White Chocolate Chess Squares

I always make really girly desserts, but when this time of year rolls around (V-day), I make more than usual. My reasoning behind this, there are lots of single girls who want a boyfriend and are depressed so they eat lots of sugar in hopes that their sad feelings will go away. Anyways, I know girls like dessert more than ever around this day, so I make extra girly things. One thing among the many are white chocolate butter bars, AKA: White Chocolate Chess Cake Squares, Gooey Butter Cake, etc. I'm sure you've tried this wonderful dessert, or at least have heard of it. I first saw it a few years back when I was watching a Paula Deen episode. I made them as soon as the credits came on. They have been a go-to dessert since. The only difference in these and regular chess squares is that I added white chocolate chips. You can leave them out, but I love me some white chocolate. Here's what you need

 

Butter, cream cheese, vanilla, eggs, yellow cake mix, white chocolate chips, and powdered sugar. In a large bowl, stir together cake mix and softened butter

 

Add an egg and vanilla

 

Mix together until dough forms

 

Scoop into a greased 9x13 pan. Press down to cover the bottom of the pan evenly

Sprinkle 1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips over the bottom layer

 

In a separate bowl, beat together cream cheese and powdered sugar until creamy

 Add vanilla, melted butter, and eggs; beat until completely mixed (I would show you this step, but the eggs just make it not very pretty). Anyways, pour the batter over the white chocolate chips

 

Bake. Cool. Cut. Serve

 Store left-overs in the fridge

White Chocolate Chess Cake Squares

1 box yellow cake mix

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 tsp. vanilla

1 egg

1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips

In a large bowl, beat together the cake mix and butter until well combined. Add egg and vanilla; mix well. Press dough into a greased 9x13 baking pan. Sprinkle white chocolate chips over the dough; set aside. 

filling:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

4 cups powdered sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 stick butter, melted

Using a mixer, beat together cream cheese and powdered sugar until creamy. Beat in eggs, vanilla, and melted butter; mix well. Pour evenly over the white chocolate chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-50 minutes. The center should be a little gooey. Cool, cut, and serve. Store left-overs in the fridge up to 3 days.

Fruity Cream Cheese Coffee Cake- New Favorite!

I was looking on pinterest for something to make a few nights ago, as usual. My guinea pig (aka: my mom), requested something fruity and cream cheese. I didn't have the time or patients for a cheesecake, so I just kept looking at 'pins' until one recipe caught my eye. It's a raspberry cream cheese crumble coffee cake. I am so glad I stumbled across this recipe. I changed it a little to make it my own, and it's one of my new favorites. It's pretty sweet so it works as breakfast or dessert. My mom took some to her bible study and it was gone when she came home, which always makes me feel good! So I really recommend making it soon. ps- it has a lot of ingredients and steps, but I promise it is super easy! Here's what you'll need

 Butter, sugar, eggs, brown sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla, cinnamon, sour cream, oil, milk, cream cheese, and of course you're favorite flavor jam. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder.. no sifting necessary!

In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, sour cream, melted butter, oil, milk, and vanilla until well combined. Pour into the dry mixture

Using a spatula or wooden spoon, fold the wet mixture into the dry mixture until just combined

 Scoop into a well greased 9x13 baking sheet

Once all of the batter is in the pan, spread out evenly. It doesn't have to be perfect, this is a pretty easy going recipe

Set that aside and start on the next layer. Combine softened cream cheese, egg yolk, sugar, and vanilla in a bowl

whisk together until there are no lumps. Spread over the coffee cake batter

Now scoop a jar of jam on top.. yes a whole jar. I didn't and I regretted it. I was debating between raspberry or blackberry, but we didn't have raspberry, so blackberry it was

Lastly, create you're crumble topping. In a bowl, throw together brown sugar, flour,  salt, and cinnamon

Mix it up, add in sliced butter

Use two knives or a pastry cutter to cut the butter in.. OR to make it fun, use your hand

Once you're mixture represents chunks, sprinkle over the jam

Once again, this seems like a lot.. but you gotta trust me, it was the best part because the cake alone is not very sweet and this topping helps it out a whole lot. Pop that in the oven

When it is finished baking, pull it out and cool completely! Store in the fridge up to 3 days because of the cream cheese. My favorite way to serve it was room temp with some extra fruity love all over it

Great for a ladies brunch, or just an everyday sweet/breakfast. Here's the recipe.. enjoy :)

Blackberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Cake:
¼ cup oil
½ stick unsalted butter, melted
2 TB sour cream
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup + 2 TB granulated white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 egg
½ cup + 2 TB milk or half & half
2 tsp vanilla extract

Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt; set aside. In a separate, microwavable bowl, melt the butter. Add in all the remaining ingredients and whisk together until there are no lumps. Pour the wet mixture over the dry mixture. Fold these mixtures together by hand until just combined. Scoop batter into a greased 9x13 pan. Spread out evenly; set aside.

