peanut butter-chocolate chip pie

Whenever my 2.0 comes into town, her family is nice enough to invite me to Sunday dinner. I always like to bring a dessert, because that's how I do. This family is a chocolate loving family. Like, for serious rich, decadent, chocolate insanity loving. I mean—the grandkids eat dark chocolate squares for dessert snacks—if that tells you anything. It took me to get to my 30's before I was down for the dark side like that. So, I always feel like I have to bring my chocolate A-game to these events. This time I brought my favorite combo, peanut butter and chocolate. My offering was a success, and it's safe to say that I will be invited again in the future. Phew!

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Pie, adapted from one of my very favorite food blogs, Bake or Break.

Crust:
1 package Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers
1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 & 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup chocolate chips, pulsed a few times in a food processor (I like the mixture of big pieces and fine pieces that come from doing this step)

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine all crust ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring until moistened. Press mixture on bottom and up sides of a 9-inch pie pan. Bake for 10 minutes.

Mix cream cheese, peanut butter, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla until combined. Whip cream until soft peaks form. Gently fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture. Fold in already processed chocolate chips. Pour filling into baked crust. Refrigerate for about 4 hours, or until set, before serving. Keep pie refrigerated.

cream cheese tarts: revisited

i posted pictures of these before but forgot to share the recipe. i made adjustments to the crust and topping (gingersnap cookies) for a more fall feel, but the basic recipe is the same.

3 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese
1 c. sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 T. lemon juice
2 t. vanilla
cookie wafers (nillas, oreos, this time i used a gingersnap - gluten free for a co-worker)
(could garnish with cherries or fruit if made with a nilla wafer or something like that)

beat all but wafers and chosen garnish until well-blended. line cupcake pans with foil-lined cupcake papers. place a wafer in bottom of each. fill with cream cheese mixture 2/3 full. bake in 350° oven for 20 minutes; cool. garnish with crushed leftover cookies or fruit filling. makes 30 cakes.

vanilla cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

i needed to make some cupcakes for my friend's baby shower and she likes white cake and white frosting. so i looked all around to find a recipe that wansn't too airy or too dense. and i wanted to do a cream cheese frosting. so i found this recipe on cupcake bakeshop.

i adjusted it to fit the ingredients i had on hand.

3 Vanilla Cupcakes
20 regular cupcakes / 350 degree oven

3/4 cup (1-1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1-2/3 cups vanilla sugar (i just used regular sugar)
2 large eggs, room temperature
2-2/3 cups flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped out (i didn't have this so i just doubled the vanilla extract)

1. Beat butter until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
2. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined.
3. Measure the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl and whisk to combine.
4. Measure out the milk and vanilla and stir to combine.
5. Add about a third of the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar and beat to combine. Add about a half of the milk/vanilla and beat to combine. Continue adding, alternating between dry and wet and finishing with the dry.
6. Scoop batter into cupcake cups about 2/3’s full. Turn oven down to 350 degrees and bake cupcakes for about 22-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

For the frosting:
Beat 8 oz. cold cream cheese (not rock solid, but it means you can use it straight out of the refrigerator) with 5 Tbsp. softened butter and 2 tsp. vanilla until combined. Gradually add 2 c. powdered sugar that has been sifted after measuring. Continue to add more sifted powdered sugar until you reach a consistency and sweetness that fits your
taste.

lemonade cupcakes

my oldest sister sent me this recipe the other day and i have to say, it's all she said it would be. moist deluxe and lemony.

Lemonade Cupcakes

white cake mix
3 eggs
8 oz cream cheese, softened
8 oz sour cream
6 oz lemonade concentrate, thawed; reserve 2 T for frosting

Mix together on high for 3 minutes. Fill muffin tins
3/4 full and bake at 350 degrees for 18-22 minutes.

Frosting:
1 can cream cheese frosting
2 T reserved lemonade from above

Makes 30 cupcakes

these are messy but so worth it!

ps- happy mother's day mom!

birthday bundt cake

my old roommate, julia and i used to always make this recipe for birthdays. i haven't made it in a while and i decided to make it for a friend's birthday–but a little bit more fancy. i even added a sort of frosting to drizzle on top.

1 cup fat-free sour cream
3/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp. warm water
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
4 eggs, one at a time
1 (18.25-oz.) package devil's food cake mix (we normally would use a yellow cake mix for a less rich cake)
1 (3.9-oz.) package chocolate instant pudding mix
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (i'm pretty sure what i put in was more than that)

Coat a 12-cup bundt pan with cooking spray and dust with flour; set aside. Combine the sour cream and next six ingredients (sour cream through chocolate pudding mix) in a large bowl, and beat mixture at medium speed of a mixer for three minutes. Add the chocolate chips and beat the mixture for 30 seconds. Spoon the cake batter into the prepared bundt pan. Bake cake at 350º for an hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cake in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack. Invert cake onto a wire rack and cool completely.

then i made up a frosting that sorta went like this:

2 T. melted butter
1 (8 oz.) pkg. low fat cream cheese
powdered sugar to taste (maybe 1/2 c.?)

et voila! birthday bundt cake–fancified.