Yay for Chocolate! Chocolate Orange Bread and Chocolate Walnut Bars

We got our very first snow day of the season here in Baltimore today!  Though for "snow" it was a measly one inch of accumulation.  But the roads were rather icy so I was pretty much stuck in the house all day.  And you know what that means?  Mya Lwin goes on a baking binge!  Today I was in a very chocolately kind of mood (PMS?), and so I decided to bake not one, but TWO, chocolately treats!

The first is a yeast-raised chocolate orange bread.  Chocolate and orange is one of my favorite combinations of all time.  In fact, my favorite gelato when I spent three weeks last summer studying abroad in Venice was this chocolate-orange gelato from my favorite gelateria, Il Doge, which happened to be literally at the doorstep of my school.  There's just something about the combination of dark chocolate and orange essence that really works. 

Vegan Cowboy Cookies

I don't know about you, but I'm a huge fan of oatmeal cookies.  I love the fact that they're actually filling and have some substance to them.  But until recently, I have never heard of cowboy cookies - oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips, pecans, and coconut.  How the name came about, no one really knows, although I'm pretty sure cowboys have nothing to do with these cookies.

At any rate, these little suckers were a huge hit at my house.  I love that the addition of the shredded coconut - they give a nice texture to the chewy cookies.  And anything with pecans (and of course, dark chocolate) is fine by me any time.  Unfortunately, I was fresh out of pecans when I made these, so I had to sub in walnuts.  But I'll definitely be using pecans the next time (and there certainly will be a next time).

Ooh La La: Croissants and Pain Au Chocolat

Tackling French pastries has been on my winter break baking bucket list, and this past weekend, I took on croissants and pain au chocolat (chocolate-filled croissants).  And they turned out pretty legit, if I must say so myself.  But after making them myself and seeing first-hand how much effort goes into making croissants, I have so much more respect for bakeries that make these little suckers by hand everyday.

First of all, croissants are definitely not something you can just whip up, like cookies or cupcakes.  In fact, it was a two-day process for me.  There are quite a few steps, most of them repetitions, and a whole lotta chilling time (think: patience!).  But if done right, the ends definitely justify the means. 

Okay, so there are two elements to a croissant: the dough block (détrempe) and the butter block (beurrage).  [If you have a fear of butter, you better get over it quickly if you're going to make French pastries]  The dough block is just a combination of yeast, flour, water (or milk), and a little bit of cold butter.  The butter block is exactly as it sounds - it's just cold butter mixed with a little bit of flour.  To make croissants, you essentially encase the butter block in the dough block, and the combination is rolled out and folded over and over again, until the butter is incorporated into the dough to create those oh-so flaky and buttery layers that we all love about croissants...