Fan Favorite

Do you have a dish or dessert that friends and family are constantly requesting?  There is one dessert I make that people are always asking for, and go and figure, it is one of the easiest recipes I have ever made.  I actually was hesitant to post it on the blog in case my friends see this and decide they don’t need my baking services anymore because they can do it themselves;-)

These Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars are so easy but oh so delicious.  They are rich and fudgy and begin and end with chocolate chip cookie, what could be bad?

Interestingly enough, this is actually a Pillsbury recipe.  Pillsbury has some great, easy recipes on their website.  Usually I’ll prefer desserts completely made from scratch, but there is a time and a place for shortcuts if the outcome is still tasty!  My mom made this recipe a few years ago and replaced the top layer of cookie with melted chocolate, but I am sticking with the basics here.

Not only is this easy, but the ingredient list is super short.  All you need are 3 1/2 ingredients (I count vanilla as a half:-)).

Here are the easy steps:

Mix your peanut butter, powdered sugar and vanilla

I actually reduced the portion of peanut butter this time around and was happier with the result.  The bars cooked perfectly.

Your peanut butter batter will be very thick.  Mixer not necessary but easier.

Layer about 2/3 of the cookie dough and then the peanut butter

Top with drops of the remaining cookie dough

Bake

Cool

Slice

Try not to eat them all in one sitting

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Serves 16

Original recipe from Pillsbury

Ingredients:

1 roll of chocolate chip cookie dough, 16.5 oz*

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup confectioners sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

*I used Pillsbury here, but truth be told I generally prefer Nestle

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Combine peanut butter, sugar and vanilla and set aside

Spread 2/3 of cookie dough in 8×8 or 9×9 ungreased baking pan

Spread peanut butter mixture on top of cookie dough

Drop remaining cookie dough on top of peanut butter layer

Bake 28-33 minutes or until golden brown

Cool before cutting.  Serve at room temperature

Do you have any “fan favorite” recipes?  Do you keep them a secret?

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Layers of Fall

One of my favorite desserts for entertaining (and eating) is a trifle.  It allows you to incorporate lots of different textures and flavors into one dish.  It also is visually impressive but almost always EASY to make.  Historically I have made summer trifles with berries, angel food cake or pound cake and cool whip and pudding.  It’s September, now, so fall flavors are constantly on my mind.  Pumpkin. Apples.  Cinnamon.  This Fall Trifle takes some prep time but is very easy to put together.

First thing I do when making a trifle is figure out how I will get in all of the textures I want: Creamy, Crunchy, Soft.  I also consider the look of the trifle, what are some colors that will go well together but not blend too closely to one another?

For crunch a few cookie options came to mind (graham crackers and gingersnaps especially), so when I found these in my parent’s kitchen I grabbed them!  I think of them as a ginger-spiked Oreo:-)  Regular gingersnaps would have worked too.  I like the little spicy bite with all of the other sweet ingredients.

I just crushed them in a Ziploc bag.  No food processor required since you don’t want crumbs, just small chunks of cookies!

Next I thought about the creamy ingredients.  I always include cool whip in trifles because it is light and creamy and tailors well to any flavor profile.  Fresh whipped cream would be even better (hmmm maybe cinnamon whipped cream!), but I was going for some less indulgent ingredients.  In addition to the whipped cream I chose to use vanilla pudding which is creamy but thicker in texture.

One of my favorite guilt-free EASY recipes is pumpkin spice cake.  All that you need is spice cake mix, pumpkin, egg whites (or egg beaters) and water.  I can promise you that the cake will be moist and flavorful.  No one ever knows that it is low fat.  Use this as a base for muffins or cupcakes with cream cheese icing!

In the summer, berries are usually a perfect trifle component.  Sliced banana is also tasty, but sometimes the mushier texture doesn’t provide enough contrast.  What dessert is more fall than apple pie?  Enter, apple pie filling!

When you are ready to build your trifle, layout all of the ingredients and decide on an order for layering.  Consider texture and color for this.

For this trifle, layer the apple pie filling on the bottom of your trifle dish (a large glass bowl would work too).  The apples are a little too heavy to have in the upper layers.

Next is the pudding.  Apples + pudding = slightly crunchy + creamy.

The crumbled spice cake is next.

Then cool whip for that cool and creamy addition.

Cookies next for another crunch layer.

After that, you repeat the prior layers except for the apple pie filling.  Leave cool whip as your final layer and decorate as you wish.  I scattered cookie crumbs and a couple pieces of the apple.

The layers don’t have to be perfect, does that mean I should call this rustic??

Serve with a long spoon for scooping.  Dig deep for that apple pie filling!

Fall Trifle

Serves 10-12

Ingredients:

Prepared apple pie filling (recipe below)

Vanilla pudding, 2 small boxes prepared (use instructions on box)

1/2 of prepared pumpkin spice cake (recipe below), broken up into small pieces

2 8-ounce containers of cool whip

2-3 cups of cookie crumbs (gingersnaps or a similar variety are recommended)

Directions:

Layer ingredients as follows-

Apple pie filling

Pudding

Spice cake

Cool whip

Cookie crumbs

Repeat, except for apples, leaving cool whip as final layer

Decorate as desired

Refrigerate prior to serving

Notes:

When layering ingredients, cover each prior layer completely.  You want to get a taste of each component in every bite.  Plus, the view from the side is prettier when you can see each element

Instead of or in addition to the cookies, toasted walnuts or pecans would make a great crunch layer

If you like butterscotch, butterscotch pudding would probably be a great replacement for vanilla

I chose to use lower fat ingredients in this recipe because 1) I knew that the way it comes together it does NOT taste low fat, and 2) the rest of the desserts planned for our night were extra indulgent.  This version was made with fat free cool whip and fat free, sugar free pudding

Spice Cake:

Ingredients:

1 box spice cake mix

1 small can (15 oz.) pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling

2 egg whites or 1/4 cup egg replacement

1/2 cup water

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray 9×13 pan or baking dish with cooking spray (if you want to, you can make into 24 cupcakes instead and save the extra; they will freeze well)

Combine all ingredients until batter is smooth.  A mixer is easier but this can also be done by hand

Spread batter into baking dish and bake for approximately 30 minutes or until knife or toothpick comes out clean

Allow to cool before using in trifle

Apple Pie Filling

Ingredients:

3 golden delicious apples, sliced (peeling optional)

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon all-purpose flour

Dash of cinnamon

1 1/2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

Directions:

Combine apples, brown sugar, flour and cinnamon.  Set aside

Melt butter in medium pan over low-medium heat

Sprinkle in granulated sugar and stir until mixture is lightly browned

Pour apple mixture into pan and stir

Cook over medium heat for approximately 30 minutes or until apple slices are softened

Allow to cool before using in trifle

What are your favorite flavors of fall?

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Top Chef Just Desserts Retiring

So I had fully planned on blogging about each episode of this Top Chef Just Desserts.  After finally watching episode 2, however, I changed my mind.  As much as I wanted to love the new Top Chef, I am disappointed in the emphasis on drama (ahem could Seth be more annoying?) over baking. 

I’ll continue to watch the season and add some commentary into regular posts if i think it is interesting enough.  Stay tuned, instead, for a new recipe tonight.

What do you think of the show?  Were you annoyed watching this week as well?

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