Bayou Brownies

This recipe (or something very similar) is floating around the Internet masquerading under like five different names.  I picked the Bayou Brownie name mostly because I'm a fan of alliteration.

These brownies don't actually contain any chocolate.  But, don't worry, they won't disappoint!  I think they're called "brownies" merely because of the texture.  In fact, you could probably call these Bayou Blondies, but then there would be six names for a single dessert, and six names would be totally over the top.

Anyway, these brownies are ridiculously easy to make.  They do bake at a low temperature for a relatively long period of time, but very little is required to get them in the oven.  And, you probably have all of the ingredients hanging around in your kitchen, so you might as well make them anyway.  These were so good that I made them and took them to work twice in the same week.  Make these.  You'll be happy you did.

Source: kevin {&} Amanda

Ingredients:
1 Box Moist Yellow Cake Mix
3 Eggs
8 Oz Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 Cup Butter, melted
4 Cups Powdered Sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees and spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with non-stick spray. 

2.  Combine the cake mix (only the powdered cake mix -- do not prepare), melted butter, and one egg. 

3. Press the cake mix into the bottom of the pan. 

4. Mix the cream cheese, 2 eggs, and powdered sugar until it is smooth. 

5. Pour the cream cheese mixture on top of the cake mix crust. 

6.  Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until the top is a very light golden brown. 

7.  Allow to cool completely before cutting. 

Enjoy!!

Blueberry Cupcakes with Lime Cream Cheese Frosting

I was skeptical at first of the combination of blueberry and lime, but I decided to give these a shot this Spring.  They came out delicious!  The lime and cream cheese frosting was a bit tangy, but incredibly refreshing and the cupcakes were not too sweet.  I did find the cupcakes to be a bit dry for my personal taste, but the frosting was so delicious,  I was able to look past the dry cake. 

Slightly Adapted From: Tracey's Culinary Adventures

What you need for the cupcakes:
3/4 Cup + 2 Tbsp All Purpose Flour, divided
3/4 Cup Cake Flour
1 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/4 Tsp Salt
1 Cup Unslated Butter, at room temperature
3/4 Cup + 2 Tbsp Sugar
Juice of 1 Lime 
2 Large Eggs, at room temperature
2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 Cup + 2 Tbsp Milk, at room temperature
1 Cup Blueberries (preferably fresh) 

What you do to make the cupcakes:

1.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. 
2.  Line cupcake pans with liners. 
3.  Whisk 3/4 cup all purpose flour, all of the cake flower, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.  Set that bowl aside. 
4.  In another bowl combine the sugar and lime juice.  
5.  Add the butter and cream until light and fluffy. 
6.  Add the eggs, one at a time.  Beat well after each addition. 
7.  Add the vanilla and mix well. 
8. Add the flour mixture and the milk, a bit at a time, alternating flour mixture and milk.
9.  Gently fold in 3/4 cup of blueberries. 
10.  Fill the cupcake tins about 2/3 of the way full. 
11.  Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 
12.  Cool completely. 


What you need for the frosting: 
8 oz cream cheese, softened
5 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
4 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar
Juice of 1 Lime 
Green Food Coloring, if desired

What you do to make the frosting:
1.  Beat the cream cheese and butter together until fluffy. 
2.  Add the lime juice and mix well. 
3.  Add the powdered sugar, 1/2 of a cup at a time.  
4.  After all of the powdered sugar is mixed in, add green food coloring to color as desired. 
5.  Mix on high speed until fluffy. 
6.  Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes with an over sized icing tip. 
7.  Garnish with blueberries. 

Enjoy!

Cookie Pie

I ended up with one million left over Christmas Cookies.

One Million.  I counted.

Most of them were chocolate chip or M&M Cookies.  For some reason, when cookies sit on my counter in plastic baggies, they get crushed into tiny little pieces.  I think there is a little cookie smashing elf that comes around at night.  See:

Anyway, I didn't want all these cookies to go to waste, so I decided to try making a pie out of them.  This was super easy and it turned out delicious!  You could do this with any left over cookie you have, not just Christmas Cookies.

Here's what you need:
3 Cups of Cookie Crumbs
3 Tbsp Butter, melted
Dash of Salt *optional*
1 1/2 Cups of Cookie Chunks (or more to taste)
8 ounces Cream Cheese, softened
2 Tsp Vanilla
1/4 Cup Powdered Sugar
8 ounces Cool Whip

Here's what you do:


1.  Use your blender or food processor to grind your cookies into cookie crumbs.  Grind enough cookies to make 3 cups of crumbs.

