Birthday Cake Oreo White Chocolate Cheesecake

Last Thursday was my (and my twin sister Genevieve's!) birthday and I had a fantastic day being spoiled by my fiance, who took me to my first NHL playoff game that evening, which was really exciting even though the end result of the game didn't turn out quite how we'd hoped!

On the weekend I celebrated with my family, which meant that I got to choose a birthday dinner, but I made my own cake as usual because I look forward to it every year!  For dinner, my parents made a somewhat Mexican-themed meal with sangria, chips and guacamole, and caramelized pineapple and chicken quesadillas with a strawberry salsa - it was all amazing!

And for dessert, I made this festive birthday cake Oreo white chocolate cheesecake! 

As I mentioned in my last post, I'm not a huge fan of the typical white birthday cake with super sweet frosting, but cheesecake is a different story - I love any and every kind of cheesecake!

My older sister had just brought back birthday cake flavoured Oreos for us from her trip to the US, so I decided to incorporate them into a birthday cheesecake!  I don't think I've seen these Oreos anywhere in Canada but I could be wrong - if someone knows if they're available, let me know!  If you can't find them, you can still make this with regular Oreos, it just won't smell as much like birthday cake :)   I didn't have quite enough birthday Oreos to use throughout the cake by the time I got around to grabbing the package, so I just used half regular Oreos which worked fine!

This cheesecake has an Oreo crust, with the birthday cake Oreos chopped up and mixed throughout the cheesecake batter, along with some sprinkles (necessary for anything birthday themed, of course) and melted white chocolate chips to enhance the sweet birthday cake flavour. 

I also made a quick buttercream frosting, which I don't particularly like but in this case I needed it to stick some Oreos on top for decoration.  I mixed in some sprinkles and Oreo crumbs to the frosting which ended up turning the frosting into a somewhat unappealing grey colour, so if you want to avoid my mistake just leave the Oreos out of the frosting, there's plenty of Oreos elsewhere in the cake anyway!

I have a tendency to overbake my cheesecakes because I'm always paranoid about them not being cooked all the way through and haven't quite mastered the art of knowing when a cheesecake is done yet, so as you can see mine was a tad overdone, but everyone still loved it! 

I loved how festive it looked, and it smelled and tasted just like a birthday cake but with the creamy texture of cheesecake - like a grown-up version of a kid's birthday cake to help make this getting older business a lot easier :) 

Birthday Cake Oreo White Chocolate Cheesecake

Note: Recipe adapted from this Philly Oreo cheesecake recipe and this white chocolate raspberry cheesecake recipe

Makes one 9” cheesecake; serves around 12

Ingredients:

For the Crust:

16 Oreos – I used regular Oreos for the crust

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the Filling:

2 cups white chocolate chips

1/2 cup half-and-half cream

3 (250g or 8oz) bricks of cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

14 ‘Birthday Cake’ Oreos, chopped (I chopped each one into about 6 pieces)

2 tablespoons sprinkles

For the Topping (Optional):

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup icing sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons milk

6-8 Oreos

Sprinkles

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Crush the 16 Oreos for the crust in a food processor or blender until they form crumbs.  Stir in melted butter with a fork and mix until combined, then transfer Oreo mixture to a 9” springform pan, and press evenly to cover the bottom in a thin layer.

In a metal bowl placed over a small saucepan of simmering water on the stovetop, melt white chocolate chips and half-and-half, stirring occasionally until melted and smooth.  Remove from heat.

In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth, 2-3 minutes.  Add eggs 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.  Add vanilla extracte and melted white chocolate mixture and beat just until smooth.  Gently fold in the chopped Oreos and sprinkles with a flexible spatula.  Pour batter over prepared crust and gently tap the pan against the counter a few times to remove any air bubbles. 

Bake in preheated oven for 50-55 minutes, until center is almost set.  My cheesecake had some butter drip out the bottom of the pan, which is an issue with my pan, but in case you have the same issue, be sure to place a baking sheet on the rack below the cheesecake to catch any drippings.  You could also use a water bath if you prefer to bake your cheesecakes that way.  Once done, I turn off the oven and let my cheesecake cool in there for about 10-20 minutes or more, then remove transfer it to a wire rack.  Run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake so it doesn’t crack as it cools.  Let cool at room temperature for at least an hour, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.

