MINI BUTTERSCOTCH CHEESECAKES

Whether you are a small family or "empty nesters" like us, this scaled down recipe for mini-butterscotch cheesecakes is a handy one.

I started scaling down full sized dessert recipes because we got tired of eating the same dessert several nights in a row. This recipe (depending on how big you make them) will give you 5 or 6 cupcake sized cheesecakes.

Preheat oven to 325°F and line a cupcake pan with paper liners.

GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST:
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons melted butter
Mix crust ingredients and divide evenly between 5-6 paper liners (press crumbs down to make flat crust inside paper liners).

CHEESECAKE BATTER:
1/2 cup butterscotch baking chips
4 ounces regular cream cheese (room temperature)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 eggs slightly beaten (room temperature)
1 teaspoons all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon rum extract (see note)

Melt butterscotch baking chips (I use my microwave) just until they are melted and smooth, don't overheat. Set aside to cool down a little.

Beat the cream cheese until it is very smooth (1 minute or so?). Beat in the melted (and cooled) butterscotch chips and sugar until well mixed. Add the egg, flour and extracts and beat until smooth, but don't over beat.

Pour the batter over the crust and fill paper liners about 80% full, or almost to the top. When these cheesecakes are done baking, they will look domed, but as they cool, they will lose that "dome".

Bake for 25-30 minutes (my electric oven takes 30 minutes). Of course it will depend on how much you fill up the paper liners and how hot your oven runs. Just bake them until they are set.

Cool in the pan for half hour or so, then put them (still in the pan) in the fridge to chill for a few hours. Remove paper liners before serving.

NOTE: If you don't have rum extract, just double the vanilla.

EASY DRY RUB FOR GRILLING

It IS spring, right? Here in Alaska we aren't so sure, since today (May 2nd) it is snowing!! I have to stay positive and plan for future barbeque's though, so here is a QUICK and SUPER EASY dry rub to use the next time you grill outdoors.  It may look a little on the sweet side, but the final product is NOT overly sweet, it is perfect.

3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup salt
1 teaspoon onion powder (not onion salt)
1 tablespoon coarse ground pepper
pinch of cayenne pepper (or to taste)
2 tablespoons paprika

Mix well and keep in jar with a tight lid. To use, brush your pork or chicken lightly with vegetable oil and then rub this mixture onto the surface of the meat about 20 minutes before grilling. It couldn't be easier!!

BAKED POTATO CHIPS

When I am on a diet, (who am I kidding, I'm always on a diet)my weight loss plan starts to falter when I get a craving for something crunchy and salty. I'm not talking about raw fruits and veggie type of crunchy, I'm talking about potato chip crunchy. If I ignore this craving, it just gets stronger; does that sound familiar to anyone?

I did some online searching for a remedy to my craving that wouldn't have a billion calories. I found three different recipes for baked potato chips that sounded promising.

After trying all three (and immediately tossing all three into the garbage), I decided to make up my own version. I must say I'm quite pleased with it. 

Not only does this little recipe completely satisfy my "crunchy chip craving" but the ENTIRE RECIPE only has one tablespoon of olive oil!!

Wash and dry six golf ball size Yukon gold potatoes. Slice them as thin as possible. A mandolin would work well for this, but I just used my sharpest knife and sliced them; just try to make them all an even thickness.

Toss the sliced potatoes with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, making sure that a little of the oil gets in between every slice. Lay the slices out on a heavy cookie sheet that has been lightly sprayed with vegetable spray, then sprinkle the potatoes lightly with kosher salt.

Baking time is important. One of the recipes I tried (and threw away) called for 2 hours at 200°F. That produced a dull, leathery piece of potato. I even let it cook an extra HOUR and it was still leathery...yuck.  Another recipe called for 18 minutes at 400°F which produced a crisp but burnt taste...yuck again. I then tried sweet potatoes, and while they had promise, they burned before they got crisp.

So I decided to try Yukon gold potatoes. How long you bake them will depend on how thick you sliced your potatoes and how hot your oven runs. I baked mine in a 375°F electric oven for 22 minutes, flipping them over half way through the baking time.

These chips should be eaten right away because there are small "non-crunch" parts on the chips and I'm not so sure they would taste good the next day. However, if you are craving the next best thing to potato chips, I hope you will try these. They have a WONDERFUL flavor and a fantastic, salty crunch!!!

NOTE:  Watch the chips closely the last couple of minutes because once they start to turn golden, they darken quickly.

SIX MICROWAVE COOKIES

This fun little recipe is for those "I-need-some-chocolate-right-now-or-I'm-going-to die" moments in your life. Cookies from the microwave? Before today, I would have highly doubted their success, but my scorched tongue is proof that they ARE good AND that I was too impatient for them to cool off!!

This recipe only makes six small cookies, which is PERFECT better for my perpetual diet. Don't expect the same crispy cookie you would get out of the oven, but the taste is very much the same.

1 tablespoon butter (melted)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
pinch salt
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tablespoons chocolate chips

Mix everything and form into 1" balls, then flatten a little and put them on an UNgreased microwave safe plate. They don't spread much when they cook, so just put them an inch or so apart.

