The holidays can be a crazy time of year with shopping to be done, preparing for guests and getting kids ready for exams. We’ve been out late a lot during the week lately, and traveling on the weekends, so there’s not been a lot of time to fix dinner. Since it seems my family insists on eating every night, I figured I should try to do something about feeding them.
As a matter of fact, I even had most of these things in the pantry and fridge already, so this was easy.
Meatball Sandwich Casserole
Slices (about 1/4 inch thick) baguette French bread(enough to cover a casserole dish)
olive or vegetable oil to brush on bread
1-2 pounds (depends on what size dish you’re using) frozen cooked Italian-style or regular meatballs, thawed. Works best if they are smaller, bite-sized meatballs.
1 bag frozen chopped onions thawed and drained (I sauteed mine, but I’m sure it’s fine without)
NOTE: you’re supposed to use the onions and green pepper mix to make it like an authentic meatball sandwich, but no one here but me likes green peppers.
1 1/2 cups pasta sauce (I used a tomato-basil one)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Heat oven to 350°F. Brush 1 side of each bread slice with oil.
Line the bottom and side of a casserole dish with bread, oil side up and slightly overlapping slices.
Bake 5 to 10 minutes or until edges are light golden brown.
In large bowl, mix meatballs, onion (and bell pepper), and pasta sauce.
Spoon meatball mixture into crust; and bake uncovered 25 to 30 minutes or until thoroughly heated in center.
It was a hit with everyone, and it’s been just as good the next day!
Up next in my series of baked vegetable ‘fries’ is avocado fries and given my obsession with avocados I really cannot believe that it has taken me this long to get around to trying them out as fries! Like the other vegetables fries these avocado fries are super simple to make, you pretty much just need to slice up the avocados, dredge them in flour, dip them in egg and panko and then bake them until nice and golden brown and crispy and good! In total they take less than a half an hour to make so you can easily make them whenever you have a craving for fries or avocados! You might be a little surprised to learn that avocados work really well when cooked or baked and they are especially nice in these fries coated with the crispy panko bread crumbs! I served the baked avocado fries with chipotle ranch and basil ranch sauces for dipping.
Look at that amazingly green and creamy avocado hidden beneath that golden brown, crispy panko coating!
With summer here, basil is once again on the menu and it adds an amazing blast of freshness to condiments like ranch dressing or even mayonnaise.
Of course the spicy hot chipotle dipping sauce pairs fantastically well with cool and creamy avocado fries!
With Outrageously Rich Chocolate Indulgence Frosting.
AKA
The Mega. Extreme. Chocolate. Overdose. Cupcake.
Almost immediately after making the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes, I got the idea for a rich, decadent massively chocolate brownie batter cupcake, and I haven’t been able to get them outta my head since! This recipe uses a favorite chocolate brownie batter, my best chocolate cake ever recipe (just ask Google) and the most insanely ridiculously rich, fudgy, indulgent chocolate frosting you’ve ever had.
To all the chocolate lovers in the house… This is for you. XOXO.
It all starts with the brownie batter – this is seriously one of my favorite chocolate batter mixes ever. It calls for fat free sweetened condensed milk. You guys love me for that, right? Right back atcha.
It only calls for 1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk though, and since I hate recipes that only call for a little bit of something in a can, leaving me wondering what the heck I’m supposed to do with the rest of it, go ahead and make this easy, no machine required homemade ice cream. You will definitely want some with these cupcakes! :)
Use your trusty 1.5 tbsp scoop to drop spoonfuls of brownie batter onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze overnight.
This recipe calls for an entire cup of oil and an entire cup of sour cream. No wonder they’re good!
It also calls for 2 cups of mini chocolate chips, and if you want to help keep them from sinking to the bottom of your cupcake, mix them with a spoonful of the cake mix.
It’s tips like these that keep you coming back, I know.
Now using a large (3 tbsp) scoop, fill your cupcake liners about 2/3rds full.
