Dipped Chocolate Logs Recipes

CHOCOLATE PRETZELS

Steps:

• Melt chocolate in double boiler over medium heat on stove top. Using tongs, or your fingers, quickly dip pretzels in chocolate allowing the excess to run off. Place dipped pretzels on waxed paper lined cookie sheets. Sprinkle with chopped nuts, colored sugars or other toppings. Allow to harden. You may need to refrigerate for a while to help this along. Once hardened, remove from sheets and store in a cool location, with waxed paper between layers.
• Tip: Package pretzels in clear cellophane bags or in vase for festive gift giving!

FESTIVE SHORTBREAD LOGS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla. Gradually add flour and mix well. , With lightly floured hands, shape tablespoonfuls into 2-in. logs. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 9-11 minutes or until edges and bottom are lightly browned. Cool for 2-3 minutes before removing to wire racks., In a microwave, melt chocolate chips and shortening; stir until smooth. Drizzle chocolate over half of the cookies. Dip one end of remaining cookies into chocolate; allow excess to drip off. Sprinkle with walnuts. Place on waxed paper; let stand until set.

CHOCOLATE YULE LOG

Steps:

• Place egg whites in large bowl; let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Line a greased 15x10x1-in. baking pan with waxed paper; grease the paper and set aside. , Preheat oven to 375°. In a large bowl, beat egg yolks on high speed for 5 minutes or until thick and lemon-colored. Gradually beat in 1/3 cup sugar. Sift flour, baking cocoa, baking powder and salt together twice; gradually add to yolk mixture and mix well (batter will be very thick). , With clean beaters, beat egg whites on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in remaining sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, on high until stiff peaks form. Gradually fold into batter. Spread evenly into prepared pan. , Bake until cake springs back when lightly touched, 10-12 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes. Turn cake onto a kitchen towel dusted with cocoa powder. Gently peel off waxed paper. Roll up cake in towel, jelly-roll style, starting with a short side; cool completely on a wire rack., Meanwhile, for the filling, beat cream in a large bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar and almond extract, beating until stiff peaks form. Unroll cake; spread filling to within 1 in. of edges. Roll up again. , In a large bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in chocolate, milk and vanilla until smooth. Frost the cake, using a metal spatula to create a bark-like effect.

EASY DOUBLE-DIPPED CHOCOLATE AND NUT SHORTBREAD LOGS

Steps:

• Set oven to 325°.
• Lightly grease cookie/baking sheets.
• In a bowl cream butter, vanilla and icing sugar for about 5 minutes until very fluffy (beat no less than 5 minutes!).
• Mix in flour and pinch of salt (if you are using salted butter, omit salt) mix till combined.
• Stir in 1 cup mini chocolate chips.
• Gather up about 1-1/2 tablespoons dough and shape into about 2 x 1/2-inch logs (or you can make them into larger size if desired).
• Place on cookie sheets about 1-1/2-inches apart.
• Bake for about 10-14 minutes or until the logs are firm.
• Let cookies cool COMPLETELY in the pan before removing them to a rack (they will break if moved when warm!).
• In a microwave or a double boiler melt the remaining 2 cups mini chocolate chips with 2 tablespoons Crisco shortening until smooth.
• Dip one end in the chocolate then into the chopped nuts.
• Holding the cookie in the middle, repeat with the other end of the cookie.
• Place on waxed paper to set.

CHOCOLATE-DIPPED BROWN SUGAR SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Arrange two racks evenly spaced in the oven.
• Place the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on medium speed just until the butter and sugar are combined so you don't whip a lot of air into it. With the mixer on low, add the vanilla and scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and salt. With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter and sugar mixture and mix just until the dough comes together.
• Scoop out 1-ounce pieces of dough (about a tablespoon), roll each one into a ball, then roll it into a 2 1/2-inch-long log. Place the logs 2 inches apart on two sheet pans lined with parchment paper and bake for 15 to 17 minutes, until the cookies start to brown around the edges and spring back when lightly touched. Set aside to cool on the pans.
• For the coating, place the chocolate and the butter in a heatproof bowl and microwave on high for 30 seconds. Stir the mixture vigorously and continue to microwave in 30-second increments until the chocolate is just melted.
• Drag half of the rounded top of each cookie through the chocolate and place it, chocolate side up, on a piece of parchment paper. While the chocolate is still warm, sprinkle on the pecans. Repeat with all the cookies. Set aside for at least 30 minutes for the chocolate to firm.

MINI CHOCOLATE CHIP SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Mix flour, butter, sugar, and vanilla extract in a bowl until dough is smooth. Reserve 1/4 the chocolate chips; stir remaining chips into dough until evenly distributed. Roll dough into 24 small logs and place a baking sheet.
• Bake in preheated oven until slightly golden around the edges, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool in baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.
• Melt shortening in a small saucepan over medium-low heat; stir in reserved chocolate chips until melted, about 5 minutes. Dip cookies into chocolate and return to baking sheet. Refrigerate until firm.

