Peppermint Oreo Truffles (With Chocolate Vodka. Duh.)

Hello again!  THANK GOODNESS it's finally winter break.  I am SO ready for the holidays this year.  I need a break from all of the real-life stuff, so I can focus on present wrapping and making things that taste good.  First up from my list is an easy-peasy dessert recipe that you could definitely make the night before you go to a holiday party or to your family's house.

I love a good truffle... or oreo/cake ball... whatever you want to call it; they taste super good.  And, these particular ones don't require any baking, which generally is a plus.  The steps are quick, with some down time in between so that you can go wrap some presents or do laundry or whatever.  Another plus, you can decorate them however you want and make them super cute!  This recipe is also extremely versatile, so with a little tweaking, you can make several variations to bring and impress everyone!

This recipe yields approximately 3 dozen truffles!

INGREDIENTS

• Oreos - I bought the peppermint ones!  You could go for a different flavor if you choose.  I used approximately 40 oreos, which is most of a family size package.
• 8 oz. package of cream cheese
• shot of 360 chocolate vodka (you could also use peppermint something if you wanted it to be really minty)
• 1/2 c powdered sugar
• 1/4 c dark cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp. mint extract (if you want it to be minty and you don't have peppermint oreos, or you just want it to be mintier than the oreos can provide)
• melting chocolate

PROCEDURE

First, you'll need to crumble your oreos.  Put half of them in a food processor, and blend them until they're all in fine pieces.  Add the rest in as your processor can handle them.  When all the oreos are thoroughly crumbled, add the cream cheese and mix until completely incorporated.  Add the powdered sugar, cocoa, and vodka, and extract and mix again.  You want it to be a thick paste.

Roll the mixture into 1" balls and put in the freezer to chill.  Prepare a surface to put the finished truffles on.  We used tin foil, but wax paper is good too.

Melt the chocolate (I used Wilton's red wafers) and coat your frozen truffles.  Be sure the whole truffle is covered in the chocolate.  Before the chocolate has cooled and set, you can decorate with sprinkles or whatever strikes your fancy that you think would be good and/or tasty.  I used crushed candy canes and sprinkles.

YUM.

Now,  if you didn't want mint, you would just swap the mint extract for vanilla and use regular oreos.  Another variety I think would be good is Birthday Cake!  I'll definitely be trying that out for the hub's birthday (or my own...), so check back for that some other time.  If you make some variation of this, please share!  I'd love to hear about it.  Maybe I can start a list of other people's awesome ideas!  Yes!

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Coors Chicken Noodle Soup

Hey, it's getting cold outside, and there is no better way to warm up than a nice bowl of homemade soup. We put a twist on an old classic that can be ready in minutes.

INGREDIENTS

• about 28 oz. of chicken broth
• about 8 oz. of vegetable broth
• 1 can of coors light (of course this can be substituted for any other beer)
• any vegetables you might want to add (i.e. chopped carrots, chopped onion, celery)
• 1/2 lb. of grilled chicken, precooked means less prep time
• some egg noodles
• salt and pepper
• basil and oregano

PROCEDURE

All you have to do is add both broths, and the beer into a pot on the stove, and set stove to high. When this comes to a boil, stir in the veggies, chicken and egg noodles. Just add egg noodles according to how you like in your soup. Let this simmer for around 10 or 15 minutes, until noodles are tender. Add in a pinch of basil and oregano, then add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

Please feel free to make your own spin on this recipe and tell us about it! We would love to hear new and exciting ingredients, or new beers you might have added into your soup. Thanks again and don't forget to sign up for our newsletter for updates!

Whiskey Apple Tarts

When the weather turns chilly, my first instinct is to bake! My momma asked me to make some Apple tarts she'd seen on Pinterest, and I obliged, but I decided to put our own little spin on it. We made a nice apple whiskey glaze, and it is good stuff!

With my sweet Mrs. Claus apron... because I can!

INGREDIENTS

• 3-4 apples, sliced thinly
• 1/4 c applesauce
• 2 T honey
• 2 T apple whiskey
• 2 cans of honey croissant dough (Pillsbury)
• powdered sugar to taste

PROCEDURE

The first step is to slice the apples up, nice and thin.  You want to shoot for the slices to be about 1/8".  Too thick, and it won't bend to make the rose.  Too thin, and you won't really taste the apple.  Once you have the slices, you'll need to microwave (or otherwise cook) the slices so they're pliable.  I ended up microwaving about 10 slices, enough for one tart, at a time for 15-20 seconds.  To make the glaze, whisk together the applesauce, honey and whiskey.
Next, we opened up the cans of dough and rolled them out.  The dough from Pillsbury was perforated for croissants, so I pushed those back together so they wouldn't fall apart while trying to roll up the roses.  Each can of dough needs to be cut into 6 long rectangles.  The rectangles got a line of the applesauce glaze, and a line of softened apples.  See the pic below for how to set it up.

After this, fold the dough up on top of the apples, but make sure the top of the apples are still sticking out to make the petals.

Fold the dough up, and roll into spiral shapes.  Place each rose in a muffin tin, and bake in a 350* oven for 16-20 minutes, or until golden brown.  I put more of the glaze on each after they finished baking, and a nice sprinkle of powdered sugar.

