Category: Bars & Brownies

Eggnog Cheesecake Bars

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I clipped this recipe from last year’s December Living magazine. I went to make them last January, and there was no eggnog left on Stop n Shop’s

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shelves (and I wasn’t up to mixing some myself), so it was a must-do this year. And I’m glad I did. They taste probably how you’d imagine an eggnog cheesecake to taste. Divine. This may only be of use for next year, but if there’s still some eggnog left in your market, you may want to snag it . . .

Eggnog Cheesecake Bars

Makes 18

  • Vegetable oil cooking spray, for pan
  • 12 graham crackers, finely ground (1 1/2 cups)
  • 3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 ounces (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 pound cream cheese, room temperature
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 3/4 cup eggnog
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon brandy
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, plus more for dusting
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9-inch square baking pan with cooking spray. Stir together graham crackers, 3 tablespoons sugar, and the melted butter. Press into bottom of pan. Bake until crust is just brown around the edges, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool.
  2. Meanwhile, beat cream cheese with a mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the remaining 3/4 cup sugar, the eggs, yolk, eggnog, flour, brandy, vanilla, nutmeg, and salt; beat until smooth. Pour filling over crust. Set pan in a roasting pan, and add enough hot water to come halfway up sides of baking pan. Bake until just set, 40 to 45 minutes. Remove baking pan from water bath, and transfer to a wire rack. Let cool slightly, about 30 minutes. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.
  3. Cut into 1 1/2-by-3-inch bars. Lightly dust tops of bars with freshly grated nutmeg just before serving. You can refrigerate these bars for up to 5 days (like they would last that long!).


Fudgy Texas Sheet Cake

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texas-sheet-cake-1
This recipe is from the 2009 Annual of America’s Test Kitchen. I’ve always thought of Texas Sheet Cake as dry and not that interesting. This cake is the complete opposite–it’s really moist, fudgy, and my mother even thought it was a flourless chocolate cake. To top that off, it’s even better the next day (perfect for entertaining purposes), and quite amazing out of the freezer as well (if you need to hide the leftovers). Note: it’s critical to ice the cake hot out of the oven–so make sure to plan time accordingly!

Fudgy Texas Sheet Cake

Cake
2 c. all-purpose flour
2 c. white sugar
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
2 eggs, at room temperature
2 egg yolks, at room temperature
2 t. vanilla
1/4 c. sour cream
8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
4 T. unsalted butter
3/4 c. vegetable oil
3/4 c. water
1/2 c. dutch-process cocoa powder

Icing
8 T. butter (one stick)
1/2 c. heavy cream
1/2 c. dutch-process cocoa powder
1 T. corn syrup
3 c. powdered sugar
1 T. vanilla
1 c. toasted pecans, chopped

1. For the cake: Adjust an oven rack to middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 18″ x 13″ baking sheet. Combine flour, sugar, soda, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk the whole eggs, yolks, vanilla and sour cream in another bowl until smooth.

2. Heat the chocolate, butter, oil, cocoa, and water in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally until smooth, 3-5 minutes. Whisk the chocolate mixture into the flour mixture until incorporated. Whisk the egg mixture into the batter, then pour into the baking sheet. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 18-20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack.

3. For the icing: About 5 minutes before the cake is done, heat the butter, cream, cocoa, and corn syrup in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Off the heat, whisk in the powdered sugar and vanilla. Spread the warm icing evenly over the hot cake and sprinkle with the pecans. Let the cake cool to room temperature on the wire rack, about one hour, then refrigerate until the icing is set, about one hour longer. Cut into 3″ squares. Serve. Cake can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for 2 days. Return to room temperature before serving [Test Kitchen’s advice, not mine].

Two Mint Brownie Recipes

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Mint BrownieI guess I figure mint brownies are a natural St. Patty’s dessert not because of any Irish affliliation, but because of the green frosting. These are my two favorite. I post the BYU mint brownie recipe because I fell in love with mint brownies there. Although this is supposedly the real deal (from an alumni magazine), I don’t know that it tastes the same as the sheets that come out of BYU catering–but a good enough substitute.

