Secret Recipe Club: Apple Pie Bread

I've been a little absent from my blog lately.  Once my husband left for his deployment, I started working out and lost 11 pounds.  It is hard to lose 11 pounds when you're perusing food on the internet all the time.

                      

However, I signed up for the Secret Recipe Club this month, so that I at least had one exciting dish to look forward to.  I was assigned IlonasKitchen.  I found out that she is from New Jersey too and I had a blast looking through all the recipes finding delicious ones like Pork Carnitas, Creamy Goat Cheese Pasta with Lemon and Spinach, and for dessert Strawberry Cake Batter Blondies.  Every recipe sounded delicious, but I settled for Apple Pie Bread.  I love quickbreads and am going through a Honeycrisp apple phase, so it sounded like the perfect pairing.

Apple Pie Bread
slightly adapted from IlonasKitchen
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
 2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups chopped, peeled apple (about 4 medium)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon all spice
1/4 teaspoon ginger

Topping
2 tablespoons brown sugar
pecans

Directions
 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of an 9x5x3-inch loaf pan; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Beat in  both sugars until combined. Add buttermilk and baking powder; beat until combined. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until combined. Add flour and salt; beat until combined. Stir in apple and spices.
3. Spoon batter into prepared pan; spread evenly. Sprinkle brown sugar and nuts over the batter. Bake for 60 to 65 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
4. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

The second you bite into this bread you just want to say yum.  It has all the comfort qualities of apple pie in a quick bread.  I just eyeballed my apples and I think I had more apples than batter, but it paid off in the long run.  Each bite was bursting with apples and flavor.  The only thing that the original recipe called for that I wish I would have done was add the pecans to the batter.  I loved the crunch that they added to the top layer, but I think it would have been better if they were throughout the batter as well.  I guess it just depends if the people that you're feeding it to like nuts.  I can't wait to use this quick bread for get togethers in the future.

Secret Recipe Club: Risotto Stuffed Mushrooms

It seems like just yesterday was the October post date for Secret Recipe Club, and here it is already November.  For this blog swap, I received Kate's blog: Kitchen Trial and Error.  The question leading into the name on her blog was: Isn't everything in the kitchen trial and error?  I feel like that is still very true for me!  I still cross my fingers hoping everything turns out edible almost every time I turn on the oven.








I told myself that I was going to look for a soup recipe for this month.  Kate has some great sounding soups (32 soups in total on her blog), like: Vegetarian Wild Rice Soup, the amazing looking Toasted Orzo Chicken Soup, and Tomato and Meatball soup.  All sound perfect for fall.

However, in looking at a soup on her blog, one of the "You might also like" pictures was for Risotto Stuffed Mushrooms.  I couldn't go back to soup once I read about this recipe.  My husband has been deployed for a month and I haven't made one stuffed mushroom dish (he isn't a fan).  I knew that I had to make this dish.

Risotto Stuffed Mushrooms
barely adapted from Kitchen Trial and Error
Ingredients
Risotto
1 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 leek, white and light green parts, thinly sliced
5 cups low sodium vegetable broth
1 1/4 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup marsala wine
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
juice from half a lemon (about 2 tablespoons)
salt & pepper
Mushrooms
2 portobello mushrooms, cleaned and gills removed
about 1 cup leftover risotto
2 tablespoons of mozzarella cheese


Directions
1) Melt the butter over medium heat in a dutch oven. Add the leeks and saute until slightly soft, about 3 minutes.
2) In a separate pan, warm the broth over medium high heat.
3) Add the rice to the leeks and stir and cook until translucent, about 2 minutes.
4) Add the marsala wine and stir to deglaze the pan. cook until mostly evaporated 1-2 minutes.
5) Preheat your oven to 400F and clean the mushrooms. put the mushrooms on a sheet tray upside down (gill side up) and drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt & pepper and Italian seasonings and bake about 15 minutes until softened.
6) Add about 1cup of broth to the rice. stir to incorporate. cook until the liquid is absorbed. continue adding broth, stirring to incorporate, and cooking until the liquid is absorbed until creamy, about 30 minutes.
7) Add the frozen peas and mix in. Mix in the parmesan cheese. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand a couple minutes. Once it is done standing, add in the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.
8) When the mushrooms are done, spoon the risotto into the caps and top with cheese. bake an additional 10 minutes, until the cheese is melted.   

