Chocolate Eclair Cake

Happy Valentines Day! Here is a perfect dessert to make for your loved ones tonight! I made it for family over the weekend and it was  HUGE hit - so delicious! But, really, who can turn down chocolately goodness like this? This would also make a great potluck pleaser as long as you have someplace cool to store it up until serving time! I made an Eclair Torte about this time last year, which was a little labor intensive, but TOTALLY worth it! This cake is not quite so much work, and still TOTALLY worth it! :) I found this recipe over at Cookie Madness - but made a few changes of my own to it :)

Ingredients

1 (3.4 oz) box of Instant Vanilla Pudding

2 c. Milk

1 (8 oz) tub Cool Whip

1/2 a box Graham Crackers or however many you need to make 4 layers

1 c. Chocolate Frosting

Directions

Beat together pudding mix and milk for about 2 minutes until pudding starts to thicken. Fold in the tub of whipped topping.

Break the graham crackers into squares and lay them across the bottom of an 8 inch baking dish. You’ll need to break some of them to cover the bottom of the dish. Spread the pudding mix across the graham crackers. Layer on more graham crackers and more pudding mix twice so that you have a total of 3 layers of graham crackers and three layers of pudding mixture. Top with a final layer of graham crackers.

Soften the frosting and pour over the top. Chill for at least four hours (preferably longer) or until ready to eat.

For more great recipes, be sure to ceck out Mouthwatering Monday!

Neiman Marcus' $250 Cookie Recipe

I'm sure you've all heard the story behind the name of these cookies. It's an age old tale told over glasses of milk served with these cookies. Just in case though, here's my shortened version.

Woman enters resturant. Woman orders cookie. Woman gets charged $250 for said cookie. The end.

The real story is much more interesting. I'm just not a good storyteller. Which is sad considering that I'm a two year old teacher at a daycare. My poor students. I think I'll console myself though by telling you that it's not a true story. Just a myth. So I can be just a bad myth teller, right?

You can find this recipe just about anywhere. It's all over the internet and is included in most every cookbook on the shelves. The particular recipe that I referenced was found in a local hometown church cookbook. I had never had one of these cookies before, but figured I'd better make a batch to see what all the fuss was about and I must say that this is a really. good. cookie.

I don't know that I'd pay $250 for just one of these bad boys, but that's besides the point...

Ingredients...

...1 c. butter

...1 c. sugar

...1 c. brown sugar

...2 eggs

...1 tsp. vanilla

...2 c. flour

...2 1/2 c. blended oatmeal (place oatmeal in blender or food processor and process until it reaches a fine powder)

...1/2 tsp. salt

...1 tsp. baking powder

...1 tsp. baking soda

...12 oz. chocolate chips

...1/2 chocolate bar, grated (4 oz.)

...1 1/2 c. chopped nuts (I used cashews)

Directions...

Cream butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. In a large bowl, combine the flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Stir in wet mixture. Add chocolate chips, grated chocolate bar and nuts. Roll into balls and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.

To see more great recipes, be sure to check out Mouthwatering Monday over at A Southern Fairy Tale!

Louise's Bars are Better Bars

Seriously. That's the name of these bars. Another hometown cookbook recipe find. Growing up, my mom made a bar that was pretty much these exact same ingredients...but not this exact same bar. I was a little disappointed when it came out not the bar I was thinking of. But none the less, this was a really good bar!

Plus, it's really fun to tell the people the bar's name...and then watch them stop mid bite as if digesting the information they've just been presented with.

Ingredients...

...1 c. flour
...1 c. oatmeal
...3/4 c. brown sugar
...1 stick butter
...1 can sweetened condensed milk
...1 pkg. chocolate chips

Combine flour, oatmeal, brown sugar and buter until well mixed. Reserve 1 cup and spread remaining mixture on bottom of 9x13 cake pan and bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Pour can of sweetened condensed milk over the baked mixture, and then top with chocolate chips and remaining oatmeal mixture. Return to oven and bake an additional 15-20 minutes.

Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins

This is supposed to be a muffin. I swear. But it came out more like a cupcake. Actually. This probably should be titled "Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes". But can we pretend not so that I can still eat these for breakfast guilt free?

Just don't judge me if I choose to add some chocolate frosting...

These muffins/cupcakes are really moist. Almost too moist. They fell apart very easily, and didn't cut in two as easily as I please for a muffin to for buttering purposes. But ohhhh was it sooo goooodd!!

Alright. I give. Eat these for breakfast. Every. Day. Because they're good. And if you need a cupcake recipe too, then these will do.

Let's just call these the Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcake Muffin and call it good.

Ingredients...

...1 chocoalte cake mix
...1 can pumpkin
...2 eggs
...1 tsp. cinnamon
...1 tsp. vanilla

Directions...

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl until well combined and there are no dry pieces left. Spoon batter into greased muffin tins and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Layered Chocolate Pie Dessert

If you are plum fresh out of ideas for something to take to a soon coming Christmas gathering, then I urge you to take this. This, Heaven in a Pan, AKA Layered Chocolate Pie Dessert. AKA Robert Redford Dessert. AKA DELICIOUS NO MATTER WHAT YOU CALL IT!! It's creamy, it's rich (but not too rich!) and it's a refreshing change from pies and cookies (not that I'm complaining about pies and cookies!). I doubt you'll have leftovers when you do make this for your family gathering, and if...IF you have leftovers, it's a perfectly acceptable next day breakfast.

At least that's what I told myself...

Because over the holidays calories don't count :)

And because I'm 5 months pregnant, so that kind of thing is acceptable ;)

Ingredients...

Crust:
...2 c. flour
...1 1/2 sticks butter
...1/2 c. nuts (I used chopped pecans, and they're not pictured)

Mix all three ingredients together and lightly press into the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Allow to cool completely.

Filling:
...8 oz. cream cheese (at room temperature)
...1 c. powdered sugar
...1/2 tub Cool Whip

Mix these three ingredients together and spread over top of the cooled crust.

Pudding:
...2 (3 oz) boxes of chocolate pudding mix
...3 c. milk

Mix pudding and milk together according to package directions. Spread over the cream cheese layer.

Topping:
...1 tub Cool Whip
...Crushed Reeses Peanut Butter Cups (or nuts, shaved chocolate...anything goes really)

Spread Cool Whip over pudding layer and then sprinkle crushed (insert what you're using here) over the Cool Whip. Refrigerate until serving time.

Chocolate Peanut Clusters

This is another of the candies that my Grandma always made in her Christmas candy spread each year. This isn't her exact recipe, it's actually one that I just made up on the fly this year, but I'm very happy with how they came out! This is a very simple candy that even the most novice of candy makers can make to share with family and friends during the holiday season! Just be sure to make extra, because they will disappear fast!

Ingredients...

...1 pound of chocolate (again, I used Hershey's Kisses because it's what I had on hand. You can use chocolate chips or baking chocolate as well!)
...2 T. shortening
...peanuts

Directions...

Melt chocolate in the microwave and then stir in shortening until smooth. Add in peanuts until the mixture is the consisstency you like. You can really make these however you want, more chocolate, more peanuts or an equal amount of each. Just keep adding peanuts until it is how you want it. Drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper to harden.

To see more delicious recipes check out Tasty Tuesday over at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam and Tempt my Tummy Tuesday over at Blessed with Grace.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge

Would it even be Christmas time without a plate of fudge to snack on? Fudge is just one of those candies that epitomize Christmas food! There are so many varieties out there...versions with nuts, versions that can be made entirely in the microwave, versions with marshmallows, white chocolate versions...and versions like this that call for the beautiful marriage of chocolate and peanut butter. This was incredibly simple to make, I know that candy making can be intimidating...especially to beginning candy makers, but this was really easy. Not a bit intimidating.

Okay, I lied.

It was a little intimidating.

