Peanut Butter Frosting

This may be the first peanut butter frosting recipe I've posted, but it won't be the last, I'm sure. I'm always on the lookout for new recipes for this treat. Sometimes I improvise and make a tiny amount of peanut butter frosting just to eat for fun. The stuff is so good! It's candy in a bowl.

What You'll Need:

6 oz cream cheese, room temperature

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup heavy cream

How to Make It:

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar on high speed until pale and fluffy. Add the salt and peanut butter, and beat to combine. Beat in the vanilla. In another bowl, beat or whisk the heavy cream until medium-stiff peaks form when you pull the beaters away from the cream (with the mixer turned off, of course.) Fold the cream into the peanut butter mixture. Use the frosting immediately, or refrigerate, covered tightly, for up to 2 days. Bring the frosting to room temperature before using, and stir it with a rubber spatula until smooth.

PB&J Cupcakes

This recipe is adapted from a recipe by Martha Stewart. It yields about 24 cupcakes.

What You'll Need:

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature

1 1/3 cups sugar

2/3 cup creamy peanut butter

3 eggs, room temperature

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature

3/4 cup coarsely chopped salted, roasted peanuts

Peanut Butter Frosting (recipe found here)

1/2 cup strawberry jelly or jam

How to Make It:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line standard-size muffin tins with paper liners*. Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar on high speed until pale and fluffy. Reduce the mixer speed to low. Mix in peanut butter. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture, a little at a time, beating after just combined. Do not overbeat the mixture- just beat it until everything is incorporated. Beat in the sour cream, then fold in the peanuts with a spatula. Divide the batter among the muffin cups (it will be pretty thick and fluffy, almost like cookie dough), filling them about 3/4 full. Bake, rotating the pans halfway through baking time, for about 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in one of the cupcakes comes out clean.

To finish, frost the cupcakes with the peanut butter frosting. Leave a little well in the middle of the frosting (an indentation about the size of your thumbprint. Drop about one teaspoon of jam into each well. Store these cupcakes in the refrigerator, but they are best brought to room temperature before serving.

*I recommend using white cupcake liners or foil liners for this recipe. Peanut butter has an oily/greasy quality about it, and when I used bright pink and purple liners, the peanut butter oil caused the liners to stain my dark, nonstick pans slightly. So go with foil or white liners on this one.

Applesauce-Spice Cupcakes with Brown Sugar-Cream Cheese Frosting

This is adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe.

What You'll Need:

For the cupcakes:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups unsweetened apple sauce

1/2 cup toasted pecans, chopped (optional)

For the frosting:

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 8 oz pkg cream cheese, at room temperature

1 cup packed light brown sugar

How to Make It:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, cream the butter and two sugars until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. On low speed, add the apple sauce and beat to combine. Add the flour mixture and beat to combine. Fold in the pecans, if you're using them. Pour the batter into 18 paper-lined muffin cups and bake for 20 minutes until done, rotating the tins after 10 minutes of baking. Move the pans to wire racks to cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting, in a medium bowl beat the cream cheese, butter, and brown sugar until completely incorporated and creamy. If you're not going to use the frosting immediately, refrigerate it until ready to use. Then bring it to room temperature and stir well before frosting.

Raspberry Cheesecake Pie

What You'll Need:

1 store-bought chocolate cookie crust

For the filling:

4 oz softened cream cheese

1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

3 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 cup raspberries

For the glaze:

1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup heavy cream

How to Make It:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, condensed milk, lemon juice, vanilla, and egg. Beat well to combine and set aside. Layer raspberries in the crust. Pour the cream cheese mixture over the berries. Bake for 30 minutes. In a small saucepan, place the chocolate chips and cream over low heat, stirring constantly until the chips are melted. Drizzle the glaze over the pie. Refrigerate 4 hours before serving.

No-Bake Chocolate Tart

This is so easy to make!

What You'll Need:

1 store-bought chocolate cookie crust

3/4 cup half and half

3 tbsp sugar

6 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped

2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup heavy cream

Chocolate curls or shavings, for topping

How to Make It:

In a microwave-safe medium bowl, stir the half and half and 2 tbsp sugar. Heat the mixture in the microwave until very hot, about 90 seconds. Add the chocolates and vanilla and stir until melted. Pour into the prepared crust. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour or up to 3 days. Beat the cream until soft peaks form when the beaters are pulled away. Add 1 tbsp sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Spread the topping over the tart and top with chocolate curls or shavings.

Frozen Lime Pie

This recipe contains uncooked eggs. We all know that growing up, we were warned not to eat these things. However, because of the miracles of modern science, they are actually safe to eat. Any and all cookbooks recommend, however, that you not ingest them if you are pregnant, elderly, a small child, or you have a compromised immune system, just in case. I have served this pie many times, though, and no one has died.

What You'll Need:

Store-bought graham cracker crust

For the filling:

6 XL egg yolks, room temperature

1/4 cup sugar

1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

2 tbsp grated lime zest

3/4 cup lime juice (from 4-5 limes)

For the topping:

1 cup cold heavy cream

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla

Thinly sliced lime wedges, optional

How to Make It:

Beat the egg yolks and sugar on high speed for 5 minutes, until thick. With the mixer on medium speed, add the condensed milk, zest, and juice. Pour into the pie shell and freeze until fairly solid, about an hour. To prepare the topping, beat the cream on high speed until soft peaks form when you pull the beaters away from the cream. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat until firm peaks form when the beaters are pulled away. Spoon onto the pie and decorate with lime wedges, if desired. Freeze for several hours or overnight.