 

Like Kate says, people either love mushrooms or hate them, however if you love mushrooms, this is a great stuffed mushroom recipe to try.  The mushroom and the risotto pair nicely to make a great meal.  I may have added more marsala wine than recommended above, and could taste the extra that I had put in.  This is a great dish and I think would make a great special occasion dish for anyone who is vegetarian.

 



Secret Recipe Club: Granola Cookies

My husband deploys for six months starting tomorrow.   We've known he was going to deploy for awhile, but we just found out the day that he was leaving less than a week ago.  Needless to say...things have been stressful at our house.  I was thankful for the Secret Recipe Club this month because it gave me some respite from the stress and allowed me some time just to think about baking for awhile.



This month's assignment was Love and Flour, written by LeAndra.  I actually found my recipe by going and looking at things pinned from Love and Flour on Pinterest.  It helped me focus my eyes onto this great Granola Cookie recipe.  Please go check out all the delicious desserts on Love and Flour, and also check out her Oktoberfest series.  All the recipes look delicious.

Granola Cookies
from Love and Flour
Ingredients

2¼ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1¼ cups light brown sugar, packed

¾ cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups granola

1 cup chocolate chips

½ cup dried cranberries or cherries

 

Directions

1) Cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, about 1 to 2 minutes.

2) Beat in the eggs and the vanilla until the mixture is well incorporated and smooth.

3) Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.

4) Now beat in the flour mixture until incorporated.

5) Stir in the granola, chocolate chips and dried cranberries.

6) Drop the dough by rounded tablespoons onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.

7) Bake at 350 degrees for 10-14 minutes until golden brown along the edges and puffed in the centers.

8) Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

 

I have this amazing cherry vanilla granola that I buy in stores and it worked perfectly for these cookies.  I love cookies with little surprises in them and between the crunchiness of the granola, the sweetnes of the chocolate, and the tanginess of the cranberries, these cookes are the perfect balance of everything good in a cookie. 

 

Please browse through all the other recipes made this month.  I plan to cook a lot while my husband is gone to pass the time, so please check back if you have a chance. 

 

 

Secret Recipe Club: Samoa Bars

Confession: I was assigned Ewa's blog Delishhh for the Secret Recipe Club this month and I spent more time looking at the pictures than reading the actual recipes.  The pictures are so gorgeous and in all honesty, my pictures don't even do this dessert justice, so please go to her blog and eat with your eyes.  You'll thank me for telling you to go there.

This month, while I was looking at Ewa's pictures, I had a hard time deciding.  Ewa has a passion for healthy, simple, delicious, and fun recipes.  While I set out to find a healthy and simple recipe, I ended up getting hooked on a delicious and fun one.

In my mind, the problem with Girl Scout Cookies is that they are only available at certain times of the year. Sometimes you just have a day where you really need those delicious cookies, and they are totally out of season.  I honestly had that kind of month where I needed BOXES of those cookies, so these Samoa Bars were screaming at me.  I know, I know, it isn't Girl Scout season.  Actually it is about 6 months from Girl Scout season.  Luckily, the Keebler Elves saved my life and provided me with Coconut Dreams (aka Samoas) and Sandies (aka Trefoils or however you spell them).

Samoa Bars
barely adapted  from Delishhh
Ingredients
Crust
4 tablespoons of melted butter
1 box (9 oz) of shortbread cookies

Filling
2 boxes of Samoa Girl Scout cookies (or Coconut Dreams from Keebler)
16 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup jarred caramel sauce


Directions
1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease a 9 by 9 baking pan.  Line the pan with parchment paper, allowing the excess to hang over the sides of the pan.
2) For the crust: Pulse the shortbread cookies in a food processor until the cookies resemble the texture of bread crumbs.  Melt the better, and pulse with the crumbs to incorporate.  Press the mixture into the baking pan and bake for 12 minutes until golden brown.
3) Melt the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl by microwaving for 30-second increments and stirring after each increment, until completely melted.
4) Pour the chocolate on the shortbread crust, reserving 2 tablespoons.
5) Pulse coconut cookie until they are 1/2 inch pieces.  Press Samoas on top of the chocolate layer.
6) Sprinkle coconut on top of the cookie layer, and then layer caramel sauce and chocolate drizzle.
7) Refrigerate 30 minutes to set.

