Killer Oreo Faux Cheesecake

I did not make this up. I got it from some random magazine that does not put their name in a footer. So when I tore the page out, I had no idea from whence it came. Way to fail, random magazine!

Oreo pie crust (you can buy them at the grocery store next to the graham cracker crusts. You could make one, but then you would have to buy Oreos, and then they would get eaten before you made the crust, thus starting a vicious Oreo circle that culminates with you just going and purchasing a crust ready-made.)

10 oz chocolate chips
1 pkg cream cheese. (8 oz. Don't cheap out and get the low-fat kind. You are fooling no one.)
1/2 c powdered sugar
2 C heavy cream
2 t vanilla

1. Melt the chocolate chips.
   
2. Beat the cream and 1/4 C powdered sugar at medium speed until firm peaks (not stiff) form.
   
3. In separate bowl, beat cream cheese and remaining powdered sugar until smooth. Add in melted chocolate at low speed.
4. Fold 1/2 of cream mix into chocolate mix. Spread into crust.
   
5. Spread remaining cream mixture onto top of the pie.
6. Refrigerate 4 hours.

If you, like me, have very little brain power in the summer-time and don't read recipes correctly sometimes, then you can also make it like this:

Steps 1 & 2 are the same
Pour everything else in the bowl and beat.
Smash it into the crust
Refrigerate 4 hours.

Oatmeal Cake

This is an easy, super delicious cake.

CAKE

Mix together:

1 1/2 cups very hot water

1 cup oatmeal (better if you DON'T use quick oats)

1/2 cup cooking oil

2 eggs

Add:

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 1/3 cups flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

Bake in greased & floured pan at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

FROSTING

Stir over warm heat until melted & bubbly:

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup butter

Add:

2 Tbsp milk

1/2 cup chopped nuts (I prefer walnuts)

1/2 to 1 cup either coconut or small marshmallows (I like the coconut)

If using marshmallows, stir until melted and blended well.

Cinnamon Rolls

Making these again for Thanksgiving... thought it deserved it's own post.


Leann Bertoch's Cinnamon Rolls
My Mom used to make these all the time... and they're so good.

1 cup milk
½ cup sugar
1 cube butter
1 tsp salt
Put into a saucepan and bring to almost a boil – take off stove and let cool

In a small bowl combine ¼ cup warm water, 1Tbsp yeast and a pinch of sugar and flour

In a large bowl
4 cups flour
½ cup (or more) raisins

Beat three eggs into milk and add all ingredients together. Stir well. Let raise 2 hours.

Roll out on floured board 1/4” thick to a large circle (I’ve been making it a rectangle because it makes the rolls more even)

Pour ¼ cup melted butter on top. Sprinkle sugar on top (about 1 cup). Sprinkle with cinnamon on top of the sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-13 minutes.

Glaze with 2 cups powdered sugar, ¼ cup milk, 1 tsp vanilla and approx. ¼ cup butter.

Crepes

This was a Sunday night favorite when I was a missionary in France.

Ingredients:

4 Cups Milk
3 Cups Flour
Pinch of Salt
3 Large Egg
6 Tbsp Oil
1 Cup Sugar
2 Tbsp Vanilla

Usually I just mix this all together in a kitchen aid until blended. Best to add flour gradually to liquid so as to avoid clumps. You might need to add more or less sugar depending on your taste preferences.

Heat a skillet to medium high heat. Melt about 1 Tbsp of unsalted butter on the pan, add excess melted butter from pan to mixture and beat in. Ladle in enough batter to cover the entire pan, move the pan around to spread the mixture thinly over the entire pan. Should be slightly thinner than tortillas. Once the crepe begins to bubble pry the edge from the pan and with turner and flip crepe (about 15 seconds on a well heated pan). Cook second side briefly until begins to bubble (about 10 seconds on well heated pan).

If crepe sticks lower heat and add more butter to pan. It takes a few tries to get the technique down.

Serve with nutella, strawberries, and cream. Ice cream is also acceptable.

Darlybird Cupcakes

I am posting Darlybird's cupcakes because I'm always looking for her recipes when I'm craving a cupcake... now I can have them in my online file. ;-)

Below is exactly how it appears on her blog.

CUPCAKE INSTRUCTIONS

i'll give you a quick rundown of the three versions i did. all started with a $1 cake mix . . . and i definitely recommend using a mix since you'll be doing a fair amount of other things, like making fillings, etc. DISCLAIMER: i just reread these instructions and they're a bit frenetic at best. sorry. it's just that they were all a grand experiment. i figured out what i was doing as i did it. so i hope it makes sense.

so, first: Lemon cupcakes with lime curd filling and raspberry frosting

--lemon cake mix....make and bake as instructed

--lime curd: one can sweetened condensed milk with 1/3 c. fresh lime juice. (stir till combined)

--raspberry whipped cream frosting: this recipe is totally approximate, since i was just mixing random ingredients in. so bear with me and my imperfections:

Whipped cream with a bit of almond extract, powdered sugar, a couple TBS of butter, and a bit of cream cheese. mix together. add 1/2 bag of frozen raspberries and blend. let it sit for a bit so the raspberries have time to slightly thaw. then mix more. voila!


