Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bites

         
                 Well, it's official; I'm getting older. Bedtime is 11:00 P.M., three beers equals a hangover, and I have officially discovered a different, less exciting, definition to "Do-It-Yourelf" fun (AKA crafting..ugh). Since I am a broke grad student, I have resorted to making my own presents for friend's birthdays, holiday celebrations, and guilt-forced family gatherings. These bite sized treats were the lovechild of my frugal lifestyle and boredom. Nothing says "You're a great friend and I'm poor" like showing up to a birthday party with a $4 bottle of Moscato and dessert! However, a few birthday toasts later, and these cheesecake bites were the most important part of the night. Really, what else are you to eat after a night of drinking when you've spent all your money on overpriced Vegas Bombs? Whether you make these for a small gathering, child's birthday party, or just to have around the house, I guarantee you'll keep opening your fridge to stuff one in your mouth. (Shhhh, I won't judge!)

"Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bites"

Ingredients 

• 18 Oreo cookies
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 16 oz. cream cheese (softened)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup sour cream (or yogurt if you're a health-nut)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract 
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (mini or regular, I used regular)
• caramel sauce for topping 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.  Line cupcake tins with liners (I used mini cupcake tins). In food processor of blender, chop Oreos until they are finely crumbed. Pour crumbs into a bowl and mix with melted butter. 
3. Press 1 tblsp. of cookie mixture into bottoms of cupcake tins. Bake for 5 minutes and let cool once removed from oven. 
4. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese on medium speed until smooth. Add sugar and sour cream, beat until fluffy and mixed well. Add the eggs one at a time and beat on low speed. Mix in vanilla and chocolate chips. 
5. Spoon 1 tblsp. of mixture into cupcake tins. Tins should be nearly full! Bake for 20-23 minutes. The centers will be a little jiggly, so press lightly in the middle to make an indentation for caramel sauce. Let chill for 2 hours in refrigerator.
6. To top cheesecakes with caramel: melt hard caramels and heavy cream, make your own caramel sauce (ha, ok), or use a premade caramel sauce found at the grocery store (winner!). Sprinkle cheesecakes with leftover chocolate chips if desired. 

        Since making a full cheesecake is damn near impossible for me, these little bite sized buggers will have to do for now! Plus, what person doesn't love eating with their hands? We're all kiddos at heart. This life-saving recipe comes from Sally's Baking Addiction, which is actually one of my favorite food blogs to stalk. And P.S., her dog is adorable. Well, since I'm out of clever, insightful, or funny things to say, I'm going to bed. (Look at that! 9:42 P.M., *sigh*). At least I still have my bladder control.

                                   Number of Pinterest recipes completed: 22
                                   I declare this recipe a: small victory for cheap friends everywhere

Cream Puffs with Homemade Whipped Cream

                     If hell were a snow globe, it would look like this year's winter.My legs have hired their own personal hairstylists, and new brides can now order their dresses to match the color of my pasty skin. Oh Summer, Summer, wherefore art thou Summer? At this point I'm convinced that a taxidermy groundhog could predict the weather better than Puxatony Phil. Seriously, where is the heat?
                     Although it may seem like we will never be able to bust out our new Victoria Secret swimsuits (Ha, sure! I got mine at Wal-Mart), believe it or not, there is a way to bring the summer vibes straight to you. Cream puffs, guys, cream puffs! Nothing says Summer Fun quite like this tasty dessert. Although, being passed out on the beach with a cooler full of Bud Light Lime also seems to ring a bell. Unlike the latter, however, eating cream puffs doesn't require me to leave my house. Really though, you probably have majority of these ingredients in your kitchen! So don't you even worry about pausing your Netflix binge, baby! Let's get cookin.

"Cream Puffs" 

Ingredients: 

•  1 cup water
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 4 eggs
• 2 tblsp. milk
• 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract 
• chocolate chips for melting (optional)
• strawberries (optional)
• additional powdered sugar (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In saucepan bring water, butter, and salt to a boil
2. Add flour all at once and stir until a smooth ball forms. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes
3. Add eggs one at a time, beat in between additions. Continue beating until mixture is smooth and shiny. 
4. Drop 1/4 cup fills (3 in. apart) onto greased baking sheets. Cook for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cut slit in puffs for steam to escape. 
5. While puffs cool, in a large bowl, beat whipping cream until it begins to thicken. Add sugar and vanilla and beat until almost stiff. Cut puffs horizontally and scoop out soft insides. (It will appear as almost uncooked dough). 
6. Put cream into puffs. Dust with extra powdered sugar. Garnish with strawberries, whipped cream, or melted chocolate. Better yet, get a dessert orgy goin' and do all three!
7. Store in refrigerator.

