Bready or Not: No Bake Chocolate Pie
This super-easy pie comes together in minutes and is all things fluffy, chocolately, and delicious.
I love to bake, but when company’s coming and I’m already cooking meals AND juggling writing deadlines, a fancy cake or pie ain’t gonna happen. No-bake is the way to go. That way I can even make it the day before and I know it will keep just fine–and even improve in flavor.
This pie is really easy to tweak. I added mini Oreos, but you can throw any kind of cookie or candy bar in there… or keep it smooth and add nothing at all.
One concern I had was that this would taste like cheesecake. My family isn’t into cheesecake. The cream cheese here adds a lot of texture and richness, but the clear flavor is that of chocolate. Which meant… shhh… people didn’t know the cream cheese was in there.
It’ll be our secret.
Modified from German Sweet Chocolate Pie at Let’s Dish.
Bready or Not: No Bake Chocolate Pie
Ingredients
- 4 ounces Baker’s German Sweet or Semi Sweet Chocolate
- 1/3 cup milk or cream or half & half
- 2 Tablespoons white sugar
- 1 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
- 1 8 ounce Cool Whip topping, thawed Reduced Fat works fine
- 1 graham cracker or chocolate pie crust
- 4 ounces Mini Oreos, chopped or other cookies or candy
Instructions
- Heat chocolate and 2 tablespoons of the milk in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently until chocolate is melted. Remove from heat.
- In a large bowl, beat together the sugar and cream cheese. Add the rest of the milk, and the cooled chocolate mixture. Beat until smooth.
- Fold in whipped topping and until the colors are blended. Add in the cookie chunks. Spoon into the premade cookie crust.
- Freeze the pie until firm, about 4 hours, or in the fridge overnight. Thaw at room temperature for a short while before serving, if need be. If desired, garnish with more Cool Whip, or chocolate or caramel drizzle. Store in the fridge.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Snickerdoodle Krispy Treats
Good ol’ Rice Krispie Treats are a standard from my childhood. I used to think it was an amazing twist to get the cocoa version. But this? Oh, people. My husband took these to work and was informed that these were “better than crack.” I take that as pretty high praise.
I found the original recipe because it was labeled as Churro Crispy Treats. For me, though, churros are very much a texture thing and the name didn’t fit. They seem more Snickerdoodle-like to me. They are soooo chewy and delicious.
The recipe is very straightforward. Use any brand of cinnamon crisp cereal. Add marshmallows. Add more awesomeness. Heck, I heated everything in the microwave. Make sure you sprinkle some coarse salt and turbinado sugar on top, too. It adds an extra oomph.
Modified from Brown Butter Churro Crispy Treats at The Law Student’s Wife.
Bready or Not: Snickerdoodle Krispy Treats
Ingredients
- 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 10 ounces miniature marshmallows 1 bag
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 cups cinnamon rice squares like Cinnamon Chex or Cascadian Farms Cinnamon Crunch
- more kosher salt or pretzel salt plus turbinado sugar for the top
Instructions
- Coat an 8-inch square pan with butter or non-stick spray. Stage the sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla, and marshmallows so they are ready to add quickly.
- This can be made in the microwave or on the stovetop. Either method: on low, gradual heat, melt the butter in a large container.
- Once the butter is melted, remove from heat and stir in the brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. Add marshmallows and stir to melt. The hot butter should melt the marshmallows, but if needed give it an extra zap in the microwave or briefly heat on low on the stovetop. Stir until no white streaks remain.
- Remove from heat again, if needed. Add in the cinnamon cereal and 1/4 teaspoon salt. As soon as everything is coated, pour it into the prepared pan. Quickly spread it to the corners and evenly press it down. Sprinkle more coarse salt and turbinado sugar on top.
- Let the pan cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing and serving.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Cake Batter White Chocolate Fudge (Microwave)
Last week was all about fast and easy gingerbread cookie dough fudge. This Wednesday I introduce you to a microwave fudge that uses cake mix.
Eating this is like licking the paddle after mixing up cake mix batter. If you prefer savory over sweet, this recipe isn’t for you. This is for the people who love fudge and frosting and all things sweet.