If there's one suggestion I could make, I would make the dough on the thinner side, so it doesn't expand so much as it bakes.  It won't taste any different, but it'll look more delicate and pretty when it's out of the oven!  ;-)

In their happy little cups!

If you're ever on pinterest, you've probably seen some version of this recipe.  I feel like a lot of blogs try to make this whole thing sound super easy...  It's not terribly hard, but it takes a couple of times to get the hang of how soft the apples need to be and how tight you need to roll the dough.  Thankfully, I only had one I screwed up beyond repair.  If you give this a try, I'd love to see pictures and know what you think about the applesauce and whiskey glaze!

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Beer Queso

Hello again, friends. We decided to put together a quick and easy recipe for a party, and what is better than beer and cheese?  The correct answer is nothing! :)  This recipe takes about five minutes and makes enough for about 8 people to really enjoy.

Ingredients

• Your choice of a light beer; 12 oz. Don't choose anything with a lot of added flavors, or anything too hoppy. You probably want to stay from any IPAs. We used Landshark this time, and the taste was pretty splendid.
• 1 pound of shredded pepper jack cheese
• 8 ounces of cream cheese

First, you pour your beer into a pot on the stove, and turn the stove on high.  Let it sit for a bit, until it's simmering. Add the cream cheese (cut into chunks) and the pepper jack. Then you just stir until melted together; I recommend using a whisk for quicker preparation.  You know it's done when you can't see any little bits of the cream cheese anymore.  You can enjoy this queso while it's still hot, or let it cool off.  When it's cooled, it'll be a bit thicker. Happy partying!

This would also be really good for nachos with some pulled chicken...  Mmmmm....


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Fluffernutter Truffles

Whew! It has been a LONG week. Thankfully, we're taking a three day weekend! But, that doesn't mean we've stopped making recipes... Today, I took some time to make some truffles for dessert. We've all got parties and such to go to during the holiday season, so I wanted something easy to whip up that people would like that I could bring without too much hassle! The Fluffernutter truffle is my answer! I love all things chocolate and peanut butter, so this was an easy one for me to get on board with.  Fluffernutter brownies are one of my favorites, so the thought of adding the marshmallow flavor was too good to pass up! The other good news is that the process is easy, and it only takes four ingredients.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 3/4 c Creamy peanut butter
• 1 c Powdered sugar (confectioner's sugar)
• 1/2 stick softened butter
• 4 tablespoons Smirnoff whipped Marshmallow vodka
• melting chocolate

PROCEDURE

So first off, the measurements for the peanut butter and powdered sugar are approximate.  I would really start with a little less and then add more of whichever you need to get the consistency right.  But, mix together the peanut butter, powdered sugar, butter and vodka.  I just used my hands and squished it together like play-dough, but a mixer would be the less messy option...  You want the consistency to be like cookie dough - not too squishy, not too stiff.  If it's really squishy, add more powdered sugar, and if it's too stiff add more PB and butter (or a touch more vodka).  Roll the mixture into 1" balls and stick 'em in the fridge to help them set while you melt the chocolate according to the package directions.  Then, dip the truffles in the chocolate and set on a flat surface to harden.  I'd recommend covering said surface with aluminum foil or wax paper.  If you'd like, before the chocolate hardens, you can add festive sprinkles! 

Both dogs were VERY interested when they smelled peanut butter!

Lakeside!

Someday, I'm thinking about trying to add marshmallow fluff to this recipe...  If somebody does it, let me know!  I'd LOVE to know how it turned out.

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Bourbon Bacon Mac & Cheese

Hi again, lovely people. It's been on the dreary side here lately, so I've been craving comfort food... And mac and cheese is my go-to in that department. Today, I worked on a nice bourbon glazed bacon, which is goooood on some homemade mac and cheese.

I'm not kidding when I say this stuff means business. 

INGREDIENTS

• Bacon
• Bourbon (we used Jim Beam Maple)
• brown sugar
• Pasta
• milk - 1 3/4 c
• butter - 3t
• flour - 3t
• shredded cheese - 1 3/4c  (you may use any kind you like)
• salt

PROCEDURE

I made a glaze for the bacon using the brown sugar and bourbon.  The amount you need depends on just how much bacon you're cooking.  Regardless, the glaze is about four parts bourbon to one part brown sugar.  I doused each strip of bacon in the glaze before cooking in the frying pan.

You can cook the pasta according to its directions ahead of time, or after the bacon is done.  

To make the cheese sauce, start by melting the butter in a frying pan.  Then, whisk in the flour.  When totally combined, add the milk, whisking slowly.  Then, add the cheese, and mix until fully melted together.  Add salt to taste.

Comfort food doesn't get much better than this!

Again, you can really use whatever cheese you fancy.  This time, we tried white cheddar and colby jack.  Next time, (yes, we've already decided) we're going to use sharp cheddar and the white cheddar for that more traditional mac & cheese flavor.  Really, most cheese is good by me, so it all works...  The bourbon makes the bacon nice and smoky, which is soooo good with cheese.  And, it's all caramelized from the glaze, and ugh...  so good.  Just trust me on this one.

Let us know how this one works out for you!