Oct 9 2012

Pinterest Tested: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Pie

Posted on October 9, 2012 by thepoli3

A few months back, I pinned this delicious looking recipe and I’ve been eyeballing it every time I peruse my Pinterest “Recipes” Board since… finally, I caved in and whipped it up last weekend.

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Pie

This recipe originated from AKM designs and delights and I’m so glad she shared it on her blog and that it somehow landed on our Pinterest page.

Here’s our Real Best Recipe “Pinterest Tested” Results…

Overall rating: 9

Cost: $ (scale: $-$$$)

Difficulty level: Moderate (scale: beginner, moderate, intermediate, advanced)

Thoughts: First of all, if you cook and bake a lot like I do, the cost is pretty low because you usually have the basics on hand (flour, sugar, butter, vanilla extract, etc.) but if you are new to baking, this could be a little more expensive because you do have a lot of things to purchase, which you will use again if you keep baking! I have to say- this is DELICIOUS. -But- This would have been soooo much better as a cookie, rather than a pie. The pretzel crust was okay but this recipe could have totally done without it. Next time I make these again, because I will, I will nix the whole pie/crust thing and just make a ton of cookies. After all, that is what it is… a cookie in a pie crust. And that was the best part. Something else I want to note that I always do when baking cookies (and of course did here) is I underbake them by about 2 minutes. That way they are gooey right out of the oven and stay soft after cooling down. With the Reese’s peanut butter cups in this, it took gooey to a whole new level. After we had our initial slices, I stuck this pie in the fridge to keep, and when going back for more in the following days, I heated each piece up for 30 seconds in the microwave and OMG it was so gooey, peanut buttery, chocolatey and delicious!

In any case, get over to AKM’s site now and print this recipe so you too can enjoy this amazing recipe!

Jul 26 2012

Pinterest Tested: {Gluten Free} Baked Oatmeal Casserole

Posted on July 26, 2012 by thepoli3

I pinned this Gluten Free Baked Oatmeal Casserole recently in hopes I could have something quick and healthy for breakfast in the morning for a few days. The recipe comes from the Urban Nester blog.

Overall Rating: 7 (scale: 1-10)

Cost: $$ (scale: $-$$$)

Difficulty Level: Beginner (scale: beginner, moderate, intermediate, advanced)

Thoughts: I am not a big oatmeal fan but these were pretty good. I definitely felt like they were generally healthy even though they contained some sugar and chocolate chips. Overall I liked these, and I think most people would. Would I choose this over other breakfast options? Probably not. But than again, oatmeal isn’t my favorite. These are so easy to make that they’re definitely worth a try in your kitchen!

Do you have any recipes you have pinned & tested recently? How did they turn out? Also, do you have any Pinterest inspired suggestions you’d like us to try out first? Leave a comment and let us know!

Jul 19 2012

Pinterest Tested: Salted Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Bark

Posted on July 19, 2012 by thepoli3

Salty & sweet perfectly describes the tastes in our household. Hubs craves all things salty and I love me some sweets, especially chocolate. When I came across this recipe on Pinterest, I knew had to “pin it” to make sometime in the future.

Salted Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Bark

By: The Legume Loyalist

Photo & Recipe Credit: http://legumeloyalist.com

Mine did not come out nearly as pretty but the taste definitely made up for it… so salty and sweet that even hubby loved it. He is not a sweets guy by any means but when he bit into one of these he said “mmm… salty!”. Go figure.

Here is what it looked like after baking the “caramel” and pretzels (I used straight pretzels and tried to break them up before pouring caramel over it, so that way these would cut easier).

I think I put a little extra chocolate than neccessary… oh well

Here it is after cooling in the fridge for a few hours:

The finished product!

