Strawberry Toaster Strudel® Truffles

How do you feel about Toaster Strudels®? Personally, I think there is way too high a pastry-to-fruit ratio, and all I really want to do is toss the strudel and squeeze the icing packet directly into my face. I prefer Pop Tarts because I like my toaster pastries like I like my men: cold, fruity, and covered in sprinkles. However, it seems that a great many people enjoy a nice toasty strudel in the morning, so who am I to judge? And actually, when making the truffles, I solved the not-enough-fruit issue (and I totally consumed some "leftover" icing), so everything worked out quite nicely.

Strawberry Toaster Strudel Truffles

 

Regardless of whether you are a toaster strudel kinda person (these truffles are great either way), check out the full recipe at Foodbeast.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Fudge

Oh my gosh, how fun and ridiculously easy is it to make this fudge? I'm going to just make it over and over again... I may not let you know how every variation turns out, but I'll be sure to share the winners... like this one. 

Beware! If a frosting is WHIPPED, it weighs less (12oz) than a traditional can of frosting (16oz). The ratio of peanut butter to frosting should be 1-to-1, so be sure to check the weight on the frosting can, and adjust accordingly.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Fudge

Ingredients

• 12oz strawberry frosting in a can
• 12oz crunchy peanut butter

Directions

1. Line square baking pan with wax paper.
2. Measure peanut butter into a medium-sized bowl.
3. Remove top and foil from frosting and microwave for 30 to 40 seconds.
4. Stir frosting into peanut butter until fully combined.
5. Spread into baking pan and stick in fridge to set. Then cut it into bite-sized pieces

It totally tastes like PB&J! Who'd have thought?!!? Oh and the texture of the crunchy peanut butter truly adds so much to the overall awesomeness; always use it.

Chocolate Covered Lance® Toastchee® Sandwich Crackers

Do you have Lance in your pants? If so, remove them and cover them in chocolate. If not, go purchase some Lance sandwich crackers, put them in your pants (because apparently it's required), remove them, and then cover them in chocolate. There are a number of varieties to choose from, but Toastchee sandwich crackers (peanut butter-filled cheese crackers) are probably the most popular—and, let's not lie, the best tasting.

Chocolate Covered Lance Toastchee Sandwich Crackers

You know how it's done, right? Visit Foodbeast anyways.

Pop Tart Truffles

So I woke up the other day thinking, "Oh my gosh, I'm brilliant: Pop Tart Truffles!" So I go on-line to confirm that my idea was awesome and original. Wah wah. Awesome, yes. Original, no. Nevertheless, I wanted to try them for myself and share it with all of you. I didn't actually follow any particular recipe that I found on-line, but used a cream cheese to tart ratio that I (read: Kyle) would find acceptable.

Pop Tart Truffles

Ingredients

• 6 Pop Tarts (I used Frosted Strawberry)*
• 2 to 3oz of cream cheese, softened
• white chocolate baking bark

*Why only use 6 when there are 8 in a box? Because I know you really just want to eat the other two...or maybe that's just me.


Directions

1. Pulverize tarts in food processor until they are crumbs.
2. Add cream cheese and mix until combined.
3. Scoop into balls with your 2t cookie scoop.
4. Chill in fridge to harden.
5. Melt chocolate bark, coat truffles, and stick them back in the fridge until set.

The ratio was great! Truly you should only be using the cream cheese as a binder. You don't need these things to be gooey. And you definitely don't want the cream cheese to overpower the main flavor, which it didn't, as these were best described to me as Pop-Tart-y. 

Elvis Cookies

So can we just pretend that it hasn’t been FOREVER since I’ve made something with bacon? Great, thanks! Moving on. I’m sure everyone is familiar with the concept of the Elvis sandwich: pb, banana and bacon. What a stellar combo. So I thought I’d do my own take on the King’s favorite food as a cookie. As per usual, Alton Brown’s The Chewy recipe is my go-to basic dough, but then I added in the extra goodness.

Elvis Cookies

For the full recipe that will have you "all shook up"...yes, I went there, visit Foodbeast.

Reese's Peeps

So Easter is over, and that fabulous bunny left you a basket filled with a ridiculous amount of these and these. What now? How about some Reese's Peeps? Magic, you say? Voodoo and witchcraft? Nah, it's just some good math: Reese's Peanut Butter Cups + Marshmallow Peeps = Awesome. Like chocolate-covered Peeps, only peanut butter-y-ier.

Reese's Peeps

Ingredients

• Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
• Marshmallow Peeps

Directions

1. Chop up Reese's Cups and melt in the microwave. Stir until all melty and smooth.
2. Coat Peeps with melted PB&C.
3. Chill in fridge until set.

Well stick a pair of ears on me call me Peter Cottontail, these are good. However, they are a bit more difficult to make than with just chocolate bark as the PB inside the cup doesn't like to melt. That's why I suggest you chop them up before sticking them in the microwave. Also, I advise using bunnies as opposed to chicks. I just find them easier to coat. But if chicks are what you got, it's soooo worth the extra effort.

Peeps-filled Cupcakes with Marshmallow Peeps Frosting

When most people say they are making “Peeps cupcakes,” they mean they are going to just make cupcakes, frost them and then stick a Peeps chick on top. Not my style. So I knew, I needed to fit as many chicks and bunnies into my cupcakes as possible. (Yes, it’s before Easter, yet I have purchased package upon package of Peeps already.  A. Because they are still cheep—GET IT!?!?—before the holiday, and B. Well, I just love to make things with them.)  So these cupcakes are filled with Peeps and the frosting is made from Peeps. What.

Peeps-filled Cupcakes with Marshmallow Peeps Frosting

For the full recipe that not just for chicks (it's for bunnies, too), visit Foodbeast.

Black Forest Cake Balls

When I say Black Forest, do you immediately think "Ooooh, cake!" or do you think, "Cuckoo clocks!"? If it's the latter, well I don't know if that makes us better or worse friends because I think about both—but it's still totally nerdy. Here's some learnin' for the day (Thanks, Wikipedia!): while cuckoo clocks "have been made in the region since the early eighteenth century and much of their development occurred there," the cake's namesake comes from not from the forest itself but "the specialty liquor of that region, known as Schwarzwälder Kirsch(wasser) and distilled from tart cherries." The more you know...   *Shooting Star* 

Aaaaaanynobody cares, for today's recipe, I'm turning that tasty torte into a ball. 

Black Forest Cake Balls

Ingredients

• 1 box chocolate cake mix (and corresponding eggs, oil, and water)
• 1 can cherry pie filling
• white chocolate baking bark

Directions

1. Bake cake as directed and let cool completely.
2. Crumble cake into large bowl, add pie filling and stir until combined.
3. Scoop into 2t-sized balls and chill to set.
4. Melt chocolate bark, coat the cake balls and chill one more time.

I thought they were wonderfully moist; however, I was expecting a burst of cherry flavor, but what I got was something more subtle. If that works for you, stick with the recipe as is. If not, maybe throw a jar of maraschino cherries into the cake before baking, or if you have some cherry liquor, definitely add that in the cake, or when you mix in the pie filling... or both!