Mini Black-Bottom Cheesecakes

Hey y'all. HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! Now that Thanksgiving meals are coming to an end, everyone has one thing on their minds...SHOPPING! In honor of Black Friday, I would like to share this yummy recipe.

Mini Black-Bottom Cheesecakes

Ingredients

Vegetable oil spray

24 plain chocolate wafer cookies, preferably Nabisco

3 tablespoon(s) unsalted butter, melted

8 ounce(s) cream cheese, at room temperature

1/4 cup(s) sugar

2/3 cup(s) fromage blanc (6 ounces), at room temperature

2 large eggs

2 teaspoon(s) pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup(s) seedless raspberry preserves, warmed

 

 

 

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with foil baking cups and spray the cups with vegetable oil spray. In a food processor, crush the chocolate wafer cookies. Add the butter and process until fine crumbs form. Spoon the chocolate cookie crumbs into the prepared baking cups and press with the bottom of a glass to compact. Bake for 5 minutes, or until almost set. Leave the oven on.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar at medium speed until smooth. Beat in the fromage blanc, then add the eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth.
3. Pour the cheesecake batter into the baking cups, filling them three-quarters full.
4. Bake the cheesecakes for 15 minutes, or until slightly jiggly in the center. Remove from the oven and spread 1 teaspoon of the warmed raspberry preserves on top of each cheesecake. Transfer the muffin tin to the freezer and chill the cheesecakes until set, about 15 minutes.
5. Remove the cheesecakes from the pan and peel off the foil baking cups. Transfer the cheesecakes to a platter and serve. The mini black-bottom cheesecakes can be refrigerated for up to 4 days.

The Angel Food Cake Disaster. What Went Wrong?

   It was 4:00 this morning and I just couldn't get back to sleep. After spending some time with coffee and Facebook, I decided I wanted to bake something special for breakfast.  I was going to bake an Angel Food Cake and make a Fresh Friut topping! I have always known I wasn't very good at baking. When it come to cooking, I feel I can produce some pretty good food. Baking is a different story. It's a science that I just can't ever seem to figure out! Everytime I bake, I say "this will be the exception, I will follow the recipe EXACTLY and it will come out perfect". Once again, it did not happen! I don't know what happened.
     
          I followed the recipe perfectly, I used a brand new bundt pan and I even stood in front of the over for the entire 37 minutes of baking time the recipe called for. Well, it looked amazing and I truly thought "I DID IT!". When I turned the pan upside down and over a small glass like the recipe said too, it completely crumbled out of the pan and a good portion of it shrivled up, like wet cotton candy! Here is the end result in the picture. I am so bummed out. Looks like its a scrambled eggs, bacon and fruit kind of a morning. What went wrong with the cake?!

Make-Ahead Thanksgiving Appetizer

Saucy Apricot 'n' Spiced Meatballs
Ingredients

1/2 cup soft bread crumbs

2 tablespoons fat-free milk

1 egg white

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1/4 cup finely snipped dried apricots

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon ancho chili powder or chili powder

6 ounces lean ground pork

6 ounces uncooked ground turkey breast

Spiced Apricot Sauce

 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 15x10x1-inch baking pan with foil; lightly grease foil. Set aside. In a medium bowl, combine bread crumbs and milk. Let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in egg white, onion, dried apricots, salt, garlic, and chili powder. Add ground pork and ground turkey; mix well.

2. Shape meat mixture into 24 meatballs. Place meatballs in the prepared baking pan. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until meatballs are done (160 degrees F). Drain meatballs on paper towels, if necessary.

3. Place meatballs in a 1-1/2-quart slow cooker. Add Spiced Apricot Sauce; toss gently to coat. Turn cooker to warm setting or low-heat setting; keep meatballs warm for up to 2 hours. Makes 12 servings.

• Make Ahead Tip: Prepare meatballs as directed through Step 2; cool. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Prepare sauce as directed. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. To serve, place meatballs in a 1-1/2-quart slow cooker. Add sauce; toss gently to coat. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 2-1/2 to 3 hours or until heated through. Turn to warm setting or leave on low-heat setting; keep warm for up to 2 hours.

Spiced Apricot Sauce

Yield: 1/2 cup

Ingredients

1/2 cup apricot nectar

1  teaspoon cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon ancho chili powder or chili powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions

In a small saucepan, combine apricot nectar, cornstarch, ancho chili pepper or chili powder, salt, and nutmeg. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more. Makes about 1/2 cup.

Healthy Cream Cheese Brownies

I have to share this recipe! THESE ARE AMAZING!

