Momma Didn’t Make It Like This

It’s no secret that I LOVE me some Paula Deen.  There hasn’t been much of hers I’ve tried that I haven’t liked, so it’s really no surprise that I fell head over heels for her version of banana pudding.  I found this recipe about 5 years ago and I’ve been makin’ it ever since.  This is the ONLY way I can eat it now!!!  Spoiled!!!  If you haven’t tried this version yet, you MUST!!!!  This is definitely the BEST!!!  Not at all like momma used to make it!!! 

NOT YO’ MAMA’S BANANA PUDDING

4 bananas, sliced

3 cups milk

1 box Nilla Wafers

2 small boxes instant FRENCH vanilla pudding

1 {8 oz.} pkg. cream cheese

1 {14oz.} can sweetened condensed milk

1 {12 oz.} container Cool Whip

**You can find the original recipe HERE.  The recipe above is tweaked just a bit and I LOVE it!  BUT…you might wanna give Paula’s original a try, too :)**

So, lemme guess…I had you at cream cheese, right?!  HA!  Seriously get ready to salivate because this is GOOD.

Line the bottom of a 9x13 with Nilla Wafers.  {The original recipe called for Pepperidge Farm Chessmen cookies.  It tasted really good with the Chessmen cookies, I just prefer the Nilla Wafers :)}

Slice your bananas and layer evenly on top of the wafers.  The original recipe called for 6-8 bananas and when I first made it, I think I used about that much.  I personally don’t like A TON of bananas in my banana pudding {I know, weird}.  I think four is the magic number…not too many, not too few.  Just PERFECT :)

Combine the milk and pudding mix and blend using a handheld mixer.  I’ve found that using the two small boxes & the 3 cups of milk makes an awesome consistency for the pudding.  It sets just PERFECTLY!

In a separate bowl, mix together cream cheese & condensed milk until smooth.  Gradually fold in whipped cream.

Add the cream cheese mixture to the pudding mix & stir until well blended.

Pour the mix evenly over the bananas.  OMG…SO YUMMY!!! 

But wait!!..

Layer the remaining Nilla Wafers on top of the mix to top it all off!!!

Looks heavenly, right?!  That would be an understatement!!!  I made this the weekend my family came to visit and it was a HIT!  We practically licked the pan clean!  This is the perfect dessert to bring to your next summer bash.  It’ll be the hit of the party…I promise!!

That Was REdiculous!

"That was REdiculous!!!" were the words out of Mr. Spouse's mouth after he sampled what I'm about to show you.  He even went so far as to say, "that might just be my favorite dessert ever."  Score one for wifey!  YAY!!!!!  If you like peanut butter & chocolate, then I'm pretty sure you'll DIE for this dessert!!!!! 

TRIPLE C-PB BARS

Cookie Base & Topping

1 pouch peanut butter cookie mix {I used Betty Crocker...YUM!}

3 tbsp. vegetable oil

1 tbsp. water

1 egg

Filling

1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup butter or margarine {I used butter}

1 pkg. cream cheese, softened

2/3 cups crunchy or creamy peanut butter {I HIGHLY recommend creamy :)}

3/4 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Preheat oven to 350.  Meanwhile, prepare the cookie base & topping.  Stir the cookie base & topping ingredients together until soft dough forms.  Shape 6, 1 inch balls of dough.  On an ungreased cookie sheet, place the balls about 2 inches apart and flatten in a crisscross pattern with a fork.

 

 

Press the remaining dough into a greased 13x9 baking dish.  Bake the cookies & base for about 10-12 minutes or until edges are golden brown.  Set the cookies aside because these will be used for the topping!  Let the dough in the 13x9 cool for about 10 minutes.

 

Microwave the butter & chocolate chips together for about 1 minute to 1 minute & 30 seconds until melted & stirred smooth.  {Make sure to stir about every 30 seconds!!!}  Spread evenly over the dough & refrigerate for 30 minutes.

 

While the dough is firming, beat together cream cheese, peanut butter, powdered sugar, and whipping cream until blended.  Beat on high speed for about 2 minutes until the batter is light and fluffy :) 

 

Remove the dough/chocolate from the fridge and top with the cream cheese/peanut butter/powdered sugar/whipping cream mixture. 

Sprinkle with powdered sugar....

Then crush up your reserved cookies and sprinkle on top of that!!!!! {and don’t forget to let these set in the fridge for about 30 minutes before eating or cutting into bars}

Does that look heavenly or what?!?!?!

TRUST ME...IT IS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here’s One For The Kid In You…

Some of my favorite memories from my childhood were camping.  We used to go EVERY.SUMMER.  That was seriously the most.fun.EVER.  I used to LOVE making Smore's...I mean seriously, who doesn’t?!  Well, what do you get when you take brownies & smore's and mix 'em together?!  The BEST dessert EVER!!!!  One that's aimed right at my child-like heart!!

