Walking into Matt’s Cookie factory in Wheeling is like stepping through a hot cookie oven time-machine and ending up at your mom’s kitchen where the cookies are made from scratch. The factory employees make a batch every hour, by hand.

“Every cookie is a different shape and size. We use real chocolate chips and real peanut butter,” said co-owner Matt Pierce, whose father, Grant, founded Cookie Specialties Inc. in 1980, and named the cookies after his oldest son, Matt.

“We bake the cookies just like you would at home, but on much larger scale,” said Pierce. The company controls their prices as well as freshness by having their drivers deliver directly to more than 500 stores. With 22 employees using two 150-foot ovens and 25 drivers to make the deliveries, Matt’s Cookies are available around the suburbs, in Chicago and even Wisconsin. There are 25,000 pounds of soft, chewy cookies baked each day.

“We use large fans to cool the cookies before packaging,” Pierce said. “The high-grade chocolate can’t be cooled in the refrigerator because the ingredients would separate.”Near the end of the cookie packaging line, each package passes over a scale. If any package weighs less than one pound, an alarm alerts an employee to add an extra cookie to that package.

Pierce prides himself on making cookies that bend but don’t break and are made from all natural ingredients, like the cranberry walnut, chocolate chip pecan, and peanut butter, along with four types of fruit bars. Matt’s uses more than 700,000 pounds of real chocolate each year and 500 pounds of peanut butter per batch to make the homemade cookies.

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Are you ready to learn the easiest chocolate cake recipe in the world?

No this isn’t a joke. You are seriously only five minutes away from a soft and gooey, homemade chocolate cake. I was over-the-moon excited when my Grandma sent me this 5-minute cake recipe the morning after Christmas. Having sworn my undying love to chocolate years ago, I could hardly believe that such a recipe even existed! How in the world had it escaped me all this time?! If you only knew the long hard nights that I have spent staring into empty cupboards, wishing for just a single piece of chocolate-something to cure my angst…

Well, those nights are behind me, and they can become a thing of your past as well! This recipe is so incredibly easy- even a child could do it! Have fun, and happy baking!

Ingredients

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar (white or brown)
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug (MicroSafe)

Directions

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well.  Add the egg and mix thoroughly.

Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.

Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.

The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don’t be alarmed!

Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.

EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).

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You’re working late, and eating dinner from a vending machine yet again. An editorial in this month’s issue of the journal makes a case for thinking about unhealthy eating.

As a new occupational health hazard. It highlights research that shows an association between shift work and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.

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Take the cake and master your baking technique with this classic flourless chocolate cake.

Cooking Time
60 minutes

Ingredients (serves 12)
1 teaspoon instant coffee powder
1/4 cup boiling water
200g butter, chopped
180g dark chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons cocoa powder, sifted
4 eggs, separated
1 cup caster sugar
2 cups almond meal (ground almonds)
Cocoa powder, for dusting
Double cream and strawberries, to serve

Method
Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Grease a 6cm-deep, 22cm round (base) spring-form cake pan. Line base and side with baking paper.
Place coffee powder and boiling water in a heatproof jug. Stir to dissolve. Place butter, chocolate, cocoa powder and coffee mixture in a medium saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, for 2 to 3 minutes or until melted and combined. Remove from heat. Transfer to a bowl to cool slightly.
Using an electric mixer, beat egg yolks and sugar for 5 minutes or until thick. Set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites until soft peaks form (see Cooking class, below).
Add chocolate mixture and almond meal to egg yolk mixture. Stir to combine. Using a large metal spoon, gently fold half the egg whites into chocolate mixture. Repeat with remaining egg whites. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted in centre comes out with moist crumbs clinging. Cool cake completely in pan. Dust with cocoa. Serve with cream and strawberries.

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This cookie recipe makes a large batch of large chocolate chip cookies with fewer chocolate chips than the traditional Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe.