2.  Melt butter.

3.  Add butter to cookie crumbs.  Mix until well moistened.  I added a dash of salt because I buy unsalted butter and the crumbs and butter alone were a little too sweet for my taste.

4.  Press the cookie crumbs into the bottom and sides of a pie plate to form the crust.

5.  Beat the cream cheese until it is light and smooth.

6.  Add vanilla to cream cheese and mix well.

7.  Add powdered sugar to cream cheese mixture and mix well.

8.  Fold the cool whip into the cream cheese mixture.

9.  Gently fold 1 cup of cookie chunks into the cream cheese mixture.

10.  Put the cream cheese mixture on top of the cookie pie crust.  Garnish with remaining cookie chunks.

11.  Refrigerate until firm.

That looks like a lot of steps, but, really, it's not that bad.  It's mostly that I added one ingredient at a time.  It took me about 10 minutes to make this pie.

I'm not a very good pie cutter, but here is what one of my "slices" looked like:

Enjoy!

12 Days of Christmas Cookies -- Day 9: Lemon Cream Cheese Cookies

Today I got to see President Obama speak.  It was an incredible experience!  I'm not necessarily an Obama fan.  I'm currently quite indifferent regarding the President's actions while in office.  I'm not a democrat.  Or a republican.  I'm independent.  But, how many opportunities do you have to see the President of the United States of America speak?  Me, not so many.  So I jumped on this one.


He spoke in a high school gym about an hour or so away.  We drove down on Sunday and stood in line for about an hour to get tickets.  It was cold.  We were one of the last ones to get tickets.  Then today, we got there about 3 and half hours before he spoke.  We stood in line waiting to get in for about 3 hours.  Cold doesn't even begin to describe the weather today.  It was frigid.  I think the high today was 29 degrees and we were standing outside in the morning, so surely it was colder than that.  I have never shivered so much in my entire life!  But, in the end, it was soooooo worth it.  We got floor seats about 10 rows back from the President.  I imagine I'll never have another opportunity to have a similar experience in my life.  I'm grateful that I have had this experience.  We took a bunch of pictures . . . maybe I'll get them posted on here one day. 


So, what does this have to do with Lemon Cream Cheese Cookies you ask?  Nothing.  It also has nothing to do with 12 Days of Christmas Cookies.  It was just too awesome to not share. :-)


On to the cookies.  These cookies strike me as very adult, sophisticated cookies.  I eat like a child, so these didn't really strike my fancy.  It's not that they were bad. . . they were very good.  Just not my favorite.  If I had to choose between one of these and a Grinch Cookie, I'd pick the Grinch Cookie every last time.  I bet President Obama likes very adult, sophisticated cookies.  He'd probably like these. 


I will say, however, that these were the most moist cookies I think I've ever made.  They're probably the most moist cookies I've ever eaten as well.


Adapted from: The Kitchn


Here's what you need:

• 1 cup Flour
  1/2 teaspoon Salt
  1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
  1 cup (one 8-ounce package) Cream Cheese, softened
  1/2 cup (1 stick) Unsalted Butter, softened
  1 cup Sugar
  2 teaspoons finely grated Lemon Zest
  1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
  1 large Egg

  
Here's what you do:

1.  Preheat oven to 350°F.

2.  In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.

3.  In another bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. 

4.  Gradually add sugar to the cream cheese mixture and mix until light and fluffy. 

5. Add zest, vanilla, and egg. Beat to combine. 

6. Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. 

7.  If batter seems loose or warm, chill in the refrigerator until firm.

8.  Drop by tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheet. 

9.  Bake for about 12 minutes. 

10.  Remove to wire cooling rack upon removing cookies from oven. 

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Pie

There are certain dishes that I make every year, but only at certain times of the year.  This is one of them.  This is a delicious recipe that is easy to make, but tastes like it isn't.  I'm not sure where the recipe came from . . . I may have gotten it from my Aunt Julie.  But maybe not . . . 


Anyhow, who doesn't like creamy peanut butter with a little chocolate on top?  Nobody.  That's who.  So, why don't I make this pie more often, you ask?  Because it's very rich.  It doesn't matter how delicious a recipe is, too much of a good thing can be bad.  So, I save this pie for holiday time.  Although sometimes I make it and keep it in the fridge for breakfast.  For myself.  And I don't share.  


