The photo of this Buckeye Pie called to me all summer as I sifted through my pages of recipes saved on Plummelo. I just had to try it. I love recipes that can be made in stages; you can make the crust for this dessert a day or two in advance and keep it tightly covered. Then after you fill the crust, the concoction needs to sit in the freezer for 4-6 hours (or even overnight). This is not a good choice to start at the last minute, but it has its place in a well thought out meal or party plan.

About the origin of the name Buckeye Pie… methinks it comes from the more common Buckeye candies, which are also a peanut butter and chocolate confection made, according to the ever-so-reliable Wikipedia, to resemble the nut of a buckeye tree. Personally I’ll refer to this as an icebox peanut butter pie before I’ll start casually referring to Buckeye Pie. But that’s just me.

Mmm, the ganache. Cook’s treat to lick the spoon after the pie is covered with this rich, silky chocolate glaze. Enjoy.

Chocolate Recipe #2. I’ll start by saying that these Chocolate Chip Brownie Pillows are a fantastic, unexpected treat. But the recipe needs work. This is not one of Pioneer Woman’s signature recipes–it is something posted in her own online community by her fans.

The ingredients are mostly fine. If you are skeeved by the thought of using shortening, I think you can safely go with all butter (but not margarine). Three cups of chocolate chips are a tad excessive–an 11-ounce bag is plenty.

These are giant cookies. The recipe says it will yield 15, but I got 18 huge cookies. You basically need 18 teaspoons of baked brownie. Feel confident that you’ll be able to cut a half dozen good sized brownies out of that part of the project that you can set aside, freeze, or serve alongside the cookies.

The instructions with the two spoons on how to assemble the cookies are a little too fussy for my taste. Use the best tools in your arsenal–your hands and fingers. I do use a one-ounce ice cream scoop to drop most cookies. Set up three cookie sheets covered with parchment paper and drop the dough by rounded tablespoon, six cookies per sheet. They spread a fair amount. Wet your hands and flatten out the dough a bit. Wash your hands and then scoop the brownie part. Drop a teaspoon of brownie on top of each flattened mound of cookie dough. Then scoop and drop 18 more portions of cookie dough. Wet your hands again to shape the dough over to cover the brownie. You should have a bit of cookie dough left in the bowl to seal up any “holes.”

Bake 10 minutes. Rotate all the trays and bake 8-10 additional minutes. Chocolate heaven.

Chocolate Recipe #3. If there was a button on Plummelo to “love” a recipe, I would click it for this one: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough + Cupcake = The Best Cupcake. Ever.

What a fantastic idea! Biting into a soft cupcake to discover a center of freshly baked chocolate chip cookie–what could be more decadent? This is almost the reverse of the Pioneer Woman’s chocolate chip brownie pillow cookies–I think they’d be terrific to serve side by side.

From the multiple reviews posted on Allrecipes, folks say they have had good success using premade cookie dough; the key is to freeze the cookie dough first. As always, be sure to read the instructions completely before you begin any recipe.

Now that I have been through the process, I know I can alter all the flavors, such as changing to chocolate cake or peanut butter cookie dough. Swirled with a cap of chocolate butter cream, this dessert contains all of the three major C’s: chocolate, cookies, and cupcakes.

Read more by Robin Horrigan

Photos: (top) Myrecipes.com and (bottom) Allrecipes.com

Robin Horrigan writes the column Cooking from the Carpool Lane. She lives on Boston’s south shore and is a stay at home Mom to Ryan, seven, and Maegan, three. Her fascination with cooking sprouted from watching Julia Child cook on a little black and white TV; Robin helped her Mom in the kitchen until she was old enough to ask Santa for her very own copy of The Joy of Cooking. She experiments with all kinds of cooking and baking, from quick weeknight dinners and easy cookies to long simmering weekend stews and complicated, fancy desserts. Ryan thinks if his Mom will ever be famous, it will be “for her awesome cookies.” Her friends say it will be for the cocktails. Either way, if she’s not doing volunteer work or shopping for shoes, you’ll probably find her in the kitchen. Robin’s favorite recipe.

I can’t get through summer without a few rounds of these delightful little marshmallow-chocolate-cracker sandwiches, and this summer I have had the pleasure to introduce my toddler to her first s’mores as well. S’mores are one of life’s most delicious treats.

