We Interrupt Our Regular Programming: Chocolate Peppermint Lasagna

 "We now interrupt our regular programming for a Christmas special." If it's good enough for NBC and CBS, I guess it will work for a lowly blog, too.

Actually, my blog "programming" has been interrupted all on its own for the past month. Other obligations have left little time to write, so it's been awhile since my last blog post - probably the longest I've gone between posts in my nearly 15 years of Kim's County Line. 

But, instead of returning to regular "programming," I'm going to substitute some Christmas flavor. If I don't, it will be past Christmas. And there's no way I will remember in a year. (Case in point, I knew I'd saved the recipe for a snack mix I'd tried last Christmas. However, it took me awhile to figure out where I'd safely stashed it.)

This recipe for Chocolate Peppermint Lasagna would be good at any time of year, but it seems particularly appropriate for Christmas with the chocolate and hint of peppermint.

I was one of two hostesses for a PEO guest day December 3, along with my friend, Betty. We were responsible for coming up with and preparing the dessert for 41 members and guests, along with doing gingerbread cookie favors for them to take home. 

Betty and I experimented with several different recipes - both for dessert and for the cookies - before choosing our favorites. Betty made all the gingerbread people using a Taste of Home recipe she modified, and I decorated them all: Divide and conquer! **See Betty's changes in a note below.**

After binging on Food Network's Christmas Cookie Challenge, I had planned to make my debut decorating with royal icing. But after an emergency phone call to Jill and a kitchen covered in sticky royal icing, I gave up and went back to my old faithful decorator's tube and buttercream. (It tastes better anyway). Since my kitchen was a disaster, my dining room table became the gingerbread assembly line. I used sprinkles I'd gotten at Glenn's Bulk Foods to add some flair. Since the guest day group was all women, I decorated the gingerbread to imply dresses, with jaunty snowflake bows in their hair.

It may not have looked like the Christmas Cookie Challenge caliber, but they ended up pretty cute. I found the history of Gingerbread Men and attached them to each individual cookie package, ready for our guests to take home.

I also had a few ask for the Chocolate Peppermint Lasagna recipe. It was originally from OMG Chocolate Desserts blog, but I made a few changes. I prefer using soft peppermint candies, rather than hard candy canes for a less jolting texture and subtle peppermint flavor.

Chocolate Peppermint Lasagna

Recipe from www.omgchocolatedesserts.com

I made modifications from the original recipe. Those are reflected below.

Oreo Crust:

36 Oreo cookies

1/2 cup butter, melted

Peppermint Cheesecake Layer:

1/2 cup butter-softened

8 oz. brick-style cream cheese (room temperature)

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. peppermint extract

1 1/2 cups stabilized whipped topping (like Cool Whip)

1/2 cup crushed soft peppermint candies (original recipe called for candy canes - I prefer the softer peppermints)

Chocolate Pudding Layer:

2 x 3.9 oz. packages instant chocolate pudding

2 3/4 cups whole milk

Topping:

8-ounce tub Cool Whip

1/4 cup crushed candy canes (to be added at serving time)

Seasonal sprinkles, opt. (added right at serving time)

In a food processor, grind whole Oreo cookies with the filling. Add melted butter, and whisk with the fork until evenly moistened. Press firmly into the bottom of 9 x 13 inches dish. Place in the fridge or freezer. (That makes spreading the next layer much easier; don't skip this step!)

Unwrap candy; place in a zip-lock bag and crush with a rolling pin onto coarse pieces. (A hammer on a sturdy cutting board worked better for me – double your plastic bag. After I got them into coarser pieces with the hammer, I used my rolling pin.)

Beat softened butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla and peppermint extract until smooth. Mix in 1 ½ cups whipped topping. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl with a spatula to make sure everything is mixed well and smooth. Finally mix in 1/2 cup candy cane pieces. The mixture will get light pink from candy canes. If you want more intense color, add a few drops of red or pink food coloring (I didn’t). Spread the mixture over chilled crust and place back in the freezer for 10-15 minutes.

Whisk two packages of instant chocolate pudding with 2 ¾ cups milk until it starts to thicken, then spread over the peppermint cheesecake layer. (I used the whip attachment on my mixer.) Place in the fridge until the pudding has set, then spread an 8-ounce tub of whipped topping over the pudding layer. (I waited several hours before topping.) Chill at least 5 hours before serving, or preferably overnight. Sprinkle additional crushed candy canes on top just before serving, because they might melt if stays too long onto whipped cream. We also used seasonal sprinkles (holly and gingerbread men – those were two separate sprinkles I got at Glenn’s Bulk Foods) for the PEO event.

Store in the fridge. For the PEO event, we cut it into 12 generous pieces. However, I think the pieces could be smaller if you were serving it at home, etc.

Gingerbread Men Cookies

The original recipe is found at Taste of Home (click on the link.)

**Betty made the following changes**

• She substituted 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves INSTEAD of the nutmeg. 
• She refrigerated the dough for 3-4 hours before working with it, rather than just 30 minutes. 
• She lined her cookie sheets with parchment paper for easy removal and baked for 9 minutes in her oven. The recipe yielded 2 1/2 dozen cookies with the cutter she used; but, of course, it depends on the size of your cutter, the thickness of your cookies and your oven.
  
• She also recommended just cutting the cookies from 1 disk, leaving the other in the fridge while you work. She cut out the first cookies and then reformed the "scraps" into a small disc before returning it to the fridge to chill while cutting the cookies from the second disc ... and so on.)