Turtle Cheesecake

     I was asked to make a dessert of some sort for a particularly picky eater.  What I really wanted to make were brownie cupcakes with mint frosting.  He doesn't like mint.  Then I thought of dark chocolate cupcakes with strawberry frosting.  He doesn't like frosting...weird I know.  I found a really yummy looking coconut caramel cookie recipe that I've been dying to try.  He doesn't like coconut.  Cue the turtle cheesecake.  Caramel?  Check.  Chocolate?  Check.  Cheesecake?  Check.  Whew.

     The recipe I found the other day sounded like it'd be really good.  I did tweak it a bit, but I'll put the original recipe and instructions on here with my changes.

Ingredients:

24 Oreos, finely crushed (about 2 cups)

6 Tbsp oleo, melted

1 pkg (14oz) caramels

1/2 cup milk

1 cup chopped pecans  *I skipped these...picky eaters :)*

3 pkg (8oz each) cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 Tbsp vanilla

3 eggs

2 oz Baker's semi-sweet chocolate

     Heat your oven to 325°.  Reduce the temperature to 300° if using a dark pan.

     Mix crushed Oreos and melted oleo.  Press mixture into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan and up 2 inches of the side.  *I just put the Oreo mixture on the bottom of the pan.  Mistake.  Put it up the sides or the caramel will leak out and burn on the bottom of your oven....for a couple of days if you forget to clean it.  Whoops*

     Microwave caramels and milk on high for 3 minutes or until caramels are completely melted.  Stir after each minute.  Stir in pecans.  *I skipped these.*  Pour half of mixture onto Oreo crust.  * I poured some onto the crust and then swirled the rest of the half into the cheesecake batter.*  Refrigerate for 10 minutes.  Refrigerate remaining caramel mixture so you can use it later.

     Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl until well blended.  Add eggs, one at a time, mixing on low after each until just blended.  Pour over caramel layer in crust.

     Bake for 1 hour and 5 minutes, or until center is almost set.  *Mine baked for about 1 hour and 12 minutes.*  Run a knife around the edge to loosen cheesecake.  Cool before removing the rim.  Refrigerate 4 hours.

     Microwave reserved caramel mixture 1 min, stir.  Drizzle over cheesecake.  Melt chocolate as directed on package.  Drizzle over cheesecake.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes.  *Or if you're like me, sleep in because you set your alarm for PM not AM, run to the kitchen, dump the caramel on the cheesecake and spread with a spoon very quickly, microwave chocolate while trying to get ready to leave the house, pour into a bag with the corner cut out, drizzle chocolate on cheesecake while getting it all over your hands, and run out the door to your truck.  But don't speed, cuz that'd be bad ;)*

Looks pretty yummy to me :)

     This was delicious.  Caramel, chocolate, and cheesecake. Sooooo good.  Mmmm.  A bit messy, probably because I was rushed and didn't refrigerate the cheesecake after pouring caramel on it, but delicious none the less.  Enjoy!

Happy baking friends!

     -Katie

Single Serve Chocolate Chip Cookie

     Today I had a craving for a warm, gooey, delicious chocolate chip cookie.  Unfortunately, there were no chocolate chip cookies to be found.  Insert sad-faced Katie.  I paced my kitchen trying to decide if it was worth it to make a whole batch of cookies for me to eat just one.  Nope, not worth it.  Back to the movie I was watching.

     But.

     That nagging craving for a cookie wouldn't go away.  So back to the kitchen I went and I started pulling ingredients out of the cupboard.  A little dash of this, a scoop of that, a couple drops of whatever that was in the bottle, a minute in the microwave, and TADA chocolate chip cookie in a cup!!  Delicious!  

mmmmmm nice and fluffy

     I'm telling you folks, it was so good I scraped the bottom of the cup as clean as I could.  Seriously.  You know how the bottles of A1 steak sauce always talk about how people do all kinds of crazy things to get the last drop?  I was almost one of those (probably nonexistent) people.  My cookie in a cup was so good.  Melty chocolate and a warm cookie, just for me?  Yes please :)

     Lucky for you, I have a very good memory when it comes to cooking and baking.   Not a whole lot else sticks in my pretty little head, but recipes, they're always bouncing around in there.

     What I used for my cookie in a cup:

1 Tbsp oleo, softened

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1 Tbsp sugar

tiny bit of salt

1 egg yolk

a couple drops of vanilla

1/4 cup flour

chocolate chips

     Just mix everything all together in your cup and pop it in the microwave for about a minute.  Mine went for 50 seconds and was perfect!

Happy baking friends!

     -Katie

Easy Chocolate Covered Pretzels

     I'm going to put this out there: I have a sweet tooth.  A major sweet tooth.  Whew, feels good to admit it! ;)  But, there is nothing I love better than eating a sweet treat with a salty one.  Chocolate covered pretzels hit both of those with one shot!  And they're super simple!

What you'll need:

waxed paper

a jelly roll pan

chocolate

sprinkles

pretzel rods

     That's it!!  Nice and easy right?

     Okay here's what you need to do.  Line your jelly roll pan or cookie sheet with wax paper.  I used a jelly roll pan so the sprinkles wouldn't end up all over the kitchen.  Then I pressed my fingernail along the edges so the wax paper lay flat.

