Oreo Dirt Cookies

I know I mentioned this in my Banana Peanut Butter Oreo Bread, but there is no greater feeling than moving a recipe to "Completed Recipes" on Pinterest. I have seen so many recipes for Oreo cookies and I kept trying to make them, but one group always stuck out to me.

I am a huge cookie fan.One reason, is of course the small portions so I don't feel like a total cow when I finish one or two or three. Also, they don't require a ton of bowls and a ton of different steps that involve me to freeze or wait. I'm impatient! I can't be waiting for those cupcakes to cool when I know just how good that batter tasted and how good the icing I just made is! With cookies, I can just pop them in and out of the oven (in about 15 minutes) and start devouring! They are perfect for weeknight baking too.

I had some Oreos left from the banana bread, so I knew what was coming!

Oreo Dirt Cookies

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

3 oz cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup flour

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1 cup crushed Oreos

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and cream cheese using a hand mixer until they are well combined.

3. Add the sugar and vanilla and mix until ingredients are well combined. Add the flour and mix on low until incorporated. Fold in the mini chocolate chips.

4. Make the dough into 1 inch balls and roll in Oreo crumbs until it is covered. Place on baking sheet and bake 12-15 minutes or until edges are golden.

5. Cool on the pan for 2 minutes. ENJOY!! 

Slow Cooker Chicken Caesar Salad Sandwiches

So I know I make fun of my boyfriend allll the time for never eating anything green. I still love him, I swear.

But the other day, nothing short of a miracle happened. We were in a cab going to an event and we had to grab dinner to go. I grabbed a chicken caesar salad from the pizza place and he grabbed two slices of pepperoni pizza, of course. I'm not a huge caesar fan in general, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Colin scarfed down his pizza and was just eyeing my salad like it was chocolate cake. He ended up trying it.....AND ENJOYING IT! I gave him the rest of my dinner because I was in such shock.

I found this recipe from Nikki at chef-in-training (I am borderline obsessed with all of her recipes). Colin had asked for Chicken Caesar Salad for dinner so I offered up this as a substitute because I have been dying to try out my new slow cooker. These were so easy and so good and so simple and I could clearly just rave on about them forever! Want to know the best part? My boyfriend actually was able to make them himself!

Slow Cooker Chicken Caesar Salad Sandwiches

3 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (mine were frozen)

1/2 - 1 Cup of your favorite Caesar Salad Dressing

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

2 cups shredded lettuce

4-6 hamburger buns

4 slices of bacon cooked (optional)

Place chicken in a 3-4 quart slow cooker with 1-2 cups of water. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours.

Remove chicken from cooker and drain water. Place chicken on a cutting board and shred chicken. Place chicken back in the cooker and pour dressing, cheese, and pepper over top. Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes or until mixture is hot. 

Assemble buns with lettuce and bacon and chicken mixture. Enjoy! 

Peanut Butter Oreo Banana Bread

I can tell you what one of the best feelings in the world for me is. It is moving a pin off of my 2,000+ different recipe boards to "Recipes I've Completed".

I, unfortunately, do not have one of those fancy cameras or the skill set in the kitchen, quite frankly, to make my pictures look as mouth watering as all other bloggers. I remember I saw a picture of this bread with the title "Peanut Butter Oreo Banana Bread" and just thought "YES". But, as always, it became lost in my black hole of 2000 pins and just kept getting pushed further and further on the back burner UNTIL I neglected 3 bananas and felt completely guilty throwing them out. This forgotten recipe came into my head like a light bulb and had my boyfriend run out to get all of missing ingredients.

Now, I love peanut butter. Like spoon out of the jar love peanut butter. This bread to me just tastes like banana bread with Oreos. Next time, I will probably double the peanut butter, but this could totally just be a "Jules Problem".

Peanut Butter Oreo Banana Bread (adapted from something swanky)

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup peanut butter (double for a lot of pb taste!)

