Caramel Apple Cheesecake

4 December, 20133 December, 2013Marissa

I made this cheesecake for a potluck last week. It is my favorite cheesecake for fall, and also works well as a winter dessert. Since trying it with this oatmeal crust, I’ve stopped using graham crackers at all for this cheesecake. This crust works well for other fruit cheesecakes and can be used with a New York style cheesecake.

Caramel Apple Cheesecake

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Crust

1-1/2 cups quick oats, uncooked

1/2 cup finely chopped almonds or pecans

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup butter, melted.

Combine, mix well and press into 9-inch spring-form pan.

Filling

2 (8-oz.) packages cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla at medium speed with electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing at low speed after each addition. Pour over crust.

Topping

4 cups peeled apples, thinly sliced

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Toss apples with combined sugar and cinnamon. Spoon apple mixture over cream cheese layer. Sprinkle with pecans.

Bake 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool before removing rim of pan. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

Drizzle with caramel ice-cream topping just before serving.

Blond Brownies

27 November, 20138 July, 2014Marissa

There are few baked goods that I feel like I could sit down and eat the entire pan in one setting when it comes out of the oven. This is one of them. They taste good after they cool down, too. I usually bake them on a Friday for church services on Saturday, and there are never any left by Sunday. It’s a quick dessert, so if you need something last-minute for Thanksgiving tomorrow, these blondies would work.

Blond Brownies

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1 cup butter, softened

2 cups brown sugar

2 eggs

1-½ cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

pinch salt

1 cup chopped walnuts

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Cream together the butter and brown sugar. Beat in egg. Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in nuts and chocolate chips. Spread batter in a greased and floured 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Bake at 350°F for 25 to 30 minutes.

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Speedy Brownies

6 November, 201328 October, 2013Marissa

This is not my favorite brownie recipe, but it is by far the easiest to make. Dump all the ingredients in one bowl, mix, pour in a pan, sprinkle with nuts or chocolate chips, and bake. That’s it. You don’t even have to wait for butter to soften, since they take oil.

Speedy Brownies

Speedy Brownie recipe marissabaker.wordpress.com — all the ingredients in one bowl

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2 cups sugar

1 cup white, unbleached flour

¾ cup whole wheat flour

½ cup baking cocoa

½ teaspoons salt

5 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

walnuts and/or chocolate chips

Combine first seven in gradients in a large bowl and beat until smooth. Pour into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in baking pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and/or walnuts. Bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.

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Lemon Almond Bread

9 October, 20138 October, 2013Marissa

While visiting a friend is Wisconsin, I was introduced to an amazing almond lemon bread with some kind of glaze. It reminded me a little of the lemon bread recipe I’ve used a few times, so I decided I’d try to alter that recipe to match the almond lemon bread. The recipe I’m sharing today is my first experiment. It wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, but it has a good flavor. I think my next step will be to add extra almond, maybe some lemon juice to make it more moist, and change the glaze a little. This glaze is very lemon-y right now, especially if you try to eat the bread right after glazing instead of waiting until the next day.

Lemon Almond Bread

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3 cups flour

1, 3.5-ounce box lemon flavor instant pudding

1 cup sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups milk

2 eggs, lightly beaten

6 Tablespoons butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon almond flavoring

2 Tablespoons poppy seeds

¼ cup powder sugar

½ teaspoon lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9x5x3-inch loaf pans.

Mix together flour, pudding mix, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In another bowl mix together the milk, eggs, and butter. Stir in extracts and mix well. Add flour mixture, along with poppy seeds. Mix until just combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pans and bake in the preheated oven for 35-45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Allow loaf to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes, then remove from pan to finish cooling on a wire rack. Allow to cool completely.

Meanwhile, mix powder sugar and lemon juice. Brush glaze over fully cooled loaves.

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Almond Butterball Cookies

25 September, 201325 September, 2013Marissa

After skipping yesterday, my goal of blogging everyday about something that happened during the Feast is falling by the wayside. Luckily, I had this recipe as a backup for today’s cooking post.

These cookies are easy to make and come together pretty quickly. They also take less time to bake than other cookies, since you can put them close together and fit more on a cookie sheet. The original recipe was for Italian Butterball cookies that I tracked down for an Italian potluck at church, but I’ve changed it quite a bit and have since lost the original link.

The only time I’ve ever had a problem with them turning out well was when I accidentally used baking soda instead of baking powder (in case you were wondering, it results in cookies that taste like vomit — don’t try it). Otherwise, it’s a great recipe.

Almond Butterball Cookies

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1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 pinch salt

1/3 cup sliced or slivered almonds

confectioners sugar

Beat together the butter and 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until smooth. Add the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract.

Stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and mix into the butter mixture until just incorporated. Add almonds and stir.

Shape the dough into 1-inch balls and arrange on greased baking sheet spaced about 2 inches apart.

Bake at 350°F until firm, about 8-10 minutes. Cool on the sheet for 5-10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

Roll the cooled cookies in confectioners sugar to coat.

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Apple Crisp

18 September, 201316 September, 2013Marissa

I’m particularly fond of this recipe. I’ve tweaked the original recipe so much that I consider this wholly mine. My family refers to it as “Marissa’s perfect apple crisp”. My dad likes it so much that he picks out the best apples that fall from our trees and brings them in so I can bake with them. These pictures are from first one I’ve made with this year’s fresh apples. You can also use thawed-out frozen apple pieces. Just reduce water in the filling to 1 or 1-1/4 cup (depending on how much liquid is in the apples when you unthaw them).

Perfect Apple Crisp

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Filling

6 cups apples

¾ cups sugar

¼ cup all-purpose flour

2 Tablespoons whole wheat flour

1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 ½ cups water

Topping

1 ¼ cups brown sugar

¾ cups all-purpose flour

½ cup whole wheat flour

1 ¼ cups quick oats

10 tablespoons melted butter

Place chopped apples in a greased 9” x 13” glass baking pan. Spread dry ingredients over the apples. Pour water over the filling, and mix thoroughly.

Mix all toping ingredients in a bowl until crumbly. (I usually melt the butter in a large, microwave-safe bowl and then mix the dry ingredients into that.) Spread topping over the apples.

Bake for 30-35 minutes at 350°F, or until heated through and bubbling.

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