White Chocolate Macchiato Cheesecake

We hosted a guys' get-together tonight to celebrate ML's birthday, which was yesterday. My original plan was to just make our traditional Washington Cheesecake and maybe pop some kettle corn. Then, I saw this recipe (linked on a SL thread, of course), and the rest was history. I was now out to make a White Chocolate Macchiato Cheesecake (white chocolate, because I didn't have caramel sauce, and I didn't have dark baking chocolate). We're not that fond no-bake cheesecakes, and I didn't have plain gelatin, anyway, so I just modified our standard cheesecake recipe to incorporate the coffee and the white chocolate and, of course, the Oreo, excuse me "chocolate sandwich cookie," crust. I was a little concerned, because the liquid I was replacing from the original recipe (the milk and the vanilla) was a good deal less than the amount of coffee I was substituting. No need to be concerned. The result was delicious. So, without further ado, I will share.

White Chocolate Macchiato Cheesecake

• 18 chocolate sandwich cookies (aka Oreos)
• 4 T butter (1 stick), melted

• 1/4 C white chocolate chips (or chopped baking white chocolate)
• 1/4 C instant coffee granules
• 1/2 C boiling water

• 3 8oz. pkgs cream cheese, softened
o or 41 Laughing Cow cheese triangles
o or 33 Kiri cheese squares
• 3/4 C sugar
• 2 T flour

• 3 eggs

• 1/4 C white chocolate chips (or chopped baking white chocolate), melted

1. Pulse cookies in food processor until finely ground.
2. Add butter; process to blend.
3. Press over bottom of 8in. spring-form pan.
4. Bake 10 mins at 325*.
5. Place in freezer until needed.

6. Meanwhile, stir boiling water into coffee granules and white chocolate chips in small bowl or glass measuring cup.
7. Let sit 1 minute & stir again.

8. Combine softened cream cheese, sugar and flour at medium speed until well blended.
9. Add eggs, one at a time, until blended.
10. Blend in coffee mixture.

11. Pour over crust.
12. Bake at 350* for 30-40 mins. or until cake is set except for a 1-2 in. circle in middle.
13. Loosen cake from edge of pan (with table knife) and allow to cool.

14. Drizzle with melted white chocolate.

Oh, and we skipped the kettle corn. I don't think anyone could have tolerated more sweetness. Besides, I was busy putting the kids down.

Cinnamon Raisin Muffins (GFCF, eggless)

***Edited to reflect some recent changes I've made.

Yes, it's been quite a while. I had a very low-energy first trimester, a trip to the States, a life-impacting diagnosis for my 3yo, a new house, and a baby. I've been a little busy.

When life hands you a PDD-NOS diagnosis, you go gluten-free, casein-free, so without further ado, my first GFCF recipe posting, which you may recognize as closely related to the dried fruit muffin recipe I posted previously. It's my first from-scratch adaptation, and it actually turned out! Hopefully, there will be more to come...

Cinnamon Raisin Muffins (GFCF, eggless)

- 3/4 C brown rice flour
- 3/4 C tapioca flour/starch/powder
- 1/2 C coconut flour (ground coconut)
- 3/4 C sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 C rice/coconut milk, apple juice or coconut milk yogurt
- 1/4 C oil
- 1 T (heaping) flax seed
o grind & add 3 T water
o whisk together
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- (3/4 C) 100 g raisins

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Spray muffin tin cups well with a non stick cooking spray.
3. In a large mixing bowl combine the flours, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
4. In a small mixing bowl whisk ground flax seed with water and then add and stir together the milk/juice, oil, and vanilla extract.
5. Pour the liquid mixture into the flour mixture and stir until mixed.
6. Stir in the raisins.
7. Scoop batter (making sure to include raisins from the bottom of the bowl) into the muffin cups filling each 3/4 full.
8. Bake 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Nut Butters

I hate to call this a "recipe," because it's incredibly simple, so we'll say these are "instructions."

I didn't want to not share it, though, because I sure wish I'd known a long time ago how simple it was to make. So far, I've made almond butter, cashew butter, peanut butter and sun-nut butter (sunflower seed butter). The sun-nut butter didn't turn out well, but I think that's either due to the fact that the sunflower seeds were old or that I tried to add honey. I've learned that honey messes with the texture. It make my peanut butter funky once, too. I'm planning to try sun-nut butter again when we get to the US, and I have access to less expensive bulk seeds (without shells; sorry, just not doing the shell route).

