Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Bars

Each month, on the second Sunday of the month, my family gets together at my parents how for our monthly "Second Sunday" family dinner.  We decide on a meal and divide out the assignments.  Last month, my assignment was dessert.  Knowing my brother-in-law is a peanut butter fanatic, I stumbled upon this recipe and knew I had to try it out. 

I thought they were even better the next day!

Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Bars

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup oats

8 tablespoons butter, softened

1/3 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 cup peanut butter chips

1 cup chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350º.  Lightly grease a 9x13 baking pan and set aside. 

Mix together the flour, baking soda, salt and oats.  Set aside

In a large bowl (or stand mixer bowl) cream butter, peanut butter, and both sugars with the paddle attachment.  Mix in the vanilla, egg and egg yolk until combined. 

Stir in the dry ingredients, chocolate and peanut butter chips.  Mix until combined. 

Press the batter into the baking pan.  Bake for about 18-20 minutes until lightly browned on the edges.  

*Don't over bake or the bars will be dry!  Set pan aside to cool and let the bars cool in the pan before cutting into squares. 

Source: Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Nilla Wafer Cheesecakes

I love these single serving little cheesecakes!  After you bake them, the Nilla Wafer gets so soft and....well, crust-like.  It's so tasty!

Nilla Wafer Cheesecakes

Ingredients:

16 ounces cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

Nilla wafers

Directions:

With your stand mixer, beat the cream cheese with every ingredient except the wafers until smooth and cream.  

Lay out cupcake liners in a cupcake pan and put a Nilla Wafer in each liner.  Fill the liner half way with the cream cheese mixture. 

Bake at 350º for about 20 minutes. 

Let cool for one hour and top with your favorite fruit or even some whipped cream. 

Keep refrigerated until ready to serve. 

Greek Yogurt Strawberry Cheesecakes (No bake!)

These are so tasty and perfect when you are expecting guests that are coming to visit, but aren't staying long enough for dinner.  You can whip them up pretty quick and pull them out to serve when you are ready. 

They are also great to serve as a dessert after you eat dinner. 

They are also just really tasty and you don't really have to wait until guests come over to make them. 

Greek Yogurt Strawberry Cheesecakes (No bake!)

Ingredients:

Topping:

16 ounces fresh strawberries, washed and diced

6 ounces fresh raspberries, washed and patted dry

1 teaspoon sugar

Crust:

1 sleeve graham crackers (9 crackers) crushed into fine crumbs

4 tablespoons butter, melted

1 tablespoon sugar

Cheesecake

16 ounce cream cheese (try reduced fat to lighten up this dessert), softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup Greek yogurt (vanilla or honey-vanilla flavor)

Directions:

Topping:

Combine the strawberries, raspberries and sugar in a medium bowl.  Stir until well combined and let rest for 10-15 minutes.  This will allow the berries to macerate (a new word I recently learned!)

Crust:

Combine the crushed crackers with sugar and butter and mix.  Divide evenly among small single serving bowls or ramekins.  Press lightly into the bottom of the dish.  These are more fun if you can serve them individually. 

Cheesecake:

In your stand mixer, beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar together until the mixture is light and creamy.  Mix in the lemon juice and vanilla.  Add the yogurt and beat until well combined and fluffy for about 30-1minute. 

Stir the fruit mixture one more time and spoon a bit on top of each crust.  Remember you'll need berries to go on top of the cheesecake layer too, so save about half. 

Spoon an even amount of the cheesecake mixture on top of the fruit until it is evenly divided among all the dishes.  

Top with the remaining berries. 

Refrigerate until ready to serve. 

**If you plan to serve this the next day, you might not want to assemble these until it's time to serve because the berries on top of the crust may make the crust too soft. 

Source:   Mels Kitchen Cafe

Witch Hats

Luckily my food blog isn't popular.  Lucky because if it was, then it might be a problem that I post holiday recipes LONG after the holiday has passed.  Oops!

