Winstead Wandering

Prone to Wander

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Dessert Quesadillas

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Warm and gooey chocolate chip cream cheese dessert quesadillas are the perfect rich, indulgent way to end your day! Bonus: they require only four ingredients and they couldn’t be easier to make!

Warm and gooey chocolate chip cream cheese dessert quesadillas are the perfect rich, indulgent way to end your day.

I can’t lie to you. These dessert quesadillas are dangerous. The biggest threat is that you probably always have the ingredients on hand to make them. We don’t buy any packaged desserts at my house, and we rarely have ice cream in the freezer. But chocolate chips, cream cheese, and tortillas? Yeah, we have those.

That’s why J whips these guys up for us at least once a week. They only take minutes to prepare, but the way the chocolate and cream cheese melt together inside the crunchy tortilla will make you want to savor every.single.bite.

Not only is J the primary dessert quesadilla-maker in our house, he’s also the genius behind this recipe. I don’t remember how they first came to be, and I don’t remember exactly when he made them for the first time, but I know they’ve been a staple in our lives since the early years of our marriage.

Did I mention how crazy easy these chocolate chip cream cheese dessert quesadillas are to make?

Warm and gooey chocolate chip cream cheese dessert quesadillas are the perfect rich, indulgent way to end your day.

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Bacon Cheddar Ranch Chicken Roll-Ups

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Bacon cheddar ranch chicken roll-ups are tortillas spread with cream cheese and crammed with chicken, shredded cheese, crisp bacon, and creamy ranch dressing. They’re perfect for a party or a snack-y supper.

Bacon cheddar ranch chicken roll-ups are tortillas spread with cream cheese and crammed with chicken, shredded cheese, crisp bacon, and creamy ranch dressing. They're perfect for a party or a snack-y supper.

This recipe has so much going for it.

Let’s start with the fact that it doesn’t involve any cooking (if you cook and shred large batches of chicken and freeze them in one- or two-cup portions, which I do and I recommend you do, too). The bacon can be zapped in the microwave to save time and minimize mess. The fact that this recipe comes together so easily without the need for a stove or oven makes it a perfect easy weeknight meal for hot summer days. Don’t worry, I’m thoroughly enjoying the January weather right now, but as a Mississippian, I’m always thinking of ways to beat the summer heat.

The other thing I love about this recipe is how easy it is to make changes and swap ingredients based on your taste preferences and what you have on hand. I used ranch dressing- duh, it’s in the title- but I imagine they’d be delicious with Caesar or even Italian dressing. Nearly any kind of cheese you have on hand would be acceptable, and you could even get away with omitting the bacon (but why would you?).

These little guys freeze great, making them a great option for a freezer recipe, and they’re sure to be a hit at any party or potluck you bring them to. With the bacon and the cheese, they pretty much sell themselves.

Do you love this wooden slab as much as I do? You can get a super similar one here.

Bacon cheddar ranch chicken roll-ups are tortillas spread with cream cheese and crammed with chicken, shredded cheese, crisp bacon, and creamy ranch dressing. They're perfect for a party or a snack-y supper.

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baked green chile chicken taquitos

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Baked instead of fried for a healthy but satisfying crunch, these taquitos are stuffed with chicken, green salsa, sour cream, and a savory blend of spices.

Baked instead of fried for a healthy but satisfying crunch, these taquitos are stuffed with chicken, green salsa, sour cream, and a savory blend of spices.

We love these chicken taquitos. Love them.

I’ve gotten J.’s family hooked on them, too, as well as several friends. My favorite thing about these taquitos is, of course, the flavor. I love that the outside crisps up to offer the perfect crunch, but the inside is full of tender chicken and the balanced kick of green salsa and sour cream.

You could fill your taquitos with anything you have on hand. I have a friend who loves to make them with corn tortillas and left over carne asada. I once made a version with a mixture of cream cheese, shredded cheddar, and diced jalapeños; they were basically long, skinny jalapeño poppers.

I almost always have a few of these bad boys in the freezer (right now, I have 16) because they are so easy to make ahead and freeze. Go ahead and double the batch; I promise you’ll want the extras.

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how to make homemade tortilla chips

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I try not to buy a lot of snack foods, specifically chips.  When there’s a bag of tortilla chips in the house, I tend to make nachos. A lot of nachos.

When I want to satisfy my craving for something crunchy and salty, I whip up a batch of homemade tortilla chips.

homemade tortilla chips are so easy to make! They're the perfect crunchy, salty, snack for when you don't want to keep a bag of the store-bought version around.

One of my favorite things about these chips is how they can be customized to suit any mood or meal. You can switch out the savory spices for sweet ones to make dessert nachos. You can skip the spice and use Italian seasonings for a fun twist.

homemade tortilla chips are so easy to make! They're the perfect crunchy, salty, snack for when you don't want to keep a bag of the store-bought version around.

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