If you wish to decorate the cheesecake as I did, you can prepare a simple buttercream frosting to stick Oreos on to the top of the cake.  To make buttercream, beat 1/4 cup butter for 2-3 minutes until smooth and creamy.  Add 3/4 cup icing sugar slowly and mix on low speed until incorporated.  Mix in 1/4 teaspoon vanilla and 1 to 2 teaspoons milk until smooth.  If the frosting's too thin you can add more icing sugar; if it’s too thick you can add more milk.  I also stirred in 2 teaspoons of sprinkles and 1 crushed Oreo but this can alter the colour of the frosting (mine came out kind of grey) so I might recommend leaving those out and just adding sprinkles on top, or at least just leaving out the Oreos.  Pipe buttercream onto spots of the cake where you want to attach Oreos and stick Oreos into the frosting (see pictures). Keep cake refrigerated until ready to serve.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Pancakes

Today  is one of my favourite days of the year, Pancake Tuesday!  Better known as Fat Tuesday, it's a day traditionally meant for eating richer, fatty foods before Lent, which somehow led to eating pancakes (though I don't really agree that they're a rich or fatty food!)  To my family and I, it just means it's a day to eat pancakes for dinner!

As a kid I always loved the traditional blueberry and chocolate chip pancakes for pancake dinner, but now I love using the day to try new flavours of pancakes I've never had before.  Last year I made these delicious earl grey vanilla tea pancakes with honey tea syrup, and the year before that was these caramel latte pancakes, which I also loved.

But it's getting harder and harder to think of pancake flavours that haven't been done before, so this year I decided to combine two flavours into one!  And what better combination than the best of friends, chocolate and peanut butter.

These really are no harder than regular pancakes because the chocolate and peanut butter batters are basically the same, the only difference being the addition of cocoa for the chocolate batter versus peanut butter for the peanut butter batter (duh, I know).  Because the peanut butter batter is thicker, you'll pour the chocolate into your pan first in a pancake shape, then swirl the peanut butter batter on top just using a simple ziplock bag.

The browning of the pancakes hides the swirl a little, but I still love the contrast in colours you see, and the balance of peanut butter and chocolate in the taste is absolutely perfect - I love that you can taste both equally!

These may just be my new favourite pancakes, and with a certain peanut butter loving fiance's birthday coming up this weekend, I think I have the perfect excuse to make them again soon!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Pancakes

Recipe by Once Upon a Cutting Board but peanut butter pancake batter adapted from Food.com

Makes around 10 pancakes

Ingredients:
For the Chocolate Batter:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour*
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1/2 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup milk (I used almond milk)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Peanut Butter Batter:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour*
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup milk (I used almond milk)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter

*note: feel free to replace the whole wheat flour with all-purpose flour if you don’t have whole wheat

Directions:

Prepare the chocolate and peanut butter batters separately, but notice that the batters contain almost identical ingredients (the chocolate batter has cocoa and the peanut butter batter has peanut butter), so you can prepare them side by side, making it easy. Add all your dry ingredients to two separate bowls for the separate batters and whisk the mixture together, then add the wet ingredients to each bowl and gently whisk or fold just until the wet and dry ingredients are combined. Note that for the egg, you can lightly beat one egg then divide it in two for the two batters. Transfer the peanut butter batter to a squeeze bottle or a Ziplock bag with a small corner cut off.

Heat two large non-stick skillets over low-medium heat and spray with non-stick cooking spray if needed. To make the pancakes, you’ll pour the chocolate batter into a pancake then swirl the peanut butter on top because it’s a thicker batter. Pour chocolate batter by about 1/4 cup full onto the pan, then immediately swirl peanut butter batter on top. It will look something like this:

Cook for a couple minutes until bubbles form on top, then cook for one to two minutes on the other side, until cooked through. If you let the pancakes brown too much, it will hide the swirl, so you want to try to cook these over low heat, which may require a bit more time than usual. Repeat with remaining pancake batter; you will end up with more peanut butter batter leftover so just use that to make a few plain peanut butter pancakes. You can serve those in the middle of your stacks to help balance out the chocolate flavour.

Serve pancakes warm, with pure maple syrup if desired. 

Valentine's Mug Hugger Espresso Shortbread Cookies

I just returned from a trip to Seattle (which I hope to share some details of soon, as there was so much amazing food and beer there!), which means I didn't have much time to think about Valentine's Day until I returned yesterday and got straight to work making a heart-shaped recipe!

I know a lot of people aren't fans of the holiday and are sick of seeing heart-shaped things, but I think they're adorable, and whether you share heart cookies with your significant other, your family, friends, coworkers, or even just treat yourself, I think that making time for love, sharing, and cookies is a good thing!

I originally got the idea for "mug hugger" cookies from Red Path Sugar, and loved that you can hang a cookie on your mug!  And because my mug is usually full of (strong, black) coffee, I decided to make espresso shortbread cookies instead of sugar cookies (also because I love shortbread).  And because it's almost Valentine's Day, I had to dip them in chocolate and cover them in red and pink sprinkles, of course!  The chocolate actually helps add some sweetness to an otherwise not-so-sweet cookie, so don't skip that step!  You can skip the sprinkles if you really want, but why would you want to?!