These bars are incredible.  Ewa has a recipe for caramel on her blog, but mine turned out horribly wrong and I ended up having to cheat and use the jarred caramel.  I love how these bars have Samoa cookies in them, but then the bar themselves is a bar-like form of the cookie.  These are definitely fun and delicious.  I can't wait to try them with the real Girl Scout Cookies.  Check out what all the other swap participants made for this swap.

Secret Recipe Club: Peach Mango Shrimp Quinoa

This month for Secret Recipe Club, I was assigned Food Ramblings.  Food Ramblings is written by Elizabeth, who writes to hold herself accountable to eating better, cooking more, getting in shape and losing weight by writing her blog. 




Elizabeth's blog has a lot of great recipes, such as:  French Onion Soup Casserole, Grilled Ratatouille Pasta, and Pretzel Salted Caramel Blondies.  I usually make dessert for the Secret Recipe Club challenges, but I recently started Weight Watchers, so I decided to try something a little more Weight Watcher friendly.  So even though the blondies kept calling my name, I decided to try this Peach Mango Shrimp Quinoa instead.  Drop by her blog to check out the amazing recipes, and if you try the blondies, please let me know if they are as amazing as they sound.

Peach Mango Shrimp Quinoa
from Food Ramblings
Ingredients
1 cup quinoa
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
1 pound frozen shrimp, tails removed, uncooked
2 cups peach-mango salsa

Directions
1) Cook quinoa according to package instructions.
2) At the same time, heat skillet over medium-high heat. Spray with cooking spray. Add garlic and cook until starting to brown.  Add and cook onions and shrimp, until the shrimp is pink.  Add peach-mango salsa.
3) When quinoa is done, add to skillet and mix well.

 
While I loved the flavor of this dish, the salsa I used wasn't moist enough to be considered a sauce.  This left the whole dish feeling a little dry.  I did love that this dish was very easy to prepare on a weeknight.  I definitely want to try this dish again, but using some different salsa.

Secret Recipe Club: Oreo Cookies and Cream Cheesecake Bars

This month for the Secret Recipe Club, I was assigned The Busy Mom Café, written by Nancy.  The Secret Recipe Club is a challenge in which you are assigned a blog and you have a  month to choose anything you'd like to make from that blog. 

I haven't posted since the last Secret Recipe Club reveal day.  I took on another person's responsibilities at work this month and have been exhausted every day when I get home.  My husband has been amazing and has stepped up and taken over a lot of dinners. 

Since it has been getting warmer, I decided to make Cookies and Cream Ice Cream last weekend.  Oreos were on sale and so I had an extra package, and instead of eating through row after row of them myself, I decided to make these delicious bars from Nancy's blog that I had been thinking about since I first received her blog.  Please head over to Nancy's blog and check out her other recipes.  She has a lot of breakfast recipes that sound incredible.

Oreo Cookies and Cream Cheesecake Bars
recipe from THE BUSY MOM CAFE
Ingredients
Crust:
1 package Oreo cookies
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
3-8 ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup sour cream, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, room temperature

Directions
1) Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a 9 x 13-inch pan with foil, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides, spray with cooking spray.
2) Place 28 Oreos in a food processor and process until finely ground. Pour the crushed Oreos into a large bowl. Melt 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter in a small bowl. Add the melted butter, and stir crumbs and butter are all combined.
3) Place the cookie-crumb mixture in a foil-lined pan. Using your fingers, press the mixture firmly and evenly into the bottom. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack while you make the filling.
4) Crush up the remaining Oreos in half, so that your oreos are roughly chopped, and set aside.
5) Combine in a large bowl the cream cheese and sugar. Beat the combo with an electric mixer on medium speed for about two minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula and beat again until uniform. Beat in sour cream, vanilla and salt. Scrape down the bowl and mix again.
6) Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. After beating in the last egg, scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and beat one more time, to make sure the mixture is fully combined.
7) Pour in the chopped/ crushed oreos into the filling mixture. Stir in chopped Oreos with the same rubber spatula. Pour the cream cheese mixture over the baked cookie crust. Smooth the top with the rubber spatula.
8) Bake for 40 minutes or until the filling is set around the edges but still slightly wobbly in the center. Remove the pan to a wire rack to cool to room temperature, about 1 hour or longer.
9) When the cheesecake has set and cooled cover it with aluminum foil and place in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or more.