The second recipe is from a family cookbook and I think it’s fantastic. Definitely more butter! The more the merrier . . . Of course, you can simply make  a box of brownies and frost them with these frostings, and have this dessert a little faster (FHE treats this week for us). The picture above is of the BYU mint brownie, minus the chocolate frosting on top, and the green food coloring in the mint frosting.j

BYU Mint Brownies

1 c. butter
1/2 c. cocoa
2 T. honey
4 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 3/4 c. flour
1/2 T. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 c. chopped walnuts

Mint Icing
5 T. butter
dash of salt
3 T. milk
1 T. light corn syrup
2 1/3 c. powdered sugar
1 t. mint extract
1-2 drops mint food coloring

Melt butter and stir in cocoa. Allow to cool. Add all ingredients except nuts, and mix well, then gently fold in the nuts. [These instructions are the ones from the BYU recipe. I mixed the dry ingredients in one bowl, then combined eggs, sugar, cooled cocoa mixture and honey in another, then combined.] Pour into a greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes and cool. [Note: at 25 minutes yesterday, these didn’t seem done, so I let them go an extra 7 minutes, and the end result was pretty dry. I think they must need to be pulled out at 25 minutes to be the right consistency, even though they’ll seem underdone.]

For the icing, soften butter. Add salt, corn syrup, and powdered sugar. Beat until smooth and fluffy. Add extract and coloring. Mix. Add milk gradually until the consistency is a little thinner than cake frosting. Spread mint icing over brownies. Place brownies in the freezer for a short time to stiffen the icing. Remove from the freezer and carefully add a layer of chocolate icing (if desired).

Diane’s Chocolate Mint Dessert (aka Brownies)

1 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter, softened
4 eggs
1 t. salt
1 1/2 c. Hershey chocolate syrup

Heat oven to 350. Greae 9 x 13 pan. In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, butter, eggs and syrup. Beat till smooth. Pour into pan and bake 25-30 minutes. Cool.

Mint Cream
2 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c. softened butter
1 T. water
1/2-3/4 t. mint extract
3 drops green food coloring

Combine all mint cream ingredients and beat until smooth. Spread on cooled brownies and refrigerate until  cold (1-2 hours).

Chocolate topping
6 T. butter
1 c. chocolate chips

Melt butter and chocolate chips over low heat or in the microwave at 30 second intervals. Pour over chilled dessert and cover and chill 1 hour.

Cherry Cheesecake Brownies

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I was looking at Cooking Light and saw a recipe for Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies (click here if you want it), when I was inspired to

Fudgy, delectable things

create my own variation, using my favorite brownie recipe and my favorite flavor, almond extract (and also because sometimes I can’t be bothered with all the accommodations in making a baking recipe “light”). So, I came up with this, and I’m already a little addicted to it (meaning I’ve made it twice in the last week). I thought there may be someone else out there who would love this combo as much as I do. Note: these are not cakey brownies at all–they are quite dense and fudgy.

Cherry Cheesecake Brownies

4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
8 T. unsalted butter
2 c. sugar
2 t. vanilla
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 c. flour
1 c. walnuts or pecans (optional, of course)
Cheesecake Filling
8 oz cream cheese (or neuchatel, if you prefer), softened
1/3 c. sugar
1 egg, at room temperature
1 t. almond extract (or vanilla extract, if you aren’t using cherries)
1/4 c. marashino cherries, chopped, or your favorite preserve (raspberry, cherry, strawberry, caramel sundae topping, whatever!)

Preheat oven to 350. Line a 9 x 13 baking pan with nonstick aluminum foil (a great choice for this recipe), or greased aluminum foil, allowing the foil to hang over the pan by 2″ on the sides (so that you can pull the brownies out easily).

In a large saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate and the butter until smooth and combined. Take off heat and allow to cool.

While the chocolate mixture cools, make the cheesecake filling. Combine the cream cheese, 1/3 c. sugar, egg, and extract in a mixing bowl (it’s important to have the cream cheese and egg at room temperature, or the mixture will curdle. You can warm cream cheese in a microwave, sans the wrapper, of course, and you can warm an uncracked egg in a bowl of warm water). Whip at high speed until combined, and no lumps remain.

When chocolate mixture has cooled, stir in the 2 c. sugar and vanilla, followed by the eggs, one at a time. Add the flour and nuts, if using, and scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Then, dollop the cream cheese mixture over the brownies, at various intervals and sprinkle the chopped cherries (or dollop on the jam) around the pan. With a butter knife, swirl the mixture by making ribbon-candy waves one direction in the pan, then turn the pan, and make the waves the other direction. Swirl until your satisfied with the design:) Cook the brownies in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with just a couple of crumbs. Place the pan on a rack to cool, and then remove the brownies with the aluminum-foil handles. Refrigerate the extras (they’re even better the second day–more fudgy!) Let me know if you like these!

