Heavenly Oreo™ Cookie Cake

I guess this week’s theme is “oreos” since last night I made these white chocolate dipped oreos, and tonight I made this delicious oreo cookie cake. I used to make a similar kind with my mom, but sometimes we used cool whip for the frosting and we would freeze it. Other times we made it this way, with traditional vanilla frosting and crushed oreos…yum!

Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total

40 mins

Type: Dessert

Serves: 8

Ingredients

¾ cup sugar
¾ cup all-purpose flour
⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¾ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 egg
½ cup milk
⅛ cup vegetable oil
⅛ cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
⅓ cup boiling water
1 cup vanilla frosting
10 Oreo cookies

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour one 9-inch round baking pan (double recipe to make 2).
Add sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt to a standalone mixer bowl and whisk together.
Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla and beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes.
Stir in boiling water with a spoon. Scrape batter into baking pan using a spatula.
Bake 20-25 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool for 10 minutes, then transfer from pan to wire cooling rack.
Cool completely before frosting with vanilla frosting (see recipe link above).
Grind Oreos by hand or using a food processor and sprinkle on the top of the cake.
Decorate as desired with remaining frosting and Oreos.

Makes 1 9 inch single layer cake

This post is sponsored by:

Share and Enjoy

White Chocolate Dipped Oreo™ Cookies

Feb 21 by Kristianne

After a long day studying and working, I couldn’t wait to wind down in the kitchen. This may be weird to some, as working in the kitchen is probably the last place some people would want to be after a long day. Being in the kitchen takes my mind off of all of the other things going on right now with school and work, so I find it really relaxing! Sometimes I randomly have really weird cravings…today at work I was craving white chocolate dipped oreos, which I haven’t had since I was like 12! I just so happened to have white chocolate laying around, and since I am not a huge fan of it I decided to coat some Trader Joe’s “oreo imitation cookies” called Joe-Joe’s (I can’t tell the difference!) in melted white chocolate…yummmm. The best part is that if you have a Little Dipper or a fondue pot, melting the chocolate is really easy and they freeze in 5-10 minutes so it makes a really quick snack or dessert when you don’t feel like spending a lot of time in the kitchen.

White Chocolate Dipped Oreo™ Cookies

Prep time

15 mins

Total

15 mins

Serves: 8

Ingredients

8 Oreo cookies
1½ cups white chocolate (chips or bar pieces)

Instructions

Melt white chocolate pieces in a Little Dipper, fondue pot, or microwave in small increments until melted.
Using a spoon, spoon melted chocolate over the oreos until fully covered.
Place on a piece of wax paper.
Place in freezer. For best results, let freeze at least 30 minutes before serving.

Get your own Little Dipper! They are really great for melting chocolate (believe me, I have burned chocolate many times while trying to melt it )

This post is sponsored by:

Share and Enjoy

Baked Crispy Italian Chicken Fingers

Feb 19 by Kristianne

The other night I was craving chicken fingers, so I made these baked Italian chicken fingers with Italian and Panko bread crumbs. They are so crunchy and delicious! Lately I have been trying “quick and easy recipes” like this one because I get home from work around 7pm and I hate eating really late. It only took a few minutes to defrost some frozen chicken breasts, cut them into strips and toss them in the seasonings and into the oven. This recipe is really healthy because it contains NO OIL. I use an egg in place of vegetable oil. These would make a great lunch dish too, with a side of fries of course! If you have more time, a wonderful side would be these baked garlic fries. You can also try topping with a marinara sauce and fresh grated Parmesan cheese…yum!

Baked Crispy Italian Chicken Fingers

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

12 mins

Total

22 mins

Type: Main

Serves: 2

Ingredients

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 egg, beaten
¼ cup Italian bread crumbs
¼ cup Panko bread crumbs
1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1 garlic clove, minced

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Pour Italian and Panko bread crumbs onto a large plate and mix in grated Parmesan cheese with a fork.
In a medium bowl, beat egg with minced garlic.
Slice chicken breasts in half to get 4 thin strips.
Dip chicken breast strips in egg, then roll in the bread crumb mixture.
Place on a greased broiler pan or baking sheet, and bake for about 12 minutes. Turn over when halfway done.

This post is sponsored by:

See this post on Weekend Potluck!

Share and Enjoy

Baked Garlic Fries

Feb 17 by Kristianne

In college one of my favorite restaurants was called Silvergreens and they had these amazing garlic fries that I would always get as a side. I don’t like to make fries often because of the huge amount of fat and the acrylamides that form when baking/frying the potatoes, but they are SOO good sometimes I can’t resist. I adapted this baked garlic fries recipe from Ellie Krieger on the Food Network.

Baked Garlic Fries

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

40 mins

Total

55 mins

Type: Side

Serves: 2

Ingredients

3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp canola oil
3 large baking potatoes, peeled
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1 tbsp parsley

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Cut the potatoes into ¼-inch fries using a julienne blade on a mandoline slicer or with a knife.
In a large bowl, toss oil, garlic, salt, pepper and potatoes together.
Spread the potatoes onto a greased baking sheet in a single layer.
Bake about 40 minutes, or until golden brown (turn after 20 minutes to bake both sides).
Toss with parsley and serve hot. You may wish to pat excess oil with a paper towel.

Get your own mandoline slicer:

This post is sponsored by:

Share and Enjoy

Cauliflower Soup

Feb 16 by Kristianne

This cauliflower soup is one of my favorite soup recipes, because it is packed with veggies and low in sodium. I love making soups when its cold outside. This recipe makes a lot of servings, so its great to have in the refrigerator for lunch or dinner on those days during the week when you are too busy to cook a full meal. Cauliflower isn’t very flavorful by itself, so the carrots, onion, garlic and sour cream add a lot of flavor to this comforting soup. I remember when I first started cooking I had no idea how to cut up a cauliflower, so I added in some photos below that should be helpful to you. Just remember to remove all of the foliage first before chopping away! *I used almost all organic ingredients for this recipe, but I know in some places it is hard to find access to many organic products.

4.3 from 3 reviews

Cauliflower Soup

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total

25 mins

Type: Side

Serves: 6

Ingredients

1 head cauliflower, washed and chopped
4 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
4 celery stalks, chopped
½ onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp butter
4 cups chicken broth (or water + 3 tsp chicken bouillon)
2 tbsp parsley
1 tsp pepper
½ cup sour cream
¼ cup milk

Instructions

Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat.
Add celery, onion and garlic and simmer for 7 minutes.
Add chopped carrots and stir.
Add chopped cauliflower and 4 cups of chicken broth (or water + 3 tsp chicken bouillon) and bring to a boil.
Add parsley and pepper, and boil for 15 minutes.
Remove from heat and let cool uncovered 5 minutes.
Transfer ½ to blender, and ½ to a large container (such as a large measuring cup).
Puree both halves of the soup to give it a nice texture, and transfer back to pot.
If needed, reheat over medium heat. Stir in milk and sour cream and serve immediately. Garnish with parsley.