Brownie Bottom Peanut Butter Pie

From above this looks like a typical cream pie. It's topped with peanut butter and chocolate peanut butter. Yummy, but nothing too exciting...

But you decide get a better look and realize that it's a light and creamy peanut butter pie atop a layer of rich dark chocolate brownie. Now, it has your full attention!

Then, you take a slice and see there are even more surprises. The rich brownie layer is spotted with bits of peanut butter chips. This pie is also sitting on a crumbly Oreo crust. Not just any Oreo crust, though... it's a Peanut butter Oreo crust.

For a peanut butter/chocolate lover, this isn't just a slice of pie, it's a pure slice of creamy, delicious heaven!

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have been seeing this recipe popping up all over food blogs for the past couple months. This lovely creation was first made by Jenny at Picky Palate. I fell in love with these fattening goodies as soon as I laid eyes on them. Jenny is my hero.

A very soft chocolate chip cookie surrounds an oreo that becomes soft itself with a slightly gooey cream center once baked. These cookies were awesome, they did not disappoint! That's coming from a person who doesn't really like chocolate chip cookies. I enjoyed them best right out of the oven with a tall glass of milk for dunking. YUM! :)

You can find the original recipe at Picky Palate.

Make them right away. Then watch them disappear much quicker than it took to whip them up. It is so worth it.


Helpful Hints
*I wasn't too sure on how big of a scoop to use for the cookie dough, or exactly how long to bake, so I just experimented a little. (I used a small scoop, about the same size as the oreos.)

With these cookies I used slightly mounded scoops of cookie dough, and baked for about 11 minutes. The cookie dough spread slightly more, was less browned on top, and had a slightly more gooey middle.

These cookies I used a level scoop of cookie dough, and baked for 13 minutes. The cookie held it's shape better, tops were lightly browned, the inside was still very soft, but not as gooey.

Both cookies were amazing. I didn't really have a favorite, but if I HAD to pick one over the other I'd go with the first ones.


-Jess

Chocolate Ice Milk Sundae

Ice milk is basically a frozen mixture of sugar and milk. It's a great alternative to ice cream because it uses less ingredients, no need to cook, and you don't need an ice cream maker.

This chocolate ice milk is delicious! I thought it was going to be full of ice chunks, and hard as a rock. It's actually really creamy! It almost has a 'soft' texture. I gave it some extra beatings with the mixer during freezing to break up the ice crystals so it would turn out smoother. I used coffee in the chocolate sauce gave this otherwise-plain chocolate ice milk a fantastic flavor boost, turning it into a decadent chocolate sundae.

Ice milk is so yummy and simple to make that it will now be my go-to dessert on those hot and lazy summer days.. Plus, you could probably get the same result just using chocolate milk as you would using the recipe I've provided, which would make a one-ingredient dessert! :)

-Jess

A Sweet Bastille Day Celebration {Cherry Clafoutis, Snow Eggs, Chocolate Pots De Creme}

The French really know how to make fantastic desserts.

In honor of Bastille Day, I'm going to share a few classic, and delicious French desserts.

Cherry Clafoutis

Cherry Clafoutis (kla-FOO-tee) is a dessert that consists of cherries covered with a thick batter that is described as being somewhere between flan and crepe batter.

Traditionally, cherry clafoutis is made with cherries that still contain a pit. The pits are said to release a lovely almond-like flavor when baked. However, some people choose to remove the pits for easier eating. Some recipes include almonds, or almond extract to make up for the flavor of the removed pits.

I chose to leave the pits in so that I could experience a TRUE cherry clafoutis, the way it was meant to be experienced. I also made a second clafoutis with pitted cherries just so I could compare the two, and see for myself if I could truly taste a difference.

Cherry Clafoutis is a very simple dessert. Just blend a few basic ingredients together, pour over cherries, and bake. It took only 5 minutes, if that, to put together.

My entire house smelled absolutely wonderful as the scent of the batter started drifting out of the oven. While baking, the batter puffs up beautifully, and naturally sinks back down when taken out of the oven. Unfortunately, it fell flat long before I was able to get a shot of it, but it did look gorgeous!

The texture of the clafoutis is very much like a crepe. It's very soft, light, and fluffy.

The taste is wonderful! The slightly sour cherries were a great contrast to the sweet vanilla flavor of the batter. I did notice a slight difference between the two clafoutis I made, and if I had to blindly pick one over the other based off of taste I would pick the one with the cherry pits. However, it would be a lot easier to enjoy it without having to stop to spit pits out of every bite.

This dessert was delicious, and I'd love to try it with other fruits. Perhaps raspberries or peaches. :)

Recipe for Cherry Clafoutis

Oeufs à La Neige

Oeufs a la neige (OUFS ah lah nehzh) - meaning 'eggs in snow' - sometimes referred to as 'Snow Eggs'. This unusual dessert consists of meringue floating on top of a vanilla custard, called crème anglaise. I've never seen anything quite like this before, so you can bet I was intrigued by it.
This dessert was a little more hands on than the others featured in this post, for the fact that it deals with poaching balls of meringue. It was still very easy, using a few very basic ingredients.

