Pumpkin Pecan Ice Cream Pie

So, it is obvious we are in LOVE with anything and everything pumpkin.  Whether it is a muffin, cake, loaf, or stew (yes pumpkin stew exists..recipe to come!) we are obsessed, but truly this recipe tops all others.  What is better than a delicious, crunchy graham cracker crust, filled with ooey gooey fudge and perfectly toasted pecans topped with a creamy, dreamy ice cream pumpkin filling?  NOTHING.  Although this dessert does not sound "healthy", we made this recipe with the healthiest ingredients available to make this treat slimmer than a full-fat version. ENJOY... and remember, try to share... :)

Ingredients:

1 small bag pecan pieces, toasted and divided

1 square bittersweet chocolate, melted

3 TBS water

1/4 cup granulated sugar

Pinch of salt

1/8 tsp vanilla

1 tsp butter

1 low fat graham cracker crust (Found at grocery store in baking aisle- store-bought saves a lot of time)

1 carton Dreyers half-the-fat Pumpkin Ice Cream 

2 sheets low-fat graham crackers, crushed, optional

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spread out pecans on a small cookie sheet and toast for about 8 minutes or until you can smell the nuts.  Take out and cool.  In small saucepan, melt chocolate with water over low heat and stir until completely melted.  Add in sugar and salt.  Stir until thick and sugar and salt is dissolved.  Remove from heat and add vanilla and butter.  Stir until combined.  Slowly pour on graham cracker crust and carefully cover fudge over bottom and sides of crust.  (Best way to do it is to slowly move and tip the crust around in a circular motion, so the crust gets fully covered- you could also spread the fudge around with a spatula.)  Sprinkle 3/4 of the pecan pieces on top of the fudge, all over the bottom and sides of crust.  Put in freezer and freeze for about 10-20 minutes.  While the fudgey crust freezes, take out the carton of pumpkin ice cream and let thaw.  Once ice cream softens, take out crust and spoon and spread the ice cream on top of the crust.  Use the whole carton of ice cream.  Put the pie back in the freezer and let set and freeze until hard.  Once pie has set, take out and sprinkle remaining 1/4 toasted pecans and crushed graham crackers on the top of the pie. Serve and enjoy! :) 

Momma's Fruit Pizza

This delicious treat has been a family staple at every 4th of July party that I can remember.  There are many variations to this yummy summer dessert, but we made sure to change it up and make it as healthy as it could be.  I mean, this dessert is too good to give up, so why not tweak it a little so it won't add on any unnecessary pounds.  We promise, the minute you taste this delicious cookie you will be sold.  It pleases all and will no doubt become a staple in your family at every summer party.

*Jordan and Chelsea made this cookie on the 4th of July, it was a hit! The whole cookie disappeared in a matter of minutes- and the best thing was, no one (not even the hungry boys) knew it was a healthy verison.

Ingredients:
1 roll of sugar cookie dough, we use Pillsbury
1 tub of low fat or fat free cool whip, thawed
1 16 oz container low fat cream cheese, softened
1 tub strawberries, chopped
1 tub blueberries
1 tub raspberries
*You can add any of your favorite fruits!  They all taste wonderful on this dessert.  Berries are just our favorite.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spread cookie dough evenly on a large rectangle baking sheet.  Bake cookie for 15-20 minutes or as directed on package.  Cool cookie completely.  Mix cream cheese and cool whip together.  Spread mixture over cooled cookie and top with fruit.  Store cookie in fridge and cut and serve.  This cookie pizza is even yummier cold!

Berry Yummy Stuffed Angelfood Cake

This homemade angelfood cake is a summer showstopper.  Not only is it easy to make, it is light, fluffy, and absolutely delicious.  The addition of sweet summer berries make this dessert super healthy and super good.  Everyone will be impressed by this sweet, melt-in-your-mouth cake.  Enjoy! :)

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups egg whites, about 10
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean, seeded
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 cup granulated sugar
Light Cool Whip
Strawberries, sliced
Blueberries
Raspberries

Directions:
In a small bowl, sift flour and powdered sugar together twice.  In a large bowl, whip egg whites, vanilla, vanilla bean seeds, almond extract, salt, and cream of tartar together until small peaks form.  This should take a couple of minutes.  Continue blending and slowly add the sugar, about two tablespoons at a time, into the egg white mixture until stiff peaks form.  This will take a couple more minutes.  Slowly add and fold the flour mixture into the egg white mixture, about 1/4 cup at a time.  (Fold this in very carefully to keep the mixture fluffy.  Use an "under and up" folding method.)   Carefully pour mixture into an ungreased angelfood cake pan and bake for 30 minutes or until the top of cake is brown.  Invert hot cake pan onto three cans while cooling.  Slowly take out cake once completely cooled.  Cut a single serving slice, then cut that piece in half to fill.  Add a thin layer of cool whip on top of the bottom half of the cake piece.  Place a couple berries on top of the cool whip.  Put on the top half and another dollop of cool whip, along with as many berries as you would like!  Enjoy :)

