Category Archives: Desserts

March 5, 2013 · 12:49 pm

Crescent Roll Cheesecake

This recipe has been all over Pinterest. I couldn’t resist…it has cream cheese in it. Yum!

Ingredients:
-2 cans crescent rolls (I used the kind from Immaculate Baking.)
-2 (8oz) packages cream cheese (softened)
-1/2 cup sugar
-1 teaspoon vanilla
-1/4 cup butter (melted)
-Cinnamon and sugar to sprinkle on top

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Unroll and spread one can of crescent rolls on bottom of ungreased 9×13 inch pan. Be sure to smooth out the seams before adding the filling.

Combine softened cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in a bowl. Spread mixture over crescent rolls. Unroll and spread remaining crescent rolls over mixture, being sure to press together any seams.

Spread melted butter over the top and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

Bake for 20-30 minutes.

We had this with bacon and eggs…everyone loves breakfast for dinner.

What did the family think? The kids LOVED these!

Did I change anything? I think these might also be good of you took out the sugar and cinnamon and added some berry jelly in with the cream cheese. I haven’t tried it, but it might be a nice variation.

Where did this recipe come from? PinCookie


Photo from PinCookie

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Filed under After School Snacks, Bread, Breakfast, Definitely Making it Again, Desserts, Vegetarian

February 21, 2013 · 9:06 pm

Breakfast Grilled Cheese

The people at Food Network magazine must have been thinking of us then they put out this month’s addition of their magazine…the whole magazine focuses on cheese. Cheese!!!

We made this last weekend and it is SO tasty! It’s a little on the sweet side, so it might make a fun dessert, too.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup whipped cream cheese
1/4 cup small-curd cottage cheese
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar, plus more for topping
4 frozen waffles (untoasted)
1 to 2 tablespoons jam (any flavor)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, plus more if needed
Ground cinnamon, for topping

Instructions:
Mix the cream cheese, cottage cheese and confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl.

Spread 2 waffles with the jam, then top with the cream cheese mixture; cover with the remaining 2 waffles.

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sandwiches and cook until golden and crisp, about 3 minutes per side, adding more butter to the pan if needed. (Adjust the heat if the waffles are browning too quickly.)

Let the sandwiches rest 1 minute before serving. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar and cinnamon.

What did the family think? Only two of us ate these, but we both liked them. The only thing I would change is that I didn’t like the cheese part still being cold when the waffle was nice and toasty. Maybe next time I will let the cheese filling sit for a while to get closer to room temperature before I start cooking.

Where did this recipe come from? Food Network Magazine


photo from Food Network

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Filed under After School Snacks, Breakfast, Definitely Making it Again, Desserts, Vegetarian

January 6, 2013 · 4:57 pm

Mexican Chocolate Icebox Cookies

These were our dessert while watching the Fiesta Bowl the other night. We shared some with friends, too, and everyone gave them rave reviews. P.S. Don’t be afraid of the cayenne.

1 1/2 cup flour
3/4 cups natural cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon cinnamon
12 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sugar
1 egg

Instructions:
Stir together flour, cocoa, salt, pepper, cayenne and cinnamon.

In a large bowl, cream the butter. Add vanilla, sugar, and beat thoroughly. Beat in egg and gradually add dry ingredients. Blend only until mixed.

Turn dough out on lightly floured cutting board/silpat/counter and — oh yeah: flouring your hands is a good idea too — shape dough into a cylinder about 10 inches long and two inches in diameter. Wrap cylinder in wax paper and place in freezer until firm, about 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Unwrap dough and cut into slices 1/4-inch thick. Place about 1 1/2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake about 10 to 11 minutes.

What did the family think? Everyone loved them. They are also, I should note, VERY good with a little vanilla ice cream on the side.

Did I change anything? I was a total wimp and only used half the cayenne. I should have used all of it.

Where did this recipe come from? Food 52

photo from The Baking Pan

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Filed under After School Snacks, Definitely Making it Again, Desserts, Everybody Ate It, Mexican

December 9, 2012 · 8:29 pm

El Submarino-Argentinian Hot Chocolate

The tree is up, the stockings are hung by the chimney with care and we went and did a little drive by of our new favorite neighborhood house that is decorated beyond the norm. Then we came home and had some Argentinian hot chocolate…warm, chocolately goodness that only uses four ingredients and is SUPER easy.

Ingredients:
4 cups whole milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 ounces bars of good quality dark chocolate broken into 1 ounce pieces

Instructions:
Pour the milk into a saucepan. Stir in the sugar and the vanilla.

Heat milk until it is just about to boil. Remove from heat and divide milk into 4 mugs. Serve each mug with a piece of the chocolate and stir until the chocolate is melted.

What did the family think? It is SOOOO good! Why would anyone EVER drink hot chocolate from a powdery packet after drinking this goodness?

Where did this recipe come from? My friend Jess told me about this delicious winter beverage

photo from about.com

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Filed under After School Snacks, Beverages, Definitely Making it Again, Desserts, Easy, Six Ingredients or Less, Super Easy to Make, Vegetarian

October 31, 2012 · 11:11 am

Peanut Butter Pumpkin Dip

This is the season of family get togethers and parties. I know that we are always taking a dish to share to these types of events. This would be a great treat to bring for munching with pretzels, apple slices, celery sticks or mini-bagels.

Ingredients:
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree
1/4 cup honey
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Pretzels, apples slices, bagels

Put peanut butter, pumpkin, honey and cinnamon in a food processor and blend until smooth.

