Cherry Cheesecake Crisp—Lucky Leaf Pie Filling and Giveaway

First of all, don’t you just love these colorful, square ramekins?  I think they are so cool and cute and fun.  Guess what?  One lucky reader can enter the giveaway I’m having from Lucky Leaf (Premium Pie Filling).

You can win your own Rachael Ray Bubble & Brown Square Singles Stoneware Set and some pie filling, courtesy of Lucky Leaf.  I received a set of the stoneware and some pie filling, too.  Thanks, Lucky Leaf!  While I’m not currently eating sugar (or gluten), so I didn’t get to try this cherry cheesecake dessert I came up with, my boys and husband ate it up.  Kevin loves cheesecake and they all love cherry pie filling. 

This cherry cheesecake crisp was so easy.  I wanted to make something that didn’t take a lot of time and when Kevin suggested cheesecake I knew that wasn’t as easy as he was thinking.  So I kind of just winged it and came up with this simple no bake version.  I didn’t really want to bother with a crust on the bottom, so I made a quick graham cracker granola to sprinkle on the top.  Kevin said it was really good (and he’s not really a granola or graham cracker fan).  He also liked that the cheesecake wasn’t too sweet.  He really doesn’t like super sweet things.  He said the cherry pie filling added just the right amount of sweet to this.  For making something up on the fly, hearing him say it was actually really good made me quite happy.

The granola takes the longest for this and it’s super simple to whip up, the longest thing is waiting for it to bake in the oven and then cool.  You can make it ahead of time and store it in an airtight container.  There is plenty of it left that I’ll be making these individual cheesecakes again soon.  Raspberry pie filling sounds good, or strawberry…..ooh, peach.  The list could go on and on. 

I love that Lucky Leaf Premium Pie Filling doesn’t have high fructose corn syrup.  And the cherry filling is FULL of cherries.  There was enough to make these four individual desserts and would have made a fifth, but one of my sons just prefers to eat the cherry filling without the cheesecake, so I left him some!

Cherry Cheesecake Crisp, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

6 ounces of 1/3 less fat cream cheese, room temperature

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

4 ounces whipped topping (or you can use real whipped cream that is whipped first)

1—21 ounce can of Lucky Leaf cherry pie filling (or flavor of your choice)

For the granola:

1 cup old fashioned oats

4 graham crackers (2 ounces)

1/4 cup brown sugar

4 tablespoons canola oil

1 tablespoon honey  (you can cut a little of the brown sugar and add more honey if you’d like)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.  Line a 1/4 sheet baking sheet with parchment paper.   In a food processor pulse the graham crackers until mostly finely ground (a few pieces are okay).  Or crush the graham crackers in a plastic zip top bag.  In a bowl, combine the oats, graham crackers, brown sugar and salt.  Mix together.  Add the oil, honey and vanilla and stir until all combined.  Pour the granola mixture onto the baking sheet.  Bake for 18-20 minutes.  Remove from oven and don’t touch until cool.  Break into pieces for the tops of the cherry cheesecake (there will be some small, crumbly pieces and that’s okay).

While the granola is baking/cooling, combine in an electric mixer bowl the cream cheese, lemon juice and vanilla.  Beat until smooth.  Add the sugar a little at a time while it is beating.  Scrape the sides of the bowl.  Add the whipped topping and beat until all combined.  Scrape the sides of the bowl and clean off the paddle attachment.  Fold it all together with a spatula to make sure it is well combined.  Spoon some of the cheesecake filling evenly into each ramekin.  Spread it evenly.  Add cherry pie filling to the top of the cheesecake.  Sprinkle with Graham Cracker Granola.  Serve and/or keep refrigerated until serving.  Store extra granola in an airtight container.

Want some other recipe inspiration?  Check out all the recipes at Lucky Leaf.

If you’d like a chance to win that colorful stoneware set and some Lucky Leaf Premium Pie Filling, all you have to do to enter the giveaway is leave a comment here on this post telling me what your favorite dessert is using pie filling.  Again, check out the recipes at Lucky Leaf if you need some help there.  For a second entry, follow Lucky Leaf on Pinterest  (#LoveableLuckyLeaf ) and leave me a comment here that you are now following them.

This contest is open to US residents only and will close by Wednesday, February 12 at 5 p.m. MST.  The winner will be notified by email, so make sure I have a way to contact you.

***Congratulations to Comment #4 Pam!  Your comment was chosen by the random generator and your giveaway package is on the way!  --Katrina, 2-13-14

Pam said...

