Tag Archives: thanksgiving

Fall Peanut Butter Crisps

Posted on November 1, 2019 by Ruthanne

Fall Peanut Butter Crisps1

These beautiful fall cookies are special– not just because they are salty, sweet, crispy deliciousness– but because they use up your kids’ Halloween candy!!!!

So… Halloween is over, and you are likely in possession of more candy than you know what to do with. The chocolate will be gone in days, and then the name-brand candy will slowly get picked away at. But there are always those candies that sit in the bottom of the plastic pumpkin until Thanksgiving. For me, those candies were always Bit-o-Honey and the bright orange and black-wrapped “Peanut Butter Kisses“. These are a candy that only seems to make an appearance at Halloween. A combination of taffy and peanut butter, they just always seem to make the left-over candy list.

But not any more!!! Go ahead, dig through all of that Halloween candy and pull these little guys out- they make the best filling for these beautiful cookies!

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You can also grab other candies to fill these cookies with- rolos, kisses, peppermint patties, mini snickers… all work in this recipe! I actually began making these crisp cookies with Rolos about 5 years ago at Christmas.

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Want the recipe? Here it is!! (printable version)

Ingredients: (makes 20 cookies)

40 Ritz crackers
20 Peanut Butter Kisses (or other small candy that melts at a low temperature)
1 bag of Wilton’s dark chocolate candy melts
1 chocolate transfer sheet (I used 12×16″, and I got mine here).

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
Place 20 Ritz crackers on a cookie sheet, bottoms up.
Unwrap all 20 peanut butter kisses, and set one on each Ritz cracker.
Place cookie sheet in oven for about 4-5 minutes- check! Candy should be soft but not completely melted.
Remove from oven, and place Ritz cracker, bottom side down, on top of candy and press to spread candy to edge.

Place entire tray in freezer to chill for a few minutes.
Melt chocolate candy melts in a bowl in the microwave for about 2-3 minutes, stirring once every 30 seconds, until completely melted and smooth.
Place parchment paper on a cookie sheet (that fits in your freezer!)
Cut chocolate transfer sheet into 20 squares.
Take a cookie, place it in the melted chocolate and cover it completely. Use a fork to pick it up and tap on the side of the bowl until all excess chocolate drips off the bottom. Slide bottom along edge of bowl, and using fork, slide onto parchment paper.

Immediately place chocolate transfer sheet square on top of the melted chocolate (you’ll need to put the rough side down- the smooth side up) and gently press it into contact with the entire top of the cookie. Repeat 20 times.

Place entire cookie sheet into the freezer for 5 minutes or so. As soon as you remove it, gently peel off the transfer sheet from each cookie- and enjoy!!!

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My thoughts: There are three things that I love about these cookies…

They are EASY to make- they take almost no time but look so fancy!
They are CHEAP to make- the Ritz crackers and peanut butter candies are really inexpensive (I got mine at the Dollar Store), the chocolate isn’t too costly, and the transfer sheet is like $4.40, but SO worth it! (you could use sprinkles instead, to cut the cost even more though!)
They keep for a long time. Put these little guys in cello bags, tie them up, and use them to decorate your place settings at Thanksgiving!

They also can use a variety of candies up- and you can decorate them so many fun ways!

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Go – find your kids’ candy and re-purpose it into these beautiful, crunchy, deliciously salty but sweet treats!

Need other ideas for using up that Halloween candy? This is a project we have a few ideas for! Click on a photo to see the recipe.

Caramel Pecan Cup of Cake!

Posted on November 19, 2016 by Ruthanne

Take a plain cupcake and turn it into a layered work of art this Thanksgiving!

Everyone loves those beautiful layered trifle desserts. This recipe creates individual layered desserts. Aren’t they fun?? I used butter pecan cupcakes with yummy caramel sauce, pecans and homemade butter cream frosting. They were delicious! You can use this idea with literally ANY combination of flavors though! Get all the flavors of a “filled” cupcake- but SO much easier to assemble!

Plus, you can wrap them up in cello bags with pretty fall ribbon and ties for an elegant holiday dessert!

Can you tell that I enjoyed taking pictures of these!?! Here is how we made them (printable recipe here):

INGREDIENTS: (Makes 24 cups of cake!)

Cake:

One boxed cake mix (plus oil, water and eggs to make according to package). I used Betty Crocker’s Butter Pecan cake mix. It was AMAZING!!!!!!!

