Cranberry Swirl Cheesecake

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!(: And that the baking ideas were useful. I have been dying to make truffles forever! Especially those cranberry ones. Unfortunately, my mom doesn't want to see another truffle for a while because my neighbor just brought a bunch over and I got her some from See's candy. So truffles will have to wait until Valentines day.

This cheesecake, was maybe one of the best I've made in a while(: Not really any cracks in the top either! I brought this to Christmas and everyone loved it! It's pretty easy too, but next time I'll try to find regular chocolate graham crackers instead of using teddy grahams.

Cranberry Swirl Cheesecake

recipe from Cooking Light

Ingredients

4 ounces chocolate graham crackers

3 tablespoon canola oil

cooking spray

1 1/2 cups cranberries

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup Chambord (raspberry liquor)

3 tablespoons water

1 cup sugar

2 (8-ounce) packages block style 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened

4 ounces block style fat free cream cheese, softened

1 cup plain fat free Greek yogurt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

2 large egg whites

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Wrap outside and bottom of a 9-inch spring form pan tightly with a double layer of heavy duty foil.

Place crackers in a food processor; process until finely ground. Drizzle with oil. Pulse until combined. Press mixture into bottom and 1/2 inch up sides of prepared pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes. Cool on a rack.

Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.

Place cranberries, sugar, liquor, and water in a saucepan. Boil. Cook 8 minutes or until cranberries start to pop and mixture is syrupy. Cool 20 minutes. Place mixture in a food processor. Process 1 minute or until smooth.

Combine 1 cup sugar and cheeses in large bowl; Beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Beat in yogurt, vanilla, and salt. Add whole eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

Place 2 egg whites in a medium bowl; Beat with a mixer at high speed until soft peaks form using clean, dry beaters. Fold beaten egg whites into cream cheese mixture. Pour filling over crust. Spoon cranberry mixture over filling. Swirl together using the tip of a knife. Place spring form pan in a 13 x 9-inch metal baking pan. Add hot water to pan to a depth of 2 inches. Bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes or until center of cheesecake barely moves when pan is touched.

Turn oven off. Cool cheesecake in closed oven 30 minutes. Remove cheesecake from oven. Run a knife around outside edge. Cool on a wire rack. Cover and chill 8 hours.

One Serving Mini Cheesecake

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Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake

I know this has been all over the blog world lately, but that's what made me want to make it. Everyone said it was really good and worth trying, so I decided to try it. And it's worth it! It's really good. Not as good as the Brownie Bottom Pudding Pie, but still pretty good. Next time, I'll probably make my own graham cracker crust and add more to the bottom layer.

Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake

recipe from All Recipes

Ingredients

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

2/3 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 pinch ground cloves

1 pinch ground nutmeg

1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust

1/2 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Blend in eggs one at a time. Remove 1 cup of the batter and spread into bottom of crust. Set aside.

Add pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg to the remaining batter and stir gently until well blended. Carefully spread over batter in the crust.

Bake in preheated oven 35-40 minutes, or until center is almost set. Allow to cool, then refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Cover with whipped topping before cooling.

Thanksgiving Ideas

I'm really excited about Thanksgiving now. I'm having a vegetarian thanksgiving with my dad (and I'll share the recipes later) so I don't have to worry about not getting protein. But, If you haven't figured out what to make or bring for Thanksgiving, here are some ideas.

If you aren't sick of pumpkin yet, Pumpkin Pie Pudding!

I made this a while ago. Mocha Pumpkin Cheesecake. It was a hit. My dad keeps telling me to make it, but I'm not making it for Thanksgiving. Maybe I'll make it again for Christmas.

I thought this one was pretty cool. Baked Brie with Pecans. You could bring this as an appetizer and it's super easy to make.

Curry-Spiced Sweet potatoes. Yum! I love sweet potatoes. I'm for sure making something with sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving.



Deviled Eggs. These have always been a favorite of mine. And these ones have tofu in them! If you're always short on protein like I am at thanksgiving, These would be the thing to make.


And lastly, Sweet Potato Pie with Pecan Strudel. I'm sad I just found this recipe! I'm definitely going to make this soon. Maybe I can even make it for Christmas.



Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Mocha Pumpkin Cheesecake

I've always loved cheesecake. It's such a rich dessert and it's always really good. And there's so many things you can do with it too. You can make cheesecake cupcakes, bars, low fat cheesecake. There's endless combinations of flavors too. Which is why when i saw this, i knew i had to make it.

This cheesecake is pretty different than most. When I was looking for a great pumpkin cheesecake recipe, this one jumped out at me because it was so different. I thought it would taste a little strange at first because of the different flavors, but it works! It works great. It's rich, but it's not too rich. It also takes a while to make, but the end result is great! And you can decorate it and put whatever toppings you want on it.

