Lazy S'mores

S'mores are one of my favorite desserts/snacks. When Dairy Queen had the S'mores Galore Parfait, I ate so many of them and it was pretty much the only item I ordered. I was also very sad when they stopped offering it. The mixture of marshmallow, graham cracker, and chocolate just seems so perfect. Somehow it has taken me a very long time to discover a lazy way to make s'mores, but I did it. And rather successfully.

This discovering is a mixture of finding marshmallow fluff (aka marshmallow creme) to be delicious and wanting a non-dairy snack/dessert. I like to use the cinnamon graham crackers and Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips. (This type of chocolate chip only "may contain dairy", so I count this as dairy free!) You can obviously use whatever type of graham cracker and chocolate chip combination you want.

Lazy S'mores
Marshmallow creme
Chocolate chips
Graham crackers

First, take a spoonful of mallow fluff and place it into a small microwave safe dish.

Heat the fluff in the microwave for 15 seconds. It will expand and become very smooth.

Sprinkle on as many chocolate chips as you want. The preference of chocolate to marshmallow ratio varies by person, so there is no wrong quantity here.

Wait 30 seconds or so for the chocolate chips to melt. Then use pieces of graham cracker to scoop of the mallow fluff and melted chocolate. Then, obviously, eat it.

Enjoy!

I felt like putting this on my Pinterest account... so I made this:

If you care to follow me, my Pinterest is here: http://pinterest.com/neniell/

Chocolate Eclair Dessert

It's been a while since I posted a new recipe. I have a few sets of photos related to different recipes that are ready to be written about, but I haven't had the motivation to do so. This blogging thing is apparently something that is slightly difficult to get back into after a long gap.

Fortunately, I made something wonderful this past week. It's a recipe that my grandma used all the time when I was little. It is possibly one of the best desserts ever. It is also incredibly simple to make.

I've had the page marked in the cookbook to make this, but I haven't had a good reason to make it until this past weekend. This dessert is just as delicious as a remember and much easier to make than I expected. I made the chocolate frosting slightly thicker than it should have been and I used cinnamon graham crackers instead of honey. If you can, I recommend using a 9x13 cake pan that doesn't have sloped sides. My pan had sloped sides and that make placing the layers of graham crackers weird (gaps around the edges and such).

Chocolate Eclair Dessert
2 packages French vanilla instant pudding (3ish ounce size)
3 C milk
1 8 oz carton Cool Whip
1 lb box of graham crackers (honey or cinnamon)
2 envelopes pre-melted baking chocolate
1 t vanilla
3 T salted butter, softened
1 1/2 C powdered sugar
3 T milk

First, coat the 9x13 inch pan with a layer of butter.

Make the French vanilla pudding according to directions but only use the 3 cups of milk.

Add the entire carton of Cool Whip.

Fold the Cool Whip into the pudding. You have to fold it or the Cool Whip will lose its nice fluffy consistency.

Place a layer of graham crackers in the pan.

Carefully spread half of the pudding mixture over the layer of graham crackers.

Lay down another layer of graham crackers.

Spread the remaining pudding mixture over the new layer of graham crackers.

Add another layer of graham crackers!

Now make the chocolate frosting. Do this by placing the chocolate, vanilla, milk, and softened butter into a mixing bowl.

Stir it all together. It will seem kind of awful and thick.

Stir in the powdered sugar. This somehow gives it a very nice and smooth consistency. If the frosting seems too thick to spread on the graham crackers, add a little bit more milk. Don't add too much. You don't want it to be runny!

Spread the frosting on top of the layer of graham crackers.

Now for the hard part... You have to let this lovely dessert sit for 12 hours (in the refrigerator!). This allows the moisture of the pudding to soak into the graham crackers and soften them.

Here's a side view of the delicious layers:

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Brownies

This is possibly the best tasting peanut butter dessert I've ever had. These brownies have the flavor of a salty peanut butter cookie while being chewy and moist like a brownie. The only change I will suggest is to make this in a smaller pan so the brownies are thicker.

In addition to the amazing taste, these are very simple to make. I mixed everything in a medium sauce pan with a wooden spoon. Just be sure to have a sink full of hot soapy water to toss measuring cups and such in as you are finished. This will speed up the cleaning time!

Peanut Butter Brownies (Printer-friendly PDF Version)

1/2 C unsalted butter

2 C brown sugar, packed

2 eggs

1 C flour

2 t baking powder

1 t salt

1 t vanilla

3/4 C peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Melt the butter over low heat in a medium sauce pan.

Remove the melted butter from the heat and stir in the brown sugar. Mix well.

Make sure the mixture is cool and then stir in the eggs. Just stir this until it seems combined.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir this into the sugary mixture.

Mix in the peanut butter and vanilla.

Spread the batter into a well greased 11x15 inch jelly roll pan.

Bake for 20 minutes or until done. If you are using a smaller pan, increase the bake time accordingly. Let cool for a few minutes before cutting.

Enjoy!

Peach Cobbler

Baking bread isn't an option right now because it is incredibly hot outside. When the weather stops being nearly 100 degrees and incredibly humid, I will return to the bread baking. Until then, I will bake random things. Or I will be smart and make something that requires no baking. Maybe next time.

