Mini-cheesecake brownie bites

I stumbled on a new-to-me cooking and baking blog a few months (it's one of the ones I recently added to the blog roll) ... and watch out, blog world: I'm hooked.

I had promised a co-worker that I would bake - I hadn't baked in a while, and I have a reputation to uphold. I wanted a recipe that would be different but easy to make with ingredients I had on hand, and I had several of Joelen's recipes to choose from. I heart this recipe further because it was super easy to modify in to a reduced fat version. The boxed brownie mix that I had - Duncan Hines - provided a way to make the brownies lower fat by using only one egg and reduced water, as well as substituting unsweetened applesauce for vegetable oil. I also used reduced fat cream cheese.

I LOVE these bites, and I was not alone in my assessment. I will make them over and over again - they're a great snack or party food, and they're a nice size for a touch of rich, chocolate-y goodness without a load of calories.

Ingredients
1 package fudge brownie mix
Ingredients for brownie mix
1 block cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare muffin pan by spraying the inside of each well with cooking spray.

Pour prepared brownie mix in each well.

In a small bowl combine the remaining ingredients.

Carefully top each brownie well with the cream cheese mixture.

Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until done

Source: What's Cooking, Chicago?

Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

A few months ago, I issued a call for help.

Two blog followers responded, and they responded in a yummy way :)

I made these bars for a coworker's birthday in November. Another coworker made peach cobbler, so it was a battle of the fruits in the office :)

The only problem I had with this easy dessert was that I refused to get my tiny food processor out to make the graham cracker crumbs. Instead, I used the old "pound a plastic bag with a rolling pin" method. When I asked Lisa, who provided the recipe, if she had ever had problems with the dessert being super crumbly (almost to the point that it seemed that this was a cobbler, too), Lisa said the only time she'd had a problem was when she hadn't used a food processor to get the graham cracker crumbs.

Lesson learned, and now shared.

These bars went fast - and I think they'll be a perfect addition to any gathering. I'm picturing a summer picnic ...

Ingredients

6 Tbsp. butter, melted
2 cups  graham cracker crumbs
2 pkg. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup  sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp.  vanilla
1 jar (10 oz.) blueberry jam or preserves
1 cup  blueberries

Directions

Heat oven to 350ºF.

Mix butter and graham crumbs in 13x9-inch pan; press onto bottom of pan. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Beat cream cheese in large bowl with mixer until creamy. Add sugar, eggs and vanilla; beat until well blended. Stir jam in jar until softened; spread evenly onto crust. Top with berries, then cream cheese mixture.

Bake 30 min. or until slightly puffed. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Source: Kraft Recipes

Orange cheesecake with raspberry sauce

We've never really done anything big for Easter. This year, because of my newfound pregnancy-induced nausea, we didn't even do anything big for Christmas. (Good thing we blew out Thanksgiving since we found out we were expecting four days later!)

Even though I've been feeling better, I've still been exhausted from working two jobs and taking a class. I wanted to keep Easter low-key, food-wise, and had to work Easter afternoon at my full-time job, anyway.

But I did want to bake something new.

I asked my husband what he wanted for an Easter dessert. I was thinking a cream pie. Or an elaborate cake. He suggested "jelly beans and Peeps." Sigh. I asked him to be serious. He responded with "chocolate bunnies."

It seemed I was on my own.

I came home from my part-time job and made some lunch. I looked over at my cookbooks, uninspired. I figured I'd do some hunting on the internet later that day for the perfect recipe. I changed the calendar - it was April 1, after all - and was hit by baking inspiration.

I bought this calendar for 80 cents at Michael's in late December. I hadn't found *the perfect* calendar and figured this one, with a delicious recipe every month, would work perfectly in our kitchen. I've drooled over each month's offering, but this was the first one I actually made.

I ended up using strawberries instead of raspberries for the sauce (apparently there was an Easter run on frozen raspberries - who knew?). My frozen strawberries did not have sauce, so I used a bit of water to give them more liquid. And I used orange juice (I had it in the house) and no grated orange peel (for no other reason than I'm lazy). Not surprisingly, the orange flavor was virtually impossible to detect. It didn't matter, though - the cheesecake was delicious, and the sauce was a hit with my husband. I will definitely try to boost the citrus flavor next time I make this, but it was an easy, delectable cheesecake the way it was - and perfect for our Easter dessert.

Ingredients:

CRUST
1 pkg. (9oz) chocolate wafer cookies, crushed
6 T margarine, melted

FILLING
4 pkg (8oz) cream cheese, softened
1 1/3 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 T orange flavored liqueur or orange juice
1 t grated orange peel

SAUCE
1 pkg (10 oz) frozen red raspberries in syrup, thawed
3 T sugar
1 t cornstarch

Directions:


Heat oven to 325°F. In medium bowl, combine crust ingredients; mix well. Press in bottom and 2 inches up sides of ungreased 9" springform pan.

In large bowl, beat cream cheese at medium speed until smooth and creamy. Gradually add 1 1/3 cups sugar, beating until smooth. At low speed, add eggs 1 at a time, beating just until blended. Add liqueur and orange peel; beat 2 minutes at medium speed, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Pour mixture into crust. Bake at 325°F for 55 to 65 minutes or until almost set. Cool 2 1/2 hours or until completely cooled. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.

In food processor bowl with metal blade or in blender, process raspberries with syrup until smooth. If desired, strain to remove seeds. In small saucepan, combine 3 T sugar and cornstarch; stir in raspberry puree. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture boils and thickens. Cool to room temperature.

