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Cookies & Cream Ice Cream with a Surprise!

22

Posted on 09-08-2011 | By: Heather

Category : Dessert, Ice Cream

Tags: , , ,

 

OK, I just want to inform you guys that Oklahoma broke the heat record for every state in the United States! Ever! In the history of recording heat! I do not know about my fellow Oklahomans but this is not a record that I want to be known for breaking! I am also telling you this so when you hear me whining about the heat it is because IT IS SO FREAKIN HOT!!! Nothing beats this heat but this ice cream makes it bearable for the 5 minutes it will take you to devour it! Then you will  be staring at the container wondering how you can justify another cone only 15 minutes after you had the first one (come on it can’t just be me who feels this way!) Well I have the perfect way for you to justify it!

  1. It is low fat and low calorie but tastes like the real deal (I would never lie to you!!) it is a miracle in the ice cream world in my humble opinion!
  2. It is so flipping hot that you can’t possibly slave away in front of a stove to make a high calorie delicious sauce filled dinner so why not splurge a little.
  3. IT IS FREAKING HOT! Like so hot I am waiting for Lucifer to knock on my door and say HAPPY TUESDAY! Yes it is that hot!

 

Ok so I bet you guessed what the surprise is? Yes the surprise is that this super creamy, yummy and impossibly easy dessert is on the healthier side! Now I am not going to lie and call it “healthy” but it is much better than making it with heavy cream (even though we all love some heavy cream from time to time) also you DO NOT NEED AN ICE CREAM MACHINE! You need only three things to make this: a container to make and freeze it in, a fork and some gold old fashion love! Yep! NO freezing an ice cream maker bowl a day before… NO whisking or beating! NOPE NOT HERE KIDS! This is the easiest and creamiest ice cream and it is super tasty! I hate that when you try to make a healthy version of things a lot of time the flavor is lacking. What I love about this recipe is that you do not have that happening! You do not have to give up good flavor or a creamy texture and yet you can cut the fat and calories tremendously!

 

Cookies and Cream Ice Cream Fantastico!

Ingredients

  • 2 cups Cool Whip Lite
  • 1 can Fat Free Sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 cup Fat Free Smart Balance milk (or organic milk. If you use regular milk just make it 2% so you get a creamy texture to your ice cream)
  • 1 Vanilla bean (or you can use 1 to 2 teaspoon vanilla extract depending on how vanilla you want it to be)
  • 12 Oreo cookies (go with reduced fat Oreos to cut more calories if you like)

Open your can of Fat Free sweetened condensed milk and pour it into the container you will be freezing your ice cream in (I just used a 2 quart plastic container.) Use a spatula to get all the condensed milk out of the can. Pour your smart balance milk into the condensed milk and give it a stir with a fork.

 

Getting Omega 3′s and a creamy texutre! How can you go wrong! This is not a paid advertisement for them but I wish it was! Smart Balance products rock! OK back to the ice cream!

Then add the vanilla. I choose to use a vanilla bean because nothing compares to the flavor from a vanilla bean and I love them! If you do that you want to cut a slit down the bean with a sharp knife but do not cut the bean all the way through. With the back side of a butter knife slide it all the way down the bean until all the seeds are on the tip of your knife. Then you can just put them in your milk mixture and give it a quick stir with your fork so all the seeds are disbursed throughout the milk mixture.

 

Look at all those vanilla bean seeds! YUM! That is good stuff people!

Now it is time to add the cool whip. It will not measure perfectly level and that is ok! Just measure it out the best you can and dump it in the bowl.

 

Use the fork to incorporate the cool whip into the milk until you have a smooth consistency. This will take about 4 to 5 minutes and you want as many of the chunks of cool whip out as possible. It should look like this….

 

See the consistancy…

 

At this point you want to taste the batter. It should taste just like melted ice cream. You will know if you want to add more vanilla or not at this point. This is the base. This alone makes an amazing vanilla ice cream and about 117 calories per .5 cup serving!

Chop up your Oreos. This is the best part because you are in control of the size of the cookie bites in your ice cream so cut them as big or as small as you like!

 

Add the Oreos to the mixture and give it a stir just so they are all mixed in.

Put the lid on the container and freeze for 6 to 8 hours until set.

 

 

Then you eat it! And it is that easy! Enjoy!

