It’s Treat of the Month time again! This month, I decided to make Coffee Ice Cream Pie. I looked around for a recipe, but I never found one that I loved, so I just made up my own. It turned out to be so simple and totally delicious.

Danae was kind enough to share some pie with me, and oh my gosh- so good. It tasted a little like a caramel frappuchino from Starbucks. What’s not to love about that? Danae said that it was her favorite treat so far.

I didn’t measure anything, so my advice is just to start out with a whole 1/2 gallon of ice cream (I had a few extra servings left), and an entire tub of Cool Whip (only a few scoops were leftover). Same thing with the caramel sauce- I ended up using less than 1/4 of the jar. The measurements all depend on how big your pie crust is- so modify the recipe as desired!

Soften ice cream for about 30 minutes, and scoop some into the Oreo pie shell (fill the crust about 1/3 of the way).

Drizzle caramel sauce, and then sprinkle Heath bar bits over whole pie.

Repeat the ice cream, caramel and Heath bar steps for the next layer.

Freeze pie for about an 1 hour and then layer Cool Whip on top. I didn’t use quite the whole container, but pretty close. Sprinkle more Heath bar bits over the top, and store pie in the freezer until ready to eat.

Coffee Ice Cream Pie

store-bought Oreo pie crust

1/2 gallon of coffee ice cream

1 8 oz. container of Cool Whip

1 jar of caramel sauce

Heath bar toffee bits

Soften ice cream for about 30 minutes, and scoop some into the Oreo pie shell (fill the crust about 1/3 of the way). Drizzle caramel sauce, and then sprinkle Heath bar bits. Repeat the ice cream, caramel and Heath bar steps for the next layer.

Freeze pie for about an 1 hour and then layer Cool Whip on top. I didn’t use quite the whole container, but pretty close. Sprinkle more Heath bar bits over the top, and store pie in the freezer until ready to eat.

We got this recipe from Vicki, the gal who has cut our hair for forever. Literally, she’s been cutting our hair since before I was born, so for 16+ years. Vicki is constantly baking, and always has a yummy treat to share when we go to get our haircut.

Date Chocolate Chip Cake was one of those treats, and it’s delicious. Right about now, you might be clicking away from this post because of that ominous word: dates. But keep reading, because this cake is more than worth it. Dates aren’t normally something that we like to eat around here, but this is a huge exception. The dates add a really unique flavor and a ton of moisture. The cake turns out rich and chocolate-y and super moist…in other words, it’s amazing.

Preheat oven to 350*. Put dates into boiling water, and set aside to cool.

Cream butter and sugar.

Beat in two eggs and add vanilla.

Add flour, baking soda, baking powder and cocoa.

The dates will look really weird once they have finished softening and are cool. Don’t worry, that’s how they are supposed to look- here is a picture of the dates once they have cooled…

Mix in cooled dates and water…

I know. This looks a lot like throw-up. But have no fear! That’s how it’s supposed to look, and it will be delicious once you’re done.

Stir in 1/2 cup of chocolate chips. Pour into greased 8″x8″ pan and sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate chips over the top.

Bake 55 minutes at 350* or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Travis was more than happy to help with this one…

Date Chocolate Chip Cake

1 cup (2 sticks) of butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup dates, dried and chopped

1 cup of boiling water

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 3/4 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 Tablespoon cocoa powder

3/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350*

Put dates into boiling water, and set aside to cool.

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in two eggs and add vanilla. Mix in cooled dates and water, and flour, baking soda, baking powder and cocoa. Stir in 1/2 cup of chocolate chips.

Pour into greased 8″x8″ pan and sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate chips over the top.

Bake 55 minutes at 350* or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Jordan

Past Treat of the Month posts: May, June

Even though Danae doesn’t like chocolate (somehow I forgive her of that transgression and can still be her friend ;)), she loves white chocolate, so these seemed like the perfect cookies to make her this month. They are so yummy- the texture is really good because of the oats, and the sweetness of the white chocolate chips balances the not-too-sweet dough.

The steps to this recipe are very similar to my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, and it is super simple to make.

^^ready to deliver!

White Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups oats

2 cups white chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*. Lightly grease cookie sheets, or use parchment paper. Cream together butter and sugars until smooth. Mix in the eggs and the vanilla. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, and mix well. Stir in the oats and white chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets, and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly golden brown.

