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Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

Posted on March 14, 2013 by Kaitlin

Happy Pi Day! As a Mathlete alum, Pi Day has always been a part of my nerdy math world. And what better way to celebrate than to make a pie? I have some other pie recipes on here, but I have had a hankering for peanut butter lately, so I am celebrating this year with a Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie. This is a FoodNetwork.com recipe but I decided to make my own crust (you are more than welcome to just buy one – use a 9-inch pie crust). Ingredients: Pie Crust: 1 package oreos 4 tablespoons butter, melted Hot Fudge Sauce: 1/3 cup heavy cream 1/4 cup light brown sugar 1/4 cup light corn syrup 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder 1/8 teaspoon table salt 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 3.5 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped Peanut Butter Pie: 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, plus 2 tablespoons, divided 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter, at room temperature 1 cup heavy whipping cream 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Chopped peanuts, optional Whipped cream, optional Crushed cookies, optional

Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Kaitlin

I’m so ready for spring. I’m sick of the cold and wind, although we didn’t have any snow this year. So I am going to force spring upon you in the hope of it pushing the warmer months up a little bit. When I think of spring, I always think of Strawberries. And what better way to show off strawberries than in Strawberry Shortcake? I decided to make them in cupcake form because, well, I like cupcakes. I used a Martha Stewart recipe for angel food cake to make the cupcake, filled the inside of the cupcake with a strawberry-sugar mixture, and topped it off with a strawberry whipped cream icing. These are pretty delicious if I do say so myself! Ingredients: Angel Food Cake Cupcakes: 1 cup cake flour (spooned and leveled) 1/4 teaspoon salt 12 large egg whites, room temperature 4 teaspoons lemon juice and zest from 1 lemon, divided 1 1/4 cups sugar 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract Strawberry filling: 3/4 container of strawberries, hulled and chopped 2 tablespoons sugar Strawberry whipped cream: 1 8-oz container cream cheese 3/4 cup white sugar 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract lemon zest from lemon used in angel food cake 2 … Continue reading →

Tiramisu Brownies

Posted on December 24, 2012 by Kaitlin

I am a huge fan of coffee and coffee-related foods, so tiramisu is obviously a favorite of mine. When the concept of a Tiramisu Brownie was mentioned, I was immediately excited. What a fantastic combination of desserts! Barista Prima Coffeehouse® K-Cup® packs are four dark, rich coffee blends that really deliver an intense flavor that are more bold and robust than other K-Cup offerings. The four flavors offered are: Colombia, House Blend, Italian Roast, and French Roast. I’ve had a Keurig for years now (I just had to retire my original Keurig and buy a replacement, sniffle) and am always really pleased with the coffee choices that can be found in K-Cup form. I tend to use coffee grounds in a bunch of recipes, especially ones that use chocolate, to really up the flavor. Barista Prima was nice enough to send me a box of their House Blend K-Cups so I naturally wanted to make a dish that used these delicious grounds as well as a dessert that would be perfect paired with a cup of House Blend coffee. Many thanks to Barista Prima for also sending me this mouthwatering recipe! Ingredients: 12 oz. chocolate chips 1 cup butter, softened 1 cup … Continue reading →

Gingerbread Chocolate Pumpkin Trifle

Posted on November 2, 2012 by Kaitlin

Every Christmas, my mom makes an absolutely delicious trifle to give to neighbors and have for dessert on Christmas day. This trifle is so engrained in our winter holidays that I’m pretty sure we aren’t allowed to show up to my aunt and uncle’s house without the trifle in hand. I’ve always loved the simplicity of trifles and wanted to try out a version using my favorite ingredient: pumpkin! I was given the opportunity to enter a contest with nine other bloggers. The challenge is to use Walkers Shortbread products to make a new dessert, and luckily one of the categories was trifle! It was a sign! My mom’s trifle has custard, chocolate pudding, and rum-soaked pound cake slices with whipped cream and fruit on top. So I wanted to keep the general concept the same with my recipe. I am actually I decided to keep the chocolate pudding because, well, who doesn’t love chocolate pudding? A thought a pumpkin mousse would just be fantastic.I decided to make it a bourbon pumpkin mousse to add an extra layer of flavor. And of course instead of pound cake slices, I used Walkers’ Stem Ginger Biscuits and Pure Butter Shortbread.The … Continue reading →

Pumpkin Cheesecake Tarts

Posted on November 1, 2012 by Kaitlin

Have you ever had a recipe just not work out the way it’s supposed to? It happens to me all the time. I usually tend to mess up a recipe so badly that I don’t even post it on here. But every now and then, my odd mistake ends up not being so bad, and is, dare is say it, quite delicious. This is one of those times, so I decided to share it. This recipe is adapted from verybestbaking.com. Ingredients: 2/3 cup (~15) crushed gingersnap cookies 2 tablespoons butter, melted 8 ounces cream cheese, softened 1 can pumpkin puree 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ginger 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg 1/8 teaspoon allspice 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 eggs 2 tablespoons dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. (I tried both paper and foil cupcake liners. Use foil, the paper ones got stuck and I couldn’t get the tarts out!) Crumble the gingersnaps. Place them in a ziploc bag and roll with a rolling pin until finely crushed. Combine the cookie crumbs and butter in a small bowl. Evenly distribute into each muffin tin (about 1 … Continue reading →

