Peppermint fridge cake

Peppermint what cake?! Fridge cake. It's one of my husband's favorite desserts. If you've never heard of it, it's probably because it's foreign to us Americans. My husband grew up in Durban, a beach town in South Africa, which is an actual country in case you didn't know. When I first met him I thought he meant like southern Africa, like how I'm from southern CA. But he corrected me quickly and then I felt quite stupid. Anyways, my husband introduced me to this concoction and it's become a favorite. But because it's so sweet we usually only make it once a year. And that once a year came early and we made it tonight :) But it wasn't for us. We made it for his work party, sad face, so I won't be enjoying this wonderful treat. But I did clean that bowl spotless.
Enjoy your American version of South African peppermint fridge cake.

Ingredients


1 box graham crackers
2 cans dulce de leche
2 pints of whipping cream
2 boxes of Andes mints (chop finely)

An 8 x 8 baking dish

In a large bowl, whip together the Dulce de leche and cream. Add the cream slowly and continue whipping until mixture is smooth and there are no lumps.



Now at this point, you're probably going to want to break off a piece of graham cracker and dip it into that billowy mixture and partake of this amazing masterpiece you've just whipped together.

In your 8 x 8 baking dish, lay down a layer of graham crackers. Next scoop out some of that heavenly, fluffy, caramely cream mixture and spread it on top of the crackers.

Now repeat those 2 steps until you reach the top of the dish. It should make about 4-5 layers of graham crackers, and 4-5 layers of whipped topping. Make sure you have the whipped caramel as the top layer.

(can't figure out why this is sideways)

Now you're going to take the chopped Andes mints and layer them on top until you can longer see any whipped caramel.


Cover with foil or saran wrap and chill in the fridge over night or for at least 6 hours. You want the crackers to soften, so it all just melts in your mouth. Cut any size piece you'd like and take it all in.

Banana oatmeal choc. chip cookies

Okay, so I lied in my previous post. I never got around to making half the things I said I was going to make. Whoops. But now that the holiday season is over and most people have New Year's resolutions, I thought I would make a "healthy" cookie. I'll admit, I suck at keeping any resolutions, so this year I didn't set any. That way I feel no guilt or failure if/when I don't keep it. It's a win win situation :) Now with this cookie, it has a different texture than your normal everyday treat. It has a spongy texture and doesn't spread when baked. It almost tastes healthy, but in a good way. I used white chocolate chips, because that's all I had. And I'll be honest, I don't think I will make these with semi-sweet. I liked the little hint of sweetness the white chocolate gave it. But, if your not a lover of the white chocolate, then by all means, go ahead and dump in your favorite kind of chip...chocolate chip that is. Anyways, hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year's and I hope you enjoy your semi-guilt-free cookie.

Ingredients
Makes approx. 2 dozen

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup evaporated can juice or raw sugar (plain old white sugar would work too)
1/3 cup white chocolate chips
1 tsp olive oil
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup banana pureed/mashed (1 medium-size banana)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 375.Combine all the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Then combine all the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Next add the dry and wet ingredients together. The batter is a super thick and sticky so make sure you really incorporate all ingredients.


Scoop 1-2 inch sized cookie dough balls onto a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake for 9-11 minutes (10 minutes was perfect for me). Transfer to a cooling rack.

Adapted from Bethenny