I love to make cobblers with Pie Fillings so fast and simple and tastes like you have been slaving

February 06, 2014 3:54 PM

Salted Caramel Cheesecake Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hello, Friends.  I know, it’s been over two weeks since I blogged anything.  I’m sorry.  I’m lame.  I’ve been busy.  I haven’t felt that great.  But you totally need a cookie.  Tis the season.  So cookies it is!

In all seriousness, I want to bring you lots of yummy things this month—the holidays are coming!  I made these cookies weeks ago and you need to know about them.  I take no credit for them—that’s how I seem to roll these days.  Have you been to Krista’s blog, Budget Gourmet Mom?  Well, shame on you if you haven’t.  How could you not love the blog of a mom with four boys, just saying.  AND, how lame is it that Krista recently moved to the same city in Utah that I live in and we haven’t met yet.  We could blame those eight boys!

I made these cookies and I think one boy and one husband ate one or two and I gave the rest away to a number of wonderful neighbors who recently helped us out making us dinner when life was crazy.  I didn’t taste the cookies, but I heard from more than just my family that they were delicious.  Besides that, I think they look GREAT!  So, if you’re looking for something just a little different from plain ol’ chocolate chip cookies, try these.  You can’t go wrong with caramel AND cheesecake.  I made a few ever-so-slight changes to Krista’s recipe.  I added some salt to the cookie dough and I made a different caramel swirl.  Therefore, I think you should try both to see which you like better.   You need to add these to your holiday cookies.

Salted Caramel Cheesecake Chocolate Chip Cookies, adapted by Katrina, Baking and Boys! from Krista at Budget Gourmet Mom

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature (I used the 1/3 less fat kind)

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon fine ground sea salt

12 ounces (2 cups) semi sweet chocolate chips

Caramel Swirl

4 ounces caramel (I have a BIG block of caramel and measured out 4 ounces, you could use the caramels that need unwrapped)

3 tablespoons heavy cream

sea salt, for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  In the bowl of a mixer, combine the butter and cream cheese and beat until combined.  Scrape sides of bowl and add both sugars.  Beat to combine well.  Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until combined.  Scrape sides of bowl again.  In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Add to the creamed mixture and beat just until combined.  Fold in the chocolate chips.  Scoop dough onto baking sheets and bake for 10 minutes.  Let cookies sit on baking sheets for a few minutes.  Remove to cooling racks. 

Make the caramel swirl by putting the caramel in a microwave safe bowl.  Add the cream to the bowl and microwave in 20-30 second increments, stirring each time, until the caramel and cream have combined well and are smooth.  The consistency will be like a caramel ice cream sauce.  Let it cool slightly (10 minutes or so).  Pour the caramel into a plastic zip top bag, seal it, removing any excess air, then snip off a tiny corner of the bag and drizzle the caramel over the cookies.   Sprinkle sea salt over the tops of the cookies. 

You know you want to make these.  Get your holiday baking started!  I think I’m going to make them again for a shindig on Friday.

Layers of Lemony Love Dessert and Crustless Cheesecake with Raspberry Pie Filling from Lucky Leaf

Lucky Leaf is at it again.  They sent me more of their pie fillings to try.  Lucky leaf, lucky me! Check it out on Twitter, too at #LuckyLeafLuckyMe.   I have enjoyed using their pie fillings.  Because of health reasons, I am no longer eating any processed food, also gluten free and no refined sugars.  My question is, CAN I DO THIS?  Yes, I can.  But that doesn’t mean I can’t make things my family and friends will enjoy and that’s just what I did with the yummy things Lucky Leaf sent me.

I feel a little bad, they sent me some fun jars to make individual desserts in jars.  But we were heading out of town the next morning that I used the fillings and it was easier to make regular sized treats for the company we had over.  I will for sure use the jars once we get home.  There is still some peach pie filling to use!

I often have a giveaway for my readers from Lucky Leaf and wasn’t able to do that this time since we are out of town, but I’m sure I’ll hear from them again! ;)

My family and our company (which we also family) that had these two desserts I made using the pie filling said they were great.   If you’re looking for super simple desserts, head over to the Lucky Leaf website and check out all their recipes.  I got the recipe for the Layers of Lemony Love Dessert on their site.  It was probably a favorite of the family we had over and since we were going out of town,  I sent them home with the leftovers.  They were happy.

Layers of Lemony Love Dessert, from Lucky Leaf

1  1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened (1  1/2 sticks)

1   8 oz. package cream cheese (I used the 1/3 less fat kind), softened

1 cup powdered sugar

1  21 oz. can Lucky Leaf Premium Lemon Pie Filling

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1  8 oz. container frozen whipped dessert topping (like Cool Whip), thawed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease bottom of 9x13 inch baking pan.  Mix flour and butter (I used a food processor until it was all combined, like coarse meal.)  Spread evenly in pan and press it down slightly.  Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden.  Let crust cool.

