Mint Thins

December 20, 2016 by Nikki Cole

Mint Thins are a perfect treat to enjoy on a cold winter night and fun to serve at all those holiday parties. These Mint Thins are impressive and simple to make without making a million dishes and breaking the bank or taking hours to accomplish something that will be eaten in a matter of hours or even minutes. The only down fall? not being able to stop eating the cookies!

Who loves girl scout cookies? Well I love girl scout cookies especially Mint Thins, I can easily eat a whole box in one sitting and not necessarily a long sitting either. Have you started to notice how pricy they are getting for such a small box? These cookies are amazing and now there’s a recipe that is almost exact replica of Mint Thins and are amazing, especially exciting to have the nice mint flavor cookies for Christmas.

Mint Thins are a mixture of cool mint and delicious chocolate that literally melts in your mouth. With this recipe it not only is easy and requires simple ingredients but makes a perfect neighbor or friend gift without hours of baking or shopping to find inexpensive gifts.

Ingredients

¼ cup whipping cream
¾ cup chocolate chips
1 package chocolate almond bark, divided
¾ teaspoon peppermint extract
2 9-oz. packages of chocolate wafer cookies

Directions

In a small saucepan bring whipping cream to a simmer over medium heat. Place ¾ cup chocolate chips in pan, stirring constantly until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in extract, let cool for a minute.
Spoon a small amount onto one side of a cookie, place another cookie on top. Let harden in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
In a microwave melt the package of almond bark in 30 second intervals until smooth.
Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper.
Dip cookies in melted almond bark and place on the cookie sheet.
Let harden and enjoy.

This Mint Thin recipe is also really good for interchanging flavors. Instead of peppermint extract you can change it out to orange, raspberry, or even pomegranate. Different flavors makes different cookies and different exciting treats, these extracts are sometimes found just at a normal grocery store but pomegranate and anything real fancy will be found at a specific baking store.

Shamrock Shake

February 27, 2016 by Chellie Schmitz

Celebrate St. Patricks Day with a delicious Shamrock Shake!

Shamrock Shake

It’s that time of year again. Time for green food, green beer (for some) and green shakes! I read somewhere that the McDonalds Shamrock Shake has 57 ingredients! What?! It’s a shake, that seems like a lot! (that seems like a lot for any recipe) Don’t get me wrong, I love McDonalds just as much as the next person. I’m not really a fan of any fast food, but occasionally, it happens. Sometimes convenience wins. And nothing against their Shamrock Shake, it tastes great. But this one only has a few ingredients, and personally, I always vote for home made.

We’re not Irish, however, we are a family that loves to celebrate! St. Patricks day is the perfect excuse for a vanilla-y, minty, chocalate-y treat! YUM! Plus, bonus… It’s so easy to make!! Just five ingredients if you count the garnish, the shake itself just three. Oh I love easy!

Since my kids were quite young, we’ve made it a tradition to have a shamrock shake on St. Patricks day. They always look forward to it. I’m a believer in ‘everything in moderation’, so while this isn’t healthy, per se, it is a treat that is simple, easy and festive.

One thing I like to do when we are having treats, is make sure we make up the healthy in another area. So we’ll make sure we have plenty of nutrition in our dinner or lunch that day. Shepherd’s Pie is one of our favorite Irish-type meals. I love it because it’s all-inclusive. You got your meat and veggies and starch all in one dish. And, you can make it ahead of time and cook it when you’re ready. Serve it with some fruit and dinner. is. done.

And don’t think this recipe is just for the kids… grown ups will love it too!

Print Recipe

Shamrock Shake

Ingredients

2 cups vanilla ice cream
1/2 tsp mint extract
4-5 drops green food coloring
whipped cream optional
chocolate sauce optional

Instructions

Place all ingredients into a blender.
Blend until smooth.
Pour into glasses and top with whipped cream and chocolate sauce if desired.

Do you have any St. Patricks Day traditions? What are your favorite Irish meals?

If dessert in a cup speaks your language, check out these too!

Mocha Nut Steamer

Peppermint Mocha Steamer

Mint Marshmallow Cookies (in a blender!)

