Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

Looking for a super simple dessert?  Like peanut butter and chocolate? Don't walk, run (well, "run" your fingers across the keyboard) and go here.  Try this pie now!!

I just adore The Pioneer Woman and all her blogs, but her cooking blog is what initially drew me in.  Last weekend I was in a need of a quick, easy dessert where I already had most of the ingredients on hand.  This one fit the bill and was a hit with the fam.  I didn't have a pie plate, so I just used a square dish and put the whole oreos in certain spots so people would know it had a chocolate crust.  You know me, always thinking. (Actually it was just a good excuse for more chocolate)

You will notice it is a very small portion size.  It is super rich, but so very worth it.  And a tall glass of milk doesn't hurt either!

I won't bore you with re-typing it.  I could never do it the justice PW does.  Enjoy!

Hot Cocoa Pudding

1 toddler + 1 pre-schooler + snow in Alabama = lots of fun and a really tired mommy/aunt! My nephew came to spend the night and we got about 3 inches of snow. The boys had so much fun, but I am worn out! We even made snowcream for breakfast since snow is such a rarity here in the southeast. And after looking around a little online, I discovered that some people put hot cocoa mix in theirs to make it chocolate. We tried it and it was ok, but it just melted SO fast!

I left the hot cocoa mix on the counter and for some reason I got this wild idea to make chocolate pudding with it. I have no idea why. Sometimes I just get a wild hair and want try new things. And I never know how they are going to turn out. Sometimes they completely bomb. This time it was a major hit!!

Keep in mind I really have no idea how to make homemade pudding. I've only ever used the instant kind. And since 2 little boys running around means limited time on the computer, I didn't have time to research it. But I figured I know how to thicken milk with butter and flour, so that's what I did, using the instant hot cocoa mix as flavoring. The finished product:



Hot Cocoa Oreo Pudding
Source: Me


This is not really what I would call a recipe because I didn't measure anything. I made a basic roux (butter and flour), added milk. Let it thicken. Added a pack and a half of hot cocoa mix. Let it thicken some more. Put crushed oreos in the bottom of a glass dish, pour in mixture, top with more crushed oreos. Refrigerate until firm, cold and delightful!



Looking at this picture makes me want to make some more. But I will refrain. I don't even want to know how many calories were in the bowl, but I know it was WAY too many!

Just Needed A Little Inspiration

Hi! Remember me? It has been quite a while since I've made the time to sit down and blog. Even my mommy blog has been completely ignored for months. Of course I have been cooking, since my family has to eat, and I've even tried taking a few pictures, but over all nothing has really inspired me to blog.

Well that is no longer the case. I went out with the girl's last night and had some AWESOME coffee ice cream with oreo pieces mixed in from Coldstone! I have not quit thinking about how perfect it was. I even went on a quest today for a simple coffee ice cream recipe and came across this blog. It was like destiny because it only called for 3 ingredients and I had them all (pretty much).



Thankfully I have the wonderful Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker that is so simple I can do it while corraling a one year old. And Yes, my baby turned one last weekend. Another reason I've had no time to post. Baby plus building a business doesn't leave much time for blog writing or blog stalking. To those of you I used to regularly stalk...I've missed reading about your adventures!

And here is the awesome coffee icecream recipe with my additions in italics:



Homemade Coffee Ice Cream
Source: Eat At Home , Italic additions by me

1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups half and half (I only had whole milk for Logan, so I used whole milk)
4 tbsp brewed coffee, strong
1/3 package of oreo's crushed


Pour everything except the oreos in the ice cream maker and let it do it's thing until it is almost done. Add the oreo's at the last minute and let them combine. YUM!!!!

Coffee. Not Just An Amazing Beverage!

I love coffee, but I rarely brew it. I even have an awesome coffee maker. It's just that I am really the only one who drinks it. The hubs can be persuaded every now and again to have some, but usually it is just me. And I hate to brew just one or two cups at a time. So, my awesome coffee maker sits unused and my coffee sits in my cabinet.

Well, that coffee did not sit unused tonight! However, the poor coffee maker will have to wait a little longer. That is because this recipe uses coffee grounds, not the brewed concoction. On my quest to find a roast beef recipe I LOVE I made a coffee and cocoa crusted beef roast. I've heard of this combination used with beef before and finally found time to try it myself. I scoured the internet and read several recipes and decided I'd just use those as jumping off points. None of them actually called for roast beef. They were usually for a beef tenderloin or a ribeye steak.

