Homemade Samoas

...to be typed in later...

Peanut butter chocolate layer bars

This recipe was adapted from a 7-layer brownie recipe. I was worried about it being too overly sweet or peanut-buttery, but when the bars disappeared within 24 hours, I realized maybe it was just right. They are intense, but very tasty!

Ingredients

1 box Ghiradelli double chocolate brownie mix

1 stick butter

Streusel (recipe below)

1 cup mini peanut butter chocolate cups/1 cup chopped Reese's cups

1 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

1 cup peanut butter cups

1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk

Peanut butter icing/drizzle

Streusel:

1/2 cup white sugar

6 tbsp all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

4 tbsp butter + 2 tbsp peanut butter, melted

Directions

1. In a 13x9 pan (or a Baker's Edge pan) melt 1 stick of butter, then sprinkle brownie mixture over top.

2. Layer chips, cups, and streusel over top.

3. Drizzle condensed milk evenly over pan.

4. Bake at 350 for 30-40min, until bubbly and golden brown on edges.

5. Let cool *completely* before cutting; drizzle peanut butter frosting/drizzle over top for decoration.

Double Chocolate Ginger Cake

I got the inspiration for this recipe from Coconut and Lime but I was short on time and simplified it with a (gasp) cake mix. If you like ginger this is a great cake!

1 box Swiss Chocolate cake mix
eggs, oil, and milk (sub milk for water) according to cake directions
3/4 cup chopped crystalized candied ginger
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chip mini-morsels

vanilla/chocolate frosting/glaze of choice
coarse sugar crystals for decoration

Mix cake ingredients in large bowl, fold in ginger and mini chips.
Bake as directed according to pan type/size.
When cool, frost by drizzling frosting or glaze on top, sprinkling with coarse sugar to finish.

PB and chocolate swirled, flaked, and streusel'd cake

A few tweaks to the black/white chocolate cake from a few weeks ago:

1 package (18.25 ounces) yellow cake mix (butter recipe if possible)
1 package (3.4 ounces) vanilla instant pudding mix
1 1/4 cups milk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs

1 cup peanut butter chips
3/4 cups chocolate chunks/chips, both chopped into *very* small pieces (think almost flakes) in food processor

Streusel:
1/2 cup white sugar
6 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp butter + 2 tbsp peanut butter, melted

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease bundt pan.
2. Combine cake mix, pudding mix, milk, oil, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. After scraping sides of the bowl, increase mixer speed to medium and blend 1 1/2 to 2 min­utes more-- the batter will look thick but well combined. Gently stir in 1/2 cup of the peanut butter chip flakes until uniformly mixed.
3. Make streusel topping, stirring in remaining peanut butter/dark chocolate flakes.
4. Pour 1/3 of the batter into pan. Sprinkle ~1/3-1/2 of streusal mix on top, cover with 1/3 more batter, then more streusel. Spread remaining batter on top and sprinkle with remaining streusel.
5. Bake until cake is golden and fork comes out almost clean, about ~45-50min.
6. Place pan on a cooling rack for at least 15min.
7. To frost, you could make peanut butter and/or chocolate drizzle from chocolate chips, or feel free to use store-bought icing, put it in a ziploc bag, warm in microwave, cut of teeny-tiny opening at corner of bag and drizzle over cake in lots of thin lines. Enjoy!

As an added bonus, I filled the hole in the bundt cake with mini chocolate PB cups from Trader Joes and drizzled frosting on that too...decadent...but so tasty :-)

Scallops in parchment paper

This was a recipe I adapted from Real Simple. It truly is simple, and quite tasty! The only change I would make next time might be to cook it a shade under 15min -- maybe it was just that my scallops weren't that big, but they were slightly overcooked. Anyway, it was very good -- definitely making it again!

Ingredients
15-ounce can white (cannellini) beans, rinsed
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup cooked chopped bacon
1 Tbsp parsley flakes
1.5 Tbsp minced garlic
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 pounds sea scallops, rinsed and patted dry
butter, optional

Heat oven to 400° F. Gently toss the onions, beans, garlic, rosemary, parsley, bacon, oil, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Tear off four 15-inch squares of parchment paper and arrange on 2 baking sheets (or use bigger sheets and just fold over). Spoon some of the bean mixture into the center of each square. Place the scallops on top of the beans. Dot scallops with a bit of butter if desired. Top with 4 more squares of parchment and fold the edges over several times to seal. Bake for 15 minutes (depends on size of scallops - 15min probably right if med-large). Transfer each packet to a plate. Serve with a knife to slit the package open, and be careful of the steam that will escape.

