Christmas: Pumpkin Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake

Ingredients

• For The Crust

  • 1 box Nabisco NIlla Wafers 
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (plus some additional for pan)

• For The Filling

  • 2 packages bar cream cheese (8 ounces each)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin puree
  • 3 large eggs
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9" springform pan with melted butter.
2. In a food processor, blend cookies with sugar until finely ground (you should have about 1 cup crumbs); add butter, and pulse until moistened.
3. Transfer crumb mixture to prepared pan, and press gently into bottom. Bake until fragrant and slightly firm, 12 to 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.
4. Place cream cheese in food processor; blend until smooth. Add sugar, pumpkin puree, eggs, flour, pumpkin-pie spice, and salt; process until combined. Set aside.
5. Place chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl; microwave in 30-second increments, stirring between each, until melted. Add 1 cup pumpkin mixture; stir to combine. Set aside.
6. Pour remaining pumpkin mixture into prepared pan. Drop dollops of chocolate mixture onto pumpkin mixture; swirl. Bake until cheesecake is set but jiggles slightly when gently shaken, 40 to 50 minutes. (Mine needed over an hour, so watch your oven.)
7. Cool in pan. Cover; chill until firm, at least 2 hours (and up to 2 days). 

Christmas: Snickerdoodle Cookies

I love a good Christmastime Snickerdoodle cookie. This recipe was perfection. Easy. Delicious. Addictive.

• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

For rolling:

• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (my personal preference)

1. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars with

an electric mixer on high speed. Add the egg and vanilla and

beat until smooth.

2. In another bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and

cream of tartar.

3. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix well.

4. Preheat oven to 300 degrees while you let the dough rest for

30 to 60 minutes in the refrigerator.

5. In a small bowl, combine the sugar with the cinnamon for the

topping.

6. Take about 2 1/2 tablespoons of the dough and roll it into a

ball. Roll this dough in the cinnamon/nutmeg/sugar mixture and press it

onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat for the remaining cookies.

7. Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes and no more. The cookies

may seem undercooked, but will continue to develop after they are

removed from the oven. When the cookies have cooled they should be

soft and chewy in the middle.

Makes 16 to 18 cookies.

Cinnamon Vanilla Cupcakes with Cookie Butter Frosting

Perhaps you are not familiar with Speculoos Cookie Butter. It's ok. I was not acquainted with it until recently. Tales of it's addictive goodness were being spread (haha, get it, "spread" - because it's a spread...oh, nevermind) among a few of my fellow Facebook foodie lovers. The word on Cookie Butter is that it's a seasonal item available at Trader Joe's. My pusher, I mean, "good friend," bought me a jar. That's how they get you hooked: the first taste is always free (or so I've heard). Cookie Butter is a spread with the consistency of peanut butter but made from ground up gingerbread cookies and elven magic. It's like the Nutella of Christmas. Hell, Nutella is also the Nutella of Christmas. But this really does remind me a non-chocolate, non-hazelnut Nutella (trust me, if you tried it you'd understand exactly what I mean). Naturally, this stuff begs to be made into a frosting.

A luscious, finger licking frosting.

Enter the holiday party season. My contribution to the pot luck table: Cinnamon Vanilla Cupcakes with Cookie Butter frosting. NOM.

CINNAMON VANILLA CUPCAKES

Ingredients:

• 2 sticks unsalted butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Cream the butter in a stand mixer until smooth and light. Add sugar and continue to mix until fully incorporated and fluffy.
2. Add 1 egg at a time, beating well after each addition. In a medium bowl sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
3. Preheat oven to 350° degrees F.
4. Combine milk and vanilla. Add portions of the flour mixture and milk mixture to the electric mixer, alternating, starting and ending with flour. Pour evenly into cupcake pans lined with paper liners, about ½ – ¾ full.
5. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until cupcakes spring back to the touch. (Mine didn't take nearly this long to bake, so as always, be mindful that your oven times will vary.)

 COOKIE BUTTER FROSTING

Ingredients:

1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup Speculoos Cookie Butter
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup heavy cream

Directions:

• Place the confectioners' sugar, Cookie Butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

I may or may not have licked leftover Cookie Butter from the piping tip after I was done frosting the cupcakes. I mean, not that I would DO such a thing....

Ready to party! Happy holidays!

(Note: The pink cupcakes are Cherry-Almond Vanilla with Cherry-Almond Buttercream Frosting, posted right 'thar.)

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Yes, I know the traditional version of this cookie is made with powdered sugar. I didn't wanna. I happen to like this version with regular granulated sugar. I made these cookies for Christmas with my father. Every year since my parents separated, my sister and I have a special alternative Christmas "Day" celebration with our father. Now that I have little ones, everyone ends up coming to my place for this event. So today is Christmas with Dad Day! Yay! Now if I can only keep my fingers from creeping under the saran wrap on this plate of cookies in the meantime...Just a heads up, this dough requires refrigeration time prior to baking, so plan accordingly.