Here's what you need:
1 Block of Cream Cheese, room temperature
1 Cup of Creamy Peanut Butter
1 Cup of Sugar
1 Cup of Heavy Whipping Cream 
1 Pie Crust (sometimes I use a graham cracker crust and sometimes I use a chocolate one)
Chocolate Dessert Topping or Spare Chocolate Chips for Topping (optional)
Whipped Cream for Topping (optional)


Here's what you do:
1.  Mix the Cream Cheese, Peanut Butter, Sugar, and 1/3 of the Cup of Heavy Whipping Cream until well blended. 


2.  Fold in the remaining Heavy Whipping Cream. 


3.  Gently spoon the mixture into a pie crust and smooth. 

4.  Drizzle Chocolate Dessert Topping on top and use a fork or knife to create a pretty design. 


     Hint:  If you don't have Chocolate Dessert Topping, melt a few chocolate chips with 
      some of the remaining heavy whipping cream.  Make sure you stir well to combine 
      and then put that on top of the pie and proceed with step 4. 


5.  Refrigerate for at least one hour. 


6.  Cut into tiny pieces for serving.  Top with whipped cream if desired. 


Enjoy! 

Fiesta Chicken Pockets

Sooo, I have good news and I have bad news.  The good news is, I've made some really good food lately.  The bad news is, I've forgotten to take pictures of my good food.  Which means I can't post about them.  Bummer!

I do have one exception though.  Remember when I made these chicken pillows?  Well, I made them again, but I spiffied them up a bit.  I figure since you can go here and see something close to what they're supposed to look like, it's okay for me to post without a picture, right?  Besides, I don't have anything else to post right now.  And something is better than nothing, right? 

Also, nobody came up with any fabulous name ideas for the chicken pillows, so I went ahead and spiffied up the name myself while I was spiffing up the recipe.  It's no literary gold, but I'm pretty sure anything beats "chicken pillows".  I made these one Sunday after working on my house all day.  My mom had thrown the chicken in the crock pot that morning, which made it delicious and super tender, and I threw the pockets together that evening.  They came out delicious and were really simple -- especially since the chick was already cooked. 

Here's what you need:
2 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 Bunch of Green Onions
8 Ounces Cream Cheese, Softened
2 Can of Crescent Rolls

2 Cans of Rotel, well drained

1 Can of Green Chilies, well drained

Here's what you do:
1.  Season the meat and cook it in the crock pot all day. 

2.  Finely slice the green onions. 

3.  Drain the Rotel and green chilies well. 

     Hint:  Failing to drain these well will result in the chicken pockets being 

      mushy.

4.  Mix the green onions, Rotel, and green chilies with the cream cheese. 

5.  Add the cooled chicken to the cream cheese mixture. 

6.  Open the cans of crescent rolls and divide the dough into 16 triangles. 

7.  Place one scoop of the cream cheese mixture in the middle of each crescent roll triangle.

8.  Roll up each crescent roll like a jelly roll (beginning with the widest end).

9.  Ensure that all seams are tightly sealed on each pillow. 

10.  Place the pockets on a cookie sheet, with as many seams down (against the cookie sheet) as possible. 

11.  Bake for about 12 minutes.  Remove them from the oven when the crescent roll is golden brown and flaky.

 

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Jack-o-Lanterns

So, I bought this house.  It sounded like a good idea at one time.  I'm pretty sure it's brought out the worst in me.  When it comes to this house, I cannot make a decision to save my life.  I've frustrated everyone around me.  Plus me. 

Anyway, when I get frustrated I like to eat delicious food (I also like to eat delicious food when I'm not frustrated -- in case you were wondering).  I've made these peanut butter balls before and they were delicious.  They are very rich and satisfying.  If you like Peanut Butter Pie, I guarantee you'll love this recipe! 

So, I decided to make this recipe again to ease my woes.  Or distract me from having to make decisions.  Whatever.  Since it's almost Halloween, I decided to add a little Halloween twist.  Halloween is one of my favorite holidays.  Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to make much Halloween food this year.  I've got a few days left, though, so maybe I'll squeeze in the time to make something else.  Even if I don't, I'm pretty satisfied with this cute little number.  These are ridiculously simple to make and are quite the crowd pleaser. 

Source: The Girl Who Ate Everything

Here's what I used:

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, at room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (not all-natural)
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 Cup Granulated Sugar
Red Food Coloring
Yellow Food Coloring
Black Tube Decorator's Icing
Yellow Tube Decorator's Icing
Teddy Grahams

Here's what I did:
1.  Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, peanut butter and brown sugar in large mixer bowl until blended.

2.  Divide mixture into 3 even portions. 

3.  Spoon each portion onto a piece of plastic wrap; bring up all four corners and twist tightly forming into a ball shape.

