Chocolate Crack AKA C2P2

This recipe come from Pinterest and here is the link to the original poster with detailed instructions.  Basically, you mash up potato chips.  Melt some caramels with peanut butter, then add heavy whipping cream.  Melt some chocolate and fold in the potato chips.  Pour the chocolate mess into a pan lined with foil or parchment paper.  Then plop dolops of the peanut butter and caramel mixture onto the chocolate.  Top THAT with 1/2 jar to a jar of caramel ice cream topping and then run a knife back forth through the peanut butter blops until everything is fanned out.  Throw it in the fridge for about 30 minutes and then cut into squares.  I was able to get 150 squares out of a 17 x 11 inch jelly pan. Yes, there are three layers of these chocolate nuggets! YUM!!

Be sure the peanut butter mixture is hot before you pour the chocolate mixture into the pan, and then ACT QUICKLY!  The warmer the ingredients are, the easier it will be to swirl everything together so it looks pretty and the ingredients blend nicely.  I had a phone call between the time I put the chocolate/potato chips in the pan and when I added the peanut butter mixture and had a hard time swirling the peanut butter mixture into the chocolate mixture.  Still tastes like a yummy version of Whatchamacallit candy bar though!

Bacon. Bourbon. Brownie. Bites.

Seriously. How can you go wrong?! 

Since I was cooking for the masses, I modified the original recipe a bit and used Betty Crocker Fudge Brownie mixes.  I followed the directions on the box to make them more "cake-like" by adding an extra egg.  I'm sure the original recipe tastes much better as far as the brownie part goes, so here's the link to the original recipe. 

First, heat the oven to 350 degrees and toast the pecans until you can just start to smell them.

Then fry up some bacon until it's just barely crispy. Yes, that is a pound and a half of bacon. Remember, I'm tripling the recipe to feed around 75 people!

This is where I started to cheat. Good ole Betty Crocker did most of the work.  The box said 2/3C of oil so I measured 3T of bacon grease and then topped it off with enough oil to get 2/3C.

Next, I introduced 3T of Mr. Beam to Miss Crocker. They seemed to get along quite nicely!

Pour the batter into buttered 13"x9" pans and then chopped up 1/2 pound of bacon and 1/2C of pecans.

Sprinkle the mixture on top of the brownie batter and bake for 25 minutes.

Let the brownies cool and then cut to serve!  I cut these to be bite-sized and got 48 brownies out of each pan!

They packed up nicely in a pineapple and spinach container I saved to reuse. We will be able to serve them right out of these containers. Can't wait to hear what everyone thinks!

Homemade Oreo Cookies

The first game of the season was welcomed with Homemade Oreo Cookies, and they were delicious!! They were such a hit, I wasn't able to get a picture once they hit the tailgate. I guess that means they were good, right?!

Makes 25 to 30 sandwich cookies.

Preheat oven to 375°F.

For the chocolate wafers:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa*
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons room-temperature, unsalted butter
1 large egg
*[I used Rodelle Gourmet Baking Cocoa. You can get it at HEB or super-sized at CostCo. Definitely use a Dutch process cocoa. It gives the wafers the deeper Oreo chocolate taste!] 

For the filling: 
1/4 cup room-temperature, unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups sifted icing sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1.  In a food processor, or bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. While pulsing, or on low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Continue processing or mixing until dough comes together in a mass.

2.  Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately two inches apart.





[Use dough balls that are about 1/4 of a teaspoon if you want them to be Oreo Cookie size. Look at the pixs below!  I made the first batch 4 times too big! ] 

The first pan I made was rows of 3 x 4 and the
cookies were huge and spread together!  This is
the second batch and I had to make a few more big
ones to even use up the first batch of jumbo-oreos!

3.  With moistened hands or a glass that will leave a cute imprint, slightly flatten the dough.

These turned out perfect!  One my cookie  sheets
I was able to do rows of 4 x 5 and the cookies
didn't spread together.

[I used an old glass from my Grandma Lu that has a fun impression on the base.  Thank you, Grandma Lessmann!] 






4.  Bake for 10 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.  [I had better luck cooking mine for about 12 minutes. It's tricky to judge the time since you can't see if they are burning, but you want them to be crispy and and chewy...like an Oreo!] 

[I'm not a plan-aheader, but in retrospect, it would have been good for me to have made the wafers the night before and let them sit on the cooling racks overnight.  It would have given them a crunchier texture like an Oreo cookie. Live and learn!!]





5.  To make the filling, place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.

   

         Spread and....

...squish!! 

6.  To assemble the cookies, in a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch, round tip, pipe teaspoon-size blobs of cream into the center of one cookie. Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. [I just used a frosting spatula, spread and squished the top on!] Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream.

7.  Enjoy!!


Recipe originally found via Pinterest at: http://www.sweetpotatochronicles.com/wordpress/2011/03/guest-bloggers-emma-and-henry-make-homemade-oreos/

Hot Cinnamon Apples

YUM!!  These are sooo easy and sooo delicious.  I wanted to make something last year on the smoker with cast iron pans so I started googling cast iron recipes.  I ran across this site and found the apple bake recipe and tweaked it a bit.  I thought the smoker would add just the extra bit of autumn yumminess to the recipe.  I was wrong.  The smoker adds an incredible flavor to these hot little cinnamon apples!  Perfect for football season or once the temperature drops below 80 degrees in Texas.