Ingredients:
2 cups (4 sticks) butter, softened

2 cups granulated sugar

2 cups firmly packed brown sugar

4 eggs, beaten

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons hot water

5 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons salt

1 (12-ounce) package chocolate chips

Directions:
Position one of the oven’s racks in the center and preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or lightly grease them. In a large bowl beat the butter and sugars together until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until well blended. In a small bowl, dissolve the baking soda in the hot water. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour and salt.

Add the baking soda mixture to the butter and sugar mixture, alternating with the flour and stir just until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop the cookie dough by teaspoonfuls, spaced 3 inches apart, onto the prepared cookie sheets. Bake, one cookie sheet at a time in the center of the oven, for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden brown.

Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheets and then transfer them with a spatula to wire racks to cool completely. This recipe makes about 5 to 6 dozen.

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Freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies are hard to beat. But sometimes we have to settle for cookies straight out of the box.

Which are best?

Trained tasters at Consumer Reports tackled the crumby job, tasting 18 different chocolate chip cookies. Many packaged ones rated just OK; they were dry and gritty, including top-seller Chips Ahoy. Skip the Weight Watchers as well. They had the fewest calories and some fiber, but were the lowest rated.

"The tasters were left with a chalky-mouth feeling and the chips were gritty. And each cookie still packed in 90 calories," said Erin Gudeux of Consumer Reports. Instead, Consumer Reports says splurge on the top-rated chocolate chip cookie from Tate's Bake Shop. They were the only one to rate excellent, with big butter and chocolate flavors. "Probably not surprisingly, the Tate's were also the highest in fat and calories," Gudeux said.

For about half the cost, 37-cents a serving, Pepperidge Farm Double Chocolate Nantucket Dark Chocolate Cookies were the next best. They're big in chocolate flavor. And they might just fill the bill if you can't bake up a batch of your own chocolate chip cookies at home.

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Your guests will go nuts for the peanut butter in this decadent chocolate cake dessert!

Cooking Time
120 minutes

Ingredients (serves 10)
200g butter, softened
1 cup raw caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
180g dark chocolate, melted, cooled
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 3/4 cups self-raising flour
1 cup buttermilk
Peanut butter frosting
125g butter, softened
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1 cup icing sugar mixture
Peanut butter ganache
75g milk chocolate
75g dark chocolate
1/3 cup thickened cream
2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
 
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Grease a 6cm-deep, 20cm (base) round cake pan. Line base and side with baking paper. Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add melted chocolate and cocoa, beat until just combined.

Add half the flour and half the buttermilk. Stir to combine. Repeat with remaining flour and buttermilk. Spoon mixture into pan. Smooth surface. Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Stand in pan for 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make frosting: Using an electric mixer, beat butter and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add icing sugar mixture, beating constantly until combined.

Make ganache: Place chocolate, cream and peanut butter in a heatproof, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on medium (50%) for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds with a metal spoon, or until melted and smooth. Refrigerate for 5 minutes or until thick and spreadable.

Meanwhile, using a serrated knife, cut cake into thirds horizontally. Place base on a plate. Spread with half the frosting. Repeat with middle layer and remaining frosting. Sandwich with cake top. Spread cake with ganache. Set aside for 20 minutes to set. Serve.

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Chocolates are getting a manly makeover. To offset a so-called gender gap in buying chocolate, sweets makers are going for guys' perceived weakness: Beer. The Wall Street Journal notes chocolatiers have rolled out such things as beer brittle, India Pale Ale caramels and beer marshmallows.

"A thick and fluffy housemade beer marshmallow is dipped in milk chocolate and topped with our beer and pretzel brittle bits for a treat that settles the sweet versus salty and crunchy versus chewy debates," Truffle Truffle boasts. Sweets are broken down as being "hoppy," "malty" and "yeasty." Beercandy.com offers lager caramels, stout taffy and "hopdrops."

