Chocolate

Holiday Baking: Oreo and Nutter Butter Truffles

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If you’ve been part of a cookie exchange or received some gifts from the kitchen this Christmas, then there is a good chance you have seen these.  A super simple, three ingredient treat that looks way more impressive than it actually is.  These cute little goodies are so sweet and so yummy.

When you shape these, make sure to make them small.  They really are rich.  If they are too big you may not be able to eat the whole thing, or you’ll feel too guilty taking a second one, and then you won’t get to try both kinds!

The recipe for the Oreo truffles came from the Kraft website.  I used candy coating instead of chocolate squares.  Melting chocolate just never seems to harden well enough.  Does anyone have any tips for coating with real chocolate?

After I made these I thought I should have used the white candy coating for a nice contrast from outer white coating to inner dark chocolate.  Then I thought about all the possibilities there are with these truffles.  You could use any sandwich cookie.  So I did the same thing with a package of Nutter Butters.  The white coating gave me some issues, so these were not as evenly coated as the chocolate.  The peanut butter truffles would have been delicious with the chocolate coating.  Who doesn’t like that peanut butter and chocolate combination?

I love the sprinkles of cookie crumbs on top of these truffles.  It gives them more of a true chocolate truffle appearance (and it helps to hide any uneven coating).  If you really wanted to dress these up even more and make them appealing to foodies, sprinkle with some flaked sea salt.  Some people might be averse to this sweet and salty combo, but it really is wonderful.  You can find flaked sea salt at many grocery stores.  It isn’t cheap, but you don’t use very much and it goes a long way.  This one by Maldon is the one I see most often.

If you don’t have a food processor, get to work with a large ziploc bag and a rolling pin to break the cookies into crumbs.  Make sure when you start coating the balls that you have 2 cookie sheets prepped with parchment paper, wax paper or Silpats.  This makes clean up a breeze, and removing the truffles much easier.

Oreo Truffles

Ingredients

  • 1 package Oreo cookies
  • 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
  • 1 package chocolate candy coating

Directions

  1. Process Oreos in a food processor to fine crumbs.
  2. Reserve about 1/2 cup of the crumbs in a small bowl.
  3. Combine the remaining crumbs and the cream cheese and mix until evenly combined.
  4. Form dough into ping pong sized balls, between 45 and 55 depending on size.
  5. Melt chocolate coating according to package instructions.  Coat each ball and place on parchment or wax paper.  Sprinkle with reserved crumbs while chocolate is still wet.
  6. Chill truffles for at least an hour, then store in sealed containers in the fridge until serving.

Nutter Butter Truffles

Ingredients

  • 1 package Nutter Butters cookies
  • 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
  • 1 package chocolate or white candy coating

Directions

  1. Process cookies in a food processor to fine crumbs.
  2. Reserve about 1/2 cup of the crumbs in a small bowl.
  3. Combine the remaining crumbs and the cream cheese and mix until evenly combined.
  4. Form dough into ping pong sized balls, between 45 and 55 depending on size.
  5. Melt chocolate coating according to package instructions.  Coat each ball and place on parchment or wax paper.  Sprinkle with reserved crumbs while chocolate is still wet.
  6. Chill truffles for at least an hour, then store in sealed containers in the fridge until serving.
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Chocolate Snack Cake with Coconut Pecan Icing

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This recipe came from a real cookbook.  One with pages and everything.  America’s Best Lost Recipes.

My sister worked at Half Price Books a couple years ago and got her hands on this neat cookbook from the Cook’s Country editors.  It contains recipes that have been around for a while that have been shared by home cooks.  Stories accompany each recipe telling who they came from, and how and where they originated.  The goal of this cookbook is to bring back recipes that are worth remembering.

This simple chocolate sheet cake is called “Scotch Cake” in the cookbook.  The note about this recipe says:

“The origin of the name of this simple sheet cake, with its unique pecan and coconut topping, was a mystery to Melinda and her mother, whose recipe card for it included a note that said: “I don’t understand the name of this cake.  I just call it my “boil it” cake”.”