In order to make these "mug huggers", you just have to cut a little slot in the cookie, preferably as soon as it comes out of the oven while it's still soft, then hook it onto your mug!  To be perfectly honest, these cookies might not stay on your mug too long; mine tended to fall off every few minutes as I was taking photos, which often resulted in broken cookies.  You can easily forget the mug hugger part and just make these as regular cookies if you want, which will be just as good, but if you serve someone their morning (or afternoon) coffee with one of these guys attached, you're sure to brighten their day!

Heart-Shaped Espresso Shortbread Cookies

Shortbread recipe adapted from Fine Cooking

I got around 1 dozen cookies with a 3” heart-shaped cookie cutter; I’d recommend using a 2” cutter instead, which would result in around 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon instant espresso powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

~1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Red/pink sprinkles, if desired

Directions:

Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer (using paddle attachment) on medium speed until combined, about 1-2 minutes.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, espresso powder, and salt.  With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients on low speed, scraping the bowl frequently, until just incorporated.  Add the vanilla and mix until just incorporated again, and the dough has just started to come together.  Don’t overmix.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to about 1/4 inch thick.  Use a heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out shapes, rerolling the dough until it is all used up.  I used about a 3” cookie cutter which is a bit big for a mug; I’d recommend using a smaller cookie cutter if possible.  Arrange the cookies carefully on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and refrigerate the baking sheet until dough is chilled, at least 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 325°F.

Bake the cookies in preheated oven for about 18-20 minutes, until golden on bottom.  Remove from oven, and if you want to make these "mug hugger" cookies, now is the point where you would cut little slits into the cookies so they can hang on a mug.  If you do this before the cookies bake, they will puff up over the cut-out, and if you wait until they have cooled, the cookies will break when you try to cut them.  While they are still soft from the oven, use a sharp knife to cut a slit in the edge of a cookie just long and wide enough for it to fit over a mug (see pictures for an idea).  Let cool on baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler or a small heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water.  Transfer to a small container and dip the edges of each cookie in the chocolate.  Try to only dip the top half of the cookies and keep the chocolate layer thin so it won't end up overpowering the cookie.  Immediately sprinkle the chocolate covered portion with sprinkles, if using.  Set cookies back on parchment paper until chocolate is set, about 2 hours.  Then keep covered in a container.

*Note: I did try to cut some cookies into mug huggers after they had cooled; many broke, but if I cut only a tiny bit at a time and was very gentle, I could cut out a slot just big enough so the cookie could fit on a mug.  In the pictures, the cookie in front was cut out right from the oven and the cookie in behind was cut after it had cooled.

Gingerbread Oreo Cheesecake Bars

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and happy holidays!

I've been having a very restful and quiet holiday break so far, except for the fact that I came down with the flu a couple of days before Christmas, and though the fever and aches are now gone, I've been left with a nagging cough that won't seem to go away.  The good news is that it has forced me to take it easy so I've been doing a lot of relaxing!  Being sick put a little bit of a damper on Christmas but I still had a fantastic day with my family, who spoiled me as usual, and I got out of any cooking duties so I just got to enjoy all the fabulous food made by everyone else!

Another good thing about being sick is that I haven't overindulged on food and drink like I usually do this time of year, mostly sticking to a ton of water and tea in the evenings.  The one thing I probably enjoyed more than my fair share of though was these delicious cheesecake bars that I luckily made a few days before I got sick.

These were inspired by the limited edition gingerbread flavoured Oreos that I couldn't resist picking up this year.  I immediately decided to use them in cheesecake bars similar to the candy cane ones I made last year, but with molasses and gingerbread spices instead of candy canes and peppermint extract for flavouring.

I wasn't originally going to share these because I ran out of time before Christmas to post them, but I got so many compliments and enjoyed them so much that I thought I should share them now anyways.  I'm sure most of you are already past the gingerbread stage and perhaps not wanting to go anywhere near dessert right now, so if that's the case just be sure to save this recipe for next year!  Or maybe you can find some gingerbread Oreos on clearance right now, in which case you should make a double batch of these!

Gingerbread Oreo Cheesecake Bars

Adapted from my Candy Cane Oreo Cheesecake Bars

Makes one 8x8 pan, about 16-20 bars

Ingredients:

For the Crust:

23 Gingerbread Oreos

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the Filling:

16 oz (2 bricks) cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup sugar

1 large egg + 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons sour cream, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons molasses

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cloves

12 Gingerbread Oreos, roughly chopped

*Note: You will need to buy two boxes of gingerbread Oreos to make this recipe, though you won't use the entire two boxes

Directions

Preheat oven to 325°F.  Line an 8x8-inch baking dish with aluminum foil, leaving an overhang around the edges to easily lift the bars out of the pan later.   Lightly spray the foil with non-stick cooking spray.

