IDEA ALLEY: Pudding in middle of easy Oreo cake

Recipes that appear in Idea Alley have not been tested by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Wanda Gerke shares this recipe in response to Pamela Johnson's request for a no-bake Oreo dessert.

Gerke's recipe combines Oreo cookies, cream cheese and pudding for a delectable-sounding treat.

Oreo Cookie Cake

1 (16-ounce) package cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies

½ cup butter, melted

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1 (16-ounce) package frozen whipped topping, softened

1 cup confectioners' sugar

2 large boxes instant chocolate pudding

3½ cups milk

Set aside 4 to 6 whole cookies. Crush the remaining cookies to fine crumbs. Set aside ½ to 1 cup of the crumbs.

Mix the remaining crumbs with the melted butter. Press mixture into the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Refrigerate.

In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add about half of the whipped topping and the confectioners' sugar.

Spread over cookie layer.

In a large bowl, combine the pudding mix and 3½ cups milk and prepare per box instructions. Spread over cream cheese layer. Refrigerate.

For the final layer, cover pudding layer with the remaining whipped topping. Decorate with crushed cookies. Stand the whole cookies up on their ends — if transporting this will help keep the foil or plastic wrap from sticking to the dessert.

Linda Young shares this chicken dish that sounds as delicious as it does easy.

"It's a take on a dish that I used to bake in a conventional oven using the same ingredients as well as canned beef strips. I found the beef to be nonessential and expensive so when I converted it to a Crock-Pot meal, I left it out. There is no need to season the chicken since the bacon does that as it cooks," writes Young.

"Any leftover chicken has a nice smoky flavor that's great for use in soup, sandwiches, potpies, you name it."

"Chicken Breast Crock-Pot Dish: Take chicken breasts and wrap them with bacon strips (I don't bother with toothpicks, just wrap around the chicken, maybe more than one strip if the breast if particularly large). Place the wrapped breasts in a slow cooker. Open a can of cream of mushroom or chicken soup and spread it over the chicken. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. Serve with rice."

Young says she usually trims some of the fat from the bacon before wrapping it around the chicken and the recipe works with bone-in or boneless chicken. One large breast is plenty for two people.

REQUESTS

■ Bog Hollow bread for Sandy Soderquist.

■ Potato soup like Chip's Barbecue, which closed in 2016, for Audrey Stanley. The potatoes in the soup were thinly sliced into discs, not diced like most versions.

Send recipe contributions, requests and culinary questions to Kelly Brant, Idea Alley, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, P.O. Box 2221, Little Rock, Ark. 72203; email:

kbrant@arkansasonline.com

Please include a daytime phone number.

Food on 12/05/2018

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