Smore's Brownies

1 box Ghirardelli brownie mix {my favorite}
1 pkg. milk chocolate chocolate chips {I used Ghirardelli}
1 pkg. mini marshmallows
Graham Crackers

Mix & bake brownie mix according to package. I {personally} think that Ghirardelli makes the BEST boxed brownies!!!

I'm not gonna lie...I cooked mine WAY too long.  Oops.  I would remove from the oven about 10 minutes before they're ready.
Remove from oven and layer marshmallows & chocolate chips on top.

 

Return to oven for 5 more minutes or long enough for marshmallows & chocolate to melt {slightly}.  Remove from oven and top with crushed graham crackers.

Ummm, can you say TO.DIE.FOR?!  My Little Man couldn't get 'em in his mouth fast enough!  Honestly, I was a little surprised because the brownies were crunchy as all get out.  Like I said, I definitely OVER baked them.  Take 'em out of the oven about 5-10 minutes before they're ready and I think that'll take care of the crunchiness!  We took these to a Superbowl party and they were a hit!  Everyone must have been enjoying their beverages because no one else seemed to mind the crunchiness either :)

 

The Edible Purse

When Mr. Spouse & I first started dating, I SO tried to wow him with my domestic prowess.  The thing was, I had none.  One day I was watching Sandra Lee make these yum banana purses and I was all, “TOO easy!  I’ll make these for boyfriend tonight!”  So I did.  And much to my dismay, he wasn’t a fan.  Much like the dishes from my early dating days, I haven’t made that one since.  For whatever reason, I had a serious craving for them the other day and just HAD to have them!!  I must have come a long way in my domestic journey because not only did Mr. Spouse LOVE them, but he swears I never made these for him before.  I’m glad he didn’t remember my first go ‘round :) 

BANANA PURSES

3 bananas, peeled & thinly sliced

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 pkg. frozen puff pastry, 2 sheets, thawed {I used the puff pastry shells, not sheets…much easier!}

1 tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 tbsp. whole milk

Preheat oven to 400.  Line a cookie sheet with foil and spray with PAM.  Slice your bananas…

In a medium bowl, combine bananas & syrup.  Mash bananas slightly with a fork and mix well with syrup.  I know it doesn’t sound very good, but TRUST ME.  The combo is AMAZING!!!

Now…here’s where I veered off from the original recipe.  I used puff pastry shells instead of cutting the sheets to size.  Make sure they’re thawed before you start!  Take a pastry brush and coat the top of the shells with milk.  If you don’t have a pastry brush, just use a spoon and spread the milk evenly.

  

In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon & sugar and sprinkle on top of pastries.

Spoon the banana/syrup mix on top of the cinnamon/sugar. 

Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from oven and sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Mr. Spouse said that was the best part ;)

I’m tellin’ you guys…this is seriously the BEST dessert ever!!!  We BOTH loved it!!!  As you can see, this recipe makes A LOT….especially if you go the easy route and use the shells instead of sheets.  We had LOTS of the banana/syrup mix leftover, so I put it in tupperware, refrigerated it, and then pulled it out for dessert the next night!  Still JUST as good!!  Not to mention, super quick & easy !  You could definitely scale down the recipe to make a lot less if you needed,  but I promise you won’t want to!!!

Christmas Party Menu

For the past few years, my husband & I have hosted a little Ugly Sweater Christmas party.  It's become our favorite events of the year.  This is our one big party and we like to go all out.  Any time we have a party, I make all the food.  We just want everyone to come & have a good time...eat, drink, and BE MERRY!!!!!  Since we were expecting a big crowd, we needed to have lots of food.  I'd rather have more than enough than not enough at all...there's nothing worse.  Here's our 3rd annual Ugly Sweater Party Menu.  Click on the links for the recipes :)

Daddy's Spiced Up Sausage Balls

Melt In Your Mouth Meatballs

Tortilla Roll-Ups

Tri-Colored Pasta Salad

**Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno/Cream Cheese Chicken

**Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Toasted 2-Cheese Confetti Crackers

Bacon Wrapped Weenies

Chili & Sausage Queso

**Crawfish Dip

**Hawaiian Bread & Spinach Dip

Heath Bar Chocolate Trifle

Rice Krispie Treats

Yankee Doodles {aka: Scotcheroos}

Meredith’s Sopapilla Cheesecake

**The Hawaiian Bread/Spinach Dip & Chicken Salad are premade goodies courtesy of WalMart.  Ya gotta love Wally World.  My brother made the Crawfish Dip and it is TO.DIE.FOR.  I seriously need to steal the recipe because it is YUM!!!!  Our sweet friend, Lance, made the DELICIOUS bacon wrapped jalapeno/cream cheese chicken. Mmmmmmm.

Good ‘Til The Last Bite!