 

I put this into a recipe calculator and it calculated at 237 calories per half cup serving! But the other amazing thing is all the possibilities this recipe gives you! You can do all the same ingredients but sub peppermint extract for vanilla and add some mint Oreos or chocolate chips and you have mint and chip! Add some chopped mangos for a tropical tasting vanilla ice cream! You could add some cream cheese and strawberries with gram cracker crumbles for a strawberry cheese cake variety! The options are limitless and if you can imagine it then you can make it happen! I love the easiness of this recipe and the quickness. I can mix it up in less than 15 minutes before work in the morning and I know I will have a wonderful dessert by the evening! Not to mention if you are having people over you can ask them what their favorite dessert is and surprise them by having it in the form of ice cream! If they say their favorite dessert is Key Lime Pie then you can add some crumbled up gram crackers and squeeze in some lime juice! Just test it before you freeze it and you will know just how it will taste frozen! That way you can make it as lime flavored as you like! There is no dessert that you could not re-create through this ice cream! And if you get stumped you can always leave a comment here and I will be quick to reply to help you customize your flavor!

 

 

I love my ice cream in a cone! I love this ice cream for many reasons and I feel that not making it would be the biggest mistake you ever made! Ok so maybe that was a little on the dramatic side, but make it! Trust me! You will be glad you did!

**Cooks Note**

-          You can substitute Cool Whip Free if you want to. I do not eat fake sugar so I did not use this. I am sure the results would be just as good and it would work just fine but I did not use that so I did not list it. If you try this be sure to let me know!

-          I say to use Smart Balance milk because they add omega 3, protein & calcium. The fat free has a rich creamy texture and taste like 2% milk but without the fat and calories! You get very similar taste with Fat Free Organic milk. If you want to use regular milk you can use any type but I recommend at least 2% to get a creamy texture so your ice cream is not icy.

-          I have used every brand of sweetened condensed milk I can find and find that it does not change the integrity of the ice cream so go ahead and get the cheaper stuff or get what is on sale!

 

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Cookies & Cream Ice Cream Fantastico!

Ingredients

  • 2 cups Cool Whip Lite
  • 1 can Fat Free Sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 cup Fat Free Smart Balance milk (or organic milk. If you use regular milk just make it 2% so you get a creamy texture to your ice cream)
  • 1 Vanilla bean (or you can use 1 to 2 teaspoon vanilla extract depending on how vanilla you want it to be)
  • 12 Oreo cookies (go with reduced fat Oreos to cut more calories if you like)

Instructions

  1. Open your can of Fat Free sweetened condensed milk and pour it into the container you will be freezing your ice cream in (I just used a 2 quart plastic container.) Use a spatula to get all the condensed milk out of the can. Pour your smart balance milk into the condensed milk and give it a stir with a fork.
  2. Then add the vanilla. I choose to use a vanilla bean because nothing compares to the flavor from a vanilla bean and I love them! If you do that you want to cute a slit down the bean with a sharp knife but do not cut the bean all the way through. With the back side of a butter knife slide it all the way down the bean until all the seeds are on the tip of your knife. Then you can just put them in your milk mixture and give it a quick stir with your fork so all the seeds are disbursed throughout the milk mixture.
  3. Now it is time to add the cool whip. It will not measure perfectly level and that is ok! Just measure it out the best you can and dump it in the bowl.
  4. Use the fork to incorporate the cool whip into the milk until you have a smooth consistency. This will take about 4 to 5 minutes and you want as many of the chunks of cool whip out as possible.
  5. At this point you want to taste the batter. It should taste just like melted ice cream. You will know if you want to add more vanilla or not at this point. This is the base.
  6. Chop up your Oreos. This is the best part because you are in control of the size of the cookie bites in your ice cream so cut them as big or as small as you like!
  7. Add the Oreos to the mixture and give it a stir just so they are all mixed in.
  8. Put the lid on the container and freeze for 6 to 8 hours until set.
  9. Then you eat it! And it is that easy! Enjoy!
  10. **Cooks Note**
  11. - You can substitute Cool Whip Free if you want to. I do not eat fake sugar so I did not use this. I am sure the results would be just as good and it would work just fine but I did not use that so I did not list it. If you try this be sure to let me know!
  12. - I say to use Smart Balance milk because they add omega 3, protein & calcium and the fat free has a rich creamy texture and taste like 2% milk but without the fat and calories! You get very similar taste with Fat Free Organic milk. If you want to use regular milk you can use any type but I recommend at least 2% to get a creamy texture so your ice cream is not icy.
  13. - I have used every brand of sweetened condensed milk I can find and find that it does not change the integrity of the ice cream so go ahead and get the cheaper stuff or get what is on sale!
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Rocky Road Ice Cream

6

Posted on 20-07-2011 | By: Heather

Category : Dessert, Ice Cream

Tags: , ,

Nothing says summer to me like homemade ice cream! We have been stuck in a
heat wave in Southern Oklahoma! We have beat the 1998 record for having the
most consecutive number of days in triple digit heat! It is hot I mean HOT! So
there is nothing better then this ice cream to take the edge off your heat
stroke or the stroke you will have when you get your electric bill! I speak from
experience people! I got mine last week and let’s just say it was not pretty.
No matter how hot it is where you are you should definitely make this ice
cream! You will be so glad you did it is a great treat after a nice light
summer dinner.

