The Perfect Combination

I live in a house of eight girls. Yes, you read that right. Eight. 8. Ocho. The reason six is afraid of seven.  The number of children Octomom gave birth to at one time. You get the idea.  And with eight girls in one house and various tastes and eating habits, it can be hard to find something that we all like.  But two things that we all like and agree are probably the perfect combination of foods are chocolate and peanut butter.  Whoever invented this magical and delicious combo should deserve some kind of award because chocolate and peanut butter are amazing together! The hints of sweet and salty makes these two ingredients perfect for dessert that most people can enjoy.

Last Wednesday was my roommate Mady's birthday and I wanted to make a dessert for her and all of our roommates and friends to enjoy.  So I looked up an easy recipe for peanut butter and chocolate desserts and this is what I found and modified thanks to http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/tagalong-peanut-butter-parfaits/

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Parfaits

Note: The recipe makes 4 mini parfaits so I doubled everything.

The Ingredients

For the peanut butter mousse
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup plus one tablespoon confectioners’ sugar
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons heavy cream

For the cookie/chocolate layers
Vanilla wafers chopped (You can use any type of cookie that you like)
Fudge sauce (store bought or homemade)
1/2 cup heavy cream plus 1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar (powdered sugar), whipped

The Cost

I spent about $12 on the ingredients and I already had peanut butter and vanilla at home. I would have spent less if I had checked my cabinets because we already had powdered sugar... But for $12, I made dessert for 8 to 10 people which is pretty darn good!

The Process

For the peanut butter mousse

In a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, peanut butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and heavy cream until thoroughly combined and fluffy; about 3 minutes.

It should look something like this :)

Crush the cookies into small pieces. Smashing them with a rolling pin really helps to let off some steam :)

The Set Up
I set out the ingredients for everyone to make their own dessert and I wanted to use mason jars because I thought it would look nicer than regular cups.  The regular cups were a little bit easier to fill than the mason jars but I will definitely use them for other recipes. It was also really fun to have everyone make their own dessert so that they could be involved and make however much they wanted. Plus, it was less work for me :)

Layering
1. Place a layer of chopped cookies into the bottom of each cup.
2. Pipe or spoon in a layer of peanut butter mousse.
3. Add a layer of chocolate fudge sauce and repeat layers.
4. Top with whipped cream and finish with chopped cookies, sprinkles or other toppings.


The Result
Layers of delicious cookie, peanut butter mouse, fudge and whipped cream all in one tiny cup! SOO good!!!

Enjoy! And you're welcome :)

My Mission

Hey there!  My name is Megan and this is my first blog.  I wanted to start this blog as a challenge for myself to start cooking and baking more.  As a human, I love to eat healthy, delicious food and sweet, chocolatey treats but as a semi-recent college grad with not a lot of time or money, I don't always have a lot of time to cook or bake.  

To me, my idea of cooking is boiling water, tossing in some pasta, and pouring some canned tomato sauce on top.  And baking? Opening up a package of pre-made, pre-cut cookie dough and evenly placing them on a cookie sheet until golden brown.  So that is why I'm starting this blog.  

I'm going to try a new recipe each week that is quick, easy and inexpensive to prepare for when you don't have a lot of extra time or money to spend.  And hopefully I'll be able to learn how to cook... with just a hint of nutmeg :)

Please feel free to post any comments or recipes that you would like me to try. I would love to hear some feedback/encouragement!!