Vanilla Cheesecake Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache Icing

I had to make my own treat for myself on Mother’s Day, so I decided to make what is now my very favorite cupcake.  It is a variation of the chocolate cheesecake cupcake, made with a homemade yellow cake rather than a box mix.

Homemade Yellow Cake:  This is a half recipe that will make 12 to 16 cupcakes, double it if you need more cupcakes or want a make a regular layer cake.

1 stick butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

3/4 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup milk

1 cup all purpose or cake flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Beat butter and sugar until fluffy.  Beat in one egg at a time.  Add vanilla.  In a small bowl, mix together four, baking powder, and salt.  Alternately beat in 1/4 of the flour mixture and then 1/4 of the milk until well blended.  Fill greased or paper lined cupcake tins 1/2 full with batter.

Cheesecake Filling:

1 block cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

Beat sugar and cream cheese until very smooth.  Beat in egg until well blended.  Place in either a piping bag with a round tip, or use a ziplock bag and cut off the corner.  Slightly insert tip or corner of ziplock bag into middle of the cupcake batter in each tin and squeeze enough filling in so that the amount of batter in each tin swells to about 2/3 full.

Bake cupcakes at 350 for 16 to 18 minutes.  You want them to be slightly underdone.

Ganache Icing – My favorite part!!!

8 oz. quality semi-sweet or dark chocolate, chopped

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/3 cup powdered sugar

In a small sauce pan, heat cream until it begins to simmer.  Pour hot cream over chocolate.  Let it sit for a minute or two to allow the chocolate to begin to melt.  Whip the chocolate and cream together until smooth (it usually takes several minutes for the chocolate to fully melt and incorporate), add in powdered sugar.  Allow mixture to cool completely.  You may also stick the bowl in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour to speed the cooling process.  Once completely cool, use the whip attachment on your hand or stand mixer and whip until the ganache turns a lighter shade of brown and is a good consistency for decorating cupcakes.

Decorate cooled cupcakes and enjoy!!!

Fondue {No alcohol Cheese Fondue and Chocolate Fondue}

We LOVE fondue.  Especially chocolate fondue.  So one day last week we decided to have fondue for dinner.  First a cheese fondue and then our regular chocolate fondue.

I went searching on the internet for a cheese fondue recipe and found tons of them.  But all of them called for white wine.  It was actually pretty hard to find one that didn’t have white wine in it.  But I finally did and we loved it.

To make it you will need:

3/4 cup apple juice

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

3 cups shredded cheese (you can use any combination you like – Swiss, cheddar, Monterey Jack, Colby, etc.)

1 tbsp flour

black pepper to taste

Heat the apple juice and vinegar to boiling.  In a separate bowl, toss the cheese, flour, and pepper together.  Reduce heat on the juice to med-low and add the cheese mixture.  Stir until cheese is completely melted.

And then dip in your favorite things.  We did apple slices, sour dough bread, lightly cooked broccoli, celery sticks and pepperoni.

The kids had such a fun time with it.  It was a nice fun way to have dinner.

And then for dessert, our favorite chocolate fondue.

To make it you’ll need:

2 cups dark chocolate chips (or an equivalent amount of your favorite dark chocolate)

1/2 cup heavy cream

3 tbsp vegetable oil

Put everything together in a microwave safe bowl.  Melt for 45 seconds and stir, another 45 seconds and stir, and so on until the chocolate is completely melted.  You just want to be careful not to get the chocolate too hot or it will change the consistency of it.

We dipped strawberries (our favorite thing to dip in chocolate), pineapple, marshmallow, pretzels, and pound cake.

You should try it sometime.  It is so yummy!!!

Sweet Wheat Yeast Rolls

I made these for a family gathering and have had several people ask for the recipe, so I thought I would just post it here.  I’m going to admit, homemade bread products and I have not always had a happy time together.  It has taken me quite a while and lots of trials to finally find a recipe that turns out good every time and is not too hard to make.  This recipe is actually a modified version of the bread base for Pioneer Woman’s famous cinnamon rolls.

Ingredients:
12 oz can Evaporated milk plus 1/2 cup water  OR  2 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 pkg active dry yeast
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 heaping teaspoon baking powder
1/2 level teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoon salt
2 to 2-1/2 cups wheat flour
2 to 2/12 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 cup butter (please use real salted sweet cream butter, it just tastes better!)