To make the crust, finely crush the Oreos in a food processor.  Add the cinnamon and melted butter and pulse until cookie crumbs are moistened.  Pour mixture into the prepared pan and press crumbs into an even layer over the bottom of the pan.  Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, then set aside.  Leave the oven on.

To make the filling, beat the cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer on medium-high until smooth, about 2 minutes.  Mix in the sugar until well combined. Add egg and egg yolk one at a time, mixing just until each is combined. Mix in the sour cream, vanilla extract, and molasses until just combined.  Mix in the spices until just combined.  Stir in the chopped Oreos.

Pour the cheesecake batter over the baked crust, smoothing the top with a spatula.  Bake for 40-45 minutes, until the cheesecake is set around the edges but slightly jiggles in the middle.  Sprinkle gingerbread quins on top for decoration, if desired.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool at room temperature for about one to two hours, then refrigerate until well chilled, at least 3 hours (I chilled mine overnight).

To cut the bars, pull the entire cheesecake out of the pan by lifting the foil edges, then peel away foil and slice into bars.  Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Gingerbread Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'll have to make this post short as I'm not feeling well but still have to do all my Christmas wrapping and last minute preparations before the big day tomorrow (which hopefully I'll be feeling better for)!  I just wanted to squeeze in one last Christmas recipe though as these cookies were probably my favourite thing I've made this season!

These cookies are inspired by a recipe I saw on Baked By Rachel, which I then went and changed almost everything about so I'm sure they're nothing like the original, but I absolutely loved my own version!  They're puffy but chewy, with a nice strong gingerbread flavour and just the right amount of sweetness from the chocolate chips.  I think these will be a new holiday favourite of mine!

I'd also like to take this time to wish everyone the very best of the holiday season, with lots of rest and relaxation, cheer and good times spent with family and friends, and of course, delicious food!

Gingerbread Chocolate Chip Cookies

Inspired by Baked By Rachel

Makes about 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1 large egg

1/4 cup molasses

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1-1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

In a large bowl, use a hand mixer or electric mixer to cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.  Add the egg and mix until combined.  Add molasses and vanilla and mix until combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, cocoa powder, baking powder, and baking soda.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 3-4 additions, mixing on low speed until each addition is just combined.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Cover dough and refrigerate for several hours until chilled through – this is important if you want the cookies to stay thick and puffy.  I chilled mine for about 3 hours.

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Scoop dough by about 1.5 tablespoons full and drop onto a parchment-lined baking sheet about 1 inch apart.  Because the dough will still be quite firm, I pressed the cookies slightly at the top to flatten them slightly.  Bake for 11-12 minutes.  Allow to rest on cookie sheet for 1-3 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.  Store covered in a container.

Frosted Mocha Brownies

I love baking and used to bake treats all the time, but I can't even remember the last time I made a dessert before last weekend.  I actually don't eat dessert myself that often, but I like trying new recipes and sharing treats with others; the problem is that everyone I know seems to be on diets or trying to eat healthier lately (which is a good thing!), and there aren't really any big dessert-worthy celebrations in the summer, so I haven't had an excuse to bake in a long time!

This past weekend though, I had a sudden urge to bake something so I decided to stop waiting for an excuse and just make something to give away to the boyfriend's coworkers (after trying one myself, of course!).  I was in the mood for a warm and comforting dessert but wasn't quite ready to break out the apples and pumpkin yet (though now that it's cooled off, that will be up next!), so I decided to go with brownies.  Everyone loves brownies, and I had all the ingredients for these latte bars I'd had bookmarked for a while, so I went right to work!

The original recipe for these bars was called 'latte bars', but since they're made up of coffee and chocolate, and mine turned out much more like brownies than bars, I'm calling them mocha brownies.  They're chewy and dense and everything you'd want a brownie to be (i.e. not too fudgey and not too cakey - just in between), with coffee in both the brownie, frosting, and the chocolate coffee beans on top, giving them the perfect amount of subtle coffee flavour.  I topped mine with a cream cheese frosting instead of buttercream because I think everything is better with cream cheese!

I'm not a huge chocolate lover but I do love coffee and I loved these bars, and so did the coworkers who were kind enough to help me eat them all!  I know the pictures are terrible (it was pretty dark out when I got time to take a few pics), but trust me that these are way better than I've made them look!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Frosted Mocha Brownies

Adapted from Land O Lakes

Makes one 8x8-inch pan; can be sliced into 16-20 brownies

Ingredients:

For the Brownies:

1 tablespoon instant coffee (+ 2 teaspoons hot water)

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Frosting:

8 oz (one brick) cream cheese, softened (I used light cream cheese)

3/4 – 1 cup icing sugar

1/2 tablespoon instant coffee

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For Topping:

16-20 chocolate covered coffee/espresso beans (or more, if desired)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Spray an 8x8 baking pan with non-stick cooking spray (I lined mine with parchment paper instead for easy removal after – use whatever method you like for brownies).

