Do you have any dried cranberries or cherries? How about some cranberry-hazelnut or cherry-pecan biscotti? They'd taste so good with tomorrow morning's tea or coffee.

I've been itching to make these chocolate graham cracker muffins, but haven't had any chocolate grahams in the house. If you make them, let me know how they turn out!

Chocolate Graham Muffins
From the Essential Eating Well Cookbook

1 cup chocolate graham cracker crumbs
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup buttermilk
3 Tbs canola oil
1 tsp instant coffee powder
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400, and coat 12 muffin cups with cooking spray. In a small bowl, whisk eggs and sugars together until smooth. Add buttermilk, vanilla, oil, and coffee powder. Whisk..

In larger bowl, combine all remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Add wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Spoon batter into muffin tin, and bake until tops spring back when touched lightly -- 15-25 minutes. Transfer to rack to cool.

Makes 12 muffins -- Per muffin, 215 calories, 7 G fat, 4 G protein, 2 G fiber

You should freeze nuts so they don't become rancid.

I'd use some of the lemon sugar, the macadamias, & the white chocolate & make bread pudding! Yummm

A lot of your ingredients can be combined with a bit of butter & flour (or oats) to make a struedel topping for coffeecakes and/or muffins.

I'll work on the rest...

/tricia

Ruthanna, I don't have any cranberries or cherries, but it was a good thought!

fearlessem, Thanks for the recipe! I may just try this, since I think I have everything needed, and I especially like the addition of whole wheat flour. I'll let you know how it turns out.

khandi, I agree with you about freezing nuts for the most part. (There are plenty stashed in my freezer as well.) I popped the top on my vacuum sealed jars however, and they're still good to go. Since no air got to them, they can still be used.

Thanks tricia, but bread pudding isn't really one of my favorites. (I know that's hard for some to fathom, but there it is.) Instead, here's what I made this afternoon instead:

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Orange cupcakes with a chocolate ganache frosting, filled with chocolate creme. Not beautiful specimens, but certainly good enough to eat! I've been working on filling cupcakes with a pastry bag and icing tip, since I wanted to make a throw-back to my childhood lunchbox treats. These fit the bill as I was able to use up some marshamallow creme and semi-sweet chocolate. I could definitely work on my presentation, but sometimes making the attempt is the best I can manage...

I think they look wonderful!

/tricia

You said "not too sweet", but the fudge recipe on the jar of that Marshmallow Creme jar is just to die for!

Tricia, they didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped. In fact, I think I may end up throwing them out before they've been consumed. Ah well, it was an exercise anyway!

Steelmagnolia, that might be an option for sure...

This would take care of the Nutella & cream cheese (I think I'd chop some hazelnuts and put in them too):

NUTELLA CHEESECAKE BROWNIES

Brownie layer:
10 Tblsp. butter (5 oz.) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1/4 cup Nutella
2 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder

Cheesecake layer:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened at room temp.
3 Tblsp. granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/3 cup Nutella

Preheat oven to 325° F. Line a 9- x 9-inch square pan with parchment.

To make the brownie layer: Combine butter, Nutella, eggs, and sugar in a large bowl and mix well. Sift in flour and cocoa powder and mix until well combined. Pour batter into your prepared pan and spread evenly. Set aside while you prepare the cheesecake layer.

To make the cheesecake layer: Mix the cream cheese, sugar, eggs and Nutella until well combined. Pour over your brownie batter.

Bake at 325° F. until the cheesecake looks set, about 40-45 minutes. Allow brownies to cool completely in the pan before cutting. (I cut my brownies into 36 since they are quite decadent.)

Recipe courtesy of: http://alpineberry.blogspot.com

Check out the recipes at the Nutella website.

Here is a link that might be useful: Nutella Recipes

Thanks Pat for the ideas and the recipe! And khandi, for the Nutella recipe ideas as well. Funny, I woke up thinking about brownies, and saw Ina Garten making a huge batch this morning. Now with all your ideas, it looks like great minds think alike! I'm planning on making a dent in those pantry ingredients this week, and it looks like brownies are definitely on the menu. I hope they turn out better than those cupcakes did, but then, how could brownies possibly miss?

I vote for Ann T's Graham Chewies, I love them. They are soft and oooey-gooey, just my kind of treat.

Graham Cracker Chewies
======================

Crust

1 1/3 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons all purpose flour

Topping

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs beaten .

Preheat oven to 350° Prepare the crust: Mix the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, butter and flour in a mixing bowl until moist and crumbly. Press the mixture firmly and evenly in the bottom of a 9 inch square baking pan. Bake until lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Prepare topping: Stir all the ingredients together until blended. Spread the topping over the baked crust and bake for 20 minutes. Let cool completely, then cut into 16 squares.

Note: Tonight I doubled the recipe and made it in a 13 x 9" pan.

I also second the marshmallow creme fudge, I always use an old recipe with marshmallow creme. Add the nutella and make it a different flavor!

Annie

Annie, I've made Ann's Graham Cracker Chewies before, and they are good. You know, with Valentines Day coming up, I ought to just make a sampler and put it all in a huge box. Now there's a thought...I also found some Spanish peanuts and thought I could make some peanut brittle. Add some fudge, maybe some toffee, truffles and brownies to that and that could be quite memorable. (It's also an anniversary of sorts, so I should make some kind of effort!) Oh, and have a wonderful time while you're in sunny California; I dearly wish I could go with you!