Pumpkin Cheesecake Pops

I'm kind-of a cheesecake freak. I like almost anything to do with cheesecake. You may recall that I am not a fan of pie, so every year at Thanksgiving time, I make a pumpkin cheesecake. Well, this year I will be in Connecticut for Thanksgiving, so I decided to bake my cheesecake early and make it into these cute little treats! This is my Aunt Vicki's pumpkin cheesecake recipe, and it is SO big and dense and creamy and good. But, the dense part is what makes it work well in these cute little pumpkin cheesecake pops!

First you start out by baking the cheesecake, without a crust. The crust is not needed for these sweet babies. You just want that creamy, yummy center.

Aunt Vicki's Pumpkin Cheesecake (sans crust)

2 lbs (4 packages) Cream Cheese at room temperature (NO lite cream cheese!)

1 ½ C sugar

5 Eggs

¼ C flour

2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice

1 15 oz can Libby’s Canned Pumpkin (I always use Libby's because it is consistently the same

color and flavor, while other brands are not)

Set out cream cheese and eggs a few hours before you are going to make the cheesecake. You want everything at room temperature to avoid lumps! Wrap the bottom (the outside of the pan) of a 9 inch spring form pan with foil. Because this cheesecake doesn't have a crust, some filling may leak out the bottom of your pan. Preheat oven to 350. Whip cream cheese until fluffy, then add sugar and eggs, one at a time. Beat well, and then gradually add flour and pumpkin pie spice. Mix in pumpkin and pour into pan (no need to grease). Bake for 1 hour and 30-45 minutes, or until center is firm. You want to avoid browning the cheesecake too much because the creamy center part makes the best pops, so try not to over bake it. It's fine if it's still a little wiggily in the middle, but definitely not really wiggily or liquidy. Cool cheesecake and chill in the refrigerator over night.

Before starting the cheesecake balls, first make sure that you have enough room and clearance for a cookie sheet or other pan with sucker sticks sticking out of the top in your freezer. Next, take your small or medium sized cookie scoop and scoop out balls of cheesecake. Roll them into pretty balls and place them on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Then, stick a cute dowel or sucker stick into each one. (You can do these more like truffles and omit the sucker stick,

but the stick makes these super easy to dip!) Freeze for 3-4 hours or overnight.

Once the cheesecake centers are frozen, you can dip them in white or milk chocolate. Refer to my Chocolate 101 tips for melting and dipping info! Because the pops are frozen, the chocolate will set really quick, so I would suggest making sure that your chocolate is pretty melty. If it starts to thicken up, it will coat the pops too thick, and then the chocolate may crack. So, every now and then, pop your chocolate back into the microwave for a few seconds to keep it nice and smooth. Also, if you're going to use cute sprinkles, you need to work quickly before the coating is set up. I rolled the white chocolate pops in these cute little sprinkles, but I wouldn't suggest doing this. It made that part of the pop really crunchy, so if you want to decorate them with sprinkles, just sprinkle them on.

These pops are so fun and SO delicious. I love that you can make the cheesecake a few days ahead of time and get the pops to a frozen stage, and then just dip 'em when you have a minute. It really is a very easy process, and not too time consuming if you spread it over a couple of days. I made 24 pops using my small cookie scoop, then I used some of the rest of the cheesecake to make pumpkin cheesecake milkshakes (and I wonder why I gained 5 lbs in the past 2 weeks! ) So, you could probably get more like 30 out of this recipe. Kids and adults can't resist these! Make them for a fun Thanksgiving day treat!

Mmmm...the cheesecaky middle....mmmm.

Oreo Mint Truffles

I wanted to post something that would be fun to make for Valentines Day. These are so simple! I made them at Christmas time, and everyone loved them. Nobody could figure out what was in the middle! I would suggest making these the day before or on the day that you will serve them, just so that they are fresh and the middle doesn't get too gooey.

1 Package Oreo Cookies

8 oz Cream Cheese, at room temperature

10 oz Package Andes Creme De Menth pieces (found next to the chocolate chips, or substitute of package of regular Andes Mints if you can't find these)

Line 2 cookie sheets with waxed paper or parchment. Crush the Oreo Cookies in a food processor or blender. The idea is that you want very small crumbs. If you want to, you can reserve a few tablespoons of crumbs to garnish your truffles with. Place crumbs and cream cheese into a mixing bowl. Using your hand mixer or stand mixer, mix the cheese and crumbs just until they are incorporated.

I made some truffles small, and some larger, and I liked the larger truffles better, but the size is up to you! I used my small cookie scoop, which is about a tablespoon, and popped each out into my hand, and rolled them into a ball. If the Oreo mixture is really sticky, you can try putting some powdered sugar on your hands or try chilling the Oreo mixture for a few minutes. Place the little balls on one of the parchment covered cookie sheets, and put them into the freezer for 20-30 minutes. Chilling them helps them to stay together when you dip them. But, you also don't want them too cold, or it might make your chocolate covering crack. If they crack, just drizzle them with some white or red chocolate and eat them anyway!

Once your little Oreo balls are chilled, melt the mint chocolate pieces. You could also use a regular chocolate coating chocolate instead of the Andes mints. If you like dark, use dark, if you like milk, use milk. If you're daring, use white! Place the mints or coating into a small bowl and pop them into the microwave for 30 seconds. Stir. Put them back into the microwave for 20 second intervals, stirring well between each, until your chocolate is smooth.