Prepare the brownies:  Combine instant coffee with hot water and mix until dissolved in a small bowl.  In a separate bowl, add the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, and salt, and whisk to combine.  In another separate bowl, whisk together the butter, eggs, vanilla extract, and coffee mixture until combined.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold together with a spatula until just combined.  Spread the batter in the prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for 23-27 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Prepare the frosting: Combine instant coffee with vanilla extract and mix to combine in a small bowl.  Beat cream cheese with an electric mixer in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, until smooth and creamy, 2-3 minutes.  Add icing sugar and mix until combined.  Add coffee-vanilla mixture and mix until combined.  Taste and add more sugar if needed (I don’t like it to be too sweet).  Keep frosting in fridge until bars have completely cooled.

Once bars have cooled, spread frosting over them (you might not need all the frosting), and slice into bars.  Top each bar with a chocolate coffee bean, or chop multiple coffee beans and sprinkle overtop.

Caramel Latte Cheesecake Squares for my 2nd Blogiversary (+ a Giveaway!)

It’s my second blogiversary!  Well, technically it was yesterday, but due to a minor disaster with my planned dessert and my subsequent freak out, I’m celebrating a day late.

I spent a long time trying to choose the perfect dessert for a two year anniversary/birthday.  I wanted something cupcake-like because I feel like cupcakes are worthy of a celebration, but I had a hard time thinking of a recipe idea considering I’m actually not the biggest cupcake fan.  So when I remembered these raspberry swirl cheesecake cupcakes based on a Martha Stewart recipe I thought I’d found the perfect solution; mini cheesecakes baked in a cupcake pan – perfect!

I decided to use a chocolate crust and a cherry swirl instead of raspberry, so I went out and spent a lot of money on cream cheese (cream cheese is expensive here – almost $4.50 each if you can’t get it on sale) and cherries, and went to work making my little cheesecakes Tuesday night.

They looked beautiful coming out of the oven, but when I took them out of the fridge Wednesday morning, I discovered that they were still mushy with an almost pudding-like texture (see picture below). I’m not quite sure what went wrong, but I suspect it may have had to do with the fact that I was making these late at night and somehow got it in my head that halving a recipe for 32 cheesecakes meant I should make 12. Don’t judge!

I was so sad to not only have wasted my time and money, but that I wouldn’t have a dessert ready for my blogiversary. I considered just skipping the celebration because I’ve been super busy with school this week anyway, but I thought about it and realized that if there’s one thing that the last two years of blogging have taught me, it’s that things won’t always go as planned, but instead of giving up or getting upset, you just have to keep moving forward and things will often turn out just as well if not better (and you usually learn something along the way too).

If I gave up every time a recipe didn’t work out the first time; if I worried too much about losing readers every time I was too busy to share a post one week; if I cried every time an anonymous person left me a mean comment; if I criticized myself every time I compared myself to bigger and prettier blogs; then I would have quit a long time ago.

The truth is I love my little space I’ve built on the internet, I love having a motivation to try new things in the kitchen every week, I love the warm and friendly comments I receive from my amazing readers, and any of the failures and criticisms I’ve experienced along the way have all helped me to learn and grow.

So I picked myself up and went for a new dessert. Still cheesecake-themed, but using a recipe I know works as a base this time, and going with new flavours that I know I love - caramel and coffee!

These creamy cheesecake bars have a standard graham cracker crust, but with toffee bits melted over the crust and sprinkled on top of the cheesecake, espresso mixed into the cheesecake, and a drizzle of caramel sauce overtop, giving them a lovely caramel latte flavour.  I'm so, so glad I pushed forward and made these because they may be one of my new favourite cheesecake bars!

And what goes better with caramel latte cheesecake than a caramel latte or frappuccino – or any of your other favourite Starbucks drinks! To celebrate my blogiversary and give back to my loyal readers in a small way, I’m giving away a $30 gift card to one of my favourite places in the world, Starbucks!

I’m trying something new with this giveaway and using Rafflecopter, which many of you are likely familiar with, in an attempt to make things easier on all of us. Just use the widget below to enter and let me know if you have any problems - Canada or US entries only please.  The giveaway will close Monday July 29th, 2013, at midnight EST and I'll contact the winner soon after that, so be sure to use a valid email address/Facebook account. The e-gift card will be sent by email, so please make sure you have a working email account and access to a printer if you win!
(the rafflecopter will load immediately below this sentence; if you have a slow internet connection like the ridiculously slow one at my office today, just wait for it to appear!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Thanks for celebrating with me and for reading this blog – I truly appreciate all of you!

Oh and by the way, it's also my twin sister Genevieve's blogiversary at Vanilla & Spice today!  If you haven't checked out her blog before (it's full of healthy vegetarian recipes), be sure to stop by and say hi!