So here is what I came up with:

Coffee and Cocoa Crusted Roast Beef

1 2lb. eye of round beef roast
1/4 cup coffee grounds, finely ground (I used a mortor and pestel to get mine more finely ground)
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp ground mustard
1/2 tbsp ground ginger
1/2 tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tbsp paprika
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tbsp sea salt
1/2 tbsp ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Heat a sautee pan over high heat. Mix all ingredients except roast. Pat all sides of the roast with the mixture. Using tongs, sear each side of the meat in the hot pan. Then place roast in a roasting pan and cook covered for an hour and 20 minutes for medium well. Remove from oven and let rest of 10 minutes. Remove meat to a cutting board and slice. Pour pan juices over the sliced meat.

It had a nice flavor and we really enjoyed it. We had twice baked potatoes and biscuits to go with it. Now I plan to find something new to make with the leftover roast because the one thing I dislike more than plain roast, is leftover roast.

Father's Day Dessert, the Semi-Homemade Way

Let me begin by saying that I'm not a huge fan of Sandra Lee and her Semi-Homemade show. Not that she doesn't have lots of good ideas, but with her intricate tablescapes and cocktails galore it's a little too much for me sometimes. My sister and I like to call her show Semi-Sober since she is ALL about the alcohol. ;)

Anyway, I did take a page from her book for my father's day dessert. I volunteered to bring something sweet to my in-laws for their father's day celebration and I wanted to use ingredients I already had on hand since I have already done my grocery shopping for the week. I happened to have a Jello Oreo No Bake Dessert (yes, a dessert in a box) in my pantry. It's really quick, easy and best of all, good!

I wanted to jazz it up a little though, so I decided to make individual frozen oreo cheesecakes. The idea to put them in cupcake liners was on the back of the box, so I can't take credit for that. I liked the idea of smaller portions, especially since my father-in-law is diabetic and he can only eat sweets in small quantities. I also decided to add cream cheese to the filling to make it more of a cheesecake than just a cream. I only added 4 oz. of cream cheese because I honestly wasn't sure how it would turn out.

They were really good with a hint of the tangy cream cheese in the filling. Next time I'll probably add the full 8 oz. to make it more cheesecake-like. But hey, you live and learn. The small portions were a hit and made it an easy to eat dessert. Keeping them frozen also made them easier to eat. Once they start to thaw, you need a fork!

So for father's day I kept it simple and semi-homemade. ;)

Zebra Brownies

Whew! Memorial Day weekend was a busy one for me! We pretty much went non-stop, but I did manage to do a bit of baking. ;) Of course, as in all my baking ventures, something wasn't quite right. I did make sure and read the entire recipe before beginning this time, but the problem came in when I thought I had an entire 8 oz. block of cream cheese in the fridge only to discover it was only half a block. For the life of me I can't remember where I used the other 4 oz. So, I had to scale down the cream cheese part of the Zebra Brownies I was making. They still tasted great even if they weren't that pretty.

Let me begin by saying I am VERY picky about my brownies. I don't like the edge pieces because they tend to be crunchy and/or chewy. I like the middle ones best. I want a gooey, fudgy brownie. I would take an undercooked brownie over a hard one. This brownie batter was really thick, but the brownies came out wonderfully gooey and perfect! And if I had enough cream cheese they would have been even better.

Also, next time I will not do the part where it says to drop spoonfuls of batter over the top of the cream cheese mixture. This batter is way too thick for that and swirling just doesn't work out so well. I think it would be better to just put all the batter in the dish, then top with the cream cheese mixture and swirl.

ZEBRA BROWNIES
Source: http://www.recipelink.com/mf/14/22403 (my comments in italics)

FOR THE BROWNIES:
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups flour
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened
3 eggs
6 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. vanilla

FOR THE FILLING:
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease bottom only of 13x9 inch pan. (I sprayed the entire pan with cooking spray)

Combine all brownie ingredients and mix well (about 1 minute on high speed). Set aside.

In small bowl blend all filling ingredients together at medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute.

Spread 1/2 of brownie batter in prepared pan. Pour filling mixture over batter, spreading to cover. Place spoonfuls of remaining batter on top of filling. Marble by pulling knife through batter in wide curves, then turn pan and repeat. (This is where I would omit the spoonfuls of batter on top)

Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes. (30 minutes was perfect for gooey brownies)

Cool. Then refrigerate at least 2 hours before cutting. Cover tightly and store in refrigerator.

