The Nook Cooks!

So I’ve been thinking about this idea for a while, and when I asked my N.A.G. students about it, they were super stoked, SO – here’s the results of the first Nook Cooks class!

We make family-friendly meals, desserts and snacks – and then EAT THEM! The only caveat? You have to help prepare the food if you want to eat. From washing chicken breasts to chopping artichokes, we do it all.

Our first foray into the cooking arena was a super yummy dessert called Chocolate Peanut Butter Dream Bars. You can find the recipe at the end of this post.

We had a fantastic time mixing, smooshing, and of course eating!

But no kitchen duty is complete without a little cleanup, so while we waited for the desserts to set, we wiped down our work area and mopped the floor, just to make sure we left the space as clean as we found it.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Dream Bars

Ingredients:
1 16-oz. package of Nutter Butters (or any peanut butter sandwich cookie)
4 Tbsp. melted butter
1 3.9-oz. pkg instant chocolate pudding mix
1 1/2 c milk
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/3 c creamy peanut butter
1/2 c powdered sugar
1 8-oz. container whipped topping
1/4 c milk chocolate chips
1/4 c peanut butter chips

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350* F
2. Crush 24 Nutter Butters into small pieces. Pour pieces into bottom of 8×8″ baking pan and add melted butter. Combine and press into bottom of pan.
3. Bake crust for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.
4. While crust bakes, combine pudding mix with milk until pudding consistency.
5. In a separate bowl, combine cream cheese and peanut butter until smooth. Then add powdered sugar, a little at a time, until combined.
6. When crust is cool, spread chocolate pudding on top.
7. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the chocolate pudding. This is easiest if the cream cheese mixture is put in small dollops around the pudding and then smoothed.
8. Spread whipped topping over cream cheese mixture.
9. Crush remaining Nutter Butters and mix with both kinds of chips.
10. Sprinkle cookie and chip mixture over top of dessert.
11. Cover and freeze for at least 30 minutes, overnight is best.

Enjoy this yummy dessert! Our Nookers certainly did!