But this summer I wanted to see how far I could push the limits of the traditional s’more. It started with an innocuous swap of Hershey’s Special Dark for the standard milk chocolate, because my husband has a minor addiction to the fruit of the cacao seed… and I can’t say I’m not addicted either. But for now we’ll blame it on him.

And then we decided to take it a step further. I rallied my testing troops (which included two young boys with discerning palates) on a hot summer night last week. We put together a s’morgasbord of indulgent treats to smash with graham crackers and toasted marshmallows. One variation was the traditional graham and marshmallow, but with a mini Reese’s peanut butter cup in place of the Hershey’s. The second was the traditional chocolate and marshmallow, but with two ‘Nilla wafers as the sandwich.

The results?

Traditional S’Mores: Always the winner. Among other reasons, because the chocolate fits perfectly on the graham cracker, and the marshmallow ratio is perfect. One of the kids proclaimed, “Regular is my favorite!”

Peanut Butter Cup S’Mores: “Very, very good! Really liked the peanut butter cup filling more than the plain chocolate.” Overall, people loved the flavor of the peanut butter cup and most would choose this as a close second. One of the kids thought it tasted like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and another thought it resembled a chocolate chip cookie. One taster complained that the peanut butter cup didn’t adequately cover the graham cracker; another more inventive taster solved the problem of the candy-to-cookie ratio by breaking the graham cracker in half (“I’ll have half a sandwich, please.”).

‘Nilla Wafer S’Mores: Most tasters found the marshmallow-to-cookie ratio too high, but loved the crunchiness of the cookie. The kids found it to be a perfect size for holding. ”Also very good; I like the crunchiness and flavor of the ‘Nilla wafer, but overall I think I would choose graham cracker.” “Surprisingly good! The firm ‘Nilla wafer is a nice change; it is very marshmallow heavy.”

More S’Mores recipes on Plummelo

Have you ever tinkered with the traditional s’mores recipe? Give it a try and let us know what you think.

After a long, harsh winter in New England, there is little I look forward to as much as the overabundance of beautiful, inexpensive fruit that pops up everywhere I look. Farm stands, specialty produce markets, even my boring regular grocery store all of a sudden seem as exciting as Disneyworld. Peaches and berries and melons, oh my!

Let me at that drop-down list of “things to bring” on an electronic invitation to a summer party. Fruit salad, side salad, fruit dessert? Count me in!

I am dying to try this new recipe for Raw Berry Crisp for dessert on a day when I can’t be bothered to turn on the oven. But a tried-and-true “no cook” fruit dessert option is Barefoot Contessa’s Fruit Salad with Limoncello. My two-year-old daughter likes this so much that she actually goes back to serve herself seconds from the bowl. (She picks the bananas out and flings them on the grass–classy, eh?)

Do you hate making pastry, but long for beautiful blueberry confections like I do? This lovely Blueberry Tart is for you and me both.

Last summer I brought home empty dish after empty dish scraped absolutely clean of Oatmeal Cookie Peach Cobbler. If you can peal and slice peaches, you can make this dessert. This is best served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

I’ll let you in on my secret weapon for summer desserts: set up a shortcake bar at your next cookout. The recipes included here are specifically for Chocolate Shortcakes with Bananas and Caramel and Peach Raspberry Shortcakes. I just bake both the chocolate and plain shortcakes and line them up next to mountains of freshly whipped cream and bowls of beautiful seasonal fruit choices. Toss berries or stone fruits with sugar and lemon juice, slice bananas just before serving and leave them plain. Every guest will find something to love – even the calorie-counters, who can just enjoy a bowl of fruit if they choose. You’ll see one person choosing chocolate shortcakes with strawberries and whipped cream alongside another person piling up blueberries and blackberries on traditional shortcakes. It’s a very simple dessert, but I guarantee people will make a fuss over this clever idea.

