Pretzel Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches. OMG.

Just FYI, these are outrageous!

I blogged delicious brownie ice cream sandwiches a long time ago,

and was whipping them up yesterday as friends were coming to dinner

and I was wildly inspired (I am clearly deep) to roll the ice cream

edges in salty bits of pretzel.  Oh wow, that took deliciousness to a 

whole new level.  

PS sweet and salty for the win!

Click here for the original ice cream sandwich recipe. And then

get a rolling in pretzel bits.

xx

Coconut Curry Butternut Squash Soup

Talk about easy!  

This delicious seasonal soup was created in a few short steps! 

 Cut a large butternut squash down the middle and scoop out the guts.

Place the cut sides down in a pan.  Splash 1/2 cup of water into the pan 

with the squash.  Bake at 375 for 40-50 minutes. If I had a white

or yellow onion on hand I would have cut it up and tossed in the

pan to cook up, as well.

Remove from heat and allow the squash to cool a bit.

Glorious, cooked butternut squash. 

Use a spoon to scoop the cooked squash into a blender.

Then add one 14 ounce can of coconut milk and 3/4 cup coconut 

cream,1 T. yellow curry powder (you can find it most anywhere, I just

recently picked some up at Target).  Blend and add salt to taste (and if I 

wasn't serving this soup to my kids I would add cayenne pepper to taste).

Then add stock (vegetable or chicken stock) to desired thickness of soup.

If you have an immersion blender, just pop all this stuff into a large saucepan and start a blending.

I do believe Trader Joe's makes the finest of

fine coconut cream and coconut milk.

For a garnish I decided to bake some store bought naan.  

Used a pizza wheel to cut strips, then cut each strip in half.

 Tossed with sunflower oil (any light oil will do) and

sprinkled with flake sea salt and yellow curry powder. 

Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.

Enjoy!

I think tomorrow I will try topping the soup with chicken & 

apple sausages.  Some other tasty add ins would be:

crispy pan fried garbanzo beans, sauteed greens (spinach or kale)

and grilled chicken.  Hmmm, what else?

Italian Cream Cupcakes, on the QUICK!

I was in a pinch for a dessert and thought I would give a go at making Italian Cream Cupcakes, 

starting with a box of cake mix.  The results were fantastic (and oh so quick), so give this a whirl!

What you need:

box of white cake mix (that will yield a 9x13 pan)

1/2 cup soft butter

1 cup buttermilk

3 eggs

2 T water

2/3 cup shredded coconut

1 cup raw pecans 

Click here for my delish frosting recipe, that must top

these cupcakes. Reserve 1/2 cup of the chopped

pecans to fold into the frosting.

Use a sharp knife to roughly chop the pecans.  If you don't feel like

getting your chop on, pulse the pecans in a food processor.

By hand or mixer, blend the cake mix, buttermilk, butter, water and eggs.

Then fold in the coconut and 1/2 cup chopped pecans.

 

I use a large scoop to plop the batter into muffin papers (I looove

the organic look of these parchment papers I picked up at King Soopers) 

Bake in a 350 degree, preheated oven.  17-21 minutes bake time.

While they bake, make the frosting!!!  Here is the link again. 

Stir in the 1/2 cup of chopped pecans you reserved.

After the cupcakes cool (I always set on a cooling rack for at least

half hour), top with as much frosting as you wish.

Then, ENJOY!!!  

xo.

Toffee Pretzel Crunch. Oh My!

I was making care packages this week to send off and deliver locally

as several friends needing the TLC of homemade treats.

I was thinking how tasty it would be to dip pretzel rods in toffee, but

then at a little Oprah light bulb moment and decided on this...

you can thank me later.

What you need to make this ridiculous treat:

3 1/2-4 cups Pretzel Crisps

2 sticks unsalted butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 tsp sea salt

1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Line a large jelly roll pan* with aluminum foil, and then thinly coat the foil

with butter (I just gently rub one of the sticks used in the recipe along the 

foiled surfaces. You will not use much) then place a layer of Pretzel Crisps 

along the bottom of the buttered pan.  I break up some of the crisps. Don't 

worry if the crisps are overlapping. 

* a jelly roll pan is smaller than a sheet pan, but larger than a 9x13 pan.