Chocolate Whipped Cream Cupcakes

chocolate cake mix -- make as directed

filling=whipped cream with some powdered sugar and almond extract (i had a ton of this left over, so i actually used the leftovers to make the raspberry frosting).

frosting: it's wilton's buttercream recipe. tamra just called me for the recipe and i looked it up online, and i think i have it memorized. dang! that will not be good for the baked good addiction. i've only made it once before, but it is the best buttercream on the planet!

1 c. butter
4 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. clear vanilla (i bought this at shepherds.....it just doesn't color the buttercream brown)
2 TBS milk

beat the butter in your pinky pie mixer (so cute!) until it's totally whipped. leave the butter out for a couple of hours or at least microwave it for a second so it's room temp.
add powd sug one cup at a time, vanilla, and milk last. i made a double batch of this and then took half out for the guava cream cheese cupcakes. then i added 3-4 TBS of cocoa powder and some more milk and that is what makes it a chocolate buttercream. super duper easy!

Vanilla cupcakes with guava cream cheese filling and vanilla buttercream

yellow cakemix- m.a.d. (as directed)

guava filling is found in a weird sealed bag at shepherds. i loved it and think it is awesome. it's a little thick to pipe into cupcakes, so i added some cream cheese and milk to kind of tame it down and thin it.

fill cupcakes and then frost with the vanilla buttercream from above recipe.

FILLING CUPCAKES: there is a tip at shepherds that is 1.50 or something and it looks like a long hollow needle. you put the filling in your bag and then stick that tip into the cupcake at least halfway. squeeze filling out into the cupcake to the point that you can see the cupcake expanding, but not bursting. it's super easy and i think it makes them so much fun.

Pumpkin White Chocolate Drops

About two years ago my lovely friend Kim, who had just moved into the ward and recently called as activities chair - put together this awesome Back-to-Bethlehem activity for Christmas. At the activity I happened to find these magic cookies. They melted in my mouth and were so scrumptious. I found out that Angela, the real Martha Stewart made them. So she was gracious enough to share her recipe. One warning... you will not believe how many cookies disappear without you noticing. Enjoy.

Pumpkin White Chocolate Drops

2 cups butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
1 can (16oz) solid pack pumpkin (I use one of the giant cans - we like the pumpkin)
2 eggs
4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 bag (12 oz) white chocolate chips


Preheat oven 375, grease cookie sheets (I like to use parchment paper)

Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add pumpkin and eggs, beat until smooth. Add flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder and baking soda, beat just until well blended. Stir in white chocolate chips.

Drop dough by tsp full about 2-inches apart onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake 14-16 minutes, until bottoms are golden. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire racks to cool

Frosting
1 container (16 oz) cream cheese frosting
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
French vanilla extract

Combine frosting and brown sugar and French vanilla in bowl, spread over warm cookies.

Makes about 6 dozen cookies. You can also freeze the dough.

Fresh Apple Cake

Fresh Apple Cake

4 cups apples, diced (peeled or unpeeled)

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup chopped nuts, optional (walnuts are good)

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 cups flour

Mix apples and sugar. Let stand. Mix remaining dry ingredients, add wet ingredients then apple mixture. Pour into greased, floured pan. Bake @ 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Is the zucchini starting to roll in? Too much in your garden? Are your neighbors a little too willing to share their harvest? This is the best zucchini recipe--the moistest chocolate cake I've ever had.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake
3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup baking cocoa
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups grated zucchini
2 Tbsp white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup water

Mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients. Pour into greased & floured 9x13 pan. Bake @ 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Top with your favorite chocolate frosting (or not).

Hot Fudge Spoon Cake

yum! Another recipe from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cook Book.

cake:
3/4 c. flour
1/4 c. sweet ground chocolate(or cocoa powder, but if it is unsweetened increase the sugar to 2/3 cup)
1/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

topping:
1/4 c. sweet cocoa powder
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1/4 c. firmly packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 c boiling water

1. Coat the cooker with butter or butter-flavor nonstick cooking spray.

2. In a bowl whisk together the dry ingredients for the cake. Make a depression in the center and add milk, butter and vanilla. Whisk until smooth. Pour into your ROUND crockpot(cakes tend to burn in oval ones) and spread evenly.