February 6, 2016 by Kelly Dedeaux

Who else is all about the FOOD during Super Bowl? That’s me all the way – it doesn’t matter what teams are playing, all that matters is delicious game day food we can enjoy guilt-free! Since I don’t believe in a super bowl party without yummy desserts to snack on – we whipped up these delicious Mint Marshmallow Cookies really quick – in a blender!

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Yes, you heard that right – blender cookies are my new crazy thing, and I love how easy it is! A few weeks ago I wouldn’t have believed you could make cookie dough in a blender, but when I received a Nutri Ninja® Auto-iQ Pro Compact System (for free to review) and tested out their dough blades, it was like magic!

My favorite features in a nutshell:

Different blades and speeds for a variety of uses
EASY to clean – seriously, the dough slid out and hardly any stayed in the blender!
Grips to counter/table on the bottom of the blender
Thermos cup is extra insulated to keep things cold longer

Anywho, this blender is AWESOME, and I’ve really enjoyed using it for my daily smoothies and many other fun recipes!

Now on to these moist, creamy pudding cookies with just a hint of mint – topped with gooey marshmallows! Sounds delish, right? Well they are! I adapted them from my mint pudding cookie recipe, but I love these tweaks to it!

Ingredients

1 1/2 Sticks Butter, softened
3/4 cup Light Brown Sugar, packed
1/4 cup Sugar
1 small pack INSTANT Vanilla pudding (3.4 oz)
2 Eggs
2 tsp. Vanilla
2 tsp. Mint Extract
2 1/4 cups All-purpose Flour
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 – 1 cup chocolate chips
Marshmallows for topping

If you aren’t using a blender, just use a mixer to blend instead.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F. Spray or line 2 baking sheets, set aside.
Add the butter, brown sugar, regular sugar, pudding mix, eggs, vanilla and mint extract together to the blender until creamy.
Add the flour and baking soda and blend until well-combined. Add in the chocolate chips just until combined. Scoop the dough in 1″ balls, pressing down slightly, onto the prepared baking sheets.
Bake about 6-8 minutes. Top with a few marshmallows in the center, then bake another 1-2 minutes or until edges are beginning to brown.
Allow to cool on sheets about 2 minutes, then remove to cooling racks.

Enjoy these yummy pudding cookies along with your other game day foods!

More Game Day Recipes

Have a ‘Me Moment’ with Ice Cream Flavored Yogurt

January 9, 2015 by Kelly Dedeaux

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #MullerMoment #CollectiveBias

As busy moms, wives & women, we spend a lot of our energy and focus on others. It’s our nature, I think, to put others first. This is definitely a wonderful thing, but not when we never give OURSELVES some attention. I’m guilty of this plenty, so one of my goals this year is to make sure to Have a ‘Me Moment’ regularly, and give myself a little extra love every now and then!

I sure seem to have made a lot of goals for myself for 2015! The good part is that they’re major ones that I’m taking baby steps towards, not a giant leap at all once! Like this goal of focusing on myself a bit more…right now I’m just taking a few minutes every here and there each day. My favorite time to do this? When I’ve earned (or really, really want!) a little treat without having to share. Let’s be honest, it’s pretty rare we get to enjoy our own little indulgence without sharing at least some with our kids, right?!

I found this NEW product at Walmart, and was super excited to try it out because it sounded AMAZING! Right there in the fridge section along the wall, with all the other yogurts, is a new one: Müller® Ice Cream Inspired Yogurt.

I. Love. Ice cream! Seriously, it’s just so good, with all the different flavors, and you can mix all these different things with it….super creamy and flavorful and delish…..ya. I really enjoy ice cream! So of course I HAD to give these a try, and grabbed all three flavors my store had: Vanilla Bean, Mint Chocolate Chip and Raspberry Chocolate Chip. Drooling yet?

What’s great is that there’s a Müller® coupon promotion: Take $1 off 5 Müller® Yogurts (offer valid from January 4 – February 15, 2015) in the Jan. 4th Sunday paper! This is a killer deal, so be sure to check that out!