2 overripe bananas

2 eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 tsp baking soda

2 cups flour

15 Oreos, crushed (i used a food processor) 

4 Oreos, crushed (by hand)

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 standard loaf pans.
2. Mix oil, peanut butter, and sugar with a stand mixer whisk.
3. Add in the bananas, eggs, buttermilk, and baking soda to the peanut butter mixture.
4. Slowly mix in flour until just combined.
5. Mix in the crushed Oreos
6. Divide batter evenly between the two loaf pans.
7. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until tooth pick inserted comes out clean. (Mine had to bake closer to an hour FYI!)
8. Let cool & enjoy :)

Cookies And Cream Oreo Fudge Brownies

I have to admit...I am totally eating one of these as I type this. I had made these before (a year or so ago) at my old job and that was the icing on the cake of being the favorite office baker. I had men asking me for the recipe so they could tell their wives. I had never had such good reviews from anything I made before!

Now, this is probably one of the easiest recipes because...wait for it...it comes from A BOX! There are a few changes to make it not just a boxed brownie but these are so good and everyone will love them!

My boyfriend, for one, is probably never breaking up with me after he knows I can make these. He has had 5 since last night. Including one for breakfast this morning which was totally like catching a kid with his hand in the cookie jar when I walked into the kitchen this morning.

The first time I made these I used birthday cake oreos. Those were incredible. This time I used double stuffed oreos. Also incredible. Therefore, use any oreo your little heart desires!

That broken oreo is so annoying in this picture! but check out those new counter tops!

Ingredients:

1 box brownie mix (plus ingredients on box)

1/4 cup hot fudge sauce

1 package Oreos

Combine brownie mix and ingredients on box in one big bowl. Stir in hot fudge mix until well combined with batter. Pour about half of the batter and and layer Oreos over top. Pour the rest of the batter and cover oreo layer completely. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until tooth pick comes out clean.

ENJOY :) 

Celebrating National Ice Cream Month at SMUSH!

I have been so busy recently with unpacking and moving that I haven't had time to do ANYTHING besides work and sleep. Cooking has definitely been sacrificed, but I did make my first home cooked meal in my new apartment recently...which leads me to a funny story.

My boyfriend was in charge of cleaning the grill and I was in charge of cleaning the kitchen. I finished my job and he brought the grill rack in to soak in the kitchen. I didn't think anything of it so I went to take a shower and when I came out I found that he was asleep in the bedroom. I got changed, did my hair, and then decided to wake him up. I walk out into the dark kitchen and living room area with him to hear, "Did you spill water?" I turn on the light and let out a scream from a horror movie. HE FORGOT TO TURN THE SINK OFF! For hours that sink had been running, overflowing, and SOAKING my brand new apartment with water. I literally wanted to cry...oh wait, I did. Hard.

But do not worry, a rug was the only sacrifice, and we dried everything off in time for the 4th of July party I am having tomorrow!

Anyway, did you know it was National Ice Cream month? and did you know that its been about 900% humidity in New York City? So many reasons for ice cream.

My boyfriend and I went to another FREE HowAboutWe date to "NYC gourmet dessert deli" called SMUSH. They make ice cream sandwiches that were absolutely incredible. 

I decided to go with a pre-made combination (pictured above). My "bread" was one chocolate chip cooked and one french toast cookie. The cookies were so soft and still gooey from the oven. They had free cookie samples while you waited too! My ice cream filling choice was vanilla and it was topped with a layer of fudge, marshmallow spread, peanut butter spread, and potato chips. I walked 3 miles to get to the store so thats ok, right?

My boyfriend went with a make your own option of 2 chocolate chip cookies, chocolate ice cream, banana slices, peanut butter spread, and a milk/white chocolate swirl. 

These looked so easy to make and they were so good. There are so many combinations that you can make so I think that ice cream sandwiches may be my new summer specialty! 

