14 Chocolate Recipes for a Sweeter Holiday Season

When we have a hankering for chocolate, we find it impossible to ignore. On a hard day or a good day, when we're tired or celebrating, chocolate is always the answer. And the satisfaction comes in many forms, from fudgy brownies, hot chocolate, and chocolate chip cookies, to decadent cake. To make each bite taste even better, we're always sure to use quality ingredients. For chocolate, that meansValrhona.

This renowned French chocolate company was founded in 1922 in a small village in the South of France, and it’s no wonder that it’s the brand of choice for pastry professionals and chocolatiers around the world. (It’s sold in 85 countries!) Originally made by a pastry chef for pastry chefs, Valrhona is meant to be baked into cakes, cookies, and confections. The traditional methods by which it is still made produce consistent results on which bakers, professional or amateur, can rely. With complex, balanced, and unique flavor, Valrhona chocolate is also meant to—and impossible not to—be eaten and savored on its own.

So when your chocolate craving hits, as it is bound to do, we recommend using Valrhona chocolate for the absolute best results. Try it in one of the recipes below, and you’ll be hard-pressed to convince your friends that you’re not moonlighting as a pastry chef.

光滑的软糖巧克力蛋糕

Never met a brownie you didn’t like? How about one you couldn’t stop thinking about? This recipe from none other than Stella Parks is the definition of brownie perfection, thanks to a combination of brown butter, whipped whole eggs, cocoa powder, and dark chocolate. If you useValrhona’s Guanaja 70% Baking Bar—with its intense bitterness leading to floral notes and depth you didn’t even know existed in a bar of chocolate—you’ll probably never make another brownie recipe ever again.

Get the recipe for Glossy Fudge Brownies here

Quick and Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies

When you get a craving for chocolate chip cookies that must be satisfied now, then this recipe is for you. Quick and easy doesn’t mean lackluster, however. An ingenious pinch of nutmeg here brings out a flavor reminiscent of butterscotch, while the combination of milk and dark chocolate imbues a luscious feel spiked with deeper, darker notes. We loveValrhona’s Jivara 40% milk chocolatehere, thanks to its caramel and vanilla notes, which match the butterscotchy flavor.

Get the recipe for Quick and Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies here

Homemade Milk Duds

You don’t have to go out to the movies for your favorite theater treat. These homemade milk duds are easier than they might sound and rival the real thing when you use high-qualitydark chocolatelike Valrhona. The trick to mimicking the candy’s flavor is minimal caramelization, plus a hefty dose of cream. Expect to get your hands covered in chocolate, as hand-dipping ensures a thin, even coating. Make sure you’ve finished the recipe before you’re ready to handle the remote.

Get the recipe for Homemade Milk Duds here

Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie

Skillet cookies are your excuse to eat chocolate chip cookies with a fork, or, in other words, for dinner, if you choose. Cooking the dough in cast iron at a slightly higher temperature ensures extra-crispy edges, while the addition of malted milk powder adds an X factor you’ll love. As with regular chocolate chip cookies (i.e. finger food), don’t use chocolate chips, which won’t spread through the dough as well. Use a mix of dark, milk, and white chocolate bars, likeValrhona’s Ivorie 35% Baking Bar, roughly chopped.

Get the recipe to the Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie here

Mocha Mascarpone Icebox Cake

This cake, inspired by Ina Garten's beloved Mocha Chocolate Icebox Cake, is an icebox cake upgraded to the next level, thanks to the addition of homemade chocolate chip cookies. You read that right. And if you’re going to go the extra mile, you’d better be using quality chocolate. That goes for the chocolate in the cookies and the cocoa powder in the filling, for whichValrhona’s Cocoa Powder 100%将是一个恰当的选择。

Get the recipe for Mocha Mascarpone Icebox Cake here

Homemade Nutella (Creamy, Chocolate Hazelnut Spread)

There should be a whole category of foods on the food pyramid so decadent and delicious they blow your mind, time and time again. On the list? Dulce de leche, crème anglaise, and Nutella. Though this category of treats may belong squarely on the special-occasion menu, life’s too short not to indulge in the classic combination of hazelnuts and chocolate on the regular. And so we stand behind spreading this homemade Nutella on everything from toast to ice cream sandwiches (oh yeah), and suggest you usechocolatethat can stand up to the task. Valrhona, that is.