So this week it’s been my little secret ‘Me Moment’ for myself. I literally HIDE from my kids in my closet…..don’t panic, it’s only a few minutes and I make sure they’re perfectly fine playing first…and sit there enjoying one of these ridiculous delicious yogurts. Here’s my special ‘Me Moment’ place….

Nothing exceptional about it, other than it’s quiet, open, and I get some time for just ME. Anywho, I sit there right beside my shoe organizer and enjoy Every. Single. Bite. So far my favorite (although they’re all fabulous) is the Vanilla Bean made into this creamy parfait.

Ingredients

Müller® Ice Cream Inspired Yogurt – Vanilla Bean Flavor
1/2 – 1 cup Raspberries, just slightly frozen
1/4 cup Chocolate Chips

Directions

You can layer it for appeal, such as a thin layer of the Vanilla Bean Yogurt, half the raspberries, then the rest of the yogurt, remaining berries and sprinkle on the chocolate chips.
Or just mix them all together, if that’s more your style!

The important thing here isn’t to get the perfect recipe…it’s that us women tend to do a LOT for others, and that’s great. But we definitely need and deserve some time to refresh, unwind and not feel like we must focus on a dozen others at that moment.

Because that moment, is a ‘Me Moment’!

I spilled the ‘beans’ on my special ‘Me Moment’ place…what’s yours?

Chocolate Peppermint Mousse Pie

December 5, 2014 by Kelly Dedeaux

There have been SO MANY yummy holiday desserts all over the blogosphere lately, I just had to pitch in some of my favorites! What better to start with than this classic Chocolate Peppermint Mousse Pie?!

I really like peppermint all year….the scent, the flavor, the color…but around the holidays it’s EXTRA special! Mix it with chocolate (because that makes everything better, right?) and you’ve got this creamy, flavorful and festive pie to serve up for any holiday occasion!

Note: I used a pre-made Oreo crust, but you can change it up!

Ingredients – Chocolate Mousse

4 oz. Bittersweet Baking Chocolate
2 tbsp. & 2 tbsp. Water
1 tbsp. Butter
1/2 tsp. Vanilla
2 Egg Yolks
3 tbsp. Sugar
3/4 cup Whipped Cream

Directions – Chocolate Mousse

In a saucepan, melt the baking chocolate, 2 tbsp. water, butter and vanilla. Remove from heat and set aside.
In another saucepan, whisk the egg yolks, 2 tbsp. water and over medium heat about 10 minutes, or until 160 Degrees F.
Combine both saucepans’ mixtures, then place over ice to cool, stirring often to keep it smooth. Fold in the whipped cream and spread over prepared pie crust. Place in fridge.

Ingredients – Peppermint Mousse

1 oz. Package White Chocolate Instant Pudding
1 oz. Package Cheesecake Flavored Instant Pudding
2 cups Milk
8 oz. Cream Cheese, very softened
1 tsp. Peppermint Extract (not mint)

Directions – Peppermint Mousse

Prepare the white chocolate pudding with the milk, as per package directions.
Beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy, then mix with the prepared pudding. Mix in the cheesecake pudding mix (don’t prepare it, use just the powder mix) and peppermint extract.
Spread over pie and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Top your pie with whipped topping, crushed candy canes, crushed oreos and/or chocolate shavings and ENJOY!

Chocolate Mint Brownies with Pudding

July 25, 2014 by Kelly Dedeaux

About time I posted a holiday dessert for our Christmas in July week, right?! Better late than never, I hope. These Chocolate Mint Brownies with Pudding are worth waiting for, though…so creamy, with the perfect blend of chocolate and mint flavor. Yumm-o!

I got the inspiration for this from Beyond Frosting’s Chocolate Peppermint Lasagna. I mean WOW…that looks absolutely sinful! I wasn’t quite in the mood for that, but it did get me craving some chocolate plus mint. Of course, my mind went straight to Chocolate Mint Brownies (told ya, I have a brownie problem)! I’m so glad, though, because they turned out delish!

Note: Make sure you make the brownies in a DEEP baking dish, so you have room for the yummy layers on top.

