Fudgy Brownies

This was my first attempt at making brownies from scratch and they were fabulous! Okay, I lie...the first time I made them was when I was responsible for dessert on pizza night at Nick's parent's house. Since I am so into cooking now, I can't do anything simple anymore. If I am asked to bring brownies, I can't make them from the box, I have to go all out and make them from scratch. So, the first time I made them I didn't have enough time to let them finish baking in my oven and had to take them out half-way through and finished baking them in my mother-in-law's oven. They came out as pure brown goo. Don't get me wrong, they tasted amazing but they had to be eaten with a fork. The second time I made them however, they were perfect. Perfectly fudgy and moist. Nick even said that they were the best brownies he has ever had. He's such a tease. :) I was so amazed at how easy they were to make! I'll never make brownies from the box again. (No offense Betty Crocker)

Fudgy Brownies from Martha Stewart

Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter and more for pan
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Butter an 8-inch square baking pan. Line pan with parchment paper, leaving a 1-inch overhang on two sides. Set aside.
Melt butter and chocolate together using double boiler method. Remove from heat, and let cool for about 10-15 minutes.
Stir sugar into chocolate mixture until combined. Whisk in eggs one at a time, whisking until smooth after each. Whisk in vanilla. Gently fold in flour and salt.
Pour batter into pan, and smooth top. Bake until a tester comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached, 40-45 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack to cool completely.
Run a knife or offset spatula around the edges of the pan. Using parchment, remove brownies from pan and onto the rack. Cut into squares. Brownies can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Lilcrablegs from my cooking board shared this wonderful recipe with me. Thank you Bethany! http://bethanyjg.blogspot.com/search/label/Dessert

Caramel Apple Cheesecake

Yum! This is the easiest cheesecake recipe ever and we all know that I love easy.

1 (21-ounce) can apple pie filling
1 (9-inch) graham cracker crust
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese , softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/4 cup caramel topping
12 pecan halves (I omitted)
2 tablespoons chopped pecans (I omitted)

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
Remove 3/4 cup of apple pie filling and set aside. Spoon remaining filling into pie crust. In a medium bowl, beat together cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add eggs and beat well. Pour over apple filling.
Bake for 35 minutes, or until center is set. Cool on a wire rack.
Combine reserved apple pie filling and caramel topping in a small saucepan. Heat over moderate heat until spreadable, but not hot. Spoon over cooled cheesecake and spread evenly. Decorate the edge with pecan halves and sprinkle the top with chopped pecans. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Submitted by Mary Gordon to cooksrecipes.com

Pumpkin Cheesecake

This was wonderful! I was too impatient to let it cool before taking a bite because it smelled so good. I even ate a piece for breakfast. Oops!
Ingredients:
For the gingersnap crust:
1/4 lb. gingersnaps (about 20 small cookies)
1/3 cup pecan halves (I omitted)
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 lb. cream cheese, at room temperature (2 8 oz. blocks in case you are as bad with conversions as I am!)
3 eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree

For the topping: (I omitted the topping)
1/2 cup pecan halves
1 Tbs. unsalted butter
2 Tbs. granulated sugar

Directions:
Preheat an oven to 350°F. Lightly butter a 9-inch springform pan. To make the crust, in a food processor, combine the gingersnaps and pecans and process until crumbly. Add the brown sugar and melted butter and pulse for a few seconds to blend. Transfer the crumb mixture to the prepared pan. Use your fingers to pat the mixture into the bottom and evenly all the way up the sides of the pan. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
To make the filling, in a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, ginger and cloves. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Using a rubber spatula, occasionally scrape down the sides of the bowl. Gradually add the brown sugar mixture, beating until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the pumpkin puree, beating until smooth. Using the rubber spatula, scrape the batter into the chilled crust and smooth the top. Bake the cheesecake until set or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes.
Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
To make the topping, set aside 10 pecan halves and coarsely chop the rest. In a small fry pan over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Add all of the pecans, sprinkle with the granulated sugar and cook, stirring, until the sugar melts and the nuts are toasted and caramel coated. Transfer the nut mixture to a plate and let cool completely, then store in an airtight container. Just before serving, sprinkle the chopped pecans over the cheesecake and arrange the halves evenly around the perimeter. Serves 10 to 12.
Adapted from Williams-Sonoma, Thanksgiving Entertaining, by Lou Seibert Pappas (Simon & Schuster, 2005 ). Given to me by Addie and Kelsey from my Cooking Board

Easy Kool-Aid Pie

This is perhaps the easiest dessert I have ever made. It is delicious! I have tried using the Kool-Aid Lemonade and I love it! a slice of this pie is only 2 pts. on the Weight Watcher's diet.

