I confess that I am known as the dessert lady. Whenever our church has a potluck–I am asked to bring dessert. That’s fine by me too–there are lots of advantages to bringing dessert. First of all, you can lick the bowl. You can’t really lick a bowl of marinade that had raw chicken in it–right? You probably wouldn’t want to lick the bowl of potato salad either (although I suppose that’s open for debate). Not only that but desserts are very forgiving as far as recipes go. If you don’t have something on hand, you can almost always substitute and still have a great dish.
It just so happens that this Sunday is our first potluck of the season and I will be creating up a storm. Therefore, I thought I’d share with you one of my potluck recipes for this weekend!
Coconut Cream Casserole
This is really a simple coconut cream pie concoction (it uses pudding mix and ice cream) put into a 13 x 9 x 2 inch casserole dish. It’s easier to feed more people with a dish that size, but you can still enjoy the creamy coconut-ness!
You will need:
2 1/2 cups of crushed butter flavored crackers (I prefer Club crackers, but Ritz buttery crackers work just as well)
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons of butter, melted
1/2 gallon of vanilla ice cream softened
1/2 cup of cold milk
2 packages of vanilla pudding mix
1 package of flaked coconut, divided
1 container of cool whip (I’m partial to the French Vanilla variety–but you can use either)
Chopped Macadamia nuts (optional)
Directions:
In a small bowl, combine the cracker crumbs and butter. Press into an ungreased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in dish. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the ice cream, milk and pudding mixes until blended. Stir in all but 1/3 cup of the coconut. Spread over the crust; top with whipped topping.
Toast 1/3 cup of coconut in oven along with chopped macadamia nuts. (To toast place in oven at 350 for about 5 to 10 minutes.)
Top dessert with toasted coconut and macadamia nuts.
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Valorie Delp shares recipes and kitchen tips in the food blog, and also writes about politics and the occassional movie review. To read more articles by Valorie Delp, click here.
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