Mini Carrot Cake Cheesecakes

When I was conceptualizing this dessert in my head I asked myself "Are you really going to cheesecake and top it with a cream cheese frosting?" The answer: A resounding yes!

I don't know if I should be ashamed of this cream cheese on top of cream cheese concoction or proud of it, but I do know that I am very glad I made it! And so is everyone else who got to try it. Somehow I justified this cream cheese overload to myself because I'm pregnant, but let's be honest, once the idea was in my head there was no turning back, pregnant or not!

If you're asking yourself it the cream cheese icing is really necessary, or thinking about making the cheesecake without the icing, let me just stop you right now. The icing is crucial. I tried one plain without it, and it just tasted okay. It really lacked that carrot cake taste. The cream cheese icing on top really brings out that true carrot cake flavor and brings the whole dessert together.

I thought this dessert was great as it is, but next time I might try incorporating some toasted walnut or pecan into the crust. Or maybe decorate the top with a nut (instead of making Ross fish out all the orange sprinkles out of a bag of multi-colored sprinkles). Also, it should be noted that the recipe could easily be doubled. I didn't trust myself with that much cheesecake around, so I made a small(er) batch. I used my mini cheesecake pan and got about 14 mini cheesecakes. They went fast.

Mini Carrot Cake Cheesecakes
Ingredients:

• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted

• 8 0z cream cheese, softened
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1/3 cup of sugar
• 1 tablespoon flour
  
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
  
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and finely grated
• 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 lemon extract (or a squeeze of lemon juice)
  

Directions:

1. To make the crust: Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray mini cheesecake pans with non-stick spray, or line mini muffin tins with paper liners. Combine graham cracker crumbs, butter, and sugar. Press into pans (I used about 1 tablespoon per cheesecake). Bake for 10 - 12 minutes until golden brown.

2. To make the cheesecake: Beat cream cheese and sugar with a mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the egg. Add carrots, flour, spices, and vanilla extract. Spoon on top of crusts so they are about 3/4 full.

3. Bake until set, about 18 to 22 minutes.

4. Transfer pans to a rack and let cool. Refrigerate until ready to frost.

5. To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and extracts. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Frost with cream cheese icing. Enjoy!
   

Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins

Hello, my new favorite pumpkin treat! Nice to meet you. Where have you been all my life?

Oh... are you expecting me say more about these? Are the pictures not enough to make you want to go bake them RIGHT NOW. Ok fine, I don't think words will do them justice, but I'll try. This muffin is a cross between a cupcake, pumpkin pie, and cheesecake. It's Fall in a bite. They're easy to make and even easier to look at. The only hard thing about these is watching them leave as your husband takes them to work.

I got the idea from these muffins over at Annies Eats. I used the same base, but instead of molding the cream cheese into log, freezing it, slicing it, and hiding it in the middle of muffin I decided to alter the filling a little bit and go black bottom cupcake style with these. I like the idea of the cream cheese showing so you know exactly what's in store. And the cinnamon sugar topping? That's just a nice little bonus that adds the perfect finishing touch!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins
Muffin and Topping adapted from: Annies Eats
Makes: About 45 mini muffins (12 regular)

For the filling:

• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 large egg
• 1 tbls flour
  
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar

For the muffins:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/2 tbsp. plus 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup + 2 tbls vegetable oil

For the topping:

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 1/2 tbsp. flour
• 3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 2tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Directions:

1. To prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese, egg, flour and confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl and mix well until blended and smooth. Set aside.
2. To make the muffins, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line muffin pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda; whisk to blend. In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree and oil. Mix on medium-low speed until blended. With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.
3. To make the topping, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl; whisk to blend. Add in the butter pieces and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or two forks until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use.
4. To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin about 2/3 full with batter. Add a dollop of filling on top. (I would say I used about a tablespoon of batter and a heaping teaspoon of filling. They were pretty full going into the oven.) Sprinkle with topping. Bake or 14 minutes. Cool. Eat. Smile.
   

Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

Blueberries, cheesecake, and ice cream. Those are pretty much 3 of my favorite things, so naturally I absolutely loved this ice cream. Ross declared it the best ice cream that I've ever made (but to be fair he says that every time I make a new ice cream flavor).

I definitely had my doubts about this recipe. It uses no eggs and gets it cheesecake flavor from a packet of instant cheesecake flavored jello pudding. There is no actual cream cheese in this recipe, but if you tasted it, you wouldn't know. It came out amazing. It was creamy and rich and indulgent, the way ice cream should be!

