Holiday Sweet Treats

Who else has been baking nonstop in preparation for the holidays?  Here's what I've been up to the last few weeks.

One of my favorite chocolate chip cookies with both milk chocolate chips and dark chocolate M&Ms were definitely a winner at work.

Peanut butter cup cookies are a never fail crowd pleaser.  I have been making these cookies for as long as I can remember to gift friends, families, and coworkers.

Toffee is a favorite gift to give around here because one batch sure makes a lot!  I tried a new recipe this year from Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery cookbook.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
from Hershey's Kitchens
Makes about 3 dozen cookies

About 36 mini peanut butter cups, unwrapped, chilled
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 white sugar
1/2 brown sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375F.  

Whisk together flour baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

Beat together the butter, brown sugar, white sugar, peanut butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy.  Add egg; mix until blended.  Add vanilla; mix until incorporated.  Add in the dry mixture, mixing until there are no longer any white streaks.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls and place into each ungreased mini muffin cup.  Do not flatten.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes until puffy and lightly browned; remove form oven.  Immediately press peanut butter cups into the center of each cookie.  Cool completely in muffin pan.

Keeps for 3-5 days in an air tight container at room temperature.

Wishing you and yours the merriest of Christmases and the happiest of holidays!

Cheesecake Desserts

Looking for something to bring to your next holiday party?  Cheesecakes tend to be my go to crowd pleaser dessert.  It adapts really well, whether you are looking to mix in fruit, chocolate, or even cookie dough and brownies.  Below are a few of my tried and true favorites:

Cookie Dough Cheesecake

Strawberry Shortcake Cheesecake Cake

Cheesecake Brownies

Oreo Cheesecake Cake

Mini Swirl Cheesecakes

Black Bottom Cheesecake Cupcakes

Mini Oreo Cheesecakes

Chocolate Mint Cheesecake Cake

Vanilla Bean Cheesecake

Buttercream Ruffle Cake

Had the pleasure of making a cake for my friend's daughter's first birthday party.  It was a ballerina themed party; so, this pink buttercream ruffle cake fit right in.  The cake was kept fairly simple given I also made 2 dozen cupcakes, carrot and white cake with chocolate chips, as well as the smash cake for the birthday girl.

I am becoming quite a fan of this design; given this is my second attempt at a buttercream ruffle cake now.  As I mentioned before, it helps a lot to score vertical lines around the cake to keep your columns of ruffles uniformed.

Mini Red Velvet Bundt Cakes

I can't believe I haven't used my mini bundt pans from last Christmas until today.  I finally put them to use for a quick birthday treat for two of the husband's coworkers.  I always thought that bundt cakes had to be dense; however, I used my go to red velvet recipe and it not only held up well but it came out of the pan perfectly.  Can't wait for another excuse to use my mini bundt pans.

Praline Walnut Pumpkin Cake

After much success with my first upside down cake, I knew I wanted to make this Praline Pecan Pumpkin cake when I saw it on Pinterest.  Because I didn't have any pecans on hand, I subbed in walnuts.  I recommend sticking with the pecans.

The cake was fairly simply to make the day of, for a dinner party with friends.  Like the upside down cake, it started out with brown sugar and butter melting in a pan over the stovetop.   The mixture was poured into the bottom of the cake pans along with the walnuts.  The reason why I thought the walnuts didn't work here was because it lacked the nuttier taste.  If I toasted them before tossing them into the bottom of the cake pans, it might have worked.  Because I was keeping the cake simple, I added two layers of cream cheese frosting instead of frosting the cake completely.  Next time, a drizzle of caramel sauce  over the top would do wonders.