Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread

It's that time of year - Pumpkin Time! Pumpkin pie, pumpkin in your coffee, and here is a recipe for some amazing pumpkin bread! It's great for breakfast or as a dessert. I made a few loafs, froze 2, and took them out to thaw at room temperature the night before I wanted to cut into them. Make 3 in October, eat one right away, bring one out for Thanksgiving, and then again in December - Enjoy!

Prep time: 15min - Bake time: 40min - Yields 3 mini loaves (5 3/4 inches long X 3 inches wide X 2 inches deep)
Ingredients
For Cheese Batter:
   8oz cream cheese, room temperature
   1 large egg, room temperature, lightly beaten
   1/4 c powdered sugar
   1/2 tsp vanilla extract
For the Pumpkin Batter:
   3/4 c brown sugar
   2 large eggs
   3/4 c pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
   2 tbsp canola oil
   1 tsp vanilla extract
   1 1/4 c all-purpose flour
   1/4 tsp baking soda
   1 1/4 tsp baking powder
   1/4 tsp salt
   3/4 tsp cinnamon
   1/2 tsp nutmeg
   1/4 tsp ginger
   1/8 tsp cloves
Butter to grease pans

Instructions

   1. Preheat oven to 350F; lightly grease 3 mini loaf pans with butter.

   2. For the cheese batter, use a handheld electric mixer to beat together all ingredients in a medium bowl until smooth and creamy.

   3. For the pumpkin spice batter, whisk together the brown sugar and eggs in a medium bowl until light and fluffy, then stir in the pumpkin, canola oil, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk or sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. Gradually stir the dry ingredients into the wet, being careful not to over-mix.

   4. Divide the pumpkin batter between the 3 loaf pans, then pour the cheese batter on top. Bake until golden around the edges, about 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted inside comes out clean or with just a couple crumbs.

    5. Cool 10 minutes in the pans, then remove from the pans and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Easy Cream Cheese Frosting

Here's an easy cream cheese frosting recipe - great on red velvet cookies :)

Cream Cheese Frosting
1/4 cup softened butter
4 oz softened cream cheese
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners' sugar

Mix the softened butter with the softened cream cheese and the vanilla until the mixture is smooth. Add the confectioners' sugar in 1/2 cup increments until the frosting is of proper spreading consistency.

Lemon Cranberry Cream Cheese Cookies

These cookies are so light and refreshing, the perfect summer cookie!They are are very fluffy cookie.

 

They can be made with dried cranberries or fresh blueberries, just make sure you're careful with the blueberries so they don't "pop".

Also when you're adding the cream cheese to the center of the cookie, lightly flour your fingers between every 2 cookies or so otherwise they stick to you!

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 eggs
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 cup flour
1 cup dried cranberries or fresh blueberries

1/2 pkg cream cheese, cut into 1 tsp cubes

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and position a rack in the center. Line your baking sheets with parchment paper and set them aside.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer cream together the butter and sugar until it's light and fluffy. Blend in the lemon zest, juice and eggs. Make sure to scrape off any bits of zest that stick to the mixer paddle.

In a separate bowl whisk together the baking soda, baking powder, salt and flour then mix it into the wet ingredients. Gently fold in your fruit of choice. Refrigerate the dough for about 20 – 30 minutes to make it stiff enough to roll.

For each cookie, roll 1 heaping tbsp of dough into a ball then flatten it slightly into a disc shape. Place a 1 tsp cream cheese cube into the center and form the dough around it creating a ball again. Bake them for about 10 - 14 minutes until the edges brown slightly. Transfer them to a cooling rack and enjoy! Makes about 2 dozen cookies

Cheesecake Brownies

 I have a friend that loves brownies. She said the ultimate combo would be a brownie with cheesecake, so of course I had to make them! They turned out pretty good! The brownie is very moist - maybe a little more cakey then brownie but still awesome. A little ice cream and it's to die for! Make sure you store in an airtight container, does not need to be refrigerated.

PS - this is a lightened up version - bonus!

Cook Time: 40 min

Serves: 16 (2-inch) square brownies

Ingredients

• Cooking spray

Cheesecake topping:

• 8 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese (Neufchatel)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg

Brownie Layer:

• 2 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• Pinch cayenne pepper
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup lowfat buttermilk
• 2 large egg whites
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

Position the rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line an 8 by 8-inch baking pan with foil so it hangs over the edges by about 1-inch. Spray with cooking spray.

Cheesecake topping: In a medium bowl and using an electric mixer at medium speed, beat the cream cheese until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Beat in the sugar and the vanilla until very smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in the egg until well blended. Set aside.

Brownie layer: Put the chocolate, butter, and oil in a small microwave-safe bowl and heat at 75 percent power for 30 seconds. Stir and microwave again until melted and smooth, about 30 seconds longer. (Alternatively, put the chocolate, butter, and oil in a small heatproof bowl. Bring a small saucepan filled with 1 inch or so of water to a very slow simmer; set the bowl over, not touching, the water, and stir occasionally, until melted and smooth.)

Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and cayenne in a medium bowl.
Combine the brown sugar and granulated sugar in a large bowl. Whisk in the buttermilk, egg whites, and vanilla. Add the chocolate mixture and whisk vigorously until fully incorporated and the batter is thick and glossy. Gradually add the flour mixture and stir just until it disappears.

Reserve 1/2 cup brownie batter and set aside. Scrape the remaining brownie batter into the prepared pan. Pour the cheesecake mixture evenly over top. Drop the reserved brownie batter in large dollops over the topping. Draw the handle of a wooden spoon through the two batters to create a swirled effect.
Bake until the top is just set, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Lift brownies out of the pan by the foil and peel off the foil. Spray a knife with cooking spray and cut into 2-inch squares.


Nutritional per serving: 1 brownie. Calories 200; Total Fat 10g; (Sat Fat 4 g, Mono Fat 3 g, Poly Fat 1 g); Protein 4 g; Carb 27 g; Fiber 1 g; Cholesterol 30 mg; Sodium 180 mg

Pre-baking, the swirls are so pretty!

Post-baking, the top does crack a little but its still pretty!

Sopapilla Cheesecake

The end all be all of desserts! I have made this for friends and co-workers and every time I make it I get soooooo many compliments! And once again it's easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy! 

Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 45 Minutes

Ready In: 3 Hours Servings: 12

Ingredients:

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened 1 cup white sugar 1 teaspoon Mexican vanilla extract 2 (8 ounce) cans refrigerated crescent rolls (if you can find the sheets that works the best!)

3/4 cup white sugar 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 cup butter, room temperature honey

Directions:

1.	Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Prepare a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2.	Beat the cream cheese with 1 cup of sugar and the vanilla extract in a bowl until smooth.
3.	Unroll the cans of crescent roll dough, and use a rolling pin to shape each piece into 9x13 inch rectangles. Press one piece into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Evenly spread the cream cheese mixture into the baking dish, then cover with the remaining piece of crescent dough. Stir together 3/4 cup of sugar, cinnamon, and butter. Dot the mixture over the top of the cheesecake.
4.	Bake in the preheated oven until the crescent dough has puffed and turned golden brown, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and drizzle with honey. Cool completely in the pan before cutting into 12 squares (can place in refrigerator to speed up the process).