Short & Sweet #8: NO BAKE PEANUT BUTTER BANANA PIE

My younger brother came to me last week with an indirect request: "You know what would be good? A peanut butter pie. You know what would be better than that? A peanut butter banana pie. Yeah...that sounds amazing."

I took the hint. But unfortunately, it was 100+ degrees that day and had been for a couple days before that. I had zero desire to heat up my kitchen by turning my oven on to fulfill his request. So that got me thinking of an easy way to make that pie without the heat.

Thank goodness for the ice box pie! I took that classic recipe to make something that would make both my brother and myself happy. I personally think that the combination of ingredients is perfect... fluffy Cool Whip, rich cream cheese, creamy peanut butter, sweet banana. Mmmm... I'm salivating just thinking of that delectable finished pie that's sitting in my freezer right now. You and your friends and family will be salivating too when you make this pie! It's absolutely to die for.

No Bake Peanut Butter Banana Pie
1 prepared pie crust

4 oz. cream cheese (softened)
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 ripe banana (mashed)
1/2 cup peanut butter
8 oz. whipped topping (thawed)

1. Beat softened cream cheese and powdered sugar together until smooth.
2. Add mashed banana and peanut butter. Beat all ingredients until lighter in color and fluffy.
3. Gently fold in whipped topping with a spatula until completely incorporated.
4. Pour pie filling into prepared crust.
5. Cover and freeze for 4-5 hours or until firm.
6. Decorate or top if you please! Then cut yourself a slice and enjoy!

Short & Sweet #7: UNICORN POOP

Sometimes, we just need a little bit of fun and color in our lives! So a couple of weeks ago, I hit up my Master Chef in training friend, Tony, to share with me a magical baking experience. This recipe is gonna make you wanna vomit rainbows. And...technically...you be able to given how colorful these cookies come out. But that's if you got sick. Which these cookies wouldn't as long as you baked them correctly and/or do not have the stomach flu. 

I digress. 

So off we go! To a wondrous land of bright, neon colors and delicious sweet things. Tony also had his girlfriend and roommate help us out for the video, which turned out to be a TON of fun. And while we did not succeed in creating Unicorn Poop initially, we did enjoy ourselves by making actual poops with the cookie dough. What do you expect from a few 20-somethings? 

Anyways, our first pass at the colorful cookies did not go well. We didn't freeze the dough as long as we should have, which resulted in a giant (albeit delicious) mess. 

Chill your dough, kids. Lesson learned. 

Honestly, none of us really cared about how textbook perfect these would come out. We all just had a great time messing around with cookie dough and exchanging stories. So hopefully, you can take this recipe and gather your friends and family too! Let the shenanigans happen. That's how magic works. 

Unicorn Poop

3 rolls sugar cookie dough

Food coloring (colors of the rainbow!)
Flour
Edible sparkle gel
Decorations (star sprinkles, pearls, etc)
Imagination
Magic

1. Preheat oven to specified temperature on cookie dough package.
2. Cut each roll of dough in half. Place into separate bowls. Color each segment of dough whatever color you desire. The brighter the better, of course.
3. Lightly flour your working surface. Taking a small amount from each color, roll dough into thin strips. Place each strip together into one long snake. Smoosh it all together a little.
4. With one hand on either end of your snake, move them in opposite directions. Roll one end up and one end down. This should create the spiral effect.
5. Shape your snake into your desired poop shape.
6. Chill formed poops until firm.
7. Bake for 5-8 minutes.
8. Decorate! Take a clean brush and spread edible sparkle gel all over your baked poops. Then, put whatever sparkly, colorful things you want on them.
9. Enjoy! And go look for your own unicorns! Maybe they'll grant you a wish or two!

Short & Sweet #6: STAR WARS TRILOGY OF SNACKS

GAHHHHHH!!!

That was the sound of me getting very excited over the Star Wars Episode VII cast announcement. It was perfect timing on their part too! Now that we know the new involved in the new movie, we can stalk them endlessly to gauge whether or not they're worthy of being a part of our favorite Sci-Fi world. Let the nerdfest and theorizing begin!

Of course, a full-blown nerdfest is not complete without fellow nerds. And there's no better way to celebrate the explosion of Star Wars news than to gather all your Jedi/Sith friends together on May 4th. I'm sorry...May the Fourth. Star Wars weekend is upon us! So go throw a party!

