The World's Best Chocolate Silk Pie

This recipe is from A Bountiful Kitchen, and I fully agree with the title! Mom made this for Thanksgiving 2020. (The greatest thing to come out of 2020 so far...ha ha!) Mom did the regular pie shell, but this give the option for a chocolate graham cracker crust too.

Pie Filling:

1 c. butter at room temperature

1 1/2 c. sugar

4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, melted in double boiler, then cooled

2 t. vanilla OR 1/2 t. vanilla and 1 t. almond flavoring

4 eggs

1-9 in. baked pie shell:

1 c. flour

1/4 t. salt

1/2 c. solid shortening

1/4 c. cold water

Chocolate Graham Cookie Crust:

2 c. graham cracker cookie crumbs

1 1/2 c. oreo cookie crumbs (white centers removed)

1/4 c. granulated sugar

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

1. Cream butter in a mixing bowl. If using a stand mixer, use a paddle attachment to cream the butter and sugar, then switch to a whisk attachment to add the remaining ingredients.

2. Gradually beat in the sugar with an electric mixer until light colored and well blended (about 3 minutes).

3. Stir in the thoroughly cooled chocolate, and vanilla extract.

4. Add two eggs, beating 5 minutes on medium speed, then add the remaining two eggs, beat for 5 additional minutes.

5. Using a spatula, scrape the chocolate filling into a cooled, baked pie shell.

6. Refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving.

7. Garnish with fresh whipped cream, chocolate curls if desired.

For Pie Crust:

1. Cut shortening into flour and salt in medium size bowl, until the mixture resembles small pieces the size of peas. Add cold water all at once. Mix with a fork until dough starts to form into a ball, do not over mix. Add additional flour to the dough just until the dough is not sticky. Sprinkle flour out onto a flat surface. Roll the dough out and place in a 9 inch pie plate. Lightly press into the corners of the plate. Crimp the edges. Using a fork, pierce the sides and bottom of the pie dough. Refrigerate crust for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, place oven rack on bottom third of oven and turn oven to 500 degrees.

2. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden. Let cool completely before cooling.

For Oreo Crust:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. In the bowl of a food processor or blender, process the graham crackers and Oreos to make crumbs.

3. In a bowl mix together the cookie crumbs, sugar and butter with your hands. Press the mixture evenly into a 9-inch pie pan. (It will seems like an excessive amount of crumbs, but it will compress down quite a bit with pressure). Cover the crust with plastic wrap and top with another 9-inch pan, pressing quite firmly to make a smooth surface. Bake the crust for 15 minutes.

4. Remove the crust from the oven and let cool completely before filling.

See www.abountifulkitchen.com for more notes and tips.

Peanut Butter Bars

Peanut Butter Bars

 Posting for Aubree :)

Ingredients:

Cookie layer:

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 large eggs

2 ½ cups peanut butter (divided)

2 cups old fashioned oats

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

Frosting:

½ cup butter, softened

¼ cup milk

2 tsp vanilla

4 Tbsp cocoa powder

3 cups powdered sugar

Instructions:

1.     Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.     In a large bowl cream together butter, sugar, and brown sugar

3.     Add vanilla, eggs, and 1 cup peanut butter. Stir all together.

4.     Add oats, flour, baking soda and salt and mix until combined.

5.     Spray baking sheet with non stick cooking spray, and spread dough out evenly on baking sheet

6.     Bake for 15 minutes or until edges are golden brown.

7.     As soon as it comes out of the oven drop spoonfuls of the remaining peanut butter on top of the bars and spread when it begins to melt.

8.     Let cool until peanut butter has set up. (The peanut butter will not be glossy anymore, you can also put them in the fridge for a minute to help this)

9.     While cooling, mix the frosting ingredients together and spread on top of bars.

10. Cut into squares and enjoy!

Lunch Lady Brownies

Stop what you're doing and make these... share with a friend, or just yourself. I'm not a brownie fan but lunch lady brownies are a different story. Fudgy with frosting mmm... These are nice if you need something quick because you don't need them to be cool to frost and it's really such a simple recipe! Think of this as a more simple, mini Texas Sheet Cake ;-)

Batter:
1 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Chocolate Frosting:
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup milk (higher fat is better)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups powdered sugar
1/8 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan and line with parchment paper to hang out two edges to be able to lift brownies out, grease again.
In a mixing bowl, add melted butter and cocoa powder. Using a paddle attachment, mix until smooth. Add the flour, sugar and salt. Beat together until combined. Add eggs and vanilla. The mixture will be very thick.
Pour batter into prepared baking dish and spread evenly (it will spread more evenly in the oven so don't work too hard)
Bake for 25-30 minutes. Do not overbake!

