10oT: Chocolate Treats

This week's Ten on Tuesday topic, in homage to Valentine's Day, is your top ten favorite chocolate treats.  And well, let's be honest, there is only one truly phenomenal chocolate treat.  A chocolate treat that despite its commercialized processed foodieness is the king of all kings in the world and that, as we all know, is the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.  May it be in the form of a Valentine's heart, an Easter egg, or a Christmas tree, it is the best.  The peanut butter is just the perfect amount of salty and sweet to compliment and bring out the delicious creamy goodness of the chocolate.  It is, perhaps next to the Starbuck's Pumpkin Spice Latte, the most perfect indulgent treat.
Now I know folk are going to want to pooh pooh this.  I mean it isn't organic, homemade, gourmet, or even slightly high end.  It is like the McDonald's of burgers.  BUT FOLKS ARE WRONG.  The Reese's Peanuty Butter Cup transcends its simple and humble and heck, even ghetto, origins. 

Now, in light of my almost eulogistic prose on the RPBC (as well as the size of my arse), you may find it hard to believe that I am not a huge chocolate lover.  In fact, when it comes down to it, I'll take white (itsnotreallychocolateIKNOW) chocolate over milk or dark any day of the week. Many chocolate things make me want to gag.  Like chocolate pudding.  WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?  I mean come on, chocolate pudding?  People like this?  ARE THEY HIGH? I mean seriously, crack?  Chocolate pudding is to crack heads as Yoohoo is to pot heads?   In any event, there are some other chocolate(ish) things I do like. 



1) Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.  You knew this gonna be number one.

2) Dunkin Donut's White Hot Chocolate.  It is currently off the menu, and this makes me sad.  Which is how I discovered ...

3) DD Coconut Hot Chocolate.  It sounded kind of gross but not so gross as to be repulsive.  So I have it a go.  Yum!  It's no white hot chocolate, but it's not too bad either.

4) Stop & Shop Bakery's Chocolate White Chocolate Chip Cookies.  I miss Publix and all of its sub sandwich goodness.  It does not, at least as far as I know, have these cookies though. I'm not sure what S&S does to these cookies, but when I need a sugar fix, these are a go to item.  And they are one of those foods where I can't eat just one.  For example, the night before last baby cravings set in and I needed these cookies.  My husband offered to go get them.  Only the fact that I have an OB appointment on Wednesday and did not want to explain a 15 lb weight gain stopped me.  Barely.  I caved today and am feeding some to my kids to mitigate any binging.

5) My Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies WITH PECANS.  I use the recipe that use to be found on the back of the Toll House Chocolate Chip bag.  I suspect the recipe is the same today, but mine is off of the back of the bag when a bag of chips was 16 oz., not 12 oz., so perhaps not.  And for the record, did they really think people wouldn't notice the smaller bag for the same cost?  Anyway, I use that recipe, then I add about two and a half cups of chopped pecans and I slightly undercook them.  They are really good. 

6) Ghiradelli Double Chocolate Brownie Mix. As far as boxed brownie mix goes, this stuff if the bombdiggity.  I like to add another cup of milk chocolate chips to the mix, even if I am leaving it as a plain brownie.  Actually I like to add a cup of milk chocolate chips and a cup and a half of pecans because we all know the salty nut MAKES the brownie, and consider it a plain brownie BUT there are those poor sad, palate-challenged, folks that don't "like" nuts in baked goods.  They also don't like RPBC so you just have to feel sorry for them and move on.  For what it is worth, if you're not adding nuts, this is the perfect basic brownie for which to add things like toffee bars or mint candy (break up candy into small bits, add half the brownie mix, then the candy, then the rest of the mix), or sea salt (add a little on top before baking and then once done cooking, a good bit more to top while cooling). 

7) Mudslide. I'm not sure how you are officially suppose to make these but I've got a version I like.  A lot.  I like to take some whole milk ... this is where having a toddler rocks.  They need whole milk and you can use some and not feel like an alcoholic slug for buying a gallon of the stuff.  Anyway, blend some whole milk, vodka (vanilla is nice but plain works), Kahula, a handful of white chocolate chips and ice.  And then, once you have it blending and the chips are no more, squirt in a whole load of chocolate syrup.  Feel free to be heavy handed with that chocolate syrup.  It hides the fact that you were heavy handed with the vodka.  Sometimes I add a Starbucks Via packet which adds some coffee flavor also helps mitigate things when you've gone a little over board with the vodka. 

8) Chocolate fondue.  Pineapple, strawberries, marshmallows, these are all things that do not suck when smothered in chocolate fondue.

9) Aero Milk Chocolate Bars. There are several versions out there, but I first had the Nestle version when studying at Oxford University.  Those chocolate bars filled with little airy holes make a delightful treat!  Kids like them too because you can tell them that they are worm holes. 

10) Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.  You knew I was gonna count this chocolate perfection twice, right?