Bissinger’s Gourmet Chocolates have long been a St. Louis staple, going back to 1927, by way of Karl Bissinger from France in 1845. The footer on their site claims establishment in the USA during 1863 and starting in Europe in 1668. That’s some old chocolate. The Bissinger name carries on a candy making tradition in the French style and has since expanded beyond chocolate candy making to other confections, desserts, coffees and wines. Today we’ll find out if expansion is a good thing as we try two kinds of chocolate candy from the Bissinger Naturals line: dark chocolate covered almonds and dark chocolate covered black sesame seeds.

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Who wouldn’t like to make their own chocolate concoctions? One of my favorite things to do is sprinkle M&M’s in my popcorn and devour the chocolate gooeyness and salty popcorn. The next logical step in chocolate creations would be to make your own chocolate bar. Createmychocolate.com is there to help in achieving your every candy bar dream.

Along with an extensive selection of ingredients such as candied rose petals and rosemary, they also have a suggested list of bars with names like Treasure Chest and Enchanted Forest. The steps are very simple; pick your type of chocolate, then your various ingredients, and wait for your chocolate bar to come in the mail.

This is much easier, and more fun than eating two chocolate bars at once and hoping the flavors mix together. The only downside is not being able to chow down on your bar right then!

Trader Joe’s line of chocolate candy snacks has yet to really steer me wrong, but I haven’t been bowled over by anything yet either. So today, we’ll find out if the Milk Chocolate Crisps of “thin, curved waves of Belgian chocolate with crunchy bits” falls into the “meh” “OK” or “right on” categories. The promise of Belgian milk chocolate in the ingredients list leaves me hopeful for a good quality chocolate in a fun and crispy shape.

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OK, the best according to Cocoazilla and the staff of Cocoa-Heaven. There are enough chocolate cookie recipes out there on the internet alone to bring the world to it’s knees and swear off chocolate forever (if they were all made and once and we had to eat them until they were gone that is). But rather than leave you in suspense and stall you from what is sure to be a chocolate candy filled Memorial Day weekend (as you’ll be making at least 2 of these) I won’t delay any further.

The Best Chocolate Cookie Recipes

Click the cookie name for baking directions.

Dark Chocolate Almond Thumbprints

This one wins for Best Picture.

8 ounces dark chocolate ( 70% ), finely chopped
5 ounces blanched almonds (1 cup), toasted
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Coarse Salt
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup confectioners’ sugar

Chocolate Black Gold Cookies

Simple, but oh so good.

6 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
10 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped into 1/4-inch pieces
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped into 1/4-inch pieces
6 tbsp unsalted butter
2 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

You can’t have any kind of food round up these days without a bacon entry!

1/2 cup butter (softened, feel free to replace some with bacon grease)
1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/8 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup dark chocolate chunks
5 strips bacon

Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

Similar to whoopie cookies, these tiny sandwiches are a picnic must.

2 bars (4 oz each) bittersweet chocolate, broken into 1-in. pieces
2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 Tbsp butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp each baking powder and salt
1/2 cup mini–semisweet chocolate chips
Mint or Coffee Buttercream Frosting

Andes Mint Gooey Chocolate Cookies

These gooey treats are meant to be enjoyed at home. No sharing!

3 packages Andes Mints (28 mints in each)
¾ cup trans-free margarine
1 ½ cup of brown sugar
2 tablespoon water
1 package (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips
2 large eggs
2 ½ cups of all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoon baking soda

Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies

Go the extra mile with this recipe and create the marshmallows from scratch too.

3 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
12 tablespoons butter
3 eggs, whisked together
Homemade marshmallows, recipe on page
Chocolate glaze, recipe on page

Dark Chocolate Cookies

The powdered sugar + dark chocolate = exellent cookies.

1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips (about 9 ounces), divided
3 large egg whites, room temperature
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, divided (next time I might use 1/4 or 1/2 cup less)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt

White Chocolate Orange Cookies

While white chocolate technically isn’t “chocolate” it still counts here!

125g unsalted butter, softened
200g caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
Grated zest of a large orange (about 3 teaspoons)
200g plain flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
175g white chocolate chips

Looking for more tasty round ups? Try WebeSharin.com’s Happy Hour Fridays!

When I saw “Beaver Brittle” I knew I had to try it. Even better, it’s handmade local Beaver Brittle- can’t be eating east coast beaver brittle after all! This particular product is from the Dan Marco Trading Co in Tigard, OR, who also makes a hazelnut and almond brittle versions as well. I would have linked to their site, but it appears not to exist anymore. I assure you though, this particular piece of brittle has not reached it’s expiration date yet, so they are still around.

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It’s true, chocolate goes with just about everything. Just about. There have been creations and combinations I never would have thought to put together (chocolate pasta, bacon chocolate, basil and more foods combined with chocolate) but just like any good thing, there is such a thing as too much. Some things were just not ever meant to be. So check out these 7 foods combined with chocolate for some truly gross chocolate combinations.

Peanut and Ketchup Chocolate Bar

Zotter made it. Chocolate Reviews ate it. They are far braver than I.
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