Cinnamon Delights

We love cinnamon and since we never have enough cinnamon, we made a cinnamon cookie!  These little tasty treats are so delicious and the cinnamon glaze makes them even better.  The best thing is they are healthier than your average cookie, but taste just like them.  So give them a try!! :)

Ingredients:

3 TBS butter, softened

2 TBS brown sugar

6 TBS granulated sugar

2 tsp vanilla

2 egg whites

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Glaze:

2/3  cup powdered sugar

2 tsp skim milk

1/2 tsp cinnamon

cinnamon sugar 

sliced almonds, toasted

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spread out sliced almonds on a cookie sheet.  Place in oven and bake for about 5 minutes or until toasted and slightly brown.  (You usually will smell them when they are done!  Keep a close eye on them- you do not want them to burn!)  Remove almonds from oven and let cool.  Combine butter, sugars, and vanilla in a large bowl and mix until thoroughly combined.  Add egg whites, one at a time and mix well after each addition.  In a separate mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon with a whisk.  Slowly add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture.  Beat until well combined.  (FYI: The dough will be very separated and dry, so do not be alarmed you did something wrong!)  Take a tablespoon and scoop out the separated dough into your palm.  Push the dough together to form a ball, then form into a disk.  (It may be difficult at first, but you will get used to it!  Just put some arm into it!)   The cookie should be about 1 1/2 -2 inches in diameter, and about an 1/8 inch thick.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and add cookies to sheet, leaving them about 2 inches apart.  Bake for 8-10 minutes until slightly brown and firm.  Cool cookies on wire rack.  While cooling, combine powdered sugar, milk, and cinnamon together with a whisk to create the glaze.  Once cookies are cool, drizzle glaze on cookies and place 2-3 sliced almonds onto cookies.  Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.  Drizzle a little more glaze on top of the almonds and sprinkle again with cinnamon sugar.  Enjoy!!

Nutrition Facts:   

Serving Size: 24 cookies 

Amount per serving: 1 cookie

Calories: 90 

Fat: 1.5 g

Turtle Ice Cream Pie

Nothing is better than a yummy, old-fashion, ooey-gooey turtle candy.  Delicious pecans, covered in rich carmel then dipped in chocolate, there is nothing like it!  This divine candy inspired us to create this amazing sweet sensation.  This turtle ice cream pie cures any sweet tooth craving without hurting your waistline, so feel free to indulge!

Ingredients:
1 store bought chocolate cookie pie crust
1 square unsweetened chocolate
3 TBS water
1/4 cup sugar
Dash of salt
1 TBS butter
1/8 tsp vanilla extract
1 bag whole pecans
1 jar Fat-free caramel sauce
1 tub of Half The Fat Vanilla Ice Cream (We use Dreyers)
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions:
To make the fudge, heat unsweetened chocolate square with water in a small saucepan on low heat.  Once the chocolate has melted, add the sugar and salt, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.  Add the butter and vanilla and mix until combined.  Pour the chocolate fudge onto the bottom of the pie crust and spread the fudge all over the sides so the bottom and sides of crust are covered.  Take a handful of the whole pecans and crush with fingers.  Sprinkle all over sides and bottom of crust.  (You can chop the pecans, if easier.)  Drizzle desired amount of caramel sauce all over the pecans on the crust.  Put in freezer and freeze until fudge hardens.  Take out ice cream while freezing crust and let ice cream soften. While ice cream is softening and crust is hardening, heat milk chocolate chips in microwave for 30 second intervals until melted.  Take desired amount of whole pecans and dip them in the chocolate.  (It is easiest to do with a fork and spoon.)  Place chocolate pecans on a wax paper lined cookie sheet.  Place in freezer and freeze until hard.  Once ice cream is done softening, take out the crust and carefully spread the vanilla ice cream all on to the crust.  Once ice cream is evenly spread on crust, drizzle desired amount of caramel sauce on top of ice cream.  Take out frozen chocolate pecans and place decoratively on top of pie.  Freeze until ready to eat.  To prevent freezer burn, cover with saran wrap after slicing.  Enjoy! :)

Oreo Balls

Everyone that I know, loves a good Oreo.  Oreo balls take Oreos to a whole new level -- just ask anyone who has had one.  These little truffle treats are just so divine!  We will not lie, we have had full fat Oreo balls plenty of times, but we decided to try to revise the normal full fat recipe by cutting the fat in half but keeping all of the flavor.  No one would ever know that these are lower fat version because they are just as delicious.  Making these sweet treats with Meagan Feldhaus and Ashley Grossaint was so much fun and it just goes to show how easy and fun these treats are to make!