I brought this cake to a potluck dinner, and it received a few compliments.  It’s a great potluck dessert because you can make it a day in advance and keep it in the fridge, it’s simple to prepare, you can take it in the pan and it cuts really nicely.  After being refrigerated the cake becomes almost fudgy and the coconut pecan icing gets that nice sugary crunch.  You know what I’m talking about.

Chocolate Snack Cake with Coconut Pecan Icing

From America’s Best Lost Recipes

Ingredients

Cake

  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 sticks of butter
  • 1 cup water
  • 4 teaspoons cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
Icing
  • 1 stick butter
  • 6 tablespoons whole milk
  • 4 teaspoons cocoa powder
  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup sweetened, shredded coconut
  • 1 cup chopped pecans
Directions
For the Cake
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a 9×13 pan.
  2. Whisk flour and sugar in a large bowl.
  3. Heat butter, water and cocoa in a saucepan over medium heat until it comes to a boil.  Pour over the four mixture and stir to combine.
  4. Stir in the buttermilk, eggs, baking soda, vanilla and salt until combined.
  5. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
For the Icing
  1. Heat the butter, milk and cocoa in the same saucepan over medium heat until the butter melts.
  2. Take it off the heat and stir in the powdered sugar, vanilla, coconut and pecans.
  3. Spread over the warm cake and let cool completely.
  4. Serve or refrigerate for up to 3 days.  Bring the cake to room temperature before serving.

 

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Peanut Butter Icebox Pie

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There are not many combinations more perfect than peanut butter and chocolate.  When I came across this recipe as I was flipping though The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook I immediately stopped and added the ingredients to my grocery list.

There is no baking required and therefore no need to turn on your oven, which is nice for me.  It’s been over 100°F most days this summer.

I changed a few things about the assembly of this pie to make it a little simpler.  If you read the recipe from the cookbook you notice that the assembly requires some marbling of the caramel, peanut butter and cream cheese mixture.  I just put a layer of caramel on top of the crust and then mixed the peanut butter in with the cream cheese.  This seemed to be a fine way to assemble the pie, maybe just not as pretty as the marbling would have been.

I highly recommend putting the peanut butter cups in the fridge or freezer prior to chopping.  This makes life, cutting boards, knives and hands, much cleaner.

As you might have noticed, there is not much sugar in the filling.  I was a little worried about this, but it was perfect.  Who am I to doubt Magnolia Bakery?  Combined with the cookie crust, caramel and peanut butter cups it is just wonderful and not overly sweet.

One of my new guilty pleasures are those Reese’s Minis, and I happen to have a stash of them in the fridge (where I must keep any chocolate with it being so hot this time of year.)  I halved the minis and chopped some unsalted peanuts for the topping.  If I were feeling really crazy I might use salted peanuts as a nice salty contrast.  Something else that might be interesting would be using some of the white chocolate Reese’s…I think it could work.  Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Icebox Pie

From The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook

Ingredients

Crust

  • 1 stick butter
  • 2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs

Filling

  • 12 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup (1 pint) heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks
  • 6-8 regular peanut butter cups, chopped
  • 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup caramel sauce

Garnish

  • Handful of chopped peanut butter cups
  • Handful of chopped peanuts

Directions

Crust

  1. Combine butter and cookie crumbs in a bowl until crumbs are evenly coated.
  2. Press into a 9-inch pie plate.
  3. Chill in the freezer for 20 minutes.

Filling

  1. Beat cream cheese until fluffy, 2 minutes.  Add sugar gradually, then beat in peanut butter and vanilla.
  2. Whip the cream in a separate bowl, then fold gently into the cream cheese mixture.
  3. Fold in the peanut butter cups.

Assembly

  1. Remove the crust from the freezer.
  2. Spread the caramel on the bottom of the crust, then spread the filling over the caramel and smooth the top.
  3. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 8 hours, or overnight.
  4. To serve, garnish with peanut butter cups and peanuts.
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Hello Dolly Bars

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You might call them magic cookie bars, or maybe seven layer bars. Whatever you call them they are quite good.