3.  Refrigerate the balls overnight.

4.  Put sugar in a bowl.  Add  yellow and red food coloring, adding one drop of each color at a time.  Stir well until color is well blended into sugar.  Repeat until sugar attains the color of orange desired.

5.  Remove the balls from the refrigerator and unwrap. 

6.  Smash each ball down so that it is smashed into a circle (rather than being the shape of a ball).

7.  Place each circle in the bowl of sugar, one at a time, spooning sugar onto the circle until it is fully covered with orange sugar.

8.  Decorate each circle with the Jack-o-Lantern face desired.  I used the black icing to outline the eyes, nose, and mouth of each Jack-o-Lantern and then used the yellow to fill in each outline so it looked like a candle shining through. 

9.  Keep covered and refrigerated until ready to serve.  I served mine with both chocolate and graham cracker Teddy Grahams.

Happy Halloween!! 

Enjoy!

Oreo Pie

I know it's Fall now and this is kind of a Summer recipe, but I've spent every. waking. moment. fixing up the house I bought so that I can move in already.  This project is a lot more time consuming than I expected.  So, I just haven't been able to cook nearly as much as I'd like (almost not at all **gasp**).  This will all be worth it in the end.  There is a brand new oven/stove just waiting for me to get the house done so I can get in there and use it!  This is a delicious pie that is super simple to make and I haven't shared it yet.  So here it is.

Here's what I used:
1 Oreo Pie Crust
8 Ounces of Cream Cheese, softened
8 Ounces Whipped Topping (Cool Whip), thawed
2 Tsp. Vanilla
1 Package of Oreo Cookies

Here's what I did:
1.  Crushed 10 Oreo Cookies.  I placed mine in a plastic baggie and beat them with a meat tenderizer.

2.  Combined the Cream Cheese and the Whipped Topping.

3.  Mixed in the vanilla.

4.  Stirred the cookie pieces into the cream cheese/whipped topping mixture.  Be careful to stir only long enough to evenly distribute the cookies.

5.  Poured the mixture into the pie crust.

6.  Refrigerated for a couple of hours to let it set up.

I garnished the pieces with a whole Oreo Cookie when serving.  I've tried this with Double Stuff Oreos and it comes out just as good -- just a little more rich.

Enjoy!

Super Moist Chooclate Cake with Cream Cheese Filling and Peppermint Frosting

(Yes, I lack enough self control to take a picture before trying my latest creation.  Sue me.) 

I'm sure to some people the title of this post makes it seem difficult.  It really isn't that hard.  Read on and give it a shot. . .


As I said before, I recently took a cake decorating class with my friend Kat.  The class was fun, but I've concluded that I'm more suited for making the cakes than decorating them.  Kat, on the other hand, can decorate a cake like it's nobody's business. 
Anyhow, this cake turned out really delicious.  The cake itself was very moist and stayed that way for the entire time it existed.  I make a delicious crock pot cake, which, among other delicious things, is incredibly moist (I'm sure that recipe will be posted here at some point in the future).  When making this cake, I tried to model it after the crock pot cake and it worked!  I made a simple cream cheese filling which was a great contrast to the peppermint icing that I made and decorated the cake with.

 Here's what I used for the cake:
1 Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix
Eggs, Oil and water called for on the cake mix box
12 Ounces Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips 
8 Ounces of Sour Cream


Here's what I did to make the cake:
1.  Made the cake mix according to the box directions.


2.  Added the sour cream to the cake mix. 


3.  Stirred the chocolate chips into the cake mix.


4.  Baked according to directions on the box of the cake mix.


5.  Set the cake on a cooling rack.  After it had cooled for about 10 minutes, I removed it from the pan and returned it to the cooling rack to finish cooling.




Here's what I used to make the filling:
8 Ounces Cream Cheese, softened
1 Cup Powdered Sugar
1 Tsp. Vanilla


Here's what I did to make the filling:
1.  Mixed the cream cheese and vanilla together.


2.  Mixed the powdered sugar into the cream cheese, 1/4 of a cup at a time, mixing thoroughly between each addition of sugar.




Here's what I used to make the icing:
1 Cup Solid Vegetable Shortening (Crisco)
1 Tsp CLEAR Peppermint Flavoring
4 Cups Powdered Sugar
7-8 Tbsp Water
1 Tbsp Meringue Powder
Dash of Salt


Here's what I did to make the icing:
1.  Mixed together the vegetable shortening, meringue powder, and powdered sugar.

2.  Mixed the peppermint flavoring into the icing mixture.

3.  Added water and mixed into the icing.  Tailor the number of tablespoons of water you use to the consistency of icing that you are looking for.