Heat the evaporated milk plus water or the regular milk in the microwave until warm but not HOT.  I actually prefer using the evaporated milk because it seems to give the rolls a richer flavor, but regular milk tastes good too.  Pour the warm milk into the bowl of your counter top mixer.  Pour in sugar and yeast packets.  Give it a little stir and then let it sit for 10 minutes or so or until the yeast looks bubbly.  Pour in vegetable oil, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Then add 2 cups of the wheat flour and 2 cups of the unbleached flour.  You can also use regular all purpose flour, I just like the unbleached kind because they doesn’t use chemicals in the processing of the flour.  Put the bowl on your stand mixer and put on the dough attachment.  Let it mix for a minute or two and then take a look at the dough.  You want your dough to be sticky but not overly wet.  If it seems really wet, turn the mixer back on and add flour a little at a time until the dough gets to be a sticky consistency.  If you add too much flour and the dough doesn’t stick to your finger when you touch it, you can always add a little water or milk to get it back to the right consistency.  Let it knead for 3 to 4 minutes. 

Take the bowl off the stand and then cover it with a damp kitchen towel and put it in a warm place.  What I like to do is turn the oven on for about 1 minute so that it gets a little warm in there and then I place my bowl into the warm oven.  Let it rise for about an hour or so or until the dough has doubled in size.   Punch the dough down and then in a small bowl melt the butter in the microwave.  Make slightly larger than golf ball size pieces of the dough (be sure to try to smooth the top of the ball as much as possible) and dip them into the melt butter and place on a baking sheet about 2 inches apart.  Let rise (again I normally just stick the pan back in the oven) for about another hour or so or until the edges of the rolls are starting to touch and they are doubled in size.  If you let them rise in the oven, pull it out and preheat the oven to 350.  Bake for about 20 minutes or until the tops are browned.  If you really like butter, feel free to put a little more on the tops of the rolls right after you pull them out of the oven.

This recipe makes about 35 rolls.  I normally just use part of the dough and make one pan of rolls and then save the rest of the dough in the refrigerator and make something else the next day.  Either more rolls, cinnamon rolls, monkey bread, or sometimes I’ll use it as pizza dough!

What a Beautiful Valentine’s Day!

It feels like love outside today!  It is warm and gorgeous and the perfect day to put all of our Valentine’s Day preparations into action.

We spent this weekend putting together special Valentines for Dallin and Mandy classes:



Layton even helped out a little too.  Except he made all of his Valentine’s for himself ONLY.



Mandy had a blast decorating her sweet little box to put all her sweets in.



And of course, it isn’t truly Valentine’s Day without sugar cookies (at least not at our house :)).  We made a ton of them for both Mandy’s class and Dallin’s class.



P.S.  These are the best sugar cookies EVER!  The secret:  REAL butter and self-rising flour.  They always turn out perfect and unlike many other sugar cookies they actually TASTE great! 

Sugar Cookies

2/3 cup salted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 TBSP milk
2 cups self rising flour

Cream butter and sugar.  Stir in egg, vanilla, and milk.  Fold in self rising flour.  Do not over mix or the cookies will be cakey.  Refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.  Generously flour a working surface and roll out the dough.  Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters.  Bake at 350 for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges begin to look slightly browned.  Allow to cool and decorate!  My favorite icing for decorating cookies is 1/2 cup butter, 1 box powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, and then add water by the tablespoon until the icing is the desired consistency.  Super easy!

International Chocolate Day – Chocolate Truffle Cookies

This past Sunday, my sweet friend Becky W. reminded me that it was International Chocolate Day.   And if you know me, then you know that there is no way that I would ever pass up celebrating such an important day.  So I went searching on my favorite recipe website – AllRecipes.com – to find the perfect chocolaty treat to celebrate with.  And I definitely found a winner!