I am a big HUGE fan of Rocky Road ice cream! I love the richness of the
chocolate with the crunch from the almonds and those chewy bits from the marshmallow!
YUM!! The great thing about this recipe is that if you do not have an ice cream
maker you can still make this! Just whip your cream until it is really fluffy
and mix all the other ingredients together then fold the cream in. Right after
you fold in the cream gently fold in your toppings and ta da! I love my ice cream
maker! You can find it here in my store if you are interested in the ice cream
maker I use. I also love that in the ice cream maker it was frozen enough to
eat right away so I only had to wait 35 minutes to have ice cream instead of 6
to 8 hours that it will take to freeze it without an ice cream maker! Lets get
to the ice cream already!

Rocky Road Ice Cream

Ingredients

  • .5 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk (I used Eagle Brand)
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 cup half and half
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • .5 cup chopped almonds
  • 1 cup mini marshmallows

First thing you want to do is in a medium size saucepan you want to heat the sweetened condensed milk and the cocoa powder. You are not trying to cook it you are just heating it while you stir the cocoa together so that you get it all incorporated to a nice chocolate sauce.

Once it is incorporated pull it off the heat and set it aside to cool.

Add in the half and half, vanilla extract and heavy cream and stir well (I just used a regular spoon.) Once it is all mixed together stick your saucepan in the freezer while you chop the nuts and prepare the ice cream maker.

At this point I tested the mixture because pretty much this is how your ice cream will taste it is just like the melted version. It was so amazing I made Hubby try it to which he replied “Heck just give me that in a glass!” Yes it was that good! I knew at that minute this RR ice cream would ROCK!

 

Chop the almonds. I did a rough chop and tried to chop them different ways so you get a different size
bite each time.

 

Once you have the nuts chopped and you marshmallows measured out get the ice cream maker bowl out of the freezer and put it in the ice cream maker. Set it up so it is ready to use. Take your chocolate mixture out of the freezer and pour it into the ice cream maker. Turn the ice cream maker on. Set your
timer for 35 minutes.

At the 35-minute mark add in your toppings and let it incorporate for another 5 minutes.

Once this is done scoop it out into your freezer containers. Mine was definitely firm enough to serve right them it would have been a little firmer then soft serve.

I stuck it in the freezer for
3 hours and then I had this ice cream cone!

 

Just writting this post makes me want to go get some out of the freezer! The chocolate flavor is perfect it is chocolately but not too rich or over powering the almonds add the prefect crunchiness and the chewy marshmallows are such a delight when you get a bite with them.

PLEASE go home and make this!

MAKE IT NOW! You will be soooo happy you did! If you do try it out come back here and leave me a comment letting me know what you think. I am also working on a lower fat and lower calorie version so if that goes well I will be sure to post that recipe!

Click the Foodista button below for the printable version. To print the entire post with all the step by step photos hit the print buttom below the post name at the top of the page.
Rocky Road Ice Cream

Dulce de Leche Pecan Brownies!!

6

Posted on 07-07-2011 | By: Heather

Category : Brownies, Dessert

Tags: , , , ,

I know some people are anti box mix or anti cake mix but sometimes they are necessary, they are quick and easy and with technology these days they are almost fail proof! Not to mention how can you knock something that you can dump in a bowl throw in some eggs and oil and when it comes out of the oven you know you will have a fudgy brownie?! You almost can’t mess them up and the easiness makes them appealing if you are in a hurry or if it is 10 pm and you realized you need something for the potluck at work! So if you are anti box mixes then this recipe probably is not for you, however, if you are like me and can appreciate the ease and convenience of a good box mix then this recipe is right up your alley!