Jordan

recipe from allrecipes.com

We had 4 pounds of strawberries in the fridge, and they were starting to look sad, so my mom found a recipe for healthy strawberry oatmeal bars. This is not that recipe. The healthy version called for almond butter and apple butter, neither of which we had, so I began to look around for a recipe that called for real butter and more than 1 Tablespoon of sugar. I mean really. (In case you’re a healthier eater than me, here’s the recipe).

The recipe that I ended up making does have real butter, and an acceptable quantity of sugar, and you could tell. It was really yummy. I ate one of the bars with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and it was amazing. Using the fresh strawberries instead of the typical fruit preserves made a huge difference- the bars tasted so fresh. Even though hulling and dicing 2 pounds of strawberries is a little time-consuming, it is so worth it.

We made it with a little less than the 2/3 of a cup of sugar that’s called for in the strawberry filling, and the bars turned out a little tart, so if your strawberries aren’t very sweet, I would use the whole 2/3 of a cup.

Preheat oven to 325*. Grease a 9″x13″ baking pan and set aside. In a large bowl, stir together strawberries and sugar and let sit for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes…

add lemon juice and cornstarch and stir to combine.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix oats, flour, cinnamon, butter, vanilla and sugar on low speed  until combined. Scrape down sides of bowl and mix on high speed for an additional minute or so.

Press 2/3 of the crust mixture into the bottom of the prepared baking dish.

Spread the strawberry filling evenly over the top of the crust.

Sprinkle the remaining crust mixture over the top of the filling, creating a crumb-like topping.

Bake for 45-48 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool completely before cutting.

Strawberry Oatmeal Bars

Ingredients:

Filling-

4 cups strawberries (about 2 pounds), washed, hulled and diced

around 2/3 cup sugar, depending on the sweetness of your strawberries

juice from 1/2 lemon (about 4 tsp.)

1/3 cup corn starch

Crust/topping-

2 cups old fashioned rolled oats

2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

3/4 cup butter

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2/3 cup sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325*. Grease a 9″x13″ baking pan and set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together strawberries and sugar and let sit for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, add lemon juice and cornstarch and stir to combine.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix oats, flour, cinnamon, butter, vanilla and sugar on low speed  until combined. Scrape down sides of bowl and mix on high speed for an additional minute or so.

Press 2/3 of the crust mixture into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Spread the strawberry filling evenly over the top of the crust. Sprinkle the remaining crust mixture over the top of the filling, creating a crumb-like topping.

Bake for 45-48 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool completely before cutting.

Jordan

I have made this chocolate chip recipe countless times and it never fails to amaze me. It’s so incredibly easy and the finished product is always delicious.

One of the main reasons that I make this recipe so much is Travis’ fondness of cookies. You’re probably saying to yourself that that’s not very surprising, because everyone’s fond of cookies, right? While everyone may be fond of cookies, not everyone loves cookies like  Travis does.

I can always count on him asking me to bake cookies. Normally at 8:30 at night, when the last thing I want to be doing is baking. When I do bake for him though, these are always the cookies he requests. We’ve tried others, but they don’t quite match up.

I took the batch that I made for the demo pictures to the beach for my Tuesday night Biblestudy (I know. That’s Southern California living right there), and I left the Ziplock bag of cookies on my towel, under my sweatshirt, while we swam. When we got back to our stuff, we stumbled upon  the seagulls enjoying my fresh-baked treasures. I think my heart skipped a beat, and not in a good way. We had to throw away the whole bag, fearing some bird transmitted disease. Apparently everyone really does love my chocolate chip cookies 😦

This is so true, especially in our household. I think I’m the only one in our family who actually likes to eat raisins straight out of the bag, but all of us agree that chocolate chip cookies beat oatmeal raisin any day of the week- I can practically feel all you oatmeal raisin lovers cringing right now.

Preheat oven to 350*. Cream butter and sugar.

Mix in eggs and vanilla. Then, add flour, baking soda, and salt, mixing well.

Stir in chocolate chips.

And now, for the best part…

Every time I make cookies, my family hovers in the kitchen, pretending to be busy, until I announce that the dough is done.

This has to be one of the most dangerous things that you could possibly leave out on the counter for any period of time-

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper, and using cookie scoop, scoop dough onto cookie sheets.

Bake for 10-12 minutes and remove to cooling rack.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks of butter)

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

2 eggs

1 Tablespoon vanilla

3 cups flour

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350*. Cream butter and sugar. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Then, add flour, baking soda, and salt, mixing well. Stir in chocolate chips. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper, and using cookie scoop, scoop cookie dough onto cookies sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes and remove to cooling rack.

Jordan