Blueberry Cheescake Bars

On Friday, a guy from work brought me in a tub of blueberries from his garden to make something with. So on Saturday, I made these cheesecake bars from a recipe I found online at http://www.bettycrocker.com/Recipes/Recipe.aspx?recipeId=42454 . It was one of the few cheesecake recipes that I could find that actually called for the berries, and not just jam, although this recipe called for both. I have to say the fresh blueberries were amazing after being cooked and the crust was perfect. I was a little worried that the oatmeal cookie crust would be strange since most people use a graham cracker crust, but it really tasted great.

Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

Prep Time:40 min
Start to Finish:4 hr 10 min
Makes:28 bars

1 pouch Betty Crocker® oatmeal cookie mix
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 egg
3 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup whipping cream
3 eggs
1 jar (10 oz) blueberry spreadable fruit
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen (thawed and drained) whole blueberries

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom and sides of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray. In large bowl, beat cookie mix, butter and egg with electric mixer on low speed until soft dough forms. Press in bottom of pan.
2. Bake 15 minutes. Cool 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in another large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar with mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Add whipping cream and eggs; beat on low speed until well blended.
3. Spread spreadable fruit over partially cooled crust. Sprinkle with blueberries. Pour cream cheese mixture evenly over blueberries, spreading gently to cover.
4. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until center is set. Cool 30 minutes. Refrigerate at least 2 hours. For bars, cut into 7 rows by 4 rows. Store covered in refrigerator.
High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): In step 4, bake 45 to 50 minutes.






















*I know I really need to start taking pictures of a single piece of things.

Peanutbutter Iced Brownies

Last week I made a simple box brownie mix (Betty Crocker) and made a peanut butter frosting for it from scratch, from a recipe I found in the newspaper (Relish Magazine) awhile ago, that I had clipped and put in my recipe book http://www.relishmag.com/recipes/view/27738/chocolate-cake-peanut-butter.html . It was not as creamy as I would have liked, but I think I could have added more milk as the recipe suggests. Overall, the peanut butter/chocolate brownie combination was really good.

Peanut Butter Frosting Recipe

5 tablespoons butter, softened
1 1/2 cups, plus 2 tablespoons, confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup smooth peanut butter
2 to 5 tablespoons 2 percent low-fat milk

Instructions

To make the frosting, mix butter, confectioners’ sugar and vanilla with a mixer; beat well. Add peanut butter. Add 2 tablespoons milk slowly, beating until very creamy. Add up to 3 additional tablespoons milk if necessary to achieve desired consistency. When cake has cooled, frost top.

Orange Cookies

I found this recipe online from the 2002 winner of the Good Morning America's Christmas Cookie Contest. I took an orange from work and used half the zest IN the cookies and half the zest in the glaze. The glaze is just what I've been making for all of my lemon or lime desserts: eyeball some veg oil, some milk or water, zest, and powdered sugar. The veg. oil is the key I think. Be careful not to burn these cookies!!! They are very good soft.

Orange Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 Tablespoon grated orange rind
1 egg, unbeaten
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Directions

1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Add vanilla, orange rind and egg. Mix well.
3. Add sifted dry ingredients and mix until well blended.
4. Drop from teaspoon on un-greased cookie sheet.
5. Bake at 375 F for 10 minutes or until light brown. Sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar immediately after removing from oven.

Makes about 5 dozen cookies.

*I only got 3 dozen cookies out of this recipe.

No Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I got this recipe from Anna at cookiemadness.net, and everyone that tried them, including me who doesn't even LIKE chocolate chip cookies, said that they were amazing. I'm actually going to make another batch tomorrow. This is definitely going to be my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe from now on!

Chocolate Chip Cookies Made With Oil

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (more chocolate to compensate for the missing butter!)
(I used milk chocolate instead of the usual semi-sweet)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Stir together flour, soda and salt. Set aside.

Whisk together both types of sugar, oil, egg and vanilla. Add flour mixture to oil mixture and stir just until blended. Stir in chocolate chips

Using a tablespoon measure, scoop up dough and shape into tight rounds of about ¾ to 1 inch. Space them about 2 inches apart on two ungreased cookie sheets. The mounds should be bursting with chips. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cool for 2 minutes on cookie sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling.

Makes about 2 dozen

*Using a tablespoon as a scooper was a great idea, and if the dough starts sticking, just spray it with some PAM

Pineapple Cookies

I love love love love love pineapple! So when I found this recipe online, I had to make it. It's really easy, just make sure you buy pineapple in a can with JUICE, all we had at home were the rings in juice and the crushed in SYRUP. So I had to go buy a can of crushed in juice. The cookies were very good, soft and sugary, tasted exactly like the pillsbury ready-to-bake sugar cookies. However, the pineapple did not stand out very much, so I would definitely put in more than the called for amount next time.

Paradise Pineapple Cookies

3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
8 oz unsalted butter (Debbie omits salt and uses salted butter)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 large egg
1 8 oz can crushed pineapple, drained
1 tablespoon pineapple juice
Shredded sweetened coconut for topping cookies.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line a few cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Stir together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Cream butter and both sugars. Beat in vanilla and egg, then stir in drained pineapple and juice. Add flour mixture and stir until it is blended.

Drop dough onto parchment lined cookie sheets. Sprinkle shredded coconut on top of dough mounds. Bake at 300 for 22-24 minutes or until cookies are golden around edges.

Makes about 3 dozen

Apple Caramel Cookies

Once again I was browsing the internet at work (Shhhh!) and found this recipe at bakingblonde.wordpress.com , and when I looked over to our fruit table, there was one wonderful Granny Smith apple sitting there. So I definitely had no excuse not to make these! Plus, I had just seen the caramel bits at WalMart and wanted to try them out so I picked some up and made these really yummy cookies.