Chocolate Truffle Cookies
A thin veneer of crispness on the outside and soft creaminess on the inside. Delicious.  But these are only for true chocolate lovers because they have enough chocolate in them to kill some people :)
To make them you will need:

4 oz. bittersweet chocolate (60% cocoa or higher)
1 cup mini chocolate chips
6 Tbsp butter
3 eggs
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 cup mini chocolate chips

In a microwave safe bowl, melt bittersweet chocolate, 1 cup chocolate chips, and 6 Tbsp of butter.  I like to melt mine for 30 seconds, stir, melt again for 30 seconds, stir, and so on until all of the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.  In a separate bowl whip the 3 eggs and the sugar until well blended.  Add vanilla and melted chocolate.   Blend well.  In a small bowl mix together flower, cocoa, salt, and baking powder.  Add to the egg/chocolate mixture.  Do not over mix.  Just blend until it is all smooth.  Then fold in the other cup of mini-chocolate chips.
Place in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours.  Preheat oven to 350.  Form dough into 1 inch balls and place on parchment paper covered cookie sheet.  Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.  Do not over cook.  You want them to be soft in the middle.
And then enjoy!  They are so yummy!

Cheesecake Cupcakes Revisited

Cheesecake cupcakes are most definitely on my top 10 list of favorite desserts.  So because I love them so much, I decided to try a couple different recipes using the same general idea.

Vanilla cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache Icing


1 box yellow cake mix (plus ingredients listed on the box)
1 pkg cream cheese (softened)
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1-1/2 cups heavy cream
10 oz. high quality dark chocolate

Mix up the the cake mix as directed on the box.  In a separate bowl, cream together the cream cheese sugar and egg.  Fill cupcake tins 1/3 full of yellow cake batter.  Place one tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture in each cupcake.  Top with one tablespoon of cake batter.  Bake at 350 for 16 to 18 minutes.  You want to the cupcakes to be ever so slightly under done.  Allow to cool completely before icing.

To make the chocolate ganache icing, place the heavy cream in a small pot and heat over medium heat to point where it just begins to simmer.  Break chocolate into chucks and place in a bowl.  Pour hot cream over the chocolate and let it sit for a few minutes.  Using a whisk, stir until the chocolate is complete melted and combined with the cream.  Place in the refrigerator until it is completely cool.  Once it is cooled, use a mixer to beat the chocolate cream until it begins to thicken.  Don’t beat it too much or it will become hard like butter.  You just want it to be thick.  Refrigerate for a little longer and then use it to decorate the cooled cupcakes.  This icing is amazing and can be used on all kinds of things!

After trying these, I seriously can’t decided if I like the chocolate cake ones or these better.  So very very yummy!


Another variation is a lemon filled cupcake.  This one actually doesn’t have cheese cake in the middle.  Instead it is filled with lemon pie filling.

1 box white cake mix (plus ingredients listed on the box)
1 pkg. cooked Jello lemon pie filling (plus ingredients listed on the box)
1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 pkg. cream cheese (softened)
1 tub Cool Whip
4 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp lemon zest

Mix the white cake mix as directed on the box.  Add in 2 tbsp lemon juice and 1 tsp lemon zest.  Make the Jello lemon pie filling as directed on the box.  Fill cupcake tins 1/3 full of white cake batter.  Place one heaping tbsp of lemon pie filling in each cupcake tin.  Top with one tbsp of white cake batter. Bake at 350 for 16 to 18 minutes.  You want to the cupcakes to be ever so slightly under done.  Allow to cool completely before icing.

To make the icing, cream together cream cheese and powdered sugar.  Mix in 2 tbsp lemon juice and 1 tsp lemon zest.  Slowly fold in 1 tub of cool whip.  Decorate cupcakes as desired.
These were fantastic too.  To me, not quite as good as the cheesecake filled kind (but that may be because I love chocolate), but still very very good and a nice little change of pace. 

I think the next variation I’m going to try is pumpkin cheesecake cupcakes.  I can already taste them!!!!

Creamy Chocolate Cheesecake

This cheesecake is not your normal thick New York Style cheesecake.  Instead it is wonderfully dreamy and creamy.  So delicious!

For the crust:
1 stick butter
2 rows of Oreo cookies from a standard package

To make crust:  In a food processor or blender, put in the cookies one row at a time and then pulse the machine until the cookies are tiny crumbs.  If the butter is not at room temperature, soften the butter a little bit in the microwave.  Mix butter and cookie crumbs together and then press into a 9 inch spring form pan.

For filling:

3 packages cream cheese, softened
3 eggs
1 stick butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
8 oz. of high quality dark chocolate

To make filling:  Melt chocolate on 1/2 power in microwave for 45 seconds at a time until melted.  Be SURE NOT to burn the chocolate.  It burns easily.  Set chocolate aside and allow it to cool a little.  While it is cooling, with a mixer, beat together the cream cheese, butter and sugar.  Continue beating and add in 1 egg at a time.  Beat until completely smooth.   Beat in vanilla.  Continue to mix and slowly pour in chocolate.  Continue mixing until the chocolate is completely mixed in. 

