When I was in university, I had a professor who hated the phrase “beyond decadent.” He said that by pure definition, something could not be beyond decadent.
Well Professor, I have found a couple of recipes that are beyond decadent.
Recently, the bakers at PAM® cooking spray introduced me to a whole bunch of new recipes to bake for the holidays. And they couldn’t have come at a better time. Over the next two weeks, I will be hosting a huge family brunch at my house, having my turn at the weekly treats, and participating in a holiday cookie exchange (squares are allowed). As the holidays are a time for decadence, I really wanted to wow my guest and unfortunately most of my tried and true recipes are too…healthy. I needed something that would make them feel naughty just by eating them. I needed baked goods that were anything but nice.
I made the first two recipes for my brunch this past weekend: Triple Chocolate Chip Muffins and Decadent Chocolate Croissants. While muffins and croissants are a staple at many brunches, I’ve never been to a brunch with muffins and croissants quite like this. The muffins were rich and chocolaty with almost shortbread-like consistency and the croissants were ooey-gooey awesomeness that left my guests wide-eyed and speechless.
Because both recipes were so dense with chocolate, toffee bits, and nuts, I was afraid that they would stick to the baking pans and tear the delicate pastry, but because I used PAM® Baking, both slid out of the pans and my presentation was perfect; they looked as good as they tasted. PAM® Baking combines the no-stick power of PAM® with real flour. It’s specially formulated to reach every nook and cranny of even the most intricate bakeware. This totally eliminates the need for you to grease and flour your pan when baking-the most dreaded part of any recipe…at least for me.
Not only were my muffins and croissants gorgeous, they were so fast and easy to prepare; I had no problem baking them in the morning before my party. Delicious, gorgeous, and hot-out-of-the-oven baked goods on a Sunday morning? These two recipes made me look like a baking rock-star…and they will for you, too.
Click here for more great holiday baking tips from PAM®.
Triple Chocolate Chip Muffins
Ingredients
PAM® Baking Spray
3 cups (750 mL) all purpose flour
1/3 cup (75 mL) granulated sugar
2 tbsp (30 mL) baking powder
1 cup (250 mL) of butter or margarine
1 1/4 cups (300 mL) reduced fat (2%) milk
1/2 cup (125 mL) milk chocolate morsels
1/2 cup (125 mL) dark chocolate morsels
1/2 cup (125 mL) semisweet chocolate morsels
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Spray 12-cup (3 L) regular muffin pan with PAM® Baking Spray.
2. Combine flour, sugar and baking powder in large mixing bowl. Cut in margarine with pastry cutter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in milk until just moistened. Do not over mix. Fold in chocolate morsels.
3. Spoon mixture evenly into prepared muffin cups. Mixture will be mounded and completely fill each cup. Bake 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan and transfer to wire rack to cool.
Decadent Chocolate Croissants
Ingredients
PAM® Baking Spray
1 cup (2 sticks/250 g) butter
1 cup (250 mL) semisweet chocolate mini morsels
1 cup (250 mL) finely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup (125 mL) toffee bits
1 1/2 tsp (7 mL) ground cinnamon
2 pkgs (1 cup/250 g each) refrigerated crescent roll dough
confectioners’ sugar
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray baking sheet with PAM® Baking Spray. Mix butter, chocolate morsels, walnuts, toffee bits and cinnamon by hand until blended.
2.Unroll crescent dough on lightly floured surface; separate into 16 triangles. Gently roll each crescent to 1/8-inch thickness; spread each with 1/4 cup (50 mL) of the chocolate mixture. Roll up each triangle loosely, starting at shortest side, rolling to opposite point. Place, seam-sides down, on prepared baking sheet.
3.Bake 15-25 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove from baking sheet to wire rack; cool completely. Sprinkle lightly with confectioners’ sugar.
Now that I’ve shared my recipes with you, why don’t you share yours with me: What is your favourite holiday baked treat?
Share your holiday baking tips and treats below and you’ll be entered in our contest to win a $100 gift card, courtesy of PAM Cooking Spray.