Caramel sauce:

32 unwrapped Kraft caramels
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

Buttercream:

4 sticks of butter (softened)
3 cups of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla
You will also need 4-5 pecan halves per cup- and small clear Solo cups!

DIRECTIONS:

Make cake mix according to package and bake in 24 cupcake tins as directed by box (spray the pans with non-stick spray if you don’t use liners!). Cool.
Make caramel sauce by placing caramels, butter (1 stick) and sweetened condensed milk into a saucepan.
Melt over stove, stirring constantly, until caramels are entirely melted and smooth.
Cool and place in a zip-top bag.
Make buttercream by placing 4 sticks of softened butter, powdered sugar and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.
Use hand mixer to beat on high for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.
Place frosting in a zip-top bag that has been fitted with a decorating tip. Set aside.
To assemble, cut a cupcake in half. Pipe a little bit of frosting into bottom of cup and press cupcake bottom in cup.
Clip a corner off the bag of caramel and pipe along edge of cup on top of cupcake bottom.

Press pecans into caramel along edges
Pipe a little frosting between pecans (only use a little- mine had a touch too much icing in the middle- you could even skip this step and just have frosting on the bottom and top)
Place top of cupcake on, pipe a little more caramel on top of cupcake, and pipe a swirl of frosting on top.
Add a pecan and decorate as desired. I used cute icing leaves by Wilton that I found at Michael’s.

You’ll want to wrap these up or put them in an air-tight container to keep them fresh. I chose cello bags and ribbon ties- and they made me smile 🙂 These stay fresh for 3-4 days when covered.

My thoughts: These got RAVE reviews. Personally, I thought they were a little sweet and I wished I had used less frosting (plus I ran out of frosting with 3 to go!) so use a little less than pictured (or make a little more…if you really like frosting!!) One of my friends HIGHLY recommended crumbled bacon as a layer in these 🙂 The GREAT news is that you literally can add anything you want to make these into your family’s favorite dessert! Enjoy!! ~r

Other yummy pecan and/or caramel treats here on Easybaked! (click on a photo to see the recipe)

Pumpkin-stuffed Oreos

Posted on November 12, 2016 by Ruthanne

Why have plain old pumpkin pie, when you can have these Oreos- filled with pumpkin and dipped in white chocolate?!?

Admission: I don’t like pumpkin pie. I never have and probably never will. I don’t like pumpkin spice anything either. The best way to ruin a Starbucks drink is to add pumpkin spice. Ew.

So I made these for you. All of you lovers of pumpkin out there! I also distributed these to as many pumpkin-addicted friends as possible, to get their thoughts. They LOVED them. I like that they are cute. Cute is always good.

Like that photo, pumpkin people??? 🙂 I bet you do…. If you love pumpkin pie- you will go crazy over these fun little cookies!

Here is how we made them (printable recipe here)

INGREDIENTS: (makes about 20 cookies- but see notes at end of recipe)

1 (15 oz) can of pumpkin
1 (14 oz) can of sweetened condensed milk
3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons of pumpkin spice seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 refrigerated pie crust
1-2 boxes of Oreo Thins in vanilla (see notes)
1-2 bags of Wilton’s Candy Melts in white (see notes)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375F degrees.
Place pumpkin, condensed milk, TWO eggs (save one), pumpkin spice, and salt into a medium mixing bowl and blend well using a whisk.
Pour into a baking dish (a pie plate works perfectly!)
Bake at 375 for 45-50 minutes- until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Remove from oven, spoon into a clean mixing bowl and blend until fairly smooth (it’s pumpkin, so it won’t be creamy smooth- but without big lumps).
Freeze for 30 minutes- until chilled through.
While baking /freezing pumpkin, make pie crust toppers.
Unroll pie crust and use a small cookie cutter to cut shapes out. Place these on a parchment paper-covered cookie sheet.
Separate remaining egg and keep just the white. Use a brush to coat top of each pie piece with egg-white. (I added a bit of orange and green food coloring in separate bowls to give them a hint of color- but this is optional!)
Bake at 375F for 7-8 minutes. Keep an eye on them! Mine got a little too brown. I just popped these in while my pumpkin was still baking. Cool on counter.
Place 1/2 of Oreo Thins on a small cookie sheet.
Scoop cooled pumpkin on top of each and gently press second Oreo on top.

