Recipe Review: Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swirl Muffins

Hi! Today's recipe for Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swirl Muffins comes to you from the beautiful blog of The Novice Chef.

Of course, I couldn't just MAKE the recipe, not with all my dietary restrictions now. But I LOVE pumpkin. :) 

These are beautiful muffins! Here's how I modified them: I used applesauce instead of oil. And Neufchatel cream cheese instead of regular. I also used homemade pumpkin puree instead of canned.

:D

 I'm giving them a "Yes, please", although I have no need to make them again. They are delicious, very moist and flavorful. I have a dozen in the freezer; I got 18 muffins from the recipe.



Let me know if you try these! :D

Have a great day! Be blessed, my friends!

Cream Cheese Apple Bread

It's FRIDAY!!!! We're home, trying to get back into the swing of things. :D BUSY time ahead of us, for SURE!

Today's recipe is for Cream Cheese Apple bread, from Today's Creative Blog.

Let me just say that Mom put this one together for me. So I don't know if the cream cheese vanished into the dough, or what happened - but it doesn't look like the one on the blog.

It IS a YES, PLEASE, recipe however! I made this for a Stampin' Up! class, and everyone loved it. It's incredibly moist and flavorful.

I think I'll keep the recipe, and maybe double the cream cheese part. I mean, I love cream cheese, so it can't HURT... :D

OK, I'm outta here. :D Have a WONDERFUL weekend. Be blessed, my friend!

Brownie Bundt with Coconut Cream Cheese Filling

HAPPY FRIDAY! I hope you've had a good week - but I'm betting you're ready for the weekend. :D

Today's review is this recipe for brownie bundt cake with coconut cream cheese filling from Vanilla Sugar Blog.

I won't make you wait on this. This recipe would need to much tweaking for me to give it anything but a NO, THANK YOU. :( I was SO disappointed! I mean, it's three of my favorite things: brownies, coconut, AND cream cheese! I sprayed and sprayed the bundt pan, but the brownie STILL stuck horribly. The coconut and cream cheese mixture had very little taste, and added nothing but contrast and texture. I hate throwing food out, but I did toss most of this cake - after taking it to a pitch-in (or pot luck, depending on where you're from! :) )

SO. If you tweak it enough and really love it, let me know! Or if you decide to try it and love it, tell me - maybe I just did something wrong. :D

Have a WONDERFUL weekend! BE BLESSED!!!

Pumpkin Cheesecake French Toast

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!!

Do you have lots of plans for your weekend? Have you had a good week?

This recipe is for pumpkin cheesecake French toast from Skinny Sometimes.

I have to admit: this was a huge let-down for me. Maybe I needed to use more stevia; I had the powdered form, not the liquid. I wanted this to be sweeter, for sure. I don't make French toast often, because it's messy and takes longer than I want it to. :D So, I'm going to say NO, THANKS - but don't let that stop you from trying it. It was purely my personal taste, again, that said I don't wanna keep this recipe.

SO. :D Have a wonderful weekend! Be BLESSED!!!

Bacon and Cream Cheese Sutffed Mushrooms

Welcome to Wednesday! :) Are you having a great week??? If all goes according to plan, today's the day we're coming home. Ahhhhh, rest. :)

So, today's recipe review is for these bacon and cream cheese stuffed mushrooms from Mountain Mama Cooks.

They don't really look like much, do they. :) But these little buttons are RICH. Full of yummy cream cheese and bacon, the mushrooms are relatively low in carbohydrate. Oh, MY. Again, these would be a great game-day food. Be warned, though: you could easily make yourself sick eating these. :) They're heavy-hitters, not for someone who's not out for full-on flavor. So I guess that makes these a YES, PLEASE! :D

OK, I'm gone. Have a wonderful day! Be BLESSED!!!

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Welcome to Friday! Do you have big plans? I do - I'll be cooking for tomorrow morning's Stampin' Up! party - two brunch dishes. :) I can't wait to try them!

But that's tomorrow. :D Today, I'm sharing this Cinnamon Cream Cheese Coffee Cake from Meili's Baked Goodness.