                  Cream puffs without the carnies? Sign me up! These puffs are perfect for any occasion, especially if you want to make as large of a mess as possible. Sorry, bibs are unfortunately not included. Thank you to Taste of Home for posting the original recipe. Although I may not be as famous as that website, I guarantee I can make as delicious of a puff. Now you all can, too!

                
                        Number of Pinterest recipes completed: 21
                        I declare this recipe a: reason for Grease 3? Summerlovinhappenedsofast!

                      

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Pie

                 Personally, I feel the best thing a significant other can tell you is: "I was wrong". When we were young, the thought of our boyfriends saying "I love you" was enough to make us  jump out of our jean mini-skirts and into his sheets (that his mom probably washed). As we grow older, however, we find ourselves craving a different three-word phrase. Now, I don't mean to come off as insensitive, but I'll just go ahead and blame my 12 years of competitive volleyball-playing for my unfortunate drive to compete.
                 Of course there are two sides to every story....and unfortunately to every phrase. Just as a partner may admit defeat, you will also have to surrender your impeccable knowledge once in a while. This, my dear readers, is the worst thing to say in a relationship, "You were right". *Nails on a chalk board*.
                  So where am  I going with this? Ahhh yes, this recipe! Since my boyfriend probably will never visit any other site besides Reddit.com, I can openly admit on this blog that he is a genius and  was in fact "right". Although he is a brilliant and talented mechanical engineer, after tasting this concoction he created after too many PBR's, I have to admit that he could have easily became a chef.  It is quick to make, relatively inexpensive, and has chocolate pudding as the main ingredient. You can't beat that.

"Chocolate Covered Strawberry Pie" 

Ingredients: 

• Graham cracker pie shell (premade- or homemade if you're that baker)
• 1 tub Cool Whip
• 1 box instant chocolate pudding (plus fixins' that are required on box)
• 1 cup chocolate chips plus extra for decoration
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 carton of strawberries

Directions: 

1. Melt chocolate chips and heavy cream in microwave or over stovetop. Stir frequently until chocolate is a consistency where you would like. Feel free to add or subtract heavy cream and chocolate chips to get desired amount and thickness. 
2. Cut slices of strawberries. Be sure to have enough to cover the bottom of the pie pan. Lay slices on bottom of graham cracker pie shell. Be sure fruit is washed or consider E. coli to be another ingredient.
3. Pour melted chocolate over the strawberries. Put in refrigerator for  5-10 minutes, or until hardened. 
4. While chocolate is hardening, make pudding by following the instructions on the back of the box. Once pudding is made, add half the tub of Cool Whip to the pudding and stir until smooth. 
5. Take pie shell out of the refrigerator and pile on the pudding mixture! Add enough as you would like. 
6. Pipe extra Cool Whip onto pie for decoration. 
7. Garnish with chocolate chips and strawberry (optional)
8. Store in freezer but let thaw for 5 minutes before serving

                   I apologize for the archaic guessing-style of measurement that I used in this recipe, but it was just a system of adding and mixing what my boyfriend felt like. How Julia Child! (Except she looks better in a dress and pearls.) If you have any questions about this recipe or any of my other disasters, feel free to message me or leave a comment. As any young female living in today's society, my only sources of nutrition are coffee and social media----meaning, I'll be happy to respond to any interaction I receive on this site! I promise to not wait another 3 months before posting a new recipe. The winter was cruel and grad school was crueler. Until next time, readers! Enjoy getting your hands dirty; now that's something I would LOVE to talk about. xoxoGOSSIPGIRL

Oatmeal Fudge Cookie Cups

          

