Banana Cream Pie

This is Steve's favorite pie so I've tried tons of different recipes. This is his and my favorite version. And it's one of the easier ones... so bonus!

1 Graham cracker crust
1 Egg White, Whipped
1 Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix (5.9 oz)
2 1/2 c. Milk
1 tsp Banana extract
2 c. Heavy Whipping Cream*
3/4 c. powdered sugar
1-2 Bananas sliced

-Brush the egg white onto the crust and bake at 375 for 10 minutes, cool and set aside.
-Mix the milk and pudding in a large bowl, set aside.
-Beat the Whipping cream, sugar and extract together until stiff peaks form.
-Fold half the whipped cream into the pudding mixture and sliced bananas.
-Put pudding mixture in pie crust, top with the rest of the whipped cream and chill until ready to serve.

There is usually too much filling for an 8 inch crust so I just put it in some mugs for a treat later.

*When I don't have heavy whipping cream I use Dream Whip and get a very similar outcome.

Buttery Soft Pretzels

Jenny Made these for Ella's Carnival birthday party and they were SO yummy!                      From allrecipes.com

12 Servings, Prep Time: 2 Hours , Cook Time: 10 Minutes

Ingredients

• 4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup baking soda
• 4 cups hot water
• 1/4 cup kosher salt, for topping

Directions

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center; add the oil and yeast mixture. Mix and form into a dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two tablespoons of water. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in hot water.
4. When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape. Once all of the dough is all shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda solution and place on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes, until browned.

BBQ Chicken Sliders

Add chicken
Cooked in broth in crock pot on low about 7 hours.

Shred.

Dump in BBQ sauce and cook another hour.

Easy Mac'n Cheese

Half block of Velvetta Cheese
8 oz. whipping cream

Melt on stove top.

Pour over cooked macaroni noodles (1 lb).

YUMO!

Cranberry Fluff Salad

adapted from The Lion House Cookbook

Ingredients:
2 cups raw cranberries
zest of 1/2 orange
1/2 cup granulated sugar (I used evaporated cane juice)
3 cups mini marshmallows
2-3 small Granny Smith apples, diced
1/2 cup chopped pecans, walnuts, or almonds
1 cup heavy cream, whipped
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions:
Place the cranberries and orange zest in the bowl of a food processor or blender. Pulse until finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl and add the sugar. Let stand for a few minutes and add the marshmallows. Cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight. Stir in the apples and nuts. Fold in the whipped cream and vanilla extract. Chill until ready to serve.

Makes enough for 6-8 servings.

Boston Market Copycat Sweet Potato Casserole

serves 12

Sweet Potatoes
3 ½ - 4 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1” pieces
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter
¾ cup packed light brown sugar
½ cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Topping
2 cups marshmallows
½ cup flour
4 tablespoons butter unsalted butter
6 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
¼ cup old fashioned rolled oats
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Fill a large pot with sweet potato pieces and water.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Cook until fork tender.  Drain potatoes and place back into pot.  Mash potatoes with a potato masher or blend with an electric mixer, until mostly smooth.  Add remaining ingredients (except topping ingredients).  Mix until combined.

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease an 8”x10” casserole dish (8x8 or 9x9 works too). 

Spoon sweet potatoes into casserole dish and smooth out.  Sprinkle top of sweet potatoes with marshmallows.

Melt butter in a medium microwave safe bowl.  Add remaining ingredients.  Mix with a fork.  Sprinkle over top of casserole.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until streusel is crisp and marshmallows are golden brown.

Serve and enjoy!

No-Bake Deep-Dish Peanut Butter Snickers Pie with Salted Caramel

YIELD: 1 9-inch springform pan, 10+ very generous pieces

 

PREP TIME: 20 minutes

 

COOK TIME: 0 minutes

 

TOTAL TIME: 3+ hours, for chilling and setting up

INGREDIENTS:

Crust
20-ounce package chocolate sandwich cookies, crushed to fine crumbs (I used chocolate-filled Trader Joe's version of Oreos - 43 cookies in the package; classic Oreos or another chocolate sandwich cookie may be used)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (3/4 of 1 stick)

