Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Dip

This recipe put me in my place. It taught me, again, to never judge a book by its cover.  I've seen dessert dip recipes all over Pinterest and blogs lately.  I've always thought that they sounded completely gross. I'm not even sure why.  Maybe I didn't think I liked raw cookie dough enough.  Whatever the reason, I was so wrong.

My Husband made this one day and I was very skeptical.  I told him before even trying any, "you're going to end up eating that all yourself."  He kept reassuring me I'd like it.  "Nope, I don't like peanut butter cups" I'd say. "Just try it" he said. "I probably won't like it." I'd say.

Well, guess who ate most of it? This girl.

Much to my surprise, it was good! I honestly don't like peanut butter cups so I would scoop around them just getting the cookie dough & some chocolate chips.  Yum!

Next up, I'd like to try a brownie batter dip or cake batter dip.  I'm still skeptical of a sugar cookie dip only because I imagine it to be too sweet and sugary.  But, I need to remind myself not to judge a book by its cover, or a dip by its peanut butter cups!

Here's a great dip idea, pumpkin dip, for any of you Fall lovers like me!


Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Dip
Recipe from: Shugary Sweets

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar (all we had was dark)
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
8oz cream cheese
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
8 oz package Reese's peanut butter cup minis OR 1 1/2 cups chopped Reeses cups

Directions:
In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.  Whisk in the sugar, heating until all of the sugar dissolves.  Remove from the heat immediately and add the vanilla.  Allow this to cool to room temperature. If it isn't completely cooled, it will affect the end result of the dip.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar and peanut butter until creamy, about 3-4 minutes.  With the mixer on low, add in the brown sugar mixture that has now been cooled to room temperature. Mix until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips and Reese's.  Serve immediately or store in refrigerator until ready to serve.  We enjoyed this with graham crackers.  Animal crackers would also be good! I wasn't a fan of eating it with pretzels. But, give that a try if you think it sounds good!

Monday, September 16, 2013

Blueberry Stuffed French Toast

My Husband's hours changed at the beginning of this Summer and he's now home on the weekends more often.  He usually had to work every other weekend.  Now, he works about every fifth weekend and only has to go IN the office for a few hours and is able to work from home on Sundays.

I know I've talked about having Saturday breakfasts before (here and here) but I really do enjoy having a more involved breakfast on weekends. Whenever we visit my Parents, we usually have a more involved breakfast, too.  More involved doesn't always have to mean time consuming or hard.  To me, a more involved recipe just means that it's something more than you'd make on the weekday mornings when you're rushing off to work, getting kids ready for school, heading to your next class, etc.  It's something more than a breakfast bar or bowl of cereal.  It's something that you have to sit down and enjoy, not something you can eat while waiting for your bus or carpool. 

This recipe was very good! I didn't actually find the recipe, my Husband was looking up the recipe while I was in the kitchen. So, I can't give proper credit.  Please let me know if this sounds like your recipe and I will give you credit! 

I've never made stuffed french toast before, but now that I've been looking at recipes I don't think I did it correctly.  However, I don't really care because these were so yummy.  I really should make them again this weekend. I'm sure my little one would love some blueberries!

Blueberry Stuffed French Toast
Recipe from: Internet search, specific recipe unknown

Ingredients:
Slices of bread
2 eggs, lightly whisked in a bowl
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of sugar
1 tsp vanilla 
Softened cream cheese
1 cup of blueberries
a couple tablespoons of powdered sugar

Directions:
Add the pinch of sugar and the pinch of cinnamon to the egg in a small bowl. With a hand mixer, mix the powdered sugar with the cream cheese, gently add the vanilla and mix well.  Mix in as much or as little powdered sugar as you'd like, depending on how sweet you'd like it. You might want more than a couple tablespoons, you might want less, it's completely up to you. 

Just as if you were making regular, un-stuffed french toast, dip your bread in your lightly beaten egg mixture. I cooked all of my pieces of bread and then set them aside. 

Take a spoonful of the cream cheese mixture and spread on top of one piece of bread.  Top with a few blueberries (again, you can choose more or less depending on your preferences).  Top that with another slice of bread. Gently press down.  

Place the sandwich on your griddle and cook until warmed through and the cream cheese mixture softens even more. 

Serve warm with some additional powdered sugar sprinkled on the top. 

Some of the other recipes I found said to make the complete sandwich first and then grill it.  Not to grill the bread and then grill it again with the filling.