Wow. Just WOW.
Only the 2nd month of the Dollar Store Challenge, and already our hostess has thrown a huge kink in things ( 😉 she knows I love her!). This time, the challenge involves not crafting, but cooking! February’s challenge is to make a dessert using primarily dollar store ingredients!!
And this month I am privileged to be a co-host of The Great Dollar Store Challenge! I am so honored and thrilled to be hosting this time, and you can link up your delicious concoctions right here starting Wednesday evening at 8 eastern/ 7 central. Just watch for the link tool at the bottom of the page!
Those of you who follow this blog know that this is indeed a challenge, as I am gluten-free. That means I cannot consume anything with wheat or flour as ingredients. But, I DO love a challenge, and I love being innovative in developing recipes that are gluten-free!
Here are some of the ingredients I used:
And now for the recipe!
- 2 DS boxes Oats ‘n Honey crunchy granola bars (8 bars total)- *DS
- 2 T. butter
- 1 (15 oz.) can mandarin orange sections, drained well- *DS
- 2 (6 oz.) pkgs. soft cream cheese- *DS
- 3/4 c. confectioners sugar- *DS
- 2 T. orange juice- *DS
- 1 tsp. lemon juice- *DS
- 1 1/2 c. whipped topping
- For crust: Melt butter in glass bowl in microwave. Pulverize granola bars in food processor (I used my Mini-Prep Plus). Add crumbs to butter and mix well with a fork. Press into bottom of pie plate.
- For filling: With electric mixer, mix at low speed: cream cheese, confectioners sugar, orange and lemon juices and whipped topping. Reserve a few orange sections (9-12) onto a paper towel. Fold in remaining oranges. Pour into prepared crust and chill. When set, garnish with orange sections. Enjoy!
- *Ingredients from Dollar Store are marked with DS
Of course, in making this for yourself, if you already have the staples: confectioners sugar, OJ, lemon juice, etc. you won’t have to purchase all ingredients at one time. And if you do, you’ll have plenty to use in other recipes!
And I just can’t say enough about how great the crust was in this pie! It tasted better than a traditional graham cracker crust!
Be sure to link up your Dollar Store Challenge creation! You can link up below!
Have fun being creative!!
Hostess: Barb at The Everyday Home
This month’s co-hosts are:
Amy at Atta Girl Says
Sondra Lyn at Sondra Lyn at Home
Sharon from Bringing Creativity 2 Life
Trina with A Few Miner Adjustments
Please visit each of these blogs for some other great dessert ideas!
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Now it’s your turn.
**Please make sure you link back to The Everyday Home,
or one of the co-host blogs.**
** Please make sure at least half of your ingredients come
from The Dollar Store.**
Thanks for sharing your sweet treats!
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Disclaimer: Oats are not regarded by everyone to be gluten free. Oats themselves are not a problem for most, but can contain trace amounts of wheat due to harvesting and processing practices.
Please be responsible and read labels yourself before determining that a particular food is safe for you to consume!
I’m linking at:
This looks amazing, Sondra Lyn. I love that you used granola bars for the crust. Never thought of that, but it’s a great gluten-free option.
I love making orange fluff salad with cottage cheese and chipped cream and mandarin oranges, and I bet this tastes very similar. I’ll have to give it a try soon, and I think I can even make it work with my diet if I cut back on the butter and use light cream cheese and whipped cream.
Thank you, Amy! And I’m sure you could make it a bit lower in calories. I did use lite whipped topping (not fat free, though it would probably do fine). It turned out WAY better than I had hoped… I’ll have to not make it unless I’m taking it somewhere!! 😉
Sondra — this looks really good and I love that you used granola bars for the crust! What a grand idea. I’ve got a good friend who’s celiac and I appreciate your caution about pure gluten-free and probably gluten-free. I’m enjoying getting to know more of you via co-hosting!
Thanks so much, Sharon! The challenges are really fun, aren’t they?
Sondra, what a great idea! Looks Yummy. Thanks for sharing this. I can’t wait to try! 😀 ~Tammy
Thank YOU, Tammy… and I hope you will try it!
Yum, what a great combo!