Sweet Celebrations

cream cheese crescent roll dessert

This is the last of my stash of pictures I took of things I baked before the new year.  You see, I've been trying not to bake anything extra.  Only the cakes that I knew were going somewhere else, out of my kitchen, away from my five senses and therefore off of my hips.

Although there was the one weekend the kids and I baked  the chocolate chip brownie cookies I wrote about here.  But that was for the kids, right?  Yeah.  I'll tell myself that. 

So anyway, this may be the last What's Baking Monday for a little while.  ;-)

Today's dessert is so good to me.  I looked it up because several years back a lady I went to church with always made it for potlucks and such and it was so good.  I think I even got the recipe from her but lost it. So I searched and I found a recipe that was very similar it just has a Cinnamon topping.  Even better, huh?  So I made it. 

I made it for a friend who had just had her baby boy so I didn't get to taste it, but she said it was good.  I'll take her word for it and try it again later when my hips recover form the Holidays.

 
2 pkgs. crescent rolls
2 pkgs. cream cheese
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 stick butter
2 tsp.  cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Press 1 package of crescent rolls on bottom and sides of a greased 9x13 pan.  Mix together cream cheese, 1 cup sugar and vanilla with mixer and pour over the top of crescent rolls.  Flatten the 2nd package of crescent rolls and place over cream cheese mixture.  Mix cinnamon and 1/2 cup sugar and sprinkle on top of crescent rolls.  Melt butter and pour on top.  Bake for 1/2 hour.

cherry chocolate brownie cheesecake

Now that name just sounds delicious, right?  It did to me too, that's why I made it.  After all, if it doesn't sound yummy to me, I usually don't make it.

So for today's What's Baking Monday, I give you:

I do realize that it's late Monday, but it is still technically Monday.  

 
1 box (8 oz.) fudge brownie mix
1 egg
3 tbsp. oil
1/2 cup minis semisweet chocolate chips (Normal size ones work just fine.)
3 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, at room temp.
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 can (21 oz.) cherry pie filling
whipped cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Coat a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray; set aside.  In a medium bowl, stir together brownie mix, egg and oil until combined.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Spread batter in prepared pan.  Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until brownie is just set.  (It will not be completely done at this point.)  

I'll tell you a secret.  This batter made really good cookies too.  Just ask my family.  They love these brownie chocolate chip cookies.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until well combined and smooth.  Beat eggs in on low speed just until combined; set aside.  Carefully spoon 1/2 can (1 cup) of pie filling into center of brownie, leaving a 2-inch brownie border along sides of pan.  Dollop cream cheese mixture over surface; carefully spread to edges of pan.  Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until center is set, but jiggles when the pan is lightly tapped.  Cool in pan on a wire rack for 1 hour.  Cover and chill at least 4 hours before serving.  Top cheesecake with remaining cherry pie filling.  Garnish with whipped cream, if desired.

Enjoy!
 

pw's chocolate sheet cake

I read Pioneer Woman's blog.  I got hooked a while back when a friend told me about the "love story" she wrote.  I'm a sucker for a good love story and this one is true.  It's the story of PW and her husband and it's good and beautifully written if you ask me.  So anyway, I love her blog.  She has great recipes, awesome pictures and I just really enjoy reading about her day to day life.

I said all that to say that I made her chocolate sheet cake...twice.  It was amazing.  In fact it was so amazing I only got one measly little picture because it was eaten so fast I only had time to get the one.

The recipe is here.  It can also be found in her cookbook which I got for Christmas and I absolutely love it.  My husband got it for me and my first reaction was, " You do listen and pay attention!"  Good to know!

mini cherry cheese cakes

This was a recipe I came up with during the summer.  I wanted to do something mini and cute and cheese cake sounded good so I used a shortbread crust recipe I had, baked the tiny crusts in a muffin pan and used Eagle Brand's Cherry Cheese Pie recipe for the filling.  I love the Eagle Brand recipe so I knew it couldn't be anything but good.  I was correct!

 
Shortbread Crust
2/3 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup white sugar
11/4 cups all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients together until evenly crumbly.  Press into a 9 inch square pan.  I doubled the recipe and made an 8 inch square pan and almost 12 (I think) mini crusts by pressing the dough into the muffin pan.  Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly brown around the edges.

