Thanksgiving: Pumpkin Cheesecake

(Photo via Google- I will add mine after the Holidays)

What I look forward to every Thanksgiving? This Pumpkin Cheesecake is easily the biggest hit of Thanksgiving in our home! It is so rich and creamy and the flavor is unbelievable! I LOVE it so!

Crust:

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup melted butter

2 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Filling:

12 oz cream cheese

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp flour

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup pumpkin

2 eggs + 2 egg yolks

Topping:

1 1/2 cups sour cream

2 Tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

Instructions: Make crust and place in pie tin. Beat filling together and pour into crust. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Remove from oven. Spread topping on and bake for 10 more minutes. Chill.

Thanksgiving: French Silk Pie

(Photo via Google, I will add my own after the Holidays)

This is such a crowd pleaser, it gives you that chocolate fix but it is in the form of a pie that feels more festive! You can't leave without having a slice of this yummy pie!

Ingredients:

1 cooled pie crust

3 oz melted unsweetened chocolate

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup butter

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

Fresh Whipped cream

Chocolate curls (made with a Hershey bar and a potato peeler)

Instructions: Beat sugar and butter for 4 minutes until light and fluffy. Beat in melted chocolate and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, beating on medium speed for 2 minutes between each addition, scraping sides of the bowl constantly.

Turn into shell. Chill several hours. Garnish with cream and chocolate curls.

Chocolate and Coconut Milk Cake

This is not my recipe or photo for that matter, but I made this cake with my mom and it was insane!!! So so good! I love coconut and I love chocolate and this is just a little piece of heaven! I got the recipe off my friend, Rachelle's blog, who I trust like no one else when it comes to delicious treats, and she got it off of this blog.

Chocolate and Coconut Milk Cake

2 ounces semisweet chocolate

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3/4 cup boiling water

6 TBS butter, melted

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup coconut milk

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

toasted coconut (for topping, optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Line bottom of 9" pan with round of parchment paper, butter paper, and sides of pan.

Finely chop chocolate and in a bowl combine with hot water and cocoa powder. Let mixture stand, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.

In a bowl add flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another large bowl with an electric mixer beat butter and sugar until combined. Add eggs (adding one at a time) until thickened slightly and light colored (about 3 minutes). Slowly add coconut milk, and melted chocolate mixture, beating until combined well. Add flour mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined.

Pour batter into pan, and bake in middle of oven until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 25-30 minutes.

Cool cake completely before frosting.

Chocolate Coconut Buttercream

3/4 cup butter

2/3 cup cocoa powder

3 cups powdered sugar

1/2c-3/4 cup coconut milk,

1/2 tsp - 1tsp pure coconut extract

Beat butter, cocoa, powdered sugar, and coconut extract, and add coconut milk a little at a time until you reach a consistency you like.

Top with coconut flakes and toast it for a few minutes at 450° if you like.

enjoy!

Cheesecake Cupcakes

These cheesecake cupcakes are such a fun and easy treat. You may already have this recipe, my family has been using it for years, but I love it so much. It is really simple, but I love the flavor and texture of these little cupcakes! So yummy! And for some reason, I love these even more the next morning for breakfast...is that bad?

Ingredients:

Vanilla Wafers

3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

5 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup sugar

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Combine all cheesecake ingredients (except the vanilla wafers) in a mixing bowl and beat until smooth.

Place paper baking cups into muffin tins and place a vanilla wafer on the bottom of each and fill cups 2/3 full with cheesecake batter.

Bake for 35 or 40 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Right before you serve, fill with the fruit or mixture of your choice. ENJOY!

Fat Emma Cookies

These delicious Fat Emma cookies have been in our family for years! They are similar to sugar cookies, except they are a little fluffier or "fatter" and they have an extra delicious flavor because they are made with buttermilk. Plus, they are way easier because you don't have to roll them out and cut them and then roll them out again! You just roll them into little balls like other cookies. They are a perfectly delicious cookie! Even ask Micah...

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

1 cup butter

1 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

5 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cream the softened butter with the sugar in a mixing bowl and beat for 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and the eggs one at a time beating well between each one.

Mix the dry ingredients together and add half of them to the sugar- butter mixture beating until the flour is no longer visible. Then alternate adding half of the buttermilk and beat just until smooth. The next step is to add the rest of the flour mixture and beat just until mixed in. Then add the rest of the buttermilk and beat until smooth. (If you beat them too much they will get tough.)

The dough will be sticky. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for 1 hour, until it is stiff. Roll the dough into balls that are one inch in diameter. Drop them onto a greased cookie sheet and flatten them slightly.

Bake at 350 for 10 minutes, but don't brown, if you bake them too long they will dry out.

