Oreo Revenge

People love Oreos.  And I guess I'll eat them, in a pinch.  "Pinch" being there are no sweets in the house to eat but Oreos.  Not eating something sweet is never an option.  Of course.

An Oreo is "Milk's Favorite Cookie"?  Yeah, because I'm pretty sure it isn't possible to swallow an Oreo without a glass of milk.  But you see, Oreos and I have a long history.  One of those, not-so-repressed, childhood stories.  But, I'll spare you my sad and dramatic tale of a little girl with the most boring, dry sack lunch known to man.  Let me just say a couple Oreos sans milk, while keeping with the theme of said dry lunch, don't have the same appeal when your mouth already feels like a desert.

I need Oreo therapy.  And I say, what better way to get that then by smashing a package of them into smithereens, and making something more delicious than the cookie alone can get you...okay, me?  Besides, I can wield my rolling pin like a maniac and I don't seem as crazy when it's for the sake of dessert.  Get out those frustrations, baby, you have an excuse!



Whipped Oreo Bars (No-Bake)
- 1 Package of regular Oreos, divided
- 3/4 stick or 6 T. unsalted butter, melted
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 8 oz. package Cream Cheese, softened
- 1/2 c. sugar
- 1/4 tsp. vanilla
- 2 c. Cool Whip, thawed
- 6 oz. Semi-sweet chocolate
- 1 tsp. corn syrup
- 1 stick or 8 T. unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Completely line a 9x13 pan with foil.  Leave foil edges hanging over to easily lift bars from pan later.  Spray with non-stick cooking spray.  Set aside.

Open a package of Oreos and set 12 aside.  Put the remaining cookies in a resealable gallon bag.  Squeeze the air out and close tightly.  Start crushing the Oreos into crumbs with a rolling pin or other solid, sturdy object.  You can also do this in a food processor.  You want the Oreos to resemble a fine crumb; no large chunks of cookie.

In a large bowl, combine your Oreo crumbs, 6 Tbsp. melted butter, and 1/4 tsp. salt with a fork.  Toss crumbs until evenly coated and moist.  Spread crumbs in your prepared 9x13 pan and pack tightly into the bottom using the back of a spoon, your hand, or a tart tamper.  You want a nice firm crust.  Refrigerate crust while you work on your next step.

Using the same resealable gallon bag, crush the remaining 12 Oreos.  This time you want to crush them to a larger crumb, with chunks of cookie.  Empty into the same large bowl you used in the previous step (this saves you extra clean-up).  Add 2 cups of thawed Cool Whip.

In another bowl, whip softened cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until fluffy.  Add to the Cool Whip and crumbs, fold until combined/no cream cheese mixture is visible.  Remove crust from fridge and evenly spread the whipped cookie mixture on the top, making sure to get as flat and level as possible; an offset spatula works perfectly.  Return to fridge.

In a microwave safe bowl or glass bowl over simmering water; melt chocolate, butter, and corn syrup together.  Stir until smooth and glossy.  If using microwave, stop and stir in 30 second intervals.  Remove pan from fridge and evenly spread melted chocolate over whipped cookie filling.  Return to fridge, cool for an hour and then cover pan.  Let bars cool completely to harden, about 3 hours to overnight.

Once bars are set, lift foil and place on a cutting board.  Be careful while cutting, going down on the bars with the point of the blade so as not to squish the filling out.  Keep cool until serving, and then prepare to enjoy Oreos the only way I know how!

Serious Nom


  


Spring! Key Lime!

Citrus.  It's bright.  It's cheery.  It is exactly what I'm looking for in a spring day.  If you're familiar with Ohio in any way, you can start the day in a parka and then be cursing you didn't layer with a tank top and shorts underneath.  Eh.  I love four seasons, so I'm not going to complain too much.  The sun has been shining more, but for those "off" days, I have some bright, tart Key Lime Bars to remind me that sunny days will soon be here to stay...for a little while anyway.

Key Lime Bars  
by Me

Crust:
-1/2 c. or 1 stick unsalted butter; melted, browned, and cooled
-1/2 c. powdered sugar
-1/4 tsp. salt
-1 c. all-purpose flour

Filling:
-4 egg yolks
-14 oz or 1 can sweetened condensed milk
-3/4 c. key lime juice ( I use Nellie & Joe's)
-zest of small lime

Topping:
-1 c. sour cream
-3 Tbsp. powdered sugar

In a small pan or pot (preferably not one with a dark bottom) melt the butter over medium heat.  Continue cooking, it will bubble, then start stirring and watch as the butter bits start to turn brown.  It will start to smell nutty, it browns quickly, so once the bits get nice and brown, take it off the heat.  Pour the melted butter in a heat safe dish and refrigerate.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 9x9 inch pan with parchment paper, leaving sides hanging over.  Coat with non-stick cooking spray.  Using a blender, mix cooled browned butter, powdered sugar, salt and flour until combined.  Press evenly into the prepared pan and prick all over with a fork.  Bake for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk, key lime juice (or regular lime if that's all you have), and zest until creamy and combined.  Pour over warm crust.  Return to oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until center is firm-no jiggling when you move the pan.  Let cool on rack, and then refrigerate for 2 hours to a full day, depending on when you want to serve.

Once ready to serve, whisk together the sour cream and powdered sugar.  Pull up on parchment sides to remove bars from pan.  Spread sweetened sour cream over cooled bars.  Cut into squares, triangles, or whatever shape you desire.


Brighter & Cheerier in person!
These are very tart (and brighter and cheerier than my pics).  Cut back on the zest if you aren't prepared to really pucker.  Change your topping to something sweeter, like whipped cream or a simple dusting of powdered sugar if you aren't wrapping your mind around the sour cream topping-but aren't you curious?

I'm Coming Back...

And hopefully it's with a VENGEANCE!  Kids permitting.  Wallet permitting.  Hey, I'm keeping it real.  See, I follow a zillion, yes, a zillion blogs.  I don't know how these women do it!  Not only are some moms, but they hold down 9-5 jobs.  A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.  I'm sure they have it all organized and planned better, maybe some tricks of the trade they've learned over time, but either way, I'm jealous.  If you want to see who I visit regularly and looooove, just look over to the right.                                ======>

Also, maybe my jump back into the blogging waters is premature because the dear husband thought he'd sell my camera.  "Honey!  Honey.  You don't need it, you have the camera on your phone!"  Uh-huh.  I think he was swallowing those words when he tried to take a picture of our one-year old.  I guess we can interpret the blurred picture of our son as "artistic".  So until I figure out the camera thing, you may get crayon sketches of what I bake.  Hmm.  Guess you should just tune in to see what I can manage in the mean time.

Stick around for some Key Lime Bars.  They're coming.