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It’s hard to believe that they’re gluten-free, but these chewy chocolate peppermint cookies don’t contain any wheat (and not even the peppermint crunch baking chips have a trace of gluten in them, so you won’t have to spend loads of time researching for ingredient replacements, either). Katie Farrel of Dashing Dish has even tallied the calorie count and Weight Watchers points for her recipe (83 calories and 2pp per cookie, if you must know). Good luck keeping these around until Christmas…

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar OR for sugar free option, use Ideal brand powdered sugar (*see note below)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 egg whites
1/8 tsp salt
1 tbs skim milk
1/8 cup Andes peppermint crunch baking chips
(*Ideal is a naturally sweetened powdered sugar with zero grams of sugar! I found this in the baking aisle at my grocery store!)
Method:

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper, or foil sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Mix together powdered sugar, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder in a bowl. Place egg whites and milk in another small bowl, and stir to combine. Mix wet and dry ingredients together, until just combined, but don’t over beat. Using a tablespoon, scoop up cookie batter, and use a teaspoon to drop cookie batter onto prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle peppermint chips on cookies, dividing evenly between cookies. Bake cookies for 15 minutes, and enjoy!

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When Delilah returned to Belleville last May, the city not only had a Big Red Shoe sculpture waiting for the syndicated radio personality, but one of Leslie Frawley's three-dimensional cakes. "It had a red shoe on top of a cushion with her name in it," said the 48-year-old baker and cake artist. A former Belleville city worker with the engineering department, Leslie was proud to be asked to make the cake for Delilah Rene, who first arrived in October 2010 to help spruce up the cityscape with the help of volunteers. It was part of her Big Shoe Productions nonprofit effort called Paint The Town.

Who Made The Cake? is the name of Leslie's business on West Main Street, which she opened full-time this fall. Custom-made three-dimensional cakes are her specialty and are priced individually, but she also makes other types of cakes on special order as well, such as sheet cakes ($35 to $85) and round layer cakes ($20 to $95). Choose from eight cake flavors and six fillings, all with buttercream frosting.

In her quaint shop, you can pick up daily varieties of cupcakes, brownies and cookies, each $1.25.
For the holidays, she has chocolate-covered Christmas tree pretzel rods, white-chocolate reindeer and poinsettia suckers, also $1.25. Chocolate gift baskets are under $20, but need to be ordered in advance.
While working full-time for the city, Leslie was making cakes in her spare time -- and trying to keep up.
"I did those out of my home and it started growing so fast," she said. "I started doing 3-D cakes 1 1/2 years ago and that took off like crazy."

She keeps a big binder full of color photos of her 3-D cakes, one of which is an edible replica of a Coach purse made for Sherry Wright's 35th birthday in August 2010. "I am a Coach bag wearer," said Sherry, who works in the collections department for the City of Belleville. Leslie worked off a photo of the bag. "She perfected it. It looked identical to the bag."Even better, the vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream frosting covered in fondant tasted delicious. "It was so moist inside. ... We brought it into the restaurant and people oohed and ahhed. They didn't think I'd cut it."

Other cakes included a slot machine, drums, a replica of the old Busch Stadium for a fundraiser that Whitey Herzog attended and intricate tiaras spun from sugar. "They are a favorite with girls. I make them by hand and everything is edible, even the jewels and the 'silver.'"

The lower level of the shop is almost finished and will be the Princess Tea Room, which can be reserved for up to 12 little girls ages 3 to 8. Leslie will offer a package that includes everything from food, games, favors and crafts to custom invitations, group photo and hostesses. It costs $200. The cake is extra.
Upstairs, she already has a decorated room at the back for adult tea parties, showers, birthdays and more. Flower patterns, lace and pretty tea sets are waiting. The space is perfect for a dozen friends and the package includes hot beverage and a seasonal menu for lunch. It costs $140 and does not include dessert. Leslie said it's been a popular spot for showers and mini reunions. "We had a group of ladies here recently that stayed for a couple hours and laughed and had such a good time!"

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