Get the recipe for Homemade Nutella (Creamy, Chocolate Hazelnut Spread) here

Chocolate Skillet Cake With Milk Chocolate Frosting

一个简单但令人印象深刻的蛋糕,需要迷你mal mess in the kitchen, look no further than this Chocolate Skillet Cake With Milk Chocolate Frosting. The batter is mixed and baked in the skillet, and the creamy ganache frosting requires just two ingredients (well, three if you count salt): milk chocolate and cream. We loveValrhona’s Bahibe chocolatehere; because there are so few ingredients, you want a chocolate whose quality you can depend on. Bake, frost, eat directly from the pan.

Get the recipe for Chocolate Skillet Cake With Milk Chocolate Frosting here

Cocoa Butter Cookies With Chocolate Chips

When you’re looking for something a little different than your favorite chocolate chip cookies, this recipe, which uses cocoa butter, is your answer. Unrefined cocoa butter is seriously rich and aromatic, leaving you with an essence of chocolate that is utterly addictive. Whoever is the lucky recipient of said cookies won’t know what hit them. Using milk chocolate chips is key here, as the flavor won’t overwhelm that of the cocoa butter, and chocolate nibs bring welcome added texture. We loveValrhona’s smooth, well-balanced chocolate chipshere as well as itscocoa nibs, made with dry-roasted pieces of cocoa beans.

Get the recipe for Cocoa Butter Cookies With Chocolate Chips here

Hazelnut Cookies With Milk Chocolate

If you love the classic combination of hazelnut and chocolate like we do, you’ll dream about these hazelnut cookies, drizzled with milk chocolate. They’re made with homemade hazelnut butter, which yields impressive depth for such a simple cookie. Milk chocolate is the ideal accompaniment here, complementing the hazelnut butter as opposed to overpowering it. And since you’re going to the trouble of making your own, be sure to use a high-quality chocolate like Valrhona'sBahibe.

Get the recipe for Hazelnut Cookies with Milk Chocolate here

No-Bake Cookies With Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and Chewy Oats

你得到当你把软糖和燕麦片cookies? These chewy, no-bake, dynamic delights that you’ll want to sink your teeth into on repeat. Usingmilk chocolateinstead of butter in the base yields a toastier flavor reminiscent of toffee, thanks to the higher percentage of lactose, and those toasty flavors match perfectly with creamy, sweet, and salty peanut butter. We don’t stop at milk chocolate here, though. These cookies also contain cocoa powder and dark chocolate for extra layers of flavor. No-bake doesn’t mean one-note, after all. And since you’re going big, using not one but three kinds of chocolate, we recommend Valrhona, which won’t let you down.

Get the recipe for No-Bake Cookies With Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Chewy Oats here

Chocolate Swiss Buttercream

The next time you’re baking a birthday cake, consider this Chocolate Swiss Buttercream, light and airy, thanks to the Swiss meringue base (egg whites and sugar are whipped over a water bath to create a stable but fluffy texture), but also rich and satisfying. Use finelychopped dark chocolate, preferably from Valrhona. We love it not only for its texture but also for its flavor, which isn’t cloyingly sweet but complex, subtle and, dare we say, seductive.

Get the recipe for Chocolate Swiss Buttercream here

Champurrado (Mexican Hot Chocolate and Corn Drink)

It’s not hot chocolate. It’schampurrado, and it’s going to be your new favorite hot beverage if you haven’t already added it to your winter roster. Made by simmering masa harina in water and then adding milk, chocolate, and cinnamon, it boasts the unique, subtly sweet flavor of corn at the core, with sweet and spiced layers on top. As with any recipe that contains such few ingredients, using top-quality products is key, which is why we loveValrhona’s dark chocolatehere, which is as elegant, powerful, and understated as this drink.

Get the recipe for Champurrado (Mexican Hot Chocolate and Corn Drink) here

Bakery-Style Cream Scones With Milk Chocolate

Cream scones are a breakfast or tea time classic. Cream scones with milk chocolate, especially when you use a bar likeValrhona’s Caramélia 36%, made with caramel instead of sugar for extra depth and edge, worthy of the Queen herself. Here, we mix chopped milk chocolate—chunks and bits of all sizes—right into the dough for something altogether royal.

Get the recipe for Bakery-Style Cream Scones With Milk Chocolate here

Double Chocolate Cream Pie

Picture the ideal chocolate cream pie you’d find behind a glass case at a charming, old-school diner, and you’re getting close to what this deceptively sophisticated but oh-so-comforting pie is all about. It starts with a flaky crust, makes way to a rich custard, and is topped up with fluffy Swiss meringue that’s slightly browned for a steady hold and lovely, round flavor. We loveValrhona’s dark chocolatehere. Just like the pie itself, the chocolate has long-lingering layers of complexity that make you want to pull up that diner stool and stay a while.

Get the recipe for Double Chocolate Cream Pie here