July 6, 2017
Peanut Butter Twix Pie
Our old church in Denmark had its summer picnic every year. The goal for me and my husband was to see how many pieces of this incredible peanut butter pie we could snag in a given year. Someone made a wickedly good pie, loaded with peanut butter and chocolate.
This is not that pie. But this pie is still tasty. My topping didn't turn out nearly as pretty as shown in the pictures in the post on Crazy for Crust. I think in the future I'd make some sort of ganache as the topping for the pie instead. This is an easy recipe with pretty simple ingredients. And no bake is what I should be doing today when it's nearly 90°F instead of baking cupcakes.
Peanut Butter Twix Pie
2 cups of shortbread cookie crumbs, about 30 cookies
6 Tbsp. butter, melted
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
12 oz. Cool Whip
Combine cookie crumbs and butter. Press into 9-inch pie plate. Chill while you make the filling.
To make the filling, beat together cream cheese, peanut butter, sugar and vanilla. Fold in 8 oz. Cool Whip. Spread filling into pie crust.
Melt chocolate in 30-second intervals in the microwave, stirring between each increment. Stir in remaining Cool Whip. Spread evenly over the pie. Chill pie at least 4 hours before serving.
Serves 8 (or more). Pie can be served chilled or frozen. Either way is delicious.
S'mores Cheesecake Pops
These cheesecake pops from Buzzfeed are tastily addictive. I'd imagine if you fully dipped them, like the pictures in the original post show, that they'd be fine stored in the refrigerator. If you halfway dip them like I did ... because it's a challenge to fully dip something for me ... then they are stored in the freezer.
These are delicious and perfect for summer. You could probably use a bit more marshmallow to add to the toasted marshmallow flavor, but these were fun to make and more fun to eat. These are worth repeating ... and maybe then I'd get a picture before we eat them all.
S'mores Cheesecake Pops
10 graham crackers
1/2 cup butter, melted
16 oz.cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups mini marshmallows
4 oz. white chocolate, melted
16 oz. dark chocolate, melted
2 tsp. coconut oil (optional)
16-30 cake pop sticks or lollipop sticks
Crush graham crackers. Combine with butter, and press into to an 8x8 baking dish lined with parchment paper. Firmly pack it down to form the crust. Freeze until the cheesecake mixture is ready.
While the crust is freezing, combine the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla, and mix until smooth. Spread the marshmallows a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a Silipat. Broil the marshmallows for about 1-2 minutes, watching closely to make sure they brown but don't burn. (I used a kitchen torch to finish toasting the ones that weren't quite toasted. Any excuse to play with that torch is worth it.)
Carefully scrape the marshmallows from the sheet into the cheesecake mixture. Mix thoroughly. Transfer the toasted marshmallow cheesecake mixture into the baking dish on top of the crust, and smooth until even. Freeze at least one to two hours until the mixture is firm enough to cut.
Remove the set cheesecake from the dish, and cut into even square shapes, depending on how big you want your pops. (Cutting into 20 makes fairly large pops, hence my dipping difficulties. Smaller pops would be easier to dip. Larger pops mean you don't eat as many in one sitting.) Dip each stick in melted white chocolate, and place into each cut square. Freeze until solid, at least 10 minutes.
Microwave the dark chocolate in 15 to 30 second increments to melt, stirring thoroughly each time. Add coconut oil if the chocolate seems too thick for dipping.Dip the set pops into the chocolate and stand upright to set or place on a cookie sheet. (A cardboard box or piece of styrofoam works best if you don’t have a stand.)
Decorate with the remaining white chocolate and crushed graham crackers if desired. Makes 16-30 pops.
These are delicious and perfect for summer. You could probably use a bit more marshmallow to add to the toasted marshmallow flavor, but these were fun to make and more fun to eat. These are worth repeating ... and maybe then I'd get a picture before we eat them all.
S'mores Cheesecake Pops
10 graham crackers
1/2 cup butter, melted
16 oz.cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups mini marshmallows
4 oz. white chocolate, melted
16 oz. dark chocolate, melted
2 tsp. coconut oil (optional)
16-30 cake pop sticks or lollipop sticks
Crush graham crackers. Combine with butter, and press into to an 8x8 baking dish lined with parchment paper. Firmly pack it down to form the crust. Freeze until the cheesecake mixture is ready.
While the crust is freezing, combine the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla, and mix until smooth. Spread the marshmallows a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a Silipat. Broil the marshmallows for about 1-2 minutes, watching closely to make sure they brown but don't burn. (I used a kitchen torch to finish toasting the ones that weren't quite toasted. Any excuse to play with that torch is worth it.)
