kerrygold irish cream

In the Morning, I’m Making Waffles

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Weekends are great for many things, sleeping in, spending time with friends and family, catching up on household tasks, but the best thing about weekends is you have time to indulge in breakfast foods. At The Blind Pig household, breakfast dishes are some of our favorite foods, but we seldom have the luxury of time to make them and enjoy them. This week we are sharing a yummy waffle recipe that will be sure to become one of your family favs.

Blind Piglets #2 and #3 enjoying a waffle in the Netherlands with our friend, Jens.

Did you know that in Belgium, waffles are not served for breakfast, but are served as a dessert or as a sweet treat?  We discovered this fact a few years back when The Blind Pig family visited Europe.  It was on Blind Piglet #3’s bucket list to eat a Belgian Waffle in Belgium.   Much to our surprise we learned that it is served with fruit or ice cream and enjoyed as a sweet treat. We rode through Belgium via train, so Piglet #3 had to enjoy his waffle in the Netherlands instead.

Our family loves pancakes and waffles, so typically we make them with Bisquick, but this recipe makes the waffles so flavorful, light and fluffy. We may never use Bisquick again.  To make our WOW Waffles you will need cake flour (We like Swan’s.), baking powder, baking soda, salt, eggs, buttermilk, cream of tartar, melted butter, vanilla and Kerrygold Irish Cream for a zip of flavor.

To start whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Next separate the egg yolks and whites.  To the yolks add the buttermilk and whisk.  Add cream of tartar to the egg whites and mix on high with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.  (This is what helps to make the waffles so light and fluffy.)

Stirring gently with a fork, combine the egg yolk mixture with the dry ingredients.  Then  stir in vanilla, melted butter, and Kerrygold.  The batter will be lumpy at this point.

Fold in the airy egg white mixture gently. Make sure you don’t over mix.

Spray your waffle maker with cooking spray and preheat.  Add about 1/2 cup of batter to the waffle maker and bake until waffles are golden and crisp.

 

If you are viewing this post via email, visit us at www.theblingpig.blog for a complete downloadable recipe for WOW Waffles!

If you are making your waffles for a brunch or special breakfast, keep the waffles warm on a cookie tray in the oven on low heat.

These delicious waffles are light, airy and have just a hint of a chocolate Kerrygold flavor.  Top the waffles with butter and your favorite syrup.  You can also add fresh fruit.  For an extra special treat, top the waffles with Kerrygold Syrup that we shared with you in our Kerrygold French Toast post or with some yummy Kerrygold Chocolate Sauce.  So many options!

This recipe can also be used for pancakes, which we are going to try next time, because our waffle maker is not the best at making our waffles crispy.  We will keep you posted on how that works!  Try out these yummy waffles for your Sunday morning breakfast or your next holiday brunch.  We would love to hear what you think!

 

 

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24 Kt. Cheesecake

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Through the course of the past three years,(yes it has almost been three years since we started our blog) we have tried and concocted many recipes for cocktails, desserts and various food items.  Many of them have been very tasty, and some of them have been better than delicious, but every once in a while we feel like we have struck gold.  The recipe that we are going to share with you this week definitely feels like we have found a major vein of gold running through the hills.  Thus, we aptly named this wonderful find: 24 Kt. Cheesecake.  Once you get a taste of this rich, decadent dessert, it will have you feeling like you are eating like the rich and famous.  Move over Kardashians, we don’t need gold plated toilets.  We’ve got cheesecake!

We shared with you in our March Bonus Post this week, that Grandma Ruth was in town.  You know that great things happen when Grandma Ruth joins Rhonda in the kitchen.  We attribute the great find of this cheesecake to Grandma Ruth’s divine kitchen intervention!  Twenty-Four Karat Cheesecake is a mouthwatering combination of two layers of chocolate cheesecake with a layer of peanut butter cheesecake in the middle surrounded by a chocolate graham cracker crust.

To make this decadent dessert, you will need some basic ingredients: chocolate graham crackers, melted butter, sugar, 2 packages of cream cheese, creamy peanut butter, eggs, semisweet chocolate chips, Kerrygold Irish Cream, vanilla, and a few peanuts for garnish.

For the crust , you will need to finely chop the graham crackers in a food processor or blender.  Mix together with melted butter and 2 tablespoons of sugar.  Press into the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of a spring form pan.