Beat cream cheese in mixer until smooth, add powdered sugar, Lucky Leaf lemon pie filling, vanilla and half the whipped topping.  Pour and spread over the cooled crust.  Spread the remaining whipped topping over pie filling mixture.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. 

For those who didn’t want the lemon dessert, I made a cheesecake to go with the raspberry pie filling.  After deciding to make the cheesecake, I realized I didn’t have anything to make a crust, so I made a crustless cheesecake.  Some family members were happy to have a lighter, healthier option.  One of the things I love about Lucky Leaf Premium Pie Fillings is that they have no high fructose corn syrup.

I got the recipe for the crustless cheesecake from Rachael’s blog, Simply Fresh Cooking.  The only thing I did different from her recipe is that I didn’t use organic ingredients and I didn’t put the sour cream topping on the cheesecake.  There was vanilla in the sour cream topping, but I added it to the cheesecake instead. Check it out.  Everyone said it was a great cheesecake!  I served it with the Lucky Leaf Red Raspberry Premium Pie Filling and some fresh raspberries.

The raspberry pie filling is full of raspberries!  When I have been in a pinch to quickly find a last minute dessert, these pie fillings are great.  Thank you again to Lucky Leaf for the fun package!

Check out all the other goodness from Lucky Leaf on Twitter and Pinterest.  #LuckyLeafLuckyMe

Cheesecake Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Cheesecake Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Do you like cheesecake?  And who doesn’t like chocolate chip cookies?  These are the best of both worlds.  A cheesecake layer in the middle of chocolate chip cookie bars.  I saw these recently, on Pinterest? or a blog?, I can’t remember.  I think it’s Pinterest because I think I got the recipe from being led to a blog I didn’t really know.  Hey, I know, I’ll go check.

Okay, I’m not that big of a loser, the recipe is on Nicole’s blog, Heat Oven to 350 and I have heard of it, lots of delicious recipes and great photos, I just couldn’t remember until I got up, walked across the room and got the recipe I printed.  I know, the things I do for my readers! ;)  Nicole has adapted the recipe from King Arthur Flour, but a quick search over on their website and I couldn’t find anything close enough.  So, all the credit for this one goes to Nicole, and her mom’s friend, Jill. 

And you know what?  Wait for it……I didn’t change any of the ingredients in the recipe.  I know, I should have had you sit down before tell you that.  Sorry.  Make these cookie bars and you’ll forgive me.  I wanted to give the recipe a shot exactly how it is written for the first try, but I’m crazy, so I’ll change the recipe the next time I make it.  Why?  Well, I know I can make any chocolate chip cookie recipe and the bars will work, so although the recipe Nicole has provided tastes great, it has shortening and is the chocolate chip cookie recipe with vinegar.  Don’t get me wrong.  I’ve made that similar recipe before and the cookies are great.  I just try not to use shortening and since I already have a favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, that’s what I’ll try next time.

I’ll shut up now.  I just urge you to try this bar cookie/cheesecake cookie bar/chocolate chip cookie bar with cream cheese/whatever you want to call it—because they are THAT good. 

I’ve looked it over and thought about it, I didn’t change the recipe enough to even rewrite it.  You’ll see in Nicole’s recipe for these Cheesecake Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars that she mentioned the dough being a little difficult to spread in the pan.  The bottom layer wasn’t too bad.  I just dolloped it around the pan, as she suggested and spread it evenly with a spatula.  After pouring the cream cheese layer over half the cookie dough, it’s a little more difficult to spread the other half of the dough over that.  I feel I was being somewhat genius in what I did.  I spread the rest of the dough on a piece of waxed paper so it was close to the size of the pan (9x13) and stuck it in the freezer.

My idea would have worked great if I had decided to wait long enough for it to freeze, but I was somewhat pressed for time, so I only waited about  10-15 minutes.  Parts of it peeled off in nice, flat pieces, but some of it wasn’t frozen enough yet.  Can’t wait to try that again and do it right next time.  There’s nothing wrong with a little of the cheesecake mixture seeping up through the top layer of cookie dough.

These bars were great and sliced perfectly after they chilled in the fridge for a couple hours.  For removing them from the pan easily, I lined it with nonstick foil that hung over the sides. 

You just need to make these, that’s all I’m saying. 

