Sopapilla Cheesecake Pie

This was my Superbowl contribution to the potluck spread. It was delicious! So easy to make. Put this together quickly in the morning, let it cool all day, and took it to the party at 3ish. It was even better at a cooler room temperature after it sat for awhile. Big hit!

Sopapilla Cheesecake Pie via All Recipes:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sopapilla-cheesecake-pie/

Nutmeg Maple Butter Cookies

Made these instead of the traditional sugar cookie this week for my work Christmas party. They're more of a crisper shortbread as opposed to the regular sugar cookie. DELICIOUS! Big hit at the Christmas party. I would definitely made a double batch if you are entertaining a large crew. You can never go wrong with Smitten Kitchen. :-) Merry Christmas!

Nutmeg Maple Butter Cookies via Smitten Kitchen:

http://smittenkitchen.com/2011/12/nutmeg-maple-butter-cookies/

Momofuku's Crack Pie



This was made by special request for my Dad. I guess he read about it on the Good Food blog and was interested. To be honest, how could you not be with a name like this? I'm not sure if it quite lived up to the name, but it was good. Maybe I need to make a trip to New York so I can have a true comparison. Adding that to the list! Butter and brown sugar and cream, oh my.

Momofuku's Crack Pie via Good Food:

http://blogs.kcrw.com/goodfood/2011/07/momofukus-crack-pie/

Chewy Sugar Cookies

                          

Besides these being SO cute... these are delicious! I love a good, plain, chewy sugar cookie. These definitely fit the bill. I already have a great sugar cookie recipe on here, but I wanted to try a different recipe to test out the most amazing sugar ever that I got from the Peppermill in Vegas. Is this not the most beautiful rainbow turbinado sugar you have ever seen?! I immediately had to have it when I saw it sitting on the table. Luckily, the waitress let me purchase a 5 pound bag from their kitchen, score! This is simplicity at it's best, enjoy. :-)

Chewy Sugar Cookies via Food Network:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gale-gand/chewy-sugar-cookies-recipe/index.html

Golden Crunch Cupcakes

Let's just start off with with a note to myself that not ALL cake recipes should be turned into cupcakes. I thought I could pull this one off, but it turned into the mess of all messes under the broiler in my beautiful muffin pan. It is currently soaking, but may be permanently ruined. Do not make my same mistake! I'm sure this would have been devine as a cake. The topping probably would have been nice and thick too. Some day I will learn. Despite my pan disaster, the taste was all there. The cake portion of this recipe is also near perfect, delightfully light and fluffy. Let me know how it goes as a cake!

Golden Crunch Cupcakes via Not Without Salt:

http://notwithoutsalt.com/2009/06/25/golden-crunch-cake/

Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls

WINNER, WINNER Cinnabon DINNER! These are AMAZING. I might actually not go back to Cinnabon again because I have literally conquered the cinnamon roll kingdom! These take some patience in the preparation process but they are so worth it. I made these for Mother's Day as a thank you for one of the girls at work coming in early to relieve me. They definitely went over well! You HAVE to try these! MOM: I finally out-did you! ...and thanks Liela, glad your sweet tooth is back in action! Tip on the prep process: let the dough rise once as the plain bread dough, and then let it rise again after they are rolled and cut in the pan. Full expansion possibilities. If your house is cool, let the dough rise in the closed oven.

Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls via Food.com:

http://www.food.com/recipe/cinnabon-cinnamon-rolls-76864

Snickerdoodle Blondies

These were a quick, impulse project just because I was in the mood to bake and had everything on hand. If I'm working the next day, it's always a good day to bake. That way I know everything will get eaten! Snickerdoodles are a classic flavor and these were no different. Just a different shape to play with the flavor. I think I still prefer the cookie shape, but either way these were tasty! 

Snickerdoodle Blondies via Tracey's Culinary Adventures:

http://traceysculinaryadventures.blogspot.com/2011/03/snickerdoodle-blondies.html

Best Rolled Sugar Cookies

Cookies have always been a Christmas tradition since as long as I can remember. Now that I live by myself, I'm trying to rekindle some of these traditions that I once had in hopes of preserving some of these traditions for my future family. Sugar cookies are the BEST! They're like an open cookie canvas! Blank for whatever you'd like to do with them, whatever shape, whatever flavor, whatever decoration. I got some Christmas cookie cutters this year: trees, stars, snowflakes, snowmen, and mittens. After these cooled, I frosted with a basic cream cheese frosting and decorated with Christmas sprinkles. Delicious! I will promptly be distributing these at work to avoid consuming them. Merry Christmas!

Basic Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 oz. Cream Cheese

1/2 cup butter

3 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream softened butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Beat in powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time. Add vanilla extract. Beat until smooth.

Best Rolled Sugar Cookies via All Recipes:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/The-Best-Rolled-Sugar-Cookies/Detail.aspx