There is nothing quite as decadent as chocolate. Make it fudgy by adding in marshmellows and evaporated milk, and it is just sinful ! If you don’t like coconut, leave it off – if you want different nuts, go for it. But don’t skip this recipe – this is a real winner !

Coconut Fudgies

32 servings
240 calories per serving

1 c butter, divided
14 Honey Grahams, finely crushed
1 c sugar
5 oz. evaporated milk
10.5 oz. package mini marshmellows
12 squares Baker’s semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 c chopped walnuts
1 c coconut, toasted
Pam

Line a 13×9 pan with aluminum foil making sure it folds up over the ends so you can use it to lift out the dessert later. Spray the foil with Pam. Melt ¾ c butter and mix in the crumbs then press into the bottom of the pan to make a crust. Bring the rest of the butter, sugar, milk and marshmellows to boil, stirring constantly then add chocolate and stir until melted. Pour over the crust and top with the nuts and coconut then refrigerate 2 hours.

(To toast the coconut, simply place it in a hot skillet and stir frequently until it gets brown and toasty)

These really taste like you are sipping a root beer float – but they also cool you off on a hot summer day.

Root Beet Float Pops

6 servings (6 oz. pops)
67 calories per serving

12 oz. diet root beer, very cold (so it foams less)
6 maraschino cherries, stems removed
1 ¼ c lite vanilla ice cream, left out for 10-15 minutes so it gets melty and easy to work with

Pour an inch worth of root beer in each mold spooning off any foam that develops then drop in a cherry. Freeze one hour. Divide ice cream amount molds and freeze for an hour. Add the rest of the root beer spooning off any foam, insert sticks and freeze at least 5 hours.

Definitely serve this one warm with some vanilla ice cream or some whipped cream – it’s a great dessert that bakes up quickly and tastes so homey.

Peach Cobbler

8 servings
190 calories per serving

5 c sliced frozen peaches
1/3 c maple syrup
1/4 c firmly packed brown sugar
2 T MINUTE Tapioca
1 T lemon juice
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
1 c Bisquick
2 T sugar
¼ – 1/2 c milk
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix peaches with syrup, brown sugar, tapioca, lemon juice and cook on medium heat until it comes to a boil then pour into 9 inch square baking pan. Stir Bisquick, sugar and milk until soft dough forms then drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto hot fruit. Optionally sprinkle with a little more cinnamon then bake 28 – 30 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown.

The good folks at PlentifulPantry sent me a couple of their dessert mixes to try and here is the second installment….Chidester Farms Blondies with Maple Sauce. The mix makes is sooooo simple to whip up a batch in no time and the blondies were very good – but what made this dessert GREAT is the maple sauce !! IT was rich and sweet without going overboard. It is a perfect sauce – I want to buy it and put in on EVERYTHING

Blondies and Maple Sauce

The big box comes with enough ingredients to make 2 batches – 2 batches would fit in a 9×13 baking dish while 1 fits nicely in an 8×8 baking dish. This is as simple as putting together a cake mix – - simple, simple, simple . And the blondies….oh they just melt in your mouth !

Blondies and Maple Sauce mix

As well as the mix, you will need a few ingredients:
¼ c water
1/3 c vegetable oil
2 eggs

1 batch yields 12 servings
250 calories per serving

Just follow the package instructions and then sit by the oven and wait – because you want to dig into these as quick as humanly possible !

Try serving with some lite vanilla ice cream or some whipped topping.

Be sure to visit PlentifulPantry and check out their products – they have a whole bunch of ‘partially prepped’ products that get you out of the kitchen faster without skimping on quality. This is also available this month at Costco – so be sure to get some and put the sauce in your coffee, on your morning cereal, in your granola – and even on the blondies

The good folks at PlentifulPantry sent me a couple of their dessert mixes to try and here is the first installment….Chidester Farms Key Lime Cheesecake Bars.

Key Lime Cheesecake Bars

The big box comes with enough ingredients to make 2 batches – 2 batches would fit in a 9×13 baking dish while 1 fits nicely in an 8×8 baking dish. These are amazingly easy to put together and the results are outstanding – the bars definitely taste completely homemade. I had doubts about a chocolate crust with a citrus dessert, but it was a perfect accompaniment.

As well as the mix, you will need a few ingredients:
1 c hot water
2 8 oz. blocks of cream cheese
6 T butter

1 batch yields 16 servings
120 calories per serving

Just follow the package instructions and in an hour you will have delightfully rich cheesecake bars with just the right amount of lime flavoring.