Read more by Robin Horrigan

Robin Horrigan writes the column Cooking from the Carpool Lane. She lives on Boston’s south shore and is a stay at home Mom to Ryan, seven, and Maegan, three. Her fascination with cooking sprouted from watching Julia Child cook on a little black and white TV; Robin helped her Mom in the kitchen until she was old enough to ask Santa for her very own copy of The Joy of Cooking. She experiments with all kinds of cooking and baking, from quick weeknight dinners and easy cookies to long simmering weekend stews and complicated, fancy desserts. Ryan thinks if his Mom will ever be famous, it will be “for her awesome cookies.” Her friends say it will be for the cocktails. Either way, if she’s not doing volunteer work or shopping for shoes, you’ll probably find her in the kitchen.

And now I find I’m unable to get through the day without inhaling some chocolate.

Admittedly, the addiction metaphor is a bit disturbing. So call me a chocophile. Ah, that’s better. I’m just one of the countless Americans who loves chocolate beyond reason… beyond budget… and worst of all, beyond calorie counting.

So many of us chocolate lovers would gladly wed the object of our affection—if only we could find someone willing to officiate.

But irrational food cravings aren’t entirely to blame. Chemistry is also at work to make us smitten with cocoa. Chocolate contains phenylethylamine, a compound that may be responsible for some of the pleasurable feelings you get after eating chocolate; phenylethylamine releases endorphins in your brain. Similarly, the brain releases that compound when you’re falling in love. In other words, chocolate loves you back.

Our love affair with the sweet stuff has a lengthy history. Cacao, the tree that produces cacao beans, has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central, and South America. Chocolate is processed food produced from the cacao seeds of the cacao tree, whose scientific name is Theobroma cacao. Interestingly, Theobroma means “food of the gods.” No argument here.

And if you’re feeling guilty, just keep in mind that dark chocolate contains antioxidants that help lower blood pressure.

So when considering an ingredient to try two ways, chocolate was a no-brainer. First off, here’s a spicy Chicken Chili that gets its richness from unsweetened chocolate. It seems like an unusual combination at first, but this spicy chili is sure to please—especially if you like chicken with mole sauce. The recipe is adapted from the classic Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook, and calls for black olives, which I usually swap out for one or two cans of dark red kidney beans (drained).

This Chocolate Dump It Cake is a ridiculously easy and delectable dessert. The recipe comes from Amanda Hesser’s book Cooking for Mr. Latte, a humorous memoir (with wonderful recipes!) about her courtship with The New Yorker writer Tad Friend. The cake is completely delicious, especially given that it doesn’t require any specialty ingredients. And even bakers with intermediate skills can recreate this cake successfully.

So next time you need a chocolate fix, you know where to go.

Are you addicted to chocolate? What are your favorite ways to use chocolate?

Magda Hernandez has been a serious baker since her teens and a serious cook since… what day is today? Magda lives in Boston with her husband and two sons, and enjoys working in marketing and communications for a local university. Her goal is to get more adventurous about cooking main dishes. Plummelo readers are sure to reap the benefits of all her trial and error.

As we all got older, some of my siblings moved, some got married and the holidays became smaller. There’s a lot of coordination that goes on behind the scenes of family dinners long before the meal preparation begins. We all tried juggling our blended families’ traditions and squeezing in all the stops that need to be made. Sometimes trades were made: “I’ll go to Thanksgiving at your parents’ if we can do Easter at mine.”

This year will be the first holiday in four years that we’re all celebrating a holiday under one roof again, and instead of cooking for a small crowd, my parents will be hosting Easter for 30. My mother has rehearsed cooking for a crowd many times over, so big dinners like this large are second nature for her.

I’ve recently become the resident baker in the family–a title my mom held for years and is still trying to reclaim–but this year I’m leaving the cooking to her and I’m handling the desserts.

Dessert has always been taken very seriously in my family. The dining room was transformed into an incredible display with tiered trays of assorted goodies and beautiful plates showcasing these edible art pieces.

I certainly have a lot to live up to–my mother’s dessert standards remain incredibly high–but I’ve always been ready for the challenge.

For more Easter recipes, see this recent blog post.

This happened the other day with a cookie. It was a double chocolate truffle cookie from a fancy restaurant downtown: deeply chocolatey and with this fantastic chewy middle that teetered on the edge of gooey. I ate it in small bites, breaking off edges and corners one tiny morsel at a time, trying to make the cookie last. It was good, really good. Even as I pinched up the last few crumbs and laid my napkin on the table, I knew I’d have a hard time getting this cookie out of my head.