Yield: Makes 4 servings

CALORIES 339 ; FAT 4g ; CALORIES FROM FAT 11.6%; CARBOHYDRATE 37g; POLY FAT 1.0g; CALORIES FROM CARBS 42.7%; PROTEIN 39g; MONO FAT 1.8g; FIBER 9g; SUGAR 3.5g; CALORIES FROM PROTEIN 45.7%; SAT FAT 0.5g

Thin Mint No-Bake Cheesecake

I made this after inspired by a recipe from Baking Bites. Unfortunately, I didn't have the ingredients it needed so I made another type of cheesecake I found online. I wouldn't do this again...in fact, while this is a good idea in theory, if I made this again I would make a regular baked cheesecake w/ thin mint crust and maybe mix in some thin mint chunks.

I'll post the way I made it the first time here, as it wasn't *that* bad...mint isn't really my thing anyway, so it was part of Scott's Valentine's Day gift and he seems to be enjoying it just the same.

No-Bake Vanilla Cheesecake with Thin Mint Crust

1 box Thin Mint-type cookies*
2 tbsp butter, softened

16-oz cream cheese, softened (low fat is fine)
1 package Dream Whip
1 c. sugar
1 tsp vanilla paste (or vanilla extract)

1. Lightly butter the sides, but not the bottom, of a 9-inch springform pan.In a food processor, whiz together Thin mints and butter until mixture is coarse crumbs. Press cookie crumbs into the bottom of the prepared pan. Refrigerate crust for 20-30 minutes.
2. Soften cream cheese; beat with sugar until smooth.
3. Prepare dream whip according to pkg directions
4. Fold dream whip into cheese mixture.
5. Pour cheesecake filling into prepared pan and rap gently on the counter to even out the surface of the cake and shift any large air bubbles out of the batter. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight, until well-set. Slice with a warm, clean knife to get neat slices.
Serves 8-10.

*A box of Thin Mints (or Grasshoppers, which are the same things but cheaper and available year-round!) should have 36 cookies in it. I used 32 cookies for my crust. While you can incorporate all of them, I liked using the leftovers to garnish the top of the cake.

Slow-cooker healthy turkey chili

This is a recipe I got from Hungry Girl. I think it turned out pretty well, but definitely needed some sour cream (I used Fage yogurt actually) mixed in, and was good served with cornbread (what isn't?). In the future I might consider using soy crumbles or something, as I was totally wild about the turkey. But all in all a good recipe that I would indeed make again!


10-Alarm Turkey Chili

Ingredients:
1 lb. raw lean ground turkey (I actually used 20 oz)
One 29-oz. can tomato sauce
One 14.5-oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
One 15-oz. can chili beans (pinto beans in chili sauce), undrained
One 15-oz. can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 cup canned sweet corn, drained
4 - 5 canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped, sauce reserved (2 - 3 if you don't want it crazy hot!)
2 bell peppers (in different colors), chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 tsp. minced garlic
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 oz. VERY dark chocolate (70%+ cacao), broken into small pieces
salt, to taste
Optional topping: fat-free sour cream, low-fat cheese

Directions: Bring a large pan sprayed with nonstick spray to medium heat on the stove. Add turkey and spread it around in the pan to break it up a bit. Cook and crumble until meat is brown and cooked through, about 6 minutes. Drain any fat or liquid, and then transfer turkey to the crock pot. Add all other ingredients except for the chocolate to the crock pot. Add 1 tbsp. adobo sauce (from the canned chipotles). Mix well to combine. Cover and cook on high for 2 hours, and then reduce heat to low and cook for an additional 3 hours. (OR cover and cook on low for 6 - 7 hours straight.) Add chocolate and stir until pieces melt and disappear into chili. Cover and cook for 1 hour longer on low. Add salt to taste. If you like, top each serving with a little sour cream and/or low-fat cheese. MAKES 12 SERVINGS

PER SERVING (about 1 cup): 172 calories, 3.5g fat, 790mg sodium, 22.5g carbs, 5.5g fiber, 6.5g sugars, 13g protein -- POINTS® value 3