Key Lime Cheesecake Bars and Oatmeal Chocolate Chip or Raisin Cookies—Secret Recipe Club

It’s Secret Recipe Club time again! Swiftly fly the weeks…….!  It’s a fun group and really does make you branch out and 1—”meet” new people and find new blogs and 2—find great new recipes and try new things!  I say that and this month I went with kind of “good old” recipes.  That’s not entirely true, my secret blogger was Lesa from Edesia's Notebook made her own version of these two faves and I was drawn in by the photos as well as needed to use up some things I had and these two recipes were perfect for that.

Lesa is a stay-at-home-mom with two girls (girls, what is that?) ;)  She loves to cook and bake and find new recipes to try out on her family.  Sounds familiar!  I liked the simplicity of her blog and recipes and actually had a hard time deciding what to make until the boys were begging for chocolate chip cookies one day.  (I have a little secret confession, with every new  blog I find or am assigned for SRC, the first thing I do is search for cookies.)

I found some Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies that are Lesa’s spin on the famous Neiman Marcus cookies and decided they must be made to make for some happy campers ‘round here.

I added chocolate chips to half the dough and baked a couple dozen.  Then I added just raisins to the other half of the dough for Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. 

The recipe made a lot of cookies!  And was perfect for after school snacks for the boys.

That seemed a little like a cop out for the SRC though and I fully intended to fix that by making something else from Lesa’s blog.  After a little more searching and realizing I had some of Nellie & Joe’s Key West Lime Juice that only has a couple more months fridge life, I stumbled upon some Key Lime Cheesecake Bars that Lesa made back in August of this year.  Oh, I also had about 4-5 packages of cream cheese in my fridge—so these became the perfect thing to make.  I included these on a tray of goodies I took to our Thanksgiving dinner (as well as a couple pies, like this Nutella Pie, and a pumpkin cheesecake swirled pie and my favorite sweet potato casserole).

I would have to say pie is definitely a Thanksgiving favorite of most people and since that is what most people had, I ended up taking home quite a few of the key lime cheesecake bars.  And actually, that was okay with us, especially Scottie, who I believe ate almost all the bars over the next couple days after Thanksgiving!  He really liked them!  I did, too!  I thought they really were perfectly limey and creamy.  I also loved the crust Lesa made with ground up graham crackers and almonds!

I only ever so slightly adapted the cheesecake bars recipe.   The cookies, too, I lowered the amount of sugars and baking soda.  I’m finding that helps a bit with the higher altitude here.

Key Lime Cheesecake Bars, adapted from Katrina, Baking and Boys! from Edesia’s Notebook

Crust:

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 6 rectangle crackers)

1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted

1 tablespoon sugar

3 tablespoons butter, melted

Cheesecake Filling:

1 can (14 ounces) fat free sweetened condensed milk

8 ounces 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened

2 large egg yolks

zest of one lime

1/2 cup key lime juice (fresh or as I used as a great alternative-Nellie & Joe’s Key West Lime Juice)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Have an 8x8 inch baking pan ready. 

Grind the graham crackers in a food processor until almost crumbs.  Add the sliced almonds and sugar and pulse until finely ground.  Pulse in the melted butter until all combined.  Spread the mixture evenly into the baking pan.  Set aside.

Wipe out the bowl to the food processor.  Add the cream cheese and pulse until smooth.  Add the condensed milk and pulse to combine.  Scrape the sides of the bowl.  Add the egg yolks, lime zest and key lime juice and blend together.  (This can also be done in a mixing bowl.)  Pour the mixture into the baking pan over the crumb crust.

Bake for 25 minutes until the filling is just set.  Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.  Chill for at least 3 hours.

____________________________________

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies and/or Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, by Katrina, Baking and Boys! adapted from Edesia’s Notebook

1  1/4 cups (100 grams) ground oats (grind in a food processor or blender)

1  1/4 cups (100 grams) old fashioned oats

2 cups all purpose flour (240 grams)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar (150 grams)

3/4 cup brown sugar (165 grams)

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1  cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Combine the ground oats, oats, flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium sized bowl.  Whisk to sift and combine.  Set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.  Scrape sides of bowl.  Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until well combined.  Scrape sides of bowl again.  Add the dry ingredients and beat just until combined.  Remove half the dough to a medium sized bowl and add the chocolate chips.  Add the raisins to the other half of the dough.  (Or just double the chocolate or raisins if you only want one kind of cookie.)

Scoop the dough onto baking sheets two inches apart and bake for 10-12 minutes.   Let cookies sit on baking sheets for a couple minutes, then remove them to cool completely on wire racks.  Makes about 4 dozen.

Cherry Cheesecake Bars

Last week when we had a family get-together (when I also made the Chocolate Shortbread Coconut Toffee Pecan Bars and five other desserts), I also made these Cherry Cheesecake Bars.  I’ll have to make them again soon because they were a big hit and I only tasted a little bite off one of my kid’s serving.  These bars went fast!

