Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream Bars

I just made these this past Saturday for a family Eid Party, and they were a hit!

Ingredients:

• 1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) chocolate chip cookie mix
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1 egg
• 1 bottle (7.25 oz) chocolate topping that forms hard shell
• 1 container (1.5 quart) chocolate chip-cookie dough ice cream (6 cups)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Spray bottom and sides of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, butter and egg until soft dough forms.
2. On ungreased cookie sheet, make 5 cookies by dropping dough by tablespoonfuls. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack.
3. Meanwhile, press remaining dough in pan, using moistened fingers (dough will be sticky). Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
4. Spread 1/3 cup chocolate topping over baked crust. Freeze 10 to 15 minutes or until chocolate is set.
5. Meanwhile, remove ice cream from freezer to soften. Spread softened ice cream evenly over chocolate-topped crust.
6. Crumble 5 baked cookies; sprinkle over ice cream layer. Drizzle remaining chocolate topping over cookie crumbs. Cover; freeze 2 hours. To serve, let stand at room temperature 5 minutes before cutting. For serving pieces, cut into 5 rows by 3 rows. Store covered in freezer.

Makes 15 servings.

I got this recipe from here.

Biscuits, Red Lobster Style

This is a copycat version of the biscuits from Red Lobster.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of buttermilk biscuit mix
• 1/2 a teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
• 2/3 cups of milk
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoons oregano 
• 1 teaspoon of garlic salt.

Directions:

1. Set your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and spray a cooking sheet with nonstick spray.
2. Dump into a bowl: 2 cups of buttermilk biscuit mix (like Bisquick), 1/2 a teaspoon of garlic powder, and 1 to 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese. Stir everything together.
3. Pour in about 2/3 cups of milk. Stir until combined. It gets pretty thick, and you can add a little more milk if you need to. But don’t add too much, otherwise it’ll get really sticky. 
4. Use the two-spoon method to drop lumps of the dough onto your cookie sheet.
5. Stick them in the oven and set the timer to 10 minutes. Now, melt 2 Tablespoons of butter and stir in 2 teaspoons of oregano and 1 teaspoon of garlic salt.
6. When the timer goes off (10 minutes, remember?) brush some of the butter mixture over each biscuit. Then, pop them back into the oven for another 5-6 minutes.Or until they’re lightly browned. If you’d like, you can brush them with the garlic-herb butter again and let it soak in before you serve them.

I got this recipe from here.

Breaded Shrimp

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. large shrimp (peel and deveined,  and butterflied if you choose)
• 4 cups water
• 1 ½ cups corn starch
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups breadcrumbs
• ¾ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¾ teaspoon onion powder
• Oil (for deep frying)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl mix water, cornstarch and eggs. On a plate or using a shaker bag mix breadcrumbs, onion and garlic powder.
2. Dip the shrimp into the cornstarch mixture until completely coated and then roll them in the bread crumb mixture. Stir the cornstarch batter, and then dip the shrimp back into the mixture and roll in breadcrumbs once more.
3. Deep fry shrimp in batches until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

I got this recipe from here.

Hot Fudge Sauce

Ingredients:

• 3 oz semi-sweet chocolate* (3 squares of baking chocolate, or about 1/2 C chocolate chips)
• 1/4 C butter (that's a half of a stick folks. Admit it, at least one of you didn't know that)
• 1 Can Sweetened Condensed Milk

*Milk chocolate would be too sweet for this recipe.

Directions:

1. If you're using baking squares, chop them up into small pieces so they melt easier. I chop the butter up into small chunks too.
2. Put it all into a pan on medium heat and melt it all together till it's smooth, and creamy.

I got this recipe from here.

Cappuccino Cheesecake

Ingredients:
Crust

• 20 chocolate wafer cookies, crushed
• 5 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup sugar

Filling

• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 4 teaspoons instant espresso powder or coffee powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
• Chocolate curls (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix crackers, butter and 1/4 cup sugar in medium bowl; press onto bottom (not sides) of 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Bake crust 10 minutes. Cool. Maintain oven temperature.
2. Combine cream, espresso powder and vanilla in small bowl; set aside. Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese in large bowl until smooth. Gradually beat in 1 1/4 cups sugar, then eggs 1 at a time. Beat in flour. Stir espresso mixture until powder dissolves; beat into cream cheese mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour batter over crust. Bake cake until edges are puffed and beginning to crack and center is just set, about 1 hour 5 minutes. Cool on rack 30 minutes; chill cake uncovered until cold, about 6 hours. Cover; keep chilled at least 1 day and up to 2 days.
3. Cut around cake to loosen. Release pan sides. Top with chocolate curls, if desired.

I got this recipe from here.

Strawberry Mango Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of strawberries
• 1 mango
• 10 ice cubes

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients on high in a blender until all of the ice has been thoroughly crushed. 

Note: It is best served immediately.

Yields: 1-2 servings

Tiramisu Hot Drink

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup coffee (you can use 1 teaspoon instant coffee with 1/4 cup filtered boiling water)
• 1/4 cup mascarpone cheese
• 2 tablespoons thick cream
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened chocolate powder and more for garnish
• 3/4 cup hot milk
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup and more for garnish
• 3-4 chocolate chip pieces for garnish (optional)
• some instant coffee for garnish (optional)
• Whipping cream for garnish (optional)

Directions:

1. Start with mixing the mascarpone cheese and thick cream together gently. In a sauce pan heat the milk, cheese and thick cream on a low heat. Stir frequently till all hard particles dissolve completely. This step may take 10 to 15 minutes approximately.
2. Add the unsweetened chocolate powder to the mixture (mascarpone cheese mixture), and stir again for 5 mintues or untill all the chocolate melts and completely dissolves.
3. Make the instant coffee by adding the one teaspoon of coffee to the boiling water, or by following the instructions on the coffee bottle.
4. Pour the hot coffee into the serving cup. The coffee should fill only the bottom quarter of the cup.
5. Pour the hot chocolate (mascarpone cheese mixture) over the top of the coffee. Add the maple syrup and stir with a small spoon till completely mixed. If you prefer more sweet into your drink then add more maple syrup to it.
6. Add the whipping cream on top, and garnish with chocolate chips, maple syrup and coffee.
7. Serve immediately. To add to the authenticity, serve with a lady finger for dipping on the plate.

I got this recipe from here.