A couple notes about the recipe:

1. It makes A LOT of ice cream. You may have to freeze the mixture in 2 batches depending on the size of your ice cream maker.
2. I used 2% milk for the ice cream and it was fine.
3. If you wanted to save time you could buy a premade graham cracker crust and crumble that into the ice cream instead of making the graham cracker crust yourself.
   

Recipe: Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
Adapted from: AllRecipes.com

Blueberry Mixture:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 1/4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Graham Cracker Mixture:

• 2 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup butter, melted

Ice Cream:

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 (3.4 ounce) package instant cheesecake or vanilla pudding mix
• 1 quart heavy whipping cream
• 2 cups milk (I used 2%)
  
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch. Gradually stir in water until smooth. Stir in blueberries and lemon juice. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally. Cover and refrigerate until chilled.
2. In a large bowl, combine the cracker crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Stir in butter. Pat into an ungreased 15-in. x 10-in.x 1-in. baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely on a wire rack.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the ice cream ingredients. Fill ice cream freezer cylinder two-thirds full; freeze according to manufacturer's directions. Refrigerate remaining mixture until ready to freeze. Whisk before adding to ice cream freezer (mixture will have some lumps).
4. Crumble the graham cracker mixture. In a large container, layer the ice cream, graham cracker mixture and blueberry sauce three times; swirl. Freeze.

Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Squares

Did you ever have one of those recipes where you had it bookmarked forever, and then you finally make it and you want to kick yourself for waiting so long? Well that is exactly what happened here. I can't even tell you how long this has been sitting in my list of "to make" recipes. Oh how I wish I had made these sooner!

Dulce de leche is hard to come by around here and I haven't gotten around to trying to make my own (plus that whole exploding can rumor kind of scares me). However, when I was in Miami over the holidays, there were jars of dulce de leche in every grocery store. I picked up one up and I knew exactly what I'd be making with it! These cheesecake squares are creamy and rich and decadent. Make sure you cut them into small pieces because just a bite or two is enough. I really love the way the creamy cheesecake contrasts with the texture of the glaze on top. At first I actually thought about skipping the glaze because I didn't want the chocolate to overpower the cheesecake, but I'm really glad I made it. Plus, it makes them look a heck of a lot more impressive.

I originally found the recipe on Smitten Kitchen. And after reading through Deb's description and a lot of the comments I noticed that some people mentioned it didn't have a strong dulce de leche flavor. It was more of a cheesecake flavor with a hint of dulce de leche. I decided to up the amount of dulce de leche I used. I figured I could do that and it would still hold its shape because the squares contain gelatin. You'll probably notice my squares are a little darker than Deb's and that's why. I reflected my change in the recipe below.

Recipe: Adapted from Smitten Kitchen Ingredients

For crust
3 1/2 oz graham crackers, crumbled (1cup)
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For filling
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin (from a 1/4-oz envelope, will be just about half an envelope)
1/4 cup whole milk
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 large eggs
3/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup dulce de leche

For glaze
3 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), coarsely chopped
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 teaspoons light corn syrup

Directions

Make crust: Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 325°F. Line bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with 2 sheets of foil (crisscrossed), leaving a 2-inch overhang on all sides.

Finely grind crackers with sugar and a pinch of salt in a food processor. With motor running, add butter, blending until combined. Press mixture evenly onto bottom of baking pan. Bake 10 minutes, then cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes.

Make filling: Sprinkle gelatin over milk in a small bowl and let stand 2 minutes to soften. Beat together cream cheese, eggs, salt, and gelatin mixture in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until well combined, about 2 minutes, then stir in dulce de leche gently but thoroughly. Pour filling over crust, smoothing top, then bake in a hot water bath (I was able to fit mine in a 9×13-inch baking pan) in oven until center is just set, about 45 minutes. Cool cheesecake completely in pan on rack, about 2 hours. Chill, covered, at least 6 hours.

Glaze cake within 2 hours of serving: Heat all glaze ingredients in a double boiler or a small metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring until smooth, then pour over cheesecake, tilting baking pan to coat top evenly. Chill, uncovered, 30 minutes.

Lift cheesecake from pan using foil overhang and cut into 1-inch squares with a thin knife, wiping off knife after each cut. (Don’t skip this step! A clean knife is essential for uber-neat squares.)

Note: Cheesecake (without glaze) can be chilled up to 3 days

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars with Streusel Topping

The day has finally come. The day when I have to blog about a dessert that I made that was sub-par. Unfortunately, as delicious as its name sounds, this dessert fell flat for me.

I had a bunch of apples that I wanted to use so I was looking for a good apple recipe. After reading numerous apple crisp, cobbler, and pie recipes I settled on this Caramel Apple Cheesecake Square recipe. The name just drew me in!

