Mini Raspberry Tarts

We hadn't had a potluck at work for several months, and since I was soon going to be out of the office (becauseOMG
Ihaveababynow), we decided to have one, just for fun, a few weeks ago.

I had seen this recipe in a magazine and knew I wanted to try it. Coincidentally, I found it in the middle of my husband's yearly obsession with raspberries, so the timing was right and I deemed the potluck a good occasion to try them.

I was afraid to make the tarts too thin, and I only made 24 instead of 36 ... they puffed up quite a bit in the oven and were not too thin at all, so my initial fear was unfounded, but luckily they collapsed in the middle nicely so that I could still fill them with the cream cheese mix. I didn't have orange zest, either, so I substituted a few drops of orange flavoring.

These taste amazing - EVERYONE was asking me about them and telling me how much they liked them. I think they look a lot more complicated than they actually are, so if you want to impress people with appearance and taste, this is a good way to go. I was fine with just having 24 of them, and I had a good amount of filling and didn't have to worry about breaking the sugar cookie dough in to the 36 parts. And this way I could bake both of my mini-muffin tins at the same time and not have to do a second round in the oven :)

Ingredients

1 (16.5-ounce) package refrigerated sugar cookie dough
1 (8-ounce) package 1/3-less fat block-style cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
32 fresh raspberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°. Coat a mini-muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Divide sugar cookie dough into 32 pieces. Coat hands in flour, and roll pieces into balls. Press each ball into tin, forming dough up and around into the shape of a tart.


Bake for 11–12 minutes or until golden. Let cool 10 minutes in pan.

Remove tarts, and cool completely on a wire rack. Using an electric mixer, combine cream cheese, sugar, orange zest, and vanilla. Spoon cream cheese mixture into each tart.


Top each with a fresh raspberry. Chill until ready to serve.

Source: Health magazine

Cookie Dough Cupcakes

A coworker of mine had mentioned cookie dough cupcakes to me a few months ago, and I thought they sounded fantastic. Fantastically yummy. And fantastically complicated. Surely, to get the taste of cookie dough IN a cupcake, you must have specials skills, tools, talents, ingredients, powers, right?

No.

I have none of the above (aside from the ability to roll my tongue, which some might consider a special talent). And I made them and will do so again and again.

I must be on a cookie dough kick this week. I made these for the birthday of one of Tim's coworkers. The actual cupcake part of this treat was the most moist thing I have ever eaten. It was amazingly easy to make these, and some people called it the best thing I have ever made, which is an observation I do not take lightly.

One of Tim's coworkers told me he microwaved one for a few seconds and it tasted exactly like a cupcake and cookie dough. As you'll see from my notes below, next time I make these I'm going to make some small modifications to have them be more "gooey cookie dough center" instead of "fairly baked cookie dough crust." People seemed to love the fact that they had NO IDEA there was cookie dough coming until they bit in to one.

Makes 22 to 24 cupcakes (2 1/2 inches each)
Preparation time: 15 Minutes
Baking time: 23 to 27 Minutes
Assembly time: 10 Minutes

Ingredients:

24 paper liners for cupcake pans (2 1/2-inch size)
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain yellow cake mix
1 package (3.4 ounces) vanilla instant pudding mix
1 cup whole milk
1 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 package (1 pound) frozen cookie dough (see "the Cupcake Doctor says" below)
Frosting (Cupcake Doctor recommends homemade chocolate buttercream, I used store-bought frosting)

Directions:

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners. Set the pans aside.

2. Place the cake mix, pudding mix, milk, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping down the sides again if needed. The batter should look well blended. Spoon or scoop a heaping 1/4 cup batter into each lined cupcake cup, filling it two thirds of the way full. (You will get between 22 and 24 cupcakes; remove the empty liners, if any.) Cut the frozen dough pieces in half to make 24 pieces. Place a frozen cookie dough piece on top of each cupcake (see "Kristin I. Cupcake Maker says" below). Place the pans in the oven.

3. Bake the cupcakes until they are golden and spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 23 to 27 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and place them on wire racks to cool for 5 minutes. Run a dinner knife around the edges of the cupcake liners, lift the cupcakes up from the bottoms of the cups using the end of the knife, and pick them out of the cups carefully with your fingertips. Place them on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes before frosting. They may sink a bit in the center.