These bars were amazing.  I loved the amount of cookie per cream cheese in each bar.  Mine took awhile to set-up, so don't make these right before you have to take them somewhere.  I had my husband take these to work minus the one that is pictured above, and he said that the guys in his office devoured them.  Thanks for a great recipe Nancy, these bars were every bit as delicious as they looked and sounded.

Secret Recipe Club: Mounds Brownies

                             

This month for the Secret Recipe Club, the recipe swap in which you receive a blog and can choose any recipe to make, I received the Cookaholic Wife.  I have been following Nichole's blog for about 2.5 years now.  When I received her blog, I already had several recipes pinned that I wanted to try and from going through it again I found several other ones to try.  I found a ton of recipes for muffins and a great looking taco calzone recipe. 

Since this month's Secret Recipe Club coincided with Memorial Day, I knew right away that I'd make a dessert from her blog.  I was torn between her cannoli cupcakes and these.  Since my abilities to frost cupcakes is very poor, I decided these brownies were the treat I'd make for our Memorial Day get together.

Mounds Brownies
from Cookaholic Wife
Ingredients
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp. all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup shredded sweetened coconut 
pinch of salt
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

 Directions

1) Preheat the oven to 325 and line an 8x8 baking dish with enough foil that the edges hang over the sides of the pans a little. Spray with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

2) Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Slowly whisk in the cocoa powder until smooth. Remove from the heat and let sit for 5 minutes.

3) Then whisk in the eggs to the cocoa powder mixture until combined. Next, add the sugar, vanilla, flour and salt.

4) Spread half of the mixture evenly into the prepared baking dish.

5) In another bowl, combine the coconut, salt and condensed milk together. Drop spoonfuls on top of the brownie batter. Top with the remaining batter and bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

7) Let cool completely on a wire rack before transferring to the refrigerate to chill for a few hours. 

 

 

I don't remember ever having mounds bars, but if they taste like these brownies, I might start eating them more often.  I loved the coconut in the brownies.  The brownie batter created this deep rich fudgey brownie that was great with the coconut.  These brownies in less time than it took to make them...very delicious.  I'll definitely be making these again.

 

Please check out the other SRC member posts below.

 

 



 



Cinnamon Swirl Pound Cake

I love cinnamon, and try to make things that have cinnamon as often as possible.  When I received my Secret Recipe Club assignment for the month: Everyday Mom, I quickly settled on this recipe.  I also chose this recipe because a bundt cake pan is something that I've wanted to get for a long time, so I was excited when I found mini-bundt cakes and look forward to using it to try other delicious recipes.

                      

Everyday Mom is written by Kim, who looks like she has a lot of fun making stuff with and for her kids.  I don't have kids yet, but hope that someday I can do food projects with my kids.  I'm sure that will be yet another journey that my cooking will take us on.  Check out Kim's blog to find kid friendly recipes and a lot of good-looking desserts.

Cinnamon Swirl Pound Cake
from Everyday Mom
Ingredients
Cinnamon Streusel Swirl:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Buttermilk Pound Cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
1 cup buttermilk

Directions
1) Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease the inside of a 10-inch Bundt pan or all the compartments of a mini-bundt cake pan. Dust the pan with flour and shake out the excess.
Cinnamon Swirl:
2) In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt, breaking up any large lumps of brown sugar. Add the melted butter and stir until blended and crumbly.
Pound Cake:
3)  Sift together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg into a medium bowl. Whisk to combine, and set aside.
4) In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter at a medium speed until very creamy, about 2 minutes.
5) Gradually add the sugar and beat at medium-high speed until well blended and light, about 4 minutes.
6) At medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the vanilla extract and orange zest.
7) At low speed, add the dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk in two additions and mixing just until well combined.
8) Scrape half of the batter into the prepared pan and smooth it into an even layer. Sprinkle the streusel mixture evenly over the batter. Scrape the remaining batter on top and smooth it into an even layer.
9) Bake the cake for 65 to 75 minutes for a normal bundt cake pan or 45 minutes for mini-bundt cake pans, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes.

While I was writing this blog post, my husband snuck two out of the pan while I wasn't looking and declared these really good.  I love pound cake, so I knew they would be delicious.  I put cinnamon in the batter as well, and unfortunately, I couldn't really taste the cinnamon.  Next time, I think I'll ad even more.  These are fantastic by themselves, but I can't wait to find toppings to try with them.

If you have a favorite recipe using your bundt cake pan, please feel free to leave me recipes in a comment. 