I didn’t limit myself to sprinkles in this. I had some Christmas candies, the type for topping cupcakes and such, that had been sealed away for a year. It had been a great post-holiday clearance buy. I wanted the containers GONE, so I pretty much dumped the contents into this fudge. That’s why you see little light bulb shaped candies in there.
This is obviously a great Christmas recipe, but it’s an easy one to customize year round depending on the colors you mix in. Make fudge to support your favorite sport team, or pink and red for Valentine’s Day, or pastels for spring. Cake mix goes on sale all year round, too, making this a pretty cheap recipe to throw together.
Whatever you add in, I’m sure it will be pretty. And delicious. So very, very delicious.
Modified from Sally’s Baking Addiction.
Bready or Not: Cake Batter White Chocolate Fudge (Microwave)
Ingredients
- 2 cups + 2 Tbsp white or yellow cake mix any brand, sifted
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar sifted
- 1/2 cup salted butter cut into chunks (or use unsalted and add a pinch of salt)
- 1/4 cup milk almond milk works
- 2/3 cup white chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup rainbow sprinkles/non pareils/jimmies
Instructions
- Line an 8×8 baking pan with aluminum foil or parchment and spray with nonstick spray. Set aside. Measure the white chocolate chips and the sprinkles in separate dishes so they are ready to add quickly.
- Mix sifted cake mix and powdered sugar in a large bowl. Add milk and butter, without stirring, and microwave for 2 minutes.
- Promptly mix ingredients until the butter is fully melted and incorporated. The batter will be very thick. Fold in white chocolate. Add the sprinkles last and stir gently so they don't leak too much color.
- Scoop into prepared baking pan. Level it across the top. Chill the fudge in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before cutting into small blocks.
- Fudge will keep upwards of a week in the fridge, if it lasts that long.
OM NOM NOM
Bready or Not: Gingerbread Cookie Dough Fudge (Microwave)
Bust out the elastic-banded pants! It’s fudge season!
This particular fudge is especially appropriate for the holidays, too, as it tastes like gingerbread cookie dough. Yes, really. No worries about raw eggs or taking the time to bake.
I love microwave fudge recipes. They are so easy, taste as great as the candy thermometer fudge, and aren’t anywhere near as finicky. It’s pretty much a matter of melt, combine, chill. EAT.
Next week’s Bready or Not will be another microwave fudge. Consider yourself warned.
Modified from Lauren’s Latest.
Bready or Not: Gingerbread Cookie Dough Fudge (Microwave)
Ingredients
- 14 ounce sweetened condensed milk
- 4 ounces white chocolate
- 2 Tablespoons molasses or honey, though it will be mild
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar sifted
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt
- 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon cloves
Instructions
- Prepare an 8x8 glass dish by lining it with parchment or aluminum foil and greasing the surface.
- In another bowl, combine the dry ingredients and set aside.
- In a large microwave-safe bowl, place the sweetened condensed milk, white chocolate and molasses. Microwave on high for about 2 minutes total, but do so in 20-30 second chunks. Stir well between each time until the chocolate is melted into the milk.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the warm mix. Stir until smooth. Pour the fudge into the prepared dish. Chill it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before cutting fudge into small pieces to serve.
- The gingerbread fudge will keep well in the fridge, covered, for upwards of a week, maybe longer.
OM NOM NOM.
Bready or Not: Maple Ginger Fudge
I would like to present to you the best fudge in the history of the world.
Maple ginger fudge. Sweetness with just the slightest zing.
The origin of the recipe brings sweet connotations for me, too. One of my very favorite authors, C. E. Murphy, posted about this recipe last Christmas. We started a conversation about it.
This somehow resulted in her reading The Clockwork Dagger, loving it, and providing a blurb.
BEST. FUDGE. EVER.
That blurb:
“The Clockwork Dagger had me at hello and kept me with unexpected twists, intriguing magic and splendid betrayals. At the satisfying conclusion, my immediate impulse was to inquire in tones of gentle inquiry, when do I get to read the sequel!?!?” ~C. E. Murphy
C. E. Murphy’s Walker Papers series is my very favorite set of urban fantasy books. They were the first series I got into, and most importantly, they taught me how to write. I found them during that time when I realized my writing was wretched. I read through Urban Shaman on a technical level so I could figure out how to write first person and just plain why the books worked.
To have her love my book… it makes me get teary-eyed.
