Tag: whipped topping

Categories
Dessert

Be a chip off the old block and bake a family pie

Chocolate chip pie takes the flavors of a good chocolate chip cookie and puts it into pie form, featuring little pockets of chocolate throughout every bite and a nice, thick layer of whipped topping to cap it off.
Chocolate chip pie takes the flavors of a good chocolate chip cookie and puts it into pie form, featuring little pockets of chocolate throughout every bite and a nice, thick layer of whipped topping to cap it off.

One of my favorite parts of December this year has been the honor of being able to try out four different reader-submitted recipes—one for each week.

I have often said that I think sharing food—whether in physical or recipe form—is a kind of love we show to each other. I think that’s especially true of the foods we make year after year to share with family and friends.

I had to laugh at the note Deb Preheim of Hesston included with her chocolate chip pie recipe.

“My grandmother and mother were famous for this pie at holidays,” she said. “They always wanted to make different desserts, but our families insisted on chocolate chip pie.”

I’m feeling fairly certain every family has at least one of these recipes. For my mom, it was always deviled eggs, which, ironically, has become the most requested side dish for me at Young family gatherings, as well.

The tradition continues.

As for this chocolate chip pie, I can definitely see why it’s popular with Deb’s family. It’s really yummy, and despite the steps initially seeming just a little intimidating, I can confidently tell you that it’s actually pretty easy to do.

“I make this for my family, as well,” Deb wrote. “Maybe it will become a tradition for you, too!”

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Chocolate Chip Pie

Chocolate chip pie takes the flavors of a good chocolate chip cookie and puts it into pie form, featuring little pockets of chocolate throughout every bite and a nice, thick layer of whipped topping to cap it off.
Course Dessert
Keyword brown sugar, chocolate, chocolate chips, Cool Whip, vanilla, whipped topping

Ingredients

  • 2 cups scalded milk
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1/3 cup flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 whole eggs
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips I use milk chocolate
  • Extra chocolate chips for topping
  • Cool Whip
  • Baked pie shell

Instructions

  • Combine sugars, salt, flour and well-beaten eggs in a saucepan.
  • Add scalded milk slowly, stirring constantly. Add butter. Heat until thick and smooth, stirring constantly.
  • Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
  • Allow to cool until just warm. Add chocolate chips and stir. The chocolate chips should remain intact with just a hint of a swirl.
  • Pour into a baked pie shell and refrigerate until chilled. Top with Cool Whip and sprinkle more chocolate chips on top. You’ve created a masterpiece!

Not only was this a pretty pie, but I thought it had the perfect balance in its sweetness. I was worried it would be way too rich, but it was just a very pleasant, tasty dessert. It’s a good one to pair with a cup of coffee.

Thank you to all of you who shared recipes with me during the holidays this year and to those who sometimes surprise me with them throughout the year, too.

May your 2025 be a year full of love, laughter and of course, wonderful food.

This piece first appeared in print on Dec. 26, 2024.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Appetizer Dessert Snack

With the holidays in view, it’s time to dip into the season

For those in need of a quick and easy dish for the snack table this holiday season, this cranberry cream cheese dip is a fabulous addition for your guests.
For those in need of a quick and easy dish for the snack table this holiday season, this cranberry cream cheese dip is a fabulous addition for your guests.

As we head into the home stretch of 2024, we’re officially entering snacking season.

It’s that time of year when we all concede to our stretchy pants, eat with friends and family, and hope that our New Year’s resolutions will save us from having to size up when shorts season comes around again.

That being said, I want to let you know that I fully recognize that I’m complicit in the annual sweets and snacking, as I share interesting holiday dishes with you. The next month or so won’t be any different, though, so you’ll either need to shield your eyes when you see my name on the page for the next several weeks or just give in to the joy of the season.

This week’s holiday delicacy comes from Michelle Goth, who writes the blog “Blackberry Babe.” You can find the original post at https://blackberrybabe.com/2016/11/20/easy-cranberry-cream-cheese-dip/. I doubled the cranberry sauce and left out the sugar entirely in my version below.

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Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip

For those in need of a quick and easy dish for the snack table this holiday season, this cranberry cream cheese dip is a fabulous addition for your guests.
Course Appetizer, Dessert, Snack
Keyword cranberry, cranberry sauce, cream cheese, easy dessert, easy dip, easy snack, graham crackers, holiday snack, vanilla wafers, whipped cream, whipped topping, whole berry cranberry sauce

Ingredients

  • 2 8- ounce packages cream cheese softened
  • 14 ounces whole berry cranberry sauce
  • 1/2 cup whipped cream or whipped topping I used extra creamy

Instructions

  • Add all three ingredients to a mixing bowl and beat for several minutes until the mixture is creamy and well combined.
  • Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Serve with graham crackers, cookies or fruit for dipping.

This was super, super easy to put together, and despite what I said in the beginning about my sweets advocacy, I didn’t feel the need to add sugar like the original recipe listed. I felt like it was plenty sweet enough with the extra cranberry and the whipped cream.

It wasn’t overly cranberry heavy on the flavor, even with the addition, so those who aren’t into that tartness won’t have to worry about this one.

You could also substitute fat-free cream cheese and whipped topping to really cut down on the calories, if you wanted to.

So, yeah, actually, I take back what I said about being a terrible influence. If you make a few modifications, it might not be so bad for your diet. (Of course, for next week, all bets are off.)

This piece first appeared in print Nov. 21, 2024.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Dessert

Come out of your shell with pistachio cake

Pistachio cake uses a cake mix and pudding mix, along with chopped pistachios to create a nutty, light dessert.
Pistachio cake uses a cake mix and pudding mix, along with chopped pistachios to create a nutty, light dessert.