This the inspiration for this week's recipes. Yes, recipes. As in plural. You no doubt have a gaggle of friends joining you for a giant Star Wars marathon, so make sure there's enough food to go around! This trilogy of themed snacks will be a perfect addition to any party in a galaxy far, far away. Make sure to check out the YouTube video for why I chose these three items :)

Lightsaber Pretzel Sticks

Large pretzel rods

Candy melts (colors of your choosing)

1. Melt candy according to package instructions.

2. Dip pretzel rods into melted candy. 

3. Place on wax paper to solidify. Aaaaaand, you're done!

Wookie Cookies
Pre-made cookies of your choosing (Easy Peanut Butter Cookies)
Black icing or decorating gel
White icing
Small piping tip
Mini chocolate chips (optional)

1. Make three small dots on your cookie, two for the eyes and one for the nose.
2. With small piping tip and white icing, pipe a mouth and little wookie fangs.
3. If you wish, add mini chocolate chips on the black icing.

Leia's Hair Buns
Canned cinnamon rolls
Bacon

1. Preheat oven according to cinnamon roll package instructions.
2. Cook bacon until crisp.
3. Unroll each cinnamon roll. Place one slice of bacon on each unrolled piece of dough. Roll it back up.
4. Place finished rolls in 8" or 9" pan to bake according to package.
5. If you wish, finish warm cinnamon rolls off with icing.

What a good-looking Star Wars spread. 

Sugar Rush #2: Banana Pancakes

I am not a morning person. Not even a little bit. I often wish that were a morning person. What at beautiful concept... to wake up with the sun, go for a run, get the day started early. But alas, if I'm up before 9:30 am, it has to be for something HUGE.

Every now and again, I am up early enough to be deemed acceptable by most of society. When such an earth-moving event happens, I need a breakfast that is just as earth-moving. But most of all, it needs to be easy as heck to make because there's no way I'm fully conscious at that time.

 THANK THE BREAKFAST GODS FOR BANANAS AND EGGS! When I'm really in a hurry, I'll just grab a banana and run. If I'm flat out lazy, I'll fry up an egg. But not too long ago, I had an epiphany and decided to combine the two things. And thus became banana pancakes. I am...so happy. 

You should get happy too! It really is as easy as you'll read below. It's also a great gluten/dairy/wheat-free breakfast option, since so many people are following those diets nowadays. Plus, it's absolutely filling and tastes amazing. Try it out next time you're in a rush! Or just because. I won't tell you how to live your life. Happy eating!

So here's the low-down:
Banana Pancakes
2 large eggs
1 ripe banana (mashed)
Optional: 1/4 tsp cinnamon and/or 1/4 tsp baking soda (fluffier pancakes)

1. Heat up skillet/pan on medium heat.
2. Beat eggs and mix with mashed banana.
3. Spray your skillet/pan with cooking spray. Pour a little less than 1/4 cup of batter onto heated surface.
4. When the edges look dry (about 2-3 minutes), flip your pancake! Cook for an additional 2 or so minutes until fully cooked.
5. Repeat until all the batter is used up!

Add toppings if you want too! Sliced strawberries, powdered sugar, greek yogurt (my preference), chocolate chips, whipped cream etc.

Have you ever had Vietnamese cinnamon before? It's sweeter and spicier than usual. My favorite!

Why is the first pancake always such a failure?

Much better!

Chocolate chips are always a great addition. 

Such a happy pancake!

Sugar Rush #1: Matzah Caramel Crunch

Thus begins a brand new series! Even though I didn't have time to make a video, I still wanted to share a delicious recipe with everyone. With Sugar Rush, the recipes may not come with a full on tutorial, but that doesn't mean it won't still have that easy peasy, Short and Sweet touch. Moving on to what I have in store today!

Passover just started Monday evening, and that got me to thinking of matzah. Although I'm not Jewish, I have sat at quite a few Seder tables. The table is always set impeccably, the dining room overflowing with food and wine. And no Passover would be complete without a few raucous rounds of "Dayenu" and a viewing of The Prince of Egypt. It's a great holiday in my opinion, even if it does take about fifteen steps to get through dinner. But if there's one thing that's taken especially seriously, it's the matzo.

What's matzah (matzo, matzoh, matza)? It's a thin, unleavened bread. It's pretty much like crackers. Now, everyone has heard of matzah balls. Man, do I miss matzah balls... But what about matzah for dessert? If you're going to try anything this Passover, try this: Matzo Caramel Crunch. Goodness gracious. This stuff is like crack. It turns the bland matzo that tastes almost as good as the cardboard box it comes in into something addicting and irresistible.

