Tag Archive for "dessert" - Simple Everyday Food

peanut butter cup ice cream (with brownie bits)

Posted by :Amy On : July 10, 2014

Tags:brownies, dessert, frozen treats, ice cream, peanut butter

Whenever I tell people I’m a vet tech, it’s always inevitable that someone will say, “I’m so jealous! I wish I could play with puppies and kittens all day!”

I always smile at their response because:

Contrary to public belief, vet techs do not play with puppies and kittens all day.
As a matter of fact, I actually do not see puppies and kittens all that often.
It’s really not all rainbows and unicorns – there’s actually ~~quite a bit~~ a lot (I mean A LOT) of poop, pee, vomit, and blood involved on a daily basis (that’s if you’re lucky).
There’s also a lot of sadness and death that we see on a regular basis. However, at the end of the day, we love what we do and we wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.

The past few months, my coworkers and I have been taking care of a particular patient whom we have all grown attached to and fallen in love with. He stayed with us to get his medical condition under control while his loving parents dealt with some family issues themselves. They trusted us to take care of their baby boy, and we gave him all the love and attention he deserved: extra long walks, lots of ear and butt scratches, and lots of treats and cookies. He was such a happy dog that it was just too easy for us to fall in love with him. However, just earlier this week when I was about to go to bed, my coworker texted me and told me his family had ultimately decided to let him go, just a few hours after I said good-bye to him at the end of my shift.

I was devastated. I think we all were. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I realized I was attached to that boy more than I knew.

So how do we cope during times like this?

Well, some people curl up on the couch and cry into a pillow. [check]

Some people like to talk about it. [uh yeah no thank you]

Some people lay in bed and watch TV for hours on end.

Some people go for a run to temporarily forget the pain.

Some people reflect through writing. [check]

And some people sit down with a pint of ice cream and eat until they feel better. [check]

This peanut butter cup ice cream with brownie bits, to be exact.

If we took a poll of America’s favorite flavor combo, peanut butter + chocolate has got to be in the top 3. That’s why this ice cream is the epitome of comfort food. Chucks of chopped peanut butter cups and brownie bits generously sprinkled throughout the ice cream – every bite is sweet, chocolatey, decadent, chewy, and crunchy. Oooooh yeah. It’s pure heaven, I tell ya.

What’s even better is that this doesn’t require tempering of eggs, which means no risk of getting scrambled eggs! Just blend, chill, churn, freeze (and wait for what seems like eternity), and enjoy! And let me tell you right now – waiting for the ice cream to freeze overnight is pure torture!

The peanut butter ice cream base is so good that I could’ve slurped it all with a straw! I had to refrain myself from pouring it into a glass, topping it off with the mix-ins, and drinking it like a milkshake…

So go do yourselves a favor guys, and go make this right now. I promise you won’t be disappointed!

peanut butter cup ice cream (with brownie bits)

2014-07-10 18:05:24

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Ingredients

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 and 2/3 cups half-and-half
A pinch of salt
A dash of pure vanilla extract
1 heaping cup (unwrapped) mini Reese’s cups, frozen and chopped
1 cup roughly chopped brownie bites (optional)

Instructions

In a blender, combine the peanut butter, sugar, half-and-half, salt, and vanilla extract. Blend until smooth. Place in refrigerator and chill completely.
Add mixture to ice cream maker and churn according to manufacture's instructions.
Once churned, gently fold in the chopped peanut butter cups and chopped brownie bites with a spatula. Transfer to storage container and freeze overnight.
Makes 1 quart

By Simple Everyday Food

Adapted from Annie's Eats

Simple Everyday Food https://www.simpleeverydayfood.com/

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Recipe adapted from Annie’s Eats

© Simple Everyday Food. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use any of my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or kindly link back to this post for the recipe.

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oreo s’more truffles

Posted by :Amy On : May 31, 2014

Category: Desserts

Tags:dessert, no bake, oreo, smores, truffles

I don’t know about the rest of the country, but the weather here in Minnesota has been nothing but gorgeous the past few weeks. Every day has been sunny with a few puffs of clouds in the sky, and somewhere between 75-85 degrees. After a long, brutal winter, I was more than ready to dust off the boxes where my summer shorts and tank tops have lived for the past 7 months and bring them back into my regular clothing “circulation”. It’s always a monumental day when I deem the weather warm (and stable) enough to pack up my winter boots, and put all my scarves, gloves, hats, and jackets away in the closet…. it signifies the arrival of warmer weather, longer days, shorts and flip flops, grilling, ice cold lemonade, and everything summer is about.

You know what else is a universal icon of summer? S’mores.

For someone who doesn’t care for camping, I really am a big fan of s’mores – I even have an entire section in my recipe book dedicated to all things s’mores! It’s without a doubt my second favorite flavor combination of all time. It lands in 2nd place because nothing – I mean nothing – can top mint + chocolate in my world. Whoever decided to sandwich a toasted gooey marshmallow with some chocolate in between graham crackers is a genius.

