Chocolate Chip Cookie Delight

I needed to bring a dessert to Thanksgiving and so the weekend before when we were in Tuscaloosa I gave Jason, Charlie, and Dad a choice of three desserts.  They chose the one that included 'Chocolate Chip Cookie' in the title and now having had the dessert I'm glad that they did!  This was so good but wasn't overly sweet with all of the Cool Whip mixed in that it made it the perfect Thanksgiving (or anytime!) dessert.  If you go to Taste of Home's website their picture shows it much higher than this.  I'm thinking to achieve that look they probably put it in a smaller pan or something to cook.  If you make it in a 9x13 pan it has much thinner layers but it is still so good!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Delight

1 tube refrigerated Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

8 oz Cream Cheese, softened

1 cup Confectioners' Sugar

12 oz (1 carton) Cool Whip, thawed, divided

3 cups cold 2% Milk

1 package (3.9 oz) Instant Chocolate Pudding Mix

1 package (3.4 oz) Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix

1. Let cookie dough stand at room temperature for 5-10 minutes to soften.  Press into an ungreased 9x13 baking pan.  Bake at 350 for 14-16 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool on a wire rack.

2. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth.  Fold in 1 3/4 cups Cool Whip.  Spread over crust.

3. In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding mixes for 2 minutes; let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set.  Spread over cream cheese layer.

4. Top with remaining Cool Whip.

5. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight until firm.

From Taste of Home via Pinterest

Snickers Cake

I made this cake when Jason's family was over for Christmas and it was a big hit.  I made it early in the day so didn't serve it warm but it might be better that way because it's still pretty gooey when you pull it straight from the oven!

Snickers Cake

1 German Chocolate Cake Mix

Ingredients called for on cake mix (oil, eggs, water)

1 14 oz bag of Caramel squares

1/4 cup Milk

1/3 cup Butter

1-2 cups Chocolate Chips

1 cup Pecans, chopped (optional)

1. Mix together cake mix as directed on the box.  Pour half of the batter into a greased 9x13 baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

2. While it bakes, unwrap all the caramels. Put the caramels, milk, and butter in a sauce pan and melt over low heat, stirring constantly until caramel is melted and smooth.

3. Pour the caramel on the cake as soon as it is finished baking.

4. Sprinkle the chocolate chips and pecans (if desired) on top of the caramel.  Spread the remaining half of the prepared cake mix batter on top.

5. Bake for 20 more minutes at 350 degrees.

From Six Sisters Stuff via Pinterest

Peanut Butter Cup Brownies

Peanut Butter Cup Brownies (via Baked Perfection)

I love Reese's.  These are similar and I can make them at home!

1 box of Brownie mix

Ingredients to make brownies (usually water, veggie oil, and an egg)

1/2 cup Peanut Butter Chips

1/2 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

1/2 cup Peanut Butter

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.  Mix brownie batter as directed on the box.

2. Grease mini-muffin pans with non-stick cooking spray.

3. Spoon brownie batter into muffin pans (about 1 heaping teaspoon into each).

4. Bake for 13-15 minutes until they are set.

5. After brownies come out of the oven wait for the centers to fall.  If they don't fall take a spoon and tap the center to create a well.

6. Place peanut butter in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave on high for 45 seconds.

7. Fill the wells in the brownies with peanut butter.

8. Top the brownies with peanut butter chips and chocolate chips.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

I recently had some cookies with craisins in them and thought they were fantastic.  So when I saw this recipe that was a mix of chocolate, oats, peanut butter, and craisins I was ecstatic about making it.  I made these for out Bible Study group and I really enjoyed them.  They're not the perfect food for a gathering like that because they're better served right out of the fridge.  The longer they sit out the more they melt as soon as you put them in your fingers.  But if you're just looking for a sweet snack it's nice that you eat them right out of the fridge.

These bars are almost fudge like but the craisins give them a really sweet taste and the oats give them texture.  I'm not normally a texture person in my cookies, etc (I really dislike nuts in my desserts) but I really enjoyed these.  Plus they're no-bake so they were quick to mix together and pour in a pan.  You do need to let them sit in the fridge before serving but an hour will get them perfectly hard.  

If you're looking for a new recipe for Christmas or the holiday's this is a good one to consider.  I found the recipe via Pinterest and the recipe was from the blog, New Nostalgia.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

Makes a 9x13 pan of bars

1 cup Peanut Butter

2/3 cup Honey

1/2 cup Coconut Oil (no substitutes!)