1 pack of Kool-Aid
1 can light sweetened condensed milk
1 small container of light Cool Whip
1 graham cracker pie crust
Mix Kool-Aid, condensed milk and Cool Whip. Pour in pie crust. Chill or freeze.
-compliments of Nick's grandmother

Variations:
Use orange Kool-Aid and mix in a can of drained mandarin oranges.
-idea given by Veniceforever on my cooking board

Use Strawberry Kool-Aid and mix in frozen strawberries

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is what happens when you let a man in the kitchen...he will roll a cookie dough ball into the size of his fist. I was surprised that it turned out so well! He said that it was the best cookie he had ever had!

These are truly the best homemade cookies I have ever had! While eating them I was in shock and kept saying, "I can't believe that I made these!" Thank you Chelley for sharing this wonderful recipe!

2 cups plus 2 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
12 Tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
1 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1- 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Adjust the oven racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or spray them with nonstick cooking spray. ( I used my Pampered Chef Pizza Stone and it worked great!)

2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in medium bowl, set aside.

3. Either by hand or with an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed just until combined.

4. Roll a scant 1/4 cup of the dough into a ball. Hold the dough with the fingertips of both hands and pull into 2 equal halves. Rotate the halves 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces facing up, join the halves together at their base, again forming a single ball, being careful not to smooth the dough's uneven surface. Place the formed dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, jagged surface up, spacing them 2 1/2 inches apart.
(Or roll the dough into small balls and spread a part on cookie sheet. This is what I did because I'm lazy.)

5. Bake until the cookies are light golden brown and the outer edges start to harden yet the centers are still soft and puffy, 15-18 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Cool the cookies on the sheets. Remove the cooled cookies from the baking sheets with a side metal spatula.
- taken from the Brown-eyed Baker and Baking Illustrated, pg. 434
http://www.browneyedbaker.com/

Blueberry Crunch

This is delicious! A neat thing about it is that it can be served as a side dish or as dessert topped with ice cream.

1 16 oz. can crushed pineapple
3 C. blueberries- fresh or frozen
1/2 c. sugar- sprinkle over blueberries
1 pkg. yellow cake mix- sprinkle over everything in pan
1 stick butter or margarine- pour over cake mix
1 C. chopped pecans- sprinkle over cake mix
Butter 9 by 13" baking dish. layer ingredients as listed and DON'T STIR. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.
-compliments of my mom and grandmother

Heath Bar Cake

There are no words to describe just how good this cake is. It is so rich. The longer it sits in the refridgerator, the more time the cake has to absorb the caramel mixture and the better it is! It is great made ahead.

1 box German Chocolate cake mix
1 jar caramel topping
1 can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed milk
7 Heath Bars
1 tub Cool Whip

Bake cake according to directions on box. While baking, mix Eagle's Brand and caramel topping. While still hot, poke holes in cake and pour caramel mixture over. Cool. Spread Cool Whip evenly over cake. Crush Heath Bars and sprinkle over Cool Whip. Best when served cold.
-compliments of my mom

Easy Butterfinger Pie

7 Butterfinger candy bars (regular size)
1 large tub Cool Whip
2 graham cracker pie crusts

Crunch Butterfingers into Cool Whip tub. Stir together. Pour mixture into pie crusts and freeze until hardened. Drizzle with chocolate syrup if desired.
-compliments of my mom

Mini Cheesecakes

1 1/2 cups graham cracker or chocolate wafer crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine, melted
3 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
1 can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 300. Combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar and butter; press equal portions onto bottoms of 24 lightly greased or paper-lined muffin cups.

In Large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in Eagle Brand until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well. Spoon equal amounts of mixture (about 3 Tbsp) into prepared cups. Bake dor 20 min. or until cakes spring back when lightly touched. Cool. Chill. Garnish as desired. Refridgerate leftovers.

Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes- Melt 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips; mix into batter. Proceed as above.
- adapted from Eagle Brand Holiday Cookbook