Reese’s Peanut Butter Cookies

Reese's Peanut Butter Cookies

I’m sure everyone has had Reese’s Peanut Butter Cookies before.  I remember when I first tried these cookies, I thought they were magical.  I mean, how could any human being possibly make something that tastes sooooo good?

Now that I’m a baker, I am apparently magical and I can make things that people didn’t know were humanly possible.  It’s funny to be on the other side of the fence.

Seriously, before I knew how to bake, I was impressed every time my mom made a box mix cake.  Now, I’m a box mix snob (okay, not really, Funfetti cake will always hold a special place in my…stomach) and willing to take on any magical baking challenge.

If you’re like I was, saying, “These cookies are magical, how did you make them?!” then you’re in the right place.  This recipe is so simple, but so impressive.

peanut butter cup cookies

reese's stuffed cookies

peanut butter cup filled peanut butter cookies

I followed the All Recipes recipe word for word, so click here for the recipe.  P.s. When the recipe calls for chocolate covered peanut butter cups, unwrapped, do not skimp out and use Great Value.  Trust me, I use Great Value for almost everything else, but do not replace the real Reese’s.

reeses filled peanut butter cookies

Peanut Butter Filled Chocolate Cookies

peanut butter filled chocolate cookies

A lot has been going on lately! Bad (kind of) and good.

I’m still looking for a job, but I quit worrying about it and I know one will come when it’s supposed to.  

We got 3 of our animals at the same time, so they’re all getting old at the same time.  Bad idea.  They’re all 3 having problems at the same time and it’s really wearing on us! But, it’ okay!  Everything will work out and be okay, but it’s sad to see my animals sick.  Our dog, Sunny, has congestive heart failure and she’s been having some seizures lately.  Our cats, Tabby and Chloe are just having various issues that come with age.

tabby-cat

kitty love

miniature sheltie

Anyway, good things have been happening lately, too.

I’ve been substitute teaching and it’s been going really well.  I’ve subbed almost every K-12 grade now, so that’s a kind of cool accomplishment.  The little kids are hilarious and I always have funny stories to tell.

Intuitive eating is going really well and it’s completely changed my entire mindset, so I’m feeling great!

Kellen and I had a great time at his formal :

sig ep formal

Annd, lastly, I’ve been baking a lot. These cookies were (obviously) inspired by Reese’s.  I was really craving some chocolate/peanut butter in a cookie form, so I made these.  If you don’t like too much peanut butter in your chocolate, you might want to make your peanut butter balls smaller when you make these!  I am a huge fan of peanut butter, though, so that’s why my peanut butter lumps are so huge.  These are faaantastic cookies!

How do you deal with stressors in your life?

chocolate cookie dough

peanut butter chocolate cookie dough

chocolate sugar cookies

peanut butter filled chocolate sugar cookies

crunchy peanut butter filled fudge cookies

Peanut Butter Filled Chocolate Cookies
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
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Ingredients
  • Filling:
  • 1 cup peanut butter (I used crunchy)
  • ½ cup powdered sugar
  • 4 oz. cream cheese
  • Cookies:
  • ½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
  • ⅔ cup granulated sugar
  • ⅓ cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • ⅛ cup unsweetened cocoa
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a mixer, beat together peanut butter, cream cheese and powdered sugar.
  3. Roll into 1 inch balls (or so…smaller depending on your love for peanut butter) and freeze while you make the rest of the recipe.
  4. Beat together sugars, and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla.
  5. Add in the dry ingredients just until incorporated.
  6. Form a ball of dough, take a peanut butter ball, and wrap the dough around the ball until the peanut butter is no longer visible.
  7. Do this for all of the cookies.
  8. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until dough is still a little gooey, but firm.
  9. Cool and enjoy!
  10. P.s. The dough will be sticky, that’s okay. The cookies will be huge, that’s also okay.

 

chocolate cookies filled with crunchy peanut butter

Extreme Chocolate Trifle

Extreme Chocolate Trifle

I’m on a major trifle kick right now.

