Dessert

S’mores Cookie Pizza

When we think of pizza we don’t usually think of a dessert. But this is just that. Most people love s’mores and now it’s a dessert pizza. Kids and grown-up kids will love it! So easy to make and fun to eat! I am actually one of those kids who like their s’mores separated. I liked all the ingredients but not together. Go figure. Then again I was always happiest with a divided dinner plate. But that’s another story for another day! So play around with this, change it up if you like. Change the chips to flavored chips, like butterscotch or caramel. Be creative!

For illustrative purposes only!

INGREDIENTS:

12 full sheets (48 crackers) of reduced-fat graham crackers, broken into pieces

¼ cup reduced-calorie yogurt spread (comes in a tub and is found near the butter-Brummel & Brown)

2 tablespoons sugar

1¼ cup mini marshmallows

¼ cup semisweet mini chocolate chips

2 tablespoons fat-free chocolate syrup

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Spray a 9″ springform pan with nonstick spray.

2. Place the graham crackers, yogurt spread and sugar into a food processor and pulse until fine crumbs form. Press the crumbs into the bottom of the pan. Bake until just set, about 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 350ºF.

3. Sprinkle the marshmallows and the chocolate chips onto the crust. Bake until the marshmallows are lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes and then drizzle the top with the chocolate syrup.

Makes 10 servings.

Per serving: 193 calories, 5 grams fat, 38 grams carbs, 1 gram fiber, 2 grams protein, 10 mg calcium.

Mock Apple Pie

July 22, 2010
popcorngirl12
0 comments
butter, cream of tartar, lemon juice, lemon rind, margarine, Mock Apple Pie, RITZ crackers, sugar, water

I am sure many of you may remember years ago the recipe on the side of the Ritz Cracker box. It was for Mock Apple Pie. No apples needed! I remember making it a few times and still couldn’t figure out how it tasted like apple pie without any apples in it! I believe it has something to do with the crackers but I do not know how it’s done! I just came across the recipe and thought I’d share it with everyone. It’s very easy and again, no apples needed!

INGREDIENTS:

Pastry for two crust 9-inch pie

36 RITZ crackers

2 cups water

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Grated rind of one lemon

Butter or margarine

Cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

1. Roll out bottom crust of pastry and fit into a 9″ pie plate.

2. Break the RITZ crackers coarsely into the pastry-lined plate.

3. In a large saucepan combine the water, sugar and cream of tartar. Boil gently for 15 minutes. Stirring occasionally. Add lemon juice and rind. Cool.

4. Pour syrup over crackers and dot generously with butter or margarine and sprinkle with cinnamon. Cover with top crust. Trim and flute edges together. Cut slits in top crust to let steam escape.

5. Bake in 425º oven for 30-35 minutes, until crust is crisp and golden. Serve warm. Top with whipped cream if you want! (I know in my house we will!)

Makes 6-8 slices

Paradise Cookies

I believe there is room for a cookie or two in everyone’s day. I can rationalize that they are smaller than a piece of cake so therefore it’s better! I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have a favorite cookie. Whether it’s chocolate chip, oatmeal, thin mints, peanut butter or whatever you like, it’s always fun to find a new treat. I found the basics for this recipe and tweaked it to make it a little different. These cookies have a Hawaiian taste with the pineapple, coconut and macadamia nuts. (Leave out the nuts if you are allergic to nuts)

Photo for illustrative purposes only

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

8 ounce can crushed pineapple, drained well

1 cup macadamia nuts, chopped

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/3 cup sugar

1 large egg

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1½ cups sweetened shredded coconut

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375º. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

3. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar at medium-high speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla.

4. Beat in the flour mixture at low-speed. Stir in the coconut, pineapple and nuts.

5. Place rounded teaspoons of dough about an inch apart on the prepared cookie sheet. Bake until the edges are golden, 10-12 minutes. Let cook on a rack.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

Easy as Pie

July 9, 2010
popcorngirl12
0 comments
blender, butter, deep dish pie, easy pie, eggs, flaked coconut, flour, holiday, milk, salt, sugar, vanilla extract

I came across this recipe in a holiday book. (Christmas is just 168 days away you know!) It claims to be the easiest pie in the world to bake. While reading it over I would have to agree. I think even the “baking challenged” as I tend to be sometimes can bake this pie. I don’t have a picture but it is a custard pie and has coconut in it. So sort of like a coconut custard pie. One of my favorites. So practice for the holidays and get baking everyone! I think I will make it myself next time I have an ‘event’ that needs a dessert! By the way it is NOT a low-calorie dessert. But that’s ok now and then! Moderation! Heck I may even make it this weekend to see if it actually works! Then I will have an actual picture to show. If anyone makes it before I do, please send me a picture and I’ll include it! I will put in a “temporary” photo until then.

Photo is for illustrative purposes only

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups milk

4 eggs

½ cup all-purpose flour

1 cup flaked coconut

1 cup sugar

1 stick butter

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

Place all ingredients into a blender. (Yes a blender!) Turn the blender on medium speed and count to ten. (Not 9, not 11, but 10!)

Pour into a 9″ deep dish pie pan.

