Caramel Pecan Cheesecake

The title says it all - what's not to love! My BFF in NC sent me this recipe link and I made it that night because it looked so amazing and I wanted to do a test run before Thanksgiving. Again with the cell phone pictures because I'm too lazy to break out the camera and take a nice shot, so I'm forgoing a picture of the food and posting one of me and my momma from years ago! Please do me one favor and MAKE YOUR CRUST! The pre-made graham cracker crust tastes like sawdust and a yummy homemade one is easy to whip up!  Now to get off the food topic for a minute.

This is the first Thanksgiving without my mom (December 1st will be the six month anniversary of her death) and it's proving to be a difficult time for me. The festivities do not hold the same magic they have in the past and I know my momma would not want it that way. However, it's hard...plain and simple. Gatlinburg, TN was my momma's favorite place on earth and a turn of events has landed us there for Thanksgiving weekend. I really felt God's hand in this situation because he gave me faith that I will see true joy again. For the first time in a long time, I felt that twinge of joy that had always been a part of me when I found out we'd be in Gatlinburg.....it's like I'll be with my momma in spirit because I know that's where her spirit is every day. My wish is that everyone holds the ones they love a little bit closer and takes the opportunity to get to know who their family really is. We all grow with age and those relatives who were a pain in the ass when we were young, aren't necessarily that way anymore. Get to know the family members in your life as they are today and truly embrace your relationship with them. I hope we all love a little more, forgive a little more, and appreciate what we have a little more staring right now while we have the opportunity.

Recipe Adapted from Taste of Home found HERE

Ingredients

2 C graham cracker crumbs
1/3 C sugar
1/2 C butter, melted
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1-1/4 cups chopped pecans
1 jar (12-1/4 ounces) caramel ice cream topping
Additional caramel ice cream topping, optional

Directions

Melt the butter in a bowl, and then stir in the graham cracker crumbs and sugar.  Press graham cracker mix into a pie pine and up the sides as evenly as possible.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, 1 egg and vanilla until smooth.  Spread into pastry shell; sprinkle with pecans.
In a small bowl, whisk remaining eggs; gradually whisk in caramel topping until blended. Pour slowly over pecans.

Bake at 375° for 35-40 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour. Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight before slicing. If desired, garnish with additional caramel ice cream topping.

Peanut Butter Dump Your Boyfriend Chocolate Cupcakes

These cupcakes are AMAZING!! If you have any sorrows to drown or any celebrations, these are your cupcakes.

My husband and I love going to Barnes & Nobles and browsing cookbooks and magazines. Sometimes we take pictures of the recipes with our cell phones....GASP...instead of buying the book. That is where this delectable little recipe came from! So, we did not get a picture of the book cover and I am unable to share the source at this time. That definitely does not take away from the party in your mouth when you take a bite!!

I was very excited that I got the chance to display these cupcakes on the cupcake stand I made!  The project was super easy and turned out very cute. 

Cake:

2 C all purpose flour
2 C sugar
½ C cocoa
2 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
½ t salt
1 C oil
1 C milk (please do not use skim; use at least 2%)
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 t vanilla extract
1 C hot water

Frosting:

½ C butter, softened
1 C creamy peanut butter
3 T hot water
2 C confectioners’ sugar
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Line your cupcake tins; makes around 22 cupcakes.

In a large bowl, sift together dry ingredients.

Add oil, milk, vanilla, beaten eggs; blend well. Stir in hot water; mix well.
Fill lined cupcake tins using 1/3 cup measuring cup. Bake 22-25 minutes. Let cool.

For the frosting: blend the butter and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar and hot water (alternating) until desired texture is achieved.

Frost cupcakes and enjoy!

Cheesecake and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

A picture is worth a thousand words and in some cases a thousand calories.  Cheesecake and chocolate chip cookie dough is a combination made in heaven!  The simplest recipes can be so delicious and that's the case with this recipe.  I have a confession to make - I used Pillsbury cookie dough and Ghirardelli chips!  I think there was a time when Nestle didn't melt the way I would have liked it and I've always found it to be "waxy" compared to Hershey's or other higher chocolate chips. 

Toll House Chocolate Cheesecake

Ingredients


1 pkg. (16.5 oz.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Refrigerated Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough or your favorite recipe
2 pkgs. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
4 oz unsweetened bakers chocolate, melted
2 containers (8 oz. each) frozen whipped topping, thawed
1/2 cup NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels, melted

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 375º F. Grease a 9-inch springform pan.

SLICE dough into 16 pieces. Cover bottom of prepared pan with pieces. Allow to soften for 5 to 10 minutes. Using fingertips, pat dough gently to cover bottom.

