#WorldChocolateDay
Hello Blondies!
I don’t know about you but I have a sweet tooth, particularly bias towards chocolate. As this summer isn’t quite panning out as many off us planned and there will be limited travel being logged in my diary, my friend and I thought I would be fun to host our own Glamping Vacation right in the back yard… let’s be honest even if COVID wasn’t a thing this would be my preferred option, close to wifi, a flushing toilet and a place to keep the wine cool .
We have rented our tent through Lavish Canvas, they have various options that you can choose from and my favourite bit is that they will be donating a portion of each summer booking towards the Ronald McDonald House at the Alberta Children’s Hospital.
Back to the chocolate, to match with the elevated theme, I thought it would be fun to create a chocolate charcuterie board, filled with various sweets, including the stampede popcorn. Other treats included my homemade Chicago Mix popcorn which is simply a bag of popcorn, a heaping tablespoon of warmed Dulce de Leche and Grated Parmesan.
Yes I am aware that is not chocolate but I do think it’s key to balance the sweet with salty, I included some Oreos, KitKats and M&M’s…I found fudgy brownie M&M’s so I obivously had to try those!
I also picked up some chocolate digestive biscuits to go with the marshmallows, because no matter the level of camping S’mores is a must. Speaking of S’mores I would also highly recommend using McDonalds Heart Shaped S’more Cookies as your base…these cookies also donate a portion back to the Ronald McDonald House.
I also served up some salty pretzels that we dipped into Mumgry’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Spread! If you want a slightly healthier option, my go-to lately has been plain rice cakes covered in Mumgry.
I grew up with my mum telling me to make sure I had a “rainbow” on my plate and while I wish the M&M’s counted, I did include some berries to add some nutrious value.
To pair with the chocolate I would suggest a glass of red wine, and if you do happen to go proper camping you don’t need to worry about a fridge! However as the night cools off there really is nothing better than hot chocolate. My favourite is Whittard’s Hot Chocolate however, keeping it classic I love simple Cocoa Powder with Hot Water and Honey. If you also have trouble sleeping, I have been loving Four Sigmatics Reishi Hot Cocoa.
Now if that doesn’t have you already feelin 50lbs heavier, I have been testing out Tasty’s Stuffed Chocolate Chip Recipe, even unstuffed these cookies are delicious. Here’s what you’ll need 1 Cup Unsalted Butter, Browned and cooled for 30mins. Half Cup of White Sugar, 1.5 Cups of Brown Sugar, 2tsp of Vanilla, 1 tblsp of Greek Yogurt, 1 Egg, 1 Egg Yolk (I made a Spinach Egg White Omlette with the remainder #healthyeating haha), 2.5 Cups of Flour, 1/2 tsp of baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 3/4 Cup of regular chocolate chips (it also says to add 1/2 Cup of mini…I didn’t have any). Check Out www.stuffed-cookies.com for more details!
Just writing this is making me want cookies, I better stop while I’m ahead.
