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

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.

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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.

Peaches and Cream Dessert

I made this dessert a couple weeks ago when we had some family over.  I had seen this Peaches & Cream Dessert in a Taste of Home Simple & Delicious Magazine from June/July 2010 that I’d found in a stack of magazines I hadn’t looked at last year (when we moved).  I thought the dessert looked great and like something different from what we’d normally have—cookies, brownies—the usual.  I was also intrigued that the gelatin topping had lemon-lime soda in it.

I would have followed the recipe as written, but for one, that wouldn’t be like me now would it?  As well, I didn’t have some of the exact ingredients, but I knew I could modify those things and it would still work.  The recipe called for a pecan shortbread cookie crust and while that would be great, I’m sure, I used some graham crackers I had and made a graham cracker crust.  The recipe also called for peach gelatin and I didn’t have any, but I had some apricot gelatin and decided to use that.  In the gelatin, it was suggested that one cup of sugar be added to the gelatin as well as the can of soda.  I thought this was WAY too much sugar.  I didn’t want to veer too far from the recipe and have it not turn out well, so I did add about 1/2 cup sugar, but next time I make this, I will try it with no added sugar since gelatin and soda have PLENTY already.  Two other small changes were that I used canned peaches instead of fresh or frozen (this will be a great recipe to make again when peaches are in season) and I omitted some pineapple juice that the peaches were supposed to be tossed with.  The recipe I’ve linked above has a five star rating with all good reviews.  You can follow that recipe or here’s my adaptation.

Peaches and Cream Dessert, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

16 ounces graham crackers (about 2 1/2 to 3 sleeves)**

6 ounces butter,  (12 tablespoons or 3/4 cup)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 package (3 oz.) apricot gelatin (or peach flavored)

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 can (12 oz.) lemon-lime soda

1 package (8 oz.) 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

1 carton (8 oz.) frozen whipped topping, thawed (or 8 ounces whipped heavy cream)

1 can (1 lb. 13 oz.) peaches, drained (or use fresh peaches!, pitted, peeled and sliced)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Put the graham crackers in the bowl of a food processor and process them until they are finely ground crumbs.  Add the melted butter and pulse until all the crumbs are wet.  Dump the mixture into a 9x13 inch baking pan and spread evenly, pushing down evenly.  Bake the crust for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool completely.

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, gelatin and cornstarch.  Stir in the lemon-lime soda and whisk until smooth.  Bring to a boil over medium heat.  Cook and stir for 5-7 minutes, until slightly thickened.  Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, in the bowl of the food processor (just wipe it clean with paper towel), add the cream cheese and pulse until smooth.  Add the powdered sugar and pulse again until smooth.  Scrape sides of bowl.  (You can also do this in a bowl.)  Scrape the cream cheese mixture into a large bowl.  Add the whipped topping and fold it in with a spatula until well combined.  Spread the cream cheese mixture over the cooled crust.  Line the cream cheese mixture with the drained peaches.  You will use almost the whole can, but not quite all of the peaches.  Pour the cooled gelatin mixture over the peaches to cover evenly. 

Cover the dessert and refrigerate at least 4 hours or up to 12 hours.  Cut desired size slices and serve.

**A couple of things to note, a couple of family members who tried this mentioned that the crust was a little too thick.  I like crust, so it didn’t bother me, but next time I make this, I will try it with just two sleeves of graham crackers, which is about 10 ounces, and I’ll use less butter as well.

Also, I really liked the flavor of the apricot gelatin, but do feel free to use the suggested peach flavor.  Lemon would probably also be good as well.  I was pleasantly surprised, but you can taste a bit of that lemon-lime fizzy soda flavor, which was kind of fun.  I think I’ll actually try this again with possibly some fresh raspberries and raspberry flavored gelatin—strawberries would be good, too.  The possibilities are endless here.  Have fun with summer desserts, besides my decision to set the crust a little by baking it (the original recipe does not have a baked crust), this is a no-bake dessert!