I got this recipe from Cooking Light website, but it was in July 2011 magazine.  I changed it a bit since their recipe uses fresh cherries, but I only had some canned tart cherries, so I used those and made the cherry puree my own way.  The shortbread crust was great and the lighter cheesecake filling was just right, especially with the cherries swirled throughout the top.

Cherry Cheesecake Bars, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

2 cups all purpose flour (9 ounces)

6 tablespoons powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces (1/2 cup plus two tablespoons or 5 oz.)

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon ice water

14 ounce can tart cherries (no sugar added), with the juice, which is about 1/2 cup)

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 teaspoons cornstarch

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

red food coloring (optional)—it really brightens the color of the canned cherries

12 ounces 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened

2/3 cup plain Greek yogurt

2/3 cups granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly spray a 9x13 inch pan with cooking spray, mostly the sides of the pan.  Place the flour, powdered sugar and salt in a food processor.  Pulse a few times to combine.  Add the cold butter and drizzle in the water.  Pulse about 10 times until the mixture resembles course crumbs.  Pour the mixture into the prepared baking pan and press it evenly into the bottom of the pan.  Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool completely.  Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.

Place the canned cherries juice included, two tablespoons of sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil for a minute or so until thickened.  Remove from heat and add the almond extract and red food coloring.  Put in blender (be careful of hot things in the blender!).  Blend until pureed.  Pour the cherry mixture into a fine-mesh sieve over a bowl and strain it.  Set aside.

In the bowl of the food processor, place cream cheese, Greek yogurt, 2/3 cup sugar and vanilla extract and process until smooth.  Add eggs and pulse until combined.  Spoon cream cheese mixture over cooled crust and spread evenly.  Dollop the cherry puree over the cream cheese mixture and make knife swirls across the top to swirl the cherry and cream cheese together.  Don’t swirl too much to get the best effect.  Bake for 35 minutes or until set.  Cool on a wire rack, then cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.  Cut in to desired size bars.

  

Perfect summer treat!  And goodbye summer break—the boys are ready for school (and so is mom)!

Ready for 8th grade!  Scott is hiding the expander in his mouth as he gets ready for braces!

4th and 2nd grade, here come Parker and Taylor (they’ll put shirts on for school. ;)

I think Sam almost always has a chocolate face (my kind of kid!).  Ready for his last year of preschool.

Look at the size of this carrot Sam ate the other day!

And finally, can’t leave out the Professor—ready or not—he’s about to start school, too!

Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake with Chocolate Cookie Crust

I made this cheesecake for Easter (along with a plethora of other desserts).  I’d have to say this was one of the prettiest looking desserts I’ve made and I was happy with how it turned out.  I want to make it again soon.  We had some family over for dessert on Easter and the cheesecake was the first to go and it went fast. 

I had never tried to swirl all pretty like this before and I was really happy with it, especially because I made the raspberry puree on my own, instead of using preserves as the recipe I sort of followed suggested.  I added half the cheesecake mixture to the prebaked chocolate (animal crackers) crust, then swirled some puree in the middle.

After adding the rest of the cheesecake mixture to the top, I put the remaining puree in a piping bag with a small tip, I carefully dripped dots of puree over the top.  Most of the dots of puree were about the size of a dime.  I then took a toothpick and ran it around the puree one time, which made a fun heart-shaped swirl.  I didn’t quite use up all the puree, and next time will make sure I put more in the center.  There was probably about 1/4 cup of puree left.  I think even a swirl like what I did in the center of the cheesecake layer would be pretty on top, too.   Kevin and I both thought the chocolate crust was a little thick and next time I make this, we both agreed the traditional graham cracker crust would be good, though I’m glad I tried the chocolate crust and I wouldn’t rule it out another time. 

I made the chocolate cookie crust one other time recently with the Fresh Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Pie I made a few weeks ago.  I like the chocolate animal crackers as they aren’t too sweet and a big bag of them is only about $2.   

This is not your traditional, rich, (fattening) cheesecake, it’s lighter and much easier to make.  And sometimes, those kind of cheesecakes are just fine—and good!  I adapted this from a recipe I found on the Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk website.