These truffles are super easy to make and requires no baking at all! All you really need is a food processor, which means they’re quick… and you won’t even have to make your house any hotter by turning on the oven. I modified the original recipe by adding several squares of graham crackers into the Oreo/cream cheese base, just to amplify the s’mores flavor, and let me tell you, everyone thought these were deeeelicious!

It even has a little mini marshmallow surprise inside when you take a bite out of it!

I have made several different kinds of truffles in the past, but these hands down take the crown – they are without a doubt the best tasting truffles I’ve ever made. It’s a bold statement, but that’s how good they were. They were so good that Brian alone ate 4 of them one day when I was at work, and I ended up having to make another batch of them to share with my coworkers!

Oreo s'more truffles

2014-05-30 13:15:19

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Ingredients

15 original Oreo cookies
6 graham cracker squares, divided
2.5 oz low fat cream cheese
~11 mini marshmallows
8 oz chocolate CandiQuik
~2 tablespoons marshmallow bits (optional)

Instructions

In a food processor, pulse 2 squares of graham cracker squares until it turns into fine crumbs. Place in a small bowl and set aside.
In the same food processor, pulse the Oreo cookies and the remaining 4 graham cracker squares until roughly crumbled. Add in the cream cheese and pulse on HIGH until the mixture comes together. The mixture turns into a doughy consistency and should not be crumbly - you should easily to able to form them into balls without it falling apart in your hands.
Roll the mixture into balls (about 1-1.5 tablespoon each) and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Take each ball and make an indentation in the middle with your thumb, and place a mini marshmallow in the center. Reform the truffle mixture back into a ball, making sure the mixture encases the mini marshmallow entirely. Repeat with the rest of the truffles. Place the truffles in the refrigerator to chill.
While your truffles are chilling, make the candy coating: using a double boiler, melt the CandyQuik until smooth. Working one truffle at a time, place a ball in the CandyQuik while spooning the chocolate over the truffle with a spoon. Gently lift the ball up with a fork and gently tap off the excess candy coating.
Place the truffle onto the baking sheet and immediately garnish with graham cracker crumbs and marshmallow bits. Repeat with the rest of the truffles. Return decorated truffles into refrigerator to chill. Store in an airtight container in a cool dry place for up to 5 days (if they even last that long).
Makes 11 truffles

By Simple Everyday Food

Adapted from Crazy for Crust

Simple Everyday Food https://www.simpleeverydayfood.com/

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I personally love to use CandyQuik to coat all my truffles. You can also use the Wilton candy melts or Almond Bark if those are the kind you prefer. I also personally prefer to melt all my chocolates and candy coatings over a double boiler rather than throwing them in a microwave or directly over a heat source – I’ve tried microwaving them in the past, but they just never seemed to work as well for me as using a double boiler. However, if you have better luck than I do with a microwave or over a stove, feel free to do it that way – it’s probably faster anyway :)

Recipe adapted from Crazy for Crust

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red velvet whoopie pies

Posted by :Amy On : February 21, 2014

Category: Desserts

Tags:cake mix, cream cheese, dessert, red velvet, whoopie pies

I always seem to hop on the holiday baking train a few days late. Rarely do I ever find myself getting ahead of the game and baking things in anticipation of the upcoming holiday. Don’t ask why – it has always been a problem and I don’t think I plan on fixing that problem anytime soon. I have too many things to take care of, and right now baking ahead of schedule just isn’t as important as things such as studying for boards, spending time with family, working a full-time job, making sure everyone is fed and happy at the dinner table, and squeezing in time to run errands and do housework (I absolutely despise doing laundry).

[It’s soooo hard to work full-time and find time to cook, bake, photograph, edit, write, and post blog posts! I’m open to any advice, tips, and tricks anyone can give me!]

To me, this blog isn’t about making and posting a number of holiday desserts in anticipation of a holiday… don’t get me wrong, I admire (and am a little jealous of) all the talented food bloggers out there that are able to do so, and if I ever have the opportunity to make a full-time income off of SEF, I’d do it in a heartbeat. However, my current lifestyle simply does not allow such extensive food blog planning, so you guys will just have to put up with whatever my little heart felt like making at the moment… even if that means making Valentine-y red velvet desserts days and days after the holiday is over :)

So, about these whoopie pies.

I always like to think of whoopie pies as soft, puffy, big fat Oreos. Except these are thicker and softer than an Oreo cookie and has at least twice as much filling. And they’re soooo easy to make! I was itching to bake something the other day and just wanted a super simple recipe that didn’t require a long list of ingredients and a bunch of steps to follow. These really are not that complicated at all. The directions can be condensed into 6 simple steps:

1. Make cookies

(Oooh… those crinkles. I absolutely looooove crinkly cookies!!)

