John’s Cookbook – Page 5 – S’mores Dip

The snow is melting, the sun is shining, and Spring is here! It may not feel like it for sure yet, but warmer weather is on its way, and I for one can’t wait to get out there and enjoy it. Admittedly, I am NOT much of an outdoor girl AT ALL – BUT – when you have kids that have been cooped up inside for the past several years (months really – but feels like years), you gotta embrace the wonder that is the great outdoors

One of the best things about warmer weather is having campfires and roasting marshmallows for S’mores. It may not be S’more weather yet – but it is S’more dip weather (which – is really anytime!)

S’more’s Dip
(Recipe Courtesy of Wine & Glue)

Ingredients
8 oz cream cheese room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup fudge sauce
7 1/2 oz marshmallow cream
1 tsp vanilla

graham cracker sticks for dipping
mini chocolate chips/marshmallow bits for topping

Instructions
In a large bowl, blend together with a handheld mixer: the cream cheese, powdered sugar, fudge sauce, marshmallow creme and vanilla until smooth

Transfer to a serving bowl, top with mini chocolate chips and marshmallow bits and serve with graham crackers

John’s favorite part? Anything marshmallow related – he loved the fluff, and the tiny little marshmallows blew his mind!

He looks oddly like the Joker while “taste-testing” the ingredients

DIPPPPPPPPPP – so good!

As with most dips – this wasn’t exactly hard to make, and I love the idea of a dippable S’more!

It was enjoyed by all, big and small – and while it was great, it just made me want a REAL s’more even more! Still – a worthy winter time substitute, and I personally enjoyed it right off the spoon (no graham crackers needed!)

John’s Cookbook – Page 4 – Chocolate PB Crescent Rolls

For this week’s page out of John’s Cookbook, he picked something simple (which I appreciate), that also managed to incorporate Chocolate and Peanut Butter (which EVERYONE appreciates!)

Chocolate PB Crescent Rolls
(Recipe Courtesy of Stockpiling Moms)

Ingredients
1 pkg of Crescent Rolls
8 Tbsp. Peanut Butter
¼ cup Mini Chocolate Chips

Instructions
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-Roll out Crescent Rolls to form 8 triangles.
-Spread 1 Tbsp. of Peanut Butter on each triangle.
-Sprinkle Mini Chocolate Chips amongst triangles.
-Roll up Crescent Rolls and press ends together.
-Place on 13X9 baking sheet and cook for 10 mins.
-Let cool and enjoy.

Prep work (with some help from Dad and Auntie)

Before and After oven glamour shots

John loved them so much he ate 2! 

Crescent Rolls are such a great base for a lot of things – like the Crescent Roll Cinnamon Rolls John helped make a few weeks ago, and of course Crescent dogs (crescent roll/hot dog/cheese) are a favorite at our house, and now these dessert rolls, and of course they are great by themselves alongside Thanksgiving Dinner, too!

While there was nothing special about these taste-wise (they tasted exactly like you would think – a crescent roll stuffed with Peanut butter and chocolate), they were really easy for him to do basically by himself, and they can really be customized with add-ins too – jelly, mini marshmallows, nuts, other flavors of chocolate chips, raisins/craisins – you can use whatever you have on hand to whip these up – and they are pretty tasty (especially warm out of the oven!)

John’s Cookbook – Page 3 – Reese’s Peanut Butter Pudding Cookies

I have been LOVING having my little sous chef in the kitchen with me – he has been helping me bake since he was a wee little 1 year old, and I am really enjoying having him help pick and “reading” the recipes with me.

This week, he picked cookies – because who doesn’t love cookies? I think he saw that there were Reese’s involved and that had him hooked, and I don’t blame him – there’s a reason I had saved this recipe for Reese’s Peanut Butter Pudding Cookies, and I couldn’t WAIT to try them:

Reese’s Peanut Butter Pudding Cookies
(Recipe Courtesy of Inside BruCrew Life)

Ingredients
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 – 3.4 box instant vanilla pudding
1 cup chocolate chips
1 1/4 cups halved Reese’s mini peanut butter cups, divided
1 cup mini Reese’s Pieces, divided

Instructions
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-Beat the butter until creamy. Add the peanut butter and sugars and beat again.
-Add the eggs, honey, and vanilla and beat until mixed in.
-Stir together the flour, baking soda, salt, and pudding mix. Slowly add to the butter mixture until everything is mixed in.
-Stir in the chocolate chips, 1 cup peanut butter cups, and 3/4 cup Reese’s Pieces gently.
-Use a 2 Tablespoon cookie scoop to make 36 dough balls. Press the remaining candy into the tops of the dough balls.
-Place the dough balls on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Let rest on the hot cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then gently move to a piece of parchment paper.
-Let the cookies cool completely before storing in a tightly sealed container.

He’s ready to bake!

Loves doing the mixer all by himself – and he has gotten pretty good at it, too

Wet and dry ingredients – ready to be mixed together

These got the John seal of approval for sure!

These are some serious cookies – they remind me a bit of these other pudding cookies I made – the best soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies, which are also large, dense & intense!

They were easy to make, and the only change I made to the recipe was I didn’t save some of the candy to put on the top before baking – I just mixed it all in – and they turned out plenty pretty (at least – I think so!)

I actually am not a big fan of peanut butter based cookies, but these didn’t overpower with the PB flavor (I think the pudding helped offset it!) and the chunks of chocolate chips/Reese’s in every bite were awesome. Would make again, for sure – these are perfect for all you peanut butter lovers out there!

John’s Cookbook – Page 2 – Ice Cream In A Bag

I came across this “Ice Cream In A Bag” somewhere – Facebook maybe? And I remember making it when I was a kid – at daycare we did it a few times, and I even was able to recreate it on my own at home. I figured my son would enjoy it – as it’s easy, and doesn’t require any baking/oven time, OH – and you get to SHAKE a bag for a LONG TIME! So here we go, with the next page of John’s Cookbook – Ice Cream In A Bag!

Ice Cream In A Bag
INGREDIENTS
1 c. Milk
2 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3 c. ice
1/3 c. kosher salt
Toppings of your choice

DIRECTIONS
-In a small Ziploc bag, combine milk, sugar and vanilla. Push out excess air and seal.
-Into a larger Ziploc bag, combine ice and salt.
-Place small bag inside the bigger bag and shake vigorously, 7 to 10 minutes, until ice cream has hardened.
-Remove from bag and enjoy with your favorite ice cream toppings.

Chef John enjoyed this a lot – it was easy and a fun way for him to fully make something basically all on his own!

The only change I made was that the original recipe called for half and half, but I opted to use 2% milk instead, turned out fine. Additionally – might I offer a Pro Tip – double bag it. All of it – the ice cream, the ice itself – double it up. Because no matter how strong your baggies are, they will probably leak at some point after several minutes of vigorous shaking (ours did – and they were name brand and everything – eek!). So learn from my messy mistakes and double it up before you even begin – oh – and Happy Shaking!