I have made this twice making sure I had the measurements I thought were best before I posted this for you guys. I used a family size box mix the first time that is made for a 13×9 inch pan and the second time I used two bags of mix that were 10.25 ounces each. If it was just for hubby and I then one box would have given us plenty of brownies but I had planned to bring some to work and I wanted us to still have some at the house if we got a sweet tooth. I am going to type the recipe as I made it but if you wish to cut it
down then it will work out just adjust the other ingredients, or keep them the
same and have a brownie packed with chocolate, dulce de leche and pecans!! How can you go wrong with that? You can find the dulce de leche down the “ethnic” foods isle by the Mexican food pre-made in a can (picture below) or you can make your own! I want to make my own one day so I am sure there will be a future post on this but for now I used pre-made that I had in the pantry (what you don’t have 4 cans in your pantry like I do? Gee you are a weirdo-0 :) ) Using pre-made goes with the easiness and quickness of this recipe too! So get fancy and make some (then come tell me all about it here in a comment) or just do what I did and use a pre- made dulce de leche!

Dulce de Leche Pecan Brownies

Ingredients

  • 1 20.5 ounce Brownie Mix (your choice what brand I used Duncan Hines Chewy Fudge)
  • Ingredients per the back of the brownie mix required to make the brownies
  • ¾ cup of chopped pecans (chop the pecans and then measure if you measure them
    then chop they will not measure the same)
  • ½ cup Milk chocolate chips
  • 1 can (13.4 ounces) Dulce de leche

First pre-heat your oven based on what your brownie mix box says to heat the oven to.

In a large bowl combine the contents of the brownie mix box
and the ingredients required to make the brownie mix (this should be oil, water
and egg.)

Just mix the mixture with a fork because you do not want to
beat or over mix brownies. It will result in a flat cakey brownie. You want to
mix it until it is pretty smooth but a few bumps or clumps will be fine!

Dump into the bowl the chocolate chips and half of the dulce
de leche can and stir with a fork until it is incorporated.

Then add the chopped pecans and stir until incorporated.

Grease a 13×9-baking pan and pour the brownie mix into the
pan. Use a spatula to scrap the bowl and lick the batter off the spatula get
all the batter into the pan.

Once all the batter is in drop the remaining amounts of
dulce de leche on top of the batter and space it out a bit.

Take the side of a butter knife and smear the dulce de leche
into the batter. Get fancy and make a pretty design if you feel like being
creative!

Once the batter is ready place in your pre-heated oven and
cook per the instructions on your box mix. To test for done-ness insert a tooth
pick in the center and it should come out clean. Another way and a better way
to test for brownies is when they start to pull away from the sides of the pan
they are done. For the final check shake the pan a bit back and forth (with a
pot holder on your hand of course) while it is on the baking rack. If you can
see the brownie jiggle (like my thighs! HA!) Then you need to let it cook a bit
longer.

Once they are done cut them up! I like to do about 2”x2”
squares!

**Cooking Tip** Once your brownies have cooled for 30 to 40
minutes use a PLASTIC KNIFE to cut them and you will not tear up the brownies while
they are in the pan! Yes it is true! I only let mine cool about 20 minutes (because
I am impatient and possibly suffer from A.D.D.) and look at those clean lines!
Yeah baby!

All you have to do next is plate and serve these babies!
Preferably with a nice cold glass of milk and if you have been doing the fancy
instructions because you are feeling fancy a scoop of vanilla ice cream wouldn’t
hurt either!

Tada! Thick, fudgy gourmet looking brownies for half the
price and you spent half the time on them! Meaning you did not have to get all hot
and sweaty in the kitchen but anyone who eats them will think you slaved over
them for hours! Perfect for a birthday party, potluck or just because you want
some Dulce de Leche Pecan Brownies in your mouth stat!!

Look at that Dulce de Leche center! MMM so good once it hits the lips!!

I hope you make these! Come back here and leave me a comment
if you do letting me know what you thought!

Click the Foodista button below for the printable version. To print the entire post with step by step photos click the print icon button at the top of the post below the title.

 

Dulce de Leche Pecan Brownies

Hamburger Cupcakes

3

Posted on 17-06-2011 | By: Heather

Category : Cupcakes, Dessert

Tags: , , ,

Looking for a good and fun idea for a dessert for Father’s day?? Then I have just the treat for you! These hamburger cupcakes are fun to make with or without the kids! They are so adorable you almost won’t want to eat them! Notice I said ALMOST! They are so yummy and if you cook up some sugar cookie french fries they are even better!!

For the recipe click here! I apologize for the photos… I am not that talented but I have come a long way in my short blogging time.

Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies

3

Posted on 13-06-2011 | By: Heather

Category : Cookies, Dessert

Tags: , , , , , ,

The other day I was in the kitchen staring a bowl of caramels on my counter. I know what you are thinking “who has caramels just chillin on their counter?” Well I usually would not (because either me or the Hubby would eat them!) but I had made the Knock You Naked brownies that PW posted and I had extras! I was staring at them and it hit me. I shouted to Hubby “I KNOW JUST WHAT TO DO WITH THESE! I have an invention idea and you are going to love it” with far less enthusiasm then my screaming excitement over my invention he replied, “what is that?” to which I explained to him “I am going to put one of these in the center of a chocolate chip cookie and then do a touch of sea salt on top! It will be cookie but caramel but chocolate and a little sweet and a little salty and it is going to be soooooo good.” I got a head nod of approval and I am sure he was thinking in his head (this woman I married is nuts and she is as excited over these cookies as a mad scientist is about a plot to take over the world!! ha ha get it? Like Pinky and the Brain!) He did, however, ask that I leave off the salt… he is not a big salt fan and I decided I would try some with it and some without it! Then I took to Google as no excited young talented inventor should do because you will immediately find that you are A. not that smart and talented as there are quite a few others who not only thought of this before you but they have already made them and blogged them! And B. They did it better then you were thinking!! So with a little less wind in my sails I went to the kitchen to conquer the cookie! I did however opt to use this recipe because I just couldn’t get the images out of my head after I had made the dreaded Google discovery! I only wish I had her caramels!

Adapted from: CC Confectionary Caramel Filled Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • 3 tablespoons granulated sugar (I used vanilla sugar)
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1-3/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1-1/2 cups semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips (I used cup half semi sweet and half cup milk chocolate and that were plenty of chips in my opinion)
  • 1/4 lb. bar CC Confectionary Madagascar Vanilla Bean Caramels or Other Fine Caramel (I just used the plain square shaped caramels from the store)
  • Sea Salt for garnishing the tops if you are into that sort of thing.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter with the sugars using an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy (approximately 30 seconds).

Beat in the egg and the vanilla extract for another 30 seconds.

In a mixing bowl, sift together the dry ingredients and beat into the butter mixture at low speed for about 15 seconds. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Unwrap your caramels or cut up your caramels until they are about .5 inch by .5 inch.

Using a tablespoon measuring spoon, drop cookie dough onto a greased cookie sheet or a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper about 3 inches apart. Place one caramel square in the center and top with another tablespoon of dough.

Roll them in your hand so they are a nice even ball. You do not want to leave any seams in the cookie because when they bake they will spread apart so just make sure you have an solid dough ball formed.

Catherine says to bake for about 9 minutes or until nicely browned around the edges. Mine were not like that until about 11 minutes in so just check on them to get the type of cookie you want. Bake a little longer for a crispier cookie

Let the cookies cool completely on the cookie sheet. Some of the caramel may have sunk to the bottom, so to avoid breaking the cookies, this is an important step. Also remember this means the cookie will still cook while it is cooling so you don’t want to wait until they are too done in the oven or this step will cause them to overcook.

Now all that is left it is to EAT and Enjoy! Many thanks to the gorgeous and talented Catherine at Lipstick Blogger!

WE loved these cookies! They were so gooey out of the oven and the flavor combination is a party in your mouth that you will want to have over and over again!! The next day I had one without heating it up and it had more of crispiness to the cookie but then chewiness from the caramel and it was great! Dunk it in some milk and you just can’t go wrong! I highly suggest that you get yourself some caramels and try this out! You will not be sad that you did!!

P.S. Warming them up slightly the next day made them just like they were fresh from the oven! So Yummy!!

Vanilla Sugar Blueberry Pie

12

Posted on 02-03-2011 | By: Heather

Category : Dessert, Pie

Tags: , , , , ,

I love pie!!

I think the right pie could bring world peace!! I have been obsessed lately and I thought I would share it with you!! My favorite pie has always been cherry pie but my Dad just loves blueberry pie and since he will be visiting soon I thought that I would give it a whirl!! What do you know… It was awesome!! I ended up making another one for work the same week since they saw a piece I brought with my lunch and insisted on their own. It was great!! Not to toot my own horn but it was fantastic! Not too sweet and not too tart and would pair perfectly with some vanilla ice cream!! I did not have ice cream and it was great without it as well!! I opted for an all butter crust. I think if you are going to do it then do it right and I prefer the taste of an all butter crust myself but you could use any favorite crust recipe that you have.

All Butter Pie Crust

  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling out the dough
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1.5 teaspoon vanilla sugar (if you do not have vanilla sugar you can just use regular sugar)
  • 4 to 8 Tbsp ice water

**FYI** This makes one pie crust, if you want to cover your pie on top with crust you need to double this recipe. I find it works better to make two separate batches back to back so there is not too much mixture in the processor. I double this to have a top crust and a bottom but if you want to opt for no top or a crumb topping you would only need to make one.