Mocha Pumpkin Cheesecake

recipe from The Daily Green

Ingredients

5 tablespoons butter, divided

1 1/2 cups finely crushed graham crackers, or chocolate graham crackers

3 tablespoons finely ground coffee beans

3 packages cream cheese, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

5 large eggs

2 cups cooked pumpkin puree or 1 can (16 ounces) solid pack pumpkin

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 oz semisweet chocolate chips, melted

4 tablespoons hot coffee

2 oz semisweet chocolate chips

chocolate-covered coffee beans or chocolate-covered raisins

Directions

Heat oven to 350 Degrees F. Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter. Combine with crushed graham crackers and ground coffee. Press into bottom and partially up the sides of a 9-inch spring form pan. Bake 10 minutes.

Use electric beaters at medium speed to cream the cream cheese for 3 to 4 minutes. Gradually beat in sugar and continue beating 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time. Beat in pumpkin and vanilla. Add the melted chocolate and beat until combined.

Pour filling into crust. Bake until instant thermometer inserted in center reads 160 degrees F, 70 to 75 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 6 hours or up to 3 days.

Melt 2 oz chocolate and remaining 2 tablespoons butter in double boiler, or a bowl set over a pan of boiling water. Remove from heat. Whisk slightly, then whisk in hot coffee. Cool 10 minutes. Press top of cheesecake to even out the surface and "mend" and cracks. Spread glaze over cheesecake.

Decorate with chocolate-covered coffee beans or raisins and whipped cream. Chill to set topping.

Cheesecake Brownies

Ever since i tried a cheesecake brownie ice cream, I've been wanting to make actual cheesecake brownies. These brownies, are really the best. They're super moist and they're best right out of the oven. Or you could always warm them up in the microwave too. These brownies are actually healthier, but you can't even taste it at all! I opted out of the instant espresso powder, but next time I would definitely use it because it would make the brownies thicker. And i would cut the cheesecake part in half. I was going for a cheesecake swirl, but it ended up being almost a 2 layer brownie. But that's okay, it almost made them more delicious.

Cheesecake brownies

from Health.com

Ingredients:

For brownie layer:

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 teaspoon instant espresso granules, dissolved in 1 table spoon water

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For Cheesecake swirl:

1 (8 ounce) package fat free cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1 large egg white, lightly beaten

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.

For brownie layer, combine butter and chocolate chips in microwave safe bowl. Microwave until nearly melted. Stir.

Combine next 4 ingredients (through salt) in a bowl. In separate bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, espresso mixture, and vanilla. Add chocolate mixture and stir until smooth. Add to dry ingredients, stir and pour into prepared pan, and smooth into even layer.

For cheesecake swirl, beat cream cheese, sugar, and egg white with an electric mixer at medium-high speed. Drop by spoonfuls into brownie layer. Draw tip of knife into brownie layer to swirl.

Bake 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out slightly damp. Cool in pan. Cut into squares.

S'mores Cheesecake Bars

If you haven't tried these or even thought about making these, then i think you must be crazy.
I was kind of skeptical to try this recipe at first because i didn't think s'mores and cheesecake went together very well. But after i tasted it, i couldn't have been more wrong! The cheesecake bars really resemble s'mores and they're very rich and almost melt in your mouth. Sure, they have to sit in the fridge for a few hours for the cheesecake to set, but the wait is worth it. Even the little ones will like these.
S'mores cheesecake bars:
(slightly adapted from Annie Eats )
Ingredients
For the crust:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp unsalted butter or margarine, melted
For the cheesecake:
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
10 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
2/3 cup marshmallow cream
2 tsp cocoa powder
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips, melted
Directions:
To make the crust, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 8x8 baking pan with foil; spray lightly with cooking spray. Combine the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and sugar in a small bowl. Stir together with a fork until well combined. Press the mixture in an even layer into the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Bake 6-8 minutes; Transfer to wire rack will you prepare the filling. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F.

To make the filling, melt the bittersweet chocolate in a greased pan over low heat. Stir constantly until chocolate is melted and smooth. Set aside. In a large bowl with a mixer, beat the cream cheese and marshmallow cream until smooth and well combined, about 2 minutes. Blend in cocoa powder, vanilla, and eggs until incorporated. Stir in the melted chocolate until well blended. Pour the filling over the graham cracker crust and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake about 30 minutes or until the center is just set (does not jiggle when shaken) Remove from oven.

Evenly top the cheesecake layer with mini marshmallows. Return to oven for 2-3 minutes or until the marshmallows begin to melt into each other. Transfer to wire cooling rack. Once the cheesecake is cool, drizzle the top with melted chocolate. Transfer to refrigerator and chill 2-3 hours before slicing and serving.