Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Brownies

So the kids have been sick, with a stomach virus, for the past two weeks. Again. Just when one gets over it, the next one gets it...such is life. So I haven't baked. At all. Because I've been cleaning. Alot. (wish I had stock in lysol)!

But I've missed you guys.  And I've missed blogging, and baking...and not cleaning vomit.  So I pulled this from my backlog of things baked but not yet posted...I found it at Cooking with Libby and decided to make it for the Easter spread. It. Was. A. HIT!! There was very little left, I literally got about 2 bites of it! Everyone raved about it, so it is definitely a keeper!  (I also love that it is so easy and has ingredients that I already have on hand)!

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Brownies

You need:
1 (30 oz.) pkg. of chocolate chip cookie dough (I used Pillsbury)
2 (8 oz.) packages of Cream Cheese at room temperature
1 egg
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cover the bottom of an ungreased 13x9 inch pyrex with half of the dough, forming a crust.

...I love to use this Pampered Chef tool for this, but if you don't have something like it, you can use a small rolling pin, spatula, or your hands to spread the dough evenly...

3. Bake for 10 minutes and it comes out looking like this:

4. While baking, beat the cream cheese, egg, sugar and vanilla in a bowl until well blended.

5. Take the crust out and spread the cream cheese mixture on top...being sure to cover the entire top. It will be ooey and gooey and may blend with the crust and this is ok :)

6. Take the other half of the cookie dough and crumble it on top of the cream cheese coating, being sure to cover it all.

7. Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Enjoy!

Linked to:

Cheesecake Cookie Cups

I've always loved bite-sized cheesecakes (like the ones my grandma used to get us at Sam's Club) but they cost a small fortune! I've had them in cupcake form at parties and celebrations, and always wanted to make them; so when I came across this recipe I knew I had to try it - they had me at cookie dough!

A few notes:

1. I doubled the recipe, with a family of 7, 12 just didn't sound like enough ;)
2. I didn't use the brand specified in the recipe, I used Pilsbury refridgerated cookie dough roll, (that's what I had on hand) and a cookie scoop and pressed down the dough w/thumb.

3.Next time I think I'll use a smaller size scoop, b/c I ended up with more cookie than filling per cup.
4. I did not measure the filling, because the cookies baked up so high, I just used a scooper and filled to the top of the muffin cup.
5. I didn't have pie filling on hand, so I pureed a defrosted 16oz. bag of frozen strawberries
with 1/4 cup of sugar and used as topping.

Cheesecake Cookie Cups (as copied from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients
12 pieces NESTLE® TOLL HOUSE® Refrigerated Chocolate Chip Cookie Bar Dough
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1/2 cup NESTLE® CARNATION® Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (21 ounce) can cherry pie filling

Directions
1.PREHEAT oven to 325 degrees F. Paper-line 12 muffin cups.
2.PLACE one piece of cookie dough in each muffin cup.

3.BAKE for 10 to 12 minutes or until cookie has spread to edge of cup.
4.BEAT cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, egg and vanilla extract in medium bowl until smooth. Pour about 3 tablespoons cream cheese mixture over each cookie in cup.

5.BAKE for additional 15 to 18 minutes or until set. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Top with pie filling. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

* These were really yummy, hubby and kids could not get enough of them, and I ate more than I should have for the sake of science (er...blogging)...

Enjoy!

PS - I linked this post to a fun bloggy party called "Sweets for a Saturday (#3)" - stop by her blog and check out some of the amazing goodies other bloggers have baked this week!

Semi-homemade

I am torn. The baker inside me yells "bad bad bad!" as I cut open the pack of refridgerated cookie dough, but the mommy fights back - "but it's fast, and easy, and cheap and all the work has already been done for me!" and so goes my morning. I have decided that semi-homemade is ok. The kids appreciate having dessert and I appreciate the cost and time saving aspects.

So, while I still believe that homemade is best, you can bet I took advantage of all the great sales, coupons and deals (at my Kroger store) this holiday season - I think I ended up with 8 cookie mixes, 8 pie doughs, and 8 rolls of cookie dough, and all of it was soooo cheap it was almost free! *To find out about great coupons, sales, and deals at your favorite stores, check out my favorite coupon webiste/discussion forum weusecoupons.com.*

And if you're still with me, I just tried a great semi-homemade cheescake brownie recipe (I am ashamed to admit I have NEVER made homemade brownies, I guess that will be a future recipe endeavor...)

PHILADELPHIA Marble Brownies

For brownies:
1 pkg. (19 to 21 oz.) brownie mix (13x9-inch pan size)

Ingredients on brownie package (eggs, oil, whatever)

For Cheesecake topping:
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla

HEAT oven to 350ºF.

PREPARE brownie batter as directed on package; spread into greased 13x9-inch pan (pretend not to see the cracks caused by the leafs of my table)

BEAT cream cheese with mixer until creamy. Add sugar, egg and vanilla; mix well. Drop by tablespoonfuls over brownie batter



swirl with knife.



BAKE 35 to 40 min. or until cream cheese mixture is lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting to serve. Keep refrigerated.

Note to self: next time I make this I will swirl *less* because I think it will taste better if the cheesecake layer stands out some - I want wider ribbons of cheesecake :)