Make some of this fudge. Maybe some wonderful things will happen in your life, too.
Recipe modified from a modified version by C.E. Murphy, who originally found the recipe on Candy.About.Com. In case you didn’t notice, there was some modifying going on.
Bready or Not: Maple Ginger Fudge
Ingredients
- 3 cups white sugar
- 3/4 cup butter
- 2/3 cup evaporated milk small can
- 10 oz white chocolate chips
- 1 1/2 teaspoons maple flavor
- 7 oz marshmallow cream
- 4 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup candied ginger finely chopped
- 1/2 cup toasted pecans coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Prepare a pan: 9x9 if you want it thick, or 13x9 if you want it thin. Line pan with aluminum foil and apply nonstick cooking spray. Measure out of the other ingredients so they are staged and ready to go.
- In a larger saucepan, combine the butter, sugar, and evaporated milk. Cook at medium-high heat and stir until the butter and sugar melt. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture boils.
- Keep the candy at a rolling boil, stirring constantly, for five minutes. (If you have a candy thermometer and want to use it, you will be cooking the candy to soft-ball stage, 240 degrees.)
- After five minutes, take the pot off the burner and immediately add the white chocolate chips. Stir until they are melted and smooth. Work fast so that everything stays hot.
- Quickly add the marshmallow cream, maple flavor, vanilla, ground ginger, salt, pecans, and chopped candied ginger, and stir. Once the marshmallow cream has melted and all of the ingredients are incorporated, pour the fudge into the prepared pan. Smooth out the top; an offset spatula works well.
- Allow the fudge to set at room temperature for several hours. Once set, lift it out of the pan using the foil as handles. Use a large, sharp knife to cut the fudge into small one-inch pieces.
OM NOM NOM.
Trade Paperback & eBook
Paperback ISBN: 978-0-06-231384-3
ebook ASIN (Amazon): B00HLIYZ5U
ebook ISBN (Nook): 978-0-06-231385-0
Release: September 16, 2014
Amazon Barnes & Noble Powell’s Books-A-Million Poisoned Pen Changing Hands
Read MoreBready or Not: Healthier Mint Chocolate Pie
Do not be afraid of this pie. Do not look at the main ingredient and go, “NOT GONNA GO IN MY MOUTH, NOPE NOPE.” I say that, because I was leery about this recipe, too, because I generally do not like tofu.
Yes, tofu. Stay with me.
The thing with tofu is, it takes on whatever flavors it is with. So if you dump a whole bag of chocolate in with the tofu, you don’t taste the soy byproduct. (This is why the adjective in the title is “Healthier” not “Healthy.”) Think of the tofu as scaffolding. It’s there to hold up the tastier stuff.
The original recipe comes from Chocolate Covered Katie, who is a great resource for healthier recipes. I’ve made this pie three times now and have adapted it a great deal from the original:
– tofu blocks around here come in 14 ounce, not 12.3.
– my first try, a chalky taste from the tofu was still evident, though it wasn’t bad. I upped the cocoa to mask that.
– increased the peppermint extract, as I couldn’t taste it at all in the original. I also tried this by using mint Hershey’s Kisses as part of the chocolate chip measurement, which was great.
This all mixed up in my Vitamix in a matter of minutes. Then you dump everything into a premade graham cracker or Oreo crust, top with more chips if you want, then let it set for a few hours.
There’s just something awesome about a smooth, cool pie in the summertime, and if it’s a bit healthier than the average pie… even better!
Bready or Not: Healthier Mint Chocolate Pie
Ingredients
- 1 ready graham cracker crust or Oreo crust
- 14 ounce firm tofu
- 4 tsp cocoa powder sifted
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons milk almond milk works
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 2 teaspoons peppermint extract
- 8-10 ounces chocolate chips optional; also can mix in Hershey's Mint Kisses or other mint chips; reserve some chips for the top
- 2-3 Tablespoons maple syrup or agave or other sweetener
Instructions
- Set aside some of the chocolate if you want it for the top or mixed in. Melt the bulk of the chocolate.
- Add all of the other ingredients into a food processor or blender and pulse until very smooth.
- Scoop it into a prepared pie crust; it will be very thick. Place in fridge for several hours to set.
- Pie will keep perfectly well in fridge, covered, for up to a week.
OM NOM NOM!
