Snickers Peanut Butter Pie

My husband's birthday was last week, so I wanted to surprise him with a special birthday dessert. Rick loves peanut butter, and we had some leftover Halloween candy in the house, so I started searching online for recipes. I found several that sounded good, so I mixed and matched from a few of the most promising ones to create this Snickers Peanut Butter Pie. 

The pie is definitely indulgent, but I did try to make a couple of healthier swaps that wouldn't take away from the taste of the dessert. I don't think reduced fat cream cheese tastes any different from regular cream cheese in a recipe, and fat free Cool Whip worked perfectly. If you want to make this even healthier, you could use reduced fat peanut butter, but I didn't have any in the house and I figured we should splurge for Rick's birthday, anyways.

It took me less than 20 minutes prep time (though it does have to freeze for a few hours), and Rick was thrilled with the result - double win! I also loved this recipe because the pie will stay good in the freezer for at least a month, so there's no pressure to eat it all immediately. (Despite this, we did actually eat the entire pie over the course of the past week!)

Snickers Peanut Butter Pie

Ingredients:

1 Oreo pie crust (alternatively, you can make your own crust with Oreos and melted butter)

6 oz. reduced fat cream cheese
6 oz. fat free Cool Whip
1 tsp. vanilla extract
⅓ cup peanut butter
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
1 cup fun size Snickers, chopped (approximately 5 fun size Snickers)

Directions:

1. Combine cream cheese, Cool Whip, peanut butter, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth and creamy.

2. Slowly add in the confectioners’ sugar and beat on low speed until smooth and combined.

3. Spoon the mixture into the Oreo pie crust.

4. Evenly sprinkle the Snickers on the top of the pie.

5. Cover the pie and place it in freezer for a minimum of 3 hours to set before slicing.

6. When ready to serve the pie, remove it from the freezer and let it sit out for about 15 minutes, then slice. You can keep the pie in freezer for up to a month or two (if it lasts that long!).

Light Chicken & Waffles

I have a real affinity for Southern style cooking, and luckily in the DC area we have a number of amazing restaurants that specialize in Southern cuisine. Soul food is not exactly known for being healthy though, so I have to limit how often we eat out at Southern style restaurants.

So imagine my delight when I stumbled across a healthy chicken 'n waffles recipe in my other new Hungry Girl cookbook! Chicken 'n waffles is one of those meals that always looks so delicious in restaurants, but typically too calorie-laden for me to justify ordering. (Instead, I make Rick order it so that I can sneak bites off of his plate!)

I was skeptical that this shortcut healthier version would taste good, especially when I picked up the box of Fiber One bran cereal at the grocery store - it honestly looked like something I would put in a bird feeder. I trust Hungry Girl though, so I followed her recipe and was very happy that I did!

The bran cereal made for a delicious, crispy coating for the chicken, and the flavor worked perfectly with the waffles and syrup. I often have difficulty with cooking chicken on the stove, because it seems to take forever for the chicken to cook through, but the key here was to use very thin-cut chicken breast cutlets (you can also pound the chicken very thin if the grocery store doesn't sell the thin-cut ones). 

This recipe only made 2 servings, but you can easily double or triple the recipe. I made 4 servings, and Rick enjoyed the meal so much that he agreed to have the leftovers the very next night, which is rare! The entire meal took less than half an hour to make, and while I won't claim that it is a match for the chicken and waffles at Marvin, it is definitely healthier and worth making!

Light Chicken & Waffles

(from Hungry Girl "300 Under 300" Cookbook)

Ingredients:

1/3 cup Fiber One Original bran cereal
1/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, divided
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
2 5oz raw boneless skinless thin-cut chicken breast cutlets (the thinner, the better!)
2 tbsp. liquid egg whites
2 frozen low-fat waffles
1/2 cup lite pancake syrup (I used Aunt Jemima lite syrup)

Directions:

1. Place cereal in a Ziplock bag and seal. Crush cereal with a meat mallet until it is a breadcrumb-like consistency. Add 1/8 teaspoon each of salt, black pepper, and garlic powder to the crumb mixture and shake well. Pour the crumbs onto a plate and set aside.

2. Place chicken cutlets in a bowl and season with remaining 1/8 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Pour liquid egg whites atop of chicken, then flip cutlets over to evenly coat. Transfer cutlets one at a time to the breadcrumb plate and evenly coat with the mixture on both sides.

3. Spray a large skillet with nonstick spray and bring to medium-high heat on the stove. Add breaded chicken and cook until the chicken is fully cooked and the outside is crispy, approximately 4 minutes per side.

4. While the cutlets are cooking, toast the waffles and place each on a separate plate. Pour syrup over each waffle, and when finished, place one of the chicken cutlets atop each waffle.