Almond Lavender Cupcakes with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Kaitlin

I have been looking for dried lavender for the longest time. I understand that a lavender treat is probably more appropriate for a spring day, but I just came across dried lavender this week at the Head Nut in Reading Terminal and couldn’t wait another 6 months! I adapted this recipe from a Taste of Home recipe. The icing comes from a Martha Stewart recipe. Ingredients: 1/2 cup slivered almonds 2 cups sugar, divided 1 cup butter, softened 1 tablespoon dried lavender flowers 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 4 eggs 1/4 cup evaporated milk 1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 20-25 drops each of blue and red food dye 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened 8 ounces cream cheese, softened 1/3 cup honey Additional dried lavender flowers, optional

Strawberry-Banana Stuffed French Toast

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Kaitlin

It’s spring! And spring means (among other things) that strawberries are back in season. So what better way to use them than for a delicious weekend brunch? This stuffed French toast uses strawberries three ways: fresh, in a strawberry sauce, and for an extra touch of strawberry goodness, in a strawberry jam. And because I love bananas, I threw in a couple slices of that as well. I found the strawberry sauce recipe here and my French toast recipe is based off of this post. Ingredients: 4 challah rolls 2 eggs, beaten 1/2 cup vanilla almond milk (unsweeted) 2 tablespoons sugar 1 1/4 cup sliced strawberries, divided 3 tablespoons honey the juice and zest of one lemon 4 ounces low fat cream cheese 1 tablespoon strawberry jam 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 banana, sliced 1 tablespoon butter Begin by slicing the challah rolls in half. In a large bowl, add the eggs, almond milk and 2 tablespoons sugar. Add the roll halves and mix to coat. Cover and refrigerate for one hour. one hour later Add 1 cup sliced strawberries, 3 tablespoons honey, and the lemon juice and zest to a bowl and mix to combine. Allow to stand for … Continue reading →

Creamy Spring Pasta

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Kaitlin

I was talking to my mom on the phone earlier this week and she mentioned she was making a creamy pasta with peas (her favorite) for dinner. Naturally, I had some taste bud jealousy and decided that I needed to have that as well this week. Cooking Light’s most recent issue had this Creamy Spring Pasta which sounded fantastic so I was able to! Ingredients: 3 quarts water 2 ounces French bread baguette, torn into pieces 1 tablespoon butter 3 garlic cloves, minced and divided 1 batch of asparagus, cut diagonally into two inch pieces 1 cup frozen peas and carrots mixture 6 ounces fresh spinach fettuccine 2 teaspoons olive oil 1/3 cup finely chopped sweet onion 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 1/4 cup fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth 1 cup 1% low-fat milk 3 ounces 1/3-less-fat cream cheese 1 ounce Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated (about 1/4 cup packed) 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Add the torn bread to a food processor (I just used my Magic Bullet) and process until it becomes coarse crumbs. Melt the butter in a large … Continue reading →

Bunny Cake

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Kaitlin

Every Easter, we have this adorable little bunny cake that shows up for dessert. I honestly don’t know what bakery we get it from, but it always makes me smile. So I thought I’d try to recreate it. Obviously, a bunny would be filled with carrots, so I decided to make a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, covered in coconut. I used a recipe from David Lebovitz for the cake and frosting, and used Betty Crocker‘s instructions on how to make it into a bunny. Ingredients: for the carrot cake: 4 large eggs, at room temperature ¼ cup vegetable oil ¾ cup butter 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 cups all-purpose flour 2 cups sugar 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 tablespoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon cloves 1 teaspoon salt 4 cups loosely packed grated carrots (about 5 carrots) 1/2 cup golden raisins for the frosting: 2 8oz packages cream cheese, at room temperature 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature 3 cups powdered sugar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 bag of coconut flakes green food dye jelly beans Begin by grating your carrots. You can also buy pre-grated carrots, but it’s not too difficult to do. I weighed … Continue reading →

Artichoke, Spinach, and Feta Stuffed Shells

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Kaitlin

I have been making a bunch of freezer-friendly meals lately. You never know when you will come home and just be too exhausted to cook, and frozen meals can really save the night. This one also happens to be vegetarian. I found this recipe in an old Cooking Light. I absolutely love artichokes and spinach so I knew I’d like this! Ingredients: (makes 5 servings. serving size 4 shells) 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1/4 cup chopped pepperoncini peppers (they come in a jar) 1 (28-ounce) can fire-roasted crushed tomatoes, undrained 1 (8-ounce) can no-salt-added tomato sauce 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded provolone/mozzarella cheese, divided 1 cup (4 ounces) crumbled feta cheese 1/2 cup (4 ounces) fat-free cream cheese, softened 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1 (9-ounce) can artichoke hearts, chopped 1/2 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry 2 garlic cloves, minced 20 cooked jumbo shell pasta (about 8 ounces uncooked pasta) Cooking spray Cook the shell pasta according to directions on the box. Drain and set aside on a cookie sheet lined with tin foil so they don’t stick together. Take a 13×9 cooking dish and spray it with cooking spray. Preheat your oven to … Continue reading →