These bars require no mixing.  Just a little crushing of graham crackers, melting of butter and then layering of ingredients.  A mere 25 minutes in the oven and they’re done.  This is a great last minute dessert.  If you don’t have pecans, then you can use walnuts.  You could probably even use peanuts, honey roasted might just be amazing.  Yum.  If you don’t have chocolate chips you could use white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips or a combination.  You can also use margarine if you don’t have butter.  But who doesn’t have pounds of butter in their fridge at all times?  Crazy people.  That’s who.  Enjoy!

Hello Dolly Bars

Ingredients

  • 1 stick butter, melted
  • 1 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers
  • 1 cup chopped pecans
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • 1 1/3 cup shredded coconut
  • 1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

Directions

  1. Pour melted butter in bottom of a 9×13 pan.
  2. Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs over butter followed by pecans, chocolate chips and coconut.
  3. Drizzle condensed milk evenly over everything.
  4. Bake for 25 minutes @ 350°F.
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Fudgy Chocolate & Peanut Cookies

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There was a time in my life that I would have turned my nose up at a cookie recipe that used a cake mix.  Times have changed.

Like many of my baked goods these days, this one was an attempt to use things I had on hand.  I had a cake mix, a jar of peanuts, and chocolate chips.  So, I made these cookies.  And they are not bad.

These cookies taste like a cake mix, and that’s OK with me.  I happen to like that flavor every now and then.  The mix I had already had some little chips in it, so add a few more chocolate chips if your mix does not.  I used half butter and half margarine since I had half sticks of both in the fridge.  These were crazy delicious while still warm and gooey in the middle.  They weren’t quite as good the next day for some reason.  Just pop one…or two…or five in the microwave for 5-10 seconds to warm them up, and enjoy with a cold glass of milk. Mmmmm…

Switch the chips for whatever you want.  Use different nuts.  Whatever. Enjoy!

Fudgy Chocolate & Peanut Cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 box chocolate cake mi
  • 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter or margarine
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cups salted peanuts
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips
  • 1 cup peanut butter chips

Directions

  1. Beat butter or margarine until smooth.  Beat in cake mix, then oil, eggs and vanilla until smooth.
  2. Stir in peanuts, and chips.
  3. Bake cookies at 350°F for 9-12 minutes.
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Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

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There are no words.  Just salivation.

Baking Bites (link here) does a post called “Bites from Other Blogs” where she  introduces you to new food blogs and recipes.  This one caught my eye, and thanks to always buying more than I need I had a fresh box of OREOS in the pantry!  It was fate, my friends, fate.

The recipe came from picky-palate.com and I will be forever thankful to both blogs for introducing me to this cookie!  Bless you, Jenny!  I am now subscribed to your blog : )

The only change I made was to use part of a bag of chocolate chips, some Heath bar bits, and some chopped semi-sweet chocolate to make the full 10 ounces.  I liked the combination of chips, chunks and bits of toffee.  It makes these cookies even better, in my opinion anyway.  These are so evil.  I recommend bringing somewhere to pawn them off on other people so that you are not tempted to eat them all yourself!

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
  • 2 sticks softened butter
  • 3/4 Cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1 Cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla
  • 3 1/2 Cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 10 oz bag chocolate chips
  • 24 Oreo Cookies
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.   In a stand or electric mixer cream butter and sugars until well combined.  Add in eggs and vanilla until well combined.
  2. In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt and baking soda.  Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips until just combined.
  3. Using a cookie scoop take one scoop of cookie dough and place on top of an Oreo Cookie.  Take another scoop of dough and place on bottom of Oreo Cookie.  Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until Oreo Cookie is enclosed with dough.
  4. Place onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and bake cookies 9-13 minutes or until cookies are baked to your liking.
  5. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.
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Frosted Cocoa Brownies

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Oh my.  These are decadent.  I wish I hadn’t made a full recipe because now they’re calling to me from the kitchen, “Carrie, it’s just one more little piece of goodness.  No one will even notice that you ate me…except your jeans!  Mwahaha!”  I hate you evil brownies.

Desserts with which you have a love-hate relationship are usually the best ones.  This brownie recipe will be one that I will make again.  Simple ingredients.  Easy preparation.  Sinfully good.  And while I ate more than one for dessert, a normal person with a healthy relationship with sweets really only needs one to be satisfied.