GOURMET CHOCOLATE DIPPED PRETZEL RODS

Steps:

• Melt milk chocolate chips in double boiler or in microwave (be careful not to burn in the micro).
• If you are using the white chocolate, wait until later before melting unless you can keep it over warm water.
• Dip each pretzel rod about 2/3 of the way up in chocolate.
• Lay on wax paper lined baking sheets, lining up the rods but leave a bit of space between them.
• Allow to set a little, but not completely dry (while waiting, make sure your white chocolate is ready).
• Dip a fork into the white chocolate and drizzle over the milk chocolate by gently swishing the fork back and forth over the rods but not touching them.
• Place your sprinkles or candies on a paper plate and roll each pretzel rod in desired topping (or just sprinkle on).
• Lay back on wax paper to set completely.
• These look great displayed in, or given in, a unique glass or mug.

DIPPED CHOCOLATE ANYTHING

Steps:

• Melt 1 1/2 pounds chocolate in top of a double boiler (or clean metal bowl set over simmering water). Remove chocolate from heat when it reaches between 110 and 115 degrees on a candy thermometer.
• To bring into tempering range, add remaining chocolate to the mixture and stir constantly with a rubber spatula until the thermometer registers 82 to 84 degrees. Put chocolate back over the hot water and bring temperature to between 88 and 91 degrees. Be careful not to let the temperature fall too far or you will have to gently re-warm the mixture; if the temperature rises above 91 degrees in the tempering step, you will have to start the process over.
• Once tempered, use immediately for dipping. Store tempered chocolate at room temperature.

YUMMY CHOCOLATE LOG

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Butter and line a 23 x 32cm Swiss roll tin with baking parchment. Beat the eggs and golden caster sugar together with an electric whisk for about 8 mins until thick and creamy.
• Mix the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder together, then sift onto the egg mixture. Fold in very carefully, then pour into the tin. Tip the tin from side to side to spread the mixture into the corners. Bake for 10 mins.
• Lay a sheet of baking parchment on a work surface. When the cake is ready, tip it onto the parchment, peel off the lining paper, then roll the cake up from its longest edge with the paper inside. Leave to cool.
• To make the icing, melt the butter and dark chocolate together in a bowl over a pan of hot water. Take from the heat and stir in the golden syrup and 5 tbsp double cream. Beat in the icing sugar until smooth.
• Whisk the remaining double cream until it holds its shape. Unravel the cake, spread the cream over the top, scatter over the crushed extra strong mints, if using, then carefully roll up again into a log.
• Cut a thick diagonal slice from one end of the log. Lift the log on to a plate, then arrange the slice on the side with the diagonal cut against the cake to make a branch. Spread the icing over the log and branch (don't cover the ends), then use a fork to mark the icing to give the effect of tree bark. Scatter with unsifted icing sugar to resemble snow, and decorate with holly.

CHOCOLATE DIPPED PECAN LOGS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325*F.
• Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or leave the sheets ungreased.
• Using electric mixer on medium speed, cream butter, sugar and vanilla in medium mixing bowl until light and fluffy, about 1 1/2 minutes. Stop the mixer once or twice to scrape down bowl with rubber spatula.
• Add flour and salt and blend on medium speed about 1 minute. Scrape the bowl and add the nuts with several more turns of the mixer.
• Measure out slightly rounded tbls. of dough and shape them into little logs 2 1/2" long. Place the logs 1 1/2" apart on prpared cookie sheets. Flatten slightly with your palm so they are about 1 1/2" wide.
• Bake cookies until lightly golden, about 30-35 minutes. Cool on cookie sheets.
• When cookies are cool, melt the chocolate in top of double boiler placed over simmering water.
• Pour the melted chocolate into a small deep bowl and dip half of each cookie into the chocolate, using the rim of the bowl to scrape any excess chocolate off the bottom of the cookie.
• As they are dipped, place the cookies on a large sheet of waxed paper and allow to set until the chocolate hardens, several hours. If it is a humid day, refrigerate them in order to speed the procees. Enjoy!

BIRCH PRETZEL LOGS

Steps:

• In a microwave, melt candy coating; stir until smooth. Pour into an ungreased 8-in. square pan or a tall glass. Roll or dip pretzels in coating, leaving 1 in. of space on the end you are holding; allow excess to drip off. Place on waxed paper-lined baking sheets; let stand until set. , In a microwave, melt chocolate chips; stir until smooth. Pour into a small resealable plastic bag. Carefully cut a very small hole in the bottom corner of the bag. Pipe stripe markings across the pretzel rods to resemble birch trees. Allow to set. Store in an airtight container.

CHOCOLATE-DIPPED COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Stir in almonds and chocolate chips. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours. Divide dough in half. Shape into two 8-in. rolls; wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 3 hours or until firm., Unwrap and cut into 1/4-in. slices. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until set. Remove to wire racks to cool., Dip half of the cookies in white coating; allow excess to drip off. Place on waxed paper. Repeat with remaining cookies in dark chocolate coating. , Place milk chocolate coating in a resealable plastic bag; cut a small hole in one corner of the bag. Pipe designs on cookies. Let stand for 30 minutes or until set.