2 cups Oats

1 1/4 cups Mini Chocolate Chips

3/4 cup Dried Cranberries

1. In a medium sized saucepan, melt together peanut butter, honey, and coconut oil.

2. Remove from heat and add oats, chocolate chips, and dried cranberries.

3. Stir until combined and chocolate chips are melted.

4. Spread into a 9x13 pan.  Refrigerate until hardened (about an hour).

5. Store in the refrigerator.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

A few weeks ago I was looking for a dessert recipe for Bible Study. I wanted something that had chocolate in it but wasn't a brownie and was something that could be eated without any utensils. So I searched my trusty recipe source (Tasty Kitchen) and came up with a few options. I gave Jason the choice of which one to make since he would get leftovers and he chose the Chocolate Peanut Butter bars. I'm so glad he did because they were so good! And while making them I might have stumbled upon my new favorite, super guilty pleasure of peanut butter and brown sugar (don't worry I was cleaning the spoon after everything had been safely put into the pan and the pan was cooking in the oven!). These are really good and very easy. And they have oats in them so they're healthy right?? Oh... just because they have oats doesn't mean they're healthy?? I will choose to ignore that you just told me that! Enjoy!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Bottom layer:
1 box Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix
1/2 cups Butter, melted
1 whole egg

Top layer:
1/2 cups smooth Peanut Butter
3 tablespoons Butter
1/2 cups packed Brown Sugar
1 cup Oats
2 tablespoons All-purpose flour
Semi sweet chocolate chips

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pray a 9x13 dish with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, mix cake mix, butter, and egg together until well combined. Press into bottom of pan.
- Melt peanut butter and butter together in a microwave safe bowl until butter as been melted. Stir in brown sugar, oats, and flour until oats and flour have been incorporated. Sprinkle over chocolate layer and gently press peanut butter crumbles into chocolate layer.
- Top with chocolate and bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cut into squares and serve. Great warm or cooled.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

For Christmas Eve dessert with Jason's parents and brother I made the most delectable pie for dessert. I combined a recipe from the Birthday Girl and The Pioneer Woman to make this pie (used The Pioneer Woman's crust recipe and the Birthday Girl's filling recipe). It was so good! BUT, it is super rich so you don't need to cut big slices!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

Crust:
25 whole Oreos
4 Tablespoons Butter, Melted
Filling:
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 (8-ounce) package softened cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 can condensed milk
8 ounces Cool Whip
Preparation:
Crust:
Crush the Oreos until they’re fine crumbs. Pour melted butter over the top and stir with a fork to combine. Press into pie pan and bake at 350 degrees for 5 to 7 minutes, or until set.
Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
Filling:
Beat the peanut butter, condensed milk, powdered sugar and cream cheese in a mixer until smooth.
Add in the whipped cream and beat until smooth, scraping the sides as needed.
Pour filling into crust, evening out the top with a knife or spatula.
Chill for at least an hour before serving.

Coffee Cup Chocolate Cake and Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies

Happy Valentine's Day!

In honor of this day of love I wanted to share two recipes that I found this week that are the perfect treat to end a Valentine's Day.

The first I got was through an email from my Mom.  The email referred to it as "the most dangerous cake recipe in the world" but I prefer to refer to it as Coffee Cup Chocolate Cake due to the much less...sinister...connotations!  But sinister it is!  The fact that making the entire concoction takes roughly 5 minutes and can be made with things that are most likely already in your pantry makes this recipe something to only pull out when you really need a chocolate fix!  Also, don't let your eyes get bigger than your tummy!  Due to my ever expanding pregnant belly Jason and I thought that we would make two but we probably, together, ate one if that! The picture below is one cake served with Cool Whip due to the fact that we didn't have any ice cream but I bet ice cream would only make this dessert even better!  So, here's the recipe!

Coffee Cup Chocolate Cake

4 T Flour

4 T Sugar

2 T Cocoa

1 Egg

3 T Milk

3 T Oil

3 T Chocolate Chips (optional)

Small splash Vanilla Extract

1 large Coffee Mug

1. Add dry ingredients to mug and mix well.
2. Add egg and mix thoroughly.
3. Pour in oil and milk and mix well.
4. Add chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla and mix.
5. Put in microwave and microwave for 3 minutes at 1000 watts
6. Don't worry, it's OK if it rises over the top of the mug!
7. Tip onto a plate and enjoy with ice cream or whipped cream!

The second recipe is one I saw on Bakerella's blog this week.  To see her post with this recipe gohere.  Most of Bakerella's treats intimidate me but I knew that I had a Red Velvet cake mix and cream cheese frosting in my pantry (due to a different recipe that I've been meaning to try for a while) so I thought I'd give this a try.  Making this didn't take 5 minutes but from start (getting out ingredients) to finish (having the sandwiches iced and in a container) it only took one hour!  Still pretty good for a fun dessert in my book!  To be honest I cheated and used canned cream cheese frosting intsead of making my own though so if you're making the icing like Bakerellainstructs then it will take longer.  But these babies are yummy and well worth it!  The funny thing is that a girl from work sent an email out to the office saying that SHE made these last night and had brought them to work!  I told her that emails talking about treats in the break room usually make me sad since I work from  home but that today I had those exact same treats in my kitchen! :)  

So either use my amended/cheater version or go and see the real recipe from Bakerella's blog! 

Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies

1 box Red Velvet Cake Mix

1/2 c Butter, softened

2 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix until mix, butter, and eggs are combined
3. Drop spoonfuls onto baking sheet approximately 2 inches apart
4. Bake 10 - 12 minutes
5. Cool
6. Assemble with store-bought icing in the middle or Bakerella's Cream Cheese Filling

I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day!