White-Chocolate Spiced-Pumpkin Cheesecake

I love this twist on a delightful dessert. The white chocolate marries so well with the flavors of pumpkin and cream cheese. It's not the first time I've put white chocolate into a cheesecake, and I dare say it won't be the last. Also, another little perk to this cheesecake is that it only uses one package of cream cheese, which cuts down on the typical cheesecake-fat-content. Furthermore, the one and a half cups of pumpkin puree is very good for you. Enjoy!

Ingredient:
Crust:
12 graham crackers
1 stick butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon brown sugar

Filling:
1 8oz. package cream cheese
3 eggs
4oz. white chocolate
1 1/2 cups fresh pumpkin puree
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar

Directions:
In a food processor, process crackers, cinnamon, brown sugar, and melted butter until the mixture forms a fine grain. Press into a prepared cheesecake pan.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt white chocolate in a double boiler until just melted; stir and set aside. In a large bowl, cream 8oz cream cheese with sugars; add eggs, pumpkin puree, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, white chocolate; mix well. Pour filling into prepared crust; bake 45 to 55 minutes. Cool 15 minutes; chill for at least 1 hour.

Double-Chocolate, Sneaky-Mom Cookies

I'm currently lacking a picture of this tasty creation because they were eaten before the photo shoot could take place, but I really want to get this recipe on here before I mislay the sheet of paper I scibbled it down on. I've lost more than one recipe in this manner...

Here it goes!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup flax
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream butter and shortening; add sugars, cocoa and beat. Beat in flour, flax, oats, salt, baking soda and egg. Stir in vanilla and chocolate chips. Place 1 to 2 tablespoons of batter 2 inches apart on baking sheet and bake 12 to 14 minutes.

When life hands you ripe bananas...

That's right, make chocolate chip banana bread. Now, this is not banana nut bread. Actually, I think of it more as a sheet cake, since I baked mine in a 9x13 inch pan. However, you could certainly bake this recipe in a loaf pan. Anyway, I used some rolled oats and flax in this recipe, which are two things I just love, love, love using. This recipe was a big hit at home, so I hope you enjoy it!

PS
If you guessed that was Nutella that I added as a little garnish in the picture, you guessed right. And, obviously, the green stuff is mint.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup milled flax
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3 crushed, ripe bananas
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9x13 inch baking dish.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars; add eggs; beat well. Add flour, rolled oats, flax, soda, powder, cinnamon; beat well. Beat in ripe bananas; stir in chocolate chips. Transfer to prepared baking dish and bake about 30 minutes.

Oh, Blondie!

Wow! I have been neglecting this blog for a really, really long time. So, I think I'll get back into the swing of things by posting this new blondie recipe that I recently concocted.

For a while now, the blondies I had been making (and had posted about previously) were my husband's favorite, but this new and improved recipe now reigns supreme. What makes them superior? For starters, they're bigger, so you have more to sink your teeth into. They're still just as moist and chewy as ever, but having more blondie per bite is just heavenly. Also, more brown sugar versus granulated sugar has resulted in an even more fabulous flavor. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter (softened)
1/2 cup shortening (room temp)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Icing Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter (softened)
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 to 4 tablespoons milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease 13x9 inch baking pan.
Cream butter and shortening; beat in sugars until fluffy; add egg; beat well.
Combine flour, soda, powder, and salt; add to creamed mixture, mixing well. Stir in vanilla; stir in chocolate chips. Spread in baking pan and bake 30 to 35 minutes.
Meanwhile, make icing. Beat butter and gradually add powdered sugar and milk, alternating the two as you go. Beat in vanilla. Spread over cooled, baked blondies. Or... if you're like me, spread the icing over the blondies while they're still warm and dig right in.

Chocolate Chip and Rolled Oat Cookies

It seems like I'm always playing with cookie recipes involving the use of rolled oats. But this recipe seems a lot more like a traditional chocolate chip cookie. Only, I think it's a little better because rolled oats give a cookie such great chewy texture.

Ingredients:
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup milled flax
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine oats, flour, sugars, baking soda and baking powder. Add butter, vanilla and egg; mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Roll 1 to 2 tablespoons of dough into balls, placed on baking sheets,and bake for 11 to 13 minutes.

Chi-town Inspired, Deep Dish Pizza

Back in 2007, my husband and I (along with my mother and oldest son, who was still an only child at the time) went to Chicago for my cousin's wedding. Foodies that we are, we had to indulge in some of the famous local cuisine. We had the most amazing deep dish pizza at Pizzeria Due. They had Sam Adam's Summer Ale on draft. It was really a spectacular lunch, followed up with a trip to The Field Museum, a place I had not been to since I was probably ten-years-old.

But enough about the trip! The pizza was amazing (like I already said), but there was something about the crust that seemed different. It was almost like there was some cornmeal in it. It's been a few years since I've eaten it, so maybe some of this is just imagined, but I thought that if I made a pie crust using some cornmeal, I might be able to replicate the flavor. That's what I did, and I made it like a butter pastry crust, not a yeast-dough crust. My husband and I loved it! Here's what I did...

For the 9in crust:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup cornmeal
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, cold and cubed
1/4 cup ice water

Filling:
6 to 8oz cooked sausage
1 sliced, sauteed onion
2 cups pizza cheese, a mozzarella and provolone mix
Sauce:
1 can diced, herbed tomatoes, slightly drained
1 small can tomato paste

Directions:
Make the pie crust and refrigerate at least an hour before use. In a food processor, combine cornmeal, flour and salt; pulse to mix. Then, add cold butter and pulse until the mixture resembles a crumble. Slowly add ice water while pulsing. It will only take about half a minute. Turn the dough out onto plastic wrap and work into a flat disk, wrap and refrigerate.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Roll out dough and place in a 9in round, deep baking pan. Layer the filling and sauce. Start with a thin layer of cheese, followed by toppings and sauce. Repeat until the pan is full. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Note: You can use any sort of toppings or pizza sauce that you prefer.

Easy Horchata Ice Cream (And Easy Horchata)

My husband and I recently became fans of horchata, the delightful agua fresca that I blogged about in April. I was thinking that horchata would make a perfect ice cream flavor; however, I did not want to take the wonderful homemade beverage and use it as anything other than a delicious drink. Instead, I decided to make an easy, semi-homemade horchata, which I would have no qualms about putting into an ice cream.

Easy Horchata: (note: rice milk and almond milk can be found in cartons in the cereal section of the super market.)
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups rice milk
1 1/2 cups almond milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
Mix all ingredients in a pitcher and refrigerate.

Easy Horchata Ice Cream:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup easy horchata

Directions:
Combine whipping cream and sugar in a large bowl; beat until stiff peaks form. Blend in easy horchata and place in a freezable container; keep in the freezer and serve once frozen to desired firmness.
Makes about 32oz.