For the peanut butter cheesecake layer, beat together 1 package of softened cream cheese, peanut butter and 1/4 cup of sugar in a bowl.  Lightly beat one egg and fold into the mixture.  Set aside.

For the chocolate cheesecake layers, stir chocolate chips in a saucepan over low heat until melted.  Remove from heat.  Cut remaining package of cream cheese into cubes and stir in to melted chocolate until well combined.  Next add Kerrygold Irish Cream, vanilla and two lightly beaten eggs.

Spread half of the chocolate cheesecake mixture over the graham crust.

Spread the peanut butter cheesecake mixture over the chocolate.

Then follow with a final layer of chocolate cheesecake mixture.

Bake the cheesecake 45 minutes or until top is set.  The outer inches of the top will be slightly puffed and dry.  The center should appear darker and wet.

Remove from oven and cool in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes.  The secret to a great cheesecake is to make sure that it cools very slowly.  You do not want to speed up the cooling process by adding it to the refrigerator.  Some cheesecake recipes suggest you bake your cheesecake in a water bath.  We did not do the water bath for this recipe and we did not have any cracking or over cooling.

After 15 minutes, loosen the pan from the cake by using a small knife around the inside edge of the pan.  Continue to cool for 30 minutes.  Remove the sides of the pan and continue to let cake cool completely.

Cover and chill for 4 hours.  Sprinkle with peanuts.

If you are viewing this post via email, visit us at http://www.theblindpig.blog for a complete downloadable recipe of 24 Kt. Cheesecake.

Here is another helpful tip for serving cheesecake.  You know how you try to cut cheesecake and your knife gets all gunked up and then it destroys the look of your beautiful cheese cake?  So frustrating… right?  We have two words for you… dental floss!  To create smooth professional cuts on your cheesecake use unflavored dental floss.  Pull out a piece of floss long enough to stretch the diameter of your cheesecake with a little extra to comfortably hold on to with each hand.  Press down on the cake and with a gentle sawing motion move the floss back and forth until you feel you have cut through the crust.  Pull the floss out of the bottom of the cake, and repeat making even diameter cuts through the center of the cake.  You will have flawless pieces of cheesecake ready to serve.

If you like peanut butter and chocolate and you like cheesecake, this dessert will not disappoint.  This dessert will definitely make its way to the top of “Desserts to Impress Guests” list at The Blind Pig household.  We would love to have you stop by and have a piece ;).

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all of you.  We will leave you with an Irish toast:

May you always have a clean shirt, a clear conscience, and enough coins in your pocket to buy a pint!

 

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March Bonus Post: Golden Mint Crinkles Part 2

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It’s time for our March Bonus Post!  The sun finally came out in Texas today, so we feel like our spring break is just getting started.  We spent a little bit of time in downtown Dallas enjoying some sunshine in Klyde Warren Park.

Grandma Ruth is in town visiting and you know when Ruth is around great things happen for The Blind Pig Blog.  Need we remind you about last year when we made these delicious Kerrygold Cinnamon Rolls?

This week we have been up to lots of fun mixing and baking, you’ll see some of our great treasures in future posts.  However, for our bonus post we are going to remind you about our Golden Mint Crinkles which were such a huge hit during the holiday baking season.  These delicious treasures are also a big hit for celebrating your Irish heritage — or someone else’s.  Kiss us both. We’re Irish and needed another excuse to share these delicious cookies with you.

 

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You Asked, We Answered

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We love hearing from our readers through Facebook, Instagram and especially in person.  We have so much fun creating our blog posts and hope that you look forward to receiving them in your inbox each week.  This week we are taking a break from sharing more recipes with you to answer some commonly asked questions about The Blind Pig Blog.

