Sunday, December 5, 2010

"Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins"

I made Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins again this weekend.  They are so yummy.  I had made them for a bake sale a couple weeks ago and they were a big hit.  They have a really nice blend of pumpkin spice and creaminess.  I love cheesecake, but sometimes that flavor can be overpowering. Such was not the case with these muffins!  There was a really nice marriage of flavors. 




The recipe on the box of Pillsbury pumpkin bread mix was really easy to follow.  I only made a few adjustments because I was baking them in a cupcake tray instead of a muffin tray, so I didn’t follow the recommended measurements for how much to pour into the pan.  Oh - There is a lot of clean up with this recipe though – because you need 3 bowls: One for the pumpkin muffin batter, one for the cheesecake filling, and one for the topping.  A tip: to put the cheesecake filling in, the recipe says to make an indentation in the pumpkin batter with a small spoon sprayed with non-stick spray and then put the cheesecake mixture in the indentation.  This is great in theory, but the “indentation” doesn’t really stay very long, so you have to fill with cheesecake quickly and make sure you shove that cheesecake down in the batter.  Overall, a great recipe and one I will be making again for sure.

Friday, December 3, 2010

"Spanish Butter Cookies"

I'm going to a cookie exchange tonight and I need to bring 4 dozen cookies, so I went through some family recipes for one that wouldn't take all day.  The recipe I decided on is one of my favorites and is super easy to make.  My youngest sister made them for a 3rd grade Spanish class assignment, so they've been named by our family "Spanish Butter Cookies" for years now.  (Although a family friend told us there is nothing Spanish about them; that they are called something else.  I forget the name she had for them... Glad the Spanish teacher didn't know that!).
Anyway, you separate the dough into 4 logs and make a depression down the length of each one for the jelly.  My favorite jelly to use is Polaner All Fruit with Fiber-Seedless Strawberry.  Once they're baked, you cut them on an angle and this recipe makes 4 dozen cookies perfectly (even after eating the ends of the logs myself. Ha!).  I have them on my Christmas Platter and am all ready for the Cookie Exchange tonight.  Hope everyone likes them as much as I do!!