Freeze for at least 30 minutes (until pumpkin in the center is fairly hard).
Melt Candy Melts in a bowl the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring until smooth.
Set a pumpkin-stuffed Oreo into candy melts and spoon over the top and sides.
Remove using a fork. Tap against edge of bowl to drain excess away and gently slide onto parchment paper.
Before candy hardens, place a pie piece on top and sprinkle with a little pumpkin spice seasoning.
Allow candy to fully harden ( a couple of hours).
Serve in a pie plate- or bag them up in cute cello bags with ribbon.
Enjoy!

My thoughts: Honestly, these take a little time. You bake a pie and then turn it into cookies. Everyone loved the HUGE amount of pie filling in each cookie- but if you haven’t done much dipping in chocolate before, I highly recommend you get a second box of Oreo Thins and put less in between each cookie. The hardest part of this process was coating such a tall cookie in white chocolate. If I made these again I would use less pumpkin filling to make that easier. If you do this, you will need a second bag of candy melts as well.

See… half that amount would still be enough! Once these were hardened, I placed them in little cello bags and tied them with ribbon. They were still yummy (to my pumpkin loving friends) several days later. Because of the moist pumpkin filling, I recommend you serve these fairly soon after making them though. Within a few days. Enjoy!!! ~r

Other fun recipes for Thanksgiving! (click on a photo to see the recipe)

4 Comments

Posted in Cookies, Pies, Seasonal dessert and tagged chocolate covered pumpkin pie, dessert, fall dessert, fall recipe ideas, Oreo dessert, Oreo Thins, Oreos, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin dessert, pumpkin pie, pumpkin pie dessert, thanksgiving, thanksgiving dessert, thanksgiving dessert with oreos, white chocolate. Bookmark the permalink.

Mini Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing

Posted on November 23, 2015 by Ruthanne

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These cute little bites of pumpkin and sweet cream cheese frosting are a perfect Fall treat! Top them with a little Hershey Kiss acorn, and they are a sweet place setting for Thanksgiving!

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If you have followed this blog for very long, you know that I hate pumpkin. I cave in to autumn recipes though and sometimes create pumpkin treats for you all. I rely on others to tell me how they taste, and these got RAVE reviews from my taste-testing friends.

They are an adaptation of my mom’s delicious Pumpkin Roll, but in cute and bite-size portions!

And then there are those cute little acorns- easy and fun to make for your fall celebrations.

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Here’s how we created all of this yummy-ness! (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS: (makes about 38-40 mini cupcakes)

Cupcakes:

2/3 cup pumpkin
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour
1/2tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda

Frosting: (halve this if you don’t like piles of frosting as shown in my photos!)

8 oz (1 package) cream cheese (softened)
1/2 cup of butter (softened)
1 teaspoon vanilla
dash of salt
4 cups powdered sugar
1 cup white chocolate chips (melted)

Acorns:

40 Hershey kisses
40 mini Nilla Wafers
about 1/2 cup of chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

Cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Mix together all of the cupcake ingredients, adding the flour, cinnamon and soda last. Blend well.
Spoon into mini cupcake liners, filling each about 3/4 full.
Bake for 14-16 minutes
Cool completely and frost.

Frosting:

On medium speed, beat together cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and salt until creamy.
Gradually add powdered sugar, beating until smooth.
Melt white chocolate chips in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between, until smooth.
Add melted white chocolate to icing and beat on low until completely combined.
Place in a zip-top bag fitted with a decorating tip and pipe frosting on top of cooled mini cupcakes.
Add leaf sprinkles and acorn (if desired)

Acorns:

Count out about 40 chocolate chips, Nilla Wafers and (unwrapped!) Hershey kisses.
Melt remaining chocolate chips
Set Nilla Wafers flat side up on a plate.
Spread a small amount of melted chocolate on the bottom of a Hershey kiss and set it (melted chocolate side down) on a Nilla Wafer. Repeat until all kisses are placed and refrigerate until hardened together.
Use a toothpick to put a small amount of melted chocolate on a chocolate chip and carefully hold to the top of the Nilla Wafer until it hardens and stays (when the Nilla Wafer is cold from the fridge, this happens in seconds).
Use to decorate your table and your cupcakes!!!