Ingredients:

• 4
  eggs
• 1 3/4
  cups granulated sugar
• 4
  ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
• 1/2
  cup cooking oil
• 2
  teaspoons baking powder
• 2
  teaspoons vanilla
• 2
  cups all-purpose flour
  
  
  2/3 cup demerara sugar or turbinado sugar (or, if you're like me...plain ole granulated)

1.In a large bowl, combine eggs, granulated sugar, melted chocolate, oil, baking powder, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until combined, scraping side of bowl occasionally. Gradually beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour. Divide dough in half. Cover and chill for 2 to 24 hours or until dough is easy to handle.

2.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a large cookie sheet; set aside. Place demerara sugar in a small bowl. Shape one portion of dough into 1/2-inch balls. Shape the remaining portion of dough into 1-inch balls. Roll balls in demerara sugar to coat generously. Place balls 1 inch apart on prepared cookie sheet.

3.Bake small cookies in the preheated oven about 8 minutes or until edges are set and tops are dry. Bake large cookies about 10 minutes or until edges are set and tops are dry. Do not overbake cookies. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; let cool. (Cookies will deflate slightly upon cooling.) Makes about about 72 small and 36 large cookies.

BBW's: Bacon, Black, & White Chip Cookies

These are certainly a different variation on the traditional chocolate chip cookie. I LOVE a good basic chocolate chip cookie, but some among us have an unnatural love of bacon (not naming names...). For the holiday party with fellow-bacon fiends this weekend, I made up this variation with bacon, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and white chocolate chips. I like to call them BBW's. There were none leftover at the end of the party.

I've tried many basic chocolate chip cookie recipes and always end up coming back to this tweak on the Nestle Tollhouse recipe. From the basic recipe I add in whatever mix-ins I want. :)

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract (I like vanilla!)
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 white chocolate chips
• 1lb bacon, cooked crisply and crumbled

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chips and bacon. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. 

Cherry-Almond Vanilla Cupcakes

I adore these Cherry-Almond Vanilla cupcakes! They really are ALWAYS a crowd pleaser. We served them in place of a regular cake at the babies' birthday party this past year. They were a stand out. I also brought them to the holiday party (hence the red and green sugar sprinkled on them in the big photo). The frosting is really what makes these exceptional, so if you're going to make them you should go all the way and make them with the cherry almond frosting! I love the surprise piece of cherry in the middle of the cake. I've made them with a cherry on top as well, or with the big pile of frosting. Trust me, the pile of frosting is the way to go. :D The recipe makes 2 dozen cupcakes. I make 1.5 times the corresponding frosting recipe in order to have enough for the fluffy plumes of icing. 

Cherry-Almond Vanilla Cupcakes

ingredients

• 1/2
  cup butter
• 4
  egg whites
• 2
  cups all-purpose flour
• 1
  teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2
  teaspoon salt
• 1/4
  teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4
  cup buttermilk or sour milk*
• 1/3
  cup maraschino cherry juice
• 1 1/2
  cups sugar
• 1
  teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2
  teaspoon almond extract
• 12
  maraschino cherries, halved
• 1
  recipe Cherry-Almond Butter Frosting
• Maraschino cherries with stems (optional)

 directions

1.Allow butter and egg whites to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, line twenty-four 2-1/2-inch muffin cups with paper bake cups (or coat with cooking spray). In a medium bowl stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. In a 2-cup glass measuring cup combine buttermilk and cherry juice; set aside.

2.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, vanilla, and almond extract; beat until combined. Add egg whites, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk mixture to beaten mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined.

3.Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each about two-thirds full. Use the back of a spoon to smooth out batter in cups. Press a cherry half into batter in each cup.

4.Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched. Cool cupcakes in muffin cups on wire racks for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from muffin cups. Cool completely on wire racks.

5.Using a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip, pipe Cherry-Almond Butter Frosting over tops of cupcakes. If desired, top with cherries. Makes 24 (2-1/2-inch) cupcakes.

• Tip: To make 3/4 cup sour milk, place 2 teaspoons lemon juice or vinegar in a glass measuring cup. Add enough milk to make 3/4 cup liquid; stir. Let the mixture stand for 5 minutes before using.

Cherry-Almond Butter Frosting

ingredients

• 1/2
  cup butter, softened
• 4
  cups powdered sugar
• 3
  tablespoons maraschino cherry juice or milk
• 1/2
  teaspoon almond extract
• Milk

directions

In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Gradually add 1 cup of the powdered sugar, beating well. Beat in maraschino cherry juice and almond extract. Gradually beat in additional powdered sugar. If necessary, beat in additional juice or milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, until frosting reaches a spreading consistency. Makes 2 cups frosting.