2. Bake cookies

3. Make filling

4. Pipe filling

5. Sandwich cookies

6. DEVOUR! (with a big glass of ice cold milk is highly recommended)

See? Simple. So simple that a monkey can do it. Okay, maybe not a monkey, but it is a really straight-forward recipe. l I even made these a “double stuffed” whoopie pie by generously piping the cream cheese frosting on BOTH cookies, because well, who doesn’t like extra frosting?! If you don’t have a piping bag, you can also just smear the frosting on the bottom of the cookies using a spoon, knife, spatula, or any kind of kitchen utensil you have handy before sandwiching them together.

I think I could’ve probably eaten the cookies by themselves without the cream cheese frosting – they were so soft and so moist and so good! They even remained soft and moist in an airtight container three days later! My favorite way of eating them was twisting them open and eating each half of the sandwich with a little bit of cookie and a little bit of frosting.

red velvet whoopie pies

2014-02-15 12:00:36

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For the cookies

One 16.25-oz box of red velvet cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil

For the frosting

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened to room temperature
8 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
2 teaspoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and set aside.
Using an electric mixer, combine all the ingredients for the cookies until well mixed. Roll the cookie dough into dough balls 1" in diameter. Place dough balls ~2" apart and bake for 8 minutes, or until the tops of the cookies start to crack. Remove from oven and let cool completely.
While the cookies are cooling, make the frosting: combine the butter, cream cheese, milk, and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Then add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, making sure the mixture is well-mixed in between each addition.
Spread a generous amount of frosting on the bottom of all the cookies*, and pair cookies up together, pressing gently to sandwich them together. Store an an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Makes about 13 cookies
*I spread the frosting on the cookies using a piping bag and a starred tip. If you don't have piping supplies, you can also simply spread the frosting onto the bottom of the cookies with a knife, offset spatula, a regular spatula, or whatever kitchen utensil you have handy.

By Simple Everyday Food

Adapted from Six Sisters' Stuff

Simple Everyday Food https://www.simpleeverydayfood.com/

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Recipe adapted from Six Sisters’ Stuff

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orange dark chocolate chip cookies

Posted by :Amy On : February 14, 2014

Category: Desserts

Tags:chocolate chips, cookies, dessert, oranges

It’s no secret that I’m a sucker for chocolate. Not just a plain old boring milk chocolate bar, mind you, but fancy dark chocolate with different flavors infused in it – mint chocolate, dark chocolate cherry, chai chocolate, birthday cake chocolate, coconut chocolate…. The kind where you have to spend more than $3.50 for a small little chocolate bar. Yeah, I’m fancy.

I especially loooove dark chocolate with a hint of orange – dark chocolate with bits and pieces of candied orange peels throughout – it really is a match made in heaven! Since it’s hard for me to get my hands on certain fancy brands, Lindt’s chocolates are one of my go-tos when I’m in the mood to indulge.

I see it as getting my daily vitamin C intake along with some antioxidants – it’s a win-win situation – no?

This cookie is kind of the opposite of what these candy bars are about. Instead of orange infused chocolate, it’s more of an orange cookie with a hint of chocolate. Instead of using regular chocolate chips, I used some 70% dark cacao chips instead to give the cookie a more intense dark chocolate flavor, that way you can eat a few without feeling like you’re going to slip into a sugar coma.

These cookies are soooo soft! They’re soft and moist. Not cakey, and not chewy either. Just soft. Like melt-in-your-mouth soft, thanks to the small amount of cream cheese added to the batter. One thing to note about these cookies is that when you mix everything together, the batter will be SUPER sticky. You’re probably going to think that something went wrong – nope! It’s just the way it is. And for that reason, I strongly suggest mixing everything together with a mixer… unless you’re trying to gain some arm strength – then more power to you, you overachievers.

orange chocolate chip cookies

2013-12-25 20:25:29

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Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3-oz low fat cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup 60% dark cocoa chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon baking mats.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour and salt. Set aside.
Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter, cream cheese, and sugar. Add in the egg an mix until smooth. Add in the orange zest and vanilla, stir until incorporated. Slowly add in the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Mix until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of the dough onto the prepared baking sheets. The dough will be very sticky - this is normal! Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the edges just begin to brown slightly. Store in an airtight container for up to 7 days.
Makes 16-18 cookies

By Simple Everyday Food

Adapted from Taste and Tell Blog

Simple Everyday Food https://www.simpleeverydayfood.com/

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Next time when I make these, I think I’m going to roughly chop up the dark chocolate chips prior to adding them into the batter. That way there will be more chocolate dispersed throughout the dough, and the chocolate will be nice and gooey and melty when you take them out of the oven.

Okay, I need to go find myself some chocolate now….