I made one for Easter and ever since then, I’ve been obsessed.  So obsessed that if I ever open a bakery, I only want to sell trifles. The variations are endless, and the best part? It’s almost impossible to mess up.

Basically, a trifle is throwing a bunch of delicious desserts into one dessert and creating the best dessert ever.  Sounds scientific right?

Well, it’s not, which is great.  Plus, it’s a fantastic way to use “ruined” desserts. Did you burn your brownies? So what, throw them in a trifle.  Did you drop a cake? Who cares, make a trifle.  Did you have leftover frosting, brownies, cake, bread, etc. etc.? Perfect, put together a trifle.

Anyway, this chocolate trifle has been my favorite so far.  It’s such a crowd-pleaser and it’s so pretty, too.  Everyone devoured it when I made it.

Also, watch out! I made coconut pound cake this week, and we have leftovers, so be expecting a coconut pound cake recipe and a coconut pound cake trifle recipe in the near future.

triple chocolate trifle

ingredients in a chocolate trifle

how to make a trifle

This recipe is from AllRecipes.com.

Extreme Chocolate Trifle
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
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Serves: 12
 

This chocolate trifle is fantastic for feeding a crowd. The beauty of this recipe is that you can either make everything from scratch or if you’re in a time crunch, you can use all box mixes.
Ingredients
  • 1 batch of brownies
  • 1 package instant chocolate pudding mix
  • ½ cup water
  • 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 (12 oz) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
  • 2 cups chocolate chips

Instructions
  1. Cut up brownies into 1 inch squares (or just crumble them into small pieces).
  2. Make pudding, according to box directions. Or make your own from scratch!
  3. In a trifle bowl or glass serving dish, place half of the brownies, half of the pudding mixture, half of the sweetened condensed milk, half of the chocolate chips, and half of the 12 ounce container of whipped topping. Repeat layers. Shave chocolate onto top layer for garnish. Refrigerate 8 hours before serving.

Have you made a trifle before?  What’s your favorite variation?

 

brownie trifle

The Perfect St. Patrick’s Day Brownies

The Perfect St. Patricks Day Brownies

Since I’m not doing anything exciting for St. Patrick’s Day, I have to drown my sorrows in brownies.

Because of this, they had to be the perfect brownies.

I didn’t want brownies with frosting, but I wanted something on top.

I didn’t want fluffy brownies, I wanted thick, fudgy brownies.

I wanted something minty, but more chocolatey.

I wanted brownies with cream cheese in them.

So I made these.

And they are perfect.  And I’m not even sad about not doing anything for St. Patrick’s Day anymore. (Okay, that might not be true).

 

brownies with mint cream cheese filling

fudgy mint brownies with ganache topping

st. patrick's day brownies with cream cheese mint filling

What are your plans for St. Patrick’s Day?

The Perfect St. Patrick’s Day Brownies
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
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Ingredients
  • Ingredients:
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
  • 1⅛ cups sugar
  • ½ cups cocoa
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • 1 tbsp isntant coffee
  • ½ Tbsp vanilla
  • 2 eggs
  • ¾ cups flour
  • Cream Cheese Layer:
  • 4 oz cream cheese (1/2 block)
  • 2 blocks vanilla almond bark, melted and cooled to room temperature
  • 2 tsp vegetable oil
  • ½ tsp peppermint extract
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • Ganache:
  • 4 oz. chocolate of choice
  • ½ cup heavy cream

Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 8″ x 8″ pan.
  2. In a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine. Return the mixture to the heat briefly, just until it’s hot, but not bubbling; it’ll become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating this mixture a second time will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies.
  3. Transfer the sugar mixture to a medium-sized mixing bowl. Stir in the cocoa, salt, baking powder, instant coffee, and vanilla.
  4. Whisk in the eggs, stirring until smooth.
  5. Add the flour,stirring until smooth.
  6. Spoon the batter into a lightly greased 9″ x 13″ pan.
  7. Bake the brownies for about 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove them from the oven and cool completely prior to cutting.
  8. Make the cream cheese layer:
  9. Beat the cream cheese in a mixer until fluffy.
  10. Mix together the oil, peppermint extract, and almond bark and slowly pour into the fluffy cream cheese while the mixer is beating on low.
  11. Slowly beat in the powdered sugar until fluffy.
  12. Once the brownies are cool, spread the cream cheese mixture on top.
  13. Make the ganache:
  14. Heat the cream in the microwave for about a minute.
  15. Place the chocolate in the cream and let it sit.
  16. Wait a couple of minutes and then stir together the chocolate and cream until smooth.
  17. Pour over the cream cheese layer.
  18. Let the brownies set before cutting.
  19. Enjoy!

 

 

 

ganache brownies with cream cheese mint filling

Healthy Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie for Pi Day (March 14)

healthy peanut butter chocolate pie

Since Pi Day is coming up (March 14th), I want you all to be prepared.  Even though I’m pretty sure the only people who celebrate Pi Day are math lovers and corny food bloggers (me), but whatever.

And since Pi is a math term, and math is good for your brain, I wanted to make this pie good for your body.

Makes sense, right?

Try this pie!

chocolate pie with oatmeal crust

Healthy Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

 

Ingredients
  • Crust:
  • 1 cup oats
  • 3 tablespoons peanut butter
  • 3 tablespoons agave or honey
  • Pie:
  • ½ cup peanut butter
  • 1 can of coconut milk that has been refrigerated overnight (I used Thai Kitchen)
  • 4 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
  • ¼ cup cocoa powder
  • ¼ cup agave or honey

Instructions
  1. Prepare the crust:
  2. Preheat oven to 350.
  3. In a food processor, pulverize the oats until they turn into a flour consistency.
  4. Mix together the peanut butter, pulverized oats, and agave until it becomes a ball.
  5. Press the oat ball into a pie plate. Bake for 10 minutes.
  6. Spread the ½ cup peanut butter on the bottom of the crust and make the filling:
  7. Open the can of coconut milk and scoop the thick, creamy white part off the top (leaving the opaque, watery bit in the can).
  8. In a large bowl, whip the coconut cream on high until medium/firm peaks form.
  9. (For a tutorial, click here: http://ohsheglows.com/2012/08/30/coconut-whipped-cream-a-step-by-step-photo-tutorial/).
  10. Whip in the coconut oil, cocoa powder, and agave until fully mixed.
  11. Once the crust has cooled, spread the coconut whipped cream mixture on top.
  12. Let firm up in the refrigerator for about an hour.
  13. Serve and enjoy!

 

vegan peanut butter chocolate pie

Cracker Candy Bars

ritz cracker candy bars

Let’s be honest today:

Honestly,

1) I had no idea what I was doing when I started making these.  (Clearly…see photo below.)

chicken scratch candy bar recipe

2) I’m not really sure how I translated this recipe from that piece of paper, so if you try to make this and fail, I wouldn’t be surprised. (Kidding…but seriously, see photo above.)

3) I made these 3 weeks ago and I’m just now posting them.

4) I was barely able to tear myself away from Jodi Picoult’s new book (The Storyteller) to write this post.

jodi picoult the storyteller and a cup of coffee

5) Speaking of The Storyteller, I tried to make boule today because I wanted to be like the main character in the book.

6) I was too anxious to let the dough rise overnight like the recipe said, and, as you can imagine, I failed miserably and the bread is as dense as… a rock?

baking disasters, rock hard boule bread

7) I still ate the bread.

