Cherry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Happy Friday!!!! How has your week been? Can you believe it's the last Friday of January already?!?!? One-twelfth of the year is GONE almost! :D Time does fly - faster the older I get. :D

So, this is the last review from what I served Saturday for my hostess club Stampin' Up! get-together. It's a cherry cream cheese coffee cake from - guess who! - Taste of Home. :D

OK. I did three tweaks, one kinda big and the other two are tiny. :) The big one is I didn't use almond extract in the crust, I used vanilla. I just don't particularly care for almond extract - I don't use it in my sugar cookies or icings, and just don't tend to use it, period. I know that lots of people think the cherry and almond go together, but to my palate, the almond extract is overpowering. So there. :D

The two little ones are that I used Splenda-sweetened cherry pie filling, and the almonds I used were sliced, not slivered. :D Oooooh. LOL

This is definitely a YES, PLEASE! It's not too sweet - there's a total of a cup of sugar in the whole thing! - so it's really nice for a breakfast treat. It didn't take as long to make as I thought, either. The crust part IS very sticky, however; I tried spreading it into the springform with my hands, and ended up deciding that an offset spatula was going to be my best friend with this one. :D

I'm kind of wondering why this wouldn't work in a 13x9 if you don't have a springform. It might not come out as "pretty" when you slice it, but I couldn't get it off the bottom of the springform as a whole, either. Also, I might use my largest springform pan the next time I make this, and maybe double the fillings. It's a lot of crust - but it's GOOD. I just tend to like filling better. :D I also think I'll try blueberry instead of cherry - or maybe half and half!

I know this was a hit! I also know I'm going to make this on the beach as a keep-in-the-fridge, go-to quick breakfast when we have guests. So, if you make it, let me know what you think! :)

Have a WONDERFUL weekend! Try something new! :) Be BLESSED!

Cherry Cheesecake Cookies

It's FRIDAY! Do you have big plans? Going to try something you found online for a get-together this weekend? Fill me in! Tonight - if our car's fixed! - we're going to our friends' house for dinner; I don't know what she wants me to bring yet. That will help me decide: do I take a TNT dish (tried-n-true), or try something new? :D

ANYWAY. Today's recipe comes from Mel's Kitchen Cafe. Not gonna make you wait: it's a definite YES, PLEASE!!!!

I didn't tweak a THING on these cookies. :D I've been looking for a cookie recipe that I had when I was in college; this is the closest thing I've found to it. However! The depression in the middle of the cookie leaves the bottom too thin, in my opinion. I think the next time I make them, it will be more of a thumbprint cookie - and I'll only try to fit one or two cherries in. Not only will that help with them trying to fold in half when you pick one up, it will help with using the dough and the cherries up at the same time. :D I had extra dough after using the two cans, so I opened a can of mixed berry filling and used about a third of it, as well.

I made these for the Fourth of July, so I had red, somewhat-white, and blue on the plate. They were tender, sweet, and a perfect dessert. And they freeze well! :)

Let me know if you try these. I think you'll enjoy them!

Have a wonderful weekend! Be BLESSED!