The crème anglaise is very good. It has a lovely vanilla flavor, and smooth texture. I absolutely loved what the poached meringue did to this dish. The flavor combination is fantastic! I especially love the texture of the meringue. Delicious! :)

Recipe for Oeufs A La Neige

Chocolate Pots De Creme

Pots De Creme (poh-duh-KREHM) is a very rich custard dessert, typically served in tiny cups. Some pots de creme recipes call for the custard to be baked in a water bath, then chilled before eaten. The recipe I have chosen does not require any baking, just a few hours of chilling. I'm not sure if there is a difference between baked and unbaked pots de creme...?

This Pots De Creme is super easy to make, just cook a few ingredients together for about 4 minutes and stick in the fridge until thick. Once cooked, this stuff is pretty much like a thin pudding. I definitely could have eaten it just like that.

And, after being chilled for a few hours, it just gets even better.

Pots De Creme is very, very creamy. And decadently RICH. It's a good thing it is served in tiny portions, because it is super thick. I couldn't even finish one! Talk about satisfying! :)

Recipe for Chocolate Pots De Creme

Of all three of these recipes, I have never before made any or even tasted any before now. This was truly a new experience for me. It is my experiences such as this one that led me to begin a blog in the first place. I love having the opportunity to teach myself new things in the kitchen, and sharing what I learned with you. I really enjoyed all these new foods, and putting this post together. I hope you enjoy it too!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Delicious!
Scrumptious!!
To DIE for!!!
My ALL-TIME FAVORITE cookie. EVER.

These cookies are bursting with pumpkin flavor, along with some spices commonly found in pumpkin pie. I guess you could say they almost taste like pumpkin pie, but SO much better! I love that these cookies are not overly sweet, or spicy. The pumpkin is really allowed to shine through.

The best thing about Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies is how moist, and soft they are. So soft that I'm not entirely sure they should be classified as cookies.

More like... Muffins.

Muffin cookies.

A lot of people, including the Man, like to eat these cookies once they have been refrigerated. Pumpkin cookies...COLD? Absurd!!

In my opinion, the best and only way to enjoy these cookies is when they are warm. Especially straight out of the oven. I think I'm in heaven! :)

-Jess

Super Chewy Dark Chocolate Brownies with Caramel Coconut Pecan Swirl

Brownies are one of my favorite desserts.

I've tried a lot of brownies in my 21 years.
Boxed, Home-made, Cakey, Thin, Fudgy, Chewy, Thick, Nutty, Fruity, Frosted.... I think blondies are the only brownie variation still on my 'to eat' list.


But, none of them, NOT ONE, compares to these brownies.
To me, and the Man of the house, these are by far the BEST brownies I have ever sunk my teeth in.
THE BEST!

Soft Dark Chocolate Dreams Peanut Butter Cookies

Here it is! The sweet treat I promised to be made with Peanut Butter & Co.'s tasty Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter. What else than PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES!! I have never heard of a person not liking a good peanut butter cookie, it's a classic! The very first thing I baked by myself with no help at all was peanut butter cookies.. It's true! I still even have the book that has 'my' recipe in it. It was the only peanut butter cookie recipe I would ever use. In fact, I have used it so much over the past 10 years or so that it's covered in various food stains and the page ripped completely out.

For this recipe I decided against using my old stand-by, and instead came up with my own cookie. I wanted it to be one that was chewy, and would always stay soft. I'm not a crunchy-cookie kind of person. I hate biting into a cookie that I'm thinking should be soft, and instead I end up chipping a tooth! Not to worry, these peanut butter cookies are soft, and they stay that way for days! And, thanks to Dark Chocolate Dreams, these cookies have just the right ratio of chocolate to peanut butter. It's really the best of both worlds! :)

Cookies & Cream Rice Krispie Treats

I love cookies & cream. I'm always on the look out for a new way to use this flavor. On a recent cookie-and-cream search I came across this recipe on Annie's Eats and I loved the idea! Rice Krispie treats are so yummy, and I thought adding cookies was a great way to change up this old favorite treat.

Rice Krispie treats are the perfect dessert to make with kids because they require little work and are done super fast! Because of this I thought it would be a great time to make something with my sister. She's nine years old and pretty eager to learn how to bake. Plus the idea of seeing herself on the internet was really cool to her. :)

My 2 younger sisters!

Cookies & Cream Rice Krispie Treats were pretty good. I LOVED the texture of cookie chunks, it's a great contrast to the chewier cereal part of the treat. I'm not a huge fan of chocolate, though, and would probably make these again without mixing it in. I would also not use the white chocolate again. I just didn't think it gave them the 'cream' they needed, which makes me sad cause I adore white chocolate. Perhaps a vanilla buttercream frosting would be better? Nonetheless, they were still very good, very sweet treats that I would make again and again!