Let the cookies cool completely and then frost them with buttercream frosting.

Buttercream Frosting:

1 – 1 lb. box Powdered Sugar

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 cube softened butter

Place all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl and beat them for 2 minutes. For a thinner consistency add a little more milk.

Enjoy!

S'more Cupcakes

All the best flavors of a S'more around the campfire, but a little more decadent and delicate. When I was in New York City a few weeks ago we went to a cupcake bakery called Magnolia, and there I saw the very first S'more Cupcake I'd ever seen. That thought had never occurred to me. So, of course we bought it and really enjoyed it. It was good, but I thought with a little tweaking it could be great. And so I talked it over with my mom and we both added a little love to this concept.

The cupcake at Magnolia Bakery had a graham cracker cake and it was good but a little dry and I am a chocolate cake kind of girl. Also, I feel that the best part of the graham cracker ingredient is the texture, that crunch. So, I had to do something about that. Magnolia Bakery had a marshmallow frosting that was good, but by far my favorite part of a s'more is the charred marshmallow, I even like mine a little burnt, so I definitely didn't want to put something out there with the name "s'more" without a charred marshmallow. That's all! So, this is the end result...and I have to say, out of this world, really! It is kind of on another level! They're so good, they're gonna make you cry!

So, we have a graham cracker crust on the bottom, a rich chocolate cake, a little graham sprinkled on top of the cake. Then a thin layer of chocolate ganache, and a Marshmallow Meringue Frosting, charred. And finally, either a Hershey's Chocolate piece or a chocolate dipped graham cracker. A lot of different components, but totally worth it.

GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST

~1 cup of Graham Cracker crumbs, (I just put about 10 crackers in a food processor)

~2 1/2 Tablespoons of melted Butter

~2 Tablespoons of Sugar

Combine in a bowl and then spoon in about one Tablespoon of the mixture into the bottom of each cupcake liner, and press down with the bottom of a cup. Then cook in the oven at 350 degrees for about 4 or 5 minutes.

*You will also use some of the mixture to sprinkle on the top of the unbaked batter right before you put them in the oven.

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKE BATTER INGREDIENTS

*You can use this recipe below which is a really rich and dark chocolatey chocolate or you can use the easier one from this other post, my chocolate truffle cupcakes. This one is still really delicious, but a lot fewer steps! Both are amazing!

1 3/4 cups flour

2 cups sugar

3/4 cups cocoa

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup oil

2 extra large eggs at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup hot water with a handful of chocolate chips melted into it.

Preheat oven to 350.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. With mixer still on low, add the hot water mixture just until combined and scrape with a rubber spatula. Put into cupcake liners. Sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs. Bake for about 20 minutes, until done.

CHOCOLATE GANACHE

4 oz. Chocolate chips

a little over 1/3 cup Heavy Cream

1/2 tsp. Vanilla

Melt the chocolate chip and then stir in the cream and when combined add the vanilla. Then put a thin layer on the baked cupcakes. Then add the frosting on top of that.

MARSHMALLOW MERINGUE FROSTING

(By the way, this stuff is amazing, it tastes just like roasted marshmallows by the time you are done!) My mom's Grandmother used to make this frosting all the time. My mom remembered it from the time she was a little girl.

~1 1/2 cups plus 2 Tablespoons sugar

~2/3 cup water

~2 Tablespoons light corn syrup

~6 large egg whites, room temperature

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine the water, corn syrup and 1 1/2 cups of sugar in a saucepan on medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves. Then, keep boiling without stirring until the syrup reaches 230 degrees. (Clip a candy thermometer to the side of the pan and keep your eye on it.)

Meanwhile, whisk the egg white on medium speed in an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add the remaining 2 Tablespoons of sugar and combine.

Remove the syrup from the heat when it reaches 230 degrees. Put mixer on medium-low speed and pour the syrup down the side in a slow, steady stream. Raise the speed until stiff peaks form. (For about 7 minutes). Frost immediately.

With a kitchen blow torch, torch the frosting on each cupcake. Then add the garnish.

I decided to garnish them with chocolate covered graham crackers, which is great if you serve them right after, but if they sit for a few hours or overnight, the cracker gets soft and falls over- not so attractive. So, if you want to do them it is really simple- but much simpler would be to just stick a piece of Hershey's chocolate in them and that will last and still taste good.

Chocolate-Covered Graham Crackers

~24 small Graham crackers rectangles

~4 or 5 oz. good Chocolate, chopped up- (I mix dark and milk from the huge candy bars at trader joe's.)

~Less than 1 Tablespoon of crisco shortening

Microwave the chocolate and crisco for a few seconds and then mix until it is combined and completely melted. Then dip the crackers in.