Ingredients:

1 bag low fat Oreo cookies

1 16 oz. container non-fat or reduced fat cream cheese (We used fat free)

1 bag milk chocolate chips 

1 bag white chocolate chips

Directions:

Let cream cheese come to room temperature.  Put Oreos in a plastic bag and crush into fine pieces.  (You will probably need to crush in two batches.)  Put crushed Oreos in a large bowl with softened cream cheese.  Blend together with mixer until well combined.  Once combined, form and roll small balls about an inch in diameter and place on a lined cookie sheet with wax paper.  When all balls are formed, freeze for 20 minutes.  While freezing, melt chocolate chips either in a double broiler or in the microwave.  (The microwave is the easiest.  If the white chocolate does not melt smoothly, add a small amount of shortening to the chocolate, about 1/4 tsp.)  Take balls out of freezer and dip each ball individually into the chocolate.  This is easiest when done with two forks.  Make sure each ball is coated evenly with chocolate and place back on lined cookie sheet.  When all of the balls are covered in chocolate, freeze again until chocolate hardens.  Enjoy and indulge! :) 

*To decorate sprinkle the balls with your favorite sprinkles immediately after dipped in chocolate.  Drizzling with the opposite color of chocolate is also fun, as well as, just leaving them plain.   

Cookies N Cream Ice Cream Pie

Do you scream for ice cream!? We do!! This ice cream pie is absolutely divine.  It is deliciously rich and chocolatey so no one will know that this pie has half the fat as a normal pie.  Get ready for an super easy phenomenal ice cream pie that will make everyone beg for more!

Ingredients:

1 store bought chocolate cookie pie crust 

2 squares of unsweetened chocolate 

6 TBS water

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

3 TBS butter

1/4 tsp vanilla 

1 tub of Half The Fat Cookies N Cream Ice Cream (We like Dreyers!)

2 low fat Oreo cookies (Optional)

Directions:

To make the fudge, combine chocolate squares and water into a small sauce pan on low heat.  Once the chocolate has melted, add the sugar and salt and constantly stir until the sugar has dissolved.  Add the butter and vanilla and combine.  Pour the chocolate fudge sauce into the bottom of the pie and carefully spread all over the sides of the pie crust with a spatula so the pie bottom and sides are covered generously in fudge.  Freeze for 45 minutes.  Take out ice cream 20 minutes before the fudgey crust is frozen.  Gently spoon softened ice cream all over the top of the crust.  Put back in freezer until ready to serve.  Before slicing, if you would like, sprinkle 2 crushed up low fat Oreos on top of pie.  Enjoy! :)  

 

Vanilla Bean Angel Food Cake with Chocolate Drizzle & Vanilla Meringues with Chocolate Candies

Happy Valentines Day!  We wanted to share some love and create two decadent desserts that you can indulge in on this day of love.  Make these desserts for your loved ones and they will surely know how much you care! Not only will you love these desserts, but your waistline will too!  It's Valentines Day, indulge! (And don't feel guilty going back for seconds! :) )


Vanilla Bean Angel Food Cake with Chocolate Drizzle

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1 cup sugar

1 vanilla bean, seeded
12 egg whites

1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract

Chocolate Drizzle:
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup fat-free evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 ounces milk chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Sift together flour and confectioner's sugar in a small bowl.  In different bowl, combine sugar and seeds of a vanilla bean.  (To do this, you must cut the vanilla bean lengthwise, and use the knife to scrape the tiny black seeds out of the pod.)   In a large bowl, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar, salt, vanilla extract, and almond extract until soft peaks form.  Beat in the granulated sugar and vanilla bean mixture slowly, until the mixture creates stiff peaks.  Slowly, fold in the flour and powder sugar mixture. (Fold about 1/2 cup of the flour mixture at a time.)  Pour the fluffy mixture into an ungreased angel food cake pan.  Bake for 40 minutes or until top is golden brown and it springs back when lightly touched with finger.  Once done, invert the pan to cool. (We take three cans- same size- and balance the upside down cake on top of them.) Let cool for 30 minutes or so, and then use a knife to loosen cake onto a serving platter.

Directions for chocolate drizzle:
In a sauce pan, combine cocoa powder and sugar.  Slowly, whisk in evaporated milk until throughly combined.  Once combined, whisk mixture over medium heat until it simmers.  Take off the heat and add vanilla and chocolate chips, until melted.  Drizzle over angel food cake.  Throw in some chocolate covered strawberries and it's time to indulge :)



Vanilla Meringues with Chocolate Candies

Ingredients:
4 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 TBS vanilla extract
Valentine Chocolate Candies (or M&MS- we found red chocolate candies at Sprouts!)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 225 degrees F.  In a large bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Gradually add granulated sugar and then powdered sugar very slowly.  Add vanilla extract and beat until blended.  Fold in chocolate candies.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.  Spoon batter into small mounds on baking sheet.  (We made them pretty small- about 40 cookies per batch.) Make sure each mound has chocolate candies in them!  Bake for 90 minutes.  After 90 minutes, turn off the oven and let the cookies cool (in the oven) for another 90 minutes, or until dry.  Carefully remove the cookies- they are very fragile- and eat them up! These cookies are so low fat and low calorie and they definitely satisfy your chocolate cravings :)


HAPPY VALENTINES DAY! WE HOPE YOU FIND LOTS OF LOVE TODAY AND ALWAYS! ENJOY! :)