Chocolate Cream Pie {French Silk Pie}

We sure love cream pies around here. While cooking for company last night I was in desperate need of a dessert without many ingredients on hand. I had everything for a chocolate cream pie except for eggs (for the chocolate custard filling). I lucked out and found a recipe for chocolate cream pie filling with no eggs. And it was insanely delicious filling. I couldn’t stop eating it! I would make it again and just eat the filling like pudding if I didn’t have Oreos on hand for the crust next time ;)
I used this recipe from Food.com for Eggless Chocolate Cream pie filling for the filling and then just added an Oreo crust and whipped cream.
Ingredients:

• Crust: 25 oreos, 1/4 c. butter melted
• Cream filling:
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 2/3 cups milk (I used 1 c. heavy cream and 2/3 c. milk)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Whipped cream: 3 c. heavy cream, 5 tbsp. white sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla

For the crust: crumble Oreos in food processor. Slowly add butter. Press into pie dish and freeze while preparing filling.
For the filling:

• Combine dry ingredients and gradually stir in milk/cream.
• Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly.
• Bring to a slow boil, and stir constantly one minute.
• Remove from heat, and stir in butter and vanilla.
• Fill dessert dishes or pie shell, and chill until cool.
• Makes 4-6 pudding servings or filling for 8" pie.

 

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The Best Chocolate Frosting

 

I came across this frosting a couple years ago in my quest to recreate Magleby’s Chocolate Cake. I love it because it tastes like an old-fashioned fudge frosting. It is delicious! Please make it on your next chocolate cake. Oh it is so good. It comes from Hershey’s. I got the Hershey’s chocolate recipe book one year as a gift and found this gem though I don’t love most of the recipes in their book. Here is the recipe:
"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
• 2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency.
Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

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Food Storage Chocolate Chip Cookies

Last week I lead an enrichment lesson with women at church about food storage meal planning. I honestly only got asked because I mentioned to a friend earlier in the summer an article I’d found on Pinterest about food storage meal planning. I had a short amount of time to try to learn as much as I could about meal planning with food storage. Out of this “research” came some recipes I’ve adapted to only use shelf-stable ingredients. These cookies are one of those adaptations.
I love Chocolate Chip Cookies. Like I cannot make them just for our family because I will eat way too many. I’ve made a rule I can only make them for something or for somebody, leaving us with only a few to eat with our family. This recipe is adapted from my basic Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, substituting shortening for butter and applesauce for eggs. {I use applesauce for eggs all the time and it works so well! Try it if you’re out of eggs or want to reduce cholesterol/fat. Another post coming soon about meal-based food storage!)
Ingredients:

• ¾ c. shortening
• ¾ c. brown sugar
• ½ c. white sugar
• 1/3 c. applesauce
• ¾ tsp. vanilla
• 2 c. flour
• ¾ tsp. baking soda
• ¾ tsp. salt
• 2 c. chocolate chips

Directions:
Beat shortening in mixer for 1 - 2 minutes until fluffy, and then add sugars. Continue beating for several minutes. While whipping sugar and shortening, combine dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking soda) in a separate bowl. Mix well. Add applesauce and vanilla to shortening/sugar mixture and fully incorporate. Slowly add dry mixture to butter/sugar/applesauce mixture. Incorporate.
Add chocolate chips to mixture. (I actually like to beat half the chips for a second in the mixer; it breaks some of the chips up so there are tiny pieces of chocolate throughout the cookie, then add the rest.) Scoop heaping spoonfuls of batter and drop onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 365 degrees for 9 - 11 minutes. Take out the second they start turning brown. Cookies will look a bit underdone, but leave them on the tray for 5 - 10 additional minutes to finish the cooking process. Remove to a cooling rack once the bottoms are solid.

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