Family Weekend

I wish I could explain how happy I am that it is finally summer. I don't know why I don't live in a place where it is summer all year round, but I guess that would make it harder to appreciate. This weekend I went down to LBI (Long Beach Island) for my boyfriends annual family reunion which was so much fun. His family reminds me so much of mine and it definitely tugged at my heart strings a bit that I can't be at my own family reunion next week.

Sunset on our first day

It was also great to see the Jersey Shore have such an amazing recovery after Hurricane Sandy this past year. The part of the island that we stayed at wasn't hit too hard, but you could still see all of the empty lots and homes for sale that didn't make it.

Since this family reunion made me miss my own, especially my dad, I felt like this recipe was appropriate. I had made a peanut butter banana chocolate cream pie for my dad a few months back since it was all of his favorite flavors combined. It was so simple and so incredibly tasty that its an amazing go to recipe! 

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Cream Pie

35 Nilla Wafers, Finely crushed

1/4 cup butter, melted

2 oz. BAKER'S Semi Sweet Chocolate

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

2 bananas, cut in half, then quartered

2 pkg (3.4 oz) of Vanilla Instant Pudding

2 cups cold milk

2 cups Cool Whip

2 tbsp. salted peanuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix wafer crumbs and melted butter and press into the bottom of a 9 inch pie pan. Bake 5-8 minutes or until golden. Cool completely. Meanwhile, make chocolate curls for 1/2 oz chocolate. Refrigerate. 

Microwave remaining 1.5 oz chocolate and peanut butter into a microwave safe bowl on high for one minute. Stir until chocolate is melted and everything is well blended. Place bananas in the crust and pour chocolate mixture on top.

Beat pudding mixes and milk in large bowl with a whisk for 2 minutes. Stir in 1 cup cool whip. Spread over the bananas and chocolate. Top with remaining cool whip.

Refrigerate for 3 hours. Top with chocolate curls and nuts before serving. 

Exciting News Topped with Bacon!

I mentioned previously that my boyfriend and I joined a website called HowAboutWe. In case you forgot (and I love to do marketing for my friend), it has two different sides. One is for single people in which they post an idea for a date such as "How about we go to the Knicks game" and other people can either ask you out on that date and/or start a conversation based on the idea. You can also search for dates or just browse users. I think its a really unique idea for the seemingly endless possibilities of dating websites out there. Go sign up if you're single!

The other side is for couples in which they give you awesome discounted/free dates for you and your significant other. This is where we went to the Peanut Butter Co. and tried all of those awesome different peanut butters...for free!

Now before I get to the next date that we went on, I have some very exciting news to share. I AM A HOMEOWNER! It was a long process, but I can finally check that "Buy a home" line item on my 20 Things To Do Before I Die. I will be keeping everyone updated with my new decorations, so I won't spoil that by posting any pictures here!

Back to my date. I try to eat healthy as much as I can, but I am SUCH a sucker for bacon. I think that is a general consensus over most of the human population, but it really is incredible. Colin and I went to a place on the Upper East Side called The Baconery where every single thing on their menu has bacon in it. Every Thing.

We were given with our free date 2 bacon baked goods, 2 chocolate covered bacon strips, 2 bacon sandwiches, and a drink (bacon infused, if desired). I had no idea bacon could be incorporated in so many things and Colin was about the happiest I have ever seen him. My sandwich was bacon, peanut butter, banana, and honey and oh my GOODNESS was it heavenly. Colin actually couldn't keep his hands away and he had his own! Colin ordered a grilled cheese with bacon (boring!), but he still loved it. For dessert, we chose cookies and cream bacon (Colin's choice) and birthday bacon (my choice). I loved both, but Colin was a little creeped out by the chocolate and bacon combination. We also took home two bacon croissants for breakfast the next day which were heavenly. I also may or may not have ordered the bacon hot chocolate and may or may not have loved every sip of it.

If you love bacon as much as we do, its a definite stop for you!