Cut your butter into cubes and chill it again (even though it was cold when you cut it) and place all your dry ingredients into your food processor. I used the ninja! It was great! You can definitely do this without a processor by just using a pastry cutter if you want to get your work out in but the processor is just the faster and easier method. You need the butter to be cold and stay in little chunks in the crust so that when it breaks down in the dough as it bakes it creates the flaky layers you all know and love. So you don’t want to over process it or cut it down too much… Even though your instinct will be to pulse pulse pulse your processor if you don’t you will taste and see the difference! Trust me on this one! ;)

First thing I do after you cut your butter into cubes is get the ice water set up so that it is cold cold COLD and set it to the side. Then combine the sugar, salt  and flour into your food processor. Pulse a few times so it all blends together. Now you want to add the butter an pulse a few times. Just until it is all combined and you can see little chunks of butter the size of a corn kernel or so. Then you are going to add the water one tablespoon at a time. You only want it wet enough to where when you pinch some togther it holds its shape.

This photo shows the dry then the butter cubes then the cubes being added and then the crumby dough not too blended so it does not cut the butter up to much. Pour your dough out (or crumbs as it looks) onto some wax paper and shape it into a ball.

Form the dough ball then wrap it up in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge to chill for at least 1 hour but you can make your dough up to a few days ahead of time too if you like! (Then do it again so that you have two pie crusts chilling) DO NOT OVER KNEAD!! This will result in a tough not so tasty crust. Just barely shape it into a ball  and wrap it up.

After you let it chill you want to take it out and let it come to room temperature for 5 to 15 minutes. Sprinkle some flour on the dough and on a clean surface to roll out your crust.

What works for me is to roll it out and the fold it back over the rolling pin so I can slide in the pie plate and then transfer the crust into into the pie pan.

Place the crust in the pan and press it down to be sure it is fits snugly in the pan. Then you need to cut off the excess. You can save this extra dough for doing a design on the top or touching up any cracks your crust may have. No one will see this part of the crust so if you think it needs a touch up use this extra dough for that.

Once you have trimmed all the edges and made any fixes to cracks in the dough  press the edges on the pie pan slightly so it stays down and place it in the fridge to chill while you mix the filling for your pie! When your filling is mixed and you are ready pull the pie pan with the chilled crust out and fill it up. While you are mixing your pie filling you can take out your dough for the top of the pie so it can come to room temperature and will be ready to be rolled out when the filling is done.

Vanilla Sugar Blueberry Pie

  • 6 cups of fresh (you could use frozen) blueberries, rinsed and stems removed (if using frozen, defrost and drain)
  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (for thickening)
  • 1/2 cup vanilla sugar (you could use regular sugar if you want)
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 Tbsp butter (unsalted), cut into small pieces

This is the easy part! Once your berries are rinsed and de-stemmed (is that a word?) you just combine all the ingredients except the butter in a bowl and stir it around with a spatula until it is thoroughly mixed up.

Set the filling to the side and roll out the top of your pie crust. When the top is rolled out take your pie crust from the fridge and pour the filling into it… Pile all those berries up!!

Cut up the 2 tablespoons of butter and place the chunks all over the berries before you put the top of the pie on. (Sorry I forgot to take a photo!)

Place the top piece of pie crust over the berries.

Trim the edges just like with the bottom piece.

You can seal the edges anyway you like. I took a fork and pressed it down and pulled out to seal the top crust to the bottom crust.

Once your crust is sealed you can make your design or just leave it plain. I choose to cut out some hearts and place them ontop in a design. I just rolled the dough and cut it with a sharp knife but if you wanted to get fancy you could use some pretty cookie cutters!

Cut some vent holes so your pie does not explode!

Next I melted about a tablespoon of butter and brushed it all over the pie and the edges where it was sealed. Then I sprinkled vanilla sugar all over to give it a nice sugar dusting! Place it in the fridge so the dough can firm up while you preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Once the oven is warm slide a cookie sheet on the rack below where you are baking to catch any bubbling over that may occur. Cook the pie at 425 degrees for 20 minutes, then turn the heat down to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 30 to 40 minutes. Place the pie on a wire rack to cool and let it cool completely before serving…. or the insides will not have time to set and it will be a runny mess… Not that I did that or anything. OK OK so I did because I am impatient but it is much better if you wait and then just warm it up. So do as I say and not as I do! Ha Ha.

