Chocolate-Covered Oreos

This recipe requires no baking, little prep time and just a few ingredients. They are one of the first cookies to be snatched from the cookie tray. By adding seasonal sprinkles, you can decorate them in about 30 seconds! If you keep Oreos and chocolate chips on hand. these are a quick dessert to take to a potluck or to serve with an after-dinner cup of coffee. The only way I can keep Oreos in this house is to hide them, and even then I don't always succeed in foiling the cookie thieves!

CHOCOLATE-COVERED OREOS

1 bag of Oreo Double-Stuf or Vanilla Oreo cookies
1-1/2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips or white chocolate chips
1-1/2 TBS. solid shortening.
Seasonal or varied-color sprinkles (optional)

In a microwave-safe bowl with steep sides (the Pampered Chef batter bowls are perfect for this) melt the chips, stirring often. Add shortening (the bars of Crisco make it easy to measure amounts) and stir until it's completely melted into the chocolate, microwaving for short periods if necessary. Use a fork to drop one Oreo at a time into the melted chocolate, and turn to coat the entire cookie. Use the fork to remove the cookie, scraping the bottom of the fork across the edge of the bowl to remove excess chocolate. Place cookies on waxed paper to dry. If you use sprinkles, stop after every dozen or so cookies and sprinkle them on. If the coating in the bowl starts to harden, microwave it briefly.  The cookies take a while to solidify; allow them to set up for at least 3 hours before packing into an airtight container. Cookies can be frozen up to 3 months.

NOTES:

1.) Chocolate and water don't mix. Chocolate that has been exposed to water will show "bloom", a whitish cast that spoils the look of the cookie, although it will taste fine and is completely safe to eat. I ruined one batch this weekend. They developed whitish pockmarks, and it took me a while to track down the cause - the steam from the dishwasher had wafted over them while the dishes dried. I made another batch, and the family made short work of the" ugly ones".

2.) You can very easily adjust the recipe to make a larger or smaller batch of the coating. Just keep the number of cups of chips is equal to the number of tablespoons of shortening.

3.) Be especially careful with white chips, stirring often. The white chocolate seems to have a very thin line between 'melted' and 'hardened'!

Chocolate Euphoria Bars

I made these for the first time today and apparently they live up to their name. They are an expensive cookie to make, so I'm glad we weren't disappointed! With Oreos, marshmallows, Coco Puffs and 3 kinds of chocolate, they are really rich. I can't eat chocolate, so I have no first-hand knowledge, but Casey tells me that they are not like anything else he's ever eaten - and also that they are now his second-favorite dessert ever (nothing will ever come before his favorite carrot cake!) This recipe is another one from The Devil's Food Cake Murder, by Joanna Fluke.According to her website, she plans to publish a cookbook compiling of all the recipes from her books sometime this fall. Maybe I'll find a copy in my Christmas stocking (hint, hint).

CHOCOLATE EUPHORIA BARS

1/2 cup butter, melted
1-1/2 cups of Oreo or chocolate wafer crumbs (I recommend using a food processor to get them fine enough to spread across the entire pan)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 cups mini marshmallows
14-oz. sweetened condensed milk (NOT evaporated milk)
1 cup white chocolate chips
2 cups CocoPuffs or other crunchy chocolate cereal
1 cup milk chocolate chips

Spray a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray; set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together chocolate cookie crumbs and melted butter. Spread evenly in the bottom of the prepared pan. Sprinkle semi-sweet chocolate chips evenly over the crumb layer, then spread the marshmallows evenly over the chips. Pour sweetened condensed milk over marshmallows, as evenly as possible. Spread the white chips over the existing layers, then spread the CocoPuffs on top of that. Sprinkle milk chocolate chips over all. Push down firmly with at wide spatula; don't be concerned if the cereal gets a bit crunched. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. When the pan comes to room temperature, cut the cookies into brownie-sized pieces,while they are still in the pan. Refrigerate to set firmly, Makes 2 dozen bar cookies.