My son's preschool had a Halloween celebration last year and asked for donations.  I signed up to bring a treat.  Feeling a little buried with work and being a mother, I searched for an easy treat to make.  These witch hats were exactly what I was looking for and my son loved them!

Ingredients:

1 package of  Keebler Chocolate Striped Shortbread Cookies
1 package of Hershey's Kisses, unwrapped
1 container white frosting
green or orange food coloring

Directions:

Drop a few drops of food coloring into the white frosting and stir until well combined.  Smear a dollop of frosting on the bottom of a Hershey's kiss and stick it to the bottom (chocolate side) of the cookie.

You want the frosting to smush out from underneath the kiss so you can see the color of the frosting.

Wa-la!  Witch hats!

Cinnamon Rolls

A stand mixer was something I always knew I wanted.  I would say, "In the future, when I have a bigger kitchen to store it."  I knew it was a great tool to have in the kitchen, but it wasn't like I was feeling inconvenienced because I didn't have one.  

Little did I know!

Last October, my husband and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary.  Yea!  And one of his gifts to me was to finally get me a stand mixer.  

My life changed that day.  

I'm not kidding.  

When I say I wasn't feeling inconvenienced or anything it's because I didn't KNOW how amazing these things are!  It's like having a handy helper in the kitchen.  I'm in love.  I've used it almost every single day since I've gotten it.  Everything from making these amazing cinnamon rolls to shredding chicken to making a cheese ball.  

One of the first things I made was my first-ever cinnamon rolls.  Wow... why didn't I get a stand mixer years ago?  These were awesome!

Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

Dough:

1 cup of warm whole milk (110ºF)

2 eggs at room temperature (put them in a bowl of room temperature water to speed up that process)

1/3 cup of margarine (melted)

4 1/2 cups of bread flour (or more)

1 teaspoon of salt

1/2 cup of white sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons of dry yeast

Filling:

1 cup of brown sugar, packed

2 1/2 tablespoons of ground cinnamon

1/3 cup of unsalted butter, softened

Frosting: 

1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar

3 oz of cream cheese, at room temperature

1/4 cup of butter, room temperature

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

 1 small pinch of salt

drops of water

Directions: 

Using your stand mixer, pour in the warm milk and add dry yeast and 4 teaspoons of sugar (taken from the 1/2 cup of sugar you will use later).  Whisk quickly to mix and cover with a kitchen towel for about 10 minutes. 

Once it is bubbly and puffed up, attach the hook attachment and mix on low speed.  Add melted margarine, eggs and remaining sugar.  Now start adding the flour and salt, one cup at a time.  You may end up using more than 5 cups of flour.  Let the mixer work the dough on the slow speed for about 10 minutes.  Do this until the dough does not stick to the bottom of the bowl.  Or you can check it by getting a small piece of the dough and squeezing it between your finger and thumb.  If it doesn't stick, the the dough is ready.  

Place plastic wrap over the top of the dough (touching the dough) to cover it.  Let it rise for about 1 hour or until it doubles in size.  Keep it in a warm place.  I put it in near the dryer.

Sprinkle some flour over a clean surface and put the dough over it.  You'll need to stretch the dough using a rolling pin.  Shape it to about 16x21 inches in a rectangle.  Now spread the 1/3 cup of softened butter all over the dough. 

Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle this over the dough.  The butter should hold the mixture in place. 

Now roll the dough VERY TIGHTLY, the long way.  Then cut the dough into 12 pieces.  Cut in half first, then half of that then half of that...and so on. 

Lightly grease a 9x13 metal pan and place the rolls inside.  Cover and let rise for about 30 minutes or until they double in size.  Keep in a warm place. 

Bake rolls at 350º for about 15 minutes until golden brown. 

While baking, make the frosting:

In your stand mixer, add the cream cheese and butter and whip with the whipping attachment until they are evenly combined.  Add the vanilla and then the powdered sugar.  You will need to add a few drops of water to help it combine.  