Here’s how they rank:

Overall Rating: 9

Cost: $ (scale: $-$$$)

Difficulty Level: Moderate (scale: beginner, moderate, intermediate, advanced)

Ok so these tasted AWESOME but they did not come out perfectly. In the recipe, it says to let the sugar-butter mixture “brown” for about 3 minutes. I’m not sure 3 minutes is long enough for it to thicken. This is why:

You see, the caramel didn’t seem to adhere very well to the chocolate layer, even after cooling for a few hours in the fridge. Some pieces had barely any pretzel/caramel mixture on them. After reading through some of the comments on the recipe site, it seems as though many people suggested to let the caramel “browning” process take a little longer. I would also next time attempt to just melt pre-wrapped caramels and pour over the pretzels instead. I think this may help things stay together a bit better and also enhance the caramel flavor.

In any case, and in order not to waste anything, I saved all the pretzel/caramel remnants and put them in a plastic bag to use for a future recipe… which will be posted very soon!

Again, these are definitely very easy and delicious so I would totally recommend making them! Thanks Pinterest and The Legume Loyalist for the great recipe find!

Leftovers:

For a creative idea, consider using your extra bark as a cheesecake crust:

Caramel pretzel crusted strawberry cheesecake

- J

Jul 18 2012

Oh How Pinteresting

Posted on July 18, 2012 by thepoli3

Today we will begin a new link-up with The Vintage Apple called Oh How Pinteresting!

Some things we found “pinteresting” this week are:

This No-Cook Egg-Free Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream by the ChocolateMoosey.com looks delicious and is so perfect for a hot, summer day!

These Kings Hawaiian Roll Sandwiches by Beyer Beware are a delicious and easy-to-make snack to bring along with us at the upcoming football parties we will be attending this Fall.

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Same goes for these cute guys, originally pinned by Chef In Training.

These Ham & Pineapple Kabobs by Goodness Gracious would also be great for any party appetizer! Definitely suggesting using a Honeybaked Ham for this one… yum!

Find us on Pinterest to follow all of these pins and more!

What are some of your favorite pins this week?

Jul 5 2012

Pinterest Tested: Chocolate Covered Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches

Posted on July 5, 2012 by thepoli3

A long time ago, when Pinterest first became “a thing” and I was wedding-dieting I saw these delicious treats appear on my feed:

Chocolate Covered Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches

Created by GoodLifeEats.com

I was so mad I couldn’t make them but looking good in my wedding dress was much more important to me at the moment. I tabled them and told myself I would come back to them ~~10 pounds & 1 year later~~ post wedding. And that is exactly what I did.

I have to warn you, mine are not nearly as pretty. I used two round cake pans instead of a sheet pan, which caused my end results to be wedge shaped, unlike the pretty square shaped ones on Jaime’s site. I’m also still learning the proper technique to dipping cold items in hot, melted, chocolate, so mine took a few tries to get full coverage.

Nonetheless, these taste AH-MAZING. Definitely fattening, but so worth it. Hubby didn’t like them but he is 1) not a sweets fan and 2) doesn’t like rich food (which these are), so his opinion doesn’t count.

Here’s how they rank:

Overall Rating: 10 (scale: 1-10)

Cost: $ (scale: $-$$$)

Difficulty Level: Intermediate (scale: beginner, moderate, intermediate, advanced)

These are a -bit- of a pain to make. First, getting the baked brownie out of the pans in one, big, piece proved to be a little tough, even though I used Pam spray on the cake pans before baking. Second of all, there are just a lot of steps. And lastly, like I said- it’s hard to get full coverage of the piping hot melted chocolate on these without having to do a few touch ups- sometimes the ice cream won and wouldn’t let the chocolate stay put until I popped them in the freezer and then brought them back out to do a touch up in the gaps. Overall, these are messy to make and take a lot of time -but- they’re so worth it. Next time, I will make them square shaped, like the original recipe, so they aren’t such big serving sizes. Mine are like slices of pie- pretty big for one person to eat alone… which… I do. Don’t judge me.

Enjoy!

- J