This recipe makes three big cast iron pans full of apples and serves a bunch of people!  I have no idea how many people before we ran out.  Probably 50-75 spoonfuls or so???  If you aren't cooking for the masses, divide as needed for smaller groups.  :-)

24 large apples                                                    
2-3 sticks of butter
small container of quick rolled oats
bag of brown sugar
cinnamon

We peel the apples and cut into 1/4" slices.  Cover the bottom of the cast iron pan with apples slices and a solid second layer over the bottom layer.  As they cook, they shrink a bit.  Start with about a cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of oatmeal per pan and several shakes of cinnamon...probably about 1/8 of a cup of cinnamon per pan.  Slice up butter and we start with about 1/4 stick of butter to each pan.  As they cook, stir occasionally and add more butter, oats or more sugar to get the mixture to a nice thick consistency.  I think the smoker heats to about 300 degrees and it takes about 30 minutes for the apples to get soft.

Chewy Chocolate Cookies (like Whole Foods and Gluten-Free!!)

I have an addiction.  It is to the Chewy Chocolate Cookies at Whole Foods.  Oooey-gooey brownie-like goodness in the middle and light crunchy outside that melts in your mouth. After lots of googling and recipe reading, I found this recipe.  I told Mark that if I had time, I would try to make them for the Texas Tech game.  I described that they were a flourless chocolate cookies with only 3 grams of fat and he said something like they would be hockey pucks and we would feed them to the dogs.  For the record, this may have been the one and only time Mark has ever been wrong.  ;-)  I don't have any pictures of the finished product so I guess I'll just have to make another batch!

I've made these twice now and the recipe may vary depending on how big your egg whites are and how tightly you pack the powdered sugar.  Pack the powdered sugar tightly!  I hand mix everything until it is wet and then let the Kitchen Aide mixer take a turn at the dough for about 30-45 seconds on high.  

I also learned (thanks to a phone call that interrupted my cookie making) that the cookies turn out better if you let the dough sit and stiffen for about 15 minutes before you start scooping it out.  Once you put the dough balls on the cookie sheet, press them down just a bit.  If you put walnuts in, the cookies don't fall and you end up with walnut piles.  Also, be careful not to let them overcook. It's hard to know since the dough is dark.  My oven cooks a bit hot and I never went over 8 minutes.

I love them with walnuts, but the calorie count goes up.  I looked at the walnut label and I'm guessing the cookies end up being about 9-10 calories a piece....but walnut fat has to be good fat, right?!  

Hatch Green Chile Mac N Cheese with Shrimp and Bacon

It's a keeper!  Mark and I have been working on this for almost a year.  Its maiden voyage was made last winter off the back of a label for Green Chile Stew.  After Mark worked his creative magic and I played with the cheese combinations, this glorious dish was discovered.  How can you go wrong with three pounds of cheese, shrimp, bacon and a cup of heavy cream?  It was a hit!  We made three pans and there were no leftovers at the tailgate yesterday.  Always a good sign!

THIS RECIPE SERVES 75-100 PEOPLE!!  

36 oz       elbow macaroni

12 oz       queso quesadilla (queso quesadilla with jalapenos for those up for the challenge)

12 oz       queso asadero

12 oz       sharp cheddar

12 oz       gruyere cheese

3 C          heavy whipping cream

3 pkg       bacon (Oscar Meyer Center Cut-1pound package)

15            hatch green chiles 

2-3 bags raw peeled and deveined frozen shrimp (tail-off) -- we used 41-50 count 2 lb bag

taste        cayenne pepper

taste        cajun seasoning

taste        crushed red pepper

taste        panko bread crumbs

1.  Boil water and prepare noodles.  We had to do it in three rounds.

2.  While noodles are boiling, start shredding all the cheeses and mix together.  You will need a BIG bowl or pan!  Set aside about 1-2 cups of cheese to put on top before cooking.

3.  Chop bacon slices into small strips about 1/4 inch long.  Fry bacon and drain grease on paper towels.  Save the bacon grease in the pan to use when grilling the shrimp.

4.  Begin grilling the shrimp in the bacon grease with cayenne pepper and cajun seasoning to taste.  We use several good shakes of the can.  The grease turns a nice Longhorn Orange color.  (We were tripling the recipe so Mark added olive oil as the bacon grease began to evaporate.)  

5.  Chop shrimp into nice bite size pieces.  

6.  Heat the hatch green chiles and saute in the bacon grease.  Slice chiles into small pieces about 1/8 -1/4 of an inch.

7.  Put all the ingredients into a 13 x 9 inch pan and mix together with your hands.  

8.  Top with remaining cheese, crushed red pepper and then panko bread crumbs.  (We forgot to save any extra cheese so this was topped with an additional 1-2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese.)

9   Bake at 400 F for 45-60 minutes.  It is done when it begins to completely bubble around all the sides of the pan.  One 13 x 9 pan serves approximately 24 people....so 3 pans must have served about 75 people although I did see several nameless people come back for seconds and thirds!