My week off went super fast! Tomorrow it’s back to the daily grind. I just finished dinner, grading papers, lesson planning, and packing my lunch. During the week, my cooking is usually quick and simple. I usually have more time to try new recipes on the weekends and during the summer months, but don’t worry…I will be posting another throwback food trip on Thursday and have a few other things up my sleeve…

Yesterday we celebrated my sister-in-law’s 30th birthday!!! woo!!! It was such a good time. Her actual birthday isn’t until the 26th, but I think that’s what’s so great about birthdays. You can start the celebration early and keep it going as long as you can. I know I celebrate mine for at least a week! haha My favorite thing to do for someone’s birthday, or for any special occasion, is to obviously bake for them and since this was a very special birthday, I wanted to try something different. In my family, you can always count on there being a lot of food, but then you can also count on there being a CRAZY amount of desserts. Deanna loves anything chocolate so I knew that I had to find something chocolatey to make for her. A friend of mine had talked about a recipe for “chocolate lasagna” that they had made for their Suer Bowl party and after doing a little searching on the internet, I found it!! It’s a no-bake dessert which means you can make it the day before if you are pressed for time. I actually like preparing these types of recipes a day before anyway since I think they taste best when they can sit in the fridge overnight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It requires a whole package of cookies which means a random broken Oreo could not be tasted during the process, darn!

Like it’s cheesy, saucy cousin…this chocolate lasagna is layered! It starts with an Oreo crust, followed by a sweet cream cheese layer, chocolate pudding, and then topped with more whipped cream and mini chocolate chips! yumm… As I was making this I was thinking how you could totally change it up and experiment to try different variations and flavors based on the same layering technique. I always stick with a recipe before I try changing it up though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once it’s all layered up, you could freeze it for an hour or put in the fridge for at least 4 hours, however, like I said…the longer it sits, the better! Oh the recipe, right!!…http://centercutcook.com/chocolate-lasagna/

INGREDIENTS

1 package regular Oreo cookies (Not Double Stuff) – about 36 cookies

6 Tablespoon butter, melted

1- 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 Tablespoons cold milk

1- 12 ounce tub Cool Whip, divided

2 – 3.9 ounce packages

Chocolate Instant Pudding.

3 1/4 cups cold milk

1 and 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

Begin by crushing 36 Oreo cookies. I used my food processor for this, but you could also place them in a large ziplock bag and crush them with a rolling pin. When the Oreos have turned into fine crumbs, you are done. Transfer the Oreo crumbs to a large bowl.

Stir in 6 tablespoons melted butter and use a fork to incorporate the butter into the cookie crumbs. When the butter is distributed, transfer the mixture to a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Press the crumbs into the bottom of the pan. Place the pan in the refrigerator while you work on the additional layers.

Mix the cream cheese with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add in 2 Tablespoons of milk, and sugar, and mix well. Stir in 1 and 1/4 cups Cool Whip. Spread this mixture over the crust.

In a bowl, combine chocolate instant pudding with 3 and 1/4 cups cold milk. Whisk for several minutes until the pudding starts to thicken. Use a spatula to spread the mixture over the previous cream cheese layer.

Allow the dessert to rest for about 5 minutes so that the pudding can firm up further. Spread the remaining Cool Whip over the top. Sprinkle mini chocolate chips evenly over the top. Place in the freezer for 1 hour, or the refrigerator for 4 hours before serving.

As you can see, this is a very simple dessert and the result is oh so delicious!! I also made Funfetti Cupcakes for the party, but those were made from good ol’box cake mix…like what we remember from when we were kids which sometimes is just what you are craving, however, one reason I started this blog was to push myself try new things so I am hoping to try more cake recipes from scratch at some point.

Hope you guys have a fantastic week with maybe some chocolate involved!!

With love and sugar, Kristen xo.