CHOCOLATE HALLOWEEN CAT COOKIES

These chewy, chocolate, Halloween cookies would be a great project for the kids to make this holiday and they taste great too.

1 cup butter at room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup baking cocoa
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
candy corns
In a large mixing bowl, cream butter & sugar until smooth; beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt and gradually add it to the creamed mixture.
Roll dough into 1½" balls and roll in granulated sugar. Place on cookie sheet (I baked mine on parchment paper). Pinch the top of the cookie to form ears. For the whiskers, press a fork on each cat cheek (at 45 degree angle according to hubby). Bake at 350 for 10 minutes, remove from oven and immediately press candy corns into the cookie to form the eyes and use a red hot for the cat nose (I just cut off the end of a candy corn and used that). Cool on wire racks. Makes 24.

HAPPY TRICK-OR-TREATING !!

NOTE: Hubby says my whisker angle made these "cats" look angry lol. Maybe he is right about angling the fork tines a little more.

WHITE CHOCOLATE & RASPBERRY CHEESECAKE FOR TWO

If you are looking for a special dessert for two, this is it. This recipe has several steps, but they are all very easy and the final product is totally delicious. What a way to top off a romantic meal!!

Preheat your oven to 325 and line a mini-loaf pan (6" x 3" x 2") with foil. The foil will help you lift the baked cheesecake out of the pan after it is chilled, so make the foil ends long enough to grab on to. Spray with vegetable spray and set aside.

Make the raspberry sauce: In a sauce pan, heat up 1 cup of raspberries (I used frozen) and ¼ cup of white sugar. Bring to a simmer and mash the berries as they cook. When berries are all soft, thicken with a slurry of 1 tablespoon corn starch mixed with 1 tablespoon water. Stir until berries are nice a thick. Press through fine mesh strainer. Set aside.

Make crust: Mix ½ cup graham cracker crumbs, 1 tablespoon white sugar and 1 tablespoon melted butter. When thoroughly mixed together, press into the bottom of the foil lined mini-loaf pan. Set aside.

Make filling: Melt ¼ cup of white chocolate chips with 1 tablespoon cream and set aside. In a bowl, with an electric mixer, cream 3 ounces of room temperature cream cheese and 2 tablespoons sugar. When thoroughly creamed, add 1 egg white, ½ teaspoon vanilla and 2 teaspoons all purpose flour (don't over beat). Stir in melted white chocolate chips.

Pour half of the batter onto the crumb crust and top with half of the berry mixture. Top with the second half of the batter then decorate the top with the rest of the berry mixture. *see note

Water bath: Place the mini-loaf pan (with cheesecake in it) inside of a larger pan (I used a 9" cake pan) and pour very hot water into the larger pan, making sure that the hot water comes half way up on the sides of the mini-loaf pan.

Bake in a 325 oven for 28 to 33 minutes (my oven takes 33 minutes). The cheesecake is done when you gently tap the side of the pan and the cheesecake sort of jiggles (kind of like jello).

Cool for 30 minutes in the pan, then chill for at least 3 hours. To serve, lift the cheesecake out of the mini-loaf pan (using the foil "handles") then cut it into two pieces.

NOTE: You don't have to strain the seeds out of the raspberries if you don't want to. To decorate the top of the cheesecake, I spooned small amounts of the berrys in a random pattern, then ran the tip of a toothpick through the berries to make a design.

ITALIAN SEASONING & A TIP

I use a lot of dry herbs and spices; they are convenient. However, there are some spices that I don't use all that often. For example, that little $3.99 jar of rubbed sage gets used for a single holiday and then languishes on my spice rack, only to be thrown away. Well, I've discovered the (bulk) dry herb and spice section of the health food isle. The spices are sold by the pound, so the big hand full of sweet basil I bought the other day was a whopping 45 cents. I am buying all of my dry herb and spices this way from now on. They are not only economical, but they are super fresh and are an excellent quality!!
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This recipe for Italian Seasoning is a far better blend than any ready-made jar that I've found so far. I hope you will try it.
3 tablespoons dry basil
3 tablespoons dry oregano
3 tablespoons dry parsley
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon fennel seed
1 teaspoon dry thyme
1 teaspoon dry rosemary
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon red chili flakes
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Stir together thoroughly and break down the larger herbs (like the rosemary) with a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder (just don't grind it too fine).
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Store in airtight jar for up to six months.

NOTE: I wash out the glass jars that spices usually come in, and refill them with the bulk herbs and/or spices.

EASY BAGEL CHIPS

Whether you like sweet, savory or plain bagel chips, this is a quick, easy and efficient way to turn those day old bagels into a great snack. I used cinnamon raisin bagels, but any flavor bagel would work well.

Cut bagels into ¼" slices and put them into a roomy plastic bag (or container with a lid).

For each whole bagel, melt 1 tablespoon of butter (*see note). For savory bagels, such as garlic or onion, add ¼ teaspoon garlic salt (or onion salt) per tablespoon melted butter and mix. Drizzle the seasoned butter over the sliced bagel pieces then close the bag and shake like crazy to distribute the flavored butter. Place the coated chips on an ungreased baking sheet, in a single layer, and bake in a preheated 325 oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Start watching them at 15 minutes; their baking time will depend on how thick you cut them.