Brown Butter Toffee Blondies

This is adapted from a recipe from Martha Stewart. These are incredible, and pretty impressive. Brown butter has a wonderful hazelnut-y taste and smell. Be careful not to burn the butter- it burns when it sticks to the pan, making little burnt butter bits.

What You'll Need:

2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, plus more for the pan

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour, plus more for the pan

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 cups brown sugar

3 large eggs

1/2 cup sugar

2 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup toffee baking bits

How to Make It:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9x13 baking pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment; butter and flour the parchment. In a saucepan over medium heat, cook the butter until golden brown. Remove from heat and let it cool. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, combine the browned butter and both sugars; stir until combined. Add the eggs. Beat the mixture on medium high speed until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Add the vanilla and beat to combine. Add the flour mixture, nuts, and toffee bits. Stir to combine thoroughly and pour into the prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan comes out clean, 35-40 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Turn the pan out onto a cutting board and cut the blondies to serve.

Cream Cheese Brownie Pie

What You'll Need:

1 refrigerated pie crust, softened as directed on box

1 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened

3 tbsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1 box brownie mix (plain old chocolate fudge)

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tbsp water (plus more if needed)

2 eggs

Chopped pecans, optional

How to Make It:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the pie crust in a 9-inch pie plate. In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and 1 egg until smooth; set aside. In a large bowl, combine the brownie mix, vegetable oil, water, and the other 2 eggs. Spread half the brownie mixture in the pie crust. Carefully spread the cream cheese mixture over the brownie layer. Top with the remaining brownie mixture and spread evenly. Sprinkle with pecans, if desired. Cover the edges of the pie with foil. Bake the pie 40-50 minutes, removing the foil during the last 15 minutes of baking. When the pie is done, the center will be puffed up a bit and look like fully baked brownies. Cool completely before serving. Store the leftovers (if you have any) in the refrigerator.

Strawberry-Cheesecake Trifle

I made this trifle for my father-in-law's welcome home open house Sunday. The bowl got cleared out, so I guess that's a good thing.

What You'll Need:

1 qt strawberries

1 10 oz pound cake, cubed (I used Sara Lee frozen pound cake- much easier to slice)

2 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar, divided

1 carton Cool Whip, thawed

1 chocolate bar, grated

How To Make It:

Wash the strawberries, remove the stems, and slice. Place the berries in a medium bowl, and pour 1/2 cup sugar over them. Stir well and set aside. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and remaining 1/2 cup sugar until creamy. Fold in the Cool Whip to combine. In a trifle bowl (3.5 quart should do it), layer half the pound cake cubes, half the strawberries, and half the cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle with half the grated chocolate. Repeat the layers, finishing off with more grated chocolate. Cover the trifle and refrigerate four hours to overnight before serving.

Blueberry Lemon Trifle

I finally got a trifle bowl last Christmas, so I'm excited to have the chance to use some of my trifle recipes!

What You'll Need:

3 cups blueberries, divided

2 21 oz cans lemon pie filling

3 6 oz containers lemon yogurt

1 container Cool Whip, thawed

1 10 oz angel food cake, cubed

How To Make It:

Set aside 1/4 cup blueberries for garnish. In a m

edium bowl, combine the pie filling and the yogurt. Mix well to combine completely. In the trifle bowl, layer a third of the cake cubes, a third of the lemon mixture, and a third of the blueberries. Repeat this process two more times. Top the trifle with the Cool Whip and sprinkle the remaining blueberries on top.

Cherry Cheesecake Squares

I like to pretend that these are low fat because the cheesecake layer is actually quite thin, compared to an actual cheesecake. This would also be a good recipe to involve kids, because someone needs to squish the crust out over the bottom of the pan.

What You'll Need:

1 8 oz brick cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup sugar

1 tbsp all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1 18 oz package refrigerated sugar cookie dough

2 21 oz cans cherry pie filling*

1/2 tsp almond extract, if desired (I do not desire, but you might)

How To Make It:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, combine cream cheese, flour, sugar, vanilla, and egg; beat until well blended. Cut the cookie dough in half crosswise, then cut each section in half lengthwise. With lightly floured fingers, press the dough evenly in the bottom o fan ungreased 13x9 inch pan to form a crust. Top the crust with the cream cheese mixture and spread evenly. Bake for 17-20 minutes or until edges begin to brown*. C

ool 40 minutes or until completely cooled. Meanwhile, combine the cherry pie filling and almond extract if you're using it. Spread the cherry mixture over the cheesecake layer. Cut into squares and serve.

*Cheesecake may crack around the edges as it's baking. Don't freak out if yours does. A lot of my cheesecake-y recipes are topped with some lovely additions so you usually can't see it, anyway.

*Also, pie filling makes a really yummy topping on French toast. I like cherry, with a dusting of powdered sugar and maybe a bit of homemade whipped cream.