Crunchy. Sweet. Chewy. Hint of saltiness. Caramel-y. Chocolatey. Oh, and did I mention that it's totally customizable? If you're a sea salt fiend like me, sprinkle some of that on top of the chocolate while it's still melty. Or throw some toasted almonds on there. Or some coconut flakes. Whatever you want!
Keep it all Kosher, of course ;)

Matzah Caramel Crunch
4-6 pieces of unsalted, unflavored Matzo
1 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
Toppings (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Line large cookie sheet with foil. Spray with cooking spray, then place parchment paper on top of foil. It's gonna get sticky up in here.
3. Place matzo pieces corner to corner on tray. Break off smaller pieces so that every surface is covered.
4. In heavy bottomed saucepan, cook butter and brown sugar on medium heat until boiling (about 3 minutes). Stir, stir, stir.
5. Continue boiling for additional 3 minutes. Don't stop stirring!
6. Pour caramel over matzo until completely covered.
7. Place tray in oven and immediately reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. If it looks like it's browning too quickly, reduce temperature to 325 degrees. Bake for 15 minutes.
8. Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips/pieces on top. Let the residual heat melt the chocolate. Spread evenly.
9. While still warm, break up the crunch into desired pieces. Place tray in freezer to set crunch completely.
10. Remove crunch pieces from tray. Store in airtight containers, or just watch as they disappear!

Short & Sweet #5: ICE CREAM MUFFINS

I always hear the phrase: "If it's too good to be true, it probably is."

That's exactly what I thought when I came across a recipe that claimed that you can make muffins out of just a pint of ice cream and flour. Preposterous! Unheard of! I simply can't believe it! Seriously though, I'm all about easy, time-saving recipes. But this one had me feeling skeptical. I suppose the logic behind its potential success makes sense. Ice cream does have a lot of ingredients that go into muffin batter (eggs, sugar, milk, etc). BUT SERIOUSLY? Could it really be that easy? I had to try this witchcraft for myself. And you know what? It actually worked!

 Are these the best muffins I've ever had? No.

 As a seasoned baker, could I whip up something better from scratch? Probably.

 Is this a great quick-fix, last minute way to make yummy muffins? Abso-tiddly-lutely.

So with that being said, I want all of you out there to try it out as well! Like I say in my video, the possibilities are endless with this type of recipe. Although the original post calls for plain vanilla ice cream, I found that Chunky Monkey worked out magnificently. What should be next? Cookie dough? Mint chocolate chip? Mango? Oooh...I am positively swimming in ideas right now! Let me know if this works for you too and what flavor of ice cream you would choose!



Ice Cream Muffins
1 pint of ice cream (flavor of your choosing)
2 cups self rising flour
OR
2 cups all-purpose flour plus 3 tsp baking powder

1. Soften ice cream ahead of time for about one to two hours until workable consistency.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
4. Grease muffin tin or line with paper cups.
3. In large mixing bowl, fold softened ice cream together with flour (and baking powder if using all-purpose flour).
4. Once batter is well-incorporated, portion out into muffin tin.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and let muffins cool on rack.
7. Marvel at the magic that just happened in your kitchen, then ENJOY!

Original article here

Short & Sweet #4: 3 INGREDIENT PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

I know what you're thinking right now... "Did I read that title correctly? Surely, making cookies can't be that simple!" Well, buck up and pay attention, my friend! And don't call me "Shirley". Because I ain't foolin' around here! Who knew that making cookies could require so little work and resources? It's usually a bit of a pain, I realize that. Just for a simple chocolate chip cookie recipe, you have to cream butter and sugar to the right consistency. You have to make sure  your ratio between liquid and dry ingredients is correct to avoid disaster in the oven. There are so many things that can go wrong when making cookies from scratch. But fear not, weary bakers! This recipe is (literally) as easy as 1...2...3!

And the result? How do I even begin to describe these scrumptious morsels?
Rich yet fluffy.
Crispy yet chewy.
Complex yet simple.
The luscious flavors of peanut buttery goodness will fill your mouth, causing an explosion of ecstasy you never thought could be achieved by a mere cookie. And just when you think it is over, you will find yourself reaching for another. And another. Until you remember nothing of the life you led before you entered the heavenly peanut butter palace built by these cookies.

...too dramatic?

Well, these sweet treats garner quite a reaction from my taste buds. I just can't help it! Try these for yourself! And watch my baking vloggity to see exactly how I react, if you still can't decide if you want to make some or not :)

3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
1 Cup of sugar
1 Cup of peanut butter
1 Egg

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.  Measure out ingredients and combine in a mixing bowl. Mix until all ingredients are well-incorporated.
3. Scoop dough out by the Tablespoon-ful onto a lined baking sheet.
4. Flatten each dough ball slightly with a fork.
5. Bake for 8-10 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and let sit for a few minutes on tray. Move cookies onto a cooling rack.
7. STUFF YOUR FACE.

CAN'T GET ENOUGH COOKIES OMNOMNOMNOM!