It’s time for desserts again.
Chocolate peanut butter cheerios cups
chocolate Cheerios:
1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 TBS coconut oil
1¼ C Cheerios
peanut butter Cheerios:
¾ C peanut butter
3 TBS organic brown rice syrup
3 TBS organic coconut oil
1¼ C Cheerios
Spray 12-cup silicone muffin pan with cooking spray and set aside. In a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, combine dark chocolate and 2 TBS of coconut oil. Stir until it’s completely melted and smooth. Remove from heat and stir in Cheerios. (Optionally you can melt chocolate and coconut oil in microwave or in a saucepan over low heat.)
In another heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, combine peanut butter, dark corn syrup and coconut oil. Stir until it’s completely melted and smooth. (Optionally you can melt peanut butter, rice syrup and coconut oil in microwave or in a saucepan over low heat.) Remove from heat and stir in Cheerios.
Cool both mixtures to room temperature stirring occasionally. To assemble cups, alternately drop spoonsful of chocolate and peanut butter Cheerios in prepared pan. Tap pan onto working surface to help mixture set. Chill in fridge or freezer until firm. Remove from the mold and store in an airtight container in fridge.
___
Cookie pizza
1/2 C unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 C granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1-1/2 C flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1-1/2 tsp. cornstarch
Topping:
8 oz. full fat cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1/4 C unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
2 C confectioners’ sugar
1 to 2 TBS cream or milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
assorted sliced fresh fruit
Make crust: in a large bowl using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream softened butter for about 1 minute on medium speed. Add sugar and beat on medium speed until fluffy and light in color. Beat in egg and vanilla. Scrape sides as needed.
In a medium bowl, whisk flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cornstarch together. With mixer running on low speed, slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Once completely combined, cover dough tightly and chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes and up to 1 day. Without chilling, your cookie dough may spread over sides of the pan.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 12-inch pizza pan. Remove chilled cookie dough from refrigerator and press onto pizza pan in an even flat circle. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until edges are very lightly browned. Overbaking will cause a hard crust. Allow crust to cool completely before decorating. Put crust in refrigerator after 10 minutes of cooling at room temperature – this speeds up the process.
Make frosting: In a medium bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat cream cheese and butter together on medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add confectioners’ sugar and 1 TBS cream. Beat for 2 minutes. Add vanilla and 1 more TBS cream if needed to thin out. Beat for 1 minute. Spread in a thick layer over cooled sugar cookie crust. Decorate with fruit. Cut into slices and serve. Leftovers keep well in refrigerator for up to 3 days.
___
Fancy no-bake bars
Peanut butter layer:
2 C graham crackers, crushed
1 C unsalted butter, melted
1-3/4 C powdered sugar
1/4 C brown sugar
1 C peanut butter
Chocolate layer:
3 C semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 C peanut butter
Line a 9×13 baking dish with parchment paper and set aside. In a food processor, pulse graham crackers to a fine crumb. Add in melted butter, powdered sugar, brown sugar and peanut butter and pulse until totally combined. Transfer mixture to bottom of prepared baking dish and press to evenly distribute it.
In a microwave safe bowl, dump in chocolate chips and add peanut butter to the top. Microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring well between microwaving bursts until chocolate chips are melted and mixture is smooth.
Pour chocolate mixture over peanut butter mixture in baking dish and smooth with a rubber spatula to cover all of peanut butter layer. Allow to set in fridge for 3 hours before cutting into squares and serving.
___
She said, “Today, I bought a doughnut without sprinkles. Diets are hard!”
If you would like to share a recipe with me, just send it to the J-T or email it to me.
(Melanie Behrens – melb@marysvillejt.com)