8) These are the best “candy bars” ever.  They should sell them in stores.  (Feel free to contact me, Hershey’s.)

the best homemade candy bars ever

candy made with ritz crackers

sweetened condensed milk candy bars

“Crack”er Candy Bars
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

 

Ingredients
  • Crust:
  • 15 Ritz crackers, crushed
  • 2 tablespoons butter, melted
  • Filling:
  • ½ cup sweetened condensed milk
  • ½ cup peanut butter
  • ½ cup chocolate chips
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • Topping:
  • 20 Ritz crackers, crushed
  • ¼ cup sweetened condensed milk

Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Mix together crushed Ritz’ and melted butter and press into an 8×8 inch pan.
  3. Bake for 5 minutes. Take out of the oven and pour ½ cup sweetened condensed milk over the crust.
  4. Let cool while you make the rest of the filling.
  5. Melt the peanut butter, chocolate chips, and butter together in a microwave safe bowl. It should take about 1 minute.
  6. Take out and stir in the vanilla. Pour the mixture over the crust/sweetened condensed milk.
  7. Sprinkle crushed crackers over filling.
  8. Drizzle ¼ cup sweetened condensed milk over filling.
  9. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until top turns golden.

 

gifts you can bake for someone candy bars

No Bake Homemade Thin Mints – National Chocolate Mint Day

homemade thin mints

So I did a poll on my Facebook Page yesterday to see what everyone’s favorite Girl Scout Cookie is.

I figured the answer would be Thin Mints, but I was really happy to see a variety of different answers!  However, thin mints won in the end, but that worked out perfectly for me because a) Today is National Chocolate Mint Day and b) These are really freakin’ easy to make.  Like so easy that if you don’t make these, I’ll judge you. Just kidding, but really they’re so good and so easy and I think you should make them.

I will admit, I wasn’t sure how good these would taste because what kind of person expects a Ritz cracker to transform into a Thin Mint?  No kind of person.  But I promise you these taste exactly like Thin Mints.  

What’s your favorite Girl Scout Cookie?  I think I’ll tackle Lemonade’s next.

national chocolate mint day

thin mint copycat recipe

homemade girl scout cookie thin mints

These wonderful Thin Mints are from Avery at Love, Veggies and Yoga and can easily be scaled down.

Homemade No-Bake Thin Mints
Prep time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 40
 

Ingredients
  • 40 Ritz crackers
  • 2 cups chocolate chips
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon peppermint extract

Instructions
  1. Line a pan with parchment or wax paper.
  2. In a double boiler (or a bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, or in the microwave), melt the chocolate and shortening. When the mixture is smooth, stir in the peppermint extract. Using two forks, dip the cookies one at a time into the chocolate. Move them to the pan to cool.
  3. To make these last longer (and taste better, in my opinion) freeze them!

 

ritz cracker thin mints

Thick Brownies with Minty Oreo Frosting

thick brownies with minty oreo frosting

Who doesn’t love mint? And Oreo’s? And thick brownies?  And frosting?

Okay, well there’s probably a chance that some of you don’t like some of those things buuuuttt, I’m risking it anyway for this awesome dessert.

You guys know I wouldn’t steer you wrong, right?  I hope so, because I wouldn’t.

If you love Thin Mints, then you’ll love these brownies x10.  They’re just like a Thin Mint with extra crunch, extra chocolate, and extra fudge.

bombshell brownies with thin mint frosting

fudgy brownies with oreo frosting

The thick, fudgy, gooey brownies are adapted from Brooke’s Best Bombshell Brownies.

Thick Brownies with Minty Oreo Frosting
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 24
 

Ingredients
  • Brownies:
  • 1 cup butter, melted
  • 3 cups white sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 4 eggs
  • 1½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • Frosting:
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 Tablespoons milk (or enough to get to desired consistency)
  • 1 teaspoon mint extract
  • 15 Oreos, crushed

Instructions
  1. Brownies:
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9×13 baking dish.
  3. Combine the melted butter, sugar, and mint extract in a large bowl. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each, until thoroughly blended.
  4. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, and salt in a bowl. Gradually stir flour mixture into the egg mixture until blended. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared baking dish.
  5. Bake in preheated oven until an inserted toothpick comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove, and cool in pan.
  6. Once cool, melt the chocolate chips and spread over the brownies. Let that cool and make the frosting.
  7. Frosting:
  8. In a mixer, cream butter, vanilla and milk.
  9. Slowly add in powdered sugar until fluffy.
  10. With the mixer on low, mix in crushed oreos until well combined.
  11. Frost the brownies once the chocolate layer has hardened.
  12. Enjoy!