Cheese Pie
1 (8 ounce) cream cheese, softened
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract

In large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy.  Gradually beat in condensed mild until smooth.  Stir in lemon juice and extract.  Pour into cooled shortbread crusts.  Chill 4 hours or until set.

Now you can top with cherry pie filling for a yummy and pretty finish.

 
Very good.  It satisfies all your cream cheese with cherries on top cravings.  A little chocolate somewhere in there and it would have been perfect.  :-)  Let me know if you try it out and what you think.

  

chocolate chip pumpkin bread

It's that time of year when baking is an absolute must at our house.  It's not so great for the figure, but oh so much fun!  Today's What's Baking recipe is as Fall as it gets.  It's pumpkin bread with a little surprise inside, chocolate chips.  Yummy!  So on to the recipe.

 
3 cups white sugar
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
1 cup vegetable oil 
2/3 cup water
4 eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease and flour three 9x5 inch loaf pans.  ( I halved the recipe and used 1 9x5 loaf pan and one that was a little smaller.)  In a large bowl, combine sugar, pumpkin, oil, water, vanilla and eggs.  Beat until smooth.  Blend in flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and salt.  Fold in chocolate chips. Pour into prepared pans and bake for 1 hour (It took mine about 45 minutes.) or until an inserted knife comes out clean.  Cool on wire racks.  Slice it up, smother with a little butter and enjoy!

 
In my opinion this bread was very good.  I give it a 4.5 out of 5.  However, don't do what I did and put in a tablespoon of nutmeg instead of a teaspoon.  It was a little too "nutmeggy" for me, but I'm sure if added appropriately would have been just right. 

I've been around my sister too long.  She can't follow a recipe to save her life.  Sometimes that works out well for her and she comes up with something delicious.  Then sometimes not so much, like when she thinks the recipe said bake for 10 minutes when it really said cool for 10 minutes.  Needless to say, that cheesy jalapeno bread was raw dough.

 

snickerdoodles

I like easy and delicious recipes and these snickerdoodles fit into both categories.  They are made from a cake mix so they are...um..."cakey", but very good.  I made two batches of them and I got maybe four cookies.  So needless to say they are a hit at our house.

 
3 tbs sugar 
1 tsp cinnamon
1 yellow cake mix (this recipe calls for DUNCAN HINES Moist Deluxe Yellow Cake Mix)
2 eggs
1/4 cup oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease cookie sheet.  Combine sugar and Cinnamon in small bowl.  Combine cake mix, eggs, and oil in large bowl.  Stir until well blended.    Shape dough into 1 inch balls.  Roll in cinnamon-sugar  mixture. 
Place balls, 2 inches apart, on a cookie sheet.  Flatten balls with bottom of glass.  Bake at 375 for 8 to 9 minutes or until set.  Cool one minute on cookie sheet before removing to wire rack.  Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

 
I give these snickerdoodles a 5 out of 5 because they are moist and very yummy.   

peanut butter and chocolate...

 
...my favorite combination. 

I saw these peanut butter chocolate chunk brownies with chocolate ganache on Cookie Madness not long ago and because of my love of all things peanut butter and chocolate, I had to try them.  These jewels did not disappoint.  They were delicious!  My husband said they were not sweet enough, but I totally disagree.  Even if I did run out of sugar and have to omit just a bit.  But let's keep that just between us.  ;-)

 
2 sticks unsalted butter, cut up (I used salted)
1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt  (I omitted)
1 cup peanut butter
2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chunks

Ganache:
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chunks
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F  Line a 13x9 inch metal pan with foil and spray bottom with cooking spray or rub with butter.  (I used a glass dish, not foil and rubbed with butter.) 

Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer. When light and fluffy, add peanut butter and beat until incorporated. Beat in eggs, the egg yolk and vanilla. By hand, stir in the flour and chocolate chips. Spread batter in pan, patting it down flat, and bake on center rack for 35-40 minutes or until puffed and golden. Cool completely.

Make the ganache. Put the chocolate chips in a heat-proof bowl. In a saucepan or in a microwave-safe measuring cup, heat the cream until starts to boil. Pour the cream over the chips and let stand for a minute. Stir well to melt chips; stir in the butter. Spread on cooled brownies and let set.

 
In my opinion, these brownies are a 5 out of 5.  Try them out and let me know what you think.

easy peanut butter cookies

 

Today's recipe is SUPER easy and yummy.  It's easy peanut butter cookies and these are perfect for those days that you would like something sweet and your pantry is pretty bare.  The recipe calls for only a couple items and they're usually things I have on hand. 