Ingredients

Brownies (prepared in 9×13 pan), cooled – I used this awesome recipe, excluding the milky ways
1 small package Instant Chocolate Pudding
Milk (as called for on the pudding instructions)
8 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
2 cups Powdered Sugar
1/4 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
8 oz. Whipped Topping, thawed
1/4 tsp. Peppermint Extract
1 cup Andes Peppermint Chips OR Andes Mint Chips
1 cup Hot Fudge Sauce

Directions

Prepare the pudding as per the box directions, allowing to set in fridge for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, heavy cream, whipped topping and peppermint extract in a bowl until smooth and creamy. Gently stir in your Andes chips of choice.
On the brownies, spread the chocolate pudding in a nice layer, followed by the cream cheese on top. Drizzle the hot fudge over the top, slice the brownies and serve. Store any extras in the refrigerator.

I really love recipes that taste amazing, but are super easy to prepare. That means this is a winner in my book!

Mint Pudding Cookies

December 19, 2013 by Kelly Dedeaux

It’s Christmas-time, so I’ve been baking like crazy. Then, we had an ice storm and were stuck indoors for days, so of course I baked even more! My family is loving it, my waistline – not so much. Anywho – one of the absolute FAVORITE recipes we’ve whipped up recently are these extremely moist, chewy and addictive Mint Pudding Cookies. Seriously, they were gone So. Darn. Fast! My hubby even begged me to make more (got the stuff, going to bake some more up tomorrow, and can’t wait)!

Mint Pudding Cookies / Busy Mom's Helper

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients

1 1/2 sticks Butter, softened

3/4 cup Light Brown Sugar, packed

1/4 cup Granulated Sugar

1 Small Package INSTANT Vanilla Pudding (3.4 oz)

2 Eggs

2 tsp. Vanilla

2 1/4 cups All-Purpose Flour

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1 1/2 cups Andes Mint Pieces (found in baking aisle, near chocolate chips)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F.

Use a fork (or mixer) to ‘smoosh’ the Butter, both Sugars and Pudding together well.

Add the Eggs and Vanilla and mix until combined. Then add the Flour and Baking Soda. Mix until well combined. Stir in the Andes Pieces.

Take a sprayed baking sheet and scoop the cookie dough into 1″ balls. Slightly press down.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until barely starting to brown on the edges. Remove, and ENJOY!!!

Seriously, see if you can resist eating more than one. Not that you would want to limit yourself – they’re AMAZING!!!

If I had to pick a favorite cookie, these would be it!

Mint Cheesecake Brownies

November 19, 2013 by Kelly Dedeaux

For those that know me, I have a serious ‘Brownie Problem’. No joke, I absolutely LOVE brownies! I have no intention of ever giving up this addiction, and instead just happily keep creating new, delicious brownies. Today’s post is no exception! With the holidays fast approaching, and the weather turning chilly, I get into a real mint-loving mood, mixed with a craving for cheesecake. Therefore we have: Mint Cheesecake Brownies!

Mint Cheesecake Brownies / Busy Mom's Helper

Ingredients***
1 1/2 cups + 1/4 cup Sugar
3/4 cup All-purpose Flour
1/2 cup Cocoa Powder
1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
3 Large Eggs whole, plus 1 Egg Yolk
4-6 drops Red Food Coloring (or green)
3/4 cup Oil
1/2 tsp. Salt
4 tsp. Vanilla Extract
8 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup Andes Creme De Menthe crumble pieces

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F. Spray or line a 13×9 baking pan, set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the 1 1/2 cups Sugar, Flour, Cocoa Powder, Baking Powder, 3 Eggs, Oil, Salt and Vanilla Extract until well-mixed.

In a separate bowl, mix the softened Cream Cheese, Egg Yolk, 1/4 cup Sugar, and Food Coloring until smooth. Stir in the Andes crumble pieces.

Pour 1/2 of the chocolate mixture into the pan. Drop spoonfuls of the Cream cheese mixture randomly over top. Cover with remaining chocolate mixture. Use a knife to swirl it around well.

Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

***Notes: This amount is for the normal, thin layer brownies. I usually double this size batch for thicker, more moist brownies.