Chocolate Peanut Butter Oreo Truffles

Oh, so good. These truffles are very rich and super-delicious -- and pretty easy to make. To speed things up, crush the Oreos in a blender.

Ingredients:

- 6 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 1/2 cups peanut butter (crunchy or smooth)
- 1/2 cup Nutella (crunchy or smooth)
- 11 oz chocolate chips, melted (or combination of peanut butter and chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, whatever you want)
- 2 cups powdered sugar

- 30 Oreos, crushed

- additional chocolate chips (2-3 cups)
- small amount of vegetable shortening (1-2 tablespoons)

Directions:

In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to combine the cream cheese, peanut butter, Nutella, melted chocolate chips, and powdered sugar. Stir in crushed Oreos.

Form into 1 inch balls (mixture will be crumbly) and place on a plate or cookie sheet. Freeze for 30 minutes or longer (until firm).

Melt together the additional chocolate chips and vegetable shortening over low heat until smooth. Dip each truffle in and coat with chocolate; allow excess to drip off, then place on wax paper on a cookie sheet. Refrigerate for 15 minutes to help the chocolate set.

Refrigerate leftovers.

Barbecue Rub Ribs

Ingredients:

- 4 lb baby back pork ribs
- 4 cloves garlic, sliced or chopped (or equivalent dried minced garlic)

- 1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin

- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup chili sauce
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons chopped onion (or equivalent dried minced onion)
- 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1 clove garlic, crushed

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place ribs on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Scatter the 4 cloves of sliced or chopped garlic over the ribs. Cover; bake for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together the white sugar, paprika, salt, black pepper, chili powder, and ground cumin.

After the ribs have cooked for 1 hour, rub half the spices over one side of the ribs then bake for 15 minutes. Then rub the remaining spices over the other side of ribs and bake for another 45 minutes. (At this point the ribs should have baked for a total of 2 hours.)

Once the ribs have cooked for 1 hour, start making the barbecue sauce: In a small saucepan, mix together the brown sugar, cider vinegar, ketchup, chili sauce, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, onion, dry mustard, and 1 clove garlic. Simmer over medium-low heat, uncovered, for 1 hour.

After the ribs have cooked for 2 hours, pour the barbecue sauce on top and bake for another 30 minutes.

Two Chipper Cookies

This cookie recipe makes chocolate chip cookies that bake really well at high altitude and maintain a plump shape and chewy texture. Substitute whole wheat flour for half of the regular flour quantity for a healthier cookie. Use half milk chocolate and half semisweet chips, or whatever combination you want. Dough can be formed into balls and frozen, then baked without thawing first for about a minute longer than unfrozen dough takes to bake in your oven.

Ingredients:

- 1 cup butter, softened
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup sugar

- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

- 2 1/4 cups flour (can substitute 3/4 to 1 cup whole wheat flour)
- 1 package (3.4 oz) instant vanilla pudding mix
- 1 teaspoon baking soda

- 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips
- 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, cream the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar together using an electric mixer, until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.

Gradually add the flour, pudding mix, and baking soda to the wet ingredients. Mix well.

Stir in chocolate chips (and pecans, if desired).

To bake immediately, drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 1 inch apart on an ungreased, insulated baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove cookies to wire rack and let cool.

To freeze, chill dough in refrigerator for 1 hour, then shape into 1 inch balls. To bake frozen dough, thaw at room temperature for 10 minutes prior to baking.