4.  Add a dash of salt and fully mix into the icing.


The icing has a great texture -- very light and fluffy.  The salt in the icing helps tone it down a bit so it's not excessively sweet.

Here's what I did to assemble the cake:1.  Cut fully cooled cake in half.  Removed the top half and placed to the side. 

Check out this post for tips on cutting the cake in half.    

2.  Spread the cream cheese filling on top of the bottom layer of the cake.

3.  Replaced the top layer of the cake on top of the chocolate mousse.

4.  Iced the cake.

I stored my cake in the refrigerator to help preserve it for as long as possible.  I personally prefer this cake served cold, straight from the fridge.  But, it tasted great at room temperature as well.  

Enjoy!

Fruit Pizza

I love this dessert.  It's great for the summer time when all the fruit is luscious and in season.  The "sauce" is made of cream cheese, which gives it just a bit of tang.  You can customize it with whatever fruit meets your fancy (or whatever happens to be in season).  Then, you just cut it up into slices like a pizza!  It's easy to make and easy to eat.  Plus, it has fruit on top, so it's got to be healthy, right?

I do have a confession to make before we get any further.  Sometimes, I don't make everything from scratch.  *GASP*  This is one of those times.  The crust of this pizza is just like one massive sugar cookie.  I didn't have time to make sugar cookie dough from scratch, so I used a Krusteaz mix.  They were ah.maz.ing.  Seriously, I'm considering not making sugar cookies from scratch this Christmas.  But, don't tell anybody . . .

Here's what I used:
1 Batch of Krusteaz Sugar Cookie Mix
1 Package of Cream Cheese, softened
2 Tsp Vanilla
1 Cup Powdered Sugar
Various Fruit, cleaned and sliced

Here's what I did: 
1.  Made the Krusteaz Sugar Cookie Mix as directed.  Placed in a large round pan and baked as directed. 

     *Hint:  Obviously, the folks who wrote the instructions for making the cookie mix didn't 
      anticipate that you would be making one massive sugar cookie.  So bake as directed,
      except as to the time directed.  You're going to have to keep an eye on the cookie
      and take it out when it's golden brown.*

2.  After the crust is baked, set it to side to cool.

3.  Mix the cream cheese, vanilla, and powdered sugar.  Set it to the side.

4.  Clean and cut up your fruit toppings.  Put each type of fruit in a separate bowl for topping the pizza.

5.  Spread the cream cheese mixture on top of the filling.

6.  Top the pizza with your fruit toppings.

7.  Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.

8.  Cut into pizza slices.

Enjoy!

Blueberry Cheesecake Pie

I was browsing through my mom's cookbooks a while ago because I was in a bit of a recipe funk.  I was looking for something fruity and relatively light as it's still summer.  I found this recipe in a Better Homes and Gardens' New Cook Book (irony:  It's not new.  It's older than me).  In the cookbook, it's called Blueberry Strata Pie and it's on page 241 of my mom's version of the book.  I ended up deviating from the recipe quite a bit, so I'm not sure I can say it's my version of Blueberry Strata Pie; I think it's more like the Blueberry Strata Pie was my inspiration for this pie.  Anyhow, it turned out great.  It was light and refreshing and fruity, exactly what I was looking for.  I'll definitely be browsing through my mom's old cookbooks more often!

Here's what I used:
21 ounces of Blueberry Pie Filling
8 3/4 ounces Crushed Pineapple
8 ounces Cream Cheese, softened
1/4 Cup + 3 tablespoons Sugar
1 tablespoon Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 Graham Cracker Pie Crust
2 tablespoons Cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
Whipped Cream

Here's what I did:
1.  Drained the Crushed Pineapple, setting the pineapple juice to the side.

2.  Blended the Cream Cheese, 3 tablespoons Sugar, 1 tablespoon Milk, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. 

3.  Stirred the crushed pineapple into the cream cheese mixture.  Mixed well.

4.  Spread the cream cheese mixture over the Graham Cracker Crust. 

5.  Refrigerated the cream cheese and graham cracker crust while finishing the rest of the pie.

6.  Combined the cornstarch and pineapple juice.

7.  Cooked the cornstarch and pineapple juice on medium heat until it thickened.

8.  Once it thickened, removed it from the heat and added the Blueberry Pie Filling and Lemon Juice, stirring until well combined.

9.  Set the pie filling mixture to the side to cool completely.

10.  Once the pie filling was completely cool, I spread it over the cream cheese mixture in the pie crust.

11.  Refrigerated until completely cool.

12.  Top each piece with a dollop of Whipped Cream immediately before serving.

Enjoy!