Cream cheese mixture:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 egg yolk
3 TB sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Whisk all ingredients together until smooth and well combined. Spread evenly over the uncooked cake batter; set aside.

Fruit layer:

1 jar of your favorite flavor jam (raspberry, blackberry, strawberry, blueberry, etc.)

Pour jam/jelly over the cream cheese mixture and carefully spread out, being careful not to mix the jam into the cream cheese mixture; set aside.

Crumb topping:

1 cup flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
¾ tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon
1 stick unsalted butter, sliced in TB

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Stir until combined. Add the cubed butter and cut it in with a pastry cutter or 2 knives.. or your hands. Whatever floats your boat. Once your mixture resembles course crumbles, sprinkle it over the jam layer, completely covering the cake. Pop in the oven at 350 degrees. Bake about 30-40 minutes, testing with a butter knife to check if it is done. It will be pretty buttery on top from the crumb topping, but that just makes it even better. Cool before serving. If desired or for decoration, serve with an extra scoop of jam on top and a glass of milk. Store left-over's in the fridge up to three days.

PB&J Blondies

I don't know if yall have figured it out yet, but my sister and I are kinda obsessed with peanut butter and jelly combo. So why not put it in all of your favorite desserts?! This is just a basic blondie recipe with peanut butter and jelly swirled into it. Little kids love these and they are super easy. Of course, I got the recipe from pinterest and tweeked it a little. Ps, if you don't have pinterest.. sign up for one asap. I mean it. So here's what you'll need for these babies:

 Butter, brown sugar, an egg, vanilla, flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, reese's peanut butter chips, peanut butter, and your favorite flavor jelly (I used strawberry). In a large microwave safe bowl, melt butter. Add packed brown sugar

Stir together; add vanilla and egg

Beat those ingredients in until well combined. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and pb chips

Scoop your finished batter in a greased foil lined baking dish

Spread out evenly. Scoop tablespoonful amounts of peanut butter over the blondies

   

Fill the open spots with a generous amount of jelly

 

Using a butter knife, swirl pb and jelly into the blondie batter

Bake in a preheated oven

Let cool on a wire rack. You can see the melty pb and gooey jelly.. and these are definitely gooey. Slice and serve!

PB&J Blondies

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup pb chips

creamy peanut butter

your favorite flavor jam

In a large microwave safe bowl, melt butter. Add brown sugar  and mix well. Stir in the egg and vanilla. Then add in the flour, baking soda, powder, salt, and pb chips. Once well combined, scoop into a foil lined and greased 9x13 pan. Scoop desired amounts of pb and jelly over unbaked brownies. Swirl in with a butter knife. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-25 minutes. Cool completely. Slice, serve, enjoy.

Whatever You Got cookies

Sorry it has been forever since our last post! We have been baking more than ever, but we had some technical difficulties.. First, I broke the camera.. so I couldn't take pictures. Then, we couldn't access the blog because we have conflicting accounts or something. Too complicated for me, but I somehow found determination to figure it out! So here we are, better late than never, right? Onto, food.. the other night my mom was having the usual sweet tooth, and as usual it was my duty to fulfill it. So I go look around the pantry trying to figure out something new and creative. She wanted white chocolate, there were some oreo's I felt the need to get rid of, and what goes better with oreo's than peanut butter? So, I grabbed the jar of peanut butter as well. Then I was feeling really unhealthy, so I added oatmeal.. problem solved. What do you get when you throw all of that together? A white chocolate oatmeal peanut butter oreo cookie. That's right. Weird I know, but I am telling you.. these flavors were amazing together. Here's what you'll need to make this crazy thing

 

Butter, peanut butter, eggs, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, salt, flour, baking soda, oats, white chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and oreo's! Place butter and peanut butter in a large microwave safe bowl

 

gotta love that stuff... Now microwave 30 seconds at a time until melted. Stir until well combined. Add both sugars

 

Stir those in well. Next, add your eggs and how ever much vanilla your heart deisres

 

Whisk together well, add your remaining ingredients

 

Fold all that together until well combined. My spatula wasn't doing the trick, so I went with the old fashioned way...