               With my boyfriend out of town and very little schoolwork to complete, I knew that I was able to put my books, razor, and shaving cream away this weekend and bake.What a change of pace! From the schoolwork side of things that is; I rarely shave my legs. So I grabbed a glass (bowl) of wine and decided to browse my good ol' Pinterest page, which since my last blog post has been "hacked". Who hacks a Pinterest profile? Unless they are dying to see what type of wedding I will eventually never have, or learn the secret to keeping rust, stains, and pesky husbands out of the kitchen- I really see no point. Anyways, amongst the newly pinned "Weight-Loss Miracles" by my oddly motivating hacker, I found this wonderful cookie cup recipe. It was perfect timing because just the other day I rediscovered my tiny muffin tins along with my hatred for cleaning out old cabinets. However, after eating a few of these chocolate filled treats, I wouldn't even mind sorting through the worst hoarder's house. Besides the lie I told last weekend as to why I couldn't join my parents at church, these cookies are the best thing I've made in a long time. If you like oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, fudge, and being a hermit in your kitchen, these cookies are for you! But don't just take my word for it, get your cats off your lap and eyes off the computer and go bake these right now.

"Oatmeal Fudge Cookie Cups" 

Ingredients:
      Cookie layer:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 cups quick cooking oats (you can use normal and just crush them a bit)
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (mini or normal)
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract

      Fudge layer:

• 14 oz. can sweetened condense milk
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 3 Tbs. butter
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray mini muffin tins with oil or cooking spray. 
2. In large bowl, beat butter and brown sugar till fluffy. 
3. Mix in eggs and vanilla extract. 
4. In separate bowl, combine flour, oats, salt, and baking soda. Stir this into butter mixture until fully mixed. Stir in chocolate chips and set aside. 
5. For fudge, in medium sauce pan heat sweetened condense milk, butter, chocolate chips, and salt over low heat stirring occasionally.
6. Remove pan from heat and stir in the 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
7. Scoop a small amount of cookie dough into muffin tin (about 1/2 filled) and place a dollop of fudge into pan.
8. Dot each remaining cup with a little extra cookie dough as to create a marbled appearance. 
9. Bake for 10-13 minutes. Let cool completely. If you have a hard time removing from pan, use a knife to loosen edges. 
10. Makes about 48 cookies

    

             Honestly, you cannot go wrong with this recipe. Even though it made enough cookies to feed an all male college dorm, these babies were gone in two days. With the holidays fast approaching, I know many of you will be looking for something delicious to impress your future mother-in-law. Well, this is it! Although I cannot guarantee that you will be able to pry yourself away from them in order to actually package these treats up for others. As always, a huge thanks to Baking with Melissa for showing me the light. Enjoy the holiday spirit and spirits this festive season! Lord knows I will.

                        Number of Pinterest recipes completed: 20
                        I declare this recipe: something that will last as long as the "Harlem Shake" obsession

Pumpkin Pound Cake with Maple-Walnut Glaze

      
                  They say if you repeat the phrase "Pumpkin Spiced Latte" three times, a white girl wearing yoga pants and Ugg boots will appear and tell you her favorite things about Fall. Well, consider myself summoned, and consider this pumpkin cake to be at the top of my list. Moist cake, crunchy walnuts, and a subtle maple flavor taste "lying-on-a-pile-of-clothing-fresh-from-the-dryer" good. Since it's almost Thanksgiving, you're probably looking for something easy and delicious to take to the family gathering. Leave the store-bought pumpkin pie at home, and don't even think about making any of those stupid turkey-shaped desserts using Keebler cookies and Reese's cups. I promise this cake will even keep the mouths of the drunk and senile preoccupied so that no one can argue over what street Uncle Rob lived on in the 70's. So before Christmas prematurely ejaculates all over the place, take some time to revel in the crispness of Fall and the beauty of the changing leaves. That is unless you live somewhere that still has 80 degree weather. In that case, you can just go fucf83dsdk yourself. Sorry, I can't type while wearing mittens...

"Pumpkin Pound Cake with Maple-Nut Glaze"

Ingredients:  

Cake:

• 3 cups flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp. allspice or cloves
• 2 sticks butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 5 large eggs
• 15 oz. canned pumpkin
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Maple-Nut Glaze:

• 4 Tbls. unsalted butter
• 3 Tbls. maple syrup 
• 3 Tbls. heavy cream
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 3 Tbls. pecans or walnuts (chopped or not)

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 325 and grease/flour a Bundt pan
2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Set aside. 
3. With electric mixer, cream butter and sugars until fluffy
4. Beat in eggs one at a time, then pumpkin and vanilla
5. Add dry mixture to wet mixture, slowly until all combined
6. Spoon into cake pan and bake for 55-60 minutes
7. Cool in pan on rack for 15 minutes. Once cooled invert pan and allow cake to fully cool on racks
8. For maple glaze: In small sauce pan, heat maple syrup, butter, and cream until at a boil. Continue boiling for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in powdered sugar. Let cool 15 minutes, or until slightly stiff, and stir in nuts. Spoon on cooled cake. 