The cheesecake layer was good and the apple layer was good (though it probably could've been doubled... the apples sort of got lost), but the crust and the topping left a lot to be desired. The crust was soggy and didn't hold up to the layers very well. If you have a good crust recipe definitely use that instead. I would maybe use this recipe from the lemon bars I made this summer. And the topping just seemed a little too floury for me. I'm really surprised that it didn't turn out better because it had a lot of positive reviews. Oh well... at least I got a few pretty pictures!



Recipe: From FoodNetwork.com
Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons, divided
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Streusell topping, recipe follows
• 1/2 cup caramel topping

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Press evenly into a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking pan lined with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Bake 15 minutes or until lightly browned.
3. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with 1/2 cup sugar in an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth. Then add eggs, 1 at a time, and vanilla. Stir to combine. Pour over warm crust.
4. In a small bowl, stir together chopped apples, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Spoon evenly over cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle evenly with Streusel topping. Bake 30 minutes, or until filling is set. Drizzle with caramel topping.

Streusel Topping

• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup quick cooking oats
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients.

Cheesecake Lolipops

I don't have too much to say about these except MAKE THEM! These have been on my "to make" list for a long time and as soon as I tasted one I wanted to kick myself for not making them sooner. I took them to a 4th of July BBQ this weekend and they were a huge hit with everyone.

It's cheesecake, chocolate, and festive sprinkles on a stick... what more can you ask for? Plus, it's bite-size so it doesn't have calories, right? Just like broken cookies (the calories fall out when the cookie breaks), your birthday cake (everyone knows food doesn't have calories on your birthday), and raw cookie dough.

These were a little time consuming because you need to cook the cheesecake, chill the cheesecake for a few hours, scoop the cheesecake into balls, freeze those for a an hour or so, and then (finally) you can dip and decorate! The recipe comes from a book called Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey which is AMAZING! The pictures are incredible and I seriously want to make about 98% of the recipes on the book.

A couple notes about the recipe.

1. My cheesecake took much longer than the recipe stated. The recipe stated 35 - 45 minutes, but mine took almost 70. (It could just be my oven though)
   
2. The recipe called for 5 (yes, FIVE!) blocks of cream cheese but I used about 4 1/2. I know, I know when you're using 5 blocks of cream cheese what's another few ounces gonna do? But I like my cheesecake a little more on the dry, cakey side and less on the uber creamy side. I just don't like feeling like I'm biting into a huge block of cream cheese (to which my husband replied "mmmmmm...I do")
3. I added an extra 1/4 cup of flour. Again, made it a little cakier.
   
4. The recipe calls for scooping out 2 oz balls of cheesecake to get about 30 - 40 pops. I made mine a little smaller. I used a cookie scoop that is 1.5 TBS (which is plenty big because these are really rich). I ended up with about 60 lolipops.
5. The cheesecake can be really sticky. It's easiest to roll them into balls if your hands are a little wet so the cheesecake doesn't stick to your hands.
   

Recipe
Cheesecake Pops
Makes 30 – 40 Pops

Ingredients

• 5 8-oz. packages cream cheese at room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 5 large eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• ¼ cup heavy cream
• Boiling water as needed
• Thirty to forty 8-inch lollipop sticks
• 1 pound chocolate
• Assorted decorations such as chopped nuts, sprinkles, graham cracker crumbs, etc. (Optional)

Directions:

1. Position oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Set some water to boil.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and salt until smooth. If using a mixer, mix on low speed. Add the whole eggs and the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well (but still at low speed) after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and cream.
3. Grease a 10-inch cake pan (not a springform pan), and pour the batter into the cake pan. Place the pan in a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with the boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly golden on top, 35 to 45 minutes.
4. Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and cool to room temperature. Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold, at least 3 hours or up to overnight.
5. When the cheesecake is cold and very firm, scoop the cheesecake into 2-ounce balls and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Carefully insert a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball. Freeze the cheesecake pops, uncovered, until very hard, at least 1 – 2 hours.
6. When the cheesecake pops are frozen and ready for dipping, melt the chocolate.
   
7. Quickly dip a frozen cheesecake pop in the melted chocolate, swirling quickly to coat it completely. Shake off any excess into the melted chocolate. If you like, you can now roll the pops quickly in optional decorations. You can also drizzle them with a contrasting color of melted chocolate (dark chocolate drizzled over milk chocolate or white chocolate over dark chocolate, etc.) Place the pop on a clean parchment paper-lined baking sheet to set. Repeat with remaining pops, melting more chocolate and shortening (or confectionary chocolate pieces) as needed.
8. Refrigerate the pops for up to 24 hours, until ready to serve.