Caramel Latte Cheesecake Squares

Adapted from Food & Drink and these cheesecake bars

Makes one 8x8 pan; 16-20 squares depending on how you slice them

Ingredients:

For the Crust:

1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1/2 cup toffee bits

For the Cheesecake:

16 oz (2 bricks) cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1/4 cup sour cream

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 tablespoon instant espresso

1/4 cup toffee bits

For the Caramel Sauce:

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Line an 8-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil, leaving a few inches of foil draping over the sides of the pan (which will help with removal later).

Make the crust: Whisk together the graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, flour, and salt in a medium bowl.  Pour the melted butter over the mixture, and stir together with a fork until all crumbs are moistened.  Transfer the mixture into the prepared pan and press evenly to form the crust.  Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes, until crust is beginning to brown.  Remove from oven then pour the 1/2 cup of toffee bits in an even layer over top, pressing down lightly. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool for about 20-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare cheesecake filling.  In a large bowl or bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth, about 3 minutes.  Beat in the two sugars until well combined, about 1 minute.  Beat in eggs one at a time, fully incorporating each egg into the mixture. Beat in sour cream until just combined.  Mix the vanilla extract and instant espresso together in a small bowl, then add to cheesecake mixture and mix until combined.

Pour cheesecake mixture over cooled crust, then sprinkle 1/4 cup toffee bits evenly on top (I used a bit more to fill in some gaps).  Place in middle rack of the preheated oven and bake for 40-45 minutes, until edges are set but the middle jiggles slightly (as a whole) when you shake the pan.  Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool to room temperature, about 2 hours.  Transfer to a refrigerator (I don’t cover mine) to cool completely, for at least 4 hours or preferably overnight.

Meanwhile, prepare caramel sauce by adding the butter and brown sugar to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook 1 to 2 minutes, until slightly thickened. Slowly stir in the milk and continue to simmer until thickened slightly. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.  Transfer to a small container and set aside until cheesecake has cooled to room temperature.  Drizzle caramel sauce over the cheesecake (I transferred mine to a small ziplock bag and snipped off the corner to drizzle with more accuracy) before refrigerating it (you could also do this step the next day after it has  been refrigerated).  *If you already have storebought caramel sauce at home and wish to use it instead, that would work fine too - I didn't have any so it was easier for me to just make some, which only takes about 5 minutes.

Slice cheesecake into bars.  Keep refrigerated.

Blueberry Maple Cornmeal Cobbler

This past weekend, my family got together to do some cherry and blueberry picking, which was my first time berry picking in years (when you don't have a car, berry fields are kind of inaccessible).  Fortunately, blueberries and cherries are probably the easiest things to pick - no prickly thorns to watch out for and no crouching down getting your shorts covered in berry stains.  It was crazy hot out, but it was pretty nice ending up with bags full of fresh berries with fairly minimal work involved.

Of course, I now have a ton of blueberries to eat, but that's not going to be much of a problem for me because they're one of my favourite berries to eat on their own.  If you like your blueberries more in dessert form (or if you just love blueberries in any form), this is the dessert for you!

I love crisps and cobblers because they're such the perfect summertime dessert - they can be thrown together quickly and with minimal dishes, there's only one dish in the oven to worry about, they highlight summer berries, and they're a fairly light tasting way to end a meal out in your backyard on a summer evening.

Which is exactly how we enjoyed this blueberry maple cornmeal cobbler on Saturday night.

And because I made this for my family to enjoy, I didn't style and photograph it the way I normally would for a blog post, making sure I have optimal lighting, accessorizing with napkins, and cleaning up the sides of my bowl from berry stains.  Instead, what you see is exactly what we saw before we all devoured our servings. 

The only difference you may see in your own version is that your biscuit topping will probably be a bit puffier because unlike me, you probably know how to follow recipe directions.  I realized only 15 minutes after I had put the cobbler in the oven that I completely forgot to add baking powder to the biscuit dough.  I had a minor little meltdown thinking it would turn out to be a disaster, but luckily, it still turned out wonderfully!

I had reduced the amount of sugar in the blueberry filling and added pure maple syrup (plus some cinnamon) for flavour, and I loved the hint of maple in the sweet, warm berries.  I also loved the crunch of cornmeal in the topping that paired so well with the blueberries, along with the crunch from the turbinado sugar on top that also added a lovely sparkle to the dish!  The original recipe called for forming biscuits and placing those on top, but I just dropped my dough across more evenly so every piece could have some of the delicious cornmeal biscuit dough with it!

The only thing missing from the servings pictured was vanilla ice cream - I didn't think to add it when I first served it but it would have been the perfect addition to cool down and cut the sweetness of the filling a bit.  My sister tried some of the leftovers with ice cream and assured me that it was the way to go - so make sure to serve this with ice cream (and don't forget the baking powder)!