To Bake:  Pour filling into prepared Oreo crust.  Place spring form pan on a cookie sheet.   Bake cheesecake at 275 degrees for 25 minutes.

Allow to cool completely and then refrigerate.  Refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving.  Top with whipped cream if desired.

I’m telling you, you are going to love this creamy cheesecake.  It is amazing!

See some pictures of my first wedding shoot here and here.

Coconut Cake with Ganache Filling

Coconut is a funny thing.  Some people either love it or hate it or some people just like coconut flavor without the actual pieces of coconut.  Well lucky for me and Nathan, we are both coconut lovers and so I decided to make us a coconut cake for lover’s day.  But rather than just your normal coconut cake, I decided to spruce it up with our most  favorite food – chocolate.

For the cake part you  will need:
1 boxed coconut (or white if you can’t find coconut) cake mix
3 eggs
1/2 cup oil
2/3 cup water
2/3 cup cream of coconut

Mix all of that together and divide the batter into parchment paper lined round cake pans to make 3 layers.  Bake at 350 until cake is done.  Remove from pans and allow to cool.  If cakes have a rounded top (mine almost always do), use a long serrated knife to cut off the top and make the layers nice and even. 

While the cake is cooling, in a microwavable bowl, place 2/3 cup whipping cream, 4 oz. high quality dark chocolate, and 1/2 cup powdered sugar.  Microwave for about 45 seconds, stir, then microwave for another 45 seconds.  The chocolate should be pretty melted at this point.  Use a whisk to combine it well with the cream.  Keep whisking until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth.  Place in the refrigerator to cool and stiffen up a little.

Once the cake layers are cool, combine the rest of the can of cream of coconut with 1/3 cup evaporated milk.  If you did NOT have to cut off the tops of the layers to even them out, be sure to poke holes in the cake with a fork before putting on this mixture so that it will soak into the cake.  Place the first layer on a plate and spoon about 4 or 5 tablespoons of the coconut cream mixture over the layer. 


The idea is to add moisture and flavor the cake without  making it completely soggy.   Get your cooled chocolate ganache out of the frig.  You want the ganache to be completely cooled before putting it on the cake.  Poor half of the ganache onto the first layer. Spread evenly.


Top with the next layer and repeat the 4 to 5 tablespoons of cream of coconut over the layer and then spread the second half of the ganache over the second layer.  Top with the last layer.  Just like the other two, add 4 to 5 tablespoons of the cream of coconut mixture over the top. 

Now for the icing.  Nathan told me that he would have been happy just to have another layer of chocolate ganache over the top, so feel free to make extra ganache and go that route if you like.  Or, you can make the traditional egg white frosting used on coconut cakes.  I like it, so that’s what I did.  To make it you will need to bring 1 cup sugar, 1/3 cup water, and 1 pinch of salt to a boil.  It doesn’t need to boil long, just long enough for all of the sugar to dissolve.  Once it is ready, remove from the heat and add 1 tsp vanilla extract.

In a large mixing bowl, place 3 egg whites or 3 egg white equivalents.  For this, since you are just relying on the heat of the sugar mixture to cook the egg whites, I prefer to use dried egg whites and the required amount of water to create a 3 egg white equivalences. 

I really like this stuff.  It is pasteurized and safe and it always whips up really nicely.  Back to the frosting.  With a hand mixer or stand mixer, begin beating the eggs.  Very slowly, pour in the hot sugar mixture, while still beating the eggs.  Continue beating for several minutes until the mixture is nice and stiff.  Then just frost the cake with a nice thick layer of it.


If you like (and I do like), you can then top with cake with a little toasted flaked coconut.


This cake is rich and super moist and fantastically delicious.  We loved it!

Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes

As promised, here is the cupcake recipe.

I made them again yesterday to take over to our friends house and they were a huge hit there as well.  I’m telling you these things are FANTASTIC.
To make them you will need:

1 chocolate boxed cake mix (my favorite is Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge) plus the ingredients listed on the box
1 cup mini chocolate chips
2-8 oz blocks of cream cheese (softened)
1 egg
1/2 cup white granular sugar
1-8 oz tub cool whip
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

To start, mix up the cake mix as directed on the box. Fold in the mini chocolate chips.  Then mix up the cheesecake filling.    Whip together 1 block of cream cheese, 1 egg, and 1/2 cup of sugar.