Make frosting by combining all ingredients, mix until smooth.
Let brownies sit for 15 minutes and then frost while still warm. Frosting will get warm and melty and delicious. Let cool completely before cutting and serving. Enjoy!

Cookie Dough Rice Krispy Treats

Ingredients

(found this recipe on Pinterest and then made a couple changes, they turned out delicious)

Krispy Treats

• 4 T. butter
• 6 cups mini marshmallows
• 4 cups Rice Krispies cereal
• 1/4 t. salt

Put butter in sauce pan. Cook on medium heat until it starts to brown and smells nutty (don't overcook or the butter will become bitter). Turn to low heat, add salt and marshmallows. Stir continually until marshmallows are melted. Turn off heat and add Rice Krispies. Stir until all combined. Press into a greased 9x13 pan. 

Cookie Dough Layer

• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup milk
• 2 tsp vanilla
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cups mini chocolate chips

Cream together butter and sugar in mixer. Add milk and vanilla. In a separate bowl combine flour and salt. Add flour mixture to butter mixture and mix until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Smooth cookie dough over Rice Krispies and refrigerate while you make ganache. 

Milk Chocolate Ganache

• 7 oz milk chocolate chips (I used half semi sweet and half milk)
• ½ cup heavy cream

Heat heavy cream in microwave for approximately 45-60 seconds. Pour hot cream over chocolate chips. Let sit a minute or two and then stir until combined. Smooth ganache over cookie dough layer. 

Refrigerate for 1-2 hours or put in freezer until ganache is set before cutting and then try to not eat the whole pan! 

"Macagdoches Cake"

Like a true recipe blog, we need a long ridiculous story before the actual recipe. Mom and I were curious about where the name of this cake came from and why sometimes it's called Texas Sheet cake. We compared several family recipes to see if there was a difference but they all end up being about the same. Well it turns out there is a town in Texas called Nacagdoches. So the cake is named after the town, or called Texas Sheet cake, but somehow over years of recipe telephone, it ended up with an "M" instead of the original "N" of Nacagdoches. If you try to find it anywhere online now, it will only be referred to at Texas Sheet Cake. Maybe some neighbors stabbed each other over the M vs N and they decided to leave it as Texas Sheet Cake. Reminds me of that authentic, delicious french cookie recipe that was passed down to Pheobe ;-) Another note, I'm going to write as Grandma had it written down, so don't shoot the messenger. Ok, onto the cake!

1 Cube margarine
1/2 Cup vegetable oil
1 Cup water
Pinch of salt
3 Tbs cocoa Power
1 tsp vanilla
2 Cups sugar
2 Cups flour
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 Cup buttermilk

Combine margaine, oil, water, salt and cocoa powder in a pot and bring to a boil. Add all other ingredients and mix. Pour into a greased and floured jelly roll pan. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 15 minutes. While baking, prepare the frosting.

1/4 Cup margarine
3 1/2 Tbs cocoa powder
1 Cup walnuts
5 Tbs milk
1 pkg powdered sugar (for the younger folks, that's 1 lb)
1/2 tsp vinegar

Melt margarine and cocoa together. Add all other ingredients and pour onto cake while still hot.

No Bake Keto Chocolate Crunch Bars

I got this recipe from Lana and they are the best healthy chocolate treat to keep in the freezer for when you need something sweet.


INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips of your choice (if you want a keto friendly sugar free kind, look for Lily's brand which is sweetened with stevia)
1 cup almond butter (can also use peanut butter)
1/2 cup sticky sweetener of choice (pure maple syrup or agave nector)
1/4 cup coconut oil
3 cups nuts and seeds of choice (almonds, cashews, pepitas, sunflower seeds, pecans)


DIRECTIONS
1. Line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a microwave-safe bowl or stovetop, combine your chocolate chips, almond butter, sticky sweetener, and coconut oil and melt until combined.
3. Add your nuts/seeds and mix until fully combined. Pour the keto crunch bar mixture into the lined baking dish and spread out using spatula. Refrigerate or freeze until firm.

Nutella No Bake Cookies

Nutella No Bake Cookies

These were the best no bake cookies I have ever had and now I will never make them again because I ate too many to even admit! I doubled the recipe and only used 3 cups of sugar instead of 4. I also boiled them closer to 2 minutes and they set up so perfectly!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup Nutella
• 3 cup quick oats

DIRECTIONS:

1. Over medium heat, cook sugar, cocoa, milk and butter. Boil one minute. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla, salt, peanut butter, Nutella and oats. Stir until combined. Drop by teaspoon on wax paper and cool. Refrigerate. Eat. Repeat.

Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

Taste of Home

Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

10-12 ServingsPrep: 15 min. Bake: 50 min. + cooling

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 1-1/2 cups sugar, divided
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup 2% milk
• 1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

• In a large bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese and 1-1/4 cups of
• sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine the
• flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture
• alternately with milk and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips.
• Pour into a greased 9-in. springform pan. Combine the pecans,
• cinnamon and remaining sugar; sprinkle over batter.
• Bake at 350° for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes. Carefully run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen. Cool completely before cutting. Yield: 10-12 servings. 
• © Taste of Home 2014

This is my favorite breakfast dessert! 

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
from thecapitolbaker.com

Ingredients
3/4 cup sugar (I did 1/2 c. and sprinkled the top with sugar to make a yummy crust)
3 large bananas, mashed
3/4 cup applesauce (or 3/4 cup vegetable oil) (I did half coconut oil half applesauce)
2 eggs
1 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 chopped nuts (optional)
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

Heat the oven to 325 degrees F.  Grease one large loaf pan or 3-4 small loaf pans. (I made two of the size bread pans mom uses and it was perfect)

In a large bowl mix together the sugar, bananas, applesauce (or oil), and eggs.  Mix in the remaining ingredients.  Pour the batter into the pan (or pans).

Bake for 50-60 minutes (check for doneness with toothpick).  Let cool for 10 minutes then loosen the sides of the loaf from the pan and remove.  Let cool completely on wire rack before slicing.

Chocolate Frosting

Chocolate Frosting
(got this recipe off of my friend's Brittany blog, and I really love it on cupcakes and then refrigerate the cupcakes!)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter softened
• 3/4 cup melted chocolate chips, cooled
• 1 to 1.5 cups powdered sugar
• tsp. vanilla
• milk if needed

Directions: Beat butter until smooth, add melted and cooled (though still liquid) chocolate chips. Blend in powdered sugar to desired taste and consistency. Stir in Vanilla. If too stiff add small amounts of milk to reach desired consistency. For a lighter consistency beat vigorously.

Oreo Balls

This is from a friend in my ward, Melody Nash.  These are delicious and dangerous!!

1- package of original Oreo cookies (not double stuff)

1- block of cream cheese, really softened

1/3- package of double chocolate Giradhelli chocolate block (Sam's Club) 

(if you don't use this chocolate it won't taste the same or set up the same, and I found out the hard way that it kinda matters)

1- package of  white choclate chips or Wilton's colored candy melts

First take all the oreo's and put them in a food processor or a blender and blend until you get a fine black powder (no big chunks). If using a blender you can't do the package at one time so just add 7-8 at a time pour into a bowl and then repeat until all blended. Then take your block of really softened cream cheese and mix well in a bowl till you get a black mushy texture. Then pinch off a piece and roll into little one inch balls and set aside. Now, melt your chocolate in the microwave just like the package says too. Place one ball at a time into melted chocolate, spoon chocolate over balls until completely covered then place chocolate covered ball on wax paper. Repeat until all of the Oreo balls are covered in chocolate. Let set for 30 minutes, chocolate should be hardened by then if not wait 10 more minutes or so. Then melt the white chocolate and add blue food coloring mix fast and well. Then place white chocolate mixture into a plastic baggy, seal it, cut of a 'tiny' corner and drizzle white chocolate over the chocolate covered balls.

Hint: because of the chemical reaction the food coloring has with the white chocolate Do NOT use RED food coloring, it makes the white chocolate set up so fast that you won't be able to get it from the bowl to the bag fast enough believe me I've tried. Ok that being said you can use blue, which works the best or green but again because of the chemical reaction the 'green' "does not set up" unless you refrigerate them for 30 minutes after. It's weird I know but it is what it is...:)

BEST COOKIES EVER!

Double Chocolate Chewies

from the Cake Mix Doctor

1 package Devil's Food Cake Mix

1/3 c. water

1/4 c. butter, melted

1 egg

1 1/2 c. chocolate chips

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes

*I like to use a dark chocolate cake mix. The cookies come out darker and richer and deliciouser!!

Chocolate Nothing Bundt Cake

Nothing Bundt Cake (Copycat)

Aaron's 30th Birthday!

1 package Devil's Food Cake Mix

1 3 oz. instant chocolate pudding

1 c. sour cream

4 eggs

1/2 c. water

1/2 c. oil

1 1/2 c. chocolate chips

Mix first six ingredients. Add chocolate chips. Put in greased bundt pan. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes. Cool for 20 minutes. Refirgerate over night.

Frosting

1 package cream cheese, softened

1/2 c. butter, softened

3-4 c. powdered sugar

2 t. vanilla

Mix all ingredients in mixer until smooth. Pipe onto cake