Healthy Cream Cheese Brownies

Prep Time:15 min
Start to Finish:1 hr 55 min
makes:24 brownies

Filling
1 package (8 oz) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese (Neufchâtel), softened
1/3 cup sugar
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla

Brownies
1 box (1 lb 2.3 oz) Betty Crocker® fudge brownie mix
1/4 cup canola oil or unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup water
4 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips


Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray. In medium bowl, beat cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Beat in remaining filling ingredients until well blended.

In large bowl, stir brownie mix, oil, water, 4 egg whites and 1 teaspoon vanilla with spoon until well blended. Spread in pan.

Spoon filling mixture over brownie batter in pan. Cut through filling mixture and batter with knife several times for marbled design. Sprinkle with chocolate chips.

Bake 28 to 32 minutes or until toothpick inserted in brownie 2 inches from side of pan comes out clean or almost clean. Cool completely, about 1 hour. For 24 brownies, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Store covered in refrigerator.

Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Soup

          Whenever I go to Olive Garden for dinner, I always get their Zuppa Toscana soup. It's delicious! They are currently in the process of building an Olive Garden in the town I live in, but for years we would have to drive an hour to find one. Since the drive has always been so long, I decided I really needed the recipe so I can make it at home. I found a recipe that was very similar and tried it out. It was AMAZING!  Tasted just like the Olive Garden soup. It was so good, my husband asked me if I could make it again before finishing his first bowl! I wanted to share that recipe with y'all.

Zuppa Toscana Soup Recipe

Recipe

• 1 lb. spicy Italian sausage – crumbled
• 1 cup of bacon bits
• 1 qt. water
• (2) 14.5 oz. cans (about 3 2/3 cups) chicken broth
• 2 lg. russet potatoes – scrubbed clean, cubed
• 2 garlic cloves – peeled, crushed
• 1 med. onion – peeled, chopped
• 2 cups chopped kale OR Swiss chard
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• salt and pepper – to taste

Directions

1. Brown sausage in a pan over medium to medium-high heat, breaking up into small pieces as it cooks.
2. Drain sausage and set to the side.
3. Place broth, water, garlic, potatoes, and onion in a pot.
4. Simmer over medium heat until potatoes are tender.
5. Add sausage and bacon to the soup.
6. Simmer for 10 minutes.
7. Add kale and cream to pot.
8. Season with salt and pepper.
9. Heat thoroughly.

6 Common Mistakes You're Making with Roast Chicken

To many cooks, roasting a whole chicken is scary. A chicken is a blank canvas, so there are many factors that impact flavor and moisture. Plus, precise cooking time is important, not to mention the many different types of bird. There's a lot of potential for failure. How do you season it? Where do you insert the thermometer? How do you get the skin (everyone's favorite part) perfectly crisp? To ease your worries, we asked the food editors in our test kitchen to correct some of the most common mistakes home cooks make. Find their advice below. 1. Putting a Soggy Bird in the Oven "Pat the skin as dry as possible with paper towels so the skin gets crispy."

2. Skimping on the Salt "Season the cavity and skin with salt and whatever else you like. Usually, 1 tsp. of kosher flake salt per lb. of meat is the perfect amount."
--Mary-Frances Heck, Associate Food Editor 3. Leaving Out the Flavor Boosters "At a minimum, stuff the cavity with a halved lemon to perfume the chicken and keep it moist. (You can add herbs and garlic, also.) For maximum deliciousness, rub a flavored butter under and over the skin of the breasts and thighs.  4. Keeping the Oven at the Same Temperature "To start, crank the oven up to 475 or 500 and roast the chicken hot for 20 minutes, reduce the heat to 400 and continue roasting until cooked through."
--Hunter Lewis, Food Editor
5. Using a Taste-less Bird "Start with a good-quality chicken! It'll be hard to coax flavor out of a taste-less bird. I like to use organic grain-fed chickens." 6. Not Using a Thermometer "Avoid overcooking the chicken by knowing exactly what temperature it's at. As soon as the thermometer registers 165° when it's inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, take the chicken out and let it rest for 10-15 minutes before carving."
--Janet McCracken, Deputy Food Editor

Welcome to Recipe Swappers

Welcome to Recipe Swappers. I am very excited to start blogging. As a stay at home mom and wife, I enjoy cooking for my family. I browse the internet daily looking for new recipes and I am always excited to share them with friends and family. I enjoy swapping recipes of my own as well. I decided I needed to blogging so I can post all of the cool recipes I have and the ones I find as well. Please enjoy my finds and share yours as well! Happy Swapping! You can find us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Recipe-Swappers/233478216701771