Spread the frosting over the rolls once they come out of the oven, while they are still warm. 

source http://www.gotmixer.com/cinnamon-roll-recipe/

4th Of July Strawberries

I'm aware that Thanksgiving is next week and I'm posting a 4th of July treat.  Not backwards at all!  Somehow this post has been hiding at the bottom of my "drafts" and today, it surfaced!  So, here they are.... a sweet, cool, summer treat you can enjoy.... in 6-7 months from now!

4th of July Strawberries

Ingredients:

1-2 lbs of fresh strawberries, tops cut off

1 bag/box of melting white chocolate

blue sprinkles

Directions:

Melt the chocolate and dip the strawberries' tips in.

Pour the sprinkles into a shallow bowl and roll the chocolate tip of the strawberry in the sprinkles. 

Devour!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I don't usually enjoy baking.  Cookies are the worst!  Everytime I make them, they turn out flat and crispy. When I stumbled across this recipe, and all the ingredients were in my pantry, I thought I'd give it a whirl.  I'm not sure why, but they turned out fat and soft and pretty tasty too!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingrediets:

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips or chunks 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350º

Sift flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.

In another bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy.  Mix in egg and vanilla until completely incorporated.  Add flour mixture in 3 additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.  Mix in chocloate chips. 

On a baking stone, or a greased cookie sheet drop 1 Tablespoon sized balls of dough onto the baking stone about 2 inches apart.  

Bake 8-10 minutes.  Don't bake too long of your cookies will get crispy!

Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

Source: American Heritage Cooking

Cream Cheese Cinammon Rollies

Nothing makes me happier then when I make a dish for someone and later they ask me to make it again!  This weekend, my family went to Park City for a reunion and I made these for breakfast one morning.  Two days later, my older brother asked if I'd make them again.  Honestly, I didn't exactly want to get up before everyone again and make breakfast (it was MY vacation too, ya know!).  But how could I say no?  My eagerness to please dominated my desire to sleep in a bit longer. 

It seems like these are meant to be a breakfast item, but I see no reason why they can't be made as a dessert.  They are similar to a Churro, but smaller and the insides are a cream cheese filling. 

Cream Cheese Cinammon Rollies

Ingredients:

1 loaf of white bread

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 container cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, melted

Cinammon and Sugar mixed together to sprinkle over the top

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350º

In a medium bowl, combine the powdered sugar and soft cream cheese until smooth. 

Using a knife, cut the crusts off each slice of bread. Then with a rolling pin, flatten the bread.  (I like to do a few at a time, so the bread doesn't dry out)

Scoop a spoonful of the cream cheese mixture onto each piece of flattened bread, and spread it over the surface area of the bread.   Then roll up the bread, removing any excess cream from the seam. 

Brush melted butter over all sides of each roll and then sprinkle all sides with the cinammon/sugar mixture. 

Bake about 20 minutes until the rollies are nice and toasted. 

**My mom suggested adding some orange zest to the filling.  BRILLIANT!  I will be trying that added ingredient next time!

** I re-made these a few months later and experimented with nutella and strawberries for the filling rather than the cream cheese mix.  The possibilities are endless!

Cream Cheese Lemon Bars

Ever in the mood for a tasty dessert that ISN'T chocolate?  I know, it hardly ever happens, but these lemon bars are the exact remedy of "I need something sweet and I don't want it to be chocolate" syndrome. 
Cream Cheese Lemon Bars

Ingredients:

1 box of lemon cake mix (I got the "extra moist" kind)

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

8 oz cream cheese

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 cup sugar

Directions 

Combine cake mix, oil and 1 egg until crumbly.  Reserve 1 cup of the mixture and set aside.  Spread remainder of the crumbs in a 9x13 pan and pat down firmly to form a crust.  

Bake at 350º for about 10 minutes or until crust is lightly golden brown. 

In a bowl, mix remaining ingredients and whip until fluffy and white (that's important)

Spread over the crumb crust and crumble the reserved cup of crumbs over the tip.  Return to the oven and bake for another 25 minutes.

Cool before cutting. 

