Bready or Not: Oreo Fudge
‘Tis the season. The season when I am keenly aware that air conditioning is the greatest invention in the last century.
This also means I’ll be pulling out a lot of non-bake sweet recipes, because 1) the oven makes the house hot, 2) I have a gazillion other things to do than stand in the kitchen for an hour, 3) fudge is awesome.
Some purists say this isn’t kind of fudge isn’t fudge because it’s not made on a stovetop, with a candy thermometer, with the proper animal sacrifices. I say they’re rather silly. All fudge is good and worthy.
This recipe is so easy to throw together. It’s great for potlucks because it makes a ton of fudge. It also keeps well in the fridge.
This is a good time to point out a similar recipe I posted a few years ago–Oreo Bars, featuring three ingredients. Oreos. Marshmallows. Butter. It’s like Rice Krispie Treats, but uses Oreos. Also non-bake, and makes a smaller amount.
Just in case, you know, you’re wanting to make something without chocolate and, uh, healthier.
Tweaked from Shugary Sweets.
Bready or Not: Oreo Fudge
Ingredients
- 3 cups white chocolate chips
- 20 Oreo cookies crushed/chopped/maimed
- 7 oz marshmallow fluff jar
- 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
Instructions
- Prepare a 9x13 pan by lining it with foil and applying nonstick spray.
- Either in microwave or on stovetop, carefully melt chocolate with canned milk and marshmallow cream. If microwaving, do it in short bursts because it can burn fast. Stir often.
- When the mix is smooth, add the vanilla extract. Fold in the Oreos.
- Refrigerate 3 hours until firm. Cut into bite size pieces. Keep stored in fridge.
OM NOM NOM.
Cool Stuff! Plus a note regarding my recipes.
John Scalzi’s Whatever Blog is such a major site among writers, so I was thrilled to see that my book is in his stack of new acquisitions this week! I was gobsmacked. Thanks again to Erica Wagner for the heads-up!
My poem “Mad Scientist’s Lament” will be in issue 2 of Lakeside Circus. It’s scheduled for July 2nd.
If you’re having trouble finding a recipe on Bready or Not, it’s because the recipes are now split between two sites. All the old recipes are still over at LiveJournal and the new ones show up there as well.
To find all the recipes in one place, take a look at my Pinterest board. My trick for searching there: scroll all the way to the bottom to force all the images to load, then do a search by keyword. Or just skim the pretty pictures and drool. I do that, too.
I’m sorry that they aren’t all in one convenient spot on BethCato.com! I don’t know if I’ll ever have the time or opportunity to port them all over. To my amazement, I’ve put almost 150 recipes online. That boggles my mind.
Read MoreBready or Not: Overnight Apple Cinnamon Steel Cut Oats in the Crock Pot
In recent years, we’ve been trying to eat more healthy stuff.
That means I’ve been trying more alternative grains like quinoa (okay), amaranth (bleh), and steel cut oats. What are steel cut oats, you ask? They are oats that haven’t been processed as much. They take longer to cook and they have more texture and more nuttiness to them.
That whole texture things means they are awesome when slow cooked in the crock pot.
It takes maybe ten minutes to throw everything together the night before. I don’t bother peeling the apples. Just chop, combine everything, put the lid on, close the pot.
In the morning, give it a good stir. Most of the liquid will have soaked it. It will be soft, though my crock pot creates some crunchy bits, too–which are my favorite, to be honest. Dish it up, and then add whatever topping you want– nuts (pecans are awesome), maple syrup, agave nectar, honey, more milk, more spices…
Keep the crock pot on “warm” and the slow-to-rise people can get their food, too!
Really nice thing? The leftovers. Stash them in the fridge, and for several days–maybe all week–you can scoop some out, zap it in the microwave, and go about your day.
Modified from Jamie Cooks It Up.
Bready or Not: Overnight Apple Cinnamon Steel Cut Oats in the Crock Pot
Ingredients
- 2 medium-sized apples cored, unpeeled, chopped
- 1 cup steel cut oats uncooked
- 3 Tb brown sugar packed, or substitute with xylitol and a drip of molasses
- 2 Tb butter
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
- 1 Tb ground flax seed
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups vanilla almond milk or any kind of milk
- 1 1/2 cups water
Topping options:
- milk
- chopped nuts
- maple syrup/agave nectar/honey
- more spices
Instructions
- Spray the inside of your crock pot with cooking spray. Pour all ingredients (except the toppings) inside. Stir.
- Cover and cook on low for desired length of time, like 10 hours.
- Dish up oatmeal and add desired toppings.
OM NOM NOM all week long!
Bready or Not: Triple-Layer Lemon Pie
Two of my husband’s favorite things: lemon and pie.
