Churro Cheesecake Bars

These are fun and surprisingly easy to make. I'm not sure how to make authentic Mexican Churros so this is my take on them. They were big hit with my oldest stepson because churros and cheesecake are like his favourite desserts ever.


I would have a bunch of pics for this post but there are some technical difficulties with picture uploading at the moment. I'll add them once it's fixed.


Ingredients


2 cans crescent rolls
2 packages cream cheese room temp
1tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
sugar
cinnamon


1. Grease a 13"by9" pan, unroll the crescent dough and place on the bottom of the pan. smush the lines together so it's a complete crust.


2. Beat cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, vanilla, and egg together and spread over crescent dough in the pan.


3. Unroll the second roll of crescent dough and place over cream cheese mixture. Press around the edges to make a hole free top crust.


4.  Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes or until edges are brown. Mix 1/2 cup sugar and 2 tsp. of cinnamon together then sprinkle over churros.


5. Cut into squares and serve warm!

Mocha Cupcakes with Peppermint Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients

Cupcakes
Chocolate cake mix (and ingredients it calls for on the box)
Strong brewed peppermint flavored coffee, room temperature (enough to replace the amount of water the box cake mix calls for)

Peppermint Buttercream Frosting 1 cup, 2 sticks of butter, room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
3 tablespoons Peppermint Mocha Nestle Coffee-mate Creamer

1. Bake the cupcakes from the box cake, following directions except use room temperature coffee instead of water. Preferably very strong brewed to get the best taste.

2. Cool cupcakes to room temp.

3. Cream butter with hand mixer or in a stand mixer. Add in sugar, mixing well after each cup.

4. Add salt, peppermint extract and creamer, beat well.

5. Frost cupcakes when cool and enjoy! You can garnish with chopped candycane or grated chocolate which I meant to do. I used Heath baking chips because it's all I had on hand. Turned out pretty yummy anyway!

Chocolate Peppermint Bundt Cake

Have I ever mentioned how much I like bundt cake? It's just so round and pretty! And of course what could be better than a CHOCOLATE bundt cake? I made this cake for Thanksgiving with my family and it was yummy yummy!

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, plus more for the pan
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
2 cups all-purpose all purpose flour, plus more for the pan
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream (or Greek yogurt)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


The Glaze

For the chocolate glaze:
1 bar Ghardelli peppermint bar, crushed or grated
 1 1/2 tablespoons corn syrup (or agave nectar)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 10 or 12-cup Bundt pan and set aside.

2. In a small saucepan, combine the butter, cocoa powder, salt, and water and place over medium heat. Cook, stirring, just until melted and combined. Remove from the heat and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and baking soda. Add half of the melted butter mixture and whisk until completely blended. The mixture will be thick. Add the remaining butter mixture and whisk until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking until completely blended. Whisk in the sour cream (or Greek yogurt) and the vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth.

4. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then invert onto a rack. Let cool completely before glazing. (It's important to fully cool or your glaze will be runny)

5. While the cake is cooling, make the chocolate glaze. Place the chopped peppermint and corn syrup (or agave) in a medium bowl and set aside. Combine the heavy cream and sugar in a small saucepan and put over medium heat. Stir until the cream is hot and the sugar is dissolved. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and whisk until smooth.

6. Generously drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake, allowing it to drip down the sides. Cut into pieces and serve.

Southern Banana Pudding

I made this dish for a Pinterest party my friend hosted. It is super rich and also one of those desserts that tastes better the second time around.

Ingredients
4 bananas sliced
3 cups of milk
2 small boxes instant vanilla pudding
1 8oz package cream cheese
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 box of Nilla Wafers
1 container Cool Whip

1. Layer Nilla Wafers across the bottom of a glass baking dish. Slice bananas and layer over Nilla wafers.

 

2. Combine pudding according to directions, mix well and set aside.

3. Put softened cream cheese, and condensed milk into a mixing bowl.

(I doubled the recipe which is why there are 2 cream cheese blocks)

 

4. Beat these ingredients with handheld mixer and slowly fold in the Cool whip.

 

 

 

 

5. Add pudding to cool whip/cream cheese mixture. Stir until fully combined.

 

 

 

6. Pour over bananas and nilla wafers and spread evenly. Top with nilla wafers.

 

 

 

 

7. You can serve immediately but tastes best after chilled in the fridge for several hours.

 









Brownie Crunch Cake

This is an amazing, rich cake and great for a summer dessert. My girls and stepsons were licking their plates and begging for more!

Silly boy!

