Cookie Dough Truffles

Last week, my friend had a little get-together at her house with another friend of mine and their children.  I choose to bring the dessert, which I wanted to be fun and kid friendly.  I searched through my recipe stash, finding one I thought would be right up everyone's alley.  Since I kind of have a second guessing nature, I also sent out a post to the twitterverse asking for some confirmation on my choice.  My friend, Debbie, responded right away with the affirmative on my dessert selection, giving me all the ammunition I needed to head out to the store for the ingredients. 

These are really, really good and were a big hit with both the kids and adults at the party!  One of the great things about them is the cookie dough doesn't require eggs, so if you have fears of eating raw cookie dough you don't have to worry with these.  They are also super easy to make but be warned, they are a bit messy when dipping cookie dough balls in the chocolate.  Thankfully, I don't mind a little mess especially when it involves chocolate! 

Cookie Dough Truffles - recipe from The Sisters Cafe

Cookie Dough Ingredients:

1 cup butter

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup brown sugar
1  (3.5oz) box instant vanilla pudding
1/4 cup whole milk
1 tbsp vanilla
2 cups mini chocolate chips

Chocolate Coating Ingredients:
2 cups chocolate chips
2 tbsp shortening

Directions:
1.  Cream butter and brown sugar in a large bowl.  Add pudding and mix well.
2.  Add the milk and vanilla, stir well.  Add baking soda and flour, 1/2 cup at a time.  Mix well.  Stir in chocolate chips. 
3.  Form cookie dough into balls, about 1 inch in size. A tablespoon works great to make them somewhat uniform, and allow them to firm in the fridge on a parchment lined baking sheet for about 2 hours.
4.  Melt the chocolate chips and shortening on low heat in a small pot.  Dip the cookie dough into the chocolate, place back on the lined baking sheet and place in the fridge for another 15 minutes until chocolate hardens. 
5.  Store in the fridge. 

Recipe Hunting 101 - Peanut Butter Balls

I decided I would surprise my hubby this morning with one of his absolute favorite treats, Peanut Butter Balls.   His Mom would make these for him as a child and his love for them hasn't changed over the years.  I had never even heard of this treat before meeting him, but after trying them, I would have to say they are very good.  The recipe I used is from the Rice Krispies website. I figure, since I use Rice Krispies as one of the main ingredients, I might as well go directly to the experts!  These are really easy to make, although your hands will get kinda messy in the process of making these. I give you permission to go ahead and lick all the yumminess right on off, no one will tell!

Peanut Butter Balls - recipe from Rice Krispies website

Ingredients:
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 cups Rice Krispies
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 tbsp shortening

Directions:
1.  Mix the peanut butter, butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
2.  Add the Rice Krispies, mix until well blended.
3.  Roll the mixture into little 1 inch balls, place on a baking sheet lined with parchment or wax paper and allow to set in the fridge for about a half hour.
4. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, heat the chocolate chips and shortening on low heat, stirring constantly until melted. 
5.  Remove from heat and roll each ball in the chocolate until well covered and place back on the baking sheet.. Refrigerate until hardened and then place in a container, kept in the fridge. 

It seems as if it is a lazy kind of day at our household! 

Recipe Hunting 101 - Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

I am still in a pumpkin type mood, which is good because I think everyone else is till in this mood too.  It'll probaby last until Thanksgiving and then I'll be over it until next Fall.  There are a plethora of pumpkin recipes to choose from but I haven't seen any as cute and fun as these Pumpkin Whoopie Pies I found on Every Day with Rachael Ray's website.  Whoopie pies seem to be a new food trend.  The very day I made these I had a post on my newsfeed that our local cupcake place had them for sale too, only they had made chocolate ones.  It's not hard to see why these are so popular.  They are just absolutely adorable, they are easy to eat at a party or tailgating or if you were on the go and just needed something sweet to snack on, and they are utterly delicious!  I took them over my in-laws house to watch the Huskers beat Mizzou (hip hip horray!) and everyone enjoyed them.  My husband devoured 5 of them in one day, and this from someone who once told me he doesn't like pumpkin.  (I showed him, didn't I? ;^)  I will definitely be making these again, and soon.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies - recipe from Every Day with Rachael Ray

Ingredients:
1-1/2 sticks unsalted butter (1 stick melted, 1/2 softened)
1 cup packed brown sugar (recipe says light brown sugar, I used dark)
1-2/3 cup flour
2 large eggs, room temp and lightly beaten
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt, plus two pinches
4 oz cream cheese, chilled
1 cup powdered sugar

Directions:
1.  Whisk melted butter and brown sugar until smooth, in a large bowl.  Add eggs, pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, 1 tsp vanilla, baking powder, baking soda and 3/4 tsp salt and whisk until combined.  Fold in the flour.
2.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Add tablespoon sized dollops of the batter on the baking sheets, in rows spaced about a inch apart.  They will expand a bit in baking.  You should get 24 dollops of batter. 
3.  Bake at 350F, for 10 minutes or until bouncy to touch.  Transfer the cakes to a rack and allow to cool completely.
4.  For the frosting, with a mixer, mix the cream cheese and softened butter.  Add the powdered sugar, two pinches of salt and 1/2 tsp vanilla and beat on low then up to medium high until frosting is fluffy.
5.  Spread a generous amount of frosting on the bottom, flat side of your pumpkin cakes.  Top them with a second cake to make a sandwhich. 
6.  Makes 12 whoopie pies.

A New Twist on an Old Fave!

Over the holidays, when we were having dinner at my parent's home, my mom served us a dessert that took me back to my childhood and had my hubby asking for seconds.  As a child, my absolute favorite cake was angel food with orange frosting.  I had to have this cake for each and every birthday for as long as I can remember, that is until I was an adult and started varying it up a bit on my cake choices.  My mom's new and improved version was a total step up from my old favorite.  (And it is incredibly easy because she used a box cake!)

Mom's Orange Cake

Cake:

1 box white cake mix (I used Betty Crocker but any would do)

Orange juice (substitute for water on cake mix box)

Oil (as per cake mix box, I used olive oil)

Eggs (as per cake mix box)

2 Tbsp Mayo

Frosting:

2 cups powdered sugar

1 Tbsp butter (softened)
Orange juice




1.  Follow the recipe on back of the cake mix, substituting orange juice for water and adding 2Tbsp of mayo. 
2.  Bake according to the package directions.
3.  Make the frosting by adding 1 Tbsp butter and about 2 Tbsp orange juice to powdered sugar and stirring.  Add small amounts of orange juice to get it to desired consistancy.  In other words, eyeball it.  If you add too much orange juice, add more powdered sugar.  You get the idea!
4. Let cake cool, frost and dig in.

My hubby came into the kitchen as I was happily gathering all my ingredients, poking his nose around and seeing what I was up to.  I informed him that I was making the Orange Cake he so lovingly shoveled down at my parent's house.  Very sweetly, he informed me that he has decided he is going on a diet!!!  So much for my surprise dessert tonight, but not to worry, my co-worker's are having a chili feast tomorrow for lunch and I am in charge of bringing dessert.  I was going to pick up some goodies to make Root Beer Floats, but this will be fun to share with them, and besides, there is no way I am going to eat this whole cake by myself.  (I did enjoy one piece of cake tonight.  I mean I have to try it out before I debut it in public, right?!)

I guess my next new recipe will have to be of the diet variety, hmmmm......