 
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix all ingredients well.  Place small spoon fulls of cookie dough on an un-greased cookie sheet.  With a fork make two marks in the cookie to press down; one vertical and the other horizontal.  If the fork sticks to the dough you can wet it a little.  Bake the cookies for 10 minutes or until lightly brown on top.  Cool and enjoy.

For a little fancier cookie.  Melt chocolate chips in a bowl and holding each cookie in the center with thumb and finger dip each end of the cookie in the chocolate and then dip the ends into a bowl of crushed peanuts.  This is very good and makes a nice looking treat.  Perfect for parties or just snacking at home.

 
I give these peanut butter cookies a 5 out of 5 because they are so easy and so good.

chocolate richness

This first WBM recipe is cheescake brownies.  I love cheesecake brownies, especially the ones my mother in law makes.  So when I came across this recipe over at Joy of Baking.com, I knew I had to give it a try. 

Let me tell you, I love all things rich and sweet and chocolate.  But these little guys just about did me in.  They were so rich and the chocolate pacified my chocolate cravings above and beyond what I needed.  The brownies were very "fudgy" which I liked and the cream cheese was yummy in all of its gooeyness, but just one brownie and your done.  Seriously, this is coming from someone who LOVES sweets so I can imagine that if you don't do rich sweetness then your taste buds would go into shock, not to mention you blood sugar.

  
Brownie Layer:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt

Cream Cheese Layer:
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line a 9" x 9" square pan *I used an 8" x 11.5" baking dish and it was fine.* with aluminum foil across the bottom and up two opposite sides of the pan.  Set aside.

In a stainless steel (heatproof) bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the butter and chocolate. *Remeber that the chocolate is unsweetened so when your husband sticks his finger in the bowl like mine did, don't warn him.  Just enjoy the sour expression on his face.* Remove from heat and stir in the sugar and vanilla.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well (with a wooden spoon) after each addition.  Stir in the flour and salt and beat, with a wooden spoon, until the batter is smooth and glossy and comes away from the side of the bowl (about one minute).  Remove 1/2 cup of the brownie batter and set aside.  Place the remainder of the brownie batter evenly into the prepared pan.

Mix the cream cheese and the vanilla until smooth.Add the sugar and egg and continue mixing until creamy.  Spread the cream cheese mixture over the brownie layer.  Spoon small dollops of the reserved brownie batter evenly on top of the cream cheese filling.  Then with a table knife or wooden skewer, swirl the two batters without mixing them. 

Bake in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes or until the brownies start to pull away from the side of the pan and the edges of the brownies are just beginning to brown.  *It took a little longer for my brownies.  I'm not sure how much longer but I was getting a little impatient.*  Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.  Refrigerate the brownies until they are firm enough to cut into squares (at least two hours).  *Yeah, we skipped this part and went straight to eating the brownies.  They were so hot that we had to eat them with a spoon right out of the baking dish.  But that's how it is at our house.  We love sweet stuff!* Once chilled, remove the brownies from the pan by lifting with the ends of the foil and transfer to a cutting board.  With a sharp knife, cut into 16 squares.  The brownies can be stored in the frig for several day.

Right out of the oven then half eaten:
 

 
These little jewels were good but not near as good as my mother in law's.  I give them a 3.5 out of 5. 

Don't forget to let me know in the comments if you tried this recipe and how it turned out.  If you blog about it, link me up as well.  Have a great Monday!

what's baking monday

I'm very excited about the new addition to my blog,What's Baking Monday.  You see I have folders and notebooks full of recipes that I've never tried.  They all look so yummy so I needed a reason to try them.  I found my reason.  Every week or most every week, when cake decorating doesn't keep me and my oven completely occupied, I will try a new recipe, post pictures, give you the recipe and give my review of that recipe. 

I will mostly do fairly easy recipes that take little to no culinary skills.  Because let's face it, I'm not a gourmet cook.  I just love to bake.  So feel free to try out the recipes that I post, post a blog of your own about it, comment here and link your blog.  If you don't have a blog, then comment anyway and let me know how your's turned out.

Check back Monday for the first installment of What's Baking Monday.  In the mean time here's another football cake I did.  This time the team was the Troy Trojans.  Have a great weekend!