  1.  What do you do with all of the drinks and food that you create for the blog?  That’s an easy answer… we drink and eat them.  Many of the drinks and recipes that we make for the blog have made it into our regular rotation.  We love to share the food we make on the blog with friends and family, so what are you doing next Friday?
  2. Does everything you make contain “The Blind Pig” twist?  No.  We make plenty of food and drinks on a daily basis that do not contain extra libations at all.  In fact, when we are not cooking things up for TBPBlog we try to eat fairly healthy.  Actually, Blind Piglet #2 prefers recipes that we make without a twist.
  3. Do all of the recipes and concoctions you make get featured on TBPBlog? No.  We try all of our recipes out at home before posting.  Many of the recipes we try get tweaked and adjusted before making it to the blog.  Some we try and nix altogether.  Some recipes we prepped, took photos, and then never made it into the queue.  We try to bring you relevant recipes with current trends and if we just don’t feel confident with a recipe, we don’t post it.
  4. Do you get paid to feature certain products on your blog?  Not currently.  Everything that we feature on our blog is because we believe in the quality of the product.  We like to feature products from smaller companies when we can.  When our blog grows up and we get the opportunity to be paid for a feature, we will be sure to be transparent about it with our readers.
  5. How do you decide what you want to blog about?  We think about what kind of entertaining our readers may be planning for in the near future.  If there is an upcoming holiday, we want to give you some ideas to serve your guests.  Throughout the year we are on the lookout for ideas to include in the blog.  Rhonda has a huge file of recipes that she has kept throughout the years.  When we need some inspiration we look through Rhonda’s files.  When we find something that interests us, we play with the recipe and tweak it to make it relevant and current.
  6. What is your favorite ingredient to use in TBPBlog posts?  For Rhonda it is Kerrygold Irish Cream.  The chocolate flavor makes it so easy to add to many dessert recipes, and we have been surprised how easy it is to incorporate into other things.
  7. What is your go-to drink when you are out and about?  Craig hands down loves to drink anything with Fernet Branca or Fernet and Coke.  He orders it everywhere we go.  Rhonda’s go-to drinks are usually a Templeton Rye and Ginger Beer (Maryann or Ginger) or a Correlajeo Skinny Agave Margarita.  It’s just easy to order and most bars are able to make it.
  8. Where is your favorite place to go out and have a drink?  Craig’s favorite place is Sable Kitchen and Bar in downtown Chicago at the Kimpton Hotel.  Rhonda’s favorite place is Village Burger Bar.  They have really good Corralejo Margaritas and I love their sweet potato fries.  Really she just loves anywhere with a great patio and fire pit.
  9. What have been your favorite posts?  Choosing a favorite post is a lot like choosing your favorite child. It’s difficult to pick just one. (Don’t tell, but Blind Piglet #3 is our fav.  Shhhh!) We do have a few favorites, though.  Some of the posts that are special to us are because of things that were going on in the background when we were prepping or taking photos.

Rhonda’s Favs:

  • Corralejo Skinny Agave Margarita:  This was our first official post and some of Rhonda’s girlfriends came over to help us kick off the post.
  • The Watermelon Wars:  Both of these drinks are delicious and it truly was a war between us to decide which recipe was better.
  • Mary Ann or Ginger:  To this day, this is still my go-to drink when out and about.
  • Golden Mint Crinkles:  This cookie recipe was a family favorite to begin with, and we were able to make it even better.
  • Salted Whiskey Caramel Corn:  We had a lot of activity in the house the weekend we made this post.  This post always makes me think of warmth, family, and home.  Not to mention all of the caramel corn was gone within two hours of the photo shoot.
  • Tequila Ceviche: We used this recipe all summer long.  It was so easy, tasty and fresh.
  • There are more, but we don’t want to bore you.

Craig’s favs:

Still have more questions?  Bring it on.  We would love to answer them!

Are you following us on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram?  If not, use the links below! Have an awesome week.  Next week we will be back with more yummy recipes for your taste buds and tummy with a February flair.  Love is in the air!

  

Disclaimer:  All beverages on this site are meant for adults 21 years of age and older.  We do not condone underage drinking, and never drink and drive.

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Snowed In?

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snowed in 001

Let us just start by saying that we planned this post a few weeks ago.  At that time we had noooo idea that the Midwest would be under a winter storm warning.  Currently there is close to a foot of snow on the ground for many of our Midwest followers.  When we created this recipe and came up with the name, we did not realize that the universe was listening so closely.  We apologize.  However, we are sharing a delicious, chocolaty drink with you that we aptly named  Snowed In.  We felt that reflected the weather in much of the country for this time of year. (Yes, parts of Texas did receive some snow two weeks ago.) It has a little chocolaty goodness, a little bit of coffee and a lot of yum!

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There are three main ingredients in Snowed In: Crystal Head Vodka, Cafe Borghetti, and Kerrygold Irish Cream.  Put them together and shake with a little ice, and presto you have a fabulous cocktail to drink next to the warm fire.

