Category Archives: Dessert

Dessert, Quick and Delicious, Sandwich

Grilled Peanut Butter and Banana Split Sandwiches

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This simple twist on a traditional peanut butter, banana and honey sandwich from Cooking Light makes it “ice cream split” style by adding chocolate chips, strawberries and pineapple jam. Please go back and read that sentence again. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

How delicious does that sound!?

I can happily report that this scrumptious and easy to assemble sandwich lives up to its yummy sounding name. I mean how can you go wrong with this combo? It is very sweet so if you don’t have a sweet tooth then this may not be for you, however since I’m like a five-year old kid I loved it. Is it bad that I was wondering how this would taste with bacon on it?
I loved how everything melted together once you grilled the sandwich so it got all gooey and melty. Two switch outs were I used whole wheat bread and instead of butter I used Smart Balance spread to cut it down a smidge. This was a little messy when you tried to assemble but who cares it’s cooking!
Now this is a wee bit of an indulgence but hey I was watching the Horns beat the Baylor Bears so that’s better than traditional football fare eh? Please for the love of sandwiches make this one right away.
Dessert, Emily Favorite

Salted Chocolate Ganache Cake

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I love salt. If I ever have to choose over that bowl of salty potato chips or sweet chocolate, the chips will always win. Now, if you can combine the two, kind of like they do with Whoppers (or other favorite chocolate treat) and movie popcorn I am one giddy lady. If you are saying that you’ve never tried this, you are either (a) lying or (b) haven’t truly lived. Now kicking this salty/chocolate-y combo up a notch with their Salted Chocolate Ganache Cake, Cooking Light has delivered a stellar cake recipe.
For a cake, this was very simple for even someone like me to make. Also, it’s an impressive looking cake so it makes you look like an absolute superstar without having to try too hard. Kind of like that old Rice Krispy treat commercial where the mom comes out covered in flour and feigns exhaustion except this is tastier and with salt – lovely, lovely, crunchy, crunchy Fleur de Sel salt. This cake is in the magazine’s special cooking section for the holidays but I say heck make it for any special occasion. Cat passes a hairball? Salted Chocolate Ganache Cake. Sat through an entire episode of the new season of Heroes without rolling your eyes once? Salted Chocolate Ganache Cake. You get the point.

Dessert, Emily Favorite, Everything is better fried, Fruit

Doughnut Holes with Raspberry Jam

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I saw this recipe in the July issue of Food & Wine magazine and had been dying to make it, but could never seem to find the time. Finally, I did and thank goodness! 

I got all the way through step two and my stupid dough would not form at all, I was frustrated to say the least but nothing would stop me now. I got through step two again and voila! the dough formed and I let it rise for an hour.
They didn’t have raspberries at HEB so I decided strawberries would work just fine. I followed the steps for making the jam, quite simple if you ask me, and I had a perfect dipping jam for the holes which I still had to make.
When I was working with the dough, which was quite sticky, I thought “I’ve messed these up again!” but when I formed into balls and deep fried them they looked like doughnut holes but I couldn’t tell until we tried them…
THESE ROCKED! The sugar coating was fantastic and I loved smothering them in the strawberry jam. These are labor intensive but I definitely can see these being a unique party snack, a fun dessert after dinner or anytime you want to treat yourself.
Here is what the doughnut holes are supposed to look like (photo from Food & Wine), mine were a little more misshapen but who cares they were still amazing!
Dessert, Emily Favorite, Lengthy recipe but worth all the whisking, sweat and tears

Cool, Creamy Dessert from Cooking Light

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This week is a week of “house favorites” so I started it off with Turkey Meatloaf Sandwiches from the Neiman-Marcus cookbook that my dearest friend The Boo gave me for my birthday last year. When I first saw Neiman Marcus I thought “oh dear, this is going to be too fancy schmancy for me!” but dear readers it is NOT at all! The salads, sandwiches, entrees etc are actually pretty easy to make and everything I’ve made so far has been delicious. Now, I’m going to be a tease here because I don’t have the book with me today but will post the recipe soon…sorry, I suck!

I did also make the Cool, Creamy Dessert from Cooking Light last night. I would recommend this for a day when you have some time to spare since it is a layered dessert that takes time to, well, layer. This dish is sweetened by the powdered sugar, fat-free cool whipped topping, cream cheese (1/3 less fat and fat free), fat-free chocolate pudding and the flaky, pecan laden crust is wonderful. This is definitely something for a special occasion and is reminiscent of a tiramisu, without the icky coffee aftertaste or ladyfingers plus the fact that it won’t add 10 pounds to your backside. Also, I just got the new Cooking Light and Everyday Food so watch out all 10 of you gentle readers, there are going to be some really good recipes coming up!

Dessert, Fruit, Quick and Delicious

Yummy Mango Napoleons

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So I made dinner last night and let’s just say none of the recipes I tried were really worthy of posting here…sad. BUT, the one shining dish was for dessert, these delicious Mango Napoleons from Everyday with Rachael Ray were so tasty that they are going on regular rotation in my house.

Not only were these super-easy to make, they turned out beautifully on the plate and were so, so, so delicious. I was a little worried about the flavor of the Greek-style yogurt (I used the 2% as I eat this stuff like it’s going out of style) since it can have a distinct bite to it. However, with a little sugar and vanilla extract mixed in, it balanced out the flavors and made it very creamy.
The ripe mangos on top with a little bit of sugar were the perfect complement with the yogurt mixture and flaky puff pastry.
Try these for an easy dessert option for a weeknight dinner or these are a great to be enjoyed at a party like the magazine suggests.
I couldn’t find the recipe online so here you go:
Mango Napoleons
Serves 6
Prep: 30 minutes
Bake: 20 minutes
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
1/4 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
3 ripe mangos, cut into small cubes
3/4 cup plain Greek-style yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. On a work surface, unfold the puff pastry and cut into 6 rectangles. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until golden-brown, about 15 minutes then lower the heat to 325 degrees and bake for 5 minutes more. Let cool.
Meanwhile, toss together the mangos and 2 tablespoons sugar; let stand for 5 minutes. Mix the yogurt with the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and the vanilla. Using a serrated knife, halve the baked pastries horizontally. Spread the yogurt-vanilla mixture on the bottom halves, spoon the mango on top and cover with the remaining pastry halves.
Beefy McBeefy, Dessert, Dose of Veggies, Spicy, Taco!

Everyday Food = Love

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I picked-up the March issue of Everyday Food, and I have to admit in these times it was like a breath of fresh air to see short ingredient lists that use a lot of pantry staples, have easy instructions and after testing, were still loaded with flavor.
On Sunday – slow cooker day – I made Smoky Beef Tacos with Cilantro-Lime Crema and Avocado-Red Onion Relish plus the Spicy Pineapple Salad on the side and for dessert, their Mexican Snowballs.
The Smoky Beef Tacos turned out to be moist, tender, spicy and yes smoky and the crema sauce and avocado/red onion relish were the perfect complement to round out the taco experience. The Spicy Pineapple Salad was very spicy but good. I only used one of the two recommended jalepenos – and I like spice!
I love simple desserts and I don’t know how much simpler it could be than to toast coconut and cinnamon in the oven and roll frozen ice cream balls in the mixture. I used Vanilla Bean ice cream instead of just vanilla because I love the more vanilla-ish flavor you get. I used a 1/2 less fat version from Dryer’s called Slow Churned it was quite delicious! This was definitely a new favorite and has been added to the our evergrowing “Foods We Love” roster.