This is a good coffee cake. It's packed - it's a very heavy cake. :) I overbaked it a little, I think - the edges were SUPER dry. Of course, that's partly the whole wheat flour. But I followed the directions exactly.

I think I'm going to give this one a NO, THANKS. It's good, but there are a LOT of good coffee cake recipes out there still waiting to be tried. :) Let me know if you decide to try this, and what you decide about it. :)

Have a wonderful weekend! Be sure and try something new - and let me know what you think! Be blessed~!

Crab Rangoon Cups

It's FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOORAY!!!!!! You made it through another week! :D And I'm going to assume I did, too.... :D It's almost time to leave for the family reunion, and then Westward! Ho!

These are another one of the new recipes I tried for my jewelry party; they're Crab Rangoon Cups from Big Red Kitchen.

(I wish you could see the whole platter; Kenn bought it for us about six years ago, and it's the first time I've gotten to show it off! It's got CRABS on it! :D)

I did this one EXACTLY as it said. I ever treated my women to REAL crab meat - and that was expensive!! But I would have liked it better with the fake stuff, I think. :D That's probably the only thing I'd change - except I'd get real sweet & sour instead of duck sauce for dipping. :) So I guess that's a YES, PLEASE, right? :D

OK, I'm off!! Have a WONDERFUL weekend - spend some time with people you love!

Cream Cheese Lemon Bars

Happy Wednesday! How's your week going? If you're in middle Tennessee, are you enjoying our spastic weather patterns?!?! Sheesh. Is it any wonder so many people are sick right now?!?

Anyway. :D

This recipe is for cream cheese lemon bars from a site called Recipetips.com.

 I'm afraid I'm rather ambivalent about this one. It wasn't really lemony, it wasn't really cream cheese-y. I'd gotten the lemon cake mix to keep in the closet, because several of my Pinned recipes call for one. So I decided to use the mix for this recipe.

My dad had to help me get the crust ingredients all mixed; I don't know if I've mentioned, but I have trouble with my wrists and my family sometimes helps me out when I'm cooking. :D It was an interesting crust, kind of crumbly (as a dough) like a shortbread, except it had an egg in it.

You mix up the lemon juice and zest and cream cheese with the powdered sugar, then divide that in half. Part is for the middle layer, and the rest acts as the icing. It was really lemony, but it wasn't enough to really brighten the whole thing, in my opinion.

Normally, I'll add lemon extract as well, but I wanted to make this one as straight as *I* could. :D I didn't tweak anything.

So I think I'll move it to my "A good recipe to have" board, but not plan to use it unless I'm a little desperate. :D I think my sentiment was echoed through the house - but it's almost all gone, anyway. :D

OK, I'm outta here! Make your week great!!! Be BLESSED! :)

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!

"Raspberry" Blintz Casserole

Good Friday Morning! How are you today? Have you had a great week? Got fantastic plans for this weekend? Going to try something new?!? :D

Here's one of the things we tried this week: Raspberry Blintz Casserole from Recipe.com.

First, those of you who are observant will notice that this is definitely NOT raspberry! :D Although the recipe calls for using them, Kenn couldn't find ANY in the frozen section. And so I used what I had - blueberries we'd purchased and frozen earlier this year.

Now, then. The casserole itself is the recipe I used - and I halved it. I think I've mentioned how we try not to have too much hanging around at one time? Yeah. :) This fell in that category - and if Kenn didn't like it, I didn't want to have to figure out what to do with all that casserole. So I baked it in a two-quart casserole dish - which I *think* is a 7"x11", but I'm too lazy to go measure it. :D

Anyway. The casserole gets a YES, PLEASE! My dad got a taste, and decided he needed to have it sometime soon. :D It uses orange, instead of lemon, which gives it a stronger but sweeter taste.

I cannot recommend that you make the raspberry sauce, however; there are NO measurements whatsoever on it. So please come up with another sauce recipe before you try this casserole! I can tell you what I did - and I should have doubled the sauce!