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We used chocolate syrup, semi-sweet chocolate shavings and a few espresso beans for garnish.  We showed you our trick for garnishing with chocolate syrup last year when we made Who Needs Half Price Shakes Before 8?

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We’ve made this tasty little drink a couple of times now, and we think we like it more and more every time we make it.  It would be perfect to serve to guests as a dessert drink.  We would love to hear what you think!

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If you  are viewing this post via email, visit us at http://www.theblindpig.blog for a full printable recipe.

snowed in

The next time you are snowed in or not, shake up this cocktail to keep you warm on the inside as you cuddle up next to the fire with your honey.

  

Disclaimer:  Beverages on this site are meant for adults 21 years of age and older.  We do not condone underage drinking, and never drink and drive.

 

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Saucy Gift Ideas for the Holidays

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We are so glad to see many of you sharing and commenting our latest posts: Golden Mint Crinkles and Yum Rum Balls.  ‘Tis the season to share and give, so keep on sharing.  This week we have another great idea for giving and sharing this season.  

If you are looking for an easy treat to share in a goody bag, with your child’s teacher, the mail man, or just a little something special to add to a gift, Kerrygold Hot Fudge Sauce is a great place to start.  

Kerrygold Hot Fudge Sauce is a great addition to a holiday gift basket.

This sauce is a great topping for a variety of treats and desserts.  Drizzle some over a sponge cake for a little extra pizzazz.  Serve over a bowl of fresh berries.  Use it for a yummy ice cream sundae.  Warm it up and place in a fondue pot with lots of fun fruit, brownies, marshmallows, or angel food cake dippers.  Drizzle some over a pile of pancakes or french toast on Christmas morning.  Get creative, and let us know how you used the sauce.

Getting organized took longer than actually making the sauce.  First decide how you want to package the sauce.  Rhonda went to Hobby Lobby and found a variety of cute little jars and bottles.  We have also seen bottles similar to this at World Market, or you can purchase small canning jars at the grocery store.  Make sure that the bottles are safe for food, and not just made for decoration.  Bring the bottles home and wash them thoroughly.  We put ours through the dishwasher on high heat to make sure they were well sanitized.  We (Rhonda) found some fun tags, bows and ribbons at Hobby Lobby to dress up the bottles and jars for a festive flair.

You can find a variety of jars and bottles at Hobby Lobby.  Make sure they have been thoroughly washed.

Next start the process of making the sauce.  You will need a package of unsweetened chocolate baking squares, butter, sugar, milk, vanilla, salt and Kerrygold Irish Cream. We have a variety of variations to this recipe that we will share with you below.

Place the chocolate and butter (We used Kerrygold butter, of course.) in a small saucepan over low heat stirring constantly.  Add the sugar and cook for an additional 30 seconds.  Add the milk stirring constantly and cook for an addition 3-5 minutes until the chocolate sauce is smooth and creamy.  You want to keep the heat on low and do not let the sauce boil.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, salt and Kerrygold Irish Cream.  Yes, it’s that quick and easy!

Kerrygold Hot Fudge Sauce

Ingredients:
1 -8 oz package of unsweetened chocolate baking squares
1/2 cup of Kerrygold butter
2 cups sugar
1 cup milk
1 ounce of Kerrygold Irish Cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp. salt

Melt unsweetened chocolate baking squares and butter in a saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. Add 2 cups of sugar and continue to stir for about 30 seconds. Add milk to saucepan and continue to stir until sauce is smooth and creamy. Make sure sugar is dissolved, but do not allow the sauce to boil. Remove from heat and add vanilla, salt and Kerrygold. Cool before placing in container.

Can be refrigerated for up to two weeks. Reheat sauce in microwave prior to serving.

Makes approximately 3 cups.

The sauce is good for up to two weeks when stored in the refrigerator.  It is  best served warm, so you will want to include that information on your instruction tags to your friends.  We made sure to remind our friends to place the sauce in a different container before placing in the microwave.  

We love choices and variety, and there are several variations you may choose from for your sauce depending on your taste.  For a coffee flavor with your chocolate sauce, substitute the Kerrygold Irish Cream with Cafe Bourghetti Espresso Liqueur.  Want a little mint and chocolate?  Add Branca Menta in place of the Kerrygold.  Caution:  Branca Menta is strong, so we would only include half as much Branca Menta as Kerrygold.  Feeling a little frisky and want some whiskey?  Replace the Kerrygold with Templeton Rye Whiskey.  Zaya Rum and chocolate complement each other nicely, as well. So now you have choices to satisfy the range of the taste buds in your rainbow of friends and family.  

