Team Francks

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

I gave up eating sugar for Lent.  It's a good thing I'm not Catholic because its not going very well.  at all.  But I'm determined to beat the sugar monster... so I'm starting over in my no-sugar resolution.

I'm posting this recipe as a reminder of happier times... it's one of my all time favorite recipes.  I got it from the girls over at Our Best Bites (its my all time favorite recipe site). Check out their site for all the how to pictures.  Its yummy and so so easy.

Make it.  Love it.  Enjoy a piece for me.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie
Recipe from Nestle

1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust, homemade or store-bought.
2 large eggs
1/2 C flour
1/2 C white granulated sugar
1/2 C packed brown sugar
3/4 C real butter, softened (1 1/2 sticks)
1 C chocolate chips (semi-sweet or dark works best, you might find milk too sweet)
1 C chopped pecans (you are welcome to make it without nuts)

Vanilla ice cream, or sweetened whipped cream for serving (a must!  I prefer ice cream)

optional: chocolate sauce (honestly, doesn’t really need chocolate sauce, but it looks pretty!)

Preheat oven to 325° F.

Beat eggs in large mixer bowl on high speed until foamy. Beat in flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat in butter. Stir in morsels and nuts. Spoon into pie shell.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between edge and center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack or serve slightly warmed.  Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

My notes: I actually prefer it when its completely cooled.  When its warm out of the oven it is soo soo rich.  

panini lovers unite...

I got a couple of questions on my last post about my panini maker... so I thought I'd just give the panini love its own post!  Remember... newbie panini maker here... just making stuff up as we go.  But so far we've used it almost every day and we love it!

 

Santa got my Panini maker from Walmart... here's a link.  I love that the grills come out and you can pop them in to the dishwasher... hoooray for easy clean up!! 

We've been using Cibatta Bread from Walmart bakery... Any thick bread will work.

Our favorite meat so far is Hillshire Farms Deli Select... we've used the Pastrami, Roast Beef and Honey Baked Ham.

Favorite Cheese... Sargento Deli Slices... we use the Walmart brand if there's one... so far we love Muenster, Provolone, Swiss and Pepperjack .

 

Our favorite toppings have been red onion, bacon, avacado, pepperoncini and pepper rings (by the pickles). 

There are a million recipes online... so far we've used recipes from Kraft and Sargento. 

I've even heard rumor that you can make dessert panini's... totally looking in to that.

And that my friends is my panini experience thus far.  Let me know if you have any recipes or suggestions.  I'm in LOVE!

 

Food I Love...

This is my favorite breakfast casserole recipe.  And as I've learned over the years... all breakfast casseroles are not created equal. 

Besides being really good its super easy and most of the time I have all the ingredients on hand... which as you know is a HUGE plus!  And even though its called Breakfast casserole... we have it for dinner more times than for breafkast.

 

Favorite Breakfast Casserole

 

1 large bag of frozen hashbrowns, thawed
1/2 cube of butter, melted

 

Spray 9x13 pan, spread THAWED hashbrowns in pan. Pour butter over top of hashbrowns. Salt & Pepper to taste. Bake at 425 for 25 minutes. (This can be done the night before and you can refrigerate hashbrowns after cooking them and then continue with the recipe the next day.....or you can do it all at once.)

 

Mix 8 oz. shredded Cheddar Cheese & 8 oz. Pepper Jack Cheese (the pepperjack cheese is awesome in it... but I don't always have pepperjack on hand... so I just use Sharp cheddar and its still really good!)

 

Spread cheeses over the top of hashbrowns.

Choose ham, bacon (bacon is our favorite... I use the pre-cooked crumbled Hormel bacon ) or sausage (cooked) - desired amount - spread over cheese layer.

 

Mix 6 eggs & 1 C. milk - pour over entire casserole.

Salt & Pepper to taste.

 

** I end up putting more cheese on the top that last five minutes of cooking... you can never have too much cheese!

 

Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes. ENJOY!

 

one of these days I'll remember to take my own picture!