Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Oreo and Snickers Cheesecake Bars

Every fall at my work (a University), we have an Open House for prospective students and their families.  As part of the days events, we provide a continental breakfast that includes bagels and cream cheese.  For some reason, we always end up with a massive amount of left over cream cheese!  And when I mean massive, I’m taking like a 100 of the little single servings of cream cheese.  Last year, I volunteered to take some because 1) I knew I could find something to make with it, 2) I don’t really buy cream cheese a lot and 3) I could bake something yummy to take into the office!  So this year I did the same and was sent home with a grocery bag full of little cream cheeses.  And what did I make, you ask?

Oreo and Snickers Cheesecake Bars!  Wow-o-wow, these were awesome!  I got the recipe from the Philadelphia Cream Cheese website.  They have a lot of great recipes on this site and they have a cool feature called the Cheesecake Customizer.  In playing with the customizer, I thought to myself, “Self, what would be delicious in cheesecake?  What are some of your favorite treats?”  And my answers were Oreos and Snickers.  Yum-my!  So, I plugged those treats into the customizer, got the recipe and started opening my 32 little cream cheese servings!  Talk about a pain in the butt!  It was worth it though because the bars turned out deliciously and of course, they were gone in an instant at work.  I did manage to grab a piece before it disappeared and I’m glad I did because it was heavenly!

Enjoy!

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Ingredients.

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My piece!

Sara’s Oreo and Snickers Cheesecake Bars

Ingredients

Crust:

  • 2 cups cookie crumbs, OREO Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
  • 4 Tbsp. butter or margarine
  • 1/4 cup sugar

Cheesecake Batter:

  • 4 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 tsp. vanilla
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream

Batter Flavorings:

  • 1 Tbsp vanilla

Mix-In's and Toppings:

  • 1 cup mixed into batter and 1/2 cup sprinkled on top Oreo (cookie), coarsely chopped
  • 1/2 cup mixed into batter and 1/2 cup sprinkled on top Snickers (candy), coarsely chopped

Directions

CRUST: Preheat oven to 325°F. Line 13x9-inch baking pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan. Mix Crust ingredients; press onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake 10 min.

BATTER: Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended. Stir in Mix-Ins. Pour over crust.

TOPPINGS: Add Toppings.

BAKING: Bake 40 min or until center is almost set. Cool completely. Refrigerate at least 4 hours. Use foil handles to lift cheesecake from pan before cutting to serve. Store leftovers in refrigerator.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Pumpkin Bread

Mmmm, I love pumpkin stuff!  I believe that my love for pumpkin started with the pumpkin bread that my mom always used to make around Christmas time.  It was moist, flavorful and oh-so-pumpkiny!  I was in love.

A few weeks ago, I felt the need for some pumpkin bread, and I happened to have some canned pumpkin leftover from making my pumpkin butter, so I got to baking.

Usually recipes for pumpkin bread make at least 2 loaves, but I didn’t want 2 loaves that were the same.  I don’t know why, but I just didn’t.  So, I made one “classic” loaf using Libby’s pumpkin bread recipe and I made another favorite of mine, Pumpkin Gingerbread

Both were delicious, as always!  The classic recipe takes me right back to be a little kid and eating the bread that my mom made; while the gingerbread one is a delicious twist to pumpkin bread and I love the flavorings.  Yum, yum, yum!  I could eat pumpkin bread all day.  Actually, when I made these recipes…I did. :)

Enjoy!

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Ingredients.

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Pumpkin Gingerbread Loaf.

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Classic Pumpkin Bread.

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Deliciousness is served.

Libby’s Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients

  • 3 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp. baking powder
  • 2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. each nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 c. each granulated sugar and packed brown sugar
  • 1 c. oil
  • 2 c. canned pumpkin
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 c. each raisins and nuts (optional)

Directions

  1. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. Add the sugars, mixing well.
  2. Mix dry ingredients with the oil and pumpkin, stirring until well combined.
  3. Add eggs, one at a time, blending thoroughly. Pour into 2 greased and floured 9 1/2 x 5 1/4-inch loaf pans.
  4. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes. Remove from pans. Place on wire rack to cool.