4. Frost and serve!

Store these cupcakes, in a cake saver or under a glass dome, at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Or freeze them, wrapped in aluminum foil or in a cake saver, for up to 6 months. Thaw the cupcakes overnight in the refrigerator before serving.

The Cupcake Doctor says...

If you use the 18-ounce logs of refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough (instead of the 1-pound packages of frozen dough), cut them into 24 equal pieces and freeze them before using them in this recipe. It's important to use frozen dough, because you don't want it to bake completely and become a cookie. You want the center to be gooey when you bite into it.

Kristin I. Cupcake Maker says ...

I used the 18-ounce log and froze it first. When I make these again, I am going to keep the pieces frozen til the last possible second. In the little time I needed to cut the frozen log, I think it defrosted just enough to start baking and become a cookie while in the cupcake. When I make them again, I'm going to push the piece of cupcake dough in to the cupcake because it seemed to just bake at the top instead of become a gooey ball inside of the cupcake. It made for a yummy cookie dough topping, but it wasn't the gooey center I was expecting.

Source: The Cake Mix Doctor

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

I had almost forgotten about this little gem over on Heather's blog. But when I went hunting for the Oreo cupcake recipe, it jumped out at me again and screamed, "Make me for craft party!" Never one to argue with reason (or yelling imaginary voices), I decided to make it for May's craft gathering.

As I was making it, I worried about each step and if I was dissolving the brown sugar enough, if the mixture was cooled enough, if my dip was very liquid-like. Therefore, I did not take many photos. But for all of my paranoia, this dip turned. out. GOOD. It really did taste like cookie dough, but without the salmonella threat of raw eggs. It held it's own with the spectacular selection of food and desserts that the girls brought - it was, by far, one of our finest food offerings EVER.

Because I am always looking for ways to cut calories, I served it with reduced fat graham crackers and reduced fat vanilla wafers.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (I used I Can't Believe It's Not Butter For Cooking and Baking)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extra
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened (I used reduced fat cream cheese)
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
3/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions (with Heather's notes below):
1. In a small sauce pan, melt butter and brown sugar over medium heat. Stir continuously until the brown sugar dissolves.

2. Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla extract. Set aside to cool.

3. Beat the softened cream cheese and confectioner's sugar for 1 minute.

4. Slowly beat in the cooled butter/brown sugar mixture. Beat for an additional minute.


5. Stir in the chocolate chips.

6. Pour mixture into serving bowl and refrigerate. (Note: The mixture will be very liquid-like at first. Refrigeration is necessary to make it a better consistency. If you are running short on time, you can also throw the mixture into the freezer for a little bit.)

7. Garnish with additional chips (optional).

(Another note: After refrigeration for an extended period of time, your dip will be very solid and un-dippable--your wafers or graham crackers will break! To achieve the best consistency, remove from the refrigerator 15-30 minutes prior to serving.)

Source: Heather's blog

Cheesecake Cookie Bars

I've made these before and got rave reviews. This batch, though? I really had no reason to make these. I just felt like baking, and in my defense, I had a coupon for the cookie dough. Thus, this batch was born. And sent to work with Tim. Where they LOVED them. One of Tim's coworkers even asked if I would marry her.

I don't think my baked goods have ever prompted a marriage proposal.

I also love this recipe because it requires so few ingredients. You really can't go wrong.

Ingredients:

2 packages (18 ounces each) refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough (I've found these almost work better with generic cookie dough instead of name brand)

2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened (I use reduced-fat cream cheese)

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 13X9-inch baking pan. Let both packages of dough stand at room temperature about 15 minutes.

2. Reserve three-fourths of one package of dough. Press remaining 1-1/4 packages of dough evenly onto bottom of prepared pan.

3. Combine cream cheese, sugar and eggs in large bowl; beat until well blended and smooth. Spread cream cheese mixture over dough in pan. Break reserved dough into small pieces; sprinkle over cream cheese mixture.

4. Bake 35 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Store leftovers covered in refrigerator.

Source: Famous Brand Name 3 Books in 1: Cookies, Bars and Muffins