Raspberry Cream Pie

Lately I have been trying not to make the Pioneer Woman's recipes. The problem is not that they are bad. On the contrary, they are usually very good. Too good. And very rich, which is not at all helpful when you are trying to lose weight.

Have I mentioned that I have lost 50 pounds in the last six months?

Okay, almost 10 of those pounds was Ray, but still! 

I didn't lose the weight by eating Pioneer Woman recipes every day, that is for sure. I will talk in future posts about what has been working for me, as far as eating healthier and getting into shape. For now, I will just say this: I do occasionally have treats. I love to make dessert, but I try to do it when there are plenty of other people around to eat the sweets with me. Otherwise I will end up eating the whole thing. No will power, people!

If you want a summer treat, this is a great recipe to try. One of the guests that I served it to even said, "I could eat this all day!" I tweaked the recipe just a little bit, using a little less sugar than Pioneer Woman, and substituting greek yogurt instead of regular. Oh, and just a tip - definitely make your own Oreo crust like the recipe says, the storebought versions just aren't as good!

Raspberry Cream Pie
serves 8 
printable recipe

25 whole Oreo cookies 
4 Tbsp melted butter
1 generous cup of raspberries
1 Tbsp sugar
2 (6 oz) containers of raspberry yogurt (I used raspberry greek yogurt)
1 (3.4 oz) package of vanilla instant pudding
1 cup heavy whipping cream
extra whipped cream and/or raspberries for garnish, if desired


Preheat oven to 350F. In a food processor, pulse the cookies until they are crushed. Before I had a food processor I would put the cookies in a ziploc bag and use a rolling pin to crush them! Mix the melted butter in with the crushed cookies and press them into the bottom and up the sides of a pie pan. Place in the oven and bake for 3-4 minutes, just so the crust hardens. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.


Wash raspberries and spread out on a plate. Sprinkle the sugar on top and let them set and sweeten while you mix up the other ingredients.


Combine the yogurt and pudding mix (just the powder) in a mixing bowl. Beat on low for 1 minute. Add the heavy cream and beat on low for 30 seconds. After pausing to scrape down the sides of the bowl, beat on medium-high for 2 minutes or until mixture is thick.


Gently fold the raspberries into the cream mixture, then spoon into the cooled pie crust and spread evenly. Freeze for at least two hours so the pie can set. About 20-30 minutes before serving, remove the pie from the freezer so that it will be easier to serve. It tastes yummy straight from the freezer, but it is hard to cut when it is frozen! Garnish with whipped cream and raspberries.

What is your favorite summer dessert?

Peaches and Cream

Last night I tried a new dessert recipe that my aunt had sent my mom, called Peaches and Cream. Oh my word, was it good! So good in fact that I convinced myself that it was kind of like coffee cake and had it for breakfast this morning. My kids kind of gave me the side-eye as I ate dessert for breakfast but it was worth it.

Like a cross between cheesecake and cobbler, this dessert is sure to win you friends, or at least start end your day right.

printable recipe

Peaches and Cream

1 (3 oz) package vanilla pudding (not instant, you need the cook and serve kind for this recipe)
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
dash of salt
1 egg
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup milk
1 (15 oz) can of sliced peaches
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup + 1 tsp sugar, divided
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Combine pudding, flour, baking powder, salt, egg, butter, and milk in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Beat for 2 minutes then spread in a greased 8x8 inch square pan or 9 inch deep pie pan.

Drain the peaches, reserving the juice, and arrange on top of the fruit.

If you're feeling frisky, sprinkle a couple of handfuls of blueberries (fresh or frozen) on top.

Combine cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, and 3 Tbsp peach juice. Spoon on top of fruit.

Mix together the remaining tsp of sugar and the cinnamon.

Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar mixture on top of cream cheese.

Bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes, until cake mixture is golden on the edges.

Let cool down a bit, then serve warm. If you're impatient like I am and try to dig in too soon, you will end up with an (albeit delicious) mess.

However, if you let it sit up a bit it will lend itself to more tidy serving.









Linking:

Grasshopper Bars

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

If I was more creative, my kids would be sporting cool green hairdos today ala this mom. Alas, my kids have to settle for normal hair and eating this fun mint dessert.



I have been craving Grasshopper Bars, or mint brownies, for awhile now. My own mom made these treats for us growing up and they are just as good as I remembered!

A little goes a long way with these, they're pretty rich!

Click here for my entire St. Patrick's Day menu and shopping list.

printable recipe

Grasshopper Bars

Brownies:
1 brownie mix, prepared according to package directions. I like to follow the more "cake-like" directions for this recipe, if you have that option.

Filling:
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 oz cream cheese, softened
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp mint extract
green food coloring

Frosting:
1 cup (6 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup butter

Prepare and bake brownies according to package directions in greased 13x9 inch pan. Set aside to cool.