Mothers Day...

I'm not technically a mom yet, but give me about 7 weeks and I will be. ;) My husband got me the PBK diaper bag I wanted for my first (almost) mother's day. Yes, I picked out my own gift. I personally see nothing wrong with that! It's a win-win situation for everyone.

For my mom, I wanted to make a dessert she would enjoy. We are all going to my grandmothers to hang out and have pizza so none of the mom's have to cook. I thought something sweet would be nice so I started thinking about some of my mom's favorite things. She loves chocolate turtles. You know, the chocolate, pecan and caramel candies? I found a recipe for a Chocolate Turtle Tart and knew I'd hit the jackpot. It sounds exactly like something she would like. This would also allow me to use my new cast iron pan I purchased several weeks ago if I made it into tartlettes. Of course you can only make 6 with that pan, so I also used a muffin tin.

The tartlettes in the muffin tins turned out better than the cast iron pan. I think it needs to be seasoned more thoroughly because they stuck and didn't come out near as pretty as I wanted.

I also had a hard time with the caramel. It was a lot harder to make than than I thought. Overall they came out ok though. Not as pretty as I'd envisioned, but Taylor ate 3 for dessert after dinner tonight and he said they were excellent! At least they tasted good even if they weren't as pretty as I would have liked.

This is what the cast iron pan produced. If you look closely on the left side you can see where I had to destroy it to get it out of the pan. I tried to camouflage it as best I could. :)

Chocolate Turtle Tart

Source: About.com

Serving Size: 16
Preparation Time: 4:00

For the crust:
3 2/3 cups pecans, halves or whole, to be processed in Cuisinart.
1 1/4 cups sugar
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the Filling:
1 pound fine semi-sweet chocolate
2 cups heavy cream

For the Caramel Sauce:
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup crushed pecans (garnish)

Crust: In a food processor blend pecans and sugar together, add melted butter in a steady stream until combined well. Turn out mixture into a 12' tart shell pan with removable bottom. Press into 1/8" thickness on bottom and 3/8" for sides. Bake at 350 for approx. 20-25 min. or till toasted then cool.

Filling: Bring cream to a boil and pour over coarsely chopped chocolate. Mix until chocolate is melted and mixture is combined well. Pour onto cooled crust and refrigerate for 3 hours. May be stored over night.

Sauce: In a heavy sauce pan, heat and melt the butter, add the sugar and cook until medium brown not burnt. Remove from the heat and add the heavy whipping cream, be ready for it to boil up quickly and be ready with a utensil to stir it. Mix thoroughly until mixture turns a rich golden color, it will darkens lightly as it continues to cook with its own retained heat off of the burner. That is the reason you do not bring the butter-sugar mixture to the color you want to end up with but you stop short of that color since it will darken. If you bring the sugar-butter mixture to the color you want to finish with you will end up with a burnt caramel. This can happen, and you may find that you toss out the first attempt and the second try will be perfect. Straining the caramel through a small strainer will create a smoother texture of caramel but is not necessary.

To Serve: Drizzle warm, not hot, sauce over thin slices of tart, garnish optional with chocolate curl or pecan half.

Cupcakes, Take 2

Ok, so I've said before I am not an avid baker. I love to eat baked goods, but I always mess them up when I try to make them. Especially desserts. Right after Taylor and I got married I tried to make chocolate cupcakes to take to dinner with some friends. They have kids and I thought this would be a fun dessert to bring. Let me start off with the fact that I began this venture after I got home from work one night. Not a good idea. I need to be fresh and of sound mind when I decide to bake. I even tried to make it easier on myself by using a boxed cake mix. So, the cupcakes themselves turned out fine. It was the icing that gave me trouble. First off, I didn't have a real recipe. I just called my mom and asked how she makes her icing. It is my favorite. She told me and I thought I followed her directions. Obviously not. My icing was way too thin and just ran all over the cupcakes. By the end of the night I swore off baking since I couldn't even make stupid cupcakes.

Many months later I have decided to try again. My husband requested chocolate cupcakes Saturday, so I went on a hunt for a recipe I could make from scratch (yep I was trying a little harder this time) and an icing recipe I hopefully could follow. I came across a chocolate peanut butter cupcake recipe that was very similar to an easy chocolate cupcake recipe I found, so I merged the two.

