From Our Kitchen: Nutella Stuffed Blondies

Admittedly, I always have a bit of a sweet tooth, but, seriously, this little lemon (baby fruit size for the week!) has increased that tenfold! Give me all the sweets! I don't really discriminate against baked goods. I am just as happy with a pie as cake as cookies as brownies as whatever I can get my hands on. However, there is a special place in my heart for a blondie. I remember it being my favorite dessert to order out as a kid (at Applebee's, in case you were wondering. I wonder if they still have those on their menu. If you can't tell, it's been many a moon since I have been to an Applebee's). I love the texture of a blondie, which is exactly like a brownie - cake-like, but very moist (if cooked right) - but I love them even more than brownies because I apparently prefer vanilla/brown sugar/etc things over chocolate, which confounds me because I also love chocolate, but what are you going to do?

At any rate, awhile back I pinned a pin on Pinterest (I dreamed a dream...) for Nutella stuffed blondies. Shut. The. Front. Door. You are telling me there exists such a thing as a blondie stuffed with all the dreamy wonderfulness that is Nutella? Give them to me now! But, my hubby isn't so fond of Nutella (I don't know why. Childhood trauma involving being hit in the head by hazelnuts? Dislike of Italian products? I just don't have a reasonable explanation), so I knew I shouldn't make them anytime soon lest I eat the whole pan myself (which is really on a problem for my waistline, but a problem nonetheless). However, this week, the perfect situation presented itself: Harris was to be out of town and my Nutella-loving baby sister was to be in town. Ding ding ding! We promptly set about making these last night, were amazed at how lovely the house smelled both while they cooked and after, and waited as absolutely long as we could possibly stand it to let them cool before we both dove in to eat one (note: the wait time was approximately 7 minutes. Maybe.). Y'all. Words cannot even! Gooey heaven-sent deliciousness! Do yourself the biggest favor ever, and go make these right now!

What You'll Need:

• 1 c. Nutella
• 10 tbsp butter
• 2 c. brown sugar (original recipe calls for dark brown, I only had light brown on hand and it was fine!)
• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 large eggs
• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 c. Nutella (I missed this part, and the regular 10.5 oz jar of Nutella did not allow for enough extra for this step. I didn't think it mattered, but you can add this extra if you so choose!)

What You'll Do:

1. Line a small baking sheet with wax paper, and make room in your freezer. Divide 1 cup of Nutella into 12 dollops on the wax paper (no need to be exact). Place baking sheet in freezer while you complete remaining steps.
2. Preheat oven to 350. Spary 8x11x2 inch baking dish with Pam. 
3. Melt butter in small saucepan, stirring occasionally until the foam turns golden, and smells "nutty". Remove from heat, and pour into mixing bowl.
4. Mix in brown sugar and cream cheese. Beat for about 2 minutes, until fluffy.
5. Add vanilla, then eggs. Beat well.
6. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to batter, and mix until just combined.
7. Optional: Add remaining 1/4 cup of Nutella to batter, and swirl with spatula. Pour into prepared baking dish, spreading to the edges.
8. Remove tray of Nutella from freezer. Using your fingers, push each dollop into the dough, distributing evenly. Smooth dough over the Nutella.
9. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Edges should be very set, but center should still be seem gooey.
10. Cool completely, and then cut into bars.
11. Enjoy!

Because I was way too focused on eating rather than photographing, photo and original recipe courtesy of  The Food Charlatan

From Our Kitchen: Cake Mix Cookies

Yesterday, after our weekly pizza making and football watching, I had a sweet tooth (surprise, surprise!). I didn't really feel like walking the 500 or so steps over to the Mrs. Fields at the mall (read: I didn't feel like putting on real pants), and I didn't think we had any chocolate chips or other suitable cookie mix-ins (read: hubby doesn't really care for sugar cookies), so I was bummed for about 2.5 seconds until I realized that we did have cake mix in the cupboard! Winner! These are about the simplest cookies on the planet, and there are surprisingly super good! They remind me of those super soft cookies you get at the grocery store that have frosting on them (you know what I am talking about, I know you do), only better! They take virtually no time and so few ingredients, so you should definitely make some as soon as you can!

