New York Cheesecake

My cute husband always throws away the box before I can get the recipe from the Philadelphia cream cheese box. :)

Preheat: 325*
Category: Cake, Cheesecake, Dessert

Crust
1 Cup Graham cracker crumbs
3 Tablespoons Sugar
3 Tablespoons Butter, melted

1. Mix crumbs, sugar and butter. Press firmly onto bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. I love my marble rolling pin for breaking up the graham crackers. :)

2. Bake at 325* for 10 minutes. 300* if you're using a dark nonstick springform pan.

Filling
2 1/2 Lbs. Cream cheese, softened
1 Cup Sugar
3 Tablespoons Flour
1 Tablespoon Vanilla
1 Cup Sour cream
4 Eggs

Topping
Pie filling (canned or fresh)

1. Beat all ingredients. When you get to the eggs, the recipe says add them one at a time.

2. Pour over crust.

3. Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes or until center is almost set.

4. Run knife or metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim of pan.

5. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Tope with pie filling before serving. Um, I say ABSOLUTELY REFRIGERATE OVERNIGHT! There's no question that the cheesecake is better after it has mellowed... and 2nd day cheesecake is rumored to be even better, but at my house it's always eaten before the rumor is confirmed. :)

Better Homes & Gardens' Butter Frosting

I literally use this butter frosting recipe for EVERY. THING. THAT. REQUIRES. FROSTING. It's versatile, based on the amount of additional milk you add.

Preheat: 350*
Category: Dessert, Frosting

1/3 Cup Butter (5 1/3 Tablespoons), melted
4 1/2 Cups Powdered sugar
1/4 Cup Milk
1 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
Milk

1. Whip Butter, Powdered sugar, Milk and Vanilla. This is a nice stiff frosting by itself, and you could stop here. It's too stiff for piping, and too stiff for frosting a cake... but good for piling on to delicious hot brownies!

2. Add milk, a few drops at a time, to get desired consistency. Note to those, from experience. If you get your frosting too thin, it will SLIDE OFF OF THE CAKE! *laughing* Thick is better than thin if you're not sure.

3. To make chocolate frosting, substitute 1/2 Cup of Cocoa and 1/2 Cup of Powdered Sugar. It's delicious. Trust me.

Best Brownies Ever

I haven't posted a recipe in forever because I just haven't been baking! My husband's been doing the dirty job. But my in-laws are in town and there's always that need to impress, right? I thought I had my butter frosting recipe already posted, and it turns out it's not there... and I needed it for this brownies recipe I found, so... there you go. :D I'm back; for how long, I don't know. :)

So, brownies in this post, and butter frosting in the next one.

Preheat: 350*
Category: Dessert

1/2 Cup Butter, melted
1/2 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa
1 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs
2 teaspoons Vanilla
1/2 Cup Flour
1/4 teaspoon Salt

optional
1-2 Cups Chocolate chips, your choice, and experimenting works
1 Cup Mini Marshmallows
1 Cup Walnuts or Pecans, chopped

1. Mix dry ingredients. This includes the cocoa, the sugar, the flour and the salt. Mix it well!

2. In separate bowl, mix wet ingredients. This includes the melted butter, the vanilla and the eggs.

3. Mix wet ingredients into the dry. Mix thoroughly, but DO NOT OVER MIX!

4. Pour mix into a GREASED and FLOURED 8" square pan. It's not enough to just grease it. You can also use wax paper to line the bottom. :)

5. Bake in a preheated oven (350*) for 23-25 minutes. DO NOT OVERBAKE!

6. Cool completely and then cut. Now I know everybody gets excited about brownies, but really, don't cut these early! Might I add that they're very yummy frosted with the Better Homes and Gardens Chocolate Butter Frosting? :)