Serve with pretzels, apples slices, celery sticks or mini-bagels.

What did the family think? This was a sample at our grocery store last week. I am not sure if everyone tried it, but I know at least a couple of us did and we liked it. Yum!

Where did this recipe come from? our grocery store

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· 10:45 am

Sweet Pumpkin Dip

This is a great dip for fall parties. It’s delicious served with toasted pita, toasted bagel bites, vanilla wafers, graham crackers, apple slices and ginger snaps.

1 pkg. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
2 cans (15 oz.) pumpkin puree
4 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
Dippers: pita, ginger snaps, graham crackers, toasted mini-bagels, vanilla wafers, apple slices

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar together until well blended. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Refrigerate in an airtight container.

What did the family think? We had this as a sample at the grocery store and luckily they had the recipes available to go with it because we all loved it.

Where did this recipe come from? our grocery store

Photo from Land o’ Lakes

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Filed under After School Snacks, Definitely Making it Again, Desserts, Easy, Everybody Ate It, Make Ahead of Time, Six Ingredients or Less, Vegetarian

September 30, 2012 · 10:13 pm

Wheat-Free Banana Oatmeal Muffins

I have a kid who likes banana anything and everything…banana cream pie, banana flavored candy, banana bread and of course, bananas. I knew he would love these. I also knew he would probably be the only person in our house who would eat them, but sometimes you just have to bake something for someone because you know they will love it, not because everyone will love it.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 single serving cup (or 1 cup) of plain low-fat Greek yogurt
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar, applesauce, agave, honey…whatever you want to use
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 bananas

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Spray tin with non-stick cooking spray.

Place all of the ingredients, including bananas in a blender or food processor, and blend until oats are smooth. PUT THE YOGURT IN THE BLENDER FIRST AND PUT THE OATS IN THE BLENDER LAST. (Very important to keep things from getting stuck.)

Pout batter into cupcake pan and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

What did the family think? He loved them just as I knew he would. He had them for snack and for breakfast for several days. The rest of us didn’t have any.

Where did this recipe come from? I got it from Keeping Up with the Joneses and they got it from Dashing Dish.

photo from Babycenter

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Filed under After School Snacks, Bread, Breakfast, Definitely Making it Again, Desserts, Easy, Super Easy to Make, Vegetarian

September 10, 2012 · 8:53 am

Chocolatey Chip Cookies

My husband had a rough week at work last week and the kids had survived their first week at school so Friday afternoon seemed like a great time to bake some cookies to kick off our weekend. A friend of mine had told me about this recipe which take the traditional Nestle recipe and tweaks it a little. The results were scrumptious.

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
3 cups chocolate chips
1/2 cup oatmeal

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375° F.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and oatmeal. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

What did the family think? They have chocolate in them..no complaining here.

Did I change anything? The original recipe has less chocolate chips, more brown and white sugar and no oatmeal. The changes I made are reflected in the recipe above.

Where did this recipe come from? adapted from the original Nestle chocolate chip cookie recipe

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July 23, 2012 · 5:09 pm

Grain-Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites

These have been all over Pinterest so I had to try them. They were met with approval by 1/2 of our family. My husband would have liked them if he hadn’t seen the garbanzo beans going into them. Seriously. He would have never known… all you can taste is the yummy goodness of chocolate and peanut butter and there is absolutely nothing yucky about that.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups canned chickpeas, well-rinsed and patted dry with a paper towel
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons peanut butter
1/4 cup honey or agave
1 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of salt if your peanut butter doesn’t have salt in it
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Combine all the ingredients, except for the chocolate chips, in a food processor and process until very smooth. Make sure to scrape the sides and the top to get the little chunks of chickpeas and process again until they’re combined.

Put in the chocolate chips and stir it if you can, or pulse it once or twice. The mixture will be very thick and sticky. With wet hands, form into 1 1/2″ balls. Place onto a piece of parchment paper. If you want them to look more like normal cookies, press down slightly on the balls. They don’t do much rising. Bake for about 10 minutes. Yields about fourteen 1 1/2″ cookie dough balls.

What did the family think? They were good, but I thought they were best about two days after I’d made them and they were less doughy and more like a cookie.

Where did this recipe come from? Texan Erin Baking

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July 17, 2012 · 2:22 pm

No Bake Berry Cream Cheese Tarts

My mother-in-law sent me this recipe before the 4th of July. Yes, this would have been a perfect dessert for the 4th, but we were out of town. I meant to make it last week, but the berries kept getting eaten before I could make the dessert. So, I finally got around to making this last night…we had all of the ingredients AND the family LOVED this! It only made four and there are four of us. The kids wanted to eat mine. Sorry…I am not handing over anything that involves cream cheese and berries.

Ingredients:
4 whole graham crackers (8 squares)
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
2 cups mixed berries: raspberries, strawberries and/or blueberries

Instructions:
Finely crush graham crackers and divide crumbs among four small bowls. I used ramekins.

In a small bowl, mix cream cheese, sour cream, vanilla, and confectioners’ sugar with a whisk.

Put mixture on top of graham cracker crumbs. Top with berries.

Refrigerate for at least two hours before serving.

What did the family think? We all loved it! Hubby actually hasn’t eaten his yet and he better hurry up or it’s going to be GONE.

Where did this recipe come from? KU Med Center

photo from KU Med Center

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Filed under After School Snacks, Definitely Making it Again, Desserts, Easy, Everybody Ate It, Make Ahead of Time, Six Ingredients or Less, Vegetarian