Try it out this week and let us know if you will be in the spirit of giving some Kerrygold Hot Fudge Sauce this season!  It’s time for our December Bonus post this week, so be on the lookout for our Merry Margarita!

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Holiday Treats Worth Their Weight in Gold

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Welcome back Blind Pig Friends.  How was your Thanksgiving? The big question is did you serve the Prosecco Peas?  We know some of you considered it, but did you follow through?  We had a great time eating turkey with family in the Show Me State!  We always enjoy visiting the Midwest to see family during the holidays.  We returned with a vehicle for Blind Pig #2.  You can see more about that on Instagram.  With our tummies full of turkey and Templeton Pecan Pie our sights now turn to the Christmas holiday season.  We have lots of great ideas and recipes lined up to share with you from now until NYE.

golden mint crinkles

To kick off the season, we have a special, golden, sweet, treat for you.  This cookie recipe has been in Rhonda’s stash for years and has long been a family favorite.  These cookies easily make their way into the friends and family goody basket each season, but this year they are new and improved.  When you put these goodies on Santa’s plate, they will not disappoint!

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What makes these cookies so special?  We slipped a little extra something in the dough by adding Kerrygold Irish Cream.  We’ve shared other recipes that featured Kerrygold  before, such as, our Twisted Mississippi Mud Brownies.  We dressed these cookies in their finest glittery holiday attire to add a festive flair. Our harshest critiques, Blind Pig #2 and Blind Pig #3 got in on the action of helping with this post by taste testing the results.  Both piglets agreed that the Golden Mint Crinkles are better than the original recipe. (No Blind Piglets were harmed in the making of this post.)

To start you will need the following ingredients: flour, unsweetened cocoa, baking soda, sugar, brown sugar, Kerrygold butter, vanilla, Kerrygold Irish Cream, eggs, package of Dove Dark Chocolate and Mint Swirl Chocolates, and gold sugar crystals. We found gold sugar crystals in the baking aisle at Kroger.

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  In a small bowl combine flour, cocoa, and baking soda. Blend well.

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In a large bowl, beat 1 cup sugar, brown sugar, butter until light and fluffy.  Add vanilla and eggs; beat well.  Add Kerrygold Irish Cream and mix through.  Add flour mixture slowly and mix well.

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Chill the dough for about an hour.  Do not skip this step.  It is very helpful to have well chilled dough for the next step.

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Chill the dough for at least an hour

After dough has chilled and you have thoroughly washed your hands, unwrap the chocolates and place nearby in a bowl.  In order to easily prepare the cookies, make sure chocolates, cookie sheets, golden sugar crystals poured into a saucer and a tablespoon are in close proximity.  Before forming cookies, spray your hands with cooking spray.  This enables you to form the dough around the chocolates while avoiding a clumpy, sticky mess.  (We have learned this the hard way after years of making this recipe.)  Scoop a spoonful of dough and place a chocolate inside the dough.  Using your fingers, form the dough around the chocolate.  Dip the dough in the sugar crystals and place on a cookie sheet.  Continue until 12 cookies have been placed on the sheet.  (We place our dough back in the fridge in between filling the trays.)

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Ready for the oven

Bake cookies at 375 degrees for 7-10 minutes.  You do not want the cookies to be  over baked.  It is better to pull them from the oven looking a little under baked. You want the cookies to have a slightly crinkled or cracked look.  Leave the cookies on the cookie sheet for 2-3 minutes after removing from the oven to continue the baking process.  Next remove cookies from sheet and place on parchment paper to continue to cool.

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Cookies will be slightly cracked

The yummy creaminess of the Kerrygold Irish Cream complements the chocolate cookie, and who can resist the melted minty goodness surprise on the inside?

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These treats will delight family and friends throughout the holiday season, and have them begging for the recipe.  Golden Mint Crinkles are a hit at cookie exchanges.  If you are a lucky recipient of a Blind Pig Holiday Goody Basket, you may be receiving some of these goldies.

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If you are viewing this post in your email, visit us at theblindpig.blog to find the printable recipe.