3. In same bowl, or another, depending on how many dishes you like to wash, combine the dry ingredients for the topping. Add the boiling water and whisk until smooth. Gently pour over batter in the cooker. DO NOT STIR! Put the lid on and cook on high for 2 - 2.25 hrs. Basically until the cake is puffed and set.

4. Enjoy with ice cream or by itself.

Ideas: I like to put vanilla in the topping, it tastes yummy too. I'm sure some other additions would work well as well in either one.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Dessert

This is my mother-in-law's specialty.  Yum!

CRUST

Two crust options:

Nut crust

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1/2-3/4 cup ground nuts, walnuts or pecans

1 cup flour

Mix well and pat into 9x13 pan.  Bake @ 350 degrees for 10-15 min or until sightly browned.  Cool.

OR

Chocolate Cookie Crumb crust

2 cups crushed oreos (minus the filling)

1/2 cup melted butter

mix and pat into 9x13 pan.  Bake @350 degrees for 10-15 min.  Cool.

CREAM CHEESE LAYER

Two 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

3/4  of a large cool whip (defrosted)

Beat cream cheese and powdered sugar until creamy.  Fold in cool whip.  Spread over cooled crust.

CHOCOLATE LAYER

2 boxes Dark Fudge pudding mix (4 servings each)

2 3/4 cups milk

Mix together and pour over cream cheese layer.  Let set until firm.  Top with remaining cool whip, then sprinkle with chopped nuts, mini-chocolate chips, or chocolate shavings.

Pumpkin Roll

Okay this is a holiday favorite in our home (and I apologize for so rarely posting).

Cake:
3 Eggs
1 C. Sugar
2/3 C. Canned Pumpkin
1 Tsp Lemon Juice
3/4 C. Flour
2 Tsp Cinnamon
1 Tsp ea. Nutmeg & Ginger
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Baking Powder
Powder Sugar

Preheat oven at 375. Beat eggs together for 3 minutes or so. Add in the granulated sugar slowly. Once thoroughly mixed add the pumpkin and lemon juice. Mix all ingredients well. Add all the dry ingredients, mix well. Pour spread onto a well greased and floured jelly roll pan (cookie sheet will work). Spread it thin no more than an 1/8-1/4 of an inch. Bake for 15 minutes. Place on a towel and sprinkle with powdered sugar and roll immediately.

Filling:

8 Oz. Cream Cheese
1/4 C. Butter
1 C. Powdered Sugar
1 Tsp Vanilla
1/2 C Chopped Nuts
Powdered Sugar

Cream all together while cake cools. Once cake cool unroll, and spread Filling as thickly as desired. Re-roll the cake. Sprinkle Top with powdered sugar. Chill thoroughly.

This really is enough to make two rolls. We'd typically get them wrapped in aluminum foil for Christmas from our family friends who'd make it every year.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

I am back on the Weight Watchers and am in love with this cookie recipe--only one point each, and they totally take care of the chocolate fix!


2 egg whites
1/4 c margerine
1/8 t salt
1/4 t baking soda
1/3 c cocoa
1/2 c sugar
1 c flour
1/2 c brown sugar, packed
1/3 c mini choc chips

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.

Beat butter and brown sugar with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy; gradually add granulated sugar, beating well. Add cocoa and egg whites, beating well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating until blended. Stir in chocolate minichips.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 11⁄2 inches apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350°F for 10 minutes. Cool on pans 2 minutes or until firm. Remove cookies from pans; cool completely on wire racks. Yield: 40 cookies (serving size: 1 cookie).

Chocolate Frosting

This is the best chocolate frosting I have ever had. I got it from one of my favorite cook books, Chocolate From the Cake Mix Doctor. It makes enough to frost a 2 or 3 layer cake, or a bunch of cupcakes and some to eat with a spoon

8 T (1 stick) butter, cut into pieces, and melted in the micro
2/3 C unsweetened cocoa powder
3 C powdered sugar
1/3 C sour cream
1 t vanilla extract

Place melted butter in large mixing bowl. Add cocoa and whisk until smooth. Add powdered sugar and sour cream, continuously whisking or blending. Add vanilla. Beat until fluffy.


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Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars

Made this a month or so ago - loved it...and so did my friend P.
This is from Ina Garten's barefoot contessa at home. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups creamy peanut butter, such as Skippy (18 ounces)
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pan
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 cups raspberry jam or other jam (18 ounces)
2/3 cups salted peanuts, coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9X13X2-inch baking pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light yellow, about 2 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the vanilla, eggs, and peanut butter and mix until well combined.

In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture. Mix just until combined.

Spread two thirds of the dough in the prepared pan, using a knife to spread it evenly. Spread the jam evenly over the dough. Drop small globs of the remaining dough evenly over the jam.