(I love to do this for chocolate covered strawberries or macaroons. It is so easy!)

Because it was Mitchy's birthday I let him handle the blow torch for a while...he loved it!

The longer you let the frosted cupcakes stand, the more the frosting becomes marshmallow-like! I like it better than way.

And...ENJOY!!! We did! They are so good...and so much better than traditional s'mores!

Outrageous Pumpkin Cookies with Penuche Frosting

From the time I was a little girl, my mom has been making these pumpkin cookies every fall season. They are so rich and delicious and every bite melts in your mouth, literally, and they just ooze "fall". They are by FAR the most delicious pumpkin cookies I have ever tasted in my life. (Sorry, pumpkin and chocolate chips just don't do it for me...they are almost there). These cookies have a real depth and almost earthiness that you are looking for in fall comfort foods. The cookies themselves are fluffy and light with a cake-like texture. But the frosting is what really makes them outrageous. The frosting is a cooked brown sugar frosting...you just can't describe it...you have to try it! So, do yourself a favor and make these cookies and just melt into the fall season!

Jade and Micah sharing a cookie...a bite for you, a bite for me.

COOKIE INGREDIENTS:

1 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup pumpkin

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

INSTRUCTIONS:

Cream the butter and sugars together. Beat in eggs and vanilla, and then add the pumpkin followed by the dry ingredients. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

While still slightly warm, frost with penuche frosting.

FROSTING INGREDIENTS & INSTRUCTIONS:

Combine 6 Tbsp butter and 1 cup brown sugar, boil for 1 minute. Let cool 10 minutes. Beat in 1/2 cup milk or a little more until it’s the right consistency, then beat in 3 to 4 cups powdered sugar. Frost the cooled cookies. And ENJOY them with the ones you love!

Panna Cotta

(This is not my photo, I just found it on google)

Panna Cotta is an italian dessert, I guess similar to Creme Brulee, but it is not really a custard, because there are no eggs. But it is a really unique and delicate dessert that is seriously one of the best desserts I have ever had. It is very rich and creamy, but also feels a little light and it has a really interesting and amazing texture. It also is a really beautiful and romantic dessert. This is BY FAR, Mitchy's favorite dessert and it is always a real treat when I make it for him! He doesn't care too much about desserts, he likes them, but can do without...but when it come to Panna Cotta, he is obsessed. And he even hints to me that it might be nice to enjoy a little Panna Cotta. I recently went on a trip to New York and Mitch stayed home with the kiddos, so the night before I left, I decided to make a double batch of Panna Cotta and leave it in the fridge for him as a Thank you. I didn't get any pictures of course because I left. But he was in heaven!

This recipe is from Williams Sonoma and it always comes out perfectly.

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups milk

4 1/2 tsp unflavored gelatin

1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Optional To Serve on top after they are complete: Chocolate Ganache and Raspberries of Strawberries

Six to Eight ramekins, set on a small baking sheet.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Pour 1/3 of the milk into a saucepan and sprinkle in the gelatin. Let sit until the gelatin softens and swells, about 3 minutes. Add the remaining milk and the sugar and set the saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until the sugar and gelatin are dissolved. Do not let the liquid boil. Remove from the heat and gently stir in cream and vanilla until blended.

Divide evenly among the prepared ramekins. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled and firm, at least 8 hours or overnight.

I prefer to serve them in the ramekins. It is much easier and still beautiful. Then I add some chocolate ganache on top of about 1/3 of the panna cotta and then place some Strawberries or Raspberries on top of that and ENJOY!!!

FOR THE GANACHE:

I just melt some chocolate chips and add heavy cream and stir. A good ratio is about 8 oz. of Chocolate to about 1 cup of Cream.

The cold velvety Panna Cotta with the Warm rich chocolate and the tart fruit...TO DIE FOR! Trust me! One of the best desserts I have ever tried or made! Please give this one a shot, you will thank me!

Texas Sheet Cake

This is the infamous chocolate sheet cake from this post from my family blog. We have had this recipe in the family for years. It is a really quick and easy recipe and this cake is so moist and delicious! You will love it! It is made with buttermilk and so it has a really rich and unique flavor. It is very different than your typical chocolate cake, you will love this "melt-in-your-mouth" dessert!

CAKE INGREDIENTS:

1 cup butter

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup water

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder

2 eggs, beaten

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

On the stove, boil the butter, oil and water together. Pour over a mixture of the sugar, flour and cocoa. In a separate bowl, dissolve the baking soda in the buttermilk, and then beat the eggs and add them and then add the vanilla and the salt. Add this to the above mixture. Pour into a shallow baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 25 -28 minutes, may vary with each oven. Frost the cake when it is still warm. (About 10-15 minutes out of the oven). That is how it keeps its moisture.

