Brown Sugar Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcakes

This recipe is adapted from one found here by The Hungry Mouse. :)

Ingredients:

1 package of Oreos

4 Tablespoons of melted butter

24 oz. cream cheese  (3 8-oz. bricks), at room temperature

1 3/4 cups dark brown sugar

4 eggs (at room temp)

1 15-oz. can 100% pure pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)

1 Tablespoon of Vanilla

2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup flour

For the Crust:

Crush your oreos in the food processor and then pour in the melted butter. Spoon about a tablespoon or so of the crust into cupcake liners and then press down with a glass. 

For the Filling:

Beat the cream cheese in your mixer until smooth. Add the brown sugar and mix again. Break your eggs into another bowl and then break them up with a fork. Add to the mixer. Beat well. Add the pumpkin, vanilla, pie spice, flour and mix until well combined. Pour filling into crusts. Bake at 325 for 35 minutes then turn off heat and crack the oven door for an additional 30 minutes. Then remove from oven and cool in kitchen for another 30. Then refridgerate 6 hours or overnight. You can top with whipped cream or eat as is.

Makes 36 cupcakes

Brown Butter Salted Caramel Mocha Cookies

These are adapted from Kevin and Amanda's recipe found here.

Ingredients: 

2 sticks (1 cup) of unsalted butter

1 1/4 cup of dark brown sugar

1/4 cup of white sugar

2 eggs

1 TB of Vanilla 

2 1/4 cups of flour

1 packet of Starbucks Via Mocha

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 cup of caramel bits

3/4 cup of Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips

Course sea salt for sprinkling

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter starts to foam, begin whisking constantly. When the butter turns brown, fragrant, and you see little brown bits at the bottom of the pan, immediately remove from heat and and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Set aside to cool (I threw mine in the fridge to cool).

Whisk together the flour, coffee, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside.

Beat the butter and sugars until well combined, about 3-5 minutes. Add the egg, yolk, and vanilla until well combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low-speed just until combined. Add the caramels and chocolate chunks and stir until just combined.

Spoon golf ball sized dough on cookie sheet lined with silpat. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with sea salt. Let cool and enjoy!

Lemon Cheesecake Cupcakes

These babies are tart!

 

Ingredients:

2 8oz blocks of cream cheese

1 cup of white sugar

1 teaspoons of vanilla bean paste

1 packet of lemon jello

the zest and juice of 2 lemons

8 oz tub of Cool Whip

A sleeve of crushed graham crackers (9)

6 Tablespoons of melted butter

Directions: 

Mix crushed graham crackers and butter together. Spoon into cupcake liners and smash with a glass to make even.

In a mixer, cream together cream cheese, sugar, jello, zest, juice and vanilla.

Gently fold in cool whip.

Spoon batter into cupcake liners.

Pop in freezer for at least 4 hours and serve cold. Enjoy!!!

White Chocolate Caramel Macadamia Nut Cheesecake Cupcakes

Ingredients:

3 8oz blocks of cream cheese

1.5 cups of white sugar

4 teaspoons of vanilla bean paste

8 oz of melted white chocolate (I half melted mine so there would be bits of chocolate to crunch into)

8 oz tup of Cool Whip

A sleeve of crushed graham crackers

6 Tablespoons of melted butter

Caramel

Macadamia Nuts

Directions: 

Mix crushed graham crackers and butter together. Spoon into cupcake liners and smash with a glass to make even.

In a mixer, cream together cream cheese, sugar and vanilla.

Add melted white chocolate while mixer on.

Gently fold in cool whip.

Spoon batter into cupcake liners, sprinkle with chopped macadamia nuts and caramel.

Pop in freezer for at least 4 hours and serve cold. Enjoy!!!

Frozen Nutter Butter Treats

These are delicious and addictive. Like biting into a light fluffy cloud of peanut butter goodness. They are adapted from this recipe.

Ingredients:

12 Nutter Butter Cookies

2 Tablespoons of Butter

1 8oz package of softened cream cheese

1/2 cup of peanut butter

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons of Vanilla

1 8 oz tub of Cool Whip 

1/4 cup of melted dark chocolate chips

Directions:

Crush the nutter butters with a rolling pin in a ziploc bag and then mix with butter. Press onto bottom of cupcake tins lined with cupcake liners.

Mix cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and peanut butter until blended. Whisk in the Cool Whip and take 1/2 cup into small bowl. Blend in melted chocolate. Spread half the remaining cream cheese mixture over crust, top with layer of chocolate mixture and remaining cream cheese mixture.

Top with mini chocolate chips. Freeze 4 hours or until firm. Eat 3 in one sitting and then feel guilty but happy. 

Frozen Smores

This Recipe is adapted from easybaked.net and was found on Pinterest!

A delightful summertime treat of Frozen Smores!

INGREDIENTS:

9 sheets of Graham Crackers

1/3 cup butter

1/2 cup Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips

1/4 cup whipping cream

 mini marshmallows

1 1/2 cup cold milk

1 3.9 oz box of instant chocolate fudge pudding

8 oz of heavy whipping cream (you can use an 8 oz tub of Cool Whip instead)

1-2 teaspoons of Vanilla 

2 teaspoons of powdered sugar

1/4 cup mini chocolate chips (as topping)

DIRECTIONS

Place graham crackers into a ziploc bag and crush into fine crumbs with a rolling pin. 

Melt butter and add to graham crackers, mixing until well combined to make crust.

Place 18 cupcake liners in your cupcake tins and evenly divide crust mixture into all 18 cups. I used a small glass to press my crust into the tin. 

Place dark chocolate chips and whipping cream into a small bowl and microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until melted and smooth. Mine only took 30 seconds to become melted and smooth. Spoon chocolate into the center of each cup, on top of the crust.

Divide Marshmallows among cups. I used about 7 per treat.

Whip your 8 oz of heavy whipping cream with a stand mixer with whipping attachment until it starts to grow. Then add vanilla and powdered sugar and continue to whip until it is the consistency of whipped cream. (if using Cool Whip, skip this step.)

Mix cold milk with pudding on medium speed for 2 minutes. Fold in half of the whipped cream (the rest will be used as topping).

Spoon filling into the cups until it is level with the liner. 

Pipe a little bit of the left over whipped cream on each dessert using a decorating tip.  Then sprinkle the top with the mini chocolate chips.

Freeze for at least a couple of hours.

Serve cold right away– or put them in a sealed container and freeze until you are ready to serve.

Enjoy!