BAKE for 15 to 17 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

COMBINE cream cheese, sugar and melted chocolate in a large mixing bowl until well blended. Add whipped topping; stir until just blended. Spoon over cookie crust; smooth top. Drizzle with melted chocolate. Cover; refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours or overnight. Remove sides of pan.

Grab a fork and dive in! This one is worth every single calorie - it's so tasty there is no guilt involved. 

Check out the following sites for some more sweet features:

Allie' n Son  - Sweet Tooth Friday

Sweet as Sugar Cookies - Sweets for Saturday #3

Heavenly Chocolate Zucchini Cake

This is easily the best chocolate cake I have ever indulged in!  Thanks to Lisa over at The Cutting Edge of Ordinary for sharing this addictive bit of goodness.  I followed the recipe to a T and used applesauce like she recommended.  There was a tiny applesauce incident the second time I made this cake.  Not really sure how it happened, but the applesauce jar fell from the counter and busted all over the floor.  I cleaned up the mess and knelt down to wipe up the sticky applesauce residue - well, all the glass was not cleaned up.  My knee found it and I lost a lot of blood, but survived.  I'm sitting here debating on getting in the shower because we all know how bad that burn is - especially with a cut this bad.  I won't go into too much detail, but there is some "floppage."  With that being said, mmmmmmm - enjoy the best chocolate zucchini cake ever.  This is the kind of recipe that makes you toss out the old standbys because it is so wonderful!

Chocolate Zucchini Cake
Courtesy of The Cutting Edge of Ordinary courtesy of Bon Appetit, November 1995

2 ¼ cups sifted all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 ¾ cups sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup vegetable oil (I used 1/2 cup applesauce instead)
2 large eggs
1 teasoon vanilla extract
½ cup buttermilk
2 cups grated unpeeled zucchini (about 2 ½ medium)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
¾ cup chopped walnuts (optional, I left them out)

Preheat oven to 325.

Butter and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan, or a bundt pan. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda & salt into a medium bowl. Beat the sugar, butter and oil in a large bowl until well blended. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract. Mix in the dry ingredients alternating with the buttermilk in 3 additions. Mix in grated zucchini. Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and nuts. Bake 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool cake completely in pan.

Neely's Cookies and Cream Cake

Mmmmm, this was so delicious! The recipe was adapted from the Neely's recipe. I changed the order in which the ingredients were mixed because the original directions were really odd. I love Oreos and they did wonders for an otherwise simple chocolate cake. I know I've expressed that I do not love chocolate in the past, but we sure make lots of chocolate desserts. I make it because Matt loves chocolate so much and it makes him happy. Plus, it's easy for me to resist it; unless the chocolate comes in the form of the flourless chocolate cookies. I hope ya'll enjoy this cake as much as we did! I used all my Oreo crumbs, but sprinkling some on top would make this cake even more beautiful!

On a serious note, please support Haiti and check out the cookbook that 27 foodie bloggers created as a fundraiser...how cool! You can go to the website by clicking here and can purchase a soft or hardbound cookbook!



Neely's Cookies and Cream Cake

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 2 C all-purpose flour
• 3/4 C unsweetened cocoa
• 2 C granulated sugar
• 1.5 t baking powder
• .5 t baking soda
• 1 t salt
• 3 large eggs, plus 1 egg yolk
• 1 C unsalted butter, melted
• 1 C buttermilk
• 1.5 C finely chopped Oreos

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Coat your cake pans w/shortening. Cut out a piece of wax or parchment paper large enough to cover the bottom of your cake pan, and press down; it will stick to the shortening. I usually trace the bottom of the cake pan onto my wax paper and then cut it out. No fear of your cake sticking anymore!!
In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, egg yolk, and butter milk; mix until the eggs are blended. In a small bowl combine the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Alternate between adding the dry ingredients and the melted butter to the egg and buttermilk mixture. Beat until smoth, about 3 minutes. Add the crumbled cookies and beat until incorporated.
Pour the batter evenly into the cake pans and bake approximately 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove the cakes from the oven and cool, on a rack, in the pan for 5-10 minutes. Turn the cake out onto a rack and let cool completely. When cooled, frost with the cookies and cream cheese frosting!
Cookies and Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 stick butter, softened
• 2 (8 oz.) pacakges cream cheese, softened
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 3 3/4 C confectioners' sugar
• 1.5 C finely crumbed Oreos

Directions
In a large bowl with an electric mixer, blend the butter and cream cheese until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the salt and vanilla; blend. Add the confectioners' sugar, 1/2 C at a time, until smooth. Beat in the crumbled cookies. Frost the cookie cake and enjoy!