               Don't be surprised if you are tempted to bottle the smell in your kitchen and pass it out on the streets. Someone get Yankee Candle on the phone because this is the biggest hit since Sweet Pea. But don't just take my word, bake it for yourself! This recipe comes from About.com, which is surprising since I usually use that website to figure out how to change a light bulb or spy on a significant other. Hurry up and put this baby in the oven (At what age do I have to stop using this phrase?) and go curl up and watch TLC with your cats. Honestly though, did you have bigger plans for this Saturday night? Well...the McRib is back. Also, if I don't write to you all before Thanksgiving approaches, have a wonderful holiday and may neither your turkey nor you be dry!

             

                               Number of Pinterest recipes completed: 19
                               I declare this recipe a: breakfast alternative. I mean it has maple syrup in it.

Halloween-Swirl Sugar Cookies

            It's that time of year again. Pumpkins, haunted houses, scary movies, monsters, teen girls shopping for underwear (Sorry, I mean Halloween costumes), candy, etc. Ask any man and they'd tell you this season is like a second Christmas. However, being a female with "A cups" and less of an ass than Miley Cyrus, it's safe to say that I prefer even Flag Day over Halloween. It's true; I was never one to get hyped about Halloween, except for that one time in fifth grade when I couldn't decide if I should be a ballerina, witch, or Nelly. However, the one thing I do enjoy about this holiday is that no one can say a damn thing about how much sugar you're ingesting. Diabetics, rejoice! I had a whole list of different Halloween-themed desserts to recreate, but just like everything else in my life, I gave up on it. One recipe did seem to make the cut- these Halloween-Swirl Cookies. They look absolutely professional but in reality are fairly easy. Seriously, if you want to impress people with food, look no further!  Need a new boyfriend? Forget the slutty dress and just show up with a box of these on the first date. Need a new job? Forget the slutty dress (or resume?) and bring in these little guys to the interview...Actually, don't do that. Jobs are hard to come by.

"Swirl Sugar Cookies"

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 c. butter, softened
• 2 1/2 c. sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 5 c. flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• gel food coloring of choice
• parchment paper
• sprinkles of choice

Directions: 

 For sugar cookies: In large bowl, cream butter and sugar together till creamy. Beat in vanilla and eggs until smooth. Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover and chill dough for at least an hour or overnight.   

For decoration:

1. Take dough and divide into 3 or 4 large balls (depending on how many colors you will be using).
2. Make a well into each large ball and add a pool of specific gel food coloring (I used purple, orange, and green). Fold balls until each dough is the desired color. 
3. Next, break down larger dough balls into small, grape sized balls and lay on parchment paper.
4.  Take one of each colored grape sized ball and roll together to make a larger ball. The final product will resemble a beach ball.
5. "Log roll" cookies on parchment paper so that they are long and skinny. Play with log of dough by twisting and rolling so that you get all color to show.
6. Coil the cookies by taking one end and wrapping it in towards the other. If one end is fatter, start with that end. Once coiled, pinch the free end to the ridge of the cookie so it is a closed system. 
7. Lightly spray cooking oil on baking sheets
8. Before baking, take coiled cookies and roll edges in sprinkles or sugar. Heck, get crazy and do both.
9. If dough ever gets too warm, stick in the freezer for 1-2 minutes.
10. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. 
11. Bake cookies for 6-9 minutes. It may be difficult to tell if cookies are done because of the dye, so it may be helpful to let them bake for another minute. 
12. Let cookies cool for a few minutes
13. Store in an airtight container and allow people to drool and stare in awe. 
14. Makes about 5 dozen cookies

             Although these cookies are simple, they take longer to finish than a frat boy after Tequila Night. Although they're time consuming, I promise these will be the talk of the Halloween party! Amidst the horrible Duck Dynasty and scantily made animal costumes, these cookies will stand out like that guy who showed up in the "I don't do Halloween" shirt. As for me, I will be spending Halloween studying for my exams, watching Hocus Pocus for the sixth time (this week..), and scoping out the hot dads who are accompanying their kids Trick-O-Treating. Thanks again to Make, Bake, Celebrate for coming up with this original recipe. Woman like you make the rest of us embarrassed to be alive. You're an inspiration.

