No Bake Chocolate Mousse Pie

This is an easy, no bake recipe. You can use a pre-made pie crust, and the rest is simple! 

Graham Cracker Pie Crust*

8 oz Cream Cheese, softened
1/4 cup Sugar
2 cups Milk Chocolate Chips
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
8 oz Whipped Topping

Combine cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl. Mix until smooth and sugar is dissolved.

In a glass bowl, place chocolate chips and heavy cream and microwave 30 seconds at the time until melted. Whisk until smooth and combined. Let cool to room temperature.

Pour chocolate mixture into cream cheese mixture. Mix until combined. Add whipped topping and mix on low until combined and fluffy. 

Pour into pie crust. Refrigerate for several hours or do a quick set in the freezer.

Garnish with more whipped topping and a few chocolate chips. 

* For homemade pie crust...

1 1/2 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs
1/4 cup Sugar
4 T melted Butter

Combine and press into the bottom of a pie pan/plate. 

Restaurant Dinner Rolls

Since I've decided to face my fear of baking breads and rolls, I wanted to make bread like some restaurants serve. Since my son was very little, his favorite is Outback's Black bread served on its own cutting board with a knife and cup of butter. I used the recipe for Dark & Soft Restaurant Dinner Rolls Recipe | King Arthur Baking. <---- Click for the recipe.

It called for straight molasses, but we don't like the strong flavor, so I substituted brown sugar. It has a milder molasses flavor. I didn't have the ratio quite right, but they turned out great. I found out I needed to double the amount of brown sugar when substituting for the molasses. I'll fix that next time. 

Ready to rest for an hour or so.

Second rise

The hubby ate these! 

This recipe made 12 large rolls! 

I'll be making these again! 

Dark & Soft Restaurant Dinner Rolls Recipe | King Arthur Baking. <---- Click for the recipe.

Stuffed French Loaf

I've made these for Wednesday Night Suppers at church, and I've made them for Bible School. They are always a big hit. 

Stuffed French Loaf

1 loaf French Bread

8 oz bulk Sausage
1/3 cup Onion, chopped
1 Garlic Clove, minced
1 Egg
3 t Dijon Mustard
2 T Parsley, chopped
¾ cup Mozzarella Cheese
½ cup Parmesan Cheese, grated
Salt & Black Pepper, to taste
Butter, softened
Garlic Salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice the bread in half lengthwise and slightly hollow out each half, leaving 1/2 inch thick layer of bread. Place the breadcrumbs in container of a blender or food processor and process for 15 to 20 seconds or until fine.

Cook sausage, onion and garlic in a heavy skillet over medium heat until meat is brown; drain. In a large bowl, combine breadcrumbs, meat mixture, egg, 3 tsp mustard, parsley, cheeses, salt and pepper. Spoon meat mixture into the cavity of each bread half. Place bread halves together. Brush with softened butter, and sprinkle with garlic salt. Wrap loaf in foil. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until heated through. Using bread knife, cut into 1-inch thick slices.

Note: Serve with your favorite hot mustard or horseradish…

Option: Omit the bread altogether... sub 1/4 cup of Parmesan flavored breadcrumbs for the fresh breadcrumbs and cook the meat mixture in muffin tins and serve as mini loaves.

Loaded Hashbrown Casserole

I bought a big box of dehydrated hashbrowns from Idaho Potato Company. They had 65 servings in one box for under $20! I've divided them into serving portions and vacuum sealed them for storage. Today, I made a hashbrown casserole with all the "fixins." I hope you try it! Enjoy! 

Loaded Hashbrown Casserole

32 ounces Hash Browns, frozen shredded, defrosted
½ cup Melted Butter
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup (or cream of mushroom)
1 cup Sour Cream
½ cup Onion, finely chopped

1 8oz packet Velveeta Cheese Sauce
1 cup Cheddar Cheese, grated and divided

4 pieces cooked bacon crumbled

1/4 tsp Garlic Powder

Salt and Pepper, to taste

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, setting aside half the cheese for topping. 
Place in a 9x13 greased pan and top with cheese. Bake for 45 minutes or until bubbling hot and golden brown on top. 

Cornbread Pudding

 

Cornbread Pudding

I wanted some cornbread pudding, but I didn't have exactly what the recipe called for. I came up with a second version, and it's even better than the first! Yay!

1 can Corn, drained
1 Onion, chopped
2 Eggs
1 cup Heavy Cream
1/2 stick Butter, melted
1 package Jiffy Cornbread Mix
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large bowl, combine the first five ingredients. Stir in cornbread mix and seasonings. Pour into a greased 13X9 baking dish.

Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 40-45 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Serve warm. 

Miniature Pineapple Upside Down Cakes

Miniature Pineapple Upside Down Cakes

2 cans (20 oz. each) Dole pineapple slices

1/3 cup butter, melted

2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1 package (18.25 oz.) yellow or pineapple flavored cake mix
9 maraschino cherries, cut in half 

Drain pineapple, reserve juice.

Stir together the butter and brown sugar. Evenly divide sugar mixture into 18 (2/3 cup each) muffin cups* coated with cooking spray.

Lightly press well-drained pineapple slices into sugar mixture. Place cherries in the center of the pineapple, slice side up.

Prepare cake mix according to package directions, replacing amount of water called for with reserved juice. Pour 1/3 cup batter into each muffin cup.

Bake in a preheated 350 oven 20 to 25 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes. Loose edges and invert onto cookie sheet.

*Note - If muffin cup is smaller than 2/3 cup, it will not be large enough to hold pineapple slice and batter. I used some small round ramekins to make mine fit perfectly!

These mini cakes are moist and delicious! Everybody was coming in the kitchen asking me what smelled so delicious! They won't sit around long no matter what occasion you make them for this year!

