Reeses Overload Cake

By richel on May 16th, 2013

ressees overload

When I saw this, I almost fell over.  I think I gained 10 pounds just looking at the picture!  If you have a family that loves Reeses…then this is it!  Yummy

What you will need:
2 sticks butter
1 cup of SKIPPY peanut butter
6 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups sugar
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder

Melt butter and Skippy peanut butter in microwave. Put in mixer and add sugar and mix well. Add eggs and vanilla and continue to blend. Then mix in flour and baking powder. Divide into 2 pans. Bake approx 35 mins. Cool completely. I like to freeze the cooled layers for easier frosting.

Crustless Cheesecake portion:

1 stick softened butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2- 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 oz. package cook and serve vanilla pudding
2 eggs
1 teaspoons baking powder
2 melted Hershey Bars
1/2 cup melted Ghirardelli bittersweet chips, melted

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease ONE 9″ pan with shortening, line the pan with parchment and then grease the parchment. Lightly butter the pan and Set aside.

Cream butter and sugar. Add cream cheese a little at a time until smooth. Scrape bowl down and beat again on medium speed, adding eggs one at a time. Add remaining ingredients. Mix again until smooth. Pour in pan. Smooth batter with offset spatula and bake for 50-55 mins. Cheesecake will puff up during baking, then it will deflate when taken out of the oven. Do not turn out cheesecake when finished baking. Put directly in the freezer, and leave until frozen solid. Remove for assembly.

Peanut Butter Frosting

4 cups confectioner’s sugar
1 cup SKIPPY peanut butter
2 tablespoons soft butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
few tablespoons of milk

Beat peanut butter, butter, vanilla and 2 cups of powdered sugar. SLOWLY add rest of sugar and then the milk until the desired consistency to spread on. Add milk slowly. Beat on high till fluffy!

Chocolate frosting:

1/2 cup + 6 tablespoons cocoa powder
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup unsalted butter, very soft
dash salt
1 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Heat cream in microwave and pour in mixer with cocoa powder and 3/4 cup confectioners. Mix well. Add butter, salt, 1 cup confectioners, vanilla and whip on high. Set aside.

Split chocolate frosting between one peanut butter blondie top and the top of the chocolate cheesecake. Layer it: pb blondie/choc frosting, chocolate cheesecake/frosting/pb blondie. Frost entire cake in pb frosting. Push peanut butter chip and dark chocolate chips into the sides and top with 8 chopped peanut butter cups. keep chilled!!!

Chocolate and Berry Cookie Pie

By richel on May 15th, 2013

betty crocker dessert

This is super yummy and perfect any time of the year!  No one is going to turn this down!  It is also a really frugal dessert!  You can use yogurt of just aobut any brand, Strawberry will work in place of Raspberry in a pinch and you can even use greek yogurt.  I made this with yogurt I got for just .30 cents a container, Cookie mix that I got for .50 cents and a single serve fudge packet that I got for just .25 cents.

Ingredients

  • 1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker double chocolate chip cookie mix
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries
  • 4 containers (4 oz each) Yoplait Whips raspberry mist yogurt or Favorite Raspberry Yogurt Oikos Greek is yummy too!
  • 1 cup whipping cream, whipped
  • 2 tablespoons hot fudge toppíng
  • 1 cup fresh blueberries

Directions:

  1. Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, oil, water and egg until soft dough forms.
  2. On greased cookie sheet, drop dough by tablespoonfuls to make 6 cookies. Bake 8 to 11 minutes or until set. Cool 2 minutes, remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack.
  3. Meanwhile, press remaining dough in bottom and 1 inch up sides of springform pan. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
  4. In medíum bowl, fold 1/2 cup raspberríes ínto yogurt; spread evenly over crust. Crumble cookíes; sprínkle over yogurt míxture. Carefully spread whípped cream evenly over cookíe crumbs. Freeze 4 to 5 hours or untíl fírm. Remove sídes of pan.
  5. Drizzle 1 tablespoon fudge topping over dessert. Top with blueberries and remaining raspberries. Drizzle wíth remaining fudge topping. Store in freezer.

S’Mores Bites

By richel on May 12th, 2013

s'mores bites

I love these for a fun little treat.  I have little kids so a roaring open fire is not going to have a good outcome!

All you need for these is marshmallow fluff , graham crackers and chocolate.  The sprinkles are optional.

Here is what you do:

  • With a knife, spread a thick layer of fluff.
  • Then place another graham on top.
  • Place your finished little fluff crackers on a cookie sheet
  • Place the sheet of fluff crackers in the fridge for about 5-7 minutes
  • Melt your chocolate
  • One by one place your chilled fluff and crackers into the chocolate and set on a cookie sheet to dry/harden
  • Serve when chocolate is hardened.

This is a super yummy treat!

Cocktail Popsicle: Honeydew Cucumber Margarita Popsicles

By richel on May 11th, 2013

popsicles

I love refreshing popcicles when it warms up.  These are really great but you want to keep them away from the kids!

Makes five 2-and-1/4-oz. popsicles

Here is what you need:

1 cup honeydew juice (approximately a whole melon weighing 1lb, ripe)
1/3 cup cucumber juice (approximately half a cucumber weighing about 5oz.)
½ cup tequila
1 tablespoon triple sec
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Instructions:

1. Place the honeydew and cucumber in a food processor or a blender and process until everything is pureed. You want to give it a nice smooth texture.  Add tequila, triple sec, lime juice and mint syrup and process for another 20-30 seconds to blend well. I pulsed the processor a few time sto get things to start to mix then processed it for 20-30 seconds.  Pour mixture into popsicles mold.

2. Freeze for about 2 hours or until mixture starts to solidify enough to hold a popsicle stick upright. Insert popsicle sticks and finish freezing popsicles overnight. You want to make sure they have plenty of time to freeze.  Run hot water on the outside of popsicle molds for a 2-3 seconds this wil loosen them up.

Yummy!  Enjoy!  These are great after a BBQ for the adults!

Homemade Vanilla Syrup

By richel on April 25th, 2013

vanilla syrup

A bottle of fancy flavored syrup will run you between $3 and $8 depending on the size you buy.  I rarely ever see coupons for it and the only way to get a deal (until now) is to buy it in bulk.  I’d have to say that this recipe will make twice as much will cost you less than $1.00!

The bonus is  you’ll know exactly what the ingredients are of and if you prefer to use organic or all natural products you can do that too.  This also allows you to make enough to give as gifts.  How nice it would be to make a great gift basket with all the fixings for iced coffee, or a morning breakfast basket with coffee, a cute mug and all the fixings for both!

This is also perfect for making vanilla milkshakes, adding to soda or other dishes!

Ingredients:

3 ½ cups water
3 cups sugar
½ cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons vanilla extract

Directions:

In a medium saucepan over medium high heat, gently stir together the water and sugars. It is vital that you watch this so that the sugar does not burn or scald.   Cook until mixture becomes thick and syrupy (approximately 10-15 minutes).

Allow to cool and stir in vanilla extract. Yields 1 quart.