Don't worry if all the jam isn't covered; the dough will spread when it bakes. Sprinkle with the chopped peanuts and bake for 45 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and cut into small squares.

I used the Trader Joe's organic peanut butter with nuts...and the organic raspberry jam... delicious. This totally tastes like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich...

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

I'm posting this on request from a friend who loves chocolate and pumpkin. This is one of my favorite desserts.

Muffin/Cupcake
1 cup flour
3/4 cup wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1-2 tsp. pumpkin pie spices(nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon)
1 cup pureed pumpkin(home made or canned...fresh baked pumpkin tastes dang good, and can double as baby food)
2 eggs
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup honey
1/2 - 1 cup milk chocolate chips(the dark or semisweet, just feel too bitter, sorry Ghiradelli's)

Sift together the dry ingredients and set aside. In another bowl mix together the wet ingredients together and then mix into the dry ingredients. Add the chocolate chips. Dish into muffin cups and bake between 20-25 minutes at 350(I think...that is what 180 C translates to, right?)

Let cool in muffin tins for 10 minutes before popping out to cool.

Once cooled, frost with.....

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8oz package of cream cheese
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1-2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Let the cream cheese and butter soften and blend together. Mix in the vanilla and sugar(most recipes call for powdered sugar, but granulated works just fine).

Stores well in the fridge.

Chocolate Cherry Bars

I made these for my book club the other night and everyone asked for the recipe. So I thought I'd share them here too.

Chocolate Cherry Bars

1 cup butter
3/4 cup Hershey's Cocoa
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups plus 1/3 cup flour, divided
1/3 cup chopped almonds
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped maraschino cherries, drained

1. Heat oven to 350 F. Generously grease 13x9x2-inch baking pan.
2. Melt butter in large saucepan over low heat; stir in cocoa until smooth. Remove from heat. Add sugar, 3 eggs, 1 1/2 cups flour and almonds; mix well. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, whisk together remaining 1 egg, remaining 1/3 cup flour; sweetened condensed milk and almond extract. Pour over baked layer; sprinkle chocolate chips and cherries over top. Return to oven.
4. Bake additional 20 to 25 minutes or until set and edges are golden brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Refrigerate until cold, 6 hours or overnight. Cut into bars. Cover; refrigerate leftover bars.

Makes about 48 bars.

2 EASY Summer Recipes to help beat the heat!

Hey everyone! Been keeping meals simple and cool for the summer. Here are two easy faves we've been enjoying. Both very adaptable to what you have on hand.

Romaine Caeser Wraps
(Courtesy of the the Tanimura & Antle bag at Costco!) ;-)

• 2 heads of romaine hearts
• 2 cups cubed cooked chicken (approx. two 8oz boneless chicken breasts-- but canned chicken is so worth it for summer-- who wants to spend time cooking in a hot kitchen??!)
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (mmm Parmesan! Actually, I substituted mozzerella once and we fell in love with it so we use that a lot instead)
• 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 cup creamy Caesar dressing (I usually use Ranch just cuz we have it on hand.. of course, then you can't call it a "Caeser Wrap")
• 8 9-ince flour tortillas, plain or flavored
• Anything else you have on hand that sounds good and doesn't require cooking! Last night we had avocado in ours-- thanks Tia for the avococado tool-- freakin' amazing!!!!!! ;-)

1. Chop Romain hearts into bite-size pieces: place in a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients, except tortillas, and toss well to coat.
2. Soften tortillas in microwave oven (about 20 seconds on high)
3. To make wraps, place tortillas on plates and spoon Casear salad along center. Drizzle with additional dressing if desired. Roll tortilla from one side, burrito style, folding bottome up and in to hold in salad. Repeat for remaining tortillas. Makes 4-6 servings.
4. Eat 'em up while they're nice and crunchy!
   

If you want to turn some delicious summer fruit into something a little more special:

Lime-Ginger Honeydew

• 1 lime
• 1 tsp finely grated, peeled fresh ginger
• 1 large honeydew melon, cut in chunks (approx 10 cups)
• 1/3 cup Sugar & 3 Tbsp water

1. Bring 1/3 cup sugar and 3 Tbsp water to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat; stir to dissolve sugar. Refrigerate 5 minutes to cool.
2. Grate zest and juice lim. Stir 2 tsp zest, 1 Tbsp lime juice and the ginger into the sugar syrup. Pour over melon chunks and stir gently with a rubber spatula to mix and coat.
3. INDULGE! =)

I rarely have everything on hand for this (fresh ginger and limes). For a cheater version of this I will just blend up some honey, bottled lime juice and powdered ginger, then toss in the honeydew and coat. A bit different, but very tasty. I love honey on fruit! The lime zest really does add a nice dimension if you're choosing between buying lime or fresh ginger.