Chicken Caesar Pizza Rollups

This is an easy recipe for a weeknight meal. I had made my big batch of pizza dough two weeks ago and put two rolls of dough in the freezer. I pulled one and made this homemade and quick rollup supper! 

Chicken Caesar Pizza Rollups

Pizza dough* 
1 1/2 cups shredded chicken breast
1/4 cup Cardini's Caesar Dressing, more if desired
1 cup Mozzarella Cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
1/2 teaspoon dried Basil

1/2 tespoon garlic powder
Salt & Pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400°F. 

Shape the dough or unroll if using store bought into a rectangle. Spoon dressing over dough. Top with chicken, cheese and seasonings. 

Add dressing and chicken

                             Add cheese and seasonings

Sliced and placed on a cookie sheet

Roll up the dough from short end to short end. You can wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour to help with cutting the roll into pieces. Slice and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or foil. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15-20 minutes or until dough is done and golden brown.

* For Dough recipe Click Here! or use a pizza dough from the store. 

Red Velvet Cake topped with No Bake Cheesecake

My hubby decided that the no bake cheesecake was perfect, but not sturdy enough for the Red Velvet Cheesecake. So, he decided that he wanted a sheet cake topped with the no bake cheesecake! It worked wonderfully! He has another new favorite to add to the list! 

Judy's Red Velvet Cake* 

1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons cocoa
3 tablespoons red food coloring
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon soda
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs. Mix well. Mix cocoa and food coloring in a cup. Add to eggs and sugar. Add vanilla. Sift flour and salt. Add, alternating with buttermilk. Add soda and vinegar. Let foam and FOLD into mixture. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

For a sheet cake... Grease and flour a 13x9 pan and add cake mixture. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool cake completely. 

*For a quick shortcut, you can use a cake mix. (It's just not as good!) 

No Bake Cheesecake 

8 ounces Cream Cheese (softened)
1/4 cup Sugar

Jell-O No Bake Classic Cheesecake Dessert Kit (filling packet only)

Place cream cheese in a large bowl and, using an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy. Add sugar and mix until combined and sugar is dissolved.

Set cream cheese mixture aside. In another bowl, mix the milk and no bake filling mix together following box directions. Add the cream cheese mixture and no bake mix together whisk or beat until thickened. Refrigerate 30 minutes to 1 hour if mixture is still thin.

Spread cheesecake mixture evenly over the cake layer and refrigerate until set. Cut and serve. Add red sprinkles if desired for a Valentine's Day treat! 

Homemade Pita Pockets

The yeast rolls I made turned out so well. I got really brave and researched pita pockets! I'll be making them again. I think it turned out pretty well. They could have puffed a little better, but these will do for the first time making them! 

1 tablespoon instant yeast
1 ¼ cups warm water
1 teaspoon salt
3 to 3 ½ cups (426 to 497 g) all-purpose flour (see note)


In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the water, yeast, salt and 1 1/2 cups flour. Using a dough hook, beat to form a soft batter-like consistency. Add additional flour 1 cup at a time until the dough starts to come together. Scape down the sides if necessary.  Add enough flour to form a soft dough that clears the sides of the bowl but is still slightly tacky to the touch and knead for 4-5 minutes with an electric mixer or 8-9 minutes by hand until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide the dough into six equal pieces. Roll the dough pieces into a ball shape. Lightly cover the balls of dough and let them rest for 10-15 minutes. Roll each dough ball into a thin disc, about 1/4-inch thick, keeping an even thickness. That helps the dough puff in the oven. Let the pita rounds rest, lightly covered, for 30-40 minutes until they are slightly puffed.

Well, the one on the left is a little wop sided. 

While the pita rounds are resting, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  

When the pitas have rested, gently flip two of them onto a large, rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Again, make sure you flip them so the side that was resting on the counter is now facing up. Spritz with water, if needed.

Bake the pitas for 10 minutes, until they are starting to brown very lightly on top and they have puffed several inches high. Don't get discouraged if your pitas don't all puff. I had two that didn't puff very well because they stuck to the paper where I had them resting. Totally my fault. The baked and cooled pitas can be frozen or stored covered at room temperature for 1-2 days.

Mini Pecan Pies or Tartlets

Thank goodness that I hid some pecans in the freezer this year! I had some orders for these delicious little tarts. Valentine's Day is a perfect time to splurge on these yummy bite size morsels!

One Pie Crust, cut into 2 inch rounds with a cookie cutter, 24 total

Filling:
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons all purpose flour
1 1/4 cups light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups pecan pieces
2 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Place pie rounds into a lightly greased mini muffin pan.
In a large bowl, combine sugar, flour, corn syrup, vanilla and eggs. Beat well. Stir in pecans and butter. Spoon into pie rounds. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. With the tip of a sharp knife, pull the edge of a round up and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Store in a sealed container.

No Bake Cherry Cheesecake

I've made many cheesecakes from scratch and had good luck and bad. I've also made many no bake versions with the same results. This time I decided to combine a few parts of both. The results were as close to a homemade cheesecake as possible! The hubby said, "It's perfect!" That is saying something, knowing his sweet tooth! 

Graham Cracker Crust
8 ounces Cream Cheese (softened)
1/4 cup Sugar

Jell-O No Bake Classic Cheesecake Dessert Kit

Cherry Pie Filling (1 can)


Place cream cheese in a large bowl and, using an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy. Add sugar and mix until combined and sugar is dissolved.

Set cream cheese mixture aside in another bowl. Mix the milk and no bake filling mix together following box directions. Add the cream cheese mixture and no bake mix together. Stir to combine.

Spread cheesecake mixture evenly over prepared graham cracker crust.

Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight. Slice and top with cherry pie filling.