Just before serving, carefully remove sides of pan. Serve cheesecake with sauce.

Source: 2010 Pillsbury Dessert Recipes calendar

Pumpkin Spice No Bake Cheesecake

I saw this recipe on a Katie's blog and really, really, REALLY wanted to try it. I just had no idea when I would make it, especially with all of the great pumpkin recipes I've found and made so far this year.

Fear not - I found a reason to make it :) While I home for a few days, my little brother and I were searching for a dessert that would be easy to polish off in a few days (my parents and brother are the only ones still in the house on a regular basis, so gone are the days of a cake disappearing in a mere day or two). We were also baking cookies for Operation Baking Gals, so we weren't entirely sure we wanted to make another thing in the oven.

Enter the no-bake pumpkin cheesecake. Delicious, and I wasn't worried about starting the holiday weight struggle early with this light, sweet dessert.

Ingredients:
8 oz 1/3 less fat Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1/2 cup pureed pumpkin (canned is fine)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (Katie substituted 1/2 tsp nutmeg and 1/2 tsp allspice)
1/4 cup brown sugar, unpacked
8 oz Cool Whip Free, thawed
9 inch reduced fat Graham Cracker Crust

Directions:
In a large bowl using an electric mixer, whip cream cheese, pumpkin, vanilla, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and brown sugar for a few minutes until fluffy.

Add Cool Whip and whip until smooth.

Spoon mixture into pie crust and chill for a few hours (it took at least three hours for us to have it hold form), until firm.

Source: Katie's blog

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

I made this amazing white chocolate raspberry cheesecake for Tim's birthday in December, but I thought it might be a nice break in the pumpkin-ness to share it now. I have made it a few times since his birthday, will likely make it again for his birthday and basically just love how easy it is but how fancy it looks and tastes. It also provided the perfect reason to purchase a springform pan :)

Tim and I love the white chocolate raspberry cheesecake at Olive Garden, and Tim said this was almost as good as it :) I'm not a big cheesecake person, but this. dessert. was. good. And Tim actually finished it, which is rare - who would have known that I would marry the one man who could care less if I baked as much as I do?! Tim noted the cheesecake's especially fruity taste, as opposed to the alternative, which I suppose would be a white chocolate taste.

The only thing I did differently from the recipe was use crushed graham crackers instead of cookie crumbs, although I'm sure they would be equally yummy and would add to the chocolate flavor.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chocolate cookie crumbs
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen raspberries
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cups white chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup half-and-half cream
• 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, mix together cookie crumbs, 3 tablespoons sugar, and melted butter. Press mixture into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.

2. In a saucepan, combine raspberries, 2 tablespoons sugar, cornstarch, and water. Bring to boil, and continue boiling 5 minutes, or until sauce is thick. Strain sauce through a mesh strainer to remove seeds.

3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). In a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water, melt white chocolate chips with half-and-half, stirring occasionally until smooth.

4. In a large bowl, mix together cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time. Blend in vanilla and melted white chocolate. Pour half of batter over crust. Spoon 3 tablespoons raspberry sauce over batter. Pour remaining cheesecake batter into pan, and again spoon 3 tablespoons raspberry sauce over the top. Swirl batter with the tip of a knife to create a marbled effect.

5. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until filling is set. Cool, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 8 hours before removing from pan. Serve with remaining raspberry sauce.

Source: allrecipes.com

Baked Lemon Cheesecake

My sister's birthday gift to me arrived just before Lemon Week started, and I was extremely pleased to find a new cookbook with several lemon recipes. But one recipe stood out to me as the one that had to be tested: The Cheesecake.

I'm not a big cheesecake person, but my husband is, and I do enjoy using my springform pan. I have to admit that this was not the cheesecakey-est cheesecake I've ever tried. And I didn't quite prepare it to specifications ... for example, I used some bottle lemon juice and the juice of only two lemons. While I think my sugar is superfine in the sense that it's radically awesome, I do not think it meets the cookbook's standards of superfine. I perusal of the baking aisle did not yield any superfine sugar, so I winged it with regular granular sugar. I accidentally used slightly more than a scant 1 cup ("scant," shockingly enough, means to use absolutely no more than 1 cup) and I didn't strain it ... so I think my cheesecake had extra moisture from the beginning.

But it was a light, creamy treat, and it didn't have an overwhelming lemon flavor. I am absolutely in love with the gingersnap crust, too.


Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter, plus extra for greasing
3 cups crushed gingersnaps
3 lemons
1 1/3 cups ricotta cheese
scant 1 cup strained plain yogurt (I didn't strain it and I accidentally used a little more than a scant 1 cup - my bad!)
4 eggs
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1/2 cup superfine sugar (I used about 3/4 cup regular sugar)
strips of lemon zest, to decorate
confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly green an 8-inch round springform fan and line the bottom with nonstick parchment paper.

Melt the butter and stir in the cookie crumbs. Press into the base of the prepared cake pan. Chill until firm.

Meanwhile, finely grate the rind and squeeze the juice from the lemons. Add the ricotta, yogurt, eggs, cornstarch and superfine sugar and whip until a smooth batter is formed.


Carefully pour the mixture into the pan. Bake in the preheated over for 40-45 minutes, or until just firm and golden brown.

Cool the cheesecake completely in the pan, then run a knife around the edge to loosen, and turn out onto a serving plate. Decorate with lemon zest and dust with confectioners' sugar.

Serves 6-8

Source: Baking Day: A celebration of the simple joys of baking