Today you get a recipe for peach cobbler. We had 6 pounds of peaches for some reason, so I used nearly 3 pounds to make this. If you aren't sure how to properly peel peaches, feel free to look at the previous post. I altered this recipe a bit from the original. I cut down the amount of sugar and added cinnamon and nutmeg. The outcome is amazing. If you like peaches, you should absolutely give this a try.

Peach Cobbler

7 or 8 peaches, peeled and sliced

cinnamon and nutmeg, to taste

1 T butter, softened

1/2 C sugar

1/4 t salt

2 t baking powder

1 C sifted flour

1/2 C milk

1/2 C sugar

1/2 C cold water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Line the bottom of a greased 9x9 inch baking dish with the peach slices. Sprinkle nutmeg and cinnamon on top. I didn’t measure, but I probably used around 1/2 t cinnamon and 1/4 t nutmeg.

In a small bowl, mix together the softened butter and 1/2 cup of sugar with a fork.

Add the salt, baking powder, and sifted flour to this sugary mixture.

Add the milk and stir until combined. I forgot to take a picture of this step, but the result is nothing unexpected.

Pour the batter over the peaches and gently spread it all around. Evenly pour the 1/2 cup of sugar on top of the batter.

Drench all of this with the 1/2 cup of cold water.

Bake for an hour.

Let cool for 15 minutes before slicing and serving. This goes great with whipped cream. It probably also goes great with ice cream, but I didn't have any ice cream.

Enjoy!

Danish Pastry

I actually decided to plan ahead for this recipe. So, instead of looking through the cook books minutes before baking, I looked through them the night before. I had no idea what Danish pastry was, but it sounded good. I was also hooked by the 500 degree Fahrenheit baking temperature! The recipe even informs me that 500 degrees F is "very hot" (thank you recipe, I had no idea!). I seem to be on a good run with recipes lately, because these are very tasty.

I’m pretty sure I’ve seen Danish pastries in grocery store bakeries and such places. I keep thinking that they should have a blob of cream cheese in the middle. I won't be adding any to mine because cream cheese is like poison to me. Anyway, these pastries have a nice and light flavor. They are also a bit flakey. I could have made them flakier, but the amount of shortening involved in doing that wasn't appealing to me!

Danish Pastry (Printer-friendly PDF version)

1 C milk, scalded

1 packet dry active yeast

1/4 C warm water

1/3 C sugar

1 t salt

1/4 C shortening

2 eggs

1/4 t vanilla

1/2 t lemon extract (or 1/2 t fresh lemon juice with some lemon zest)

4 C sifted flour

1 C shortening

1 1/2 C powdered sugar

3 T water

1 t vanilla

Proof the yeast in the warm water. Set aside.

Place the sugar, salt, and shortening in a bowl. Add the hot scalded milk. Stir until the shortening is mostly melted. It didn't melt all the way for me, but that doesn't matter much. Let cool to lukewarm.

Once it has cooled enough, add the eggs and lightly beat. Stir in the yeast.

Add 3 cups of flour and stir until well combined.

Mix in enough of the remaining flour to make a soft ball. I had to use my hands for this mixing and I think I used a bit more than 4 C total of flour.

Cover the bowl with a non-fuzzy dish towel and let rise for an hour, or until doubled in size.

Roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Dot the dough with half of the 1 C of shortening, leaving the edges clean. (I used much less shortening!)

Fold the dotted dough in half, and press the edges to seal them. Dot the dough with the remaining shortening. (I used maybe a bit more than half a cup total.)

Fold the dough in half again and seal the edges. 

Repeat the roll out and folding process three more times, without adding any more shortening. The dough will become difficult to work with after the second repetition. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and let rest for 20 minutes.

Roll out the rested dough to 1/3 inch thickness. Cut into 1/2 inch strips.

Twist the strips and form them into circles. Scrunch the circles a bit so they aren't too big and open. Place the dough circles on a baking sheet. I greased mine, but that caused the bottoms to slightly burn. Try using parchment paper on the baking sheet instead.

Let the circles rise for 30 minutes.

Bake at 500 degrees Fahrenheit for 6-8 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from oven. Let cool for a few minutes.

Meanwhile, mix together the powdered sugar, water, and vanilla. Drizzle this glaze over the slightly cooled pastries.

Enjoy!

Apple Crisp

Here is something nice and easy to make. The most time consuming part of making this apple crisp is the peeling and slicing of the apples. Fortunately for me, I had some pre-peeled and pre-sliced apples in the freezer! I didn't measure much of this, but I have included the original recipe below to use as a guideline. Desserts like this are something you generally make "to taste".

I will make this recipe again, but I will add less water to it if I use frozen apples. I'm not sure if the amount of water would need to be decreased if you use fresh apples. I didn't have any good ice cream available, but I'm positive this will be excellent with some vanilla ice cream.

Apple Crisp  (Printer friendly PDF version)

4 C peeled & sliced apples

Cinnamon to taste

1/2 C water

3/4 C flour

1/2 C butter, melted

1 C sugar

Spray an 8x8 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Line the bottom of the baking dish with sliced apples. Pour the water over the apples. Sprinkle the cinnamon on top.

In a small bowl, mix together the flour, butter, and sugar to make a crumbly mixture.

Evenly distribute this crumbly mixture on top of the layer of apples.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 to 40 minutes.

Let cool for a bit before serving.

Enjoy!