 

This way you get to lick your fingers when you're done. Perfect. Lick and wash your hands. Scoop dough into balls, making sure you get a little of each ingredient into each cookie

Bake about 8 or 9 minutes, no more.. nobody likes a frisbee for a cookie

 

Cool on baking sheet about a minute or two. Scoop off onto foil or cooling wrack. You can wait until cool, or if you don't have patients, dig in

 

Remaining dough can be stored in the fridge, in an airtight container up to 3 days. Hope you enjoy these! Also, if you are not crazy about oreo's or white chocolate, you can omit them and add whatever else you can find in your pantry. Peanut butter is a great team with about anything. 

 White Chocolate Peanut Butter Oreo Oatmeal Cookies

1 1/4 cups AP flour
1 cup of old fashioned oats
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick of unsalted butter
1/3 cup of your favorite peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter chips
10 oreo cookies, chopped (may use more or less)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Add butter and peanut butter to a large microwave safe bowl, and heat in 30 second intervals until melted; stir together well. Let cool. Add both sugars, mixing well. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and stir until mixed. Add remaining ingredients and fold in until a dough forms – it will look crumbly at first, but it will come together. I even used my hands to bring it all together. If necessary, add 2 teaspoons of milk, but I did not need this. Scoop the dough into balls and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake for 8-9 minutes or until the middle is no longer gooey. Do not over bake. Let cool on baking sheet about a minute, transfer to foil or cooling wrack. Serve warm or cool completely. Enjoy!

Copy Cat Great Harvest Bread

This past summer, we got a Great Harvest Bread Company. They make all the breads there and they are all amazing. My very favorite was the garlic cheddar bread. It had melty cheese inside of the bread, I was just amazed. WEll, thanks to Pinterest.. I found a copycat recipe of that bread. That being said, I made it right away and so should you :) Here's what you'll need

Milk, yeast, salt, flour, sugar, butter, cheddar cheese, and garlic. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, salt, and yeast

In a saucepan, whisk together sugar, butter, and milk until fully melted and combined

Remove from heat and let cool about 5 minutes. Pour into the flour and yeast mixture

Stir that together on low speed until just combined. Knead in remaning flour. Add shredded cheese and minced garlic

Knead those ingredients into the bread. Roll into a ball, then cover in oil

Cover with a thin, warm and slighty damp towel; set aside and let rise about an hour, or until doubled in size. Punch down and let all the air bubbles out

Place the bread in a greased loaf pan. Top with more garlic and cheese. Place in a preheated oven and bake

Let the loaf cool in the pan about 5 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely

I hope you like cheese, because this recipe is not shy on the cheese. Slice 

And, if thats not enough garlic for you, add some garlic butter

Enjoy! Whatever is left-over, store in tight wrapped foil. Before eating again, I put it back in the oven, still in the foil and heated it up.

Copy Cat Garlic Cheddar Bread

• 3 1/2 – 4 1/2 c. flour
• 1 T. yeast
• 1 c. milk
• 2 T. butter or margarine
• 2 T. sugar
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1 1/2 c. shredded Sharp cheddar cheese, divided
• 4 cloves garlic, minced

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 c. flour and yeast.

2. Add the milk, butter or margarine, sugar and salt to a small saucepan. Heat until warm and the butter is completely melted. Add to mixing bowl and stir by hand or beat with an electric mixer until combined. Slowly add remaining flour until the dough comes together and is no longer sticky. Add 1 1/4 c. cheese (reserve remaining cheese) and garlic until combined.

3. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover and allow to rise for at least 1 hour.

4. Punch dough down and remove from bowl. Form dough into an oval-shaped loaf and place on a baking sheet. Or place in a well greased loaf pan. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top and a little more garlic.

5. Bake at 375 degrees for 25-35 minutes, until golden and hollow sounding when tapped.

The garlic in the bread is purely a matter of taste. Feel free to add more, less or omit all together. You could also cut it into slivers instead of mincing it if you prefer chunks of garlic. Slice up and slab on some garlic butter if you would like. Enjoy!