Microwave on high for 45-55 seconds (my microwave took 50 seconds). Now is the hard part......let them cool for a couple of minutes....then enjoy!!

NOTE: Do not be tempted to add any baking soda to this recipe.

Two Ingredient Cake !!

This cake couldn't be easier and it is light and refreshingly delicious. It is great for any occasion, but PERFECT when you have to have a last minute dessert.

It only takes two ingredients, mixed together with a spoon...Easy-Peasy!!

1  box of angel food cake mix (dry mix nothing else)
1  20 ounce can of crushed pineapple (do not drain)

That's it!!  Mix in a large bowl because it really foams up as you stir. Pour it into a 9 x 13 baking pan (sprayed with vegetable spray) and bake it at 350 for 25-30 minutes (my electric oven took about 28 minutes).

Remove from oven and cool in the pan for about 20  minutes, then turn out onto a serving tray (or just leave it in the pan!!)

I frost mine with sweetened whipped cream that I stirred a little coconut into.

What could be easier and it is VERY tasty!!

Super Easy Velveeta Mac & Cheese

I know some food snobs will turn their nose up at a recipe using Velveeta cheese and that's OK, I don't use it very often either. However, Velveeta DOES make the creamiest macaroni and cheese, you have to admit it!!

A few days ago, Julie, over at Better than Burgers, posted a recipe she called KFC Mock Mac & Cheese. While I've never tried KFC mac & cheese, the recipe looked great. I made a couple of very minor changes to her recipe (and renamed it, lol). 

We loved it (and it couldn't be easier!!)

 

My recipe "tweaks" are in BLUE

Boil 2 cups of elbow macaroni for about 7-10 minutes (see note)
8 ounces of Velveeta cheese (see note)
1 cup shredded cheddar (I used sharp)
1/2 cup milk (I used 3/4 cup milk)
1/2 teaspoon salt  (I left this out)
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard powder  (my tweak)

Julie's recipe called for making the sauce in a pan, but I did it this way:

When the macaroni is almost done, put the Velveeta (cubed)+ the shredded cheddar + the milk and mustard powder in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave it on high for 1 minute, remove and stir.  Microwave it for one more minute and stir till smooth.

All microwaves are different, so watch yours for the final 30 seconds as to not over cook. The sauce will be very smooth.

Drain the cooked macaroni and stir into the sauce...that's all there is to it!! If you like "Velveeta Shells and Cheese" out of the box (the one with the foil pouch of cheese sauce) you will love this recipe.

NOTE: This recipe calls for 8 ounces of Velveeta cheese, fortunately, the Velveeta foil wrapper is marked in one ounce sections.
NOTE: Most elbow macaroni is boiled for about 7-8 minutes, but when I make macaroni and cheese, I like to boil the noodles an extra minute or so. It's just a personal preference.

BEST PUMPKIN BARS EVER !!! (Plus)

I've made pumpkin desserts for many more years than I care to count: pumpkin bread, pumpkin cake, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin pie, pumpkin bars, etc., etc., but today's recipe for super moist pumpkin bars is BY FAR THE BEST pumpkin recipe I've EVER tried !!!

They are light as air; they taste like pumpkin pie and they are SUPER, SUPER moist; they are totally addicting!! Since this recipe makes a large 10" x 15" pan, they would be excellent for a potluck, bake sale or weekend crowd. However if you are like us, and a 10" x 15" is just too much, check out the mini-version of this recipe at the bottom of this post.

4 large eggs
1 2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
15 ounce can of pumpkin puree(see note)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon salt

This is super easy to make, just put the eggs, sugar, oil, pumpkin and spices in a large bow and mix with electric mixer until it gets nice and light (just takes about 30 seconds, but it is an important step).

Next add everything else, and mix until it is well combine, but don't over mix. I do this step with a  hand whisk.

Spread it into a lightly greased 10"x15" jellyroll pan and bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes or until it springs back when lightly pressed. Cool completely before frosting.

FROSTING
8 ounces of cream cheese (room temperature)
1 cup butter (room temperature)
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar

Cream the cheese and butter together, add the sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth. Spread evenly on cooled bars. If frosting seems too thick, add milk (1 tablespoon at a time) until you get the consistency you like.

Here's the Mini-recipe:

A 10"x15" pan is just way to big for us empty-nesters, so here is a reduced size that fits perfectly in an 8"x4" loaf pan. I remove it from the loaf pan, frost it and then slice it (I get about eight 4" x 2" pumpkin bars out of this recipe).

1 egg
1/3 + 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch of ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup flour
1/2  teaspoon baking powder
1/4  teaspoon baking soda

Follow same directions as above except use an 8"x4" loaf pan. I lined the bottom with parchment so I could just lift the bars out of the pan after cooking (for easy slicing). Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes (my electric oven takes 30 minutes). Let cool completely then slice into bars.

FROSTING
I used half of the above frosting recipe because we like a lot of frosting. 

NOTE: Make sure you use plain old pumpkin puree, not the kind of canned pumpkin that already has spices in it. If you want to use the kind with the spices already in it, just reduce the spices in the recipe.