Stuffed Pancakes (cream cheese filling)

What I REALLY wanted to eat was stuffed french toast...but with no bread on hand, my dream was not realistic. And so stuffed pancakes was born...

I know IHOP and other breakfast places do the same type of thing but I couldn't find the recipe online for how to make the DIVINE cream that goes in between the layers.

So I made my own--and I was quite impressed. :)

If you alter this, I would love to know what you do so I can try it out. This was a one time try but I loved the difference it made for my pancakes! :) PLEASE leave a comment if you have something to add or change.

4 oz cream cheese

1 small box of french vanilla pudding (though, I imagine regular vanilla would be fine too--I just had the french vanilla on hand)

1 1/2 C Milk

1/4 C powdered sugar

cinnamon to taste

Mix the pudding and milk together until smooth, add cream cheese and mix thoroughly. Add powdered sugar and cinnamon. Mix through.

Add on your pancakes or french toast while warm and serve with fresh fruit and whipped topping. Store covered in fridge.

***One thing I might change for next time I make this, is to add some whipped topping to make it a tad bit lighter while mixing. So, if you try that let me know!! :)

No Bake Peanut Butter Pie

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup milk
1 (12 ounce) package frozen whipped topping, thawed

1 (8 oz) package whipped topping
2 (9 inch) prepared oreo crusts

Chopped Reeces Peanut butter cups--as many as desired

DIRECTIONS
Beat together cream cheese and confectioners' sugar. Mix in peanut butter and milk. Beat until smooth. Fold in 12 oz. whipped topping.
Spoon into two 9 inch crusts; cover, top with additional whipped topping and chopped peanut butter cups and freeze until firm.

***side note: This is DELICIOUS. Sigh....I could eat this daily, no joke. And the best part is that you can substitute ALL the ingredients for a lower fat/calorie/sugar substitute and it STILL turns out so good. I LOVE that this dessert makes two in one shot. We always eat one the same night and save another for a different night or when we need a last minute dessert. And as untraditional as this may sound, one of these ALWAYS makes it's way to our Thanksgiving feast. :)

Berry Muffins

PREP TIME 15 Min
COOK TIME 25 Min
READY IN 40 Min

Original recipe yield 8 large muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 cup fresh blueberries (or other berries) I used fresh raspberries for this pic.
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon


DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.

To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

***I TRIPLED this recipe and ended up with about 16 BIG muffins and a large pan on mini muffins--I wish I could say we froze them all, but they were so good we gobbled several up right there on the spot, fresh out of the oven. However, the remainder of them went in ziplock baggies and were stored for future breakfasts. These are super easy to heat and eat--15-30 seconds in the micro and they are ready to go!

PB Candy cake

PB Candy cake...

chocolate + peanut butter = pure bliss

I got this from the Kraft foods magazine...gosh, I love that magazine! :) It was originally called Chocolate Peanut Butter Candy Dessert...but really, that sounds totally lame. So, I made up my own name for it. :) This is SO easy--whipped it up in a few minutes and all I had to do was let it sit in the fridge while we went about out day...

12 OREO Cookies, crushed
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 cups cold milk
2 pkg. (4-serving size each) JELL-O Chocolate Instant Pudding
2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, divided
2 Tbsp. hot fudge ice cream topping
1/4 cup candy-coated peanut butter pieces

MIX crushed cookies and butter; press firmly onto bottom of 8-inch square pan.

PLACE peanut butter in large bowl. Gradually add milk, stirring with wire whisk until well blended. Add dry pudding mixes. Beat 2 min. or until well blended. (Mixture will be thick.) Stir in 1 cup of the whipped topping. Spread onto prepared crust; top evenly with remaining 1 cup whipped topping.

REFRIGERATE 3 hours or until set. When ready to serve, microwave fudge topping as directed on package; drizzle over dessert. Sprinkle with candies. Store leftovers in refrigerator.

Original recipe from Kraft.com

Snickers Salad

I know, I know...risen from the dead. I am sorry to have gone M.I.A. for most of the summer...we haven't done a whole lotta cookin'. That's a real confession right there. :) A true confession.

But I am back on track--my meals are planned for the month and I have some exciting things to post here in the next few weeks.

I thought I would start with a barbecue favorite...snickers salad. The perfect blend of the good stuff (fruit) and the good stuff (chocolate). I don't know if this is classified as a fruit salad (side dish) or a tasty dessert...so, we eat it as a side salad (gives us a reason to eat something different for dessert...are we horrible or what?!)

EASY, EASY, EASY...Kind of reminds us of carmel apples because as the snickers sit and soften in the creamy mixture, the carmel starts to "melt" and mix with the apples...yummm...

1 small box of vanilla pudding
1 1/2 cup milk
12 oz. whipped cream
1 bag of snickers miniatures (unwrapped and chopped)
2 granny smith apples and 2 red delicious apples (I know some people only use the granny smith, but I love red delicious...so that's my variation)

In a bowl, mix the pudding mix and milk together beating until smooth. Fold in the whipped cream. Add the chopped snickers and chopped apples pieces and mix together. Let sit in fridge for about 2 hours.

Serve...if you are really okay to share. :)

oh, and side note...make sure to clarify with people that this is not potato salad. It kind of looks like it if you are just glancing at the dishes. :) That's why I add shaved chocolate on top!