Ta Da!! A gorgeous pie… Look at all that berry juice ooozing out….

Look at all that yummy vanilla sugary flaky crust…

YUM! Looking at the pictures makes me want to go make it again!

Blueberry overload! And you thought blueberries were only for muffins…

I loved this pie so much I was concerned that I might turn into a giant blueberry like Violet in Willy Wonka and have to be rolled off to bed… It was that good!

See if I had waited a little longer to cut my slice then the berries would not have flooded out onto the plate they would have stayed in place, it does not effect the taste just the presentation! The only thing missing was a big scoop of vanilla ice cream!!

What is your favorite pie??

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies & Valentine’s Day Give Away!!

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Posted on 02-02-2011 | By: Heather

Category : Cookies, Dessert

Tags: , , , , ,

That’s right folks… this post is a two for one!! Are you excited? Because I am! OK let’s get down to business! Look at these cookies…

Can you say YUM! I came across Erika’s Blog and fell in love with it and her main picture was this adorable cookie… and low and behold after reading her blog for a while I saw where she posted the recipe! I knew I had to try it! So here it is adapted from All Recipes and Inspired by Erika’s rendition of them

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Ingredients

  •  1 3/4 cups AP Flour
  • .5 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • .5 cup softened butter
  • .5 cup white sugar
  • .5 cup peanut butter
  • .5 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 40 miniature chocolate peanut butter cups, unwrapped

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda and set it to the side.

Cream together the butter, sugars & peanut butter until it is nice and fluffy. Then beat in the egg, vanilla and the milk.

Once you have done that mix in the flour mixture slowly until incorporated.

Shape the dough into 40 balls and bake in a min muffin pan. I used a Wilton cookie scoop that I have to ensure even size and baking.

This is what my Wilton Scooper looks like incase you were curious…

Bake the cookies at 375 for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and immediately press a mini peanut butter cup into the center of each cookie. I placed the peanut butter cups in the fridge so that they would not be soft when I pressed them into the middle of the cookie since the warm cookie is going to cause them to melt anyway.

Leave them in the pan to cool and then remove carefully. You can also do what I did as well as what Erikadid and decorate them with sprinkles of your choice while you are waiting for them to cool. the chocolate gets warm and melty so be careful or you will get it all over your hands and sprinkles… Not that, that happened to me! LOL while they cool the sprinkles will cool in place and stay put!

Look at this… See all that chocolate melting into the peanut butter… YUM!! You know you want some!

Well I hope you want them anyway because they are a part of my Valentine’s Day giveaway!! That’s right… Jason and I went to Hobby Lobby last week and there was the cutest cupcake container for putting sugar in next to the coffee pot… or keeping your favorite sprinkles… or even tea, heck the possibilities are endless!

But then I saw this cupcake plate… And thought how adorable it was and how I would love to be able to give this to one of my readers as a Valentine’s Day present…

SO I bought them (or rather Jason did… details…details) and I thought the perfect way to top off these two items would be to also send them with a fresh batch of these cookies….

So here is how you enter… I am going to give everyone 3 chances to enter (hopefully someone enters… please someone just enter to make me feel better!) If you subscribe to my blog leave a comment telling me that you signed up and that is one entry, if you already do then leave me a comment telling me you already do.

Entry number 2 is if you “like” me on Facebook. Leave me a comment on this web page letting me know that you liked me or if you already do let me know you already do.

And your 3rd option is to follow me on Twitter. Leave me a comment here letting me know that you are and that counts as your third entry! SO you all get three chances… I am going to say that this give away will close on Feb. 7th that way I have time to bake you a batch of cookies and get you your stuff before the holiday! So get to entering! My Facebook and Twitter buttons are on the top right hand side of my home page… and this page! So get to entering already!!

**REMEMBER ALL ENTERIES MUST BE MADE IN THE FORM OF A COMMENT AND THEY MUST BE MADE RIGHT HERE!! IF YOU DO ALL THREE YOU SHOULD LEAVE THREE COMMENTS! Good luck!!!**

New York Style Cheesecake & Cupcakes!!

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Posted on 28-01-2011 | By: Heather

Category : Cake, Cupcakes, Dessert

Tags: , , , ,

Well when I bought that spring form pan a few weeks ago I only had one thing in mind… MAKE CHEESECAKE! My sister Tiffani shared a recipe with me that she has adapted for cheesecake and she swears by it. I have not made a cheesecake since I helped my mom in like middle school! She must have been making it for mine or Tiffani’s birthday because we both always picked cheesecake for our birthday cake! Any-who it was perfect timing when she called me with that recipe because I had been craving some cheesecake and so was Jason!!