But that was only before I learned what soft ball meant. Once I learned that candy making phrase and it's meaning it wasn't so much intimidating anymore.

Ingredients...

...3 cups white sugar
...1 cup evaporated milk
...1/4 cup cocoa
...1/2 cup peanut butter
...1 T. butter

Directions...

In a saucepan stir together the sugar, evaporated milk and cocoa. Stir over high heat until the mixture comes to a rolling boil. Lower heat to medium and continue stirring until it reaches softball stage (240 degrees F with a candy thermometer. Mine had a nifty little arrow that pointed to where the mercury should be for the soft ball stage!). Remove from the heat and add peanut butter and margarine. Stir by hand until well combined and creamy. Pour into a greased pan (I used a 9x13. For a thicker fudge, use a 9x9 or 8x8) and let harden.

To see other delicious recipes, check out Foodie Friday over at Designs by Gollum!

No Bake Cookies

This is the first recipe that I ever made on my own. It was actually my first 4-H project too :) Since then, I have not tired of this recipe. It's another one of those recipes that we made a lot growing up and so it just reminds me of my childhood everytime I make it! This would be a great recipe for your kids to help you out with...they will love helping to drop these onto the wax paper and mix in the ingredients. Just be sure to watch their little fingers or you may not have many left on the waxed paper at the end of the day! These would make a great addition to any candy and cookie platter...because while they are techinically called a cookie...couldn't they be considered a candy? I sure think so....

Mmmmmm!

Ingredients...

...1/2 cup milk
...1/2 cup butter
...2 cups sugar
...6 T. cocoa powder
...3 cups oatmeal (uncooked)
...1 heaping spoonful of peanut butter (not pictured)

Directions...

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring milk, butter, cocoa, sugar and peanut butter to a boil. Continue to let boil for 1 minute. After 1 minute of boiling, remove from heat and stir in oatmeal. Drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper and let cool until hardened.
To see more great holiday recipes, check out the Ultimate Recipe Swap going on over at Life as Mom!

Grandma's Peanut Butter Balls

Every Christmas, my grandma would spend WEEKS in the kitchen preparing for all of her children and grandchildren to come spend Christmas day eating, rejoicing and visiting in her home. Several days worth of her preperations would be candy making. My favorite candy every year would be this peanut butter ball recipe. I just couldn't get enough of these tasty little confections! Once Grandma passed, we never got any homemade candy at Christmas anymore. I finally decided that it's time for someone to carry on the tradition, and I am taking that upon myself. I couldn't stop sneaking taste tests of these amazing peanut butter delights while I was making them, they just brought back so many memories of Christmas' from my childhood!

Ingredients...

...2 cups creamy peanut butter
...3/4 cup butter
...3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
...3 cups Rice Krispies Cereal
...1 pound chocolate (I used Hershey's Kisses because it's what I had on hand. Chocolate chips, baking squares, etc. will also work!)
...2 T. shortening

Directions...

In a large mixing bowl combine peanut butter and melted butter until smooth. Stir in powdered sugar and Rice Krispies until a dough is formed. Cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator for an hour to chill. Once dough is chilled, form dough into small balls and freeze for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, melt chocolate and then stir in shortening until smooth. Dip frozen peanut butter balls into chocolate and place on waxed paper to harden.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Happy Cookie Tuesday! These chocolate chip cookies are sure to please Santa when he comes shooting down your chimney in a few weeks! Don't be skeptical of the ingredient amounts in this recipe and scale them down. DON'T! I was really skeptical too, but I still made the recipe as written and they turned out beautifully! Chewy, delicious...everything a chocolate chip cookie should be! I chose to use the holiday swirl chips in this recipe as well, and that was a fun twist! They taste like white chocolate, which was a very tasty variation for this time of year! I hope your families and Santa enjoy these as much as I do!

Ingredients...

