Magic Cookie Bar Pie

I was really wanting to fix something sweet today. Have you ever had one of those days where no matter what recipe you look at you know it's not going to hit the spot (or in this case satisfy the sweet tooth)?

Well, that's the kind of morning I've been having. When I started rifling through my cabinets I came across a few things and thought to myself "Man, some magic cookie bars from Christmas day sure would be good about now."

Even though I didn't have the stuff to make a traditional magic cookie bar recipe, as usual, I used what I had. This is what I came up with:

• Graham cracker pie crust
• 12 oz. bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 10 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Pour the entire bag of chocolate chips into pie crust. Make sure they are in as even a layer as possible. Evenly spread the coconut on top of the chocolate chips. Pour the entire can of sweetened condensed (NOT evaporated) milk over the coconut layer.

The pie shell is going to appear that it is going to overflow, but it won't. Just use steady hands when putting onto cookie sheet to place in oven. Cook in preheated oven for 35 - 45 minutes. You are looking for the sweetened condensed milk to melt together with the other ingredients and turn a nice golden brown color. If it smells like your graham cracker crust is burning go ahead and take it out of the oven.

Cool on wiring rack for at least 1 hour before cutting.... longer would be better (Good Luck waiting to cut this!).

NOTE:
You could also add chopped nuts. My family isn't crazy about nuts so I left them out. Pecans are my favorite, but I try to make something everyone can at least try.

Just like in traditional magic cookie bars, you could substitute butterscotch, peanut butter or white chocolate chips for all of part of the semi-sweet chocolate chips. Be creative and use whatever combination you and your family will like.

This recipe is shared at Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Recipe Swap Thursday and Foodie Friday.

Chocolate Peppermint Smoothie

I realized the other day the one of the most under used appliances I own is the VitaMix. You see, my mama actually owned it first. She soon realized that she didn't need it because it was initially purchased for juicing fruits and vegetables. Once she got her handy dandy juicer the VitaMix took a back seat and stayed hidden in the lower corner cabinet. One day I mentioned to mama that I needed a new blender and she offered up her VitaMix. CHA-CHING!! I really felt like I had hit the jackpot.

Not long after I got the VitaMix from mama I found myself putting it in my lower corner cabinet and forgetting about it. I knew that I could come up with something to use it for other than the occasional run of milkshakes. That's when I decided to start making my own coffee house drinks.

One of my favorite frozen blended drinks is only served around the holidays.... it's the chocolate peppermint frappuccino. Having some leftover candy canes from Christmas, I decided to make one of my own at home.... IN THE VITAMIX! As you've probably noticed, I also decided to call it a smoothie (it makes it feel healthier to end the name of it with "smoothie"... don't judge).

Here is how I do it:

I start with a half cup of ice cubes. I put them directly into the blender and then pour the milk directly over the ice. I just pour the milk until ice is barely showing. If you like yours thinner you can add more milk of course.

Then I unwrapped the miniature candy canes (4 of them gave it just enough refreshing mint flavor for me) and added them to the blender.

As you can see in the picture I also added chocolate syrup. Now just turn the blender on and run it until the ice has been completely crushed and the mix is well blended. In the VitaMix it only takes about 20 seconds total.

Here is the finished product.

If you really wanted it just like they are served at coffee houses you could add whipped cream and top it with chocolate syrup and crushed peppermint candy canes, but this was good enough for me.

This is so easy and simple I'm going to continue to experiment with differnt flavors