Ingredients

2 brownie mixes (I usually make from scratch but with 7 kiddos to take care of I didn't have the time this time)
1 8oz pack cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
2 containers Cool Whip (For a healthier option you can make your own by whipping heavy cream)
1 package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 package instant vanilla pudding mix
2-3 Heath or Skor bars crushed up

1. Mix brownies according to directions on box and pour into greased pan. Bake according to box and let cool.

2. Beat 1 container of cool whip, powdered sugar and cream cheese until mostly smooth.

3. Mix instant pudding mixes with milk and stir until set. Use slightly less milk than called for on the box. (About 3 1/2 cups instead of 4)

4. Spread cream cheese/cool whip/sugar mixture evenly over cooled brownies.

5. Spread pudding mixture next. Finish with 2nd container of cool whip. (I forgot to buy a second container) Top with crushed candy bars. Chill in fridge for several hours. (This actually tastes even more amazing the 2nd day when the brownies become slightly softer and all the flavors meld together)

St. Patty's Day Candy Bark

The girls loved helping me make this treat for St. Patty's Day, and it turned out sooo yummy!

Ingredients:

Pretzel sticks
Green m&ms
Grasshopper cookies (or thin mints)
2 bars of baking chocolate (I used Ghiardelli dark bittersweet)

1. Start by lining a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Break up pretzel sticks in a layer on the cookie sheet.

 

2. Next add in the M&Ms. There really aren't any measurements to this, just eyeball it and add in more or less of your favorite items. (Like I used the whole bag of M&Ms lol)

 

3. Break up the cookies and add on top of the pretzel's and m&ms. Melt the baking chocolate over low heat until smooth. Spoon over candy mixture.

4. Use a fork to make sure the melted chocolate gets all in there really good. Top with green sprinkles.

 

5. Refridgerate for an hour and then eat!

Chocolate chip peppermint cookies

Here is another peppermint and chocolate recipe. I just can't get enough of these Andes peppermine crunch baking pieces. Sooo good! I'm going to have to buy a few more bags before Christmas time is over, because they are only sold this time of year.

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 large eggs
1 bag milk chocolate chips (I used about 3/4 bag)
1 bag Andes peppermint crunch chips (also used 3/4 bag)

1. Mix flour, soda and salt. Set aside.

 

2. With a mixer, beat together sugars, vanilla, and butter until smooth. Add eggs one at a time mixing well after each addition. Gradually add flour followed by chocolate and peppermint chips.

 

3. Spread flour on a surface and divide batter into fourths. Roll into a log and wrap in plastic wrap. Refridgerate until firm.

 

4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350. Slice logs into discs and place on baking sheet. Bake 5 min, rotate baking sheet and bake 5 min more. Let cool 10 minutes before transfering to cooling rack.

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

I made this delicious pound cake for our Thanksgiving dessert. You can eat it as is or dress it up a bit by adding a drizzle of chocolate or serving with strawberries and whip cream.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups of butter, softened
1 8oz. package of cream cheese, softened
3 cups of sugar
6 eggs
3 cups all pupose flour
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1. Beat butter and cream cheese together with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add in sugar, beating well.

2. Add in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

 

3. Sift 3 cups of flour in a seperate bowl. Add in salt. Add flour into butter mixture a half cup at a time, beating on low. Add vanilla.

Should look similar to this, at this point.

 

4. Pour batter into a greased and floured bundt pan. To grease and flour a pan, I've found the easiest way is to rub a stick of butter all over the inside. Then sprinkle a small handful of flour around the inside turning to coat. Turn upside down and tap on the counter or sink to remove excess.

 

 



5. Smooth out the batter so it is even. Bake at 300 for 1 hour 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool 10-15 min in the pan then transfer to wire cooling rack and cool completely.

Peppermint Mocha Trifle

Around this time of year I tend to be peppermint obsessed. Peppermint hot chocolate, peppermint coffee, even peppermint candles will suddenly appear at my house. I love it! I saw some peppermint bark baking chips at the grocery store last week and just had to get them. I didn't have a plan for them but I knew I could come up with something. Yes it was an impulse buy I'm ashamed to say! I came up with this Peppermint Mocha Trifle and it was delish! Normally we eat very healthy, but sometimes the fat kid in me takes over haha!

Ingredients
1 box cake mix (or you can make a cake from scratch to be a bit healthier)
1 pack instant chocolat pudding
1 container cool whip
1 bag peppermint crunch baking chips
1 cup strong brewed coffee

1. Bake cake according to instructions. Set aside to cool. Mix up pudding according to package and put in fridge.

2. Cut cake into cubes and layer in trifle dish or a deep dish.

 

3. Drizzle about 1/2 cup of the coffee over the cubes.
4. Next spread about 1/3 of the pudding mixture over the cubes.

5. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of peppermint chips over mixture.

 

 6. Next top with 1/3 container of cool whip. If you wait for the cool whip to soften it will spread better. (Which I didn't do because I was in a hurry lol)

7. Repeat the layers, then chill in fridge until ready to serve.