The batter was really thick, but my results were much better this time. The cupcakes were moist and had just the right hint of peanut butter. Taylor was pleased. I also played with my pastry bag and tips I've had forever but never used. I don't think I did too bad for the first time.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes
Adapted from allrecipes.com

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup shortening
1/3 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a muffin pan with paper or foil liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the shortening, peanut butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition, then stir in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk; beat well. Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full.
3. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Frost with your favorite frosting when cool.

Buttercream Icing
Source: Wilton

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract - I just used regular vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approx. 1 lb.)
2 tablespoons milk

In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Rewhip before using.

YIELD: Makes about 3 cups.

“And above all…Think Chocolate!”

The above is a quote by Betty Crocker. Very fitting for the queen of baking to say chocolate is at the top of her list. For me, chocolate is one of those things I crave. It’s not something I have to have all the time, but when I crave it, get out of my way! It’s one of those foods that can make you feel better when you’re having a bad day. There have even been scientific studies to show the effect chocolate has on the brain as it releases certain endorphins. Add some peanut butter and that makes it even better to me.

My sister made some Peanut Butter Brownie Cookies a while ago and I loved them! I am not a big cookie person, so I only really tried them to be polite, but WOW. They are awesome! I asked her to send me the recipe and decided to make them for our weekly girl’s night tonight. Last night wasn’t a big TV night for me, but I did want to watch Private Practice. So, I got started on them about an hour before it started and they were done in plenty of time. They were really pretty easy to make. **Helpful Hint: I could only get the batter combined so much using the spoon, so I ended up just using my hands to finish it.**

Peanut Butter Brownie Cookies

Source: Unknown (I forget where my sister found the recipe)

1 box fudge brownie mix
1/4 cup Land O Lakes butter, melted (and unsalted butter is fine)
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup peanut butter (creamy works best)
1/2 container chocolate fudge frosting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In medium bowl beat brownie mix, melted butter, cream cheese and egg with spoon until well blended (dough will be sticky). Onto un-greased cookie sheet(s), drop dough by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart to make 24 cookies. Smooth edge of each to form round cookie. In small bowl mix sugar and peanut butter until forms a ball. Make 24 balls and lightly press one into the center of each ball of dough. Bake 10-14 minutes. (The picture to the right is after they came out of the oven before they were iced) Cool on cookie sheets at least 30 minutes. Remove from cookie sheets and spread a thin layer of frosting over peanut butter.

Things that make you go MMMM.....

Growing up I always liked to lick the beaters when my mom was baking. Icing....good! Cake batter....better! Cookie dough....the best! Of course we always got the lecture of how there were raw eggs in the batter and the dough, but we didn't care. That sugary goodness was all we could think about. In fact, my profile picture is of one such instance. Erin (my sister) and I were thoroughly enjoying whatever my mom was making that day.

When I came across a recipe (on several cooking blogs) for chocolate chip cookie dough dip, my heart skipped a beat. Could it really be? Everyone who made it raved about it. I decided to store the recipe away for a time when I could make it and not eat the entire bowl myself. Such a time presented itself last Thursday night when a group of girls from my Sunday school class came over. Needless to say it was a hit. It was super easy to make and I highly recommend it! I made it the night before and stuck it in the fridge until about 30 minutes before the girls got there.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip
Source: Recipezaar and the blog Sugar&Spice

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 (8-oz) pkg cream cheese
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
3/4 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips

Directions:
1. In a small saucepan, melt the butter with the brown sugar over medium heat. Stir continuously, until the brown sugar dissolves. (You can also do this in the microwave but watch it closely. The butter/sugar mixture will boil over fast. Stir every 30 seconds or so.)
2. Remove from heat, whisk in vanilla extract and set aside to cool.
3. Beat the cream cheese and confectioner's sugar for 1 minute.
4. Slowly beat in the cooled butter mixture and beat again for another minute.
5. Stir in the chocolate chips.
6. Pour into a serving bowl and refrigerate.
7. Garnish with additional chips, if you choose.

Serve with Nilla wafers or graham crackers.

**Note: after refrigerating the dip it will be pretty solid and un-dippable so make sure to remove it from the refrigerator about 15-30 minutes before you plan on serving it, so it has time to soften up.