Source: Favorite Family Recipes

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

I keep saying how I don't like to bake, but then these fun recipes find me and I feel compelled.  So, since it's #bakingeverythingwithpumpkinseason.  I thought these would be a good addition to my growing list of treats.  

Thanks The Girl Who Ate Everything  

I wish I was you. 

Ingredients:

1 Betty Crocker Super Moist Spice cake mix

1/3 cup butter, softened

1 (15oz) can pumpkin puree

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 container Betty Crocker cream cheese frosting

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º.  Use baking stone or baking liner on a cookie sheet

2.  In a large bowl, mix the cake mix, butter, pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, eggs and milk.  Mix slowly for abour 30 second until mixed. Then beat for a couple minutes.  Batter will be a bit wet. 

3.  Use a cookie dough scooper to scoop out dollops on to the baking stone.  Try to make them all the same size. 

4.  Bake for about 10-11 minutes.  Let them cool completely. 

5.  Frost a cookie with cream cheese frosting and top with another cookie.  Store in an airtight container and in fridge until ready to eat.  

Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

I could not believe how delicious these turned out.  You know you have a winner when you have a crowd of hungry people hovering around you as you are filling the strawberries offering to "taste".  I'm pretty sure my little brother squirted the filling straight into his mouth from the bag...

Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

Ingredients:

1 lb large strawberries
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 - 1/2 cup powdered sugar (depending on how sweet you want it)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 – 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs

Instructions:
1. Rinse strawberries and cut around the top of the strawberry.

Remove the top and clean out with a paring knife, *I used a potato peeler and it worked awesomely! Slice off a tiny bit from the bottoms so the strawberries will stand up on their own. Prep all of the strawberries and set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Add cream cheese mix to a piping bag or Ziploc with the corner snipped off. Fill the strawberries with cheesecake mixture.
3. Once strawberries are filled, sprinkle or dip the tops with graham cracker crumbs.

If not serving immediately, keep strawberries, filing and crumbs seperate until ready to serve.  Be sure to kee the strawberries and filling refrigerated until serving.

Pumpkin Dip

One thing I know...people LOVE dips!  What's better than a themed holiday dip?  This sweet pumpkin dip is a great addition to the dessert table at any Halloween/Fall party!  We used apple slices and graham crackers to dip, but the possibilities are endless!

Source: The Girl Who Ate Everything

Pumpkin Dip

Ingredients:

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 cup frozen whipped cream, thawed
• Apples or cinnamon graham crackers
• 
  
• Directions

1.  In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth. 

2.  Add in pumpkin, sour cream, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and ginger.  Mix well. 

3.  Fold in whipped cream.

4.  Serve with apples and graham crackers. 

*To make it extra fancy, gut a small pumpkin and serve the dip inside. 

Halloween Ghost Cookies

I know, Halloween is tomorrow.  So it's a bit late for these guys to make an apperance this year, but aren't they cute?!  Our family had an annual Halloween Party a couple of weeks ago and I was asked to bring dessert.  These little cookies were a cintch to make and my 6-year-old enjoyed putting the eyes on.  Notice the eyes on the ghost in the middle...they're rolling down the front.  

*These are great because Nutter Butters already have a natural ghost shape.  OOoooOOOooo!

Halloween Ghost Cookies

Ingredients:

1-2 boxes of Nutter Butters
Mini chocolate chips
Almond Bark

Directions:
Melt the almond bark according to the directions and dip the Nutter Butters in.  Let sit on wax paper and place the chocolate chips on as eyes.

Oreo Cheesecake Bars

I've never been a big baker.  In my opinion, it's pretty boring.  But I find that the older my kids get, the more I want to create yummy treats for birthdays, holidays and other similar celebrations.  My baby turned one last month and I found these treats on Annie's Eats.  She's simply amazing.  She's a little intimidating.  I mean, these women really exsist?!  