I found this recipe on Tasty Kitchen, the recipe sharing site from the Pioneer Woman.  Here is the link to the site.  I’ve enjoyed searching through all the recipes, but have yet to submit any of my own.  There are already so many recipes with a pretty great variety that I don’t know if I will.  One of the things I like about sites like these is that real people made the recipes and so they are usually pretty easy and tasty.  Thank you, Tasty Kitchen!

On the site these brownies are called “Are We in Heaven?  No…It’s Just the Brownies.” which is what made me take a second look at this recipe.  I thought it was funny.  Would I say that these brownies are like being in heaven?  No.  Nothing on this earth is going to be that good.  But they are incredibly good.

The brownie is fudgy.  The frosting is pretty sweet, so a thin layer is all you need. (more…)

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Cranberry Bread

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I bought a bag of cranberries last week for no reason.  I found a delicious recipe for cranberry bread on Martha Stewart.com.  Here is the link.

Here are the changes I made; I used 2% instead of whole milk and I sprinkled the top with granulated sugar instead of the turbinado.  This is a dense, slightly sweet bread that is bursting with tart cranberries.  The top of the bread comes out of the oven crunchy and delicious.  After a day wrapped in foil, however, the top became a little gooey.  It remains delicious, especially when toasted.

This bread is easy to make and isn’t too sweet to serve for breakfast, unlike some quick breads.  Almonds or pecans would be yummy in this bread.  Enjoy! (more…)

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Oreo Cheesecake

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When I saw this recipe I thought that there was no possible way that this dessert could turn out poorly.  Oreos, butter, heavy cream, sugar, cream cheese, and chocolate…no possible way.  I was right.  This thing is dang good.

In fact, the only problem I encountered in making this cheesecake is that my pan wasn’t deep enough to add the sour cream layer on top of the cheesecake, and without this layer the cheesecake had a visibly cracked top.  But that issue was hidden by the chocolate ganache layer.

In the past I have been known to cut corners in the time department.  I have very little patience.  I don’t allow things to set up or chill completely, usually because I have not given myself enough time to complete the dessert.  I gave myself plenty of time for this cheesecake, and my planning and patience paid off.  The cake cut nicely and had a terrific creamy texture.  So, give the cake the time is deserves to set in the oven, chill in the fridge overnight, and chill with the chocolate layer as well.

This recipe is from allrecipes.com.  Here is the link to the recipe.  I left out the sour cream layer completely, but other than that I did not make any changes.  You will need one package of Oreos…unless you plan to snack on them along the way.  I crushed them in the food processor, which is tons easier than banging them in a plastic bag that inevitably breaks and creates quite a mess.

Cheesecake alone is decadent, but this one is especially so thanks to the Oreo crust, the layer of Oreo in the middle and the lovely chocolate top.  This was a hit at the Christmas party I took it to.  You will not be sorry if you take the time to make this!  Enjoy. (more…)

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Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

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Oh.  My.  Good.  Gracious.  These things are crazy good.  And they came about all because of one lonely jar of chunky natural peanut butter that had been stashed in the back of my pantry for a while.  He was reaching the end of his shelf life on November 8, 2010.  I bet this jar of peanutty goodness never even dreamed of being used in something so wonderful.  He thought maybe he was destined to be the star player in a few PB & J’s or maybe to be spread on some celery.  I had much bigger plans for him.

In order to use my natural peanut butter I just searched “desserts with natural peanut butter” in Google and after searching through a few cookie recipes I found this recipe on Joy the Baker.  Here is the link to the recipe.  I made minimal changes to the original.  Chunky instead of smooth peanut butter, regular brown sugar instead of dark, and semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of milk chocolate.

These taste like a dressed up Reese’s cup.  The peanut butter layer comes together easily in one pot.  The chocolate frosting is also incredibly simple to make and spreads nicely on the cooled bars.  This is an altogether simple and delicious bar that I will definitely be adding to my go-to recipe collection.  After frosting the bars I chilled them in the fridge which makes the quite easy to cut.  We ate them cold from the fridge and they were delicious, but letting them warm up a bit makes for a wonderful melt-in-your-mouth experience.  Enjoy! (more…)

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