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My thoughts: Cute, easy and (according to my friends!) delicious! I hope you get a chance to try these little bites of fall happiness! Enjoy!! ~r

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Other really fun and cute fall treats: (click on a photo to see the recipe!)

8 Comments

Posted in Cupcakes and tagged acorn, acorn candy, acorn cupcake toppers, cream cheese frosting, cupcake, cupcakes, dessert, fall, fun, leaf sprinkles, mini cupcakes, pumpkin cupcakes, thanksgiving. Bookmark the permalink.

Caramel Pecan Pie Cupcakes

Posted on November 22, 2014 by Ruthanne

If you like pecan pie, you will go nuts over these cupcakes! With caramel pecan pie filling in the middle and crisp pie crust decorating the top, these say Happy Thanksgiving in a fun new way!

There’s nothing more yummy than a warm caramel pecan pie in the fall. I have a favorite- and it’s here already on Easybaked as my Christmas Eve Caramel Pecan Pie. These cupcakes take that pie up a notch and they turned out better than I even imagined they would~yum!

There are a couple of steps to this recipe, so it is a little more time consuming, but well worth the effort~ I promise!

Here’s how we made them: (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

Cupcakes:

One boxed caramel cake mix (plus water, oil and eggs to make according to box)

Pie filling:

2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter (melted)
3 eggs (these are in addition to the eggs used for cake mix)
1 (12 oz) jar of caramel topping
2 cups chopped pecans (plus 24 pecan halves for decorating if desired)

Frosting and pie crust toppers:

One refrigerated pie crust
1 cup (2 sticks) of salted butter
1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted butter
3 cups of powdered sugar
2 teaspoons of clear vanilla flavoring

DIRECTIONS:

Pie Filling:

Make pie filling 1st. Start by preheating oven to 350F degrees
In a large mixing bowl, beat 3 eggs together lightly with a fork.
Add sugar, stirring until dissolved
Stir in caramel topping and butter
Stir in chopped pecans
Pour into a greased casserole dish and bake for 50-60 minutes.
Cool completely (I placed this in the fridge to cool more quickly)

Cupcakes:

As the pie filling bakes, make cake mix according to directions on boxed mix and divide evenly among 24 cupcake liners placed in a tin.
Once pie filling is finished, bake cupcakes according to box.
Remove cupcakes from oven and tins and allow them to cool completely.

Frosting and pie crust toppers:

Unroll pie crust onto counter and use any cookie cutter you like to cut into 24 pieces. I used a fall leaf Linzer cookie cutter and added the leaf cut-outs on the cupcakes too.
Place pie pieces on a cookie sheet and spray lightly with non-stick spray.
Bake until slightly browned and crispy. Cool.

Make frosting by combining butter, powdered sugar and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and beating on high for 3 to 4 minutes until light and fluffy.

Assembling Dessert:

To assemble cupcakes, make sure everything has cooled. Use a cupcake corer to remove a core out of the center of each cupcake.
Scoop or spoon some pie filling into each cupcake and replace the top of the core back on top of the filling.

Place frosting into a zip-top bag fitted with a decorating tip and pipe swirls of frosting on the top of each cupcake.
Add a pie crust topper and a pecan half and ENJOY!!!!

My thoughts: These really do capture the delicious flavor of pecan pie. They were a big hit with everyone who tried them. I really liked the pie crusts on top- so yummy in that buttercream frosting! I hope you have a chance to try this recipe out! Enjoy! ~r

Love pecans? We do too! Here are some other yummy pecan recipes. Just click on a photo to see the recipe!

Need a fun and unique gift idea? Easybaked has adorable boxed sets of notecards. They have an Easybaked dessert photo on the front and a recipe on the back! The come in a cute box and the best part? They are ON SALE for Christmas, include free shipping and the site that is hosting them offers $10 off a $50 purchase! Enjoy!!! (Click on photo for more information)

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Posted in Cupcakes and tagged buttercream frosting, caramel, caramel cupcakes, caramel sundae topping, chopped pecans, christmas, cupcakes, dessert, filled cupcakes, pecan, pecan pie, pecan pie cupcakes, pie crust, pie crust cut-outs, recipe, thanksgiving. Bookmark the permalink.

Pumpkin Pie Spice Cookies

Posted on November 15, 2014 by Ruthanne

These cute little pumpkin cutout cookies are chock-full of pumpkin spices and capture the tastes of fall in every bite!