Apple Jacks

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup apple chopped (I would small dice 1 small-medium granny smith apple)
1/2 to 3/4 cup Kraft Carmel bits

Preheat oven to 350.
Line baking sheet with Parchment or lightly spray with PAM.
In a large bowl stir together the flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon.
Beat the butter with a mixer and add the sugar, vanilla and egg and beat until light and fluffy. Add the flour mixture and stir to combine.
Fold in the apple pieces (and any other add-ins).
Drop the dough onto baking sheet about 2 inches apart (these spread a bit).
Bake for 9-12 minutes or until light brown and edges are set. Allow to cool slightly on baking sheet and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.


NOTE: *DO NOT store completely covered or they will be very very soft and not hold up well due to the moisture in the apples. Storing loosely covered in the fridge helps them keep their texture, however then the Caramel Bits get hard.



*While I was chopping the apple, I squirted it with some lemon juice because I was afraid of it turning brown! The apple really held up in the baking process, stayed nice and white colored and kept a good little crunch.

3 Mile Brownies

I wanted to make brownies for father's day, but I didn't have a lot of time, and I wanted to make them exciting, so I was searching the internet for the kind of brownies you make in individual muffin tins, and I found this recipe at cooks.com. It was super easy and simple; I used two box mixes and a half bag of mini-reeses peanut butter cups. Everyone at work loved them and one guy said that they were so rich he would have to run three miles after eating them, so that is my new name for them!!

BROWNIE PEANUT BUTTER CUPS

1 pkg. fudge brownie mix
1/3 c. hot water
1/4 c. oil
1 egg
15 miniature Reese's peanut butter cups

Line muffin tins with paper baking cups. In large bowl combine brownie mix, water, oil and egg; mix with spoon. Fill muffin cups 1/2 to 2/3 full. Press peanut butter cup into batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Makes 15 cupcakes.

Lemon Lime Pound Cake

I saw this recipe in our local newspaper and it seemed simple. It took two lemons and two limes to make. It came out really fluffy and the glaze was amazing, but I altered it to be like the lemon glaze from Paula Deen's recipe: lime juice, milk, vegetable oil and powdered sugar. This was really good, definitely as good as the lemon pound cake that I have had at Starbucks, but I don't know if I would make it again because it takes a long time to deal with the fruit.

Lemon-lime pound cake


CAKE:

1 cup cake flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
Pinch salt
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon finely chopped lime zest
1 tablespoon finely chopped lemon zest
2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons lemon juice

GLAZE:

½ cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons lime juice
Fresh fruit salad or berries
Store-bought lemon curd

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Prepare a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with butter and flour. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.

With an electric mixer on medium speed or in a food processor fitted with a metal blade, beat the butter until softened. Slowly add the sugar and beat the mixture until it is light, thick and lemon colored. Add the eggs, vanilla and zests, and beat until incorporated. Slowly add the flour mixture, alternating with the milk and lemon juice until just incorporated.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a wooden skewer comes out clean and the top is nicely browned. Cool for 10 minutes and then invert onto a cake rack that has been placed on top of waxed paper.

While the cake is baking prepare the glaze: In a medium bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar and lime juice, and mix until the sugar has dissolved and the glaze is smooth with no sugar lumps.

Spoon the glaze over the cake in a pretty pattern. Place on a serving plate. Serve with a bowl of your favorite berries or fresh fruit and lemon curd if desired.

Advance preparation: This might be make a day ahead, covered well and kept at room temperature.

* I used regular SALTED butter, and omitted the salt from the recipe.

Caramel Frosted Brownies

Awhile ago I was in a doctor's office waiting room and came across a recipe from the foodnetwork that used caramels to make a cupcake frosting. Well, I didn't get a chance to write down the recipe, but I asked Anna at cookiemadness.net if she knew of a similar recipe and she found this one for me at http://www.hungrybrowser.com/phaedrus/m122302.htm#4 I thought that it would go well with chocolate so I decided to try it on a pan of brownies I made for work. The brownies were just a dark chocolate box mix from Betty Crocker.

CARAMEL ICING

Ingredients :
1 lb. Kraft caramels
1/2 c. hot water
1 c. sweet butter or margarine
1 c. confectioners' sugar

Preparation :

Place caramels and water in double boiler, heat and stir until a
smooth cream is obtained. Allow to cool. Place butter in mixing
bowl. Add sugar; mix at low speed to obtain a smooth paste. Mix at

medium speed adding above cool caramel cream gradually. Note: If
stiffer icing is desired, reduce amount of water.

* I definitely did not let the caramel cool long enough, it melted the butter and never firmed up. They way I did it would be best used as a drizzle-glaze. I was hoping for a more fluffy icing. However, the caramel-brownie combination was super-sweet and really yummy.

Blackberry Muffins

Last week I picked up some blackberries from a local farm (http://www.schrammfarms.com/). I've never made anything with blackberries before so I looked up recipes online and found one for muffins, that only took about a cup of the berries, which is all I had, so I made them. They turned out a bit like biscuits: not very sweet at all. They would be best served warm with a sweet butter on them, or maybe add a crisp topping of brown sugar.

Blackberry muffins Recipe #12184

35 min | 5 min prep | SERVES 4 -6

1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 beaten egg
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup frozen blackberries (frozen, they're easier to work with)

1. Mix together dry ingredients in large bowl.
2. Toss blackberries in dry ingredients til flour coated.
3. Mix together liquid ingredients.
4. Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix just til moist.
5. Spoon batter into jumbo muffin cups (ungreased).
6. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes .

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* I did not use any whole wheat flour, I only used white, and I used FRESH not frozen berries. And I used regular sized muffin tins, so I got 12 total muffins.