                  Number of Pinterest recipes completed: 18
                  I declare this recipe a: wonderful alternative to the healthy crap people are trying to force-feed their children this Halloween

Raspberry Cream Cheese Crunch Muffins

                  My friend has been asking me for many months to make  muffins. (Wow, I'm definitely better at writing tongue-twisters than baking). With every request I would lazily shrug and say "Sure", but I knew that I would probably just make cupcakes instead. They say that the rusty wheel gets the oil, but I preach that the annoying bitch gets ignored. However, since I love my friend, muffins somehow appeared in my oven. My personal vendetta against this morning pastry is longstanding. Every time I make them, something goes wrong. When I'm in the kitchen, it's like I'm Shaggy from Scooby Doo Constantly f****ing up what I'm "supposed to" be good at, and of course, looking like a scrub and eating snacks with my dog. If I'm honest, the only muffins I see on a regular basis are the ones hanging from my hips. Somehow I'm "okay" with this.
                 By now you guys are probably thinking that a small muffin-genocide occurred in my kitchen, but surprisingly, I pulled this little gig off! Unlike my creepy Uncle Tony, I actually wanted to introduce this dessert to my friends. The cinnamon streusel topping was just crunchy enough to complement the delicious, smooth consistency of the cream cheese. Oh and the raspberries...well, they tasted almost as good as getting called off from work feels. And if you've never experienced that miracle, well then I guess you'll have to make these muffins in order to compensate. But who am I kidding, no muffin could replace the glory of sleeping all day and eating ice cream out of the carton while judging the outfits of the people on Let's Make a Deal.

"Raspberry Cream Cheese Muffins"

Ingredients: 

• 1/4 c. flour
• 1/4 c. white sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 T. butter, softened
• 2 c. flour
• 1/2 c. white sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 c. canola oil
• 1 c. milk 
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 qt. cleaned raspberries (or strawberries, blueberries, Chuck Berry....)
• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 2 T. beaten egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Lightly grease muffin tin.
3. Muffin Topping: combine flour (1/4 c.), sugar (1/4 c.), cinnamon (1 tsp.), and butter (2 T.) and set aside in small bowl
4. Muffin Mix: in medium bowl mix flour (2 c.), sugar (1/2 c.), baking powder (2 tsp.), and salt (1/2 tsp.) and set aside. Make a hole in the middle of dry ingredients.
5. Next, whisk egg, oil, milk, and vanilla
6. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredient and mix until just combined
7. Cream Cheese Mixture: mix cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Should take around 2 minutes.
8. Add egg (2 T.) and vanilla (1tsp.) until combined
9. Put cream cheese mix into a pipette/frosting/Ziploc bag and snip corner
10. Pour muffin mix into pans about 1/2-3/4 full (depending on size of muffin desired)
11. Pipe cream cheese mixture into middle of muffin pan. 
12. Top muffins with streusel topping and berries of choice
13. Bake 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean

        

                         Now, I chose to make my muffins Hobbit sized, yet many things seem tiny when you're 6'0" tall and have man hands that even Jerry Seinfeld wouldn't touch. However, you can make these treats any portion you want. But let's face it, when our desserts are tiny, that means we can eat more without feeling guilty, right? These muffins are perfect for breakfast, a lunch-time snack, after-dinner-dessert, or basically any time you're feeling sorry for yourself. I'm lucky I don't have a family or children because with practically zero prep and bake time, this would be dinner almost every night. After all, sugar is the sixth food group. I think. I slept through my Nutrition course in undergrad.
                         Thank you so much, On Sutton Place, for this deliciously wonderful recipe. I've used (ruined) more of your recipes within the past year than I would like to admit. However, just like anything that's sinfully delicious (chocolate, hate-sex, Papa John's pizza, sleeping in the fetal position, etc.) you just can't help but keep coming back.

                      
                         Number of Pinterest recipes completed: 17
                         I declare this recipe a: reason to finally admit to not knowing "The Muffin Man"