Frosty Toffee Bits Pie

I came across this delicious recipe in one of my Taste of Home magazines and just HAD to share with all of you. This pie is light, easy, delicious and the perfect cold treat to accompany your next Summer cookout. In fact, Memorial Day is coming up....not a bad time to give this wonderful pie a try.
Frosty Toffee Bits Pie Recipe

• 6-8 Servings
• Prep: 10 min. + freezing

10 fF 10 F

~Frosty Toffee Bits Pie~

Ingredients

• 1 package (3 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 cup half-and-half cream
• 1 carton (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 1 package (8 ounces) milk chocolate English toffee bits, divided
• 1 graham cracker crust (9 inches)

Directions

• In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in cream until blended. Fold in whipped topping and 1 cup toffee bits.
• Spoon into crust; sprinkle with remaining toffee bits. Cover and freeze overnight. Remove from the freezer 10 minutes before serving. Yield: 6-8 servings.

Enjoy!!!

~Lauren

Valentine Cake Pops

How adorable are these cake pops!? Seriously, what a yummy bouquet of sweet goodness! I'm sure many of you have heard of these infamous "cake pops" as they've become quite the rage, but just in case you haven't - we wanted to share a quick "how to" on our blog! The great thing about these cute lil' treats is that you can be as creative as you'd like and decorate them to your heart's desire. Kids and adults alike will fall in LOVE with them!


What you will need: 1 box cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake) 1 can frosting (16 oz.) Wax paper Chocolate of your choice for dipping -white, dark, etc. Lollipop sticks *Sprinkles, hearts, etc.

1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.
2. Mix thoroughly with 1 can frosting. (I use the back of a large spoon, but it may be easier to use fingers to mix together. But, be warned, it will get messy. Also, you may not need the entire can of frosting, so start out by using almost the entire can and add more if you need to.)
3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and place on wax paper covered cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50)
4. Melt chocolate in the microwave per directions on package. (30 sec intervals, stirring in between.)
5. Dip the tip of your lollipop stick in a little of the melted candy coating and insert into the cake balls. (Insert a little less than halfway.)
6. Place them in the freezer for a little while to firm up.
7. Once firm, carefully insert the cake ball into the candy coating by holding the lollipop stick and rotating until covered. Once covered remove and softly tap and rotate until the excess chocolate falls off. Don’t tap too hard or the cake ball will fall off, too.

So what will it be? Double chocolate, Strawberry Vanilla, Red Velvet, German Chocolate, Lemon, Carrot Cake - the possibilities are endless!! Mmmm, can't you just taste them now!!
**These would make a great gift - for a teacher, students, party favors, centerpiece, etc.


Stay tuned for more Valentine's Day ideas!!

~Lauren

Heavenly Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

Have you ever eaten something that you could describe as "heavenly"? You know the kind of experience that as you take that first bite, you hear an angelic choir singing and the beam of light shines down as you savor the deliciousness?! I can't even describe how wonderful these Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars are, all I can say is that you'll both love & hate me for sharing this amazing recipe! You'll love me because it'll be one of the best things you've put into your mouth, and you'll hate me because you'll want to eat the entire pan! haha!

This is a Paula Deen Recipe, and I originally found it on the Food Network website here. They have many wonderful recipes to peruse through, you'll definitely want to check it out! Here at Achieving Proverbs 31, we're planning a "Week of Apples" on the blog, we hope this recipe will jump start the week, making you want even more. Stay tuned for many more scrumptious recipes and please do yourself a favor and take the time to make the recipe below! :-)

~Lauren
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons, divided
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Streusel topping, recipe follows
• 1/2 cup caramel topping (melted caramel candies work fine as well)
  

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, combine flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Press evenly into a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking pan lined with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Bake 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Drizzle some of the caramel over the warm crust.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with 1/2 cup sugar in an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth. Then add eggs, 1 at a time, and vanilla. Stir to combine. Pour over warm crust.

In a small bowl, stir together chopped apples, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Spoon evenly over cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle evenly with Streusel topping. Bake 30 minutes, or until filling is set. Drizzle with caramel topping.

Streusel Topping:

• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup quick cooking oats
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients.

Yield: approximately 3 cups

Tis the season... for BLACKBERRIES!

Proverbs 31:15 "She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens."

Summer is here--full, beautiful, and plenty hot! Now, I must state up front that I'm not the biggest fan of summer--I hate being hot... BUT I love summer cooking! There's plenty of fresh from the garden veggies and bright summery fruits.

One thing that screams summer to me is fresh, picked in the back yard, blackberries. Just look at these beauties! Thanks to my wonderful husband, who braved the insects, briars, and poison ivy, I have tons of blackberries and LOTS of big plans for them!

First on the list was something I had been craving since last summer--some Blackberry Quick Bread! It is so moist and yummy. It's made with cornmeal, which adds so much to the texture. I LOVE THIS STUFF! And so does my family... It's most definitely a southern delicacy (my most favorite kind!).

But, before I could jump into the bread--I had prep the berries. So I cleaned up the sink, filled it with cool water, and dipped the blackberries in. This chases out the bugs... Which my husband then chases out the door... Next is destemming and rinsing (and tasting a few just for good measure).

So here's the recipe:

1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour 2 large eggs

1 c. blackberries** 1/2 c. milk

1/4 c. yellow cornmeal 1/3 c. butter, melted

2 tsp. baking powder 3 Tbs. lemon juice

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 c. sugar

(**You can use any berry for this recipe! So versatile, so good!!)

1) Heat oven to 375*F. Coat bottom and sides of an 8.5" x 4.5" loaf pan with nonstick spray.

2) Place flour in a medium bowl. Remove 1 Tbs. flour and toss with blackberries in a separate bowl. (This keeps the berries from sinking to the bottom of the batter in the pan! Neat trick if ever I saw one!!)

3) To remaining flour, add cornmeal, baking powder, and salt--mix well.

4) In another medium bowl, whisk sugar with eggs, milk, melted butter, and lemon juice.

5) Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients until just blended; gently fold in blackberries.

6) Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 45 min or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

7) Cool quick bread in pan on wire rack 5 min, remove pan and cool completely.

And that's it!! This is bread is so delicious. But now, I must confess something to you... Ok, here goes...

I rarely follow steps 3-5. I mix the dry ingredients in a bowl, then mix them well. Then I dump in the wet ingredients straight into the same bowl, then mix that well. Then I throw in the berries. The batter is very thick. And just for fun, I'll sprinkle and press in a handful of berries on top of the bread... Sometimes, I'm just in a hurry (and don't wanna dirty 6 million bowls)!!

Well, I'm glad I got that off my chest. Sometimes, a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do! : )

And finally, the end result:

I really do love this stuff, and it's pretty to look at, too!! I hope you enjoy!!

The cliffhanger: I've got plenty more blackberry recipes to come! I can't wait to share! Come back soon!

~ Page