FROSTING INGREDIENTS:

1 cube butter

1/3 cup buttermilk

4 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup cocoa

1 tsp. vanilla

Melt butter and add buttermilk. Pour into a powdered sugar and cocoa mixture. Beat well and add vanilla. Spread on the warm cake. If bringing to a party, sometimes I cut them in squares before-hand and serve them up like brownies. This cake is delicious served with vanilla ice cream! You will love it, almost as much as Micah!!! ENJOY!

The Cookie Saga: Take 4

OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

(*My personal Favorite...I've never tasted a cookie I like better!)

There is something about these cookies, they are the chewiest and softest cookies I have ever had! Seriously...AMAZING! And the dough when frozen, the best little treat ever! Save some dough just to freeze it! These cookies are a MUST-TRY!

As if the cookie itself isn't enough, I love to add a little fun to this dessert when having friends over...this is the best and everyone loves it! I use this cookie dough recipe to make pizookies! (Obviously inspired by the pizookies at BJ's Pizza-pictured above!) They are one of my favorite desserts on the planet with this recipeq! You just take the dough and spread a thin layer on each ramekin! Then bake all together on a cookie sheet! Then put a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on top and serve immediately! Everyone gets their own special dessert! And the combination of the hot and cold and chewy oatmeal couldn't be better! And it is so easy but seems like a special, unique dessert! Can't wait to hear what you think about these babies!!!

My 3 Little Helpers! That is Micah and Jade's cousin Jack in the middle!

INGREDIENTS:

2 cubes butter, softened (1 cup)

1 1/4 cups brown sugar, packed down

1/2 cup white sugar

2 eggs

2 1/2 Tablespoons milk, (any percentage, just whatever you have)

2 1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 1/2 cups Quick Quaker Oats, uncooked (OR 3 cups Old Fashioned oats)

2 cups chocolate chips (I love the mini chocolate chips in these cookies because then you get an even amount of chocolate flavor throughout the cookie, and it just really works with the texture of the cookie!) But if I don't have mini's, they are perfectly good with regular chocolate chips!

OPTIONAL: Every so often when I feel like adding a little something extra, I add somecoconut! So good! But not for everyone!

HOW TO:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, milk and vanilla. Then add the flour, baking soda and salt. Mix until combined but don't over-mix or your cookies will be tough!

stir in the oats and chocolate chips. Then bake for about 7-10 minutes, depending on size! ENJOY!

Micah took this one...and right when they come out of the oven I like to put a few

"normal-sized" chocolate chips on top of each. They are much more enticing that way!

I guess I got caught eating one too...I didn't know Micah was taking a picture!

The Cookie Saga: Take 3

CHOCOLATE LAVA COOKIES

(The pictures don't do them justice, I can never photograph chocolate, just looks boring...oh, but it's not!)

Why do I collect recipes that are full rich chocolate with gooey dark chocolaty centers oozing out? Do we really have to ask this question?

You bite into these chocolate cookies and out oozes dark chocolate perfectness! These cookies are delicious and they are perfect to bring to an event or something because they are decadent and rich just like the Lava Cakes, but they are portable! If you like chocolate, you will love these!

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup butter, 2 cubes

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup cocoa

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chunks (I like the kind in the huge bar from Trader Joe's)

Cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat together. Mix in dry ingredients and roll into 1” balls. Put a thumbprint in cookie and fill with a chunk of chocolate. Cover with dough and bake. The tops should be soft when you take them out. Use good quality chocolate for the filling...don’t use chocolate chips- they won't stay gooey! The centers will stay soft and gooey for several hours so these are the best eaten the day you bake them. ENJOY!

Can you tell, my kiddos are starting to LOVE posing for pictures? They crack me up!

The Cookie Saga: Take 1

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

I love these chocolate chip cookies, they are chewy and moist and they have great flavor! This recipe makes a lot of cookies and it is a real crowd pleaser! Everyone loves these traditional chocolate chip cookies...they are everything a cookie should be!

INGREDIENTS:

~3 cubes butter, softened

~ 2 cups Brown Sugar

~ 1 cup White Sugar

~ 2 Eggs

~ 1 Tablespoon Vanilla

~ 4 1/4 cups Flour

~ 1 tsp. Baking Soda

~ 1 tsp. Salt (I like Sea Salt)

~ About 2 cups Chocolate Chips, plus extra to top

HOW TO MAKE:

Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the eggs, and vanilla.

Add the flour, baking soda and salt.

Then add the chocolate chips. Roll into balls and put them on the cookie sheet. Bake at 325degrees for about 8-11 minutes.

And right when I take them out I add chocolate chips on top so that they all look equally as delicious! The chips melt right into them! Enjoy!