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prep your cupcake pans.  Either grease them well or use cupcake wrappers.  Fill each cupcake 1/3 full of the chocolate cake batter.  Then top with 1 tablespoon of cheesecake batter and then 1 tablespoon of chocolate batter.  It makes about 28 cupcakes.


Bake at 350 degrees for about 16 to 17 minutes.  You want them to be at the point where they are almost done, but just ever so slightly underdone.  That helps keep them super moist.


You could eat them right out of the oven, with all the little chocolate bits nice and melty and be perfectly happy.  Seriously delicious.  Or you could go on and make icing for them.  The original recipe suggested using either chocolate frosting or your standard cream cheese frosting.  I decided to go with a lighter fluffier cool whip/cream cheese frosting to balance out the denseness of the chocolate and cheesecake.
To make it, just mix together 1 block of cream cheese with 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar until very smooth.  Then fold in the whole tub of cool whip. 

Decorate the cooled cupcakes as desired.  They are best eaten at room temperature, but should be stored in the refrigerator because of all the cream cheese and cool whip.  So if you make them in advance and store them in the frig, be sure to take them out an hour or two before serving.  When eaten cold, the little chocolate chips get all hard and it just isn’t as good.


I love these cupcakes!  From the outside they look like a normal chocolate cupcake.  Then you bite in (and wow that was a good bite)


and you get this surprise burst of cheesecake.  It’s perfect.

Chocolate

I told you Layton really likes chocolate…

a lot.  And that’s a lot of chocolate.  Originally purchased to make Chocolate Lava Cakes.  But because he is craftier than me, he found the chocolate that I had hidden way up on the back of the kitchen counter and dove in.  He is such a booger.
Anyway, back to the Chocolate Lave Cakes.  If you have never had one, well then you are SOOOOO missing out on one amazing chocolate experience.  They are surprisingly easy to make and taste like a little piece of chocolate heaven.
Here’s what you’ll need to make it:
4 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate (or 4 oz. high quality dark chocolate)
1/2 cup  (1 stick) butter
1 cup powdered sugar
2   eggs
2 egg yolks
6 Tbsp.  flour
Now for the instructions:
PREHEAT oven to 425°F. Butter four 3/4-cup custard cups or soufflé dishes. Place on baking sheet.
MICROWAVE chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1 min. or until butter is melted. Stir with wire whisk until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in sugar until well blended. Blend in eggs and egg yolks with wire whisk. Stir in flour. Divide batter among prepared custard cups.
BAKE 13 to 14 min. or until sides are firm but centers are soft. Let stand 1 min.  Serve immediately, topped with vanilla ice cream.
Those are the original instructions.  I actually baked mine in the little prep bowls from Pampered Chef.  They have a maximum oven rating of 350 degrees, so I baked mine at 350 for about 20 minutes and yielded the same results as the original recipe.  The idea is to bake the outer part of the cake and leave the center soft and runny.  It will look like this when cooked.

Just use a knife and loosen the edges and then invert it onto a plate.  Top with a large scoop of vanilla ice cream and eat immediately.  The contrasting hot and cold is part of the goodness of the experience.  This recipe is super easy to increase the number of servings or decrease them.  In fact, when I originally made them during the holidays I completely forgot to take a picture of them (I know, the horror!) and so I actually made a single serving just to get a picture.

Don’t feel sorry for me though for having to go through so much trouble just to take a picture.  The second the picture was taken, Mandy, Layton, and I dove right in and enjoyed a few minutes of chocolate utopia.  So worth it just for a picture :)

Too Much Chocolate Cake

A friend of ours had a baby recently so we took her a chocolate cake. Because cake and babies go hand in hand you know.

As I was making it I thought, “This cake is SO GOOD the recipe really should be shared with the world.” Then I realized, oh yeah, it has been. On a nice little recipe site called All Recipes. But well, I thought it couldn’t hurt for it to be shared yet again with you because it really is one of the best chocolate cakes I’ve ever tried. It is moist and rich and oh so chocolaty. Just look at all that chocolate:

It is a really easy cake that uses a box cake mix as the base. Simply mix together:

1 Chocolate Boxed Cake Mix (I like Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge)

1 5.9 oz pkg instant chocolate pudding

4 eggs

1 cup sour cream

3/4 cup water

3/4 cup oil

The batter will be REALLY thick. I think it is the pudding mix that makes it so thick like that. Stir in 1/2 of a 12 oz bag of mini chocolate chips. Put into a greased bundt pan. Bake at 350 for 50 to 55 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 30 minutes or so and then invert onto a plate.