I really dislike pumpkin pie. This time of year it is found everywhere! I’ve discovered that it is truly the pumpkin I dislike though- not the spices. These cookies offer all the yummy spices of pumpkin pie without a hint of actual pumpkin… plus they are cute as can be! These cookies can be cut into any shape you like and decorated accordingly. I had a hard time not eating them all up before I decorated them- so use frosting…or don’t…. maybe just cut them in circles and add a few sugar sprinkles to make them really easy!

Here’s how we made the cookies- and how we decorated them. (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter (softened)
1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 teaspoon of butter flavoring
3 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 Tablespoons of pumpkin spice seasoning

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth.
Add eggs, vanilla and butter flavoring and mix well.
Add all dry ingredients and mix until able to knead into a firm ball of dough (add additional flour if necessary).
Roll out on a floured counter with a flour coated rolling pin to desired thickness.
Cut using a large (I used a 6″) round cookie cutter
Use a knife or pizza cutter to divide circle into even triangle “pie” pieces.
Place cookies on ungreased cookie sheets and bake at 350F degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.
Slide baked cookies onto parchment paper to cool completely.
To decorate, use royal icing (so it will harden into a firm shell) my recipe for that is here.
Use thicker icing to outline the shape of the cookie and then flood the inside of the outline with thinner icing.

Allow icing to harden up and then make the “crust” by using royal icing colored to match the cookies and swirling a loose “m” pattern across the end of each cookie.
Use a star tip to add a little white icing as “whipped cream”

Note: I wanted to add some cute factor to these yummy cookies and saw sugar cookies done as slices of pie on a REALLY fun blog called sweetsugarbelle.com. She does a GREAT job of showing the decorating process step-by-step, and I highly recommend you visit her site if you decide to make these cookies in slice form. The hardest part is the crust. I’m NOT a cake decorator and I really had to practice to get the crust to look acceptable. Her pictures and instruction were a big help! Plus the rest of this site is so addictive. Beautiful creations! Love it!

My thoughts: YUM. Seriously yummy cookies. If you are up for a challenge make them into pie slices, but if you just want some simply delicious and EASY cookies just cut these into fun fall or Christmas shapes and sprinkle with a little colored sugar. Don’t omit that butter flavoring- you can find it with other flavors and extracts at the grocery- it adds such a yummy flavor! Hope you get a chance to try these!!! Enjoy! ~r

Other fun Thanksgiving recipe ideas~ click on a photo to see the recipe:

16 Comments

Posted in Cookies and tagged autumn, cutout cookies, dessert, fall, pie, pie slice cookies, pumpkin, pumpkin pie, pumpkin pie cookies, pumpkin spices, recipe, royal icing, sugar cookies, thanksgiving, whipped cream. Bookmark the permalink.

Turtle Cookie Cups

Posted on November 1, 2014 by Ruthanne

Chocolate cookie cups full of creamy caramel, chocolate and pecans. So many fun fall flavors in one little dessert!

There’s something about November that makes me think caramel and pecans. Comfort food, maybe? Thanksgiving? I’m not sure, but these yummy little treats hit the spot! They are fun to make, and a pretty mini dessert for all those November and December get-togethers.

Here’s how they are made: (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

Cookies:

2 sticks (one cup) butter (softened)
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder

Toppings:

1 bag of Wilton’s candy melts in milk chocolate
2 cups of chopped pecans and about 60 whole pecans
32 Kraft caramels (unwrapped)
1 can (14oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter

DIRECTIONS:

Cookies:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Add butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla together in a large mixing bowl
Blend on medium speed with a mixer until smooth
Gradually add dry ingredients and mix until smooth (use clean hands at the end, and knead into a soft ball of dough
Use a small cookie scoop (I used one that holds ½ tablespoon of batter) to portion your dough into mini muffin tins that have been sprayed with non-stick spray
Use a tart shaper, or a wooden spoon to press the dough into a cup shape.

Bake at 350F degrees for 7-8 minutes and remove from oven.
Press centers in a second time and allow cups to cool for just a couple of minutes.
Use a small paring knife to pop each cup out and allow them to cool on the counter.

Toppings:

Place caramels, sweetened condensed milk and butter into a medium saucepan and heat on medium over the stove until all of the caramels are melted.
Heat milk chocolate candy melts in the microwave in 30 second increments until melted and smooth.
Place chopped pecans into a small bowl.
To assemble, dip top edge of cup in candy melts and then in chopped nuts.