Remove the Oreo balls from the freezer and begin dipping. Start out doing about three at a time. I suggest doing three at a time because you want them to still look wet when you put them back into the freezer to set up. If you do too many at once, the first few will start looking dry. Putting them into the freezer while still wet gives them a nice shine. Once you get the hang of it, you can do it faster, and dip more at a time.

Before they dry, sprinkle each with the crumbs you set aside or some unsweetened cocoa powder (this might taste best with the non-minty chocolate coatings), or drizzle with a contrasting color of melted chocolate. You could even get some red chocolate and draw a heart on top! Oh, cute! (Hint: Go to your local craft store or candy supply, and get a little squeeze bottle. If you can find a ketchup or mustard squeeze bottle with a small tip, that would work too. Melt your contrasting color of chocolate, and pour it into the bottle. This makes a great little tool for drizzling!) Place the truffles into the freezer for 2-3 minutes or until the chocolate is completely set. Repeat until all truffles are dipped. At this point, you can pop them inside some little candy cups and place them in a cute box (or cellophane bag!)...and there you have it...the perfect valentine!!

Eggnog Fudge

Wow...it's been forever. Sorry! I've been really busy with Christmas cooking and family in town. Hopefully this recipe will make up for it! This Eggnog Fudge is to DIE FOR. If you like Eggnog, definitely try this.

2 C Sugar
½ C Butter
¾ C Eggnog
11 oz White Chocolate chips, or other white chocolate
½ tsp. nutmeg
2 1/4 C mini Marshmallows
2 tsp. light corn syrup
1 C Chopped Pecans (optional)
1 tsp. Rum Extract

Line an 8x8 square pan with parchment paper or wax paper, cut to fit the pan, and overlap the sides. I usually use two pieces, one overlapping the other. Combine sugar, butter and eggnog in a heavy 2 ½ to 3 quart sauce pan. Bring to a full boil, stirring constantly. Continue boiling 8-10 minutes over medium heat, or until a candy thermometer reaches soft ball stage (234 degrees), stirring constantly to prevent scorching. Remove from heat. Let mixture sit for a few minutes to let the temperature drop a bit. Stir in white chocolate and nutmeg. Stir until all chocolate is melted. Melt marshmallows and corn syrup together in a large microwave safe bowl (large, because the marshmallows explode!) for about 30-40 seconds. Stir until marshmallows are smooth. Add marshmallow mixture to fudge, along with the nuts and rum extract. Beat until well blended. Pour into parchment lined pan, and let cool at room temperature for several hours or over night. Cut into small squares. Small…this is seriously rich stuff!

Peppermint Bark

I love making Christmas candy, especially anything having to do with Chocolate! So, today I made my first round of candy and I wanted to share it with YOU!! Peppermint bark is one of the easiest and yummiest Christmas candies to make. This is what you will need...

1 lb White Coating Chocolate

1 lb Milk or Dark Coating Chocolate

8-9 Candy Canes, crushed

Easy right? The answer to that is...YES!

First, read my post "Chocolate 101", so that you know how to melt your chocolate. Next, line a cookie sheet with parchment or wax paper. Either one will do. I use wax paper because it's cheaper. Melt a pound of milk or dark chocolate and then pour the chocolate directly onto your wax paper. Spread the chocolate as thin as you can without it being transparent. I used my offset spatula, which worked brilliantly.

Then, pop the whole thing into the freezer for 2-3 minutes or until the chocolate is set. Pull it out of the freezer, and let your chocolate come back to room temperature.

While your dark layer is coming back to room temperature, crush your candy canes and start melting your white chocolate. (Note about crushing candy canes... I just put mine in a couple of zip lock bags and hit them with a hammer. I have tried putting them into the blender before, but it crushed them up way too tiny. I like this best with small chucks of candy cane, not candy powder. Figure out how you like it best!) If you really like the taste of mint...at this point you can add a few drops of oil mint flavoring to make it more minty. I think that the candy cane adds enough mint, but it's up to you! You can purchase oil flavorings at candy supply stores, or sometimes you can find them at Walmart.

Once your white chocolate is melted, add the candy cane to your white chocolate and stir until well mixed. If desired, reserve about 1/8th of a cup of the tiny crumbs to sprinkle over the top. That just makes it pretty.

Spread the white layer over your set-up dark layer. This layer is a little harder to spread because it has chunks of candy cane in it. But, do your best to make it as thin as possible. Then, sprinkle your white layer with reserved candy pieces. Pop it back into the freezer to set up for 2-3 more minutes.

Next, just break your creation into pieces. They can be as big or small as you wish. I like to break them into a combination of both large and small.

Then, package them as you wish! I have a fetish for cellophane bags, so I put almost everything in a shiny cellophane bag. I think it makes everything prettier!

Note: You can make this bark without the darker chocolate layer. Simply skip the steps regarding the darker chocolate all together.

Also, it's cute to do this inside a cookie cutter, like a cool copper or stainless steel one. Just lay the cookie cutter flat on the wax paper, then pour the different chocolate layers into it, following the same steps outlined. Just make sure not to fill it too full. Let it set inside the cookie cutter, and wrap up the whole cookie cutter in cellophane.

Let your imagination run wild! There are so many possibilities when it comes to bark. You can omit the candy cane and add nuts and dried fruits. One year at Easter time, I made this without the dark chocolate layer, and then used lemon heads instead of candy canes. It was really yummy! There are so many things you can do! Get creative!

P.S. I just received a William's Sonoma Catalog today. They sell peppermint bark in a cute tin for$26 per pound. Go on...make it for $2.50 a pound!