 

Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake with Chocolate Cookie Crust, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

8 ounces (1 pkg.)  1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened (you can use regular, too)

14 ounces (1 can) fat free Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk (you can use regular, too)

1 large egg

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Prepared pie crust:

2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs (4-5 cups whole cookies)  I used chocolate animal crackers

1/4 cup dark brown sugar (light is fine, too)

6 tablespoons Bestlife butter, melted 

Raspberry puree:

2 cups frozen raspberries, thawed

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare cookie crust by pulsing cookies in a food processor until they are finely ground crumbs.  Add the brown sugar and pulse again.  Pour in the melted butter and pulse until all the crumbs are wet.  Press into an 8 inch springform pan or a deep dish pie plate.  Decide on how thick you want the crust, you may not need all of the mixture.  Bake the crust for 10 minutes.  Cool.  Reset the oven to 300 degrees.

While the crust is cooling, clean out the food processor bowl, pulse the cream cheese in it until smooth.  Add the condensed milk and pulse again until smooth.  Scrape sides of bowl.  Add the egg and lemon juice and continue pulsing in the food processor until well combined and smooth.  Pour half the cream cheese mixture into the cooled crust.  Pour the rest into another medium sized bowl and set aside.  Clean the food processor bowl again (or use a blender for the raspberry puree).

Puree the thawed raspberries with the sugar and lemon juice.  Strain them in a fine mesh strainer to remove seeds.  You’ll get somewhere between 2/3 cup and 1 cup of puree.  Spoon all but 1/4 cup of puree over the cream cheese mixture that is already in the crust.  Swirl it around with a knife.  Evenly pour the remaining cream cheese mixture over the raspberry swirl.  Put the remaining 1/4 cup puree in a piping bag fitted with a small roun tip (or a plastic zip top sandwich bag with a little corner snipped off).  Dot the top of the cream cheese mixture with the puree.  Run a tooth pick around the dots of puree to swirl them.

Bake in 300 degree oven for 50 minutes until the cheesecake is set.  Cool in pan on wire rack until room temperature.  Chill the cheesecake for a couple hours.  Remove from fridge for at least 15 minutes before serving. 

Little bit of Easter egg coloring last Saturday---

Little bit of the Easter loot.

  

And look at this fish tank!  Kevin has worked long and hard on this and it’s finally up and running.  He doesn’t have all the fish we’ll eventually get in there as well as more coral and anemone, but it’s running and the fish that are in there are happy!

Lemon Cheesecake Bars

Last week Kevin’s sister had a bridal shower for one of their nieces who is getting married next week.  She asked me to make a few goodies for the shower.  I ever so happily obliged.  One of the things I made were these Lemon Cheesecake Bars which I found at Very Best Baking. 

I had been looking for recipe that called for part of a can of evaporated milk as I had some in the fridge to use up.  These turned out great and were perfect for using that milk.  I made a few adaptations to the recipe, but for the most part made it as instructed. 

Lemon Cheesecake Bars, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!, adapted from Very Best Baking

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, softened, cut into pieces

8 ounces 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened

2 large eggs

2/3 cup fat free evaporated milk

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon all purpose flour

juice of one lemon

zest of one lemon

6-10 drops of yellow food coloring (optional)

about half to 1 cup of whipped cream for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine flour, salt and powdered sugar in bowl of a food processor.  Add the butter and pulse just until crumbly.  Press onto bottom of an ungreased 9x13 inch baking pan (ungreased).

Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Place cream cheese, evaporated milk, granulated sugar, flour, lemon juice, zest and food coloring in a food processor an blend until smooth.  Scrape sides of bowl, add eggs and blend again until combined and smooth.  Pour into partially baked crust.

Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes (mine took 23) or until set.  Cool in pan on wire rack to room temperature, then refrigerate.  Cut into bars and pipe whipped cream on to each piece.

  

I served these in cupcake liners for the shower.  They are perfectly lemony and cheesecakey!

Scott Turns 12 Years Old

Twelve years ago today I became a mother.  Scott Rigby was born after much laboring.  He may have been my toughest delivery, but it’s hard to compare your first with all the others.  I had NO idea what I was doing.  I can’t believe that was 12 years ago.  That was a joyous time for us as first time parents and also hard times as we were clueless parents.  Scott put up with a lot from our ignorance and was a fun baby.  He still puts up with a lot being the oldest.

I would do a fun picture memory profile of Scott through these past dozen years, but I very sadly and embarrassingly dropped my (new) laptop and it’s broken. :(  I’m so sad and feel really bad!  So I’m now using Kevin’s school laptop until we move.  He took the computer to the computer doctor and they decided it’s the mother board.  Sigh.  Anyway, I don’t want to talk about it.

