Simple Mini Cheesecakes

 Here is another one of my favorite recipes!  Cheesecake is sooooo good but it can be such a pain to make and it takes FOREVER!  This recipes gets you the wonderful taste of cheesecake but it only bakes for 15 minutes and doesn't have to be in the fridge for hours and hours before you can devour it.  Try making these for a party, wedding, gift, or just because you're worth it :o)

Simple Mini Cheesecakes:

1 cup crushed graham crackers or vanilla wafers (Oreo cookies work too)
3 tbsp melted butter
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese (room temperature)
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or any flavor you like)
1 can pie filling, fresh berries, mini chocolate chips, or whatever else you want to put on top!

Directions: 

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line miniature muffin tins with paper liners. 

2.  Combine the crushed crackers and butter in a bowl.  Place about 1/2 teaspoon of the mixture into each muffin cup.

3.  In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth.  Add eggs and vanilla and mix on slow until well blended. Fill each miniature muffins cup almost to the top. 

4.  Bake for 15 minutes. Cool. Top with a teaspoonful pie filling or whatever topping you would like.  Be creative!  Refrigerate for a couple of hours before serving. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zucchini in a Garlic Cream Sauce

This is another way to use up all of that extra zucchini this time of year.  It's a great appetizer to go with dinner!  It's very simple to throw together and a nice change from our usual fried or grilled zucchini.

Zucchini in a Garlic Cream Sauce:

3 cups cubed zucchini
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 chicken bullion cube
1 tsp minced garlic
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup sour cream (reduced-fat works fine)
1 tbsp flour


Directions:
In a saucepan, combine the zucchini, water, onion, salt, pepper, bullion and garlic.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 5 minutes or until zucchini is tender.  Stir in the butter, sugar, and lemon juice.  Combine flour and sour cream until smooth.  Gradually add to saucepan and mix well.  Cook and stir over low heat for 5-7 minutes or until thickened.

*Feel free to add any additional spices you like to make it your own style**

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Cinnamon rolls are one of my absolute favorites but sometimes I don't want to go through all the hassle of making a bunch of little rolls.  This is a nice alternative to try when you're having that cinnamon roll craving but are a little short on time or short on motivation.  Just throw the ingredients in your bread machine to make it even easier.  This recipe makes two loaves of delicious cinnamon bread that is super yummy!

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

BREAD:
1 cup warm milk
1/4 cup warm water
2 eggs

1/4 cup butter, softened
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
5 cups bread flour
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
FILLING:
3 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
GLAZE:
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
4-5 tbsp milk

Directions: 
1. Layer all eight bread ingredients in your bread machine in the order suggested by manufacturer.  Select the dough cycle.  Now go put your feet up and read a book :o)
2.  When the cycle is complete, turn dough onto a lightly floured surface.  Divide dough in half.  Roll each portion into a 10 x 8 in. rectangle.  Brush with melted butter.  Combine the sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over dough. 
3.  Roll each rectangle tightly  jelly-roll style, starting with a short side.  Pinch the seams and ends to seal.  Place seam side down in two greased 9 x 5 in. loaf pans.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in size, about 1 hour.
4.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.  Cover with foil and bake an additional 5-10 minutes or until done.  Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely.  Combine the glaze ingredients, adding enough milk to get desired consistency.  Spoon over loaves and serve.

CRAZY for Zucchini Bread!

Okay so I may be a little crazy but I wanted to figure out what kind of zucchini bread I like the best so I did some testing today.  I ended up making 8 loaves of zucchini bread in total (like I said, I'm a little crazy).  I did regular zucchini bread, blueberry zucchini bread, and double chocolate zucchini bread.  They were all good although I can't decide if I like the blueberry or chocolate the best...I guess it depends on what mood I'm in :o)  Plain zucchini bread can be a little boring to me sometimes but my girls absolutely love it and can't eat enough of it!  Here are the recipes I used if you want to taste for yourself but beware, if you make all of them at once you end up with a TON of zucchini bread!

Zucchini Bread

3 c flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3 tsp cinnamon
3 eggs
1 c vegetable oil (or 1/2 c oil and 1/2 c applesauce)
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar, packed
3 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
1 c shopped walnuts, optional

Grease and flour two 8x4 inch pans.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl.  Add flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon, and beat well.  Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined.  Pour into prepared pans.  Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool in pan for 15 minutes.  Remove to wire rack and cool completely before slicing.

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

3 eggs
1 c vegetable oil (or 1/2 c oil and 1/2 c applesauce)
3 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 c sugar
2 c grated zucchini
3 c flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 1/2-2 cups blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease 4 mini-loaf pans.  Beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar.  Gradually add the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.  Add the zucchini and then gently fold in the blueberries.  Pour into prepared pans.  Bake about 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a loaf comes out clean.  Cool 15 minutes in pans then remove to wire rack to cool completely.
**This actually made 5 mini-loaf pans for me**

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread

1/2 c canola oil
1/2 c sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-1/2 c zucchini, shredded
1 c flour
1/2 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2-3/4 c mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x5x3 loaf pan.  Set aside.
Grate zucchini and set aside.
Beat the oil, eggs, vanilla, and sugar until well blended.  Add the flour mixture, mixing just until combined.  Stir in the zucchini then fold in the chocolate chips. 
Pour into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 55-65 minutes.  Cool in pan for 10 minutes then remove to wire rack and cool completely. 
**If you don't like really rich chocolate flavor then substitute milk chocolate chips or leave them out altogether**

Raspberry Lemonade Bars

This was a new recipe that I saw somewhere and thought looked good so I gave it a try.  It was fairly easy to make, although it's always a pain to have to do lemon zest, but fresh is better anyway.  I thought it was very tart but it was good.  It was too tart for my hubby but he doesn't really like lemon desserts anyway.  Maybe next time I will up the sugar or back off on the lemon juice a little bit so I'm not the only one eating it.  If you like very lemony desserts you will probably love this!

For the crust:

1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs, or crushed Nillla wafers
6 tbsp butter, melted
1/4 c sugar
zest of one lemon

For the filling:

2 large egg yolks
1-14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
6 ounces fresh raspberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 8 x 8 baking dish with cooking spray. 

In a medium bowl, combine the cracker crumbs, butter, sugar, and lemon zest.  Stir until combined well.  Press into the prepared dish.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature.

Once the crust is cool, combine egg yolks and condensed milk until well mixed.  Stir in the lemon juice and lemon zest.  Stir until the mixture begins to slightly thicken.  Gently fold in the raspberries so you don't break them and end up with pink bars.

Pour mixture over the cooled crust.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until just set.  Cool to room temperature and then chill for at least one hour before serving.  Keep bars in the refrigerator for up to five days.