I normally like to start this column with a story about the week’s recipe, but I have to tell you about my most recent kitchen fail. It’s a doozy.

My parents-in-law gifted us with several packages of frozen tamales that are made by simply boiling the bag for 20 minutes and then serving. They’re great for quick meals. A few don’t have labels on them, so they’ve been a fun surprise when we open up the bag.

I made one of the surprise bags this week, added some Mexican rice and tomatillo salsa to the plate and served it up.

Joey took his first bite, and his face screwed up in an awful grimace.

“These are sweet,” he said, through a mouthful.

Guys. They were apple cinnamon tamales!

I felt awful for ruining our lunch, but Joey, being the trooper he is, scraped the salsa into the rice, ate that first and declared that his slightly spicy apple tamales would be for dessert.

I guess even “easy” meals can take a turn for the worse.

This week’s recipe is one of those easy recipes, but hopefully, you’ll have labels to read, and everything will turn out great.

The recipe I used doctors up a cake mix to make a delicious cake. It comes from the blog “Cake Whiz.” You can find the original post at https://cakewhiz.com/pistachio-cake-recipe/. I added chopped nuts, vanilla and salt to my recipe, as well as simplified the topping.

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Pistachio Cake

Pistachio cake uses a cake mix and pudding mix, along with chopped pistachios to create a nutty, light dessert.
Course Dessert
Keyword cake, cake mix, pistachios, pudding mix

Ingredients

  • 3 eggs
  • 3/4 cup oil I used canola
  • 1 cup milk I used skim
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla
  • 1 yellow cake mix
  • 3.4 ounces instant pistachio pudding mix
  • pinch of salt
  • green food coloring optional
  • 1/2 cup chopped pistachios divided
  • 8 ounces frozen whipped topping thawed

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a nine-by-13-inch baking pan by greasing and flouring it, and set it aside.
  • In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs, oil, milk and vanilla until it’s smooth. Beat in the cake mix, pudding mix and salt. If you want to make your cake a bit greener, add some green food coloring, too.
  • Add 1/4 cup of the chopped pistachios to the mixture, and pour it into your prepared cake pan, spreading it out evenly.
  • Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  • Let the cake cool, and then top it with the whipped topping and the rest of the chopped pistachios.
  • Refrigerate any leftovers.

This was fantastic. It was a great summer dessert, and it was really pretty, too. The cake was light and nutty, and we really enjoyed it.

And the good news is Joey knew exactly what he was getting into when he took the first bite, and I didn’t try to serve it to him with salsa on top.

I’m not sure if he’s going to trust a plate of tamales from me in the future, but at least my cake turned out fine.

This piece first appeared in print on July 22, 2021.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Dessert

You’ll pine for this no bake cheesecake

No bake pineapple cheesecake comes together quickly for that last-minute summer get-together.
No bake pineapple cheesecake comes together quickly for that last-minute summer get-together.

It seems like barbecues and gatherings happen at a moment’s notice during the summer. As a lover of dessert, I often find that these gatherings are full of all kinds of delicious salads and entrees but are often lacking on the sweet side of the palate.

Obviously, I’ve taken it upon myself to fix this issue.

Unfortunately, making dessert quickly can sometimes be tough, so this week’s recipe is a great one to file away for a time when you need something sweet and don’t have a lot of time to make it.

And I even bought a pre-made graham cracker crust rather than making my own. I decided to

make this a true no-bake experience.

(Although you can easily make a graham cracker crust in the microwave with a glass pie plate if you want to. Just melt one-quarter cup of butter in a nine-inch glass pie plate in the

microwave. Stir in one-quarter cup of sugar and a cup of finely crushed graham crackers into the butter and then press the mixture into the pan. Microwave for about three minutes and cool before filling.)

This recipe for a no bake pineapple cheesecake came from the blog “The Shabby Creek Cottage.” You can find it at http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com/pineapplecheesecake-in-a-jar.html.

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No Bake Pineapple Cheesecake

No bake pineapple cheesecake comes together quickly for that last-minute summer get-together.
Course Dessert
Keyword cheesecake pudding, crushed pineapple, easy dessert, graham cracker crust, no bake, summer dessert, whipped topping

Ingredients

  • 1 graham cracker pie crust
  • 2 3.4- ounce boxes cheesecake instant pudding
  • 20 ounces crushed pineapple in pineapple juice
  • 8 ounces whipped topping

Instructions

  • In a bowl, combine the instant pudding and pineapple (juice included). Mix well.
  • Fold in the whipped topping and then pour the mixture into the pie crust.
  • Smooth until it looks nice and refrigerate at least two hours or until completely set up.

If you want the pieces to come out of the pie perfectly, I’d suggest freezing the pie rather than just refrigerating it. We ended up with big, delicious globs of cheesecake on our plates rather than perfectly formed pie slices (but no one complained about that one).

This was a very refreshing dessert, and if you like pineapple, you’ll like this. I also wondered if placing just a few maraschino cherries on top wouldn’t be good, too, with its nod to pineapple upside down cake, but it doesn’t really need anything more to be absolutely perfect.

Also, if you can’t do the graham crackers, just make the filling and refrigerate it. It’s good all on its own, or you could put the filling out as a dip with graham crackers on the side if you wanted a smaller dessert option.

No matter what, you can’t go wrong with a yummy homemade dessert that you can make with almost no effort so you can go out and enjoy time with family and friends.

This piece first appeared in print on July 7, 2016.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

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