Secret Recipe Club: Chicken Taco Cornbread Wedges

For the Secret Recipe Club Swap this month, the swap in which you are assigned someone's blog and allowed to choose any recipe you want to make, I was assigned Barbara Bakes.  Barbara started her blog to join the Daring Bakers challenges and I started my blog to join in on the recipe swaps that a food forum I participate in host.  Her recipes all sound so good and I had a hard time choosing from desserts like: Cherry Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Toffee Cookies, Rocky Road Brownie Bites, and main dishes like: Queso Bacon Burgers and Avocado Salsa, or Chicken Empanadas with Ranchero Ranch Dressing.

My birthday was March 22nd, and for my birthday I received this gorgeous cast iron skillet.  Every blog I came across I searched to see if they had any recipes that reference their cast iron skillet.  Barbara had this Chicken Taco Cornbread dish that looked delicious and a great first start for my cast iron, so I knew I had to make it.

Chicken Taco Cornbread Wedges
barely adapted from Barbara Bakes
Ingredients
Chicken
2 chicken breasts
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon dried cilantro
1 teaspoon ranch seasoning

Dressing

1/2 cup ranch dressing

1/2 cup salsa verde

1 cup tightly packed cilantro leaves (or 1/2 cup freeze dried cilantro)

 

Filling

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 medium onion, finely chopped

1 tablespoon finely chopped jalapeno pepper

2 cups shredded chicken

3 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro leaves (or 2 T. freeze dried cilantro)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 can (14 1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes with green chilies (Rotel Original)

 

Crust

2 cups Marie Calender’s Cornbread Mix

1 cup milk

 

Toppings

1 1/2 cup Colby & Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

3 cups shredded romaine

1 cup chopped tomatoes

 

Directions

1) Heat oven to 400 degrees F.

2) Sprinkle chicken with seasonings and bake until internal temperature is 160 degrees.  Once chicken is done, shred with two forks or place chicken breasts in mixer with paddle attachment and mix on low until shredded.

3) Combine ranch dressing, salsa and 1 cup cilantro leaves in a small food processor or blender. Process until well blended. Cover and refrigerate.

4) In 12-inch cast iron skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, and jalapeno pepper; cook 3 to 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring frequently. Stir in chicken, cilantro, salt, cumin, pepper and tomatoes with green chilies; cook 5 minutes. Remove from skillet. Wipe out skillet with paper towel; grease.

5) In large bowl combined cornbread mix and milk. Pour cornbread mixture into skillet. Spoon chicken mixture over cornbread mixture; sprinkle with cheese.

6) Bake at 400 degrees F. for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown. Cut into wedges. Top with romaine and tomatoes; drizzle with dressing.

This is easily the best dish that I've made in awhile.  The flavors are just so pronounced in such a short amount of time, that everything in this dish just pops.  The ranch is amazing, and probably something that I'll start making just for regular salads.  I've never made cornbread before, but Marie Calendars was such a great compliment to the chicken.  I cannot eat a lot of spice, and this to me was quite spicy.  However, it was so delicious that I ignored the heat and kept eating.  If you're serving it to people that can't eat spices, I'd make sure that the Rotel and salsa you used were mild, but also cut back on some of the cumin.  I know that this will be a dish that will get made in our house a lot, and am excited to have found such a great recipe for my cast iron skillet on my first use. 

Please find all the other great Secret Recipe Club recipes below.

Secret Recipe Club: Carrot Cake Ice Cream

This is my second Secret Recipe Club blog swap. In the club, you are assigned someone's blog and you can make whatever you want. Click on the link and peruse the site to learn more about the recipes that have been posted and for rules about the club.

This month I was assigned Cheap Ethnic Eatz, which is written by Evelyne in Canada.  Evelyne has such a diverse collection of recipes, which I found incredible.  I have never been a super adventurous eater (it took me several years to warm up to the idea of sushi).  However, she has a great list of ice cream on her recipe index.  She has everything from White Asparagus Ice Cream to Strawberry Jam Balsamic Ice Cream.  One of the non-ice cream dishes that I'd love to make from Evelyne's blog is her Truffled Tomato Tarte Tatin.  Please head over to her blog to tour an amazing selection of food. 

I was obsessed with Evelyne's ice cream list.  Let's be honest,  I love most desserts. However, I am a self professing ice cream addict. I could eat a bowl every night and be in bliss. Cookies and cream? Yes! Give me a tub of Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia Ice cream and I've died and gone to heaven. Milkshakes are even accepted too. Can you see a theme here?