Carefully scrape the marshmallows from the sheet into the cheesecake mixture. Mix thoroughly. Transfer the toasted marshmallow cheesecake mixture into the baking dish on top of the crust, and smooth until even. Freeze at least one to two hours until the mixture is firm enough to cut.
Remove the set cheesecake from the dish, and cut into even square shapes, depending on how big you want your pops. (Cutting into 20 makes fairly large pops, hence my dipping difficulties. Smaller pops would be easier to dip. Larger pops mean you don't eat as many in one sitting.) Dip each stick in melted white chocolate, and place into each cut square. Freeze until solid, at least 10 minutes.
Microwave the dark chocolate in 15 to 30 second increments to melt, stirring thoroughly each time. Add coconut oil if the chocolate seems too thick for dipping.Dip the set pops into the chocolate and stand upright to set or place on a cookie sheet. (A cardboard box or piece of styrofoam works best if you don’t have a stand.)
Decorate with the remaining white chocolate and crushed graham crackers if desired. Makes 16-30 pops.
Strawberry Hibiscus Jam
I fought through the droves of mosquitoes to pick our latest batch of strawberries and ended up with enough for a small batch of jam. Let me tell you, I'm not sure why the word quit is in the word mosquito because those buggers don't quit even when I'm covered in bug spray. They're horrible in our backyard this summer!
Anyways, it was worth the effort to pick the strawberries for this jam. I wanted to try something a bit different and toyed with the idea of strawberry lime jam (because I have limes not lemons in the fridge) but then remembered I had a bunch of dried hibiscus flowers. So I googled strawberry hibiscus jam and hit the jackpot with this recipe from Love & Olive Oil.
The hibiscus adds a bit of extra oomph to the jam, not enough to be easily identifiable but something to make it just a little special. Can you tell how much AJ loves homemade strawberry jam?
Below is my adaptation.
Strawberry Hibiscus Jam
2 lbs. strawberries
3 cups sugar, divided
1 cup dried hibiscus flowers
4 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 package liquid pectin
Anyways, it was worth the effort to pick the strawberries for this jam. I wanted to try something a bit different and toyed with the idea of strawberry lime jam (because I have limes not lemons in the fridge) but then remembered I had a bunch of dried hibiscus flowers. So I googled strawberry hibiscus jam and hit the jackpot with this recipe from Love & Olive Oil.
The hibiscus adds a bit of extra oomph to the jam, not enough to be easily identifiable but something to make it just a little special. Can you tell how much AJ loves homemade strawberry jam?
Below is my adaptation.
Strawberry Hibiscus Jam
2 lbs. strawberries
3 cups sugar, divided
1 cup dried hibiscus flowers
4 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 package liquid pectin
Wash and hull berries.
Toss with 1 1/2 cups sugar in a large bowl. Cover, and chill for at least
2 to 3 hours or up to 72 hours.
Place hibiscus flowers in a heat-proof bowl or glass measuring cup. Pour 1/2 cup boiling water over flowers. Let steep for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain, pressing out as much liquid from the flowers as possible. (I found that squeezing out the flowers using a flour sack towel worked really well.) Discard flowers (or reserve for another use).
Prepare 4 half-pint mason jars and lids.
Pour the berries and all liquid into a large saucepan along with remaining sugar and hibiscus liquid. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and add the lemon juice. When the jam is thicker and syrupy, add the liquid pectin. Bring to a boil, and boil 3 minutes.
When jam has reached the desired consistency, remove from heat and skim off foam (if necessary). Ladle hot sauce into jars, leaving 1/4-inch of headspace. Wipe jar rims and threads. Screw on lids and rings. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes
Makes 2 pints jam.
Place hibiscus flowers in a heat-proof bowl or glass measuring cup. Pour 1/2 cup boiling water over flowers. Let steep for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain, pressing out as much liquid from the flowers as possible. (I found that squeezing out the flowers using a flour sack towel worked really well.) Discard flowers (or reserve for another use).
Prepare 4 half-pint mason jars and lids.
Pour the berries and all liquid into a large saucepan along with remaining sugar and hibiscus liquid. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and add the lemon juice. When the jam is thicker and syrupy, add the liquid pectin. Bring to a boil, and boil 3 minutes.
When jam has reached the desired consistency, remove from heat and skim off foam (if necessary). Ladle hot sauce into jars, leaving 1/4-inch of headspace. Wipe jar rims and threads. Screw on lids and rings. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes
Makes 2 pints jam.
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