For the icing, melt the other half of bag of the mini chocolate chips together with 1/4 cup of butter. I usually melt them in the microwave for 20 seconds, then stir, 20 seconds, then stir and repeat until it is nice and smooth. Spread over cake.

This cake is best eaten warm and with a nice big scoop of vanilla ice cream. So good it is sinful!!!!!

Cheesecake Cupcakes

I first tasted these back when I was a kid when my cousin Gwen would make them. They are like a little piece of cheesecake heaven! Every time I make them and take them somewhere people just love them.

So here goes -

Ingredients:

3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese

1 cup white sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

graham cracker crumbs

2/3 cup sour cream

2/3 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream together the cream cheese and 1 cup of sugar. Then beat in one egg at a time. Add vanilla. Beat until extremely smooth:

You can make these either in regular muffin size pans or in mini-muffin pans. I actually prefer the mini-muffin pans because it is just the right size for a perfect little bite of cheesecake.

Grease the pans with a thick coating of shortening. Then pour a little bit of graham cracker crumbs into each muffin spot.

Shake the crumbs around in the pan so that they coat the bottom and edges of each muffin hole. Then shake the excess off into the trash. Or when using multiple pans, you can shake the excess off onto the next pan and save a few crumbs. I know, I am such a amazing conservationist :)

Fill the muffin tin 7/8ths of the way full for the mini muffins, but only about half way full for the regular size muffins. The reason being that you don’t want the cheesecake part to be too thick or it just won’t taste right.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 to 25 minutes for mini muffins or 25 to 30 minutes for regular size muffins. They should look all puffy like this when they are done and be ever so slightly golden brown on the top.

In a small bowl mix together the sour cream, 2/3 cup sugar and 1 tsp vanilla. After you take the cheesecakes out of the oven, let them sit for about 5 minutes. During that time the center will sink down and create a little well in each of them. Spoon the sour cream mixture into each well.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 5 to 7 minutes to “set” the sour cream mixture. Let them cool in the pans then remove and refrigerate until ready to serve. If you want you could even add a little fruit on each one, but really they taste great plain. Another great thing about these is that they lend themselves well to holidays. You can add a little food coloring into the sour cream mixture to make them festive. Go orange for Halloween, or green for St. Patrick’s Day, or hot pink for Valentine’s day. Very fun!

Pair them with some chocolate dipped strawberries and you’ve got yourself a party!

Cookie Dough Truffles

As promised, here is the recipe for cookie dough truffles. I love this recipe because it is so versatile. You can turn it into any type of cookie dough truffle that you want. You just start out with a basic mixture of:

1/2 cup butter, 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1 can sweetened condensed milk, 1 cup of flour and 1 tsp vanilla. One little note about the flour. You will want to either use self rising flour or use all purpose flour and add 1/4 tsp salt and 3/4 tsp baking powder. Sounds odd I know, but you need those things in there to give it a truly cookie dough flavor. With out it, it will taste rather bland.

Anywho – after you mix that together, here is where a door to pretty much endless possibilities is opened. You could go with classic chocolate chip cookie dough

by adding 1 cup self rising flour and 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips.

Or you could try out some white chocolate almond cookie dough

by adding 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup chopped white chocolate, and 1/2 cup chopped almonds.

Or you could go peanut buttery

and add 1 cup flour and 1/2 cup peanut butter.

Or why not just go all out and make some cowboy cookie dough by adding

1 cup oats (instead of flour), 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips, 1/2 cup chopped pecans, and 1/4 cup shredded coconut.

Just go wild!

After deciding what kind you want to make, mix it all up and refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes to an hour, to make it easier to roll. Then just roll into little ball shapes. Place it on a cookie sheet lined with either parchment paper or waxed paper.

Pop them back in the frig for another 30 minutes to an hour to make it easier to dip them. Melt a package of chocolate candy coating according to the package directions. Then just dip away.

You can decorate them as you like or just leave them beautifully plain. Happy eating!

Click here for a printable copy of the recipe.