Try out the Golden Mint Crinkles.  We would love to hear what you think!

If you are new to The Blind Pig Blog, welcome.  We are glad that you stopped by.  We would love to hear what you think about our blog and would love you even more if you became a permanent subscriber!

Here are some recent posts you may have missed:

Oh Pumpkin…Bread!

A Better Aperol Spritz

Hard Cider Donut Holes with Kerrygold Chocolate Sauce

   

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Holey Moley: Hard Cider Donut Holes with Kerrygold Chocolate Sauce

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hard cider donut holes

How was your Halloween?  Did you try one of the Six Great Drinks for Fall this week? Our final post for our Apple Fest series is an easy recipe for making Hard Cider Donut Holes.  We know you are thinking that donuts seem like a lot of work and really hard to make. We thought that at first. Rhonda remembers making homemade donuts with her mom when she was a youngin’, but she hasn’t made them in years.  Craig?  Well… if you know Craig he’s eaten plenty of donuts in his life, but never made any.  After reading this post, you will see how easy it is to make your own donuts.  By the way, these donuts are not for breakfast.  No way. These donuts are drizzled in a delectable chocolate sauce, to be served as a dessert!

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To get started you will need 1 bottle of hard cider. (We used Angry Orchard Rose’ for this recipe.)  You need all-purpose flour, wheat flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, cardamon, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, eggs, melted butter, and oil for deep fat frying.

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Bring cider to a boil in a saucepan and cook over high heat for about 12 minutes.

Whisk together flours, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and spices.  In a separate bowl whisk eggs, melted butter and cooler cider. Stir into dry ingredients until moistened.  Beware the dough is very sticky at this point, but the spices make it smell so yummy. Cover and refrigerate for about an hour.

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Divide the dough in half.  On a floured surface, pat the dough into 1/2 inch thickness.  Flour a donut hole cutter and cut holes.

In a iron skillet, heat oil to 325 degrees.  Fry donuts a few at  a time until golden brown.  Ours only needed to cook for about 1-2 minutes per side.  Drain on paper towels. Sift powdered sugar over the tops of donuts and continue to cool. Now wasn’t that easy?

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To make the donuts even more delectable, we decided to drizzle Kerrygold Chocolate Sauce over the top.  Yummo!

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If you are viewing this post though your email, visit us at www.theblindpig.blog to view a full recipe.

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Hard cider donuts have a nice, spicy flavor and the chocolate sauce only adds to the overall yumminess.  This recipe was a simple delicious hit in our house.  Make them this weekend, and let us know what you think!

   

 

 

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Twisted Mississippi Mud Brownies

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Have you ever had one of those weeks when things should be very easy, but nothing seems to come together?  This week has been a comedy of errors trying to get this post out to you.  For one thing, Rhonda’s computer wifi card went bust, or that is what we think happened.  If you ever think you don’t need the internet, try going without it for awhile.  But we problem solved and prevailed.  Our family motto is, “There is a workaround for everything!” We are happy to share a very twisted recipe with you:  Twisted Mississippi Mud Brownies.

When Rhonda was young, her mother, (aka-Grandma Ruth) always made the most delicious Mississippi Mud Brownies to take to picnics and special occasions at church.  Who doesn’t love all of that chocolately goodness topped off with marshmallows and more chocolate, right?  We found this recipe in Southern Living Magazine’s October 2012 issue originally, but we Blind Pigged it up a little.  We think this week’s treat, just might have perfected the Mississippi Brownie.

twisted miss mud brownies

This recipe comes in three basic parts.  You have the brownie base, then a layer of peanut butter yum.  Topped with another layer of brownie and perfected with a layer of marshmallows, chocolate chips, peanuts, and chocolate frosting.  Oh yea!

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What do you need?  Besides an enormous sweet tooth and an appetite for chocolate and peanut butter, you need several ingredients that may already be in your kitchen, like unsweetened chocolate baking squares, butter, granulated sugar, eggs, all-purpose flour, vanilla, peanut butter, light brown sugar, baking powder, mini marshmallows, Kerrygold Irish Cream, mini chocolate chips, lightly salted peanuts, and powdered sugar.  Remember, if you are viewing this post in your email, you can visit www.theblindpig.blog to get a downloadable and printable complete recipe.