Place caramel sauce into a sturdy zip top bag and clip a corner.
Pipe caramel into each cup until filled completely and top with a whole almond.
Allow caramel and chocolate to firm up.
Store in an airtight container for 2-3 days.
Enjoy!

My thoughts: These are a little time-consuming to make, but sooooo yummy. They are a perfect mini-dessert for any of the upcoming holidays, and they got RAVE reviews in my little world! That caramel….!!!! Enjoy! ~r

Other fun mini desserts here at Easybaked (click on a photo to see the recipe)

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Posted in Candy, Cookie Cups, Cookies and tagged autumn, best, best fall desserts, candy, caramel, caramel sauce, chocolate, chocolate cookie, chopped pecans, christmas, cookie cups, cookies, creamy caramel, dessert, fall, holiday cookies, holiday desserts, milk chocolate, pecan, recipe, thanksgiving, treats, turtles. Bookmark the permalink.

Heath Bar Ice Cream Dessert

Posted on November 23, 2013 by Ruthanne

This recipe is a classic family favorite. It is one of my grandma’s recipes, and I say “one of” because my grandma is a treasure trove of recipes (especially desserts!) My cousins and I joke about how many desserts show up at family gatherings. The conversations go something like this:

“Oh no, we only have 8 desserts today…this could be a disaster.”

“There are 24 of us here…that means we can each only have 1/3 of a dessert.”

“I want to try a little of everything.”

“I get a third of that chocolate cake”

“There’s ice cream? Does that count as a ninth dessert?”

This is nearly always one of the desserts at our family dinners. It’s fabulous. Creamy and light and butterscotch-y…oh my. You’ve got to try this one out with your family!

Ready for the recipe? Here you go: (printable version)

INGREDIENTS:

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted
1 package (10 oz) Lorna Doone cookies, crushed (if you can’t get these specific cookies, use 2 cups of another brand of shortbread cookies)
3 packages (3.4 oz) INSTANT vanilla pudding
2 and 3/4 cups milk
1 quart of butter pecan ice cream (softened)
1 (8oz). Cool Whip
One bag of Heath Milk Chocolate Toffee Bits (or several crushed Heath bars)

DIRECTIONS:

Crust:

Combine melted butter with crushed shortbread cookies and press into a 9″ by 13″ cake pan (I use glass)

Filling:

In a large bowl, combine milk and pudding and beat on high for about two minutes, until pudding becomes thick.
Add softened ice cream to pudding and stir by hand until well combined.
Pour over crust in pan.

Topping:

Spread Cool Whip topping over the entire dessert.
Top this with desired amount of Heath Milk Chocolate Toffee Bits (I used the whole bag!!)
Cover dessert tightly with plastic wrap and freeze until serving. Allow dessert to warm for several hours before serving.
Enjoy!

My thoughts: I love toffee and pecans and butterscotch and ice cream…this dessert just makes me smile. It reminds me of family meals and laughter and love. You can’t argue with a dessert that does that! I hope you have a chance to try this recipe with your family! Thanks for sharing your recipe grandma! Love you! ~r

Other yummy treats for your family:

9 Comments

Posted in Frozen desserts, Uncategorized and tagged baking, butterscotch, chocolate, dessert, family, heath bar, ice cream, Lorna Doone, pecan, pudding, recipe, shortbread cookies, thanksgiving, vanilla. Bookmark the permalink.

Creamy Chocolate Pie

Posted on November 16, 2013 by Ruthanne

This is a new take on a chocolate pudding pie. So incredibly rich in chocolate flavor that you will never go back to just plain pudding!

This week’s family recipe comes to us from Florida…or Yellowstone…or Peru….or wherever my wonderful adventurous Aunt Paula might be. She and my Uncle Jim have literally travelled the world and done the most interesting things. They are great story tellers and a family meal with them is a treasure.

I had never tried this recipe before, but Paula and Jim submitted it to our family cookbook and titled it “The Best Chocolate Pie in the World”. How can you resist trying a pie with a name like that?!??

The chocolate flavor in this pie filling is extraordinarily good. Very rich and dark. I’m really not a pie person (check the rest of this blog….not too many pies…) but this one is worth trying, it’s very yummy!

