Peppermint Bark Chocolate Sheet Cake

I love chocolate cake, and I love the peppermint shake from Chick-fil-a. I feel like this recipe is kind of a mix both of those things. :-) It is one of my very favorite cakes ever, and the fact that I only make it in December makes it even more special. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 2 1-oz. squares unsweetened baking chocolate
• 1/2 c. buttermilk
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 c. sugar
• 1 c. water
• 2 c. flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 6 tablespoons cream
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 2 1-oz. squares white baking chocolate
• 1 lb. powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 teaspoons peppermint extract
• 4-5 candycanes, crushed
• 3 tablespoons chocolate chips
• 4 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 
  
• Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 11 x 17 jelly roll pan with nonstick spray.
2. Combine butter, 2 oz. chocolate, and water in a small saucepan. Heat until chocolate is melted.
3. In a separate small bowl, combine flour and baking soda. Set aside.
4. In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla. With mixer on low, pour in chocolate mixture slowly. With mixer still on, add flour mixture a little bit at a time until totally incorporated. Pour into prepared pan and bake 20-25 minutes or until a pick comes out clean.
5. After cake comes out of oven, prepare frosting.
6. Combine cream, white chocolate, and butter in a medium saucepan. Heat until everything is melted and smooth. Remove from heat and whisk in powdered sugar, vanilla, and peppermint and beat until smooth. Frosting should easily drizzle from whisk when whisk is lifted up. If needed, add additional cream.
7. While still warm, pour icing over cake and gently spread with spoon to smooth.
8. For ganache, heat cream, chocolate chips and peppermint extract and whisk until smooth. Ganache will be extra runny when hot. Let it cool a bit to come to a thicker consistency and then drizzle over cake. Top with crushed candy canes.

So the recipe calls for a ton of crushed candy canes on the top, but I literally add maybe not even a full one. I mostly just add it for looks - I actually don't think a ton of candy cane on top tastes all that good. But yeah, this cake is moist and awesome. I highly recommend it for a Christmas party or a Christmas dinner dessert or even just to have around around Christmastime. So good!

Slow Cooker Creamy White Chicken Chili

Crock pot soups are some of my very favorite meals - especially at this time of year. I feel like it had been a while since I've tried a new one that I really liked, so I was so excited when we all liked this one. Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts trimmed of excess fat
1 yellow onion diced
2 cloves garlic minced
24 oz. chicken broth (low sodium)
2 15oz cans great Northern beans drained and rinsed
2 4oz cans diced green chiles (I do one hot, one mild)
1 15oz can whole kernel corn drained
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cumin
3/4 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
small handful fresh cilantro chopped
4 oz reduced fat cream cheese softened
1/4 cup half and half

TOPPINGS:
sliced jalapenos
sliced avocados
dollop of sour cream
minced fresh cilantro
tortilla strips
shredded Monterey jack or Mexican cheese



INSTRUCTIONS


Add chicken breasts to bottom of slow cooker, top with salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, chili powder, and cayenne pepper.

Top with diced onion, minced garlic, great Northern beans, green chiles, corn, chicken broth and cilantro. Stir.

Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours or on HIGH for 3-4 hours.

Remove chicken to large mixing bowl, shred, then return to slow cooker.

Add cream cheese and half and half, stir, then cover and cook on HIGH for 15 minutes, or until chili is creamy and slightly thickened.

Stir well and serve with desired toppings.


I served this with cheese and sour cream. We also had chips on the side. It was such a good and easy meal!

Shrimp Pasta with Tomato Basil Cream Sauce

It had been way too long since I'd tried out a new pasta recipe, and I honestly didn't have very high hopes for this one. But MAN it was good!! Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 cups cavatappi pasta
• 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

FOR THE TOMATO BASIL CREAM SAUCE

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup vegetable broth, or more, as needed
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 cup heavy cream, or more, as needed
• 1/3 cup julienned sun dried tomatoes in olive oil, drained
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 3 cups baby spinach, roughly chopped

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheet or coat with nonstick spray.
2. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.
3. Place shrimp onto the prepared baking sheet. Add olive oil, salt and pepper, to taste, and gently toss to combine. Place into oven and roast just until pink, firm and cooked through, about 6-8 minutes; set aside.
4. To make the tomato basil cream sauce, melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute.
5. Gradually whisk in vegetable broth and basil. Cook, whisking constantly, until incorporated, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in heavy cream, sun dried tomatoes and Parmesan until slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes. If the mixture is too thick, add more heavy cream as needed; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in spinach until it begins to wilt, about 2 minutes.
6. Stir in pasta and shrimp, and gently toss to combine.
7. Serve immediately.

I think I may have used chicken broth instead of vegetable broth, but I honestly can't remember. I think either would be good. I also just used some mini macaroni pasta that I had in my pantry instead of the cavatappi pasta, since I couldn't find cavatappi pasta at the store and I'm honestly not sure what that is anyway. ;-) Oh, and I used shrimp that was already cooked and just put it in the oven to warm it up. I am all about making my life easy! But seriously - this pasta is delicious!!! So much flavor! I highly recommend it!

Slow Cooker Garlic Parmesan Chicken Stew

I loooove making soups in the crock pot. Especially ones that have lots of substance so I don't feel like I have to make a ton of other food as well. This is a great recipe for that:


INGREDIENTS
1 lb Little Potatoes (I used Chilean Splash), halved or quartered if large
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1" pieces
1 stalk celery, chopped
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
3-4 large carrots, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
2/3 cup cream or milk
4 tablespoons corn starch
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese


INSTRUCTIONS

Add potatoes, chicken, celery, onion, carrots, garlic, salt, parsley, thyme, pepper, and broth to a 4-6 quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours or until chicken is cooked through and potatoes are tender (this could take up to 6 hours depending on the temperature of your slow cooker -- cutting them smaller will speed up cooking time).
Set slow cooker to high. Stir together cream and corn starch and stir into slow cooker, along with Parmesan cheese. Cover and cook another 30 minutes or until thickened.
Serve immediately with crusty bread for dipping (the best way!).

I left out the celery because I really just hate celery in anything and everything (I know - I'm weird because it's basically tasteless.) But I added everything else and I liked it. It's not my favorite soup ever but it's a great option to keep things mixed up. The parmesan flavor is really yummy! Serve it with french bread!

Cranberry Asiago Turkey Sliders

This is a great recipe to make with Thanksgiving dinner leftovers, but I actually really like it any time of the year! All the ingredients are such a good combo! Here's the recipe:

 

PREP TIME

10 mins

COOK TIME

5 mins

TOTAL TIME

15 mins

 

Serves: 4 sliders

INGREDIENTS

• About .75 lb turkey breast meat
• 4 oz Asiago cheese
• 2 Tbsp cranberry sauce
• 4 pretzel slider buns

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Cut slider buns in half and spread about ½ tablespoon on cranberry sauce on the four bottom slices.
3. Slice cooked turkey breast and cheese into thin slices. Divide turkey among the four bottom slices of buns and top with slices of cheese.
4. Place bottom and top buns on a baking sheet and bake for 5-7 minutes, until cheese is nicely melted.
5. Place top bun on top of cheese and serve right away.

I got my pretzel buns at Costco and they were so so good. Use them if at all possible - or at least use really good bread! If you don't have turkey already, get the good deli kind. I got a peppered kind and it was awesome. I'll definitely be making these again!