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Your first step will be to melt the baking chocolate.  We melted it slowly in a microwaveable bowl in the microwave using short bursts of cooking time.  Once the chocolate is melted, add in 2 ounces of Kerrygold Irish Cream and stir together well. Set aside.

Next beat together softened butter and 2 cups of granulated sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer.  Add eggs one at a time.  Then add in melted chocolate mixture beating until just blended.  Add in one cup of flour and stir in vanilla.  Spread half of the batter in a 13 x 9 inch pan that was sprayed with baking spray.

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Next you will make the peanut butter mixture.  Beat the peanut butter, brown sugar and 1/3 cup of softened butter with 1/2 cup granulated sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.  Add 2 eggs one at a time.  Stir together baking powder and remaining flour.  Add flour mixture to peanut butter mixture on low speed until blended.

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Spoon the peanut butter mixture over the bottom layer of brownie mixture.  Top with the remaining brownie mixture and swirl together with a knife.

Bake the brownies at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes.

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While brownies are baking make the frosting.  Place 1/4 cup of butter, 3 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa and 3 tablespoons of Kerrygold Irish Cream into a small sauce pan.  Turn heat to medium and continue to stir constantly until mixture thickens.  Remove from heat and stir in 2 cups of powdered sugar and 1/2 tsp. of vanilla extract.  You may need to reheat the frosting some when you are ready to drizzle it over the brownies.

Insert wooden pick in the center to check for only a few moist crumbs.  Remove from the oven.

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Sprinkle with marshmallows, peanuts, mini-chocolate chips, and drizzle with frosting.  Let cool completely before cutting.  Then enjoy!

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So what do you think?  Are you ready for a Mississippi-sized sugar rush?

  

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Spirited Chocolate Orange Bars

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This week was the summer solstice which officially ushered in Summer.  There are many reasons that we love Summer.  One reason is that it is filled with countless cookouts, family reunions, and casual get-togethers with friends.  We never want to show up empty-handed for these casual occasions.  Of course, Craig is always popular because he can supply a beverage or two, but we like to show our appreciation to the host and hostess with other treats, too.

spirited chocolate orange bars

Rhonda snipped this recipe from the Dallas Morning News about a year ago during their annual bake off competition.  We adapted the recipe submitted by Rex Poland of Dallas, and just recently had time to try it.  When you show up at the family reunion with this sweet treat, you will be the favorite cousin for sure!

The ingredients are mostly basic things that you have in your pantry or fridge – unsalted butter, semi-sweet baking chocolate bars (we used Ghirardelli chocolate) , eggs, sugar, cream cheese, freshly grated orange zest, and heavy cream.  You will need some Kerrygold Irish Cream and Cointreau for the spirit in the Spirited Chocolate Orange Bars.  There is one ingredient that was a bit tricky for us to find – plain chocolate cookies, such as Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers.  We did not find these on the cookie aisle.  With some help from our handy dandy Kroger manager, we discovered that they are kept near the ice cream sundae supplies on the baking aisle.

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The recipe is easy to follow but has several steps.  First you crush the cookies and melted butter in a food processor. Then you press the crust in a 8 X 12 inch baking pan and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Next  melt the chocolate in a microwave and set aside.

spirited chocolate orange bars 5

Beat eggs and sugar in a mixing bowl.  In a separate bowl beat cream cheese. Then beat the egg mixture into the cream cheese.  Divide the cream cheese mixture in two bowls.

Stir in melted chocolate into the one bowl of cream cheese mixture.  In the other bowl of cream cheese add orange zest and Cointreau.

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Gently pour each mixture over the cookie base and swirl gently with a spatula.  Bake about 25 minutes.  Turn off the oven and cool with the door ajar to room temperature.

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While the bars are cooling, prepare the ganache.  Melt semi-sweet chocolate in the microwave.  Heat heavy cream to a hot temperature.  Combine the cream and melted chocolate, and 1 ounce of Kerrygold Irish Cream stirring until smooth.

Spread ganache over the top of the cooled bars and refrigerate for 3 hours.  When ready to serve cut the bars into squares and serve.

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If you are viewing this post in an email, visit our site for a printable version of the recipe.

This recipe has a few extra steps, but the final outcome is definitely worth it.  The chocolate and orange flavors compliment each other nicely for a tasty treat. Will you bring Spirited Chocolate Orange Bars to your next casual gathering?

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