Recipe adapted from Taste and Tell Blog

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mint chocolate fudge

Posted by :Amy On : February 4, 2014

Category: Desserts

Tags:candy, chocolate, dessert, fudge, mint, no bake

If you haven’t heard, I was offered a brand spankin’ new full time job about a month ago and just started it this week ! I’m super ecstatic about it, as I wasn’t really expecting to be able to find a job (at a place I really wanted to work at) this fast, just a few weeks after graduation. Of course, I wasn’t able to do it without the help of some wonderful people I listed as my references. As far as I know, a few of them were contacted by this employer, and they must’ve wrote a bunch of nice things about me, and I’m forever grateful about it :)

This will be my first ever full-time big girl job, and I took the entire process very seriously (more than usual) – from the initial submission of my resume and cover letter, to the actual interview, and the thank you letters thereafter – I applied everything I have learned in my career capstone class and meticulously read and reread everything prior to hitting the “submit” button. I’m glad a little bit of networking and hard work pays off… I love it so far!

This whole journey really made me realize that no matter where you go in life and what big milestones you have achieved, you really can’t get there without the help of people along the way – whether they are friends, family, coworkers, or even strangers… many people played a part in this job hunting process, and even now, I feel just as grateful as I did the day I was offered the position.

Ever since I was little, my mom had ingrained in my brain that it is important to express your gratitude towards those that have helped you in life. And that’s why the day after I got this new job, I decided to make some sweets for those people who took time out of their busy schedules to write recommendation letters for me. I figured if they were kind enough to take time to write nice things about me, the least I can do is take time out of my day to make a little something to show them how much I appreciate their efforts.

I would’ve made cookies, but one of my references happened to be gluten free, which is why I decided to make fudge instead. I’ve never made fudge in my entire life before, but since it’s a new year, and new years are all about trying new things, I decided to give it a whirl. And since I’m still on this mint chocolate craze, mint chocolate fudge it was (it’s only my favorite chocolate combination, if you haven’t figured that out already).

These little fudge squares are just like giant Andes mints and they’re so easy to make! The bottom layer consists of sweet chocolate chips with condensed milk, followed by another fudgey layer of white chocolate chips, a little bit more condensed milk, peppermint extract, and a few drops of food coloring. The thin top chocolate layer has a nice little crunch, which contrasts nicely with the bottom two smooth velvety fudgey layers. Heaven, I tell ya.

I have never had luck with melting chocolate in the microwave or directly over a heat source. It just somehow never works for me, so for all chocolate-melting recipes, I always always always melt my chocolates using a makeshift double boiler over low heat – it heats the chocolate up a lot slower, but it also gives me less anxiety. I take it as a fair trade off.

If you’ve never made fudge (like me) before, I just want to warn you that when you melt the chocolate chips with the condensed milk, the mixture is going to be thick. I was expecting the mixture to be nice and smooth and runny like melted chocolate, but nooooo… it was thick. So thick that the only good utensil to stir it with is with a sturdy wooden spoon.. and that if you stir it constantly, your arm is going to get tired. I initially thought my chocolate had seized up on me, and I started to get very frustrated. Mind you this was at 9:30 a.m. and I’m pretty sure Brian decided to stay the heck away from the kitchen for the rest of the morning.

Moral of the story: chocolate chips + condensed milk = thick mixture (read: don’t freak out).

mint chocolate fudge

2014-01-18 12:56:35

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Ingredients

2.5 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
One 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk, divided
1.5 cups white chocolate chips
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
2-3 drops green food coloring
1 teaspoon shortening
1/2 cups Andes Creme de Menthe Baking Chips

Instructions

Line an 8x8" baking pan with aluminum foil and spray generously with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
Using a double boiler, melt 1.5 cups of the semi-sweet chocolate chips with 3/4 cups of the sweetened condensed milk over low heat. Stir occasionally until smooth, then pour mixture into the baking pan. Spread mixture evenly (I used an offset spatula), and place in the fridge to chill.
While the chocolate mixture is chilling in the fridge, melt the white chocolate chips with the remaining sweetened condensed milk over a double boiler over low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and add in the peppermint extract and green food coloring. Stir until the mixture is even in color, then pour mint layer evenly over chilled chocolate layer and place back into the refrigerator.
Melt the remaining 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips and the shortening over a double boiler. Stir until smooth. Pour evenly over the mint layer, top generously with Andes Creme de Menthe baking chips, and chill in fridge for at least 3-4 hours until set.
Cut into small squares before serving and store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
Makes about 36 small squares

By Simple Everyday Food

Adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction

Simple Everyday Food https://www.simpleeverydayfood.com/

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Even though I’m not a big fudge fanatic, everyone who were able to get their hands on a little piece of this decadent minty goodness all said it was phenomenal!

Recipe adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction

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