Here’s is the recipe: (printable version)

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
5 tablespoons of cocoa
3 egg yolks, beaten
2 cups hot milk
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter. melted
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla

DIRECTIONS:

Prepare a graham cracker or a plain baked pie crust. Since I rarely make pie, I just used a refrigerated pie crust and baked it according to the package. If you have a favorite crust recipe, now’s the time.
In a large, heavy saucepan, combine dry ingredients together.
Heat milk over stove or in the microwave and add it gradually to the dry ingredients, stirring as you add.

Add butter and egg yolks and mix well.
Cook on stove over low heat until thickened, stirring constantly. (I did not allow mine to cook long enough the first time I made this and it didn’t firm up very well. Cook it until it is a very thick custard like consistency. Mine actually boiled before it thickened enough.)
Remove from heat
Mix in vanilla.
Pour into prepared pie crust and chill several hours or overnight.
Enjoy!

My thoughts: Such an easy way to get your chocolate fix! This pie is soooo good with a cup of coffee and a little whipped cream on top…YUM! Thank you for sharing your wonderful dessert with us Aunt Paula! Enjoy your latest Caribbean adventure!! ~r

The other lonely (yet yummy!) pie recipes of Easybaked:

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Posted in Pies and tagged baked pie crust, baking, chocolate, chocolate flavor, chocolate pudding pie, christmas, cocoa, creamy, custard, dessert, family recipe, holiday, pie, pie crust, pudding, recipe, thanksgiving, whipped cream. Bookmark the permalink.

Chocolate Ganache Brownies

Posted on November 1, 2013 by Ruthanne

These dense chocolate brownies are topped with a rich chocolate ganache. You won’t be able to eat just one!!

It’s November. Time for turkey and thankfulness. One of the things I am incredibly thankful for is my wonderful family. We are spread over many states and have many interests, but one thing we all love: dessert. This month I am going to feature some of our family’s best dessert recipes– just to get you all ready to bring some mouthwatering treats to your Thanksgiving feast!

This brownie recipe is from my Aunt Sara. She’s known in our family for her wonderful layered salad, but since this is a blog about sweets, that recipe will have to wait for another day.

Aunt Sarah and her granddaughter Sierra

Several years ago I asked everyone in our family to submit recipes to compile into a family cookbook. SO many wonderful things (with the exception of “Feline Delight”, submitted by my Uncle Keith and my dad, involving a stew made from the family pet…. a joke, of course!) My Aunt Sara turned in this brownie recipe and I’ve always wanted to try it but just hadn’t taken the time until right now.

The verdict: AMAZING. These are the most fudge- like brownies I’ve ever had. If you prefer cake-like brownies just stop reading right here….because these are rich, heavy, delicious bits of chocolate joy.

So, lets get you the recipe so you can try these yummy treats! (printable version)

INGREDIENTS:

Brownie:

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
2/3 cup chocolate (I used Nestle’ dark chocolate chips)
4 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Frosting:

1/2 cup whipping cream
1 cup chocolate (Aunt Sara uses Ghiradelli, I just used the rest of the Nestle’ dark chips)

DIRECTIONS:

Brownie:

Preheat oven to 325F degrees
Place butter and chocolate into a microwave safe bowl and melt in 30 second increments, stirring between, until melted and smooth.
Beat eggs and salt until they turn a light yellow color.
Add sugar to egg mixture gradually, and then beat until thick and creamy (about 15 minutes).
Fold in melted chocolate/butter mixture.
Add flour and vanilla and beat until smooth.
Fold in nuts.
Lightly spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray and pour batter in.
Bake at 325F degrees for 25-30 minutes. Toothpick should not come out clean- if you over-bake them they will be dry.

Frosting:

Place chocolate (either chips, or chopped up) into a bowl.
Bring whipping cream to a boil over the stove.
Pour hot cream over chocolate and whisk until smooth.
Refrigerate about 20 minutes, until thick enough to spread, but not completely set.
Spread over brownies and enjoy!!!

My thoughts: These are wonderfully gooey and rich- my perfect kind of brownie! The only downside of these is having to beat the eggs for 15 minutes. If you have a stand mixer you won’t mind it, but I have a hand mixer…seemed like an eternity! Once I tasted them, it was worth every second though! Thanks for the wonderful recipe Aunt Sara!! Love you! ~r