Mint Brownie Cookie Pizza

 Ingredients:

1 box brownie mix

3/4 C shortening

2 eggs

1 package mint chocolate chips 

1 package andes mint pieces (or just chop some bars up)

2 Tbls coconut oil

Preheat oven to 350*. Mix brownie mix, shortening and eggs until it forms a soft dough. It will be very dry at first, keep mixing! Now, I baked mine on a pizza stone because I wanted a crispy crust. A regular cookie sheet will do just fine. Roll dough into one big ball. Cover stone/cookie sheet with parchment. Shape dough into a flat round circle on parchment about 1/2-2/3 of the size you want it to be. It will spread while baking. Bake for about 15 minutes, give or take due to size of cookie. You want the top to look dry and barely begin to crack, then it's done!

While your brownie pizza is baking, melt your mint chips with the coconut oil over double boiler until melted, then set aside. When pizza is done and mostly cooled spread your melted chips all over like pizza sauce. Sprinkle with Andes bits. Let cool until set. Slice & Serve! This is a very easy, fun, rich dessert for St. Patricks Day or even Christmas.

Peanut Butter Ball Brownies

We always made peanut butter balls growing up and they were so good! 

They also took a little bit of time standing over the stove dipping each one in chocolate.

 This recipe is nice because it takes a little time but you don't have to stand over the stove dipping each ball. 

I made my favorite brownies (boxed will do just fine) and then added 

the peanut butter ball topping:

1 stick butter soft/partially melted

about 1 cup peanut butter

1 3/4 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Mix these together and spread on cooled brownies. 

**Some people would add crushed graham crackers to the peanut butter mix for texture, 

I don't because I love the creaminess of this recipe!

Topping:

Then I melted a bag of chocolate chips (any kind, milk, semi-sweet, dark, etc.) I used dark

with about 3-4 Tbls. butter 

and about 3-4 Tbls. of milk

Gently spread chocolate over peanut butter mix and let set up in refrigerator. 

Cut into 1" bites and serve on mini cupcake liners for a sweet treat. 

Valentine's 2013

 If you start your swirl in the middle of the cupcake instead of the outside, it looks like a rosette!

Cream filled strawberries... always a hit 

 Cute packaging, found at Wal-mart.

 Mousse swirled, raspberry topped brownies.

Cute packaging found at Dan's for about a quarter!

I was asked to teach another class on Valentine's desserts, and again it was so much fun! While I was walking into the building, the tray of cupcakes slipped out of my hand. Some fell on the plastic wrap, some fell on the ground. We saved what we could, re-frosted some and put the rest in the kitchen to throw away later. Funny note* some ladies liked them so much they decided they would eat the ones that fell on the asphalt anyway, I suppose that 's a good sign :) 

Some ladies asked me about using milk/dark chocolate mousse instead of white in the strawberries. We tried it and it was delicious. It tasted a bit like a chocolate covered strawberry without the crunch!

Chocolate Mousse:

1 c melted chocolate chips cooled but still liquid, any flavor

1 8 oz package cream cheese (may use only 4 oz to make it lighter)

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla 

8 oz container cool whip

-Melt chips in double boiler, set aside to cool. Beat cheese, sugar & vanilla in separate bowl until creamy. When chocolate is cooled gently stir in to cheese mixture. Fold in 1/2 of the cool whip until combined. Then fold in the rest until completely combined. Then mix with beaters. You can use right away or set in fridge until ready to use. 

*This is also great in cakes, fruit, alone etc... enjoy!

We also made a raspberry frappe!
1/2 gallon raspberry sherbet
1/4-1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream
1-2 cups 7up
fresh raspberries for topping
 *Mix together in large bowl with beaters until milkshake consistency, top with berries.

I hope everyone has had an amazing Valentine's Day!

Mint Choco Chip Sandwiches

I made these for family night last week and they were delicious!

Cake mix cookies, (recipe here) and mint chocolate chip mousse.

Basic mousse:

1 8oz pkg cream cheese softened

1 8oz container cool whip

1 Cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

approximately 1 cup melted chips (any flavor) cooled slightly- too hot will cook the cheese!

* I prefer Guittard or Ghiradelli

Mix cream cheese, vanilla and powdered sugar until smooth.

Then fold in cool whip.

Slowly poor in some of the melted chips and fold in.

Poor in remaining chips and fold until incorporated.

The mix with blender until smooth.

This will be thick!

For this cookie, I used mint chips for the mousse and then chopped up regular chocolate chips and mixed in after mousse was made. 

The mousse should be refrigerated or can be frozen if not using right away.

You can use this with cakes, cookies, cupcakes, brownies, fruit, etc...

Ladies Night

Bite sized desserts are easy and you don't get caught with your mouth full as easy :)

Recipes from- Hershey's Best Brownies, Pampered Chef's Chocolate Silk Mousse, Costco Raspberries....mmm.

Mini Cheese cakes: FIlling-1 pkg cream cheese, 1 egg, 2/3 c sugar
Crust- 3/4 pkg crushed graham crackers, 4 T butter melted
1 can cherry pie filling (or fruit of choice)

Strawberries to go along with the colors.

I had some girl friends from my hometown over one night to catch up, 

the food was great, the company was great, it was a blast!

Lucky Brownies

Brownies, covered in Chocolate Ganache

Filled with Milk Chocolate Mousse

Topped with a fondant clover.... they were sooooooooo good!

Chocolate Blossom

A Brownie Cake!!! I made two pans of brownies and then sandwiched them together with hazelnut filling. It's covered in a thin layer of buttercream frosting, then fondant and decorated with chocolate!