In medium bowl, cream together the butter and cream cheese for the filling, until light and fluffy.

Add powdered sugar, mint extract, and a few drops of food coloring. Beat until smooth.

Spread the green filling on the cooled pan of brownies.

In a small bowl, melt butter and chocolate chips together in microwave. Heat on high for 30 seconds, stir, then heat and stir in 10 second intervals until smooth.

Spread chocolate frosting over mint filling. Refrigerate for at least an hour, or until firm.

Cut into small squares and serve.

Menu Mama's Grasshopper Pie

It's that time of year again: leprechauns, clover, and shamrock shakes. I am craving mint chocolate! There have been lots of Grasshopper Pie recipes floating around the blogosphere (most made with Marshmallow Creme, blech) so I thought I would try my hand at my own version. I have to say, it turned out pretty fantastic.

printable recipe

Menu Mama's Grasshopper Pie

1 cup butter (2 sticks), divided
2 cups powdered sugar
1 can evaporated milk
2/3 cup chocolate chips
1 package of oreos (I used the mint ones)
1/2 gallon mint chocolate chip ice cream

In a large saucepan, heat up the sugar, milk, chocolate chips, and 1 stick of butter over medium heat.

Bring to a boil, stirring constantly and cook for 8 minutes.

Cool completely. The fastest way to do that is to fill your sink or a large bowl a few inches full of ice water and set the pot in it, being careful not to get water into the sauce.

Meanwhile, crush the oreos in a food processor. Or, if you're uncool like me, crush them with the bottom of a glass cup in a bowl.

Melt the other stick of butter and stir it into the oreos. Press the mixture into a deep pie pan or a 9x13 in baking dish. Place in refrigerator until firm.

Spread the ice cream over the oreo crust.

Pour the cooled chocolate sauce over the pie. Cover and freeze for several hours.

Cut into slices and devour!

French Breakfast Puffs

Today I made French Breakfast Puffs, from the Pioneer Woman Cookbook. We loved them!

The only problem with these is that they will forever go down in history (in my mind, anyway) as The Muffins Who Almost Made Me Question My Entire Identity As A Woman And A Baker. That's Evil Muffins, for short.

These are not to be confused with The Cookies Who Almost Made Me Question My Marriage. Someday I might blog about this story. It involves a high altitude mishap, a sweet and innocent husband who took baking tips from a well-meaning female co-worker, and a hormonal and completely irrational wife who apparently feels the need to be the only competent baker in her husband's life. (In case it's not clear, I'm the wife. I have issues.)

But back to the Evil Muffins. They look pretty innocent, right? Well, that's because you are looking at the second batch.

The first batch ended up as a crumbled mess at the bottom of my kitchen trash can. The first batch had me doubting my faith in The Pioneer Woman (almost sacrilegious, I know). The first batch is the one that made me question my identity and my love of baking. That first batch was the stuff nightmares are made of (I lead a very sheltered life).

You see, the tops of the first batch were completely sunken and they would not stay together. The worst part was that I had a whole cup (2 sticks) of butter already melted and waiting for the muffins to be rolled in, but the minute I attempted to remove them from the muffin tin, they disintegrated into a million crumbly pieces. The wasted butter was just sad...

I was cleaning up the mess, ready to curse the high-altitude, The Pioneer Woman, my Pampered Chef muffin pan, and the high price of butter these days when I saw it: the 1/2 cup measuring spoon covered in Butter-flavored Crisco.

I had used this scoop instead of the 1/3 cup by mistake, ending up with a cup of shortening in the batter instead of the 2/3 cup that the recipe called for!

The mystery solved, I gleefully made another batch (fortunately I had saved the butter). The second batch of batter happily turned into the beautiful, sweet creations that Pioneer Woman promised they would be. All was right with the world.

printable recipe 

French Breakfast Puffs

yield: 16 muffins

puffs

3 cups all-purpose flour (add 1/3 cup flour for high altitude)

3 tsp baking powder (2 3/4 tsp for high altitude)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup shortening

2 eggs

1 cup milk

coating

1/2 lb (2 sticks) butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease 12 muffin cups. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Set aside.

In your mixing bowl, cream the sugar and shortening together.

Beat in the eggs, one at a time.

Alternate adding one-third of the flour mixture and one-third of the milk to the creamed mixture, beating well after each addition.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling them about 2/3 full.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden. Remove from pan and set aside.

To make the coating, melt the butter in a bowl.

Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl.

Dip the warm muffins in the butter, coating thoroughly.

Now roll them in the cinnamon-sugar.

Serve warm for breakfast, dessert, whenever! Apparently these are great to make ahead and freeze, then reheat in the microwave for a quick treat, which I am excited to try.