Pistachio Pudding Torte and a special birthday!

Yay for the weekend upon us! 

Kids are off this afternoon and tomorrow and 

we get to celebrate Jerry's birthday on Friday as well. 

Happy Birthday to this deer-hunting, ice-fishing, sports-playing, joke-telling

all-around great husband and dad!

So, thought that perhaps a special treat would be in order 

to help us, uh, him celebrate!

Who doesn't love some pistachio pudding,

especially when coupled with layers of graham crackers, 

cool whip and chocolate. 

A simple layer of graham crackers for starters.

Then, whip up 8 oz of cream cheese (softened), 8 oz of cool whip and 1/2 cup powdered sugar.

It makes this awesome creamy and light fluff as the second layer.

Next, 2 packages of instant pistachio pudding
were whisked up with 3 cups of skim milk and
poured over the sweet, creamy, fluffy layer
and gently spread.

Finally, 1 16 oz container of chocolate frosting was melted

and spread over the pudding.

Functionally, this frosting worked great!
Easy to melt and spread.

But, even after being refrigerated over night, 
it still wasn't as firm as I would have liked.

Not sure if I'd use the container of frosting route again.

Perhaps, I'd be inclined to go more with the cookie frosting…
powdered sugar, cocoa powder and milk, 
at least when that cools, it sets up pretty well. 

Finally, sprinkle with some chopped pistachios 
and put in the fridge to firm up before serving!

RECIPE:

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Servings : 12

Ingredients:

Graham crackers

8 oz of cream cheese (softened)

8 oz of cool whip

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 packages of instant pistachio pudding

3 cups of skim milk 

16 oz container of chocolate frosting

Pistachios  - chopped

Directions:

• Start with a layer of graham crackers. 
• Fold together cream cheese, sugar and cool whip, then spread over crackers. 
• Mix up pudding with mix, until thickened and pour over cool whip. 
• Melt frosting in a microwave safe bowl, spread over pudding. 
• Top with pistachios.

Double Chocolate Peppermint Pudding Cookies

One dozen of these 

Double Chocolate Peppermint Pudding Cookies

will be given away!  

Just share the All Things Libby post

on Facebook to be entered into the drawing!

Happy Monday and Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap Recipe Post Day!  

My excitement for Christmas cookies has been elevated this year with my participation in the 

Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap.  

Thanks to Lindsay at Love and Olive Oil and Julie at The Little Kitchen

for coordinating this awesome swap and networking event.

So excited to make a connection with the people behind these awesome blogs.  

And, I want to thank to my dear friend Holly and her blog-reading prowess, 

as she turned me on to this event and it has been such a blast.   

All I had to do was submit my name and then 

received the names of 3 bloggers from around the country while 3 other bloggers received my name, 

all for us to ship off 1 dozen cookies to each other.  

I can't wait to tell you about the cookies I received!   

The first ones that were received and devoured were the Gooey Butter Cookies 

from Linz at Itz Linz based in St. Louis, MO.  

These cookies were so good, my kids and I were fighting over them. 

They were powdery and flavorful with a soft gooey center.  

I can't wait to see the recipe because they might just need to be whipped up pronto.  

The second box to arrive was some awesome 

Coconut Mac-Nut Biscotti 

from Amber at Loves Food, Loves to Eat out of Seattle, WA. 

I loved the coconut flavor of these when dunked in my coffee.  

Note to self, take time to enjoy biscotti more often!  

Finally, amazingly soft and perfectly spiced Snickerdoodles 

arrived from Shalon & Sam

at Palmer and Brown in New York.  

It was so fun to be the recipient of such a great variety of cookies from coast to coast.  

Now, onto my cookie!

As much as I create my own recipes for meals, cookies and baked goods are less of my forte, 

but that won't stop me from joining in the fun!

Brainstorming my cookie didn't take long. 

Peppermint is my absolute favorite holiday flavor, hands down. 

I started researching ideas and came across a pudding cookie. 

That was a brand new idea to me, 

so certainly a great place to start and build from there. 

After my first feeble attempt at the cookies, 

good flavor but almost no texture, 

I resorted to Kraft Recipes for their pudding cookie recipe

as the starting point.  

I knew I wanted peppermint extract and chips, as well as cocoa powder 

to be part of this creation. 

And then figured that some extra chocolate, in the form of chips, 

wouldn't hurt either. 

Thanks for following along this far, 

let's get to the recipe! 

Two stick of softened butter and 1 cup of brown sugar were the first two ingredients

in this cookie party. 

After being sufficiently mixed, 

two eggs and 1/4 tsp peppermint extract were added 

to complete the wet ingredients. 

Then, the dry ingredients were measured and mixed….

2 cups of all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 package of cream cheese pudding 

1/3 cup cocoa powder. 

After being gently combined, 

they were added to the mixing bowl. 

Mixed well and the final touches were added…

1/2 cup of chocolate chips

1/2 cups crushed peppermint candy

were all mixed together. 

Using a medium scoop, 

1 dozen cookie dough balls were placed on a baking pan

and popped into a 350 F oven

for just about 10 minutes. 

I hate over-cooked cookies, 

so always error on the side of chewy!  

Once baked, some additional crushed peppermint candies 

were sprinkled on top. 

I can't say enough good things about these…

amazing texture and flavors, 

but don't trust my word, 

whip up a batch for yourself!  

RECIPE:

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Bake Time: 30 minutes

Makes: 3 dozen

Ingredients:

2 stick of softened butter

1 cup of brown sugar

2 eggs

1/4 tsp peppermint extract

2 cups of all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 package of cream cheese pudding 

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup of chocolate chips

1/2 cups crushed peppermint candy

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. 

Cream the butter and brown sugar together in a mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, pudding and cocoa powder. 

Then, add the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar. 

Finally, fold in the chocolate chips and peppermint candy. 

Drop slightly larger than tablespoon balls of dough on baking sheet. 

Bake for 10 minutes. 

Sprinkle with additional peppermint candy immediately after removing from oven. 

Cool and serve.