Sure enough, that rich chocolate flavor and fudge-like texture were still haunting me days later. I could taste the cookie whenever I closed my eyes. The desire to make a batch for myself grew by the hour.

I started combing through recipes, trying to find one that seemed promising. I discarded them all. Nothing sounded quite right. What I really wanted was my favorite brownie recipe, but in cookie form. The recipe is originally from one of my mother’s cookbooks, but I’ve tweaked and prodded it over the years until the brownies are exactly how I like them: deeply chocolatey with a chewy middle teetering on the edge of gooey.

Could the solution really be so simple as baking my brownie recipe as cookies? For the sake of getting that decadent flavor out of my head, I had to try.

Brownie batter is generally much thinner than your average cookie recipe, and mine is no exception. Using a silicone mat (like a silpat) really helped to keep them from running everywhere. I baked the brownie cookies at normal temperature (350 degrees for this recipe), then started checking them at about the ten minute mark. I took them out when the edges were firm and the middles no longer jiggled.

The cookies–and my hopes!–puffed up nicely in the oven, but then collapsed as they were cooling. Ultimately, they ended up as flat as pancakes. Delicious pancakes that my husband ate with much enthusiasm and many reassurances of cookie bliss, but pancakes none the less. The intense chocolate flavor was definitely there, but not the fudgy center that I had been hoping for.

Next time (because there will be a next time), I’ll try increasing the flour to give the cookies more structure and also increasing the heat to help the cookies set faster. Here’s the recipe I’ve been working from:

• Gooey Fudgy Brownies

Or maybe I’ll give in and try one of these recipes:

Definitely not a bad experiment! I’m still in pursuit of a perfect brownie cookie recipe, but at least the craving has momentarily subsided. At least until I find myself back at that restaurant.

Read about Emma Christensen.

We don’t have hosting duties this year, so I’ll make a flourless chocolate torte to bring to my in-laws. That’s for the first night. The second night of Passover, I’ll bring this addictive matzoh buttercrunch. Served with a simple fruit salad, it’s a sweet ending to the meal.

A few other recommendations: Chicken marbella is a fabulous dish to serve. Roasted potatoes and grilled/roasted asparagus are good accompaniments. Another winning side dish: Leek tomato quinoa. You won’t even miss the chametz.

Let me first tell you about how Dan and I usually get our meal on the table. Many of our dinners are planned over email with subject lines like, “What’s for din din tonight?” With both of us toiling away at our respective jobs all day it can be hard to plan our meals in advance. In an ideal world, I would map out everything for the week on Sunday, but The Dan Factor can often work against this since he enjoys the spontaneity of deciding a meal the day of.

This is where our planning and shopping styles begin to diverge—but for the sake of love, let’s say our differences complement each other perfectly.

Our trips to the grocery store are often met with this same challenge: I have my list mapped out by aisle, and Dan is spur of the moment—finding inspiration in the endless options in the produce and meat aisles and spontaneously adding them to the cart. (I do confess, however, that some of his best meals have come from this approach; the pork butt for pulled pork was probably my favorite.)

As the baker in the duo, everything to me is mapped out in advance and I know that an exact amount of each ingredient will yield a cake, or a bread–I think of it as a science, so I need to be slightly more planning-oriented. But as the chef, Dan doesn’t need to follow a recipe and feels comfortable experimenting.

Both self-taught, by TV and an endless supply of foodie magazines, we have managed to master what most couples often fear: cooking together.

As we thought about what to make for this year’s dinner I was reminded of the first dinner Dan cooked for me. The menu was delivered in advance via email, and I still have it. We thought Valentine’s Day would be the perfect opportunity to re-create that meal.

In the dessert department, I decided to create a surprise dish for Dan and he had to guess the secret ingredient. For Valentine’s Day I had to go with a decadent chocolate treat. The molten cake’s secret ingredient? Espresso powder. I’m pleased to say, I stumped Dan on this one.

We’ve learned to cook together and share the triumphs and failures that go along with it. This Valentine’s Day dinner was a success, but I’m sure we’ll have some more obstacles in the kitchen. And whether the meal is planned a week in advance or on the spot we aim to make it as delicious as possible!

Don’t forget the Champagne and the romance. These are both key ingredients.

Photos by Melissa Devereaux