Chocolate Silk Pie

I am in love with chocolate cream pie. I have never attempted to make it until now. This recipe is so easy to make that I can't believe I have gone 41 years without making chocolate pie for myself. I used a pre-made crust, which was extremely lame of me. It made the pie slightly sub-standard. I recommend making your own pie crust, you can find a great recipe and tutorial here. 

1 unbaked pastry shell 9 inches

1 jar marshmallow creme  (7 oz)

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup butter, cubed

2 squares (1 oz each) of unsweetened chocolate

1 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped

Topping:

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 Tablespoons confectioners sugar

Line unpricked pastry shell with a double thickness of heavy duty foil. Bake at 450 degrees for 8 minutes. Remove foil, bake 5 minutes longer. Cool.

Meanwhile, in a heavy saucepan, combine the marshmallow creme, chocolate chips, butter, and unsweetened chocolate; cook and stir over low heat until the chocolate is smooth. Cool. Fold in the whipped cream; pour into crust. (I wanted a smoother texture, so I beat this mixture for a few minutes with a mixer.) For topping, in a large mixing bowl, beat cream until it begins to thicken. Add confectioners sugar; beat until stiff peaks form. Spread over filling. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving. Garnish with grated chocolate if desired.
*recipe courtesy of Quick Cooking Magazine

Halloween Rice Krispy Treats

I love rice krispy treats, but I can't eat the ones pre-packaged in the store. They don't taste the same, they have to be made fresh. I love the plain version, but then I made some scotcharoo's and WOW! I was embarrassed at how many I ate, I couldn't stop myself. I will post the scotcharoo recipe at the end.

Now, for the Halloween Rice Krispy Treats, I found this recipe on the Internet. I love peanut butter, chocolate, marshmallows and Reese's Pieces, so this was a no brainer. The kids were excited because I told them they were getting a Halloween treat tonight, they weren't disappointed. These are much richer than the plain version, so don't plan on eating as many as you usually do!

Ingredients:
6 cups Cocoa Krispies
5-1/4 ounces Reese's Pieces
3 Tbl butter
1/3 cup peanut butter
10-1/2 ounces mini marshmallows

Directions:
Grease a 9x13 inch pan. Pour the cereal and Reese's Pieces in a large bowl. Melt butter and peanut butter in a saucepan (I melt in the microwave and then add the marshmallows and microwave again until melted) Add the marshmallows, when almost completely melted, pour over the cereal. Stir quickly until combined, pour into prepared pan. Press down into pan with a plastic bag covering your hand or with waxed paper. Let cool, cut into squares.

Scotcharoo’s

Ingredients

1 cup Karo Light Corn Syrup

1 cup sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

6 cups crispy rice cereal

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup butterscotch chips

Directions:

Cook corn syrup and sugar together in a large pan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Bring mixture to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter; mix well. Add cereal; stir until evenly coated.

Pour into greased 13x9-inch pan and pat into place.

Melt chocolate and butterscotch chips together in saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. Spread over cereal. Cool at least 45 minutes, or until firm. Cut into bars.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Fall is a wonderful time to whip up all those yummy recipes that use pumpkin! As soon as October arrived, my daughter asked me to pick up some canned pumpkin at the grocery store. To my surprise, I couldn't find any at my local grocery store. I asked a manager why they didn't have it and was told that there was some sort of shortage and that they wouldn't be getting any until the end of November...I'm sorry, but that's a little too late. 

My daughter wouldn't give up on her pumpkin cooking dreams and the next day while we were at Target, we found canned pumpkin. She would have put all the cans on the shelf into the cart, but I stopped her at 12. I am amazed at how many pumpkin recipes she finds. She has made pumpkin cinnamon rolls, pumpkin muffins with cream cheese center, pumpkin crepes, and pumpkin pancakes, to name a few. 

I beat her to the pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and used a tasty recipe I found on the Internet. The only change I made was to use whole wheat flour instead of white. I substitute wheat flour in almost all my baking recipes. There are a few reasons I do this: it is healthier so I can eat more (I think that's the way it works,) it doesn't change the flavor of the treat-I really can't tell the difference, and making the treats with wheat flour is the only way my husband will eat them. The color of the cookies might be a little darker because of the wheat flour. This recipe made about 30 cookies. I put them in the freezer to keep them fresh and the kids take out what they want.

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

1 cup light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

2 cups (12-ounce bag) milk chocolate chips, not semisweet

Nonstick cooking spray or parchment paper

Directions:

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick spray or line them with parchment paper.

Using a mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Beat in the white and brown sugars, a little at a time, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time, then mix in the vanilla and pumpkin puree. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Slowly beat the flour mixture into the batter in thirds. Stir in the chips. Scoop the cookie dough by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cookies are browned around the edges. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let them rest for 2 minutes. Take the cookies off with a spatula and cool them on wire racks.