This is one dessert I could TRULY eat ALL the time.  I first had this when my sweet friend, Meredith, made this for a little playgroup get-together.  I couldn’t stop thinking about it days later, so I asked her for the recipe.  Now it’s my go-to dessert for any and every kinda anything…and I get compliments on it ALL the time.  Thanks for the recipe Meredith!!!  SOOOO good!!!!

MEREDITH’S SOPAPILLA CHEESECAKE

2 cans crescent rolls

2 pkgs. cream cheese

2 cups sugar

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 stick butter, melted

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Line a 13x9 pan with 1 can of crescent rolls.  Pinch seams together.  Mix together cream cheese, 1 1/2 cups sugar, & vanilla.  Beat until creamy.  Spread on top of crescents.  Take the other can of crescents and cover the top of the cream cheese mix.  Press seams together to cover.  Pour melted butter on top of crescents.  Mix together remaining 1/2 cup sugar & cinnamon and sprinkle evenly on top of butter.  Bake at 350 for about 35-40 minutes.

PERSONALLY, I prefer to eat these the next day.  Once they come out of the oven, I let them cool and then refrigerate them for a couple of hours.  I usually cut them into bars or little bite-sized pieces depending on where I’m taking them.  They’re DELICIOUS right out of the fridge and even better when they’re warmed up just a bit!  You’ve GOTTA try it!!!

A Pretty Dessert.

I love trifles.  The all-in-one go-to dessert.  They seriously couldn't be easier and you can practically use ANYTHING to make 'em tasty!  For this version, I used LOTS of chocolate. {Who doesn't love chocolate?!}  The best thing about this dessert is that you can use different ingredients to change it up a bit and it still tastes GREAT!!!

HEATH BAR CHOCOLATE TRIFLE

1 box Devil's Food Cake mix {I used Duncan Hines}

2, 4 serving boxes of chocolate instant pudding

1 tub of Cool Whip

4-5 Heath Bars, crushed OR 1 pkg. Heath toffee bits

 

Prepare cake & pudding as directed.  {Add milk, eggs, & vegetable oil to your shopping list for this recipe!!}  Cool cake on wire rack and cut into cubes. 

Using a large bowl or a trifle dish, layer the following...cake cubes, pudding, cool whip, toffe.  Repeat layers!!  You'll only have to layer twice!!  This looks best in a clear trifle bowl so you can see all the layers, but all I had available was a cute little Southern Living dish that worked perfectly!!  It's so moist & yummy!! 

You can also replace the Heath bits for crushed Oreos or Reese's PB cups.  It's delicious either of those ways, too!!!

Yankee Doodle Went To Town…

 

This little Rice Krispie classic is also known as "Scotcheroos".  I NEVER heard of these until I married Mr. Spouse.  His family made them {& still does} like crazy!!  And they're SOOO good!!!  SO, of course, we brought the recipe down south and started servin' 'em up for our friends.  Somehow along the way they were renamed "Yankee Doodles".  Personally, I like that version much better :) 

YANKEE DOODLES {Scotcheroos}

6 cups Rice Krispies

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup Karo syrup {clear}

1 cup sugar

1 6oz bag Butterscotch morsels {I use about 1 1/2 cup}

1 6 oz. bag Chocolate Chips/sem-sweet morsels {I use about 1 1/2 cups}

Bring Karo syrup & sugar to a boil on the stove.  Slowly mix in peanut butter until well blended.  Add the Rice Krispies and coat well.  Transfer to a 9x13, greased baking dish.  Melt the butterscotch & chocolate in a double broiler {or you could melt it in the microwave like I do!!}  Spread the butterscotch/chocolate mixture evenly on top of the Rice Krispies.  I usually put this in the fridge to harden the topping before serving.  You might wanna cut into the rice krispies BEFORE putting it in the fridge because they get pretty hard to cut after sitting in there for a while!!!  Such a fun little twist on the normal Rice Krispie treat!!

Dump Cake

This is, hands down, the WORST name for a dessert.  It tastes NOTHING even close to the ballpark of a dump or anything dump-like.  This is one of my favorite desserts to take to parties or whip up last minute.  

Like, melt-in-your-mouth, to-die-for delicious!! 

You need 1 box of yellow cake mix…

1 stick of butter

2 cans of cherry pie filling

1 can of crushed pineapple {drained}

Mix the cherry pie filling & the crushed pineapple together in a 9x13 baking dish.

 

Pour the dry cake mix on top of the cherry/pineapple mixture.

  

Cover the cake mix with a stick of butter.  You can melt the butter and pour it on top, but it doesn’t spread as well and I don’t think it tastes the best.  I like to chop my butter like this

and then spread it evenly over the top so it looks like this

Pop it in the oven and bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour.  Pull it out when it’s nice and bubbly & a little brown on top.

I mean, seriously.  Does this look amazing or what?!

  P.S…if you don’t like cherry pie filling {Adam doesn’t}, you can use 2 cans of apple pie filling & leave out the pineapple!  I bet peach or blueberry would be amazing, too!!  YUM!!!

Print this recipe