     Now melt your chocolate.  I melted mine in the microwave.  Whenever I melt chocolate in the microwave I start with one minute and then continue melting at 30 second intervals, stirring after each time.  I do it this way so that I don't burn the chocolate by melting it too fast.  Make sure there are no lumps in the chocolate so it's nice and smooth to cover your pretzels with.  While I was melting the chocolate, I broke my pretzel rods in half.  The full size ones are just too big to dip well.  And if you happen to eat more than one, or two (or three) of them, you won't feel quite as guilty as you would if they were whole ;)

 

 

     Once my chocolate was all melted, it was time to start dipping the pretzels.  I put the broken off edge in to chocolate and then used a spoon to spread it up the sides of the pretzel.  Try not to get too crazy with your chocolate spreading or you'll have it all over your fingers...not that I have experience at that at all...

dip the tip into the chocolate so it gets covered

use your spoon to spread the chocolate

finished pretzel, nicely coated in chocolate-y goodness :)

     Next, lay your pretzel out on the waxed paper.  I covered a few of them before I put sprinkles on them.  I did use two different types of sprinkles and one was a bit larger than the other.  For the smaller sprinkles, I only did about four pretzels before I put sprinkles on them, but with the larger ones I did six or seven and then only put sprinkles on the first four.  The larger sprinkles slide the chocolate off the pretzels a bit.  Not super noticeable, but it would have driven me crazy!

Sprinkles!! :)

Small sprinkles

Large sprinkles

     I made two jelly roll pans full of pretzels and the first pan was mostly set by the time I was done with the second, so they don't take too long to set.

     If you're using the same kind of chocolate I did, it's 24 ounces of chocolate and will get you about 6 dozen (half-sized) pretzels.  I did have lots of pretzels left over though, which is fine by me, I love pretzels :)

Leftover pretzels

     See that tiny little pretzel on the left in the middle-ish?  That's what my family (and coworkers if we're being honest) would call a Katie sized one.  I'm short. Like barely over 5 foot short.  Let the short jokes commence :)

Yum!!!

This is called a whoops moment...sprinkles come out quickly...beware.

Happy baking friends!

    -Katie

Mickey & Minnie Mouse Cupcakes

     In keeping with the Minnie and Mickey theme for my cousin's baby shower, I decided to make mini cupcakes looking like everybody's favorite mice hehe.  They went perfect with my mini cheesecakes! :)

     Since I was making lots of stuff and planning quite a bit for the shower, I went simple with these and just used a Betty Crocker german chocolate cake mix.  The only thing I did different than the instructions on the box was add a bit more water.  It makes the cakes nice and moist.  The frosting however, could not be bought from the store.  I don't ever, ever buy frosting in a container.  I use this recipe for the best. frosting. ever.  Seriously, it's that good!  Not too sweet, light and fluffy, easy to decorate with, and delicious.  Best frosting combo ever :)

Frosting:

1 1/2 cup shortening
1 packet of Dream Whip (about 3 Tbsp) -in the baking aisle, comes in a box of 4
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 tsp butter flavoring
1 tsp almond flavoring
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup water
2 lbs powdered sugar (yes this may sound like a lot, but I promise, the frosting isn't insanely sweet!)

     To make the frosting, you first cream together the shortening, Dream Whip, vanilla, butter flavoring, and almond flavoring for 2 minutes.  Actually cream it for 2 minutes, it makes the frosting nice and fluffy later.  When I made the frosting this time, I skipped the almond flavoring just in case of allergies at the baby shower.  I simply added a bit more vanilla to compensate.
     Next, dissolve the salt in the water.
     Add 1 lb of powdered sugar and half of the salt water mixture and cream for 2 more minutes.  Start out slowly when mixing this part, or you will have powdered sugar everywhere!  Trust me, I've done it more times than I care to admit!
     Last, you'll add the last lb of powdered sugar and the second half of the salt water.  Cream another 2 minutes, starting out slowly again :)
     This recipe makes enough frosting to frost and decorate a 9x13 size cake with some extra.  I had plenty for my cupcakes.  It will keep in the refrigerator for 3 or so weeks.  I haven't tried freezing it yet, so not sure how that'll work.  If anybody tries it, let me know!

it's entirely possible that we eat a 'little bit' of frosting before it can make it to the cake ;)

     I colored most of my frosting a bright pink with Wilton food coloring.  I kept a bit out to make the faces on the Oreos.

     I bought lots of Oreos, and I mean lots to decorate my cupcakes.  In case you were wondering, a cake mix for a 9x13 makes a TON of mini cupcakes!!

I had three bags of the bite size Oreos and two packages of the regular ones

     To decorate my cupcakes, I used a decorating bag and a tip to pipe frosting onto the top of the cupcakes.

     

     The Oreos wouldn't fit on the cupcakes without being on an angle, so I piped a line of extra frosting along the backs to tilt the large Oreos.

     There wasn't really any specific way that I put the large Oreos onto the cupcakes.  I just stuck them on at an angle I thought looked good.

     The mini ones had to go under the large Oreos a little bit to stay in place, but the frosting does most of the work.  It acts like glue and keeps them on the cupcake.

     Then I piped on faces with the leftover white frosting and a tiny decorating tip.  Not all the faces are the same to give them a bit of character ;)

     I accidentally forgot to take pictures before I added the bowties and 'hair' bows, but after the faces I decided they needed a little something extra to make them just right.

     They turned out so cute I didn't want to eat them! :)  Hope you enjoy making them as much as I did!

Happy baking friends!

    -Katie