Filling and Topping
8 ounces cream cheese, softened (I used Trader Joe's spreadable light cream cheese; reduced fat or full-fat cream cheese may be used)
8 ounces Cool Whip, at room temperature (I used Fat Free Cool Whip; reduced fat or full-fat whipped topping may be used)
heaping 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter or honey roasted peanut butter (use Jif, Skippy or similar; do not use natural or homemade because it can separate)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
about 1 cup Snickers, diced small (I used Peanut Butter Squared Snickers; or use your favorite candy)

 Recipes

about 1/4 cup salted caramel sauce, for drizzling (I used Trader Joe's; use your favorite brand or make Homemade Caramel Sauce)

 

Watch to how to make a Pecan Pie

 

DIRECTIONS:

1. Spray a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray; set aside. If you don't have one, a 9-inch square pan would likely work, although I have not tested it. Do not use a 9-inch traditional pie dish because it will be too shallow.
2. Crush cookies by placing them in a food processor and processing until they're a fine dust, noting that the filling may melt a bit which is okay. Using a Vita-Mix is not ideal because it will melt the cookies before it will crush them, and you will have to work in batches, tamping down frequently. Crushing cookies in a large Ziplock and rolling over it with a rolling pin may work, provided you take your time and make sure the cookies are broken down into a fine dust. Set crumbs aside.
3. In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter, about 1 minute on high power.
4. Add the cookie crumbs to the butter, and stir to combine. Mixture will be thick, slugdy, and fudgy.
5. Turn mixture out into prepared pan, pressing it down firmly with a spatula and smoothing the top so that crust it flat and even; set pan aside.
6. Filling and Topping - In a large mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, Cool Whip, peanut butter, vanilla and beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes on medium-high speed. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl. This is a recipe I found it easier to use my handheld mixer than stand mixer.
7. Add confectioners' sugar slowly and mix to incorporate, making sure to start mixing on low speed so sugar doesn't fly everywhere. Beat until smooth and combined, about 2 minutes on medium-high speed.
8. Turn mixture out onto prepared crust, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula.
9. Evenly sprinkle with diced Snickers. I used a generous 1 cup; use more or less depending on how thick you want the candy layer.
10. Evenly drizzle with caramel sauce; just eyeball it. Use more or less depending on how thick you want the caramel.
11. Cover pan with clingwrap or foil to prevent freezer smells, and place pan in freezer for at least 3 hours to set up before slicing, or overnight. I made pie 3 days before slicing it. Recipe can be made well in advance of an event, about 1 week or so, if desired.
12. When ready to serve, allow pie to come to room temperature for about 15 minutes. Carefully remove springform ring, and slice. The pie slices easily after about 15 minutes at room temp.  The filling doesn't really freeze solid and doesn't get as hard as ice cream does. Pie will keep covered in freezer for about 2 months or in the refrigerator for about 10 days. I store in the freezer because of the longer shelf life and prefer this pie well-chilled.

Recipe from Averiecooks.com 

Pie Crust

FLAKEY PIE CRUST (makes a top and bottom)

Ingredients:

- 3/4 cup shortening

- 1/4 cup boiling water

- 1 Tbls milk

- 2 scant cups flour

- 1 tsp salt

Pour boiling water over shorting and whip with a fork until fluffy and incorporated. Add milk, salt & flour until moist. Roll between two pieces of wax paper. Fill and bake.

(I usually cook 425 degrees for 30 minutes)

OLIVE GARDEN SALAD DRESSING

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons grated Romano cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt, or 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Sugar (optional)

Instructions

Combine all the ingredients in a blender until well mixed. If this is a little too tart for your own personal taste, add a little extra sugar. You can enjoy your Olive Garden salad dressing for up to 10 days if you store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Coconut Cream Fruit Dip

I had this dip the other day and it is DIVINE!! You are sure to feel like your on a beach when you eat it!

Just wanted to share:)

Coconut Cream Fruit Dip

 

4 oz. cream cheese

15 oz. cream of coconut (not coconut milk, find it by the margarita mix)

8 oz. Cool Whip

Whip cream cheese and cream of coconut in blender until smooth.

Fold in whip cream.

Serve with fruit or graham crackers.

 

*I actually used a 8 oz of cream cheese on accident and it's still delicious!

{Jenny}