Oreo Cheesecake Bars

Ingredients:

CRUST:

23 Oreo cookies

2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

CHEESECAKE

12 oz cream cheese, room temperature

6 Tbsp sugar

6 Tbsp sour cream, room temperature

1/2 tsp vanilla extract 

1/4 tsp salt

1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk

12 Oreo cookies, roughly chopped

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325º. 

Line an 8x8 inch baking dish with foil. 

CRUST:

Crush Oreos with a food processor until finely ground.  Add in the melted butter and pulse until the cookie crumbs are moistened. Transfer the mixture to the lined pan.  Press the crumbs into an even layer over the bottom of the pan.  Bake for 10 minutes, the set aside.  Leave oven on. 

FILLING:

Add cream cheese to a bowl and beat on medium-high speed until light and smooth.  Mix in the sugar until well combined. Blend in sour cream, vanilla and salt.  Beat in the egg and yolk on medium high speed until incorporated.  Be sure to scrape the bowl.  Stir in the chopped Oreos with a rubber spatula.

Pour the cheesecake batter over the prepared crust, smooth the top with a spatula.  Bake for about 40 minutes, until the cheesecake is set around the edges but slightly wobbly in the center. 

Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for about 1 hour to room temperature.  Cover the pan and refrigerate until well chilled, about 3 hours.  

To cut the bars, pull the cake from the pan by lifting the foil up out of the pan.  Place on cutting board, peel away the foil and slice into bars. 

*Clean the knife blade between each slice to keep the edges neat. 

Keep refrigerate until ready to serve. 

Fruit or Dessert Dip

"What should I take to the BBQ?"  That's the question!  Recently I attended a family BBQ and my mom had 90% of the meal already covered.  I wanted to contribute something so this is what I decided to take.  

It worked great becuase it's such a sweet topping.  Pefect for my older brother who doesn't eat fruit.  He created a brownie dessert topped with this dip and some Almond Joy drops.  

Yum!

Fruit or Dessert Dip

Tasty on fruit or brownies!

Ingredients:

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

7 ounces sweetened, condensed milk

8 ounces cool whip

Beat the cream cheese until smooth.  Add the milk and mix until there are no lumps.  Lastly, beat in the cool whip until well blended. 

Chill and serve with your favorite treat!

*You could easily add a few drops of red food coloring to make it pretty!

No Bake Nutella Cheesecake

I'm not too big on baking and creating sweet dishes.  Give me something with cheese and I won't be able to stop myself.  But, I know most people enjoy a sweet treat so when I invited my sister and her husband over for dinner last night, it was a perfect opportunity to experiment with the sweeter side of things.

Also I'd like to be clear:  There are few recipes that I have created on my own.  I wish!  Most posts here are simply my favorite recipes I have found.  What I do is edit and revise occasionally.

So...to give credit where's due:  You can find this original recipe (along with a MUCH better picture...you know, one that wasn't take after half the cheesecake was devoured by everyone at dinner) at one of the many food blogs I follow.

Mels Kitchen Cafe

No Bake Nutella Cheesecake

Ingredients:


Crust:


18 Oreo cookies, crushed
2 Tablespoons butter, melted


Cheesecake:
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread)
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups heavy whipping cream
3 Tablespoons powdered sugar


Garnish:
Extra sweetened whipped cream
Oreos, crushed or chocolate curls

Directions:
In a medium bowl, stir together the crushed Oreos and melted butter.  If you are serving in individual portions, divide the mixture evenly among each dish.  Otherwise, layer the crust along the bottom of your glass bowl. Be sure to press firmly to create a firm crust layer.

In a large bowl, with an electic mixer, beat the cream cheese until light and smooth.  Add the Nutella and mix until combined and smooth.  Add the vanilla and mix to combine.

In another bowl, whip the cream and powdered sugar together until medium to stiff peaks form.  Using a rubber spatula, fold in the cream into the Nutella mixture and mix well.

Spoon the filling into the individual dishes or spread evenly over your one layer of crust.

Cover and refigerate until it is time to serve.  It's recommended to chill for at least 2 hours.

Garnish with the whipped topping and crumbs or shaved chocolate.