I have always LOVED Carrot cake though, and the second that I laid eyes on the link in Evelyne's blog that said she had Carrot Cake Ice Cream, I knew that is what I had to make. 

Carrot Cake Ice Cream
barely modified from Cheap Ethnic Eatz
Ingredients
1 cup Carrot Juice
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar (less if you're using a Carrot flavored smoothie)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/3 cup can pineapple, drained and cut into small pieces
1/2 cup carrot, shredded
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1 teaspoon orange zest  (I found orange peel in the spice section and used it)
1/2 teaspoon allspice

Directions:
Ice Cream Machine
1)  Put carrot smoothie and cream in ice cream machine and start the machine
2) Add the remaining ingredients
3) Follow ice cream machine instructions.
Hand made
1) Mix all the ingredients
2) Pour into a shallow container and freeze until solid around the outside and mushy in the middle
3) Stir with a fork and freeze until firm

This ice cream had more in it than any other ice cream that I've tried to make.  I think my ice cream maker clogged up at some points with all the additions, so I kept trying to stir it when I saw it happening.   This ice cream doesn't taste exactly like carrot cake ice cream, but it does have flavors that hint that direction.  I served it with cream cheese pound cake and it was a great combination.  One of my favorite carrot cakes that I've ever had, had a hint of orange in it, so I decided to add the orange peel/zest to the mix.  I can't wait to go out there and find other ice cream options that I have never considered before. 

Secret Recipe Club: Triple Chocolate Oreo Bars

This is my first Secret Recipe Club month, which is a great recipe exchange where you receive a blog and can choose anything to make.  I actually applied to be part of this exchange in November of 2011, so I'm glad that I was finally chosen to participate.  Please drop by the website to find a ton of great recipes and all the info about the swap.

For my first swap, I received Meghan's blog Cupcakes with Sprinkles.  She says she's never too full for dessert which resonates with me.  A great dessert can make a good meal that much better, and people unite over dessert.  I loved looking through her desserts, she has such a diverse assortment.  I had a hard time choosing between the these bars, Caramel Apple Cheesecake bars, and Snickerdoodle Cupcakes.  I chose these because I have a soft spot for oreos and they just sounded too good to pass up, but I know this blog will provide me with desserts for every party that I have for a long time to come.  Head on over and check out her awesome desserts.

Triple Chocolate Oreo Bars
as seen on Cupcakes with Sprinkles
Ingredients

1-16.6oz pkg Oreo Cookies

1/2 cup (1 stick) Butter, melted

1-14oz can Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 teaspoon Vanilla

1/4 teaspoon Salt

1 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

1/2 cup Milk Chocolate Chips

1/2 cup Mini Chocolate Chips

1 cup White Chocolate Chips, melted

 

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 9x13 pan with foil, shiny side down, and spray with a non-stick spray.

2) Crush all but 8 Oreos in a food processor. Place the crushed Oreos into a medium bowl and salt and melted butter stir until combined. Press the Oreo mixture into the prepared pan. Coarsely chop the remaining 8 Oreos and set aside.

3) In a double boiler, just a glass or metal bowl over a pan of boiling water, add the sweetened condensed milk, semi-sweet chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips and the vanilla. Stir until completely melted. Remove bowl from heat. Pour the melted chocolate mixture over the Oreo crust in the pan. Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips and the coarsely chopped Oreos over the chocolate mixture. Press down gently on the chips and Oreos.

4) Bake for 20-22 minutes. Cool pan on a wire rack for 1 hour. Melt the white chocolate chips and drizzle over the bars. Chill in the fridge until cooled completely. 

I obviously had a problem with the white chocolate layer, as can be seen with my photo, so these were really Double Chocolate Oreo Bars.  For some reason, my white chocolate chips never melted right, so I just decided not to put them on the top.  But, I was serving them at the Super Bowl party and everyone loved them, so I considered them a hit.  I loved the bottom and how moist and oreo-like it was, and the other layers complimented the base perfectly.  While these were very chocolately, they weren't too rich.  There's never such a thing as too much chocolate, right?

These are really easy to put together and super delicious.  I wonder if they'd be good with the flavored oreos...or the golden ones.  I guess that will be my next thing to try. 

Please check out all the other great Secret Recipe Club recipes below.