Make it Yourself

Chocolate Pudding,
is probably a childhood favorite for many. Not for me, my parents never made it and we didn't get to buy it at the store. Only when I went to my Grandmother's would I get to eat some, it was out of the packet, but it was definetly better than nothing, and it tasted really chocolately. I found a recipe the other day, and making pudding is sooooooooo easy. Or so I thought. I made it and it all looked like it was going well, cooked the milk and cocoa and flour, waiting until it was thick, added the egg and put it in the fridge to set. Only it didn't actually end up setting, it's still liquid now, after 24 hours! So I decided to make fudge Popsicles which are in the freezer now. So although I didn't set out to make fudge pops I have some now, I still don't know why I couldn't make chocolate pudding the normal way.I just ate one that was semi-frozen and it was like fudge ice-cream, next time I'll try to make some in my ice-cream machine. ( My old one broke ages ago, I just got one today, so there's lots of Ice-cream posts to come) It was AMAZING, in case you were wondering.

From Simply Recipes
Chocolate Pudding (or popsicles)

• 55g (1/4) cup sugar
• 32g(1/4) cup cocoa powder
• 2 tablsepoons cornstarch
• 1/2 liter (2 cups) milk
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 110g (4 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate

Method:

1. In a pot combine sugar,cocoa and cornstarch and cook over medium heat for 3-5 minutes, until thick. 

2. Take the pot off the heat and add the egg whisking to combine, then the chocolate chips.

3. Pour the mixture into glasses or custard cups.(or popsicle moulds)

 4. Chill for 8 hours, until firm and if it never firms up freeze it

Make it Yourself

Granola Bars
You may  be thinking: Why in the world would you make your own granola bars? (Maybe your not) This is not one of those things I make from scratch (although I make almost everything from scratch) so that I know what I put in it, changed it to fit my taste, although granola bars are a perfect example for this, I for instance don't like raisins. The simple reason that I make Granola bars is because I love them. You may now be thinking, well why don't you just go to the store and buy some then? THEY DON'T EXIST! I think that anyone, in desperate need for granola bars, would be happy to make them. Don't get me wrong though, they sell plenty of cereal bars and things of the sort, but you can' actually buy any real granola bars. My first unbuyable need was granola. Which may sound weird because here in Switzerland they have Muesli which is really similar and really good, it just isn't the same thing. So I make granola all the time and it's amazing, and I tried to make granola bars today, and got carried away when I was adding oats,thinking it would be fine but it turned out so dry that  it crackled into small pieces. I've decided to post the original adaption of the recipe, not what I did, 1) because it didn't work,2) because I don't even know how much more I added.

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen:

• 1 2/3 cups old fashioned rolled oats 
• 1/2  cup granulated sugar 
• 1/3 cup oat flour 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 1 cup chopped almonds
• 1(or 1/2) cup chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup peanut butter 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 6 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons honey

This recipe is super-simple: Dump all the ingredients in and bowl and combine (and don't think it's too sticky like I did) and bake at 350F/ 180C (8"x8"x2" baking pan for thick bars) for 30-40 minutes.

Although my didn't make Granola bars I just use it as granola now, because it crumbled up, but it still tastes delicious.