Back to the birthday boy!  When Scott was a baby, we lived in Kevin’s parents’ house while they were gone for three years.  Kevin’s little sister, Aunt K., lived downstairs.  She came up and visited often and loved playing with Scottie and he loved when she was there.  Another person Scott loved was Great Grandma Smith.  I used to take Scott over to see her everyday and spend time with her, get her some lunch and her meds and make sure she was doing okay.  Great Grandma loved Scott and he loved her and being at her house.  She had a little cupboard full of old toys that he loved to play with.  When Scott was 6 or 7, we were talking about our time with Great Grandma when he was 1-2 years old (before we moved away) and out of nowhere he mentioned a little bobble head turtle that Grandma had.  I’d say that was some amazing memory!

Scott is super smart, great at math and science, LOVES to play drums on everything in sight and is eager to start playing drums in school.  He also loves art and is good at drawing and does well with all the art projects he’s given at school.  We look forward to seeing what middle school and high school bring for him.

Scott wanted cheesecake for his birthday today.  I made an interesting recipe that I found online.  The eggs in the recipe were separated and the beaten stiff egg whites were folded in at the end of making the filling.  The cheesecake was “light” (not in fat) and has a great flavor.  It cracked excessively at the end of baking, but we didn’t mind.  Scott wanted canned cherry pie filling for the topping.   We didn’t have any candles, oops.  (They are packed and already in Utah with tons of our stuff.)

Here’s Scott in a sudden hail and rainstorm the other day.  The boys were pretty excited to see marble sized hail.  It didn’t last for very long.

Scott decided for a birthday party that he wanted to have a few of his friends over for a sleepover (Kevin keeps correcting me as I keep calling it a slumber party saying that girls have slumber parties and boys have sleepovers.)  Kevin has decked out the basement in this duplex we’re in which is unfinished and we aren’t even using.  He’s put a TV, DVD player, the Wii, and chairs downstairs for Scott and his friends to par-tay tomorrow night.  We’ve never let the boys have sleepovers and told them they have to be 12 before we’d allow that.  Scott has been excited for this day!  They’ll have pizza, ice cream sundaes and more junk food and candy than you can imagine.  Perfect 12 year old boy stuff!

We love you, Scottie!  Happy Birthday!

TWD—Coconut Lemon Mini Tea Cakes and The Ultimate Cheesecake Throwdown

Our recipe this week, chosen by Carmen of Carmen Cooks, is the Coconut Tea Cake on pages 194-195 in Dorie’s book, Baking From My Home To Yours.  I made these with lemon as suggested in the Playing Around section and I halved the recipe.  I used lite canned coconut milk.  I omitted the rum and toasted the coconut.  How’s that for blunt and to the point?

I made these about three weeks ago.  I shared them with my “reality sisters”.  I love that term.  Some friends and I get together as often as we can on Thursday nights to watch Survivor together.  We usually don’t start watching the show until at least 9:30, then we talk and pause the show over and over and it often takes about 2 1/2 hours to watch the one hour program.  I always bring goodies to share and so do a couple others.  There’s usually 4-5 of us.  We are all true blue Survivor fans.  Definitely fun times that I’m REALLY going to miss when we move—sistas, you know who you are!

The halved recipe made 12 mini bunts and 12 mini cupcakes.  I doused them in a quick powdered sugar glaze that I made.  And sprinkled them with some more coconut.

Lemon Coconut Glaze, by Katrina Smith

2 cups powdered sugar

3 tablespoons coconut milk

juice from half a lemon (was about 2 tablespoons)

1/8 teaspoon lemon extract (optional)

Whisk together until smooth and free of lumps.  Add the milk last in tablespoonfuls until desired consistency as you might not need all of it.

 

These were really good.  We all liked them.  I will make these again for sure sometime, they would be great for a shower or party or even if sometime I’m just not in a chocolate mood.  What?  It happens. ;)

  

Great pick, Carmen.  Check out the other cakes on the TWD Blogroll.

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We had an Ultimate Cheesecake Throwdown with some friends again.  You may recall the throwdown we had in February for French Silk Pie.  (I lost.)  I can take it. 

This time we decided on cheesecake.  Our fearless judges, a couple of missionaries from our church and my friend, Marina, came ready to give it their all.  Did you know it’s hard to get some great pictures when everyone is anxious for the judges to pick a winner so they can all taste it, too?  And would you believe I forgot to take a picture of my completed Key Lime Cheesecake?  Sigh.  Dan and I were originally going to both just do plain cheesecake for the contest, but ultimately decided to each do whatever kind of cheesecake we wanted.

 

Dan’s cheesecake of choice was White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake, the judges did not know whose was whose.

Dan’s big, beautiful cheesecake had a chocolate crust, a ribbon of raspberry puree throughout and some sliced almonds on the top for some great crunch.  Get a look at this---

I know, it looks like he went to the nearest bakery and picked up a cheesecake!  He definitely wins for the look of his cheesecake.  I’m so not a decorator.