• 4 C nuts/seeds
• 1-4 T oil*

*I’ve used sunflower and olive successfully. I now use olive (fresh, local EVOO, not to brag, though). I’d like to try coconut, too.

1. Put nuts in food processor. (Can use blender with a strong motor.)
2. Process until the blade has pushed all of the “nut flour” to the edges/it sounds like it needs help (i.e. the motor is struggling).
3. Add oil 1/2 T at a time until processing well.
4. Continue processing until creamy (several minutes). This will not be as creamy as industrial peanut butter, but will get like the "natural" kind you can buy.
5. Store in fridge, and it will not separate, so it doesn’t have to be stirred.
6. Have house help clean food processor. (Oh, wait, I just gave away one of the secrets as to why I think it's so easy. :-P) Food processor supposedly also gets clean well in these “dishwasher” things I’ve heard rumors of.

Peanut Butter Granola

After my success with the baked Honey Granola recipe that I'd remembered, I decided I wanted to try Pioneer Woman's Peanut Butter Granola version. I had finally remembered to ask for peanuts to make peanut butter (mental note: post recipe/instructions), so I was set to go. We definitely enjoyed it and will be making it again soon.

The only bummer was that I only had 1 can of oats, so I had to make a 1/2 batch. In case you haven't picked up on this by now, I hate baking/cooking breakfast that yields only one breakfast-worth. Oh well, at least it tasted good. And I snuck the measly leftovers for myself. :-)

• 1 stick butter (1/2 C)
• 2/3 C natural peanut butter
• 2/3 C honey
• 1 t vanilla
• 1/2 t salt
• 6 C rolled oats (10 C quick-cooking)
• 1 C raisins (optional)

1. Melt the butter and peanut butter together in a medium saucepan/pot.
2. Add the honey, vanilla and salt.
3. Stir the mixture until smooth and hot throughout. (It doesn’t need to boil.)
4. Add the oats.
5. Stir until the oats are completely coated with peanut butter mixture.
6. Turn the mixture into an ungreased cookie sheet, or a large 9 by 13-inch pan.
7. Spread the granola out evenly and bake it at 375° for 10-12 minutes. It will be brown and crispy.
8. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan.
9. Break into pieces after cooled.
10. Add raisins, if using, when granola is cool.

For the 1/2 batch, I used my Pampered Chef deep dish baker. I could have packed it in more and used it and the mini deep dish baker for a whole batch.

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

I had ML get koosa* the other day, because I wanted to make a different kind of muffin. We've been rotating between making orange apricot muffins and cinnamon raisin ones from Michelle's recipe, and it was time for a change.

I remembered a Chocolate Zucchini recipe I'd gotten off of AllRecipes at some point, so I pulled that one up. Doubled it. Tweaked it a bit (would you believe the sugar below is halved? =-o). And it's a new staple. I love the fact that I can shred 1 kilo of koosa, use 1/2 of it, and freeze the other half for a batch later on (which I baked this morning).

This recipe makes enough batter for 24 large-sized muffins (i.e. with the cups full, rather than 2/3; you know, the way they tell you not to do when you're learning about portion control? what can I say? we like muffin tops...on muffins :-/) and 24 mini muffins. I feed my family breakfast and have enough to put up two bags for later breakfasts (or send to neighbors, as I did this morning), plus the mini muffins for hosting a social visit. This last option is wonderful. I love having something already baked to pull out of the freezer when I'm busy preparing the house. The other part (having family breakfasts made ahead) isn't too shabby, either.

*What? You don't know all of the vegetables in Arabic? Fine. I'll tell you. Koosa is squash. Or zucchini. Well, more like sqacchini. It's somewhere in between the two. I use it for squash in recipes that call for squash and zucchini in recipes that call for that. It's less moist than US squash, and more moist than American zucchini. Consider yourself educamacated for the day.

Makes 4 dozen

INGREDIENTS
• 6 eggs
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 cup vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 cups grated zucchini (1 lb. or 1/2 k)

• 6 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

DIRECTIONS
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• In an extra-large bowl beat the eggs.
• Beat in the sugar and oil.
• Add the cocoa, vanilla, zucchini and stir well.
• In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
• Mix into dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just moist.
• Pour batter into prepared muffin tins.
• Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 20 to 25 minutes (10-13 minutes for mini muffins).

Today, I made this with olive oil, because, well, we didn't have any vegetable oil, and I'm trying to limp along without it, so I don't leave any to go bad while we're in the US. They turned out fine. I could taste the olive oil in the batter (when I was "cleaning" the bowl) but not in the finished product.

