Peppermint Bark

Need alittle sweetness added to your day, well I have just the thing for you! It’s a process to make but simple enough that anyone could do.

Here is the type of chocolate I used. I got it on sale at AC Moore. They have great 40% coupons which makes this project even more affordable. I used 1 bag of Dark Chocolate and 2 bags of White Mint. You can use whatever type of chocolate you want – I just have picky chocolate eaters in my family!

You will also need 3 cups of Candy Canes.

I lined 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

And smashed the Candy Canes in a Ziploc Bag. *Tip: cut a hole in the corner of the bag to get the crumbs out, makes less of a mess then trying to get it out of the top.

Melt the Dark Chocolate chips in a double boiler on the stove or in the Microwave. Then divide the chocolate between the two cookie sheets and spread it out close to the end of the paper.  Place the sheets in the freezer while you continue onto the next steps.

Melt the White Mint Chocolate then add 3 cups of chopped up Candy Cane. ( I saved some larger crumbs to sprinkle on the top)

Take the harden Dark Chocolate out of the freezer and divide the white mixture and smooth out on top.

I sprinkled some larger pieces on top then put the sheets back in the freezer or refrigerator.

Once the chocolate gets hard take out and crumble to pieces. Place in a air-tight bowl or cute container for  great  gifts.

I also found this great recipe for Candy Corn Cookie Bark at Your Homebased Mom.

I think it would be fun to make a Valentine’s Bark, do any of you have ideas or recipes? Leave a comment and let me know!

Christmas Recipes

Here are a few Christmas recipes I found on Little Birdie Secrets. Check out their site for more great ideas.

This is a English Toffee recipe that looks delicious and easy to make. Click here for the recipe.

These are Oreo balls, that I have heard are absolutely amazing! I am going to attempt to make a sugar free version of these… I will post how it goes when I get around to making them.  Click here for the recipe.

Sugar-Free Cinnamon Rolls

I have a confession to make… I love sweet deserts!! Cheesecake, monkey bread, apple pie…man I making myself hungry. Although these things are not too hard to make, I have a small problem, I get migraines from sugar. I know, I know, sad story but a girl can’t get rid of all sweets.  So I have been on a quest to make those yummy desserts that I love, and make them sugar free (typically sweetened with Splenda). Now when I say sugar free it usually means ‘low sugar’, because of natural sugar, but its low enough not to give me a migraine and enough sweetness to put a lid on my sweet tooth. Here is a quick way to make sugar free cinnamon rolls. If you don’t have a problem with sugar, feel free to substitute the Splenda with regular sugar.

INGREDIENTS

4oz  Cream cheese, softened

*Instructions for making sugar-free powdered sugar:

Put 3/4 cup of Splenda Granular and 2 tablespoons cornstarch in a blender and blend until it is a very fine powder

DIRECTIONS

pumpkin spice cake trifle

So I have recently learned that I love to make desserts in my new trifle bowl.  The recipes are usually very simple and the end result looks like you have spent hours decorating a decadent dessert.  I found this recipe and decided I was going to make it for our next church meal.  I made all the separate items the night before and then assembled it that morning.  The original recipe I found called to use Gingerbread cake mix, but the spice cake mix was on sale and the substitution work out just fine.  I hope you enjoy this dessert, let me know how yours turned out!

Ingredients

• 1 packages (14-1/2 ounces each) spice cake or gingerbread cake mix
• 1 package (4.6 ounces) cook-and-serve vanilla pudding mix
• 3 cups milk
• 1 can (29 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 carton (12 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed, divided

Directions

• Prepare and bake cake according to package directions, using a greased 9-in. round baking pans. Cool completely on wire racks.
• Meanwhile, for pudding, combine pudding mix and milk; stir until smooth.  Cool in refrigerator until thickened.  Combine pumpkin and brown sugar; stir into pudding.
• In a 4-qt. glass serving bowl, crumble one gingerbread cake; gently press down. Top with half of pudding mixture and whipped topping. Repeat layers. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Yield: 25 servings.

I sprinkled the top with cinnamon!!

Oreo Brownie Trifle

Here is a dessert I made for a church picnic. It was super easy and everyone loved it. I think the hardest part of this dessert was getting people to forget that its pretty and just dig in. Once they did… it was gone in minutes. If you don’t like Oreo cookies, you can substitute with any pudding you would like. (white chocolate, cheesecake, butterscotch…yum!!!)

Ingredients:

• 1 package fudge brownie mix (13-inch x 9-inch pan size)
• 2-1/2 cups cold milk
• 2 package instant Oreo pudding mix
• 1 carton (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 2 to 3 Oreo Cookies, chopped ( I didn’t have any Oreo cookies so I just just crumbled up a chocolate chip cookie for the top.)

Directions:

Prepare and bake brownies according to package directions for cake-like brownies, using a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Cool completely.
In a large bowl, beat milk and pudding mixes on low speed for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set. Fold in whipped topping.
Cut the brownies into 1-in. cubes; place half in a 3-qt. glass trifle bowl or serving dish. Cover with half of the pudding. I poured some chocolate syrup around the edges.  Repeat layers. Sprinkle with chopped Oreo cookies. Refrigerate leftovers.