I made my Key Lime Cheesecake the night before as I knew cheesecake takes on more flavor after it sits for a day or so.  Here’s my one lame picture of the cake fresh out of the oven.  I was happy it was perfectly smooth on top.

I baked the cheesecake in a 10 inch pan, so it was only about an inch thick, but served it with a blueberry compote and some whipped cream with each slice.  Whipped cream that I whisked by hand, thank you. ;)

I have to say, this Key Lime Cheesecake is really good.   It’s so creamy and is just perfect with the blueberries.  I’ve had it before.  It was one of the delicious desserts I had at one of Paige’s classes sometime last year.  And when Dan and I decided to go with any cheesecake we wanted, I knew this was the one I wanted to make.  Did I mention Chef Paige has a new blog?  I have a BIG  binder stuffed full of all the recipes I’ve gotten from Paige’s classes I’ve taken and they are all just wonderful.  If you haven’t yet, check out her new blog.

Here’s the recipe for the throwdown winning recipe.  Yep, two out of three went with the Key Lime Cheesecake!  But they all had a really hard time deciding.  The cheesecake was super creamy, smooth and perfectly tart.

Key Lime Cheesecake with Blueberry Compote, by Paige Vandegrift (I followed the recipe exactly!)

Graham Cracker Crust:

5 oz. graham crackers, finely ground (about 1 1/2 cups crumbs)

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 ounces (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted

Line a 9-inch square baking pan with 2 criss-crossed sheets of foil, leaving an overhang. (I baked mine in a traditional 10-inch springform pan and lined the outside of the pan with foil.)  Butter or spray the pan.  Combine the crust ingredients until well mixed and press into the pan in a compact even layer.  Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven until just beginning to brown—8 minutes.  Cool.

Key Lime Filling:

3  8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature (I used the 1/3 less fat kind)

1 cup granulated sugar (Would you believe I was OUT of sugar when I set out to make this late Sunday night—all I could find in the house was some ultrafine sugar-so that is what I used!)

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, sifted (or 1 tablespoon cornstarch)  I used flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup strained key lime juice (or bottled key lime juice, Nellie & Joe’s is a good brand)

3 eggs, lightly beaten, room temperature

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In the bowl of an electric mixer, briefly beat cream cheese to break it up.  Beat in the sugar until smooth; scrape the sides.  Beat in the flour and salt; scrape the sides.  Add the lime juice and vanilla and beat in.  Scrape the sides.  Beat in the eggs in two or three additions, just until smooth and fully incorporated.  Scrape the filling into the prepared pan.

Place the pan on a half-sheet pan and place on the oven rack in a preheated 325 degree oven.  Pour in hot water to come up at least half as high as the filling in the pan.  Bake until just set—40-45 minutes. (I did mine 40 minutes.)  Cool to room temperature (about 2 hours).  Chill, uncovered, until cold (at least 2 hours, but cheesecake may be baked a day or two ahead.)

To portion, lift cold cake out of the pan using the overhanging foil (or remove the sides of the springform pan).  Cut the cake using a sharp, thin knife dipped in hot water and wiped dry in between cuts.

Serve topped with a spoonful of blueberry compote and some whipped cream.

Blueberry Compote

2 3/4 cups blueberries (about 14 ounces) (I used frozen, thawed)

6 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon lemon juice (I used lime)

4 1/4 teaspoons cornstarch (1/2 ounce)

zest of 1 lime or lemon (I used the zest of three key limes)

Combine the berries with the sugar and citrus juice and let macerate for 30 minutes.  Transfer the berries to a saucepan.  Dissolve the cornstarch in a small amount of water and add to the berries with the zest.  Bring to a boil, stirring gently.  Let boil until the juices are clear and very thick—about 30 to 60 seconds.  Empty into a bowl and cool to room temperature without stirring.  Chill.  Makes a generous 2 cups.

*A couple notes I took in class--DO NOT overbeat cheesecake!  Flour protects it from curdling.  If your cheesecake doesn’t have flour, be sure to bake it in a water bath.  Add eggs last—it helps the cheesecake not rise then fall.  Once you start adding liquid to the cream cheese, you never get rid of lumps.

And for the record, Dan’s cheesecake was delicious.  The two judges who picked the Key Lime said they liked that it was more creamy and true cheesecake-like.  White chocolate, raspberry and chocolate crust—GOOD!  Thanks for playing, Dan.  We’re trying to decide what to do next for a throwdown.

Sorry to stick this in with TWD, it just won’t get done if I don’t do it all in one night.