Chocolate Cheesecake Bars

Holy. Cow.  These chocolate cheesecake bars are incredible.

My go-to dessert lately has been cookies.  I’ve made SO MANY cookies lately that I quit taking pictures of them to post on here because I didn’t want to bore you all.

As I was visiting my parents this weekend, I looked in their cabinets to see what they had.  I like to play a little “game” where I pick an ingredient, then Google “{Insert ingredient here} dessert recipes.”  So, after I spotted some evaporated milk in the cabinet, I Googled “Evaporated Milk desserts,” ignored all of the fudge recipes, and stumbled upon these delicious little bars.

I am all about pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving, but I would totally forego the pie for these bars.  That’s how good they are.  They’re very decadent and you’ll probably need some milk to go with them.

Chocolate Cheesecake Bars
Recipe from: Very Best Baking

Ingredients:

 

• 1/2 cup finely chopped nuts
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine, (1/2 a stick) melted

• 1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup evaporated milk
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Lightly grease 8×8 inch baking pan.
2. Combine flour, nuts, brown sugar and butter in medium bowl; reserve 1/2 cup mixture for topping. Press remaining mixture onto bottom of prepared baking pan.
3. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or just until light golden brown.
4. Make the filling:  beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Beat in eggs. Gradually beat in evaporated milk.
5. Microwave 1 cup of the chocolate chips in medium, uncovered, microwave-safe bowl for 1 minute; stir. If necessary, microwave at additional 10 to 15-second intervals, stirring just until chocolate chips are melted. Beat into cream cheese mixture. Gently stir in the remaining 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips.
6. Pour over hot crust. Sprinkle with reserved topping mixture.
7. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes or until center is set. Cool in pan to room temperature. Refrigerate for about 1 hour, then serve.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal

About 80% of the time, I crave sweet, unhealthy breakfasts… like donuts. And cinnamon rolls.  And Reese’s Puffs.  It’s really hard to pass up these options when I’m rushing around in the morning trying to get ready for work.

But, I’d like to live a while so, I find healthy and quick alternatives.  Obviously this oatmeal doesn’t taste like Reese’s Puffs, but it’s a totally sufficient substitute.  Especially topped with heavy cream… balance, right?

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal

Ingredients:
1/2 cup quick oats
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
splash of milk or cream

Directions:
1.  Mix water, quick oats, cocoa powder, and salt in a pot on the stove (or make in the microwave).
2. Cook until you’ve reached a desired consistency, then stir in the honey and vanilla.
3.  Top with peanut butter and cream and mix!

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Oreo Frosting Cookies

Yay, this is my first post back on WordPress!  I liked Tumblr, but I really missed WordPress.

Anyway, I hope you all had a fabulous Halloween and were able to eat tons of candy.  We, as usual, bought a bunch of candy knowing we wouldn’t have very many Trick-or-Treaters.  We did end up having more kids than usual, but we also still have plenty of candy left over.  Win-win!

I made some awesome “frosting” cookies a few years back.  They’re just regular sugar cookies with frosting in the dough.  Well, I thought I’d kick those up a notch (because more sugar is the only thing that can make sugar better) and add Oreos to the mix.  They turned out amaaazing.  You’ll have to try them for yourself!  You could really add anything you want to these.  They would be great for all of that extra Halloween candy, if that’s even a thing.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup frosting of choice (I used white chocolate frosting)
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup white chocolate, melted
1/2 cup crushed Oreos

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350. Grease a cookie sheet or line with a Silpat.
2. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, salt, and baking soda.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the frosting, egg, vanilla, and sugar on medium speed for 2 minutes.
4. Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir until well combined. Once combined, slowly drizzle in melted chocolate while mixing.
5. Then, add your Oreos and mix with a spatula…don’t over-mix.
6. Drop cookies by large tablespoon fulls onto prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until edges of cookies are lightly browned.