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Click here to join. Contest Extended – Conte
st Closes December 27, 2012.
st Closes December 27, 2012.
i love sticky date pudding
I use pam to coat my cookie sheet when making my skor shortbread, gives a little extra buttery taste!
opps forgot that i had made a comment on the 20th
Favorite family tradition is opening presents on Christmas Eve with family
My favorite would be a Yule Mona log and petit four.
my favorite holiday treat is Turtles – we make our own.
My favorite Christmas tradition would have to be making and eating buttertarts with coconut
We have a Christmas tradition of making shortbread cookies. They’re my favorite with a cup of tea in the afternoon
favorite backed treat is snowball cookies
I love making gingerbread houses and the parts couldn’t be made without Pam to make them easy to remove, intact, from the cookie sheets. Thanks.
Shortbread has to be the one thing I can’t miss making every year. It’s a family recipe and Christmas just isn’t Christmas without it.
Choolate chip cookies area familu must-have!
I love butter tart squares with cranberries at this time of year. Thanks
I love oatmeal cookies with raisins in it
I love shortbread cookies. Nothing says Holidays like shortbread
Sugar cookies and my Mom’s pumpkin pie. It’s got to be my Mom’s though, I’ve never found another one that even comes close to comparing. 🙂
I love old-fashioned shortbread cookies. Yummy – just thinking about them makes me hungry!
My absolute favourite is brownies.
Cheese Cake
Chocolate Pecan Pie is my favourite!
banana bread is my fav!!
Love my mother-in-law’s shortbread recipe. They’re buttery and crisp. Delightful!
Shortbread cookies with milk chocolate
Chocolate chip cookies!
Melt in your mouth shortbread!!!
My favorite treat is chocolate cheesecake made with yogurt- so smooth and delicious.
I try to get all my baking done the day before christmas so they are still fresh but my oven is free to cook the turkey on christmas day.
my favourite is apple pie!
mom’s chocolate chip cookies!
whipped shortbread
don’t for get that leaveners only last about 6 mths.
Date Squares
Fudge Brownies
Chocolate brownies… YUMMMMMMMMY
my tip is to get the mini reese peanut butter cups, make peanut butter cookies and while still warm press the cup in them and you have double the peanut butter goodnes.
peanut butter chocolate chip cookies!
Shortbread cookies!
My favorite baked treat is cherry pie.
I love the Trtiple Chocolate Chip Muffins!
Shortbread.
Shortbread!
I just made gum drop cookies and they are now my favorite treat.
I’m Greek so I love Baklava!
fav holiday baked treat would be the pumpkin pie
I make a really good 4 layer Black Forrest torte. It’s one of my favorite baked goods, but at Christmas time it’s got to be shortbread and mini cream puffs. Yum.
Real butter and vanilla make baking taste better
Choc covered cherry cookies
I love German Chocolate cake
Toblerone Fudge! It’s so quick, easy and makes a great gift.
shortbread cookies
My favorite baked treats are chocolate chip cookies.
Shortbread cookies
Chewy chocolate chip cookies. Sometime the most simple is the most decadent.
I love brownies
My favorite (and pretty much everyone I bake them for at xmas) is Dark Chocolate Chip and Cherry Cookies from the Epicurious website (I substitute almond extract for vanilla extract)
I am a cookie fanatic! Virtually any kind and I love them…unless they contain fruit, then I wont classify it as a true dessert!
Butter tarts!
the croissants for sure
My favouries are Shortbread and Pumpkin pie.
My fave is a pear muffins with nutmeg and ginger! A nice switch from the usual muffin!
I love ginger spice cookies.
The holidays wouldn’t be the holidays without shortbread! Love to cut them in fun, festive shapes.
My families favourite is apple pie. We like it with lots of cinnamon!
Ginger Crinkle Cookies
I love peanut butter square
My favourite treat is shortbread cookies!
Lots of favourite baked holiday treats.. but date and walnut rolls are top of my list..