Stay tuned for the Applesauce Muffins I'm making soon. That should get us through breakfasts until we leave for the States. :-)

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

This recipe was requested after I listed "My mom's cream cheese pound cake fresh from the oven" as one of my favorite smells. It is actually my grandmother's recipe and inspire the cute-little-boy quote, "Mrs. Mattingly, could you make this where it is all the outside?" (the "crust" is really yummy; of course, the inside is, too). I went on to intersect with that "little boy" at several different points in my life, and he actually did the interior decorating for both our home church and many James Avery locations.

I haven't made it in a really long time, so I don't have any tips. My mom makes it often to take to get-togethers and to give to families with a meal.

• 3 sticks butter
• 1 8 oz. pkg cream cheese (or 7 Laughing Cow triangles)
• 3 C sugar
• 6 lg. Eggs
• 1 t vanilla
• dash of salt
• 3 C flour

1. All ingredients must be at room temperature.
2. Cream butter and cream cheese.
3. Add sugar gradually.
4. Add eggs one at a time and beat.
5. Add vanilla and salt.
6. Add flour gradually.
7. Bake in greased and floured tube pan.
8. Bake at 300* (starting with a cold oven) for 2 hours.

Overnight Coffee Cake

A friend texted me yesterday at about 5:00 asking if I wanted to do a cake to have at the gathering at my house this morning for our friend who's birthday was today or whether I wanted her to do one. A) The texting friend generally makes the cakes in our ex-pat group, and, although I know she likes blessing people this way, I wanted to take that task from her this time. B) I wanted to bless the friend who's birthday it was (we'd had a celebration for her this past weekend, but you gotta have something on your birthday, right?). So, I said I'd make a coffee cake.

At about 10:00 last night when I was completely wiped out from my day and the kids still weren't asleep, I seriously questioned my decision. A little late to call or text and say, "Actually, I'd rather you make something." :-l Plus, I still wanted to be a blessing to everyone.

I'd already made the decision that I wanted to serve something make-ahead. Me and baked breakfast on a timetable don't mix. That's why it's so important to me to have baked goods in the freezer from mornings when I do have time to make them. Otherwise, we'd be eating cereal every morning (never mind that we did this morning, anyway).

So, I went to the Breakfast>>Make Ahead/Overnight file on my computer (geeky, I know, but it works for me), and opened two recipes: Overnight Coffee Cake and Baked Oatmeal. I'd served baked oatmeal at a gathering at my house not too long ago, plus, I didn't have any raisins (although I'd like to try it with chocolate chips, so I will be making it soon, anyway), so I decided on the Overnight Coffee Cake.

Problem: it calls for shortening, and A) I'm trying to cut hydrogenated fats out of our diet and B) the shortening I have is bad, anyway (don't know why I haven't just thrown it away). A quick google tells me I can substitute butter, so we're back on track.

The original recipe just has the ingredients listed in a random order and says "mix them together." I can't do that! That's not proper baking etiquette! So I "fixed" the recipe and made it as listed below (I'd done that when I'd made it previously, but I hadn't noted it in the recipe).

Fortunately, it went together more quickly, probably, than it's taken to write about it (or even read about it), and I covered it with foil and stuck it in the refrigerator. Took it out about 7:00 this morning and put it in the oven about 7:45. Other than my funky oven baking it lopsided due to a variance in temperature, it came out perfectly, everyone was blessed, and I even have enough left over to send downstairs to a neighbor who's dishes I need to return.

So...I guess it was worth it after all. :-P

• 1 C butter
• 1 C sugar
• 1/2 C brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 C buttermilk (or 1 C milk+1/2 t lemon juice or vinegar)

• 2 C flour
• 1/2 C oats
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 t cinnamon
• 1 t baking powder
• 1 t baking soda

• 1/2 C brown sugar
• 1 t cinnamon

1. Cream butter and sugars.
2. Add eggs and mix.
3. Add milk and mix
4. Stir together dry ingredients.
5. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture. Mix until combined.
6. Spread into greased 9 x 13 pan.
7. Stir together additional brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over top of batter.
8. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
9. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

This is, of course, from a SL thread way back when. Like, way back before I started copying the usernames to go with recipes so I could credit them. I did a search, and I can't find it, so it must have been from before they switched to the new system, and I never can remember how to search the archives, so my apologies to the original poster. If you happen to see this and want to claim it, please do. :-)