...3 1/2 cups flour
...1 t. baking powder
...1 t. baking soda
...1 t. salt
...1 cup butter, softened (you can also substitute unsweetened applesauce or plain yogurt to lessen fat and calorie content. I would have but I didn't have any of either on hand and was NOT going to the store for like the 5th time that day...)
...2 cups brown sugar
...6 T. white sugar
...2 eggs
...4 t. vanilla extract
...1 bag of chocolate chips

Directions...

In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt with a fork until well combined. Set aside, and in another large bowl cream together butter and sugars until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla and stir until well combined. Stir wet mixture into flour mixture until well combined. The dough will be a little tougher than normal cookie dough, just work with it and be patient until everything is well combined. Fold in chocolate chips until well distributed. Roll dough into balls and place on cookie sheet (if you prefer a flatter cookie, flatten the balls as you place them on the baking sheet) and bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

To see more tasty recipes, check out Tasty Tuesday over at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam and at Tempt my Tummy Tuesday over at Blessed with Grace.

S'mores Brownies

How about a fun recipe for today? If you are a true summer person who loves camping, and of course the S'mores and roasted marshmallows that comes with, then you will love this recipe! This is also a super easy recipe to make! I decided seeing that I have been getting gobs of super cheap marshmallows at Target lately, and have gobs of Halloween candy leftover from a CVS deal, that this would be an appropriate recipe to try right now!

Ingredients...

...graham crackers
...marshmallows (about a half bag of mini marshmallows)
...chocolate (you can use chips, chocolate bars, whatever you have on hand. I used about 4 fun sized Hershey's Bars with Almonds)
...Brownie Mix (I used a box because I wanted to get it used up, you can use homemade or whatever you please!)

Directions...

Grease a 9x13 pan and line the bottom with graham crackers. You will have to do some cracker breaking and cutting to get it all to fit well. Prepare brownies according to box/recipe instructions. Spread brownie batter over graham crackers (this proves to be a trick as the crackers move around quite a bit. Don't say I didn't warn you!). Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and layer marshmallows on top of brownies, and then sprinkle with crushed chocolate bars or chocolate chips. Place back in oven for an additional 3-5 minutes. Let cool before cutting/serving.

To see more great recipes, check out Mouthwatering Monday over at A Southern Fairytale!

Caramel Brownies

Chocolate and Caramel. Together. In a (semi)homebaked dish. It doesn't get much better than that! In my recent attempt to clean out the singles boxes of randomness from my pantry, I discovered I had two boxes of brownie mix. I typically make brownies from scratch, so I don't really know what I was thinking when I bought these. I do remember it involved a sale at Walgreens, but I also remember they weren't free or anything, so I don't know. But at any rate, they're in my pantry now, and since there was only two boxes to use up, they were added to the "must use soon" pile (by the way, by clearing out all the single boxes of randomness from my pantry, I have cleaned out an entire shelf to be devoted to stockpile! yay!). I originally wanted to make S'mores brownies with these...but I didn't have any graham crackers. So those will have to wait until another day. I decided to make up my own recipe with these, since I found a bag of caramels that I bought last weekend when I was cleaning out my freezer.

Ingredients...

...1 package of brownie mix (you can also make your own. I'm just trying to get all the random boxes of convenience food out of my pantry. You also need the ingredients in the recipe (or listed on the box), that is why I have eggs and yogurt (which I used in place of the oil called for) pictured)
...Individually wrapped caramels
...Caramel ice cream topping

Directions...

Mix brownie batter according to package (or recipe) directions. Stir in as many or as few unwrapped caramels as you wish. Pour into a 8x8 baking dish and bake according to directions on package (or in recipe). When the brownies are finished baking, allow to cool and then top with caramel ice cream topping before serving.

Chocolate Cupcakes

It's my most favorite day of the year! It's my birthday! I decided that there was no better way than to celebrate with some homemade chocolate cupcakes! I made these to take to daycare with me yesterday as birthday treats for my two year old kiddos, and most of them only ate the frosting (I guess Betty Crocker stole the show there...) but it was still delicious and they were still super excited to get to eat chocolate cupcakes instead of rice cakes for snack!