Another, more recent favorite thing: ease of eating. See, my husband decided to get braces last fall. I didn’t endure that particular hell as a teenager (I had other hells instead), so it’s been rather educational to see everything he has to endure–sore teeth, broken wires, and just overall trickiness with choosing food to eat. He needs things that won’t get stuck between his teeth and that he can easily eat with a fork or spoon.
He had to go get his monthly dental tweaking done, so I decided to surprise him.
He was absolutely delighted with this pie. It’s cold and soothing, lemony and sweet, and very easy to eat. It’s really an awesome summer pie because it is cold and it’s totally no-bake. It comes together in a matter of minutes and just has to set. It also keeps well–my husband ate it slowly over five days.
The perfect summer pie!
From Kraft Recipes.
Bready or Not: Triple-Layer Lemon Pie
Ingredients
- 2 3.4 oz boxes Jell-O Lemon Flavor Instant Pudding
- 2 cups cold milk
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 graham cracker crust homemade or bought
- 8 oz Cool Whip thawed; reduced fat is fine
Instructions
- Whisk together pudding mixes, milk and lemon juice. It will be thick. Spread 1 1/2 cups onto bottom of crust.
- Mix half of the Cool Whip into the remaining pudding.
- Spread the Cool Whip/pudding mixture over the pure pudding layer in crust. Top with remaining Cool Whip--the third layer. Refrigerate 4 hours or until firm.
OM NOM NOM.
Bready or Not: Glazed Maple Blondies
I’m ripping off recreating my own recipe.
Last fall I shared Maple Truffle Blondies. It consisted of three layers: maple blondies, cream cheese and pulverized maple cookies, and a maple glaze.
So I wondered, hey, those blondies are really good. I have more maple creme cookies to use up. I do have cream cheese, but I don’t want to use it right now. Let’s knock this down to two layers and see what results.
The result: WOW.
Maple goodness, let me tell you. The blondie is chewy and not overly sweet, so that glaze is perfection. Sweet, but not cloyingly so like some frostings are. If you want, you could also mix nuts (pecans would be great, I imagine) into the blondies or sprinkle them on the glaze.
Before the glaze…
The maple creme cookies are a Christmas seasonal thing in some areas, but I can find them year-round at Fresh & Easy or Sprouts Farmers Markets. If you can’t find them, just sub in Golden Oreos and add more maple flavor, or omit entirely. It would make for thinner bars, but they would still be awesome.
If you love maple, you gotta make this.
Bready or Not: Glazed Maple Blondies
Ingredients
For maple blondies:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 10 Tablespoons butter melted
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- 1 maple creme cookies box
For glaze:
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar sifted
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 Tb butter melted
- 3/4 tsp maple flavoring vanilla will do in a pinch
- 2 + Tb milk almond milk works!
Instructions
- Line a 9x13 pan with aluminum foil and apply nonstick spray. Preheat oven to 350-degrees.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Set aside. Coarsely chop the cookies. Reserve 1/4 cup of the finer crumbs.
- In a mixing bowl, blend the butter, brown sugar, and maple syrup. Add the eggs and vanilla. Pour in the flour mix until just combined, then stir in the chocolate chips and cookie pieces.
- Spread batter in the pan. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let the blondie layer cool completely. Place in fridge for a while, if necessary.
- Combine glaze ingredients in bowl. Add enough milk so that the icing is spreadable but not runny. Immediately dollop over blondies and smooth it out. Immediately sprinkle on the reserved crumbs. Use fingers to gently press in.
- Place pan in fridge to set for hour or two before slicing. Store in fridge.
OM NOM NOM.
ARCs! Holy Taco Church!
When an author gets copies of the book she has yearned to hold her entire life, it’s only right the book first be offered to the cat.
Porom the Cat, who would much rather nibble on my toes than pose for a photo op.
Then the book must be read to Big Blue, because that’s the kind of thing monsters demand.
Reading time for a Dragon Quest Slime.
The books were also loved, hugged, and named George.
I just have the four copies for now, and no, I haven’t decided what to do as far as contests or anything. These decisions are HARD, man.
In other news!
I’m a High Priestess of Churromancy in the Holy Taco Church. (I know, I know, you’re thinking, “Well, duh.”) But this is a Real Thing. It’s a whole bunch of awesome writers congregating to talk food and liquor and happy thoughts. To name drop, our Tacopope is Kevin Hearne and other members include Chuck Wendig, Jaye Wells, Diana Rowland, and Vicki Pettersen.
My first offering is up today: Churro Shortbread.
Yes, that’s a caduceus made of a churro and two tacos.
And because I’m hardcore, I created my own holy symbol.
Read More