 In a saucepan over medium/high heat, begin melting the butter, brown sugar and salt.

 This is one pot you want to watch boil.  Continue stirring as the sauce boils 

and thickens.  Watch that it doesn't burn.  I stir at boil for a couple minutes.

Pour the boiling sauce evenly over the pretzel crisps.  

Place pan in a 425 degree oven.

The sauce will thicken in the oven. After 4 minutes I pulled the bubbling concoction 

out of the oven.  Check at 4 minutes. If it isn't super bubbly and darker in color, 

put it back in for 1 additional minute.

 Immediately sprinkle the semi sweet chocolate chips evenly 

over the toffee pretzels. 

The heat of the pan will quickly melt the chocolate chips.  If you

find that they aren't melting, pop the pan back into the cooling oven for 

1 minute and the chocolate will be ready to spread with a knife.

After the chocolate chips are evenly spread across the top of the toffee,

pop the pan in the freezer to set up for 30 minutes.

 After setting in the freezer, I pull the brick of toffee from the foil,

double checking that all foil pulled away, then use my hands to 

break into chunks.  I store in the refrigerator in a sealed container.

It packages up nicely, in boxes, to drop with friends and neighbors.

I buy bulk food safe boxes on the Internet.

Enjoy!!!

HOWDY POLLY Pan-o-Bars!!!!

I should love "Hello Dolly" pan-o-bars, but I don't.  Do you know why?  I cannot stand graham cracker crust.  So, a few years ago I decided to kick these classics up a notch, with pretzel crust.  Oh my. 

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups crushed pretzels
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 stick butter, melted
1 cup chopped raw pecans
1 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup shredded coconut
14 ounces sweetened condensed milk (I use Trader Joe's)

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

 

Crush the pretzels.  Either the old fashioned way: in an unsealed plastic bag, 

crush with a rolling pin OR use a food processor.

Yields 1 1/2 cups crushed pretzels. The crush will be much finer when

using a food processor, but either way is just fine.

Mix the crushed pretzels with 1 stick of melted butter and 

1/2 tsp sea salt.

Press the pretzel/butter mixture into a lightly greased (I use coconut oil), 

parchment lined 9x13 pan.

 Chop the raw pecans.

 Over the pressed pretzel crust, evenly sprinkle the chopped pecans,

coconut and chocolate chips.  Press firmly, again.

Evenly cover all the goodies with sweetened condensed milk.

Bake at 350 degrees for 23-27 minutes.

Remove from heat and slide a knife along the edges of the pan that were not 

parchment covered.  Then place bars (still in pan) on a cooling rack for an

 hour (or pop in the refrigerator, to speed the cooling process up). Then gently wiggle 

the bars out of the pan, using the parchment paper as handles, and place on a 

cutting board.  Use a pizza wheel to make desired sized cuts.

Store in an air tight container, either at room temperature or in the refrigerator.

You are about the be the hero of your next potluck!!

Ice Cream Sandwich Time!

In honor of the 80 degree weather we had yesterday, I thought it was high time I get back in the kitchen and whip up a little treat for the heat!  Can't wait for you all to make them and report back! 

Ingredients:

Box of brownie mix (any box that yields a 9x13 pan)

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup canola oil

1 egg (again, I use carton, so then 1/4 cup)

Ice cream (pick your fave)

Mix above ingredients together. 

Use a small scoop to drop 12 brownie blobs onto

a parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes

The batter will make 24 cookies, so I have a second baking

sheet lined with the parchment ready to go in when I pull the

first one out, because these need to cool completely on

the baking sheet (vs. being transferred to a rack for drying)

After the cookies have cooled, place 2 on a piece of foil

topped with parchment paper and use a large scoop

to cover one cookie with ice cream. 

This is when you can make it your own...what's your

favorite ice cream?  Put 'er in the middle instead

of the vanilla ice cream. 

One other way to make it your own: roll the ice

cream edges in sprinkles, crunched up cookie bits,

toffee pieces or mini chocolate chips

Fold the parchment around the ice cream sandwich,

which prevents the foil for sticking to the ice cream

(lessen learned a few years ago, when I pulled a stack

out of the freezer for a party).

Voila!  Pop in the freezer and you officially have

tasty treats on hand! 

Delish!  If I do say so myself!