New York Style Cheesecake

  • 4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
  • 1 3/4 cups white sugar
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 vanilla bean (save the pod for later)
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

For the crust

  • 2 plastic pouches of graham crackers
  • Anywhere from half a stick to a whole stick of butter
  • 3 tablespoons vanilla sugar (you can use regular white sugar)

First things first… as you will see through my mishaps here that… well my sister forgot to tell me that this is really enough for two cheesecakes or 1 cake and then cupcakes! I should have noticed by the measurements being on the larger side but I was just thinking “Well Tiff didn’t say that” and thought maybe it was just going to work out. Now I see that in the future I will have other options but this is more then enough crust and filling for one 9″ pan.

OK so to get started pre-heat your oven to 350. Then you want to butter and flour your spring form pan and set it aside. In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter. Press onto bottom of spring form pan.

I wanted a nice fine crumb and Jason had just bought the Ninja so I thought it was a good time to test it out. So I put mine in there and then….

TADA! now just dump them in a bowl and add the butter. The butter is not an exact science you just add melted butter until you are happy with the texture. I like it just wet enough that when pinched it will hold it’s shape. Once you have the crust as wet as you prefer it press it down into your spring form pan. I used the bottom of a glass to press it in there nice and tight.

In a large bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Stir in milk, and then mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate. Mix in sour cream, vanilla extract and bean and flour until smooth. Pour filling into prepared crust.

They say the trick to a good cheesecake that does not crack and is the right texture is making sure you DO NOT OVER MIX the batter. Once you beat together the cream cheese and sugar (until light and fluffy) you do not even need to use a mixer you can do it by hand just until everything is incorporated…

If you have never used a vanilla bean then you want to bend it a little in your hand and then slice down the pod from end to end but not cutting all the way through.

Then with the back side of a butter knife you want to scrap the insides of the pod and get all the beans out. See below. I placed all the beans I got out of the pod on the mixer paddle so you could see it. The brown down below in the batter is the extract.

Once you have incorporated everything being very careful to NOT OVER MIX!!!! You can pour your batter on the crust…

Can you see all those black flecks… those are the vanilla beans… YUM!! Now I can tell you right now you should test the batter. If you had a situation like me I was trying to snap pictures while baking and I already am always a mess but I really had it all over my hands. I tried it and oh my word! You knew at that moment how good this cake was going to be!

Now here is where the light bulb should have gone on for me! LOOK how full this pan is… I kept thinking well maybe cheesecake doesn’t rise? I could not remember…and against my gut instinct I filled the pan this full!!! I then had a hard time banging it on the counter to get the air bubbles out but you need to do that and only fill it 3/4 full!

Save the extra batter and I will show you what you can do with it! It will keep in the fridge for up to a week I think, but I just used mine later that night. And remember you will have more then I do here since you will be smart and not over fill your pan! Because you are a genius!

Make sure you let it cool in the oven with the door closed. It will keep cooking but it will also let it naturally cool instead of going into shock from the oven to the fridge which can cause cracking!!

I had to cook mine too long because the pan was so dang full. Even though it browned like this it still tasted great!

Now with the extra I went ahead and line a cupcake pan with liners… Spray the liners with non stick spray so they are easier to eat later.

I put a heaping tablespoon of crust in each liner and pressed down with a measuring glass…

Then I put about 2 to 2.5 scoops from the “big spoon” in our silverware set. I guess that is close to the size of a tablespoon maybe slightly bigger… Now you can fill them as much as you like. I had paranoia about them rising but because they are on such a smaller scale that did not happen…

See those air bubbles… You need to be sure to bang the pan on the counter but picking it up slightly and dropping it to get all of the bubbles out of the batter and to the top or those bubbles will come out in the form of cracks… if your cups are not too full then you will have no spills and they will look like this….

That hole in the middle cupcake is where I checked it for done-ness (is that a word? It is now!!) The cupcakes were done after about 20 minutes, but be sure you check them incase yours are thicker. I sure hope you guys make this recipe! I think it is kind of great that you get enough for a cake and then a batch or two of cupcakes depending on how thick you make them… it would be great for a party when sometimes you need just a little bit more! Plus who could resist these cute little buggers? NOT anyone who is cool that’s who!

 

Look at that! I think that is the perfect crust to cake ratio! The crust is my favorite!

Go make this and tell me what you think… and learn from my mistakes friends! Cheesecakes do rise… and you should always trust your instincts!!

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