Happy Pi Day! Mint Chocolate Pie

I really enjoy making themed desserts. So when I was reminded that today was Pi Day, I knew I had to make a pie. Never having made any sort of pie before, I wanted something easy. Also, since I get off work at 8, I wanted something fast that I didn't have to bake. In honor of St. Patrick's Day on Monday, I went with a Mint Chocolate Pie. Celebrating two holidays with one dessert: effective.

Ingredients:
(I was in a rush and forgot a picture...oops)

24 Cool Mint Creme Oreo cookies
1/4 cup  butter, melted
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup milk
8 oz  thawed whipped topping
1/4 - 1/2 tsp mint extract
1/4 cup chocolate syrup
1 cup Andes Mints Creme de Menth Baking Chips, divided (or 1 cup chopped Andes Mints)

Directions:
1. Make the cookie crust by crushing the mint Oreos into a fine crumb. I would recommend using a food processor or blender, because while banging them with a rolling pin is a stress reliever, you end up with a more rough crumb. But if you need to get a little aggression out, throw those Oreos in a ziplock bag and bang away. 
2. Using your hands, mix the crushed Oreo crumbs and melted butter together. I was lazy, and just did this in the pie pan. Saving the environment, one unused dish at a time.
3. Press the crumbs onto the bottom and up the sides of a 9 or 10 inch pie pan. Try to make the crust 1/8 inch thick all around. Perfection is overrated. Set in the freezer as you make the filling. 

4.Make the pie filling in a large bowl by mixing the softened cream cheese, milk, sugar and cocoa powder with a hand mixer. Mix until the mixture is completely smooth. 

I used my green bowl, because it's festive.

5. Mix the mint extract and the whipped topping, and then gently fold into the cream cheese mixture.

It should end up looking like this.

6. Remove pie crust from the freezer and layer 1/2 of the pie filling onto the crust.  
7. Sprinkle with 1/2 of the Andes Mint baking chips. 
8. Layer with the rest of the pie filling and top with chocolate syrup and remaining Andes Mint chips.
9. Freeze for at least 4 hours or overnight. 20 minutes before serving, remove from the freezer and let sit out to gently thaw. This makes the pie much easier to cut and serve.

Nerdy decoration optional.

This was really rich, so I'd recommend cutting it into small pieces. I cut mine into 12, and that seemed like the perfect slice. Also, I think it would be better with fudge sauce instead of chocolate syrup. The chocolate syrup was kind of runny, even after being in the freezer all night. Maybe even add fudge to the middle layer with the Andes Mint chips. I also thought about substituting Bailey's for the milk to make it more Irish, but since I was taking it into work, I saved that idea for next time. Because I will definitely be making this again. It was excellent. And nerdy. 

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

I love homemade cinnamon rolls. My dad always makes some for Christmas morning, and I wanted to try them out for myself. I really wanted an overnight recipe, because I am not a great morning person and waiting that long in the morning for cinnamon rolls just seemed like too much work. I found two recipes that I liked, from here and here, and combined the two to make some really great cinnamon rolls.

I actually made these again at my in-law's house for Christmas morning, and they loved them and requested that I be there every Christmas to make them again. These are so tasty, that it's hard to eat just one.

Ingredients:

 Dough:

1 tbsp active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
4 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 

1 tsp kosher salt
4 eggs
1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter 

Filling:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp cinnamon

Frosting:

3 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp lemon juice

Directions:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, sprinkle the yeast over the water, allow to bloom for a few minutes, then whisk until smooth. 

2. Whisk in 1/2 cup of the flour. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm spot for about 30 minutes.

3. Add the eggs, sugar, butter, salt, and remaining 4 cups flour to the yeast mixture. With the dough hook, knead on medium speed until smooth, about 8-12 minutes.  Add a bit more flour to reduce stickiness if needed. This makes my stand mixer really warm, so be prepared for that. 

4. Cover with plastic wrap, set in a warm spot and let rise until doubled, about 2 hours.

5. While dough is rising, prepare filling. Take 2 tbsp of the stick of butter and set aside. Beat remaining butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon together until combined and slightly fluffy, about 1 minute. It will be pretty thick.

6. Butter a 9×13 baking dish. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface.

7. Roll out into a rectangle about 15×10 in.

Or a lumpy oval. Same thing.

8. Spread filling onto dough. The easiest way I found to do this was to just use my hands. You'll get a little messy, but you'll smell yummy like cinnamon!

9. Roll the dough up length-wise.

10. Cut your rolls. I just use a knife, because I don't care if they're a little smooshed. Dental floss cuts through dough as well. You can cut the rolls to your liking. This will make 12 small rolls, 10 medium ones, or 8 large rolls.
11. Place in buttered baking dish.

12. Melt the reserved 2 T butter and brush on top of rolls. 

13. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight.
14. The next morning, remove from refrigerator and let rise until half again as high, about 1 hour.

16. Preheat the oven to 350. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.

15. While baking, prepare the frosting. 

Whip cream cheese and butter together, then add in vanilla and lemon juice. Add the powdered sugar slowly until it's all incorporated.

 

Beat on high for about 5 minutes until it is light and fluffy.

16. Once rolls are out of the oven, immediately frost using half the frosting. This will melt and slide down into the rolls.

17. After they have cooled a few more minutes, frost again with remaining frosting. This step isn't entirely necessary, but it makes the frosting look nicer.

And those are my cinnamon rolls! They're a little work, but sooooo worth it. They are giant and soft and cinnamony, which is everything a cinnamon roll should be. They also make my apartment smell amazing. They're best served warm, but I've been known to pull of pieces straight out of the fridge and eat them. These are great for a get-together, because you can prep everything the night before, even the frosting. Then just pull them out and let them rise, and pop them in the oven and bake!

Book Review: Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

I had this book checked out from the library for about 4 months. It took me that long to read it. I read the first 300 pages in about a week, and then left it for 3 months. The book was interesting, but I just couldn't convince myself to get back into it. The only reason I did was because of a friend who insisted that I had to read it with her. I am really glad I picked it back up though. I'm also really happy to be done with it. It's really long! Like, forever long. But worth it, I think.

This book cover is stupid.

 

The book isn't what I normally read, which I think is why I had such a hard time getting into it. But once I started it again, I was hooked. The characters were just so well developed and appealing. I wanted to know what happened in their life and how their story ended. After going through so many struggles, the story ended up being beautiful. I will say that one of the reasons that I had such a hard time reading it was because of the character of William. He was just so repugnant, and I had such a hard time reading about how he enjoyed raping Aliena. That was difficult for me to get over, and was so repulsive to me. It was at first hard for me to grasp that he never got nicer, and never really grew up. But I realized that would be incredibly true to his character and that there really are people like that in the world.

The architectural and historical aspects were incredibly interesting to me, and I greatly enjoyed reading about them. I do like a good historical fiction, which I think is why I may have liked this book. Overall, I would recommend this book to someone who would be dedicated enough to finish it. The story spans over so many different characters and generations that a reader really has to get into the story and relate to the ideas in order to enjoy it. I'm glad that I read it, but I don't think it will be one that I read again.