Snickers Cupcakes

So, I'm not really sure why, but I got bit by the bug this weekend and ended up baking and cooking a whole bunch of things. Oh yeah, this is Matt by the way. I started with Snickers Cupcakes, courtesy of Food Network Magazine, continued with some tasty Chocolate Malt Cookies, and just finished the weekend with some homemade Carolina BBQ sauce. So, here is the deal for the Snickers Cupcakes. I have to say that parts of them are phenomenal, but with a couple tweaks, they'll be perfect. So, let's go....



For the cupcakes:

2-1/2 cups all purpose flour
2-1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 large eggs at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
10 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup whole milk
2 cups chopped salted roasted peanuts (we'll talk about this later.


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-cup muffin pans with paper liners. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Separately, beat the eggs and both sugars until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Gradually beat in the melted butter and vanilla. With the mixer on low, add half the dry ingredients, then the milk, then the remaining dry ingredients. Fold in the peanuts, but do not overmix.

Divide the batter evenly into the 12 muffin cups, filling each about halfway. Bake 20 to 22* minutes (I disagree) until a toothpick comes out clean.

*Salted nuts tend to dry out a batter drastically, which causes the cupcakes to end up a lot drier than I like. I would start checking the cakes at about 17 to 18 minutes to ensure they do not get dry. If you would prefer, you can omit the nuts and bake them as directed, but the nuts really
added a yummy texture to the cakes.

For the frosting:

6 ounces chopped milk chocolate
4 ounces chopped semi sweet chocolate
2-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup whole milk
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt

Put both chocolates in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on 50% power for 1 minute. Stir and continue to microwave until melted. Add the sugar, milk, butter, vanilla, and salt and beat until smooth and creamy.

*This frosting really is the star of this recipe. It is chocolately, smooth, and delicious with the whole milk. Use good quality chocolate for this one. I used bars of Ghirardelli, which is really my favorite baking chocolate.

For the nougat:

2-13 ounce jars marshmallow creme
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
Pinch of salt

*The nougat is very good too! The leftover frosting and nougat are in our fridge being eaten on the end of a spoon whenever we need a sugary pick me up!

Flourless Chocolate Cookies

I am not a chocolate fan...I mean it's okay, but not my favorite. I'd prefer a fruit pie or a vanilla cupcake with white frosting....or a deep fried pickle. However, Matt loves chocolate, so I'm always trying to satsify his "chocolate" tooth. I came upon this recipe in an amazing chocolate cookbook by Francois Payard called Chocolate Epiphany. I have made these cookies several times and fall in love with each new bite. They melt in your mouth and you want to eat them until your tummy hurts. If these were the only cookies I'd ever get to eat again for the rest of my life, I would be content. These cookies have turned a corner for me...a chocolate corner. I hope you love them as much as I do.

1/2 C plus 3 T (68g) Dutch-processed cocoa powder

3 C (350g) confectioners' sugar

Pinch of salt

2 - 3/4 C pecans (the original recipe called for walnuts...go the pecan route and you won't be disappointed), *toasted and coarsely chopped

4 large egg whites, at room temperature

1 T (15g) pure vanilla extract

• Place a rack in the upper and bottom third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

• Combine the cocoa powder, confectioners' sugar, salt, and pecans in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed for 1 minute. With the mixer running, slowly add the egg whites and vanilla. Mix on medium speed for 3 minutes, until the mixture has slightly thickened. Do not overmix it, or the egg whites will thicken too much. (pay very close attention...I did this once).

• With a 2-ounce cookie, ice-cream scoop or a generous tablespoon, scoop the batter onto the prepared baking sheets, to make cookies that are 4 inches in diameter. Scoop 5 cookies on each pan, about 3 inches apart so that they don't stick when they spread.

• **Put the cookies in the oven, and immediately lower the temperature to 320 degrees F. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes, or until small cracks appear on the surface of the cookies. Switch pans halfway through baking.

• Pull the parchment paper with the cookies onto a wire cooling rack, and let cool completely before removing cookies from the papter. Store in an airtight container for up to two days.

*To toast the pecans spread on a cookie sheet in a single layer; place on the middle rack in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Watch carefully and shake during baking several times. Nuts burn easily and you can smell when they are toasted perfectly. Let the nuts cool and coarsely chop - I use a knife b/c the toasting softens the nuts and my knife easily runs through them.

**I have never followed these steps and my cookies have turned out wonderful; except that one time I overmixed the batter.

This batter was so very yummy when I licked the spoon! Mmmmm!!!

The cookies turn out very beautiful. They'd be great wrapped up in some clear cell0phane with a cute ribbon and given as a gift.

This picture is a little blurry, but I love it. It really makes me wish I had a cookie in my hand right now!