That lovely Peanut Butter Cheesecake (made in a smaller size!)

It is that time of year again.  Sir Markus wants the sweets.  Sooooo, I do what the bossman commands.  This time I cooked up little individual Peanut Butter Cheesecakes for him.  I, personally,don't care for peanut butter, but I have to say these little guys were goooooood!  For those of  you that have convinced  your other half that you can't cook or bake, don't try this at home, it WILL blow your cover! 

Usually most cheesecake type desserts have a graham cracker crust, but no, not this one.  The crust is made from Vanilla Wafers!!!!!  I didn't think I would like it, but ohhh, I loved it!  Before you get to making this dessert, make sure you have some cupcake liners handy.  I had to put mine on hold while the Mr. went to the store to obtain some!  So, are  you ready for some cheesecake???? Let's get busy.
RECIPE adapted from Hershey Holiday Favorites)

**NOTE:  These take a while to bake, so I suggest that you use several cupcake tins so you can get it all done in one shot.**




The ingredients that I used, you can substitute for your preference.


CRUMB CRUST:
1/3 cup Peanut Butter Chips
1 1/4 c. vanilla wafer crumbs, crushed (usually takes about 35 to 40 cookies)
1/4 c. cocoa powder
1/4 c. powdered sugar
1/4 c. (1/2 stick) butter, melted.   **Here is where I don't skimp on ingredients, I only use Land O Lakes butter for my baking.  It DOES make the difference.**

Directions for CRUMB CRUST:
Chop the 1/3 c. peanut butter chips up (you can use a food processor, but I found it much easier to just put them on the cutting board and chop with my super duper Paula Deen Chef Knife!  Gotta Love Paula Deen!  Stir together vanilla wafer crumbs, cocoa, powdered sugar and butter in a medium bowl.  Stir in chopped peanut butter chips.  Line cupcake pan with liners and put a good heaping tablespoon of the crumb mixture in the bottom of each liner and press down with a flat bottomed cup.  (You will have crumbs left over,  but the  mixture gets harder to use if you let it sit so, what I did was, once I had the first batch of crumb crusts done, I pulled the liners out and carefully set them aside and repeated the crust making process so that I could get all the crust used up before it got too hard to work.  (I did have a few cupcake liners that didn't make it all the way to being filled.  I just chilled the crumb crusts and ate them like a cookie!)
Set all your little crumb crusts aside.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Proceed to making the batter for the little cheesecakes.

CHEESECAKE BATTER:
3 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened.  **Again, no skimping here, I use Philadephia Cream cheese only!**
1 c. sugar divided
1/2 c. dairy sour cream
2 TBSP vanilla extract
1/2 tsp lemon juice
3 eggs
3 TBSP All Purpose flour
1/4 c. cocoa
1 TBSP Veg. Oil
1 1/3 c. peanut butter chips
scant 1/4 c. Milk

DIRECTIONS:
Beat cream cheese, 3/4 c. sugar, sour cream, vanilla, and lemon juice in large bowl on med. speed of electric mixer until it is smooth.  Add eggs and flour; beat until blended.  Remove 1 1/2 cups of the cream cheese mixture and place in another medium sized mixing bowl.  Beat in cocoa, rmaining 1/4 c. sugar and oil into to it.  Set aside.

Place 1 1/3 c. peanut butter chips in a microwave save bowl and heat on medim power for 30 seconds to melt, stiring after the 30 sec. are up.  If they still aren't completely melted, microwave an additional 15 sec, stirring after each additional heating. Gradually add warm peanut butter mixture to remaining vanilla batter, beat on high speed for 5 minutes.

ASSEMBLY:
With a small lever-action scooper, (I found a great Faberware one at Wal Mart for  like 6 bucks, I use it for cookies, melon, you name it, it is the perfect size for baking), place one full scoop of the chocolate batter in your crumb crust cupcake liners. (I do 12 at a time, so I don't get left with odd ball crusts that don't get the additional peanut butter scoop).  Tap or smooth down the chocolate cheesecake mixture in each of the cups. (I smoothed, but you could tap if you don't do it too hard to crack the little crusts).  Next, place one scoop of the peanut butter cheesecake mixture on the top of the chocolate cheesecake mixture.  Smooth down again. Once you have all of your mini cheesecakes made, pop them in the oven for 10 minutes at 450 degrees.  After 10 minutes, and NOT opening the oven door, turn the heat down to 250 degrees and bake for an additional 30 minutes.  After that, turn the oven off, and do NOT open the oven door, and let the cupcakes set an additional 30 minutes.  Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.  Refrigerate after they have cooled. 

Oh so easy to serve and eat.  One or two on a plate, a fork, and a good cup of coffee and you are all set!

Final baby Cheesecakes!  Yummy!

I do hope you get a chance to try these out and let me know how you like them!  Next up, Actually Making the Wine!

Have a great day,



Pumpkin Muffins!

Hi everyone!  As promised, I am putting up the Pumpkin Muffins.  And you won't believe the ingredient list! These muffins are super moist, and I even filled mine with a cream cheese frosting filling and frosted them, and that just sent them over the top!  So without further mouth watering, let's get cookin!

Pumpkin Muffins
Ingredient list:
1 18.5 oz box Spice Cake Mix
1 15 oz. can of pumpkin - NOT Pumpkin Pie Filling!
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (optional) - I use it because Sir Markus loves the taste those spices bring to the pumpkin.

Cream Cheese Filing and frosting are optional and those directions will be at the bottom of the post.

Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, put in the spice cake mix.  Add the 2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice if you are using it and stir together well.  Then add the entire can of pumpkin and mix well.  This mix will be very very thick.
Line a cupcake pan with 12 cupcake liners.  Using a regular size lever action ice cream scoop, put one scoop into each cupcake liner.  Tap the filled pan on the counter a few times to settle.  Put into the oven for 20 to 22 minutes, as they need this full time to bake fully.  To test for doneness, use a toothpick and insert into the center of the center muffin.  It should come out 99% clean.  Take the muffins out of the oven and let cool in the pan for 2 or 3 minutes.  Remove from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack.  NOTE:  if you try to remove the cupcake paper before these are completely cool, they will break apart, because they are extremely moist! Repeat the baking procedure until all the batter is used. Once they are cool, you can enjoy them as is, or, read on below to make them extra special.

Cream Cheese filling and frosting:

4 Cups powdered sugar
8 oz pkg of cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 stick of butter, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
Milk, only by the teaspoon, if needed.

Cream the butter and cream cheese until it is light and fluffy.  Begin adding the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time, mixing til there are no lumps, then add the next 1/2 cup of sugar.  Once all the powdered sugar has been mixed in, add the vanilla and lemon juice and mix well.  If your frosting is too thick, add milk, 1 tsp. at a time until it is of a spreading consistency.  If it gets too thin, just add more powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Once your frosting/filling is ready, you can just frost the top of the muffins, or you can go over the top and fill them first.  To fill them, put 1/2 of the frosting/filling into a pastry bag fitted with a filling tip (they are long and slender).  If you dont have a filling tip, you can poke holes in the tops of the muffins, almost all the way to the bottom  with the handle of a wooden spoon, and just use a regular tip on your pastry bag to fill the hole.
Put your fill tip into the muffin, from the top, almost all the way to the bottom, and on the way up, squeeze the filling into the muffin, being careful not to overfill.  Continue until all the muffins are filled. 
Frost the tops with the remaining frosting.
And here is what you get:

I do hope you all get a chance to try these muffins!  They are simply scrumptious!

Bon Apetite'