During the baking process the flour drops to form the crust and the remaining ingredients form the filling. (I admit I am a bit skeptical on this!)

Bake at 350º for 45 minutes.

Fourth of July Food For Kids

This is a long holiday weekend and sometimes we tend to forget kids are involved as well. Not all of us have our own kids but we have family and friends who do. So check out this great little e-book of food and snacks for the younger generation. It’s got easy and kid-friendly recipes that even the big kids will love!

Sample Recipes:

4th of July Fruit Kabobs

• Bananas • Strawberries • Large Fresh Blueberries • Kabob Skewers

Slice bananas into large chunks. Alternate fruit on skewers Serve immediately

Pretzel Sparklers

• Long rod pretzels • White chocolate, melted • Sprinkles (red, white and blue) or star cake decorations

Melt the white chocolate. Dip the pretzel rod halfway into the melted chocolate then sprinkle the sprinkles over the wet chocolate. Lay on waxed paper or place in a cup to dry.

Popsicle Rockets

• Red juice (red raspberry, cherry, cranberry) • Blue juice (blue Kool Aid, Gatorade, blue raspberry) • White juice (lemonade, coconut juice drink) • Red string licorice for fuse • 3 oz. paper cups • Popsicle Sticks

Line up several 3 oz. paper cups on a baking sheet. Pour 2 tablespoons of red juice into each cup. Freeze 2-3 hours until firm-slushy. Remove from freezer and poke a Popsicle stick into the center of each cup of juice. Add 2 tablespoons of white juice and freeze 2-3 hours. Remove from freezer. Top off with blue juice and freeze 1-2 hours until slushy.

Remove from freezer and insert a 2 or 3-inch string of licorice into each Popsicle. Freeze until hard. Peel off paper cups to serve.

So click on the Flag below and you can download a free recipe book!

And don’t forget to check my website as it grows! www.cucinadiandrea.com

Easy Bark Candy

Bark Candy is a really tasty snack if you like chocolate and nuts. I love both so it’s a win-win! And when you make it in the microwave it’s even better because it only takes a few minutes! Quick, easy, delicious! You can use any kind of confectioners’ or candy coating flavor and any kind of nut you want! So decide what you want and get nuking!

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound confectioner’s or candy coating (vanilla, chocolate, butterscotch or caramel)

1 cup of any of the following nuts: roasted, salted nuts (unblanched almonds, peanuts, walnuts, pecans or mixed nuts), sunflower seeds, soya nuts or raisins! Or mix it up and use a little of each or whichever combo you wish!

DIRECTIONS:

1. If the candy coating is in a solid block/piece break it into squares. Place in a single layer in a 2 quart casserole.

2. Microwave at 50% power (medium) for 3-5 minutes, until pieces are soft. Stirring after 3 minutes until all softened.

3. Add nuts, seeds or raisins. Stir until candy coating is smooth and completely melted.

4. Spread on wax paper (on a flat cookie sheet) to ¼” thickness. Cool until hard, then break into pieces.

Marshmallow Crispy Bars

I think just about everyone out there has had Rice Krispie treats at one point in their life. Well today’s recipe is done completely in the microwave oven! No pots involved! The only pan used is the one we’re going to be cooking in! How cool is that! I am also going to give a few variations on the traditional kind. So get your microwave all cleaned up and let’s go! Oh and don’t forget to throw some flour on you and on your face to make it look like you slaved all day on these!

INGREDIENTS:

¼ cup butter or margarine (I would actually use a butter substitute, in stick form for this to save some calories)

5 cups miniature or 40 large marshmallows

¼ teaspoon salt

5 cups crispy rice cereal

DIRECTIONS:

1. Melt the butter in an 8 x 8 inch glass/ceramic dish on HIGH power for 45-60 seconds. Stir in marshmallows and salt.

2. Microwave 1½-2 minutes on HIGH power until soft and melted, stirring after 1 minute. Stir every 30 seconds until completely smooth.

3. Add the cereal, 1/3 at a time, stirring with a fork until well coated. Press into dish with the fork. Cool, then cut into 1¼ inch squares.

Makes 36 squares

VARIATIONS:

Marshmallow-Peanut Bars: Completely stir in 1 cup salted peanuts after the cereal.

Peanut Butter-Marshamallow Bars: Add ¼ cup peanut butter with the marshmallows.

Chocolate-Peanut Bars: Add ¼ cup peanut butter and ½ cup chocolate chips with the marshmallows.

Piña Colada Cupcakes

One of my favorite drinks is the Piña Colada. And not one made from a mix either, made from scratch. The flavors are so much better. But like all things we LOVE to eat or drink, most likely it’s loaded with calories and fat. One way to get that coconut/pineapple fix is with cupcakes! Using lower fat items we can still get that piña colada taste with fewer calories. Granted, it is not the same as the real thing but it’ll do in a pinch! On average an 8 ounce piña colada has about 350 calories and over 10 grams of fat! One of these cupcakes has about 120 calories and about 2 grams of fat! You do the math! The cupcakes are sweet and I can’t wait to make them again!