My household loves when I make the holiday goodies. There favourite are the Walnut Crescents which can be made with a variety of different ground nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans, hazlenuts etc). They are a type of shortbread formed into crescent shapes and double dipped in icing sugar. They melt in your mouth.
I have recently discovered “Compost Cookies”… who knew that all those things could go in to a cookie batter and the end result could be so undeniably delish?!?!?! (And they’re as easy/hard to make as regular ole chocolate chip cookies!)
simply a thick slice of freshly baked bread with butter – delicious.
My favourite treat is shortbread, especially at this time of year!
Orange Ginger Cookies!
Chocolate Brownie Cookies!
banana chocolate muffins
Sugar cookies and macaroons are a must at Christmas for our family.
I would like the Decadent Chocolate Croissants.
I make Eagle Brand magic cookie bars ; My whole family loves them and they are so easy to make!
I look for recipes that can be frozen so I can get my baking done well in advance of the holidays and then just thaw things as we want to use them. My family’s favorite treat this time of year is fudge….yum!
Once a year I make caramel peach pie from scratch. It is a lot of work, making a home made crust, peeling and pitting a tonne of fresh peaches, cooking the caramel…(it takes me about half a day) but it is worth it. Everyone in my family agrees that it is their #1 favourite dessert.
butter tarts – yum!
My favourite holiday baked treat has to be shortbread. It might be considered boring by some folks but a great shortbread takes me back to my childhood each and every time!
My fave is shortbread at Christmas time
Pecan Pie
My new favourite baked treat are pumpkin spiced cupcakes
mom’s rumballs…which i now make! and my girls are now as ravenous for them as i am! 🙂
cherry cheesecake !
Chocolate chip cookies are the best!
Sugar cookies that my daughter helped decorate
Whipped shortbread – the melt-in-your-mouth kind – is the baked treat I enjoy at this time of the year – and ONLY at this time of the year!
Peanut butter cookies are my fave!
My household loves shortbread cookies and fresh bread!
shortbread is my favourite
fav is chocolate chip cookies with oatmeal and coconut.
My favourite is cheesecake
I love Christmas cake chocked full of candied fruit and nuts.
My FIL (a retired baker) his shortbread cookies
chocolate cake
My favourite is dark fruitcake
Shortbread cookies
Holy crow! Just one?!?!? I guess it would be lemon loaf.
Butter tarts are my favourite. thanks.
Chocoloate chip cookies
I love red velvet cupcakes!
chocolate chip peanut butter cookies
I like chocolate fudge brownies.
I love shortbread (but only my own)
At Christmas I love mincemeat pies. Old-fashioned perhaps, but it evokes childhood memories galore.
I love chocolate cake with icing.
I like apple pie
i make soft gingerbread cookies half-dipped in white chocolate 🙂
My now favorites are: Triple Chocolate Chip Muffins and Decadent Chocolate Croissants!! I love to change it up often.
One of my favorites is Death by Chocolate, a wonderful choclate triffle styles dessert.
Here is a recipe for it: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/death-by-chocolate/
I replace the strong coffee with kahlua making it even more decadent!!
I love muffins of any kind.
Me too- both of them!
Its funny one lady above and I love the exact same thing which is pumpkin pie and coconut macaroons!!
Cherry cream cheese squares and tea with friends
Apple pie is my fave.
Chocolate chip cookies with red and green Smarties
My mother has a fantastic recipe for a light Christmas cake, I love it.
I love thick chunky shortbread
chocolate chip cookies
One of my favourite cake recipes for around the holidays is Rose Reisman’s Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting: http://www.artoflivingwell.ca/recipes/desserts/205-carrot-cake-with-cream-cheese-frosting
It is quick to prepare (esp if you have a food processor), yummy as heck, and no one will know that it is lower fat and calories than a regular version. This is one of my most requested desserts! Enjoy!
Love pumpkin pie and Coconut macaroons.
I love anything with bananas in it
I just love banana bread
My favorite baked treat is shortbread at Christmas time
My favourite baked treat is Banana Bread or Banana muffins