Cranberry-Pear Cake Bars

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cranberry-pear-barI got this recipe a couple years ago from Everyday Food, but like usual, I’m having a hard time locating it on Martha’s incredibly-impossible recipe search engine. So, I’ll retype it. I love this recipe. The bars are actually quite tart, which is pleasant after all the sickeningly sweet things I usually make at Christmastime, and it has a nice texture. I’m bringing these to the Ward Christmas Party on Saturday, so all are invited for a sample!

Cranberry-Pear Cake Bars

1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, melted
2 c. flour
1 t. soda
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. salt
1 3/4 c. packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 t. vanilla
1 T. finely grated orange zest (Microplanes are the best zesters!)
2 firm pears, peeled, halved, cored and thinly sliced
8 oz. fresh or frozen cranberries
1/2 c. walnut pieces
whipped cream, for serving (optional, of course)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease, spray, or line a 9 x 13″ pan with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, combine flour, soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, and zest until smooth. Add flour mixture; mix just until moistened (do not overmix). Fold in pears, cranberries, and walnuts.
3. Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 40-45 minutes. Cool completely in pan set on a rack. If using parchment, pull the overhang out to easily cut.

Picture to come on Saturday . . .

Gingerbread Cake

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I made this recipe two years ago for our annual Halloween party: it comes out of Martha’s special Halloween Living issue (probably the 2007 edition), and I was mostly attracted to it because she decorated it so well. But, it turns out to be a great gingerbread.  In fact, per Rex’s mom’s request, I’m posting it. The uniqueness of the recipe comes from using the unsulphured molasses–it gives the recipe it’s distinctiveness. Click here to see Martha’s fun Halloween stencils for it, too.


Gingerbread Cake Serves 12

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for the pans
1 cup boiling water
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2/3 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1 cup unsulfured molasses
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9-by-13-inch cake pan; set aside. In a bowl, combine boiling water and baking soda; set aside. In a large bowl, sift together flour, ground spices, salt, and baking powder; set aside.

In an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter until light. Beat in brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in molasses and grated ginger, baking-soda mixture, and flour mixture. Beat in eggs.

Pour batter into prepared pan; bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack. Cut into squares; dust with confectioners’ sugar.

Gooey Rice Krispie Treats

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In honor of the 4th of July, I’m posting my favorite 4th of July treat. Probably most people think it’s hard to mess up Rice Krispie treats, but not with the recipe that’s on most packages. My brother Jeff discovered a secret, though, to great rice krispie treats, which is to double the butter and the marshmallows from the amount that’s on almost every Rice Krispies box and marshmallow bags. Most of these recipes only use 1/4 c. butter and a bag of marshmellows to a box of Rice Krispies. Try this ratio instead.

Gooey Rice Krispie Treats

1/2 c. butter
6 c. mini marshmallows (it’s important that they’re mini)
5 c. Rice Krispies
1 t. vanilla
1 c. chocolate chips, or m&m’s, or colored sprinkles, etc. (optional)

Butter a 9×13″ pan (and line with wax paper, if you want). In a large pot, melt the butter over medium-low heat (cut it into pieces to speed up the process). Add the marshmallows, and stir constantly until most the marshmallows have lost shape, but not all of them (if you wait too long and all the marshmallows have melted, you will have a firmer rice krispie treat). Take the pan off the heat, add the vanilla (the mixture will bubble), and stir in the rice krispies, as well as any optional ingredient. Mix thoroughly and then immediately spoon into the prepared pan. Wait ten minutes, and then push the top of the rice krispies down to pat them in more uniformly, either with your fingers or the bottom of a measuring cup. Wait an hour or so in order to cut them, but they will be sticky!

Note: if you add chocolate chips, they will melt and you will have chocolate rice krispie treats. If this is not what you want, consider sprinkling chocolate chips on the top of the rice krispies after they have cooled a little or using m&m’s instead.

Chewy Oatmeal Bars

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This is another Everyday Food Recipe that I really like. It’s simple, surprisingly flavorful, and quick to prepare. I’ve added milk and butterscotch chips before, but next time I think I’ll try white. Although I like chocolate, the bars were just as delicious without the chips. Pecans might be a good addition as well, but my kids don’t like them . . .

Martha’s Oatmeal Bars