White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Dream

I was at my parent's house this morning (my mom was gracious enough to watch the kids while I went to my weight-in), and I was looking around at all the things they have. My dad is an avid bargain shopper so they always seem to have more food than they can eat. I often take it upon myself to make them something new out of the things they already have. Today was no exception.


Picture of original recipe, courtesy of tasteofhome.com



 I saw this recipe on Pinterest for  Chocolate Chip Cookie Delight. It sounded ridiculously easy, and is actually really similar to a pudding cake that I took to a PTO meeting a couple months back. The "cake" has layers of cream cheese, whipped topping and pudding. It has many names and many mutations. I've heard it called a cloud cake, or a dream cake. This was the first time I heard "delight" in the name. - I thought I would use "dream" for my version.  





I used what I could find in their house, making sure to use my mom's favorite flavors. This is what I came up with.

*** My husband was reading this post - as he is kind enough to do with all my posts - and he asked why there was no explanation as to how good these were. He said that these were only "just a step behind the cheesecake bars" and that they were so good it reminded him of "Lembas - the elvish cake/bread that kept the hobbits alive in The Lord of The Rings." I don't know what he's talking about, but apparently it's really good!
 (Now he's gone off to read The Lord of The Rings, to show me where it talks about Lembas . . . . He got distracted reading to me his favorite passage of the whole series . . . .Oh I love my hubby.)
There.
Now my dear, sweet husband, here's is your explanation of how truly scrumptious this recipe is. :)
Here's what I did:

I used two of these. (16 oz break apart refrigerator cookies. A tube or two of cookie dough would work too.) This is my mom's favorite cookie.

I took all the raw "cookies" and put them in a single layer in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. (No need to grease it first.) I smushed them all down until they were pretty flat and touching each other. Then I baked them @ 350F for 18-20 minutes (until golden brown).

When they came out of the oven, I let them cool and then I cut them into 12 pieces. (I only did this because the reviews for the original recipe stated that the cookie layer was hard to cut after refrigerating. It turns out that this layer wasn't so difficult. I'm sure it's because I used 32 oz of cookie dough instead of the 16oz that the other recipe used. So, it's your choice. Pre-cut or not. You kind of have to guess where the cuts are after all the layers are on top anyway.)

Now it was time to make the other layers.
I needed one or two of these. I chose one of the coconut cream pudding mixes. - If you want a larger pudding layer, then use two boxes and double the amount of milk. The original recipe had a larger pudding layer, but I wanted the cookie layer to be the star.

I put the pudding mix into a bowl and added 1 1/2 cups of milk.

Then I stirred it until it was thick and creamy.

In a separate bowl I put an 8 oz package of cream cheese., softened.

I added 1/2 cup powdered sugar. . .

and whisked vigorously, until smooth.

Now I needed this household staple that I found in my parents fridge. - Any brand, size and type would work. This is just the one that they had.

I added 1/2 of the container in with the cream cheese mixture.

Then I folded them together.

When they were combined I spread it all over the baked cookie layer.

When it was nice and even, and all the cookie layer was covered, I put on the pudding layer.

When that was even I spread on the other 1/2 of the container of whipped topping.

Then I just put it in the fridge to firm up for a few hours. (If you want to make it look fancier you could add some toppings/decorations: chopped nuts, chocolate curls, toasted coconut, etc.)

Just cut and serve.

Here's the recipe:

 White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Dream

32 oz of raw White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookie dough
8 oz of cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar.
8 oz container of whipped topping, thawed
3.4 oz package of coconut cream pudding mix
1 1/2 cups cold milk
1/2 cup toasted coconut (optional)
white chocolate bar to make curls (optional)
1/4 to 1/2 cup toasted macadamia nuts, chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F. Press raw cookie dough into the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish, making an even layer. Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown. Cool. In a mixing bowl whisk together the cream cheese and the powdered sugar. Fold in 1/2 the container of whipped topping and spread out over cooled cookie layer. In another mixing bowl, combine the pudding mix and milk and whisk until thick and creamy. Spread the pudding over the cream cheese layer. Spread the last 1/2 of the container of whipped topping over the top. Decorate with toasted coconut, white chocolate curls and nuts (optional).  Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.