1-2 hours before serving. Allow cake to come to room temperature before serving for the best flavor and texture.

Decorate!

Top 3 dark cocoa powder recipes from across the web

The most viewed dark cocoa powder recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine

Top Tags

Kelly Fields’S Haystack Cookies

Chocolate Buttermilk Pancakes with ...

Neapolitan Cake

Top 3 dark cocoa powder recipes from across the web

The most viewed dark cocoa powder recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Kelly Fields’S Haystack Cookies

Chocolate Buttermilk Pancakes with ...

Neapolitan Cake

The most viewed dark cocoa powder recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine