Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

Heat your oven to 350º.

Have a 8-9" springform pan ready, with the bottom lightly greased.

For the crust - in a small mixing bowl, combine ingredients and press onto the bottom of the prepared pan:

1-1/2 cups crushed Oreo cookies

1/2 cup crushed graham crackers

4 Tblsp. melted butter

Place in oven and bake 10 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool slightly and lower the oven temperature to 325º.

In a mixing bowl, using an electric mixer (low speed - don't use a high speed!!), combine the following ingredients:

4- 8 oz. packages of softened cream cheese

1-1/4 cup sugar

4 eggs

1 teasp. vanilla

2 Tblsp. flour

1/2 cup heavy (whipping) cream

FOLD IN:

1-1/2 cups mini semisweet chocolate chips.

Spoon into pan over crust.  Place in oven and bake for 1 hour.  Open the oven door - gently tap the side of the pan. If the center is still a little 'jiggly' close the door and bake another 10-15 minutes.  Check again.  Do this until the center isn't jiggling anymore, but being careful NOT to OVERbake it - or the top will crack.  Once the cheesecake is done, turn the oven off but LEAVE it IN the oven with the door ajar for an hour or two, until it sets.  Remove from oven and place on a wire rack (room temp) until it's completely cool.

You can either leave it 'as is' - or 'frost' it with sour cream (sweetened with a little sugar & a splash of vanilla) OR you can spoon a chocolate ganache over the top. Then it must be refrigerated for at least several hours.

To make the ganache,   in a small sauce pan over a VERY low heat,  heat 1/2 cup of heavy (whipping) cream, stirring occasionally.  Once it's hot - slowly add  chocolate chips (I use a 1/2 & 1/2 combination of bittersweet and semisweet chips) - approx 1-1/2 cups total.  Stir continually until the chocolate is fully melted and then remove it from the heat.  Spoon it over the top of the cooled cheesecake and then refrigerate until ready to serve.

You can garnish it with more crushed Oreos, chocolate chips, whipped cream... whatever you like!!

Cookies & Creme Pie

Preheat the oven to 350º.

In a bowl, combine 1 cup graham cracker crumbs, 1 cup finely crushed Oreos, 4 Tblsp. melted butter and 1 tsp. vanilla extract.  

Grease a pie pan. Press crumbs firmly onto the bottom and up the sides of it - bake for 10 minutes (to set). Remove from oven and cool completely.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together:

1 large package (or 2 small) Jello instant pudding, vanilla flavored

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup heavy (whipping) cream

add:

1- 8 oz. package of softened cream cheese (regular or light)

fold in:  

16 oz container (thawed) Cool Whip

1-1/2 to 2 C. coarsely chopped Oreos

Spoon into the cooled crust.  Sprinkle some extra crushed Oreos over the top. Chill for several hours before slicing.

Salted Caramel Chocolate Chips

In a mixing bowl, combine & cream together thoroughly:

3/4 cup soft UNsalted butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 extra egg yolk

2 teasp. vanilla

Stir in:

2 cups plus 2 Tblsp. flour

1/2 teasp. baking soda

1-1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Chill dough for 1 hr.

When ready to bake, heat your oven to 350º & line a few baking sheets w/parchment.

Have ready:  16-20 caramels, cut up into 5-6 smaller pcs. each - OR if you're lucky, you can find Kraft Caramel Bits (bag) in the baking aisle near chocolate chips.

Drop dough by rounded Tblsp. onto sheets, leaving space between each cookie.  Press a few pcs. of caramel onto the tops of each cookie.

Bake 8-10 minutes, until the edges begin to turn golden.  Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle a small amount of sea salt onto the tops of each cookie.

Cool and enjoy!

Chocolate Peanut Butter cookies

These remind me of " yin - yang " !  When making these cookies, you will be mixing 2 smallish batches of dough, chilling them and then rolling a lot of little balls (45-50 each).

Heat the oven to 350º.

Chocolate dough - mix together all ingredients in this order. Wrap in plastic & chill 1 hr:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

2 Tblsp. milk

1/2 cup + 2 Tblsp. cocoa powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup flour

1/2 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

WRAP & CHILL 1 HR.

Peanut Butter dough - mix together all ingred. in this order. Wrap in plastic & chill 1 hr:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

3/4 cup peanut butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1-1/4 cups flour

1/2 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

WRAP & CHILL 1 HR.

This works best if you quickly roll all the balls first (peanut butter first, and then chocolate) - if you alternate and make 1 cookie at a time, it's messy and you get chocolate all over your hands, mixing it onto the PB dough.

Roll each type of dough into small balls (1 level tsp. or so - don't forget - you're combining 2 balls per cookie!).  After they're all rolled into balls, take one of each and quickly roll them together between the palms of your hand.  Just a few 'spins' is all you need.  Place the balls into parchment lined baking pans (or greased sheets) - bake for 11-13 minutes.  Remove from the oven, let sit for a minute and then remove the cookies onto cooling racks.

Panna Cotta

Panna cotta means 'cooked cream' in Italian. The variations on this simple, yet luscious dessert are endless! After making the cooked cream, you might want to spoon some fruit compote or lay fresh berries on the bottoms of the custard cups before pouring in the cream (before chilling it). You may also choose to use different flavorings (instead of vanilla) - grate some lemon or orange zest into the nearly finished dessert - don't be afraid to experiment!

In a small pitcher or bowl, measure 1-1/2 cups heavy (whipping) cream. Take a half of a vanilla bean- split it down the side, scrape out the beans and drop the entire bean into the heavy cream. Set aside.

In a 2 cup measuring cup, pour 1 cup (whole) milk and 1/2 C. light cream (half & half). Pour 1/3 of it into a heavy saucepan and sprinkle 4 teasp. unflavored, powdered gelatin over the top. Let it sit until the gelatin softens and swells, approx. 5 minutes. Pour in the rest of the milk and stir in 1/2 cup white sugar- stir well. Set the saucepan over medium heat and cook (around 5 min. or less) - stirring CONSTANTLY with a wire whisk - until the gelatin & sugar completely dissolve and milk mixture is HOT - DO NOT SIMMER OR BOIL - that will deactivate the setting property.


Once the milk/gelatin/sugar is heated and dissolved, remove from heat. Remove the vanilla bean from the heavy cream, making sure it's scraped well - stir it up and slowly pour it into the hot milk in the pan. Mix everything together thoroughly.

Lightly grease custard cups, ramekins or small bowls and place them on a baking pan. Divide the cream equally and pour into the little cups (leaving 1/2" space from the top). Loosely cover the ramekins and refrigerate for at least 4-6 hours (or overnight) until the panna cotta is completely set.

You could serve it right in the ramekins or gently unmold them (as you would do with jello). This is a delicious dessert plain, or with fresh berries, sweet sauces or melted chocolate.

Triple Berry Crostata

In a bowl, combine 3 cups berries (whatever combination you want- I used equal amounts of blueberries, raspberries & blackberries for the one I made/picture on FB)

Sprinkle berries with: 4 Tblsp. sugar & 1 Tblsp. cornstarch, gently mix to coat. Set aside.

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

For the crust:

In a mixing bowl, add: 1-1/2 cups flour, 1/2 cup CAKE flour, 6 teasp. sugar 1-1/2 sticks (3/4 C.) cold butter cut into pcs. Cut the mixture, using a pastry blender (should look real crumbly when blended together). Make a small well in the center - add 4 Tblsp. ice water and 1 teasp. vanilla - blend dough until it forms into a ball. You may need to add another Tblsp. or more ice water, but be careful not to add TOO much. It should just come together as a pie crust does. Form the dough into a ball and roll onto a floured surface into a 16" round. ( I use those silicon 'cutting board' sheets - it's easy to then pick up & slide the rolled dough onto a baking sheet.) The dough should be approx. 1/4" or so thick.

Transfer the dough onto a baking sheet that's been sprayed lightly with nonstick spray. Gently spoon the berry mixture into the center of the dough and spread it out, leaving around 2" of dough border (without berries). Fold the edges over the berries at intervals, overlapping the dough and pinching down lightly - there should be around 5 - 6 folds - and the center will leave the berries 'open faced/exposed'. Lightly, brush a small amount of water over the top of the folded-over crust and liberally sprinkle with sugar.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 25-30 minutes - until the crust is golden. Cool at least 15-20 minutes before cutting into wedges.

(You could substitute peeled, sliced peaches for the berries and add a pinch of cinnamon to the sugar. Or experiment with other fruit!)