I know it's been a while and we all seem to have run out of recipes because we just make the same dinners over and over, but here are a few things I tried lately that I thought were worth mentioning.  I recently went to Cooper's Hawk with my sister's in law, and it was delicious!  We were perusing the dessert menu when Bethany almost had an aneurysm because they had something called "Banoffee Pie".  I never would have even glanced twice at it because at first glance it looks like something made with coffee, right?  WRONG.  Banoffee stands for Banana-Toffee.  It was a fabulous little pie with a graham cracker crust, carmelized/chewy bananas on the bottom, caramel-y/toffee filling, and whipped cream on top.  It was heaven.  I wanted to cry, it was that good.  I tried it at home, and now I'm in trouble.  Here's the recipe.

Banoffee Pie

1 package graham crackers (9 crackers)
1/2 stick butter, melted

Combine, and press into the bottom of a pie dish. Bake at 350 for 5 minutes.


1 stick butter

1/2 C. brown sugar

1 can sweetened condensed milk

3-4 bananas (depending on size), sliced thinly

Combine butter and sugar in a thick bottomed saucepan, heat and stir until combined.  Add sweetened condensed milk - mix well, bring to a boil.  Add bananas, let cook 3-4 minutes until toffee has started to thicken and turn darker.  Pour into baked crust, let cool.  Chill until set - at least 2 hours.  Serve with whipped cream on top - optional: shave dark chocolate on top of whipped cream.



The other Amazing thing I tried this week (yes, another dessert) were key-lime truffles.  I had pinned this recipe from Pinterest like 4 months ago, and I was in search of a new recipe to try and it caught my eye again.  Levi is out of town on business, and his most favorite chocolate in the world is the key lime truffles from See's.  I decided to try them out.  I've eaten 8 already.  They were SO much easier than I thought they'd be.  The trickiest thing about the whole process was getting into a dipping rhythm - I finally found one that worked, and they mostly turned out really nice looking.  I'll add my dipping notes after the recipe.

Key-Lime Truffles - yes I took this photo - these are the actual truffles I made today!

Sugar cookie recipe:
1 C. sugar
1/2 C. shortning (I used coconut oil)
1 egg
1/2 C. sour cream
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3 1/2 - 3 3/4 C. flour
Cream sugar and shortning.  Add the egg, sour cream, & vanilla.  Mix well.  Add salt, soda, and flour.  Mix well and refrigerate  AT LEAST 2 hours.  (I did mine the night before and chilled it overnight.)  Roll out thick on parchment paper (I have a silicone mat I used - and love) or plain cookie sheet - should be like 1/2 an inch.  Bake at 350 for 18 minutes.  Don't let the edges get too brown - once the bottom starts showing brown, you're done! (Mom, that note is especially for you.  I know you like crunchy sugar cookies, but this HAS to be soft or it WON'T WORK.)  Let cool completely.

Filling Recipe:
1 mega sugar cookie (above)
2 packages cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 C. lemon and lime juice combined (use real lemons and limes if you can, and add the zest from both) - add more juice if not tart enough.

Crumble mega cookie into mixer, add cream cheese and lemon/lime juice.  Beat until mixed thoroughly.  Consistency should look almost sticky when beating, but will not stick to bowl or hands.  Roll into 1" balls - chill at least 1 hour.

Coating:
2 packages ghirardelli white chocolate chips
several Tbsp. coconut oil or shortning

Combine 1 package chips at a time in bowl with maybe 2? Tbsp. shortning (or what have you) and microwave in 30 second intervals until melting.  Stir until smooth.  The consistency needs to be easily stirrable (not like frosting) but not too liquidy.  Err on the side of too thick - if it gets too thin it will just slide off the filling.
Dip truffle centers in chocolate, coating completely and place on wax paper.  Chill until hardened.  Refrigerate to store!  SO DELICIOUS.

Dipping Notes:  My method was to drop them in, coat and scoop them up with a fork, use a toothpick to scrape the underside of the fork of all excess chocolate, then use the toothpick to slide it off the fork (holding the fork vertically) onto the pan and using the toothpick to smooth the chocolate over any uncovered sides.  It's definitely a technique you have to practice.