Ingredients...

...2 cups sugar
...2 eggs
...3/4 cup butter (or applesauce or yogurt. I just used butter cause it was all I had on hand)
...1/2 cup boiling water
...2 1/2 cups flour
...3/4 cup cocoa
...2 teaspoons baking soda
...Pinch of baking powder
...1 teaspoon of vanilla
...1 cup boiling water

Directions...

Mix sugar, eggs, butter and 1/2 cup boiling water together. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour into cupcake pan and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

The Verdict...

I'm not gonna lie. I was worried about this. Usually homemade chocolate cake turns out pretty disasterous for me, but these were absolutely DELISH! (despite that the 2 year olds in my class would only eat the frosting. But I took that with a grain of salt. They're two.) Perfectly moist and chocolatey to boot! I'm definetely making this my new chocolate cake recipe...for cakes and cupcakes alike! YUM!

To see other tasty dishes, check out the Recipe Swap going on over at The Grocery Cart Challenge!

Scotcheroos

I have always been a pretty big fan of scotcheroos...they're just so yummy!

Ingredients...

...1 cup white sugar
...1 cup corn syrup
...1 cup peanut butter
...6 cups Rice Krispie cereal
...1 bag chocolate chips

Directions...

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar and corn syrup. Bring to a rapid boil. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter until smooth. Add to Rice Krispies in a large bowl and stirl until cereal is evenly coated. Spread into a greased 9x13 pan. In the microwave, melt chocolate chips until smooth. Spread over cereal mixture. Chill until chocolate is hardened.

My Thoughts...

This is another one of those great summer friendly recipes. No oven required, which means a great treat with minimal heat! Not only that, but these are addicting! Which is tasty for the tongue but really bad for my wasitline...30 Day Shred, here I come!

Chocolate Crinkles

I love cookies. I especially love these cookies. I don't know what it is about them that makes them so dang delicious...but they are honestly one of my favorite cookies. And one that could always be found in my grandma's cookie jar. Which is maybe what creates their appeal...

The Ingredients...

...1 c. cocoa powder
...2 c. sugar
...1/2 c. oil
...4 eggs
...2 t. vanilla extract
...2 c. flour
...2 t. baking powder
...1/2 c. powdered sugar

Directions...

In a medium bowl, mix together cocoa, white sugar and oil. Beat in eggs one at a time and then stir in vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder and then stir into cocoa mixture. Cover dough and chill for at least 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 350* and grease cookie sheet. Roll dough into 1" balls and coat in powdered sugar. Bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes. Let cool for one minute on cookie sheet, then transfer to cooling rack.

My Thoughts...

These are good! So good that I can't keep my hands off of them...which is baaad!

To see more great recipes check out the Recipe Swap over at Grocery Cart Challenge!

O'Henry Bars

You know those recipes that you grew up eating...but once you moved away from home for the first time, moved out on your owned and eventually got married, you kind of forgot about them? Yeah, this is one of those recipes. Both my grandma and my mom used to make these bars all of the time...and after rediscovering the recipe over the weekend in one of my grandma'a cookbooks I decided to make them...

The Ingredients...

...2 c. quick cooking oats
...1/2 c. white corn syrup
...3/4 c. margarine
...1 c. brown sugar
...1 (6 oz.) pkg. chocolate chips
...3/4 c. peanut butter

Directions...

Mix the first four ingredients and spread into greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350* for 12-15 minutes. Melt chocolate chips and peanut butter, spread over cooled "crust" mixture and cool. Cut into bars and serve!

My Thoughts....

Okay, first off, this isn't my picture. I borrowed it from Three Lab Bakery. But it is my recipe...I just forgot to take a picture of the finished product before they got all gobbled up! This is such a delicious recipe...and childhood memories of eating these at my grandma's house came flooding back with each bite. This is a simple, but delicious bar that you must try. Stat. So get to your kitchen and get mixing!