Cool baked chips on a baking rack and then store in an airtight container.

NOTE: Chilled bagels slice easily.

NOTE: Coat only 2 bagels at a time with the butter mixture to insure even coverage.

NOTE: For my sweet variety, using cinnamon raisin bagels, I did not add anything to the butter, but I sprinkled them liberally with cinnamon sugar (just on one side) before baking.

NOTE: Any flavor will work for these chips, your imagination is the only limit: herb, plain, just salt, barbecue, whole wheat, etc.

THREE MINUTE MICROWAVE CORNBREAD

When I first found this little recipe that promised fresh corn bread in 3 minutes, I thought "no way". Well, I'm here to tell you "yes way"...it is excellent!!

You won't get the brown crunchy part of corn bread that a lot of people love, but, HEY!! THREE MINUTES!! The taste and texture is surprisingly good and when you weigh the benefits of serving hot corn bread in a snap, well...I will definitely be using this recipe often!!

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup white flour
1/2 cup corn meal
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix everything with a whisk and pour into a greased microwave safe baking dish. I used a 6 x 6 x 2 baking dish.

Microwave on high for 3 minutes. If your microwave doesn't have a carousel, then manually rotate the dish half way through the cooking cycle.

 
NOTE: I used a 1000 watt microwave and it took exactly 3 minutes. If your microwave is different than that, you may have to adjust the cooking time.

NOTE: I used cooking spray inside of the baking dish and the cooked corn bread removed very easily.

CHEESECAKE FOR TWO

This mini-cheesecake is baked in a foil lined miniature loaf pan (6"x 3"x 2"). The loaf pan is all one piece, so there is no concern about water leaking into the cheesecake when you bake it in a water bath, which is pretty handy!!

We really enjoyed this dessert. I also have a chocolate version that I will post later. Serve it plain or top it with ANY kind of cooked fruit. Today's cheesecake was topped with fresh peach & cinnamon. Yummy!!

CRUST

½ cup graham cracker crumbs
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon melted butter
 
Mix the crumbs, sugar and melted butter and press them into the bottom of a 6"x 3"x 2" foil lined miniature loaf pan that has been very lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Make sure you leave enough foil hanging over the edges of the pan, to use as "handles" for lifting the cheesecake out after it is chilled.

CHEESECAKE FILLING

4 ounces cream cheese, soft
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons white flour
1 large egg white, room temperature

In a small bowl, beat the room temperature cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Beat in the flour just until well mixed. Stir in the room temperature egg white.

Pour mixture over graham cracker crust and spread evenly. Place loaf pan inside of an 8" or 9" cake pan and fill the round cake pan with hot water (depth of hot water should be half way up the loaf pan). Bake on center rack at 325 for 28 to 33 minutes (my oven took the full 33 minutes). Cheesecake is done when the center is set but it still jiggles just a little.

Be careful when you remove this from the oven, the water is really hot. Have a towel ready to set the loaf pan on after you take it out of the water. Let the cheesecake cool (in the pan and on a rack) for about half an hour then chill in the fridge for at least 2-3 hours.
To serve, lift the cheesecake out of the loaf pan by using the foil ends as lifting tabs. Cut the cheesecake in half (you will get two 3" x 3" servings), top with fruit filling and serve.

PEACH FRUIT FILLING
1 large ripe peach
1 teaspoon butter
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon corn starch
1 teaspoon water
Peel, pit and chop the peach. Place it, and the butter,in a small saucepan. Add the sugars, cinnamon and vanilla. Cook on medium low heat, stirring, until the peaches are half way tender (watch them, they cook quickly). Stir the cornstarch into the water and add to the peaches while stirring. Cook until thick and bubbly (about another minute). Serve warm (or chilled) on the cheesecake.

CLASSIC PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

I have been making this classic cookie for so long (and so often) that I no longer need a recipe. It has been my "go to" cookie for decades. It is sweet, crispy (but not hard) and light as air. A great cookie for the lunch box, bake sale or to send off to your college freshman.

In a stand mixer, cream together:

½ cup butter flavor Crisco (no exceptions)
½ cup extra crunch peanut butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon good vanilla
½ cup dark brown sugar packed
½ cup white sugar
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When this has been creamed thoroughly, beat in 1 & ¼ cups white flour, ½ teaspoon salt, ¾ teaspoon baking soda. Beat well.

Roll dough into 1" balls and roll them in white table sugar. Place them on a parchment lined baking sheet about 2" apart. Flatten with fork tines in a criss cross pattern. Bake in pre-heated 375 oven for 10-12 minutes (11 minutes is perfect in my oven).
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NOTE: I've made this recipe using butter instead of the butter flavored Crisco and it produces an entirely different texture. It is no longer a "light as air" cookie and it gets very flat and thin. I hope you will try it with the butter flavored Crisco.
NOTE: If you do not have parchment paper, bake them on an UNgreased cookie sheet.