What You'll Need:
Makes about 1.5 dozen cookies

• 1 box cake mix, any flavor (I used Duncan Hines Butter Recipe Yellow)
• 1 egg
• 1 stick of butter, melted
• 1/2 container of frosting, any flavor (I used Duncan Hines Chocolate)

What You'll Do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and spray cookie pan with Pam.
2. Mix together cake mix, eggs, and butter (either by hand or with a mixer).
3. Drop rounded spoonfuls of batter-dough onto cookie sheet.
4. Bake for 10 min, or until bottoms are just golden and tops are still soft.
5. Cool cookies on wire cookie rack for about 5 or 10 minutes (read: until you simply cannot wait any longer, but the frosting will not slide off in a gooey mess)
6. Plop a dollop of frosting on each cookie, and then spread across the top.
7. Enjoy!

From Our Kitchen: Eggnog Pie

As I am sure we are all out there making final preparations for our holiday meals next week, I thought I would share a delicious Christimastime dessert (that, if you recall, I in fact made for Thanksgiving!) as inspiration for next week's festivities. If your household is anything like ours, you have probably drunk your weight in eggnog this Christmas season, so it is only appropriate that you now try your hand at an eggnog pie! The best part about this pie (I mean, aside from the fact that it is delicious!)? It is a no bake pie! Completely homemade, no baking. I mean, that's awesome, right?

What You'll Need for the Crust:

• 10 tbsp butter, melted
• 2 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 3 tbsp light brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg

What You'll Need For the Filling:

• 1 quart eggnog (I recommend the Southern Comfort brand of eggnog - by far my favorite!)
• 2 (5.1 oz each) packages of vanilla instant pudding mix
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg

What You'll Do:

1. Melt your butter in a large mixing bowl, and add your graham cracker crumbs.
2. Mix in your brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, and stir until well combined.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Spray a 9 inch pie pan, and place your crust mixture into the pan. Begin pressing down to form the crust along the bottom and sides of the pan.
   
   
   
   
4. Place the crust into the refrigerator to set while you mix together your filling (don't worry - it only needs to set for just a few minutes - roughly the time it takes for you to put together the filling). 
5. In a large mixing bowl, blend together your vanilla pudding mixes and eggnog. Mix well. Add in your cinnamon and nutmeg, and continue to mix until mixture begins to thicken
   
   
   
   
6. Get your crust back out of the refrigerator. Pour filling mixture into crust. At this point, you can garnish with whipped cream, cinnamon, or, as I did, some graham cracker sprinkles on top. Cover with plastic wrap, and place back into refrigerator until ready to serve. Enjoy!
   
   
   

Credit to original recipe

From Our Kitchen: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake

My dear friend, Michelle, asked the other day for me to put up a cheesecake recipe. Now, while my waist line certainly does not want a cheesecake in the house right now, I was happy to oblige in at least sharing a recipe, and am proud to present you with my favorite cheesecake recipe of all time. Yes, you heard me right: of all time. This is a really simple recipe, and can be prepared in either a traditional springform pan, or just in a pie dish. For the sake of simplicity (ahem, Michelle prefers her recipes simple, yes?), I will share the pie dish version, but please let me know if you would like help with the springform version. This is an old recipe from a cheesecake cookbook my grandparents gave me when I was like 10 years old (obviously me and cheesecakes go wayyyy back).

What You'll Need - Graham Cracker Crust

• 12 graham crackers
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 7 tbsp butter, melted

What You'll Do - Graham Cracker Crust

1. Pulse graham crackers in a food processor, until they become a fine dust. Add in sugar and salt and pulse to combine.
2. Add in butter, pulse to combine, scraping down sides as needed, until a fine meal forms.
3. Dump the graham cracker mixture into a 9-inch pie pan sprayed with Pam. I use my fingers to press down, but you use whatever works best for you. Make sure to leave a little edge!
4. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes, or until set. Remove from oven, and set aside.

What You'll Need - Cheesecake Filling

• 2 8-oz packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup prepared cookie dough, divided (I typically use the pre-made stuff here - a roll is more than enough - but feel free to make your own too!)

What You'll Do - Cheesecake Filling

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Mix cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla at medium speed with an electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs, and mix until well incorporated. Drop 1/2 cup of cookie dough by level teaspoonfuls into batter and gently fold to incorporate.
3. Pour into your graham cracker crust. Top, by teaspoonfuls, with remaining cookie dough.
4. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes, or until center is almost set (should be a nice golden color)
5. Cool, and then refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
6. Enjoy!

I should also note that you can obviously use a pre-made graham cracker crust here, but I am morally opposed to that, so don't tell me if you do. Obviously, kidding (but not really).