Scotcheroos

It’s that time of year again, the air is a little crisper, the days a little shorter. People are more open to sugary treats now that summer is over and don’t have to worry about fitting into that skimpy swimsuit. That’s right guys it’s the first day of fall! Yay! I LOVE all the holiday treats! Not only is it a great time for treats, but I can’t wait to start wearing all the cute cooler weather clothes again. (Oh no! I need to start Christmas shopping! Crap)

Chocolate, peanut butter, and butterscotch, OH MY! It’s a hybrid of a rice krispies treat without the marshmallow. I think I like these better than the plain old rice krispies treat. This recipe reminds me of those yummy treats my grandmother usually made around the holidays, like puppy chow, chinese chews, and divinity. Mmmm, can't wait to try my hand at those. These will give you the same feel good sensation too. Of course this is the original recipe, but there are many ways you can modernize it and dress it up. Use different cereals, add coconut or nuts, whatever you like. 

Happy Fall everyone!

Scotcheroos 

Ingredients

1 cup light corn syrup

1 cup sugar

1 cup peanut butter

6 cup crispy rice cereal

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup butterscotch chips

cooking spray 

Directions 

Measure corn syrup and sugar into a large saucepan, cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until sugar dissolves and the mixture begins to boil. 

Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter. Mix well. 

Add crispy rice cereal. Stir until well coated. Press into 9x13x2" pan coated with cooking spray. Set aside.

Melt chocolate and butterscotch chips together in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. 

Spread evenly over cereal mixture. Let stand until firm. Cut into 1×2" bars to serve. 

This is an heirloom recipe I found while browsing the CNN site. I had never heard of these before, but they sure sounded good. 

Pumpkin Truffle Pops

Even though here in Texas it’s barely getting out of the triple digits, I know fall is right around the corner. I can’t wait for that crisp fall air and cozy sweaters! One thing I love about this time of year is all the fall flavors, pumpkin being a favorite. There is just something about the smell of pumpkin, cinnamon, and ginger wafting through the house while the leaves blow around on the ground outside.  I've already found myself longing for that time, yet it’s still like summer outside. So for the best of both worlds, I chose to try making a pumpkin no-bake dessert to experience the flavor, without my oven heating up the house. I think these beauties did the trick.

If you want to try these little yummy bites of autumn, you’re going to have to head over to Ashley’s blog, Diary of a Reporter, to check out my guest post. Ashley asked me to do a fall dessert for her, and I couldn't be more honored. Ashley’s not only a great writer, but she shares her creativity in other ways as well, her art, her photography and videos, and the outfits she puts together just to name a few. So go get the recipe, and stay a while and enjoy.


***It was brought to my attention that the link to the guest post for this recipe no longer exists. Now I can't just leave you guys hanging, these are too delicious! So just in case you are looking I'm posting the recipe.***

Let me tell you guys about these pumpkin truffle pops. This is a no-bake dessert that you can whip up anytime you need a little sinful chocolate fix. You really can play around with this recipe and try out different cookies, coatings, or sprinkles. The flavor combos are endless. I want to try a peanut butter and chocolate version soon using nutter butters.

Pumpkin Truffle Pops 

Ingredients: 

1 pkg. (8oz) cream cheese (softened) 

1 pkg. (16.6oz) Golden Oreo Cookies 

2 pkg. (6oz) white baking chocolate 

2 – 4 tbsp pumpkin puree (to taste or desired consistency, I used 4) 

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice 

Lollipop sticks 

Directions: 

Ok after you round up all the ingredients, now comes the fun part. You have to turn all those Oreos into finely crushed cookie crumbs. There are two ways to go about this, either throw them into a food processor and blitz them (easy), or throw them into a plastic storage bag and pulverize the bajeezus out of them with any large object you can find. (I personally used my large rolling pin) Now take your time and let out all that pent up hostility, it’s been a long week.

Pour the cookie crumbs into a large bowl and save about 1/4 cup or so and set aside.

Mix the cookie crumbs, cream cheese, pumpkin puree, and pumpkin pie spice until well blended. (Try not to eat it right off the spoon) 

Using a tablespoon or small scoop, shape into 1-2in balls (make them as big or small as you’d like) Then place them on a parchment paper or foil lined cookie sheet. Pop them in the fridge or freezer to chill out for a while. (I used the freezer and let them set for about 30 minutes. If you skip this step you risk the chance of the truffles sliding down the lollipop sticks) 

When you are ready to assemble, start by melting the white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl at 30 seconds intervals stirring in between. 

Take a truffle out of the fridge or freezer and gently stab the lollipop stick in the truffle a little more than half of the way through. 

Then dip away! I top them with a little of those cookie crumbs we sat aside and a good sprinkling of the pumpkin pie spice. Now put them in a short glass, coffee mug, or piece of Styrofoam, and pop them back in the fridge to set. In about an hour, viola! you have some nice fall pumpkin pops.


Adapted from the original recipe here.

Strawberry Cheesecake

I received a request at work to make a strawberry cheesecake. I found this beautiful cheesecake on a fellow blog, and it looked gorgeous. This little recipe did end up giving me some trouble though. First of all I had to convert it from grams, which was a first for me so I was a little worried about the outcome. Then when it came to the technique of swirling the colors, well let’s just say my technique was a little lacking. It was swirled inside, but not on top so it ended up looking totally different than the one I was trying to recreate. Now to be honest this wasn’t my favorite cheesecake, but strawberry cheesecake is not my favorite and I’m a chocoholic and think that chocolate should always be involved with cheesecake. The coworkers did seem to enjoy it though.

Crust
Ingredients:
10 graham crackers
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1/4 C superfine sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F and wrap the outside of a 9in spring form pan three times with foil, making sure to alternate direction. Wrap it tightly as without tight foil barrier, water can seep through the pan.

Combine graham crackers, melted butter, sugar, and cinnamon in a food processor and pulse until it all mixed together well and moistened.

Press mixture into spring form pan. Make sure you pack it together solid so the cheesecake mixture doesn’t leak through to the bottom.

Cheesecake
Ingredients:
3 (8oz) packages cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 C superfine sugar
3 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
16oz bag frozen strawberries, thawed and drained (of course you can use fresh here if you’d like)
3 drops red food coloring

Directions:
Place 2 1/2 blocks of cream cheese in a food processor along with the lemon juice, vanilla and sugar and process till the mixture is completely smooth. Scrape down the sides, add the eggs and egg yolks then process again till smooth and well combined.

Remove about 2/3 of the cheesecake mixture and set aside, then add the berries, remaining 1/2 block of cream cheese and food dye to the 1/3 cheesecake mixture remaining in the processor and blitz till the berries are smoothly incorporated. The food dye is optional, but will help make the layers more striking once baked.

Pour the white and strawberry cheesecake mixtures into the pan, alternating flavors and trying to keep each addition fairly even. Once all the mixture has been added, drag a skewer from the edges to the middle to make a pattern. At this stage, you can also add a little natural strawberry preserve or roasted strawberries to be found as little surprises in each slice.

Bake the cheesecake for 45 minutes – 1 hour, or till the top of the cheesecake feels set to the touch. (I baked mine for 45 minutes and checked it and it felt set, but it was a little too soft when I served it the next day, it should have baked a little while longer) Once the cake is baked, chill overnight in the fridge to allow it to set completely, then slice and serve.

Recipe by the Kitchen Wench (Re-printed and converted with a few changes)