(Photo for illustrative purposes only)

INGREDIENTS:

For Cupcakes:

2 cups moist-style yellow cake mix (½ of an 18.25 ounce box)

12 ounces crushed pineapple in juice (not drained)

½ teaspoon coconut extract

For Frosting:

4 ounces crushed pineapple in juice (drained)

1 sugar-free vanilla pudding snack

1½ tablespoons fat-free or light cream cheese, room temperature

1/8 teaspoon coconut extract

1 packet Splenda (sucralose)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine all frosting ingredients and mix till well blended. Refrigerate until cupcakes are ready to be frosted.

3. In a large mixing bowl, combine cake mix with pineapple. Add the coconut extract and mix until thoroughly blended.

4. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with baking cups. Pour cake mixture evenly into cups.

5. Bake for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of cupcake comes out clean.

6. Allow cupcakes to cool completely and frost. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Makes 12 servings.

Pumpkin Mousse

I know what you’re thinking. Pumpkin in June? Yes, pumpkin in June! It’s not just for the fall anymore! Now the big issue right now is if you can find canned pumpkin. NOT pumpkin pie filling, they are two totally different animals. For the most part I have only seen Libby’s pumpkin in a can. Small 15 ounce cans or the larger cans. During the holidays pumpkin became scarce because of the poor crop they had. The stores that did carry it started to ration it. It was crazy. I kept stocking up because I had heard from my food guru, The Hungry Girl© (www.hungry-girl.com), that the pumpkin would be hard to find. So I stocked up. And yes there is more to pumpkin than pumpkin pie! Really there is! Pumpkin is low in calories, low in fat, has no trans fat, saturated fat or cholesterol. A ½ cup serving of 100% pure pumpkin equals 1 vegetable serving! It is naturally sodium free and an excellent means of getting your fiber! Pumpkin is also very high in Vitamin A with 80% as Beta-Carotene (an antioxidant) and it is naturally gluten-free! It is also a low carb veggie! So give this low-calorie dessert a spin and your body will thank you for it! I actually got this recipe from my former Weight Watchers® leader years ago. She was full of pumpkin recipes! Remember you can switch out the fat-free stuff for full fat stuff if you want. I won’t tell!

INGREDIENTS:

2 packages sugar-free instant vanilla pudding

2 cups fat-free milk

½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 can 100% pumpkin (15 oz) – NOT PUMPKIN PIE MIX

8 ounce tub fat-free cool whip

DIRECTIONS:

1. Make the pudding according to the directions with the 2 cups milk. Fold in other ingredients.

2. Refrigerate and serve when set! Enjoy!

Dollop a little whipped topping on top and sprinkle with pumpkin pie spice if you wish!

A 1 cup serving has 1½ Weight Watchers® points.(If made as is)

Ice Cream White Russians

This drink is easily a contributor to the usual Freshman 15 gained at college. Then again I didn’t discover this drink till Senior year I believe. Some of you will (SUCO Grads!) remember this delicious and decadent concoction from Red’s Filling Station in downtown Oneonta, NY. No it was not a gas station people! It was a bar. What else was Oneonta known for! Anyway, I remember a warm spring day (yes we did have them on occasion), going down to Red’s one Friday afternoon with my BFF Rose. I think we may have been going for what was called “sours”. It’s basically happy hour. Not really sure why it was called “sours” but it was. Well when we arrived at Red’s they had a special drink called an Ice Cream White Russian. Sounded good. I liked ice cream and I liked White Russians. So how bad could it be? It was like a White Russian milkshake really. They served them in large beer mugs with a straw! Boy did they go down smooth! Refreshing, delightful, delicious…But on the other hand LOADED with calories. But we were 20 somethings and we didn’t care about the calories back then. I did the math for this delight (I was curious) and this drink packs a whopping 444 calories, 16 grams of fat, 43 grams of carbs! But it has 1 gram of fiber and 5 grams of protein! Ok so the bad outweighs the good. But if you use low-calorie ice cream you can trim some of the bad away! But once you have one of these it won’t matter! It’s probably been 25 years since I had one but I still remember it like it was yesterday! Oh yeah and if you want, top with whipped cream! Why not!!

Red's Filling Station, Oneonta, NY (1983)

INGREDIENTS:

1 pint vanilla ice cream (of choice), softened

2 oz. vodka

2 oz. Kahlua

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth but thick.

2. Pour into chilled beer mugs or tall chilled glasses.

Makes 2 drinks

You can make this stretch to 4 drinks if you serve in smaller glasses.

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What's Cooking at the Genua's?

Dessert

Mock Apple Pie

Paradise Cookies

Easy as Pie

Fourth of July Food For Kids

Easy Bark Candy

Marshmallow Crispy Bars

Piña Colada Cupcakes

Pumpkin Mousse

Ice Cream White Russians

Top Posts & Pages

Follow my other blog! : Cruise Ship Recipes at Home

Chilled Strawberry Bisque (Carnival Cruise Lines)

Escargot Bourgignonne

Alchemy Bar’s Cucumber Sunrise (Carnival Cruise Lines)

Baked Alaska (Carnival Cruise Lines)

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