Mmm, chocolate chips.
Grab your brownie batter from the freezer and press down into the cupcakes.
And when you pull them out of the oven…
You know how they say the muffin top is the best part of the muffin?
The best part of this cupcake is definitely this chewy, brownie batter top.
Think chewy brownie shell on top of an insanely gooey, soft chocolate cake.
Now these cupcakes are sho’ nuff good enough to eat just like this.
And this is coming from someone who basically only views cake as the vessel to getting frosting in her mouth.
But we’re not done here yet.
You know that rich, dark, fudgy classic chocolate frosting? The one that all chocolate frostings want to be when they grow up? The one that makes life worth living?
Here it is. This is what you’ve been looking for. Don’t be scared.
It calls for uh, quite a bit of butter. Can I promise you right now it’s worth every bite? I made four completely different types of chocolate frosting in one day – a buttercream, a sour cream, a ganache, and one that claimed to be fudgy, but wasn’t – looking for the perfect complement to these cupcakes. By the end of the day, I was so sick of chocolate, I never wanted to eat it, smell it, or get it all over my hands again. I didn’t even want to lick the bowl. It was bad. Until I tried just one more recipe. That’s all it took. I couldn’t stop eating it. By the spoonful. That’s how I knew it was perfect.
Exactly what I was looking for.
Move the frosting to a Ziploc bag, cut off the tip and pipe away!
1.5 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa)
a pinch of table salt
1.5 cups light corn syrup
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
16 oz milk chocolate chips
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix on medium speed for 2 mins until well combined. Using a small scoop (about 1.5 tablespoon) drop batter onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and freeze overnight.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray and line with cupcake liners. Combine all ingredients except chocolate chips into a very large bowl and mix on medium speed for 2 mins until well combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Using a large scoop (about 3 tablespoon) drop batter into the cupcake liners, filling about 2/3rds full. Remove brownie batter from freezer and press into the cupcake batter. Bake for 22-28 mins. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
Melt chocolate chips in the microwave, stirring well every 30 seconds. Allow to cool for 5-10 mins. Combine butter, sugar, cocoa and salt in a food processor and process until smooth, about 30 seconds. Scrape the bowl as needed. Add the corn syrup and vanilla and process until just combined, about 5-10 seconds. Scrape the bowl again, then add the melted chocolate and pulse until smooth and creamy, about 10-15 seconds. You can use a mixer for this too, if you don’t have a food processor, just don’t whip the butter too much! :)
When mixing color always mix a small amount of color to experiment. Start with base color and then add very small amounts of secondary color. Be sure to mix enough color for the cakes to be decorated as it is difficult to match an exact color.
NO-BAKE 15 MINUTE THIN MINTS — Make your own Thin Mint cookies at home in just 15 minutes!
Okay, these fabulous chocolate mint wafer cookies might take you 20 minutes to make. Especially if you stop to eat all the unused cookie cream filling.
But the point is, these No-Bake 15 Minute Thin Mints are so very, very easy. And yes, they do taste remarkably like the Girl Scout version!
I’m almost afraid to put this in writing, because I truly do love Girl Scouts cookies and I want everyone to buy them, but (gasp!) some people in my family said they were even better than the originals.
I feel slightly less guilty saying that because it is December, so unless you had quite a stash of Thin Mints in your freezer (and a whole lot of willpower) it’s not a cookie that typically makes an appearance during the holiday season. Until now!
One very important tip when making this recipe: use candy flavoring oils (rather than extracts). Extracts may cause your chocolate to seize.
I can’t say I thought of the idea for this quick and easy version of Thin Mints, but it’s absolutely brilliant! And it really is a perfect holiday cookie.
Your friends and neighbors are going to love you. If you decide to share, that is!
Be sure to save this No-Bake 15 Minute Thin Mints recipe to your favorite Pinterest board for later.
Here’s what you’ll need to make No Bake 15 Minute Thin Mints