Blueberry Maple Cornmeal Cobbler

Adapted from a recipe in Rustic Fruit Desserts

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon unsalted butter at room temperature, for greasing the baking dish

Filling:

3 dry pints (2 pounds) fresh blueberries

1/2 cup sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

Biscuit Topping:

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup fine cornmeal

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed

1 cup cold heavy cream

1 tablespoon turbinado sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F.  Butter a 2 or 3 quart glass baking dish.

To make the filling, wash and drain the blueberries and place in a large bowl.  In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, salt, and cinnamon.  Toss with blueberries to coat.  Pour in the lemon juice and maple syrup and stir to combine.  Transfer to the prepared dish, using a flexible spatula to scrape down the bowl and get all the juices.

To make the biscuit topping, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl.  Add the butter and use a pastry cutter or your fingers to cut in the butter until the mixture reaches the texture of large crumbs. Pour in the cream and stir just until the mixture comes together (it will be wet).

Drop the dough by large pieces on top of the blueberries, leaving some gaps.  Sprinkle turbinado sugar on top.  Transfer to preheated oven and bake for 45 minutes, or until biscuits are golden and filling is bubbling in the middle.  Serve warm, but let servings sit for a few minutes before eating as the filling will be very hot!  Serving with ice cream will help with this too (and is highly recommended).  Leftovers will keep for a few days at room temperature, covered with a tea towel.

Canada Day Cheesecake Bars

Canada Day (which will be our country’s 146^th birthday this year) is coming up on July 1^st – yay long weekend!  I love coming up with recipes for Canada Day because there aren’t really a lot of ideas out there (especially compared to the number of red, white, and blue recipes!) so it’s easy to be creative, plus we’re lucky that our flag is fairly simple to represent using food because it has only two colours - red and white.

One idea I had last year but never had time to try was to make plain white cheesecake bars and top them with strawberry jam to create little Canada flags.  So I decided to give them a try this past weekend for a family get together, where I knew there would be lots of people to help me eat them all!  Plus my cousin is about to leave Canada for a few years, so Canadian flags were very appropriate!  

 I was a little behind in trying to finish and photograph these before I had to leave, so they were done in a bit of a rush, but I was so happy that they turned out just how I’d imagined in my head!

The filling for these bars is plain vanilla cheesecake that’s rich and creamy (and didn’t crack at all, which I was thrilled about!).  Once I sliced it into bars, I just spread strawberry jam on the edges and placed maple leaf quins in the center to resemble the flag.  The quins (like these) are available at Bulk Barn this time of year, but if you can’t find them anywhere, you could just use more jam or another type of red sprinkle arranged in the shape of a leaf.

I got lots of compliments from my family on these bars, and I think they would be the perfect treat to bring to a Canada Day gathering this weekend!

Canada Flag Cheesecake Bars

Flag idea my own; Cheesecake recipe adapted from here, here, and here

Makes one 8x8 pan; cut into 18 bars

Ingredients:

For the Crust:

1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

3 tablespoons light brown sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

For the Cheesecake:

16 oz (2 bricks) cream cheese, softened

2/3 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1/4 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

For the Topping:

Seedless strawberry jam (~1/4 cup)

Canada Day maple leaf quins (available at Bulk Barn)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Line an 8-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil, leaving a few inches of foil draping over the sides of the pan (which will help with removal later).

Make the crust: Whisk the graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, flour, and salt.  Pour the melted butter over the mixture, and stir together with a fork until all crumbs are moistened.  Transfer the mixture into the prepared pan and press evenly to form the crust.  Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes, until crust is beginning to brown.  Transfer to a cooling rack to cool for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare cheesecake filling.  In a large bowl or bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth, about 3 minutes.  Beat in the sugar until well combined, about 1 minute.  Beat in eggs one at a time, fully incorporating each egg into the mixture. Beat in sour cream and vanilla until fully combined, about 30 seconds.

Pour mixture over cooled crust and return to oven.  Bake for 35-40 minutes, until edges are set but the middle jiggles slightly (as a whole) when you shake the pan.  Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool to room temperature, about 2 hours.  Transfer to a refrigerator (I don’t cover mine because I find the cheesecake ‘sweats’) to cool completely, for at least 3 hours or preferably overnight.

On the day you will serve the cheesecake bars, use the aluminum foil to lift the cheesecake out of the pan, then slice them into 18 small rectangles (6 columns and 3 rows - see picture below).  Stir jam first, then use a small butter knife or spoon to spread strawberry jam on the edges of each rectangle to resemble the Canada flag.  Use enough jam so it shows up well but not too much that it will fall off – you’ll get a feel for what amount to use after a couple tries.  Place three Canada leaf quins in the center to complete the flag (or if you don’t have any, you could use a blob of jam or red sprinkles if you can shape it into something that resembles a maple leaf!).  Keep bars refrigerated until ready to serve.  Don’t decorate them more than a day ahead.