Be sure to visit PlentifulPantry and check out their products – they have a whole bunch of ‘partially prepped’ products that get you out of the kitchen faster without skimping on quality.

Always a hit – Always enjoyed – and so very simple to make ! After I cut them up, I wrap them individually in plastic wrap and freeze in single portions.

Frozen Grasshoppers

16 servings
260 calories per serving

28 Oreo cookies
1 ½ qt. mint chocolate chip ice cream, softened
8 oz. Cool Whip, thawed
1 square grated semi sweet chocolate

Line a 13×9 pan with foil extending the foul over the sides of the pan. Crush 20 cookies (I put them in a zip loc bag and pound with the bottom of a mug – but using a food processor or blender works well too) and sprinkle crumbs into the pan. Spread ice cream over crumbs and then top with cool whip and chocolate then freeze 3 hours. Before serving, let sit out 15 minutes to soften a bit. Serve each piece with ½ a cookie on top.

You can use the popsicle ‘molds’ you get at the store, or even more fun is placing the mix in Dixie cups, adding a stick, and then peeling away the cup just before serving. Simple, simple to do and a very tasty evening treat. At only 82 calories per creamy pudding pop, I might just have one every night

Bananasicles

7 servings
82 calories per serving

3.4 oz. package of instant banana pudding mix
2 c skim milk
1 banana cut into small pieces
7 T sugar free chocolate syrup (the type you use to make chocolate milk)

Place 1 T of chocolate syrup into the bottom of each cup. Combine pudding and milk until thick then stir in banana pieces and divide mix into 3 oz. paper cups. Cover with foil and poke through popsicle sticks and freeze 3 hours. Peel away cup to serve.

I’ve been making this recipe for years, and my Mom for years before that. It is always a great summer time treat that even yogurt non-likes find tempting and delicious. Sometimes I take the filling and make ice pops out of it rather than placing in a pie crust. No matter how you slice it, you will love this pie !

Yogurt Pie

8 servings
200 calories per serving

1 prepared low fat graham crust
20 oz. can crushed pineapple, drained well
8 oz. tub Cool Whip lite, thawed
6 oz. non fat lemon yogurt (don’t substitute – you need the lemon flavor to bring some tang to the pie)
6 oz. non fat yogurt – any flavor
Some fruit for garnish

Mix all ingredients and place in the pie crust. Cover and freeze at least 5 hours. Defrost 10-15 minutes before serving. If the pie has been frozen longer than over night, you may need to defrost 20 -25 minutes before serving.

Light and refreshing is the best way to describe this elegant and tempting cake. This is an easy to make dessert that tastes like you spent hours preparing, but it only take a bit of time to put it together

Pineapple and Orange Dream Cake

16 servings
212 calories per serving

CAKE:
1 box yellow cake mix
¼ c applesauce
4 eggs
1 11 oz. can mandarin oranges (including the juice)

FROSTING:
8 oz. cool whip lite
1 3.4 oz. package instant vanilla pudding
1 15.5 oz. can crushed pineapple in juice (not syrup), mostly drained

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and mix all the cake ingredients until moist then beat by hand 2 minutes. The oranges will all break up – that is fine. Spray a 13×9 pan with Pam and pour in the batter and cook 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting. Mix together all frosting ingredients and spread on the cake. Store cake in the frig.

You can serve this pudding warm or chilled. It is rich and creamy and ever so decadent. It’s good without the caramels melted in – - then you do that step and it gets taken to a whole other level. You must try !

I am sure you could bring down the calories using buttery spread instead of butter, Splenda instead of sugar, Fat Free evaporated milk instead of whole – - but this dessert just deserves all the ingredients that give it its creamy goodness.

Dulche de Leche Rice Pudding

294 c per ½ c serving

2 c water
½ c uncooked rice
¼ c sugar
1 ½ cinnamon sticks
1 T butter
Dash of salt
12 oz. evaporated milk
8 caramels
1 T coarse sugar
1/8 t kosher salt

Combine the first 6 ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer 20 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. Stir in the evaporated milk and bring to a boil again then lower the heat and simmer 10 minutes or until it is thick and creamy then add the caramels and stir until melted. Take out the cinnamon sticks and throw them out, then spoon the pudding into desert dishes. Combine sugar and salt and sprinkle over the pudding just before serving.