Pumpkin Brownies

Recently we had a whole lot of extended family visit and decided to hold something of a country potluck to give them a taste, literally, of how we live. These brownies have sold out in countless bake sales and are almost always a favorite. I was shocked that I hadn't already logged them here. Due to some of my family's lactose intolerance I omitted any cream cheese, but a cream cheese glaze or icing pairs wonderfully with this. Instead, I topped it with a sprinkle of confectioner's sugar and chopped pecans.

You will need:

3 eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
3 tbsp butter, melted
1 tbsp baking powder
1 cup flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice, or a mix of cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and clove

Set the oven to bake at 350. Combine your moist ingredients together first, then sift the dry ones into the mix. Finish by beating the spices in well. Grease a "9x"9 baking pan and put it in the oven for 25-30 minutes. Take it out to cool and then decorate. Simple!

Cherry Cheesecake Brownies

I had been looking forward to making these ever since I found the recipe -- cheesecake, cherry, AND brownie?! All of my favorite things! While these did turn out well and I'm sure would be a hit at any bake sale or party, it seemed that it was almost too much of a good thing. There were so many flavors going on that none of them could really sing; I would have preferred the cheesecake and cherries over a plain ol' chocolate crumb crust. But these are worth a try!

Cheesecake:
16 oz cream cheese
1/2c sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

Brownie:
1c unsalted butter
6 oz baking chocolate
2c sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3/4tsp salt
4 eggs
1 1/4c AP flour
21 oz. cherry pie filling + 1 tsp lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350, and grease a 9 x 13 baking pan.

Melt the baking chocolate in a double broiler. Cream together the butter and sugar for the brownie layer, then add the eggs. Add the vanilla and melted chocolate and mix well. Stir in flour and salt and pour into the baking pan.

For the cheesecake layer, beat all ingredients together until smooth. Drop it by the tablespoon over the brownie layer, and follow by dropping tablespoons of the cherry mixture over it. Use a butter knife to swirl the layers, but do not mix them together. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the edges of the brownie begin to pull away and the edges of the cheesecake begin to turn slightly brown. Keep in mind that this brownie will still seem gooey when you first take it out of the oven, let it cool completely and chill for at least 4 hours (I let mine go overnight and am glad I did). Try serving these in cupcake liners, they're super gooey!

No-Bake White Chocolate Key Lime Cheesecake

How's THAT for a title? These bars are surprisingly simple to make and require zero oven time. Since I had all burners blazing at the time, this was a relief. This is another gem from Castsugar, although she calls them bars I consider this a cheesecake. They're perfect for summer and I would imagine they'd be the first thing to go had the bake sale not been rained out. You must try these for your next barbeque or summer celebration!

Crust:

30 Oreo cookies
2 oz white chocolate

Filling:

6 oz white chocolate
1 pint whipping cream
8 oz cream cheese
3 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp key lime zest
1/3c confectioners sugar

I recommend using an aluminum cake pan instead of a traditional one for this recipe. If you don't have access to this, line a 8x8 pan with foil.

Melt all the white chocolate in a double broiler. Crush your oreos by hand or in a food processor, and combine them with 2-4 tbsp of the melted chocolate. Press into the bottom of the pan to form a crust.

Beat 1/2c whipping cream until peaks begin to form. Add cream cheese, lime, zest and sugar to a separate bowl, and beat well. Beat in remaining white chocolate. Fold in gently with the whipped cream and spread mixture over the crust. In a clean bowl, pour the remaining whipping cream and confectioners sugar and beat with an electric mixer until fluffy. Make sure to not overbeat or you'll wind up with sweetened butter! Spread the whipping cream over the lime layer, and voila! No bake cheesecake! Allow it to chill for at least 2 hours before serving.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

For the last week I've been working on a major bake sale, so I'd been keeping my eyes out for anything unique to contribute. I found that I need not go any further than Castsugar. True to form, these peanut butter and jelly bars are different from anything I could have found in my current collection of cookbooks. It's a very rich shortbread crust with a smear of jelly in the center; imagine a PB&J sandwich cookie, only as a brownie.

I made a few changes to the recipe, but these are still very rich and very sweet. I couldn't eat a whole bar by myself, which speaks a lot after all the spicy chocolate gingerbread I've scarfed! But more on that later. I used more peanut butter and less real butter, I also used the chunky variety. Instead of full octane jam I used a reduced sugar version. I would not recommend using anything containing a sugar substitute though; aside from messing up the perfect taste, the lack of real sugars would prevent the jelly from setting. Anyways, here's my recipe, with pics soon to come:

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
1 1/2c sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 1/4c chunky peanut butter
3c AP flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
18 oz jam (I used blackberry)


Preheat the oven to 350, and grease a 9 x 13 pan.

Cream together the sugar, butter and PB. Add eggs one at a time, then add vanilla. Add the flour, baking powder and salt in small additions, mixing well in between. You should be left with a crumbly but malleable dough. Spread 2/3 of it on the bottom of the pan.

Spread the jam on top of the first layer. Sprinkle the rest of the crumbles on top, taking care to not mix them with the jam too much. Bake for 45 minutes. Allow it to cool completely before cutting into chunks, otherwise you'll get a gooey mess instead of a bar. Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies

This is another gem from Cast Sugar's blog (check her out for some awesome baking ideas!) Again, it's slightly modified with less sugar and a little bit simpler to make. The ingredients themselves are very similar to your typical chocolate chip cookies, but they are actually cookie bars. They're also quite rich, so cut them on the smaller side.

This is the second time I've made these, my roommates and friends seem to like them a lot. They would be a huge hit at any party or get together; the perfect cookie bar to pair with a glass of milk.

Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies

Cookie crust:

2c cake flour
1 stick butter, room temp
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4c granulated sugar
1/2c brown sugar
3 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
1-12oz package of milk chocolate chunks

Meringue topping:


3 egg whites
3/4c brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 350. Cream the butter and sugars for the crust together, add egg yolks and vanilla. Add dry ingredients. Note that this will be a crumbly, somewhat dry mixture. Add chocolate chips. Spread into a brownie pan and tap down with the back of a wooden spoon.

The meringue takes several minutes of mixing, this is one thing I did note. Combine the sugar and egg whites, beat on high until glossy and "soft peaks" form. Spread over cookie crust. Bake for 25 minutes or until top of meringue begins to brown, let cool for at least 15 minutes. Serve and indulge.