S'mores Bars

After spending the past holiday Monday laying on a beach drenched in sweat, it just seems wrong that today the temperature fell to below zero and there was snow in the air!   Every time I think summer is definitely here to stay this time, Mother Nature turns around and laughs in my face.  

I’m still very grateful that we had beautiful weather for our May long weekend though, and I’m hoping that my American friends are able to see some sun and get outside for your holiday Monday coming up! 

But whether you’re sitting outside around a bonfire or warming up inside by a fireplace this weekend, these s’mores bars will fit right in!

You’ve probably seen a recipe for s’mores bars before so these are nothing new; they’re made up of two layers of chewy graham cracker bars with layers of chocolate and marshmallows sandwiched in between.  I’ve made versions of them a couple of times in the past and absolutely loved them, but based on my experiences, I’ve made a few changes along the way to improve them a little.

I added cinnamon and brown sugar to add to the graham cracker flavour more, I replaced some of the milk chocolate with dark chocolate because I find that using all milk chocolate makes them just a bit too sweet and rich for my taste, and while I used to make a full sized recipe in a 9x13-inch pan, this time I used a much smaller pan because buying all that chocolate gets pretty expensive!  I also topped the bars with more marshmallows and chocolate so they look a little prettier on top and people can more easily tell what they are.

And while I’ve previously used marshmallow fluff as called for in other recipes, this time I couldn’t find it anywhere, so I used mini marshmallows instead - which also ended up being much cheaper!  When I bought them I was thinking that they would melt a little to become just like marshmallow fluff, but I apparently forgot my experiences with rice krispie squares which should have tipped me off that the marshmallows would melt a lot more!  

So I was a little disappointed when I took my bars out of the oven and didn’t see a pretty layer of thick melted marshmallows like I’ve had in the past using marshmallow fluff, but once I tasted them I realized that I liked these even better – the marshmallow flavour is still there and just gets infused throughout the bar, giving it a sticky gooey texture just like s’mores.  But if you can easily find marshmallow fluff and want that thick layer of fluff (see what I mean here), feel free to use it instead!

These are like a portable, less messy, and slightly more refined version of s’mores, so if you like s’mores, I think it’s safe to say you will love these.  They were a hit with Ryan’s coworkers (from what I hear) – I only ate one myself then had to give the rest away because I knew I would eat them all much too quickly! 

If you have Memorial Day get-together plans this weekend, these bars would fit right in!  Hope you have a great (and warm!) long weekend!

S’mores Bars

Adapted from Taste of Home via Tracey’s Culinary Adventures and The Hungry Mouse

Makes one 8x8-inch pan; about 20 bars

Ingredients:

1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2-1/2 to 3 cups mini marshmallows

300g (or 10-11oz) of chocolate bars – I used three 100g chocolate bars: 2 milk chocolate and 1 dark chocolate.  If you want the taste to be more like classic s’mores, use all milk chocolate.  If you prefer a more grown-up taste, use dark chocolate.  I used a mix of both because I find all milk chocolate to be a little too sweet for my tastes.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8x8-inch baking pan with aluminum foil, leaving an overhang on the edges to lift the bars out later, and spray with non-stick cooking spray.

Whisk together the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl.  In a separate large bowl, cream the butter and sugars together with an electric or stand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.  Add the egg and vanilla and beat just until combined.  Slowly add the dry ingredients in three additions, mixing slowly after each addition until a dough forms.

Divide the dough in half.  Press one half of the dough into the prepared pan in an even layer.  Divide your chocolate bars into individual squares, reserve at least 4 squares for later, and spread the remaining squares in an even layer on top of the dough.  Try to get them close together but don’t worry too much if there are little gaps.  I alternated the spacing of my milk and dark chocolate squares.  Cover with about 2 cups of mini marshmallows in a tight, even layer.  Top with the remaining half of the dough.  I grabbed pieces of dough, flattened them between my palms, and pieced them together to form one layer, but it would have been easier to roll the dough out in one piece and transfer that on top.  Do whatever works easiest for you.  Here’s a picture of what my process looked like:

Bake the bars in the preheated oven for 25 minutes.  Meanwhile, chop your leftover chocolate into smaller pieces and place in the freezer.  After 25 minutes, remove bars from oven, and sprinkle the top with about 1/2 cup of mini marshmallows along with the reserved chocolate.  Return to oven for an additional 5-8 minutes.

Let bars cool completely before cutting.  I sped mine along by placing them in the fridge, but it still took at least several hours to cool.  When ready, lift the bars from the pan using the foil, and cut into about 20 squares.  Serve at room temperature or warmed up slightly in the microwave.