 

brownies that taste like thin mints with oreo frosting

Peanut Butter 7 Layer Pie

seven layer pie

Every year, my hometown has a festival for the MKT railroad and there are all sorts of festivities.

My (obvious) favorite is the pie festival.  Volunteers from the town bring homemade pies to a gathering center and then the pies are sold by the slice or full to anyone who wants one.  It’s a great idea and there’s never any pie left.

Well, Kellen’s grandpa’s favorite pie from this festival is the Catholic church priest’s “secret pie.”  I tried the pie and realized it tasted exactly like 7 layer bars.  His grandpa’s birthday was coming up and I wanted to make something special for him, so I made this 7 layer pie.  Fortunately for me, his grandpa can’t taste anything anymore, but I think I got the right recipe. ;)  This is seriously the easiest, tastiest pie you’ll ever make.

Did you all have a good New Year’s Eve? Any New Year’s Resolutions?

the easiest pie you'll ever make

7 layer pie

I got this delicious recipe from Food.com.

7 Layer Pie
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

 

Ingredients
  • Crust:
  • 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
  • 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
  • 1 cup butter
  • Filling:
  • ½ cup peanut butter
  • ½ cup honey roasted peanuts
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1 cup butterscotch chips
  • 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
  2. Butter a 9-inch pie plate.
  3. Melt butter and pour over graham cracker crumbs and toasted coconut in a large bowl; stir until combined. Cool slightly and press with your hands into the bottom and sides of the buttered pie plate.
  4. Refrigerate the crust for 15 minutes, then bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for at least 20 minutes while preparing filling.
  5. Spread slightly melted soft peanut butter evenly on the crust bottom with a plastic or offset spatula.
  6. Evenly scatter the peanuts, chocolate chips and butterscotch chips on top of the crust.
  7. Pour the sweetened condensed milk over the filling. Gently shift the pan to make sure the milk has been distributed evenly.
  8. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown and bubbly. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely. Chill for an hour in the refrigerator before slicing and serving.

magic bar pie

Hot Chocolate Filled Cake with Hot Chocolate Frosting

white fluffy cake with hot chocolate frosting

Sometimes I have these really great ideas for baked goods and I dream about them and they sound so great in my head and I make them and they suck.

That’s what happened with this cake.  The actual cake turned out horribly dry and dense, but the frosting and filling are great and the photos turned out well so I decided to post it anyway.  However, I’m not going to post the cake recipe…just use your favorite fluffy white cake recipe or a box mix.

Do you have a good white cake recipe?  Because I clearly need a little help.

hot chocolate filled cake with hot chocolate frosting

marshmallow covered hot chocolate cake

Hot Chocolate Filled Cake with Hot Chocolate Frosting
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

 

Ingredients
  • Cake:
  • Use your favorite white cake recipe or white box mix cake mix (You will probably need two boxes of cake mix).
  • Filling:
  • 1 cup hot chocolate mix, light or dark
  • 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
  • ⅛ cup butter, cold
  • Frosting:
  • 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
  • 3½ cups powdered sugar
  • ½ cup hot chocolate mix
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 4 tablespoons heavy cream

Instructions
  1. Prepare the cake batter.
  2. Pour half the batter into the prepared pans, spreading all the way to the edges. (About 1⅓ cups cake batter)
  3. Make the filling by using a pastry cutter, a fork, or your hands to mix together the butter and the hot chocolate mix until crumbly.
  4. Sprinkle the filling evenly over the batter.
  5. Spread the remaining batter over the filling. Use a table knife to gently swirl the filling into the batter, as though you were making a marble cake.
  6. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  7. While cooling, make the frosting. Beat the butter and hot chocolate mix until fluffy, about two minutes. Add in the vanilla and salt.
  8. Slowly start adding the powdered sugar in until completely fluffy. Now beat in the cream until combined.
  9. Once the cake is cool, frost it.

 

hot chocolate filled cake with hot chocolate frosting and marshmallows