I used a glass measuring cup and thawed 1 cup of berries, then gave them a whirl in the food processor (since it's already out for the casserole recipe!). I heated them in a saucepan, and added 1 heaping teaspoon of corn starch before they got warm - it mixes in MUCH better if your ingredients are cold! I added about 2 tablespoons of additional orange juice I had left from squeezing my orange for the casserole. I should have added about that much water, too, so it wouldn't thicken up quite so much when it sat. :)

That's it! Pretty easy, and it was yummy. I liked the edges of this one better than the middle, just because there was some texture variation there. :) It's very soft, light, and yummy!

OK, I'm outta here. Have a WONDERFUL weekend! Let me know what YOU try new! Be BLESSED!!!!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifles

Welcome to Monday! Are you ready for this week? It's the last of November. Wow. Where DID this year go?!?!

Today's review is the last recipe from the Hostess Appreciation Luncheon - and it's dessert, of course. :D It's Simple Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifles from My Baking Addiction.

OK, these are a YES, PLEASE! but I WILL tweak them a bit. :D I didn't do a thing differently from the recipe, I swear! :D

I loved the Biscoff cookies for this; they weren't overpowering or too sweet, and kept their crunch - which was a great texture contrast to the creaminess of the rest of it.

I will add more cream cheese next time; I love the flavor of cream cheese, and as one hostess said, "If you hadn't told me there was cream cheese in here, I never would have guessed!" If you like the cheese part of the cheesecake flavor to be less, then do this straight-up. :D

I served these in little juice glasses. It was really the perfect size to wrap up a big meal; cool, creamy, and not too big a portion made it a pretty perfect little treat. :)

OK, I'm outta here! Sooooo busy around here! I really hope you're planning on coming to the open house if you're local.... :D

Have a wonderful day! Be BLESSED!

Pumpkin Bars

Good Monday Morning!
Did you have a good weekend? It was absolutely STUNNING here - probably the last fall hurrah of the year. :D Low 70s, sunny - and I know some of my friends were dealing with snow. (I say "dealing"; I'd love to have snow!!!!!!)

ANYWAY. This recipe is a Taste of Home recipe; my mom actually brought home a Holiday Recipe cookbook she found at a garage sale. She's been craving something with pumpkin, and when I looked through the book I found this recipe. It's simple; I found it on their website, too, and here is the link!

As I said, it's a simple recipe. And it makes a big pan. We're going to give this a YES, PLEASE! What I did was mix up the whole batch, then cut the pan of bars in half and cooled and wrapped one half. They're in our freezer, waiting for someone to come visit. :D They were good; the frosting was good, and I *think* I cut the frosting recipe in half - and still didn't use it all. :)

OK, I'm off! Have a WONDERFUL day! Be BLESSED!!!!

Carrot Cake Waffles

 Good Friday Morning!

How has your week been? I hope FANTASTIC! :)

Today's review is another recipe. This one is brought to you from Willow Bird Baking, for carrot cake waffles.

First, you'll notice that my plate only has ONE of these waffles on it; the photo on the original blog? THREE. And I'm pretty sure they're the same size as my waffle.

This recipe is another YES, PLEASE! However, I won't be making them very often. My GOODNESS. I could only eat half of the one I'm showing you here! It was SO rich, with the cream cheese topping - and you KNOW I love my cream cheese! :D

First, again I had to thin the batter down. It wouldn't MOVE in the waffle iron, which was a problem. But I added probably another 1/3 cup milk, and it did fine. :)

I also used a new product, which I'll review next week, alongside the raisins.

The carrots made it really pretty, too; the waffle was very tasty. There's not a lot of sugar in here, so it's the maple syrup and the raisins that make it taste like the carrot cake we all know and love. The cream cheese spread doesn't hurt.... :D

Other than that, I didn't change anything - used my lower-carb milk, but that's it. I did do the spice bloom in the butter, because I had lots of time this morning. And this is a time-consuming recipe. Definitely another lazy-day breakfast. :)

Kenn's not a big breakfast person, but he does like it when I make him special things for breakfast. :) As you can see, he ate his whole waffle - and his bacon. Give the man bacon, and he'll give you a smile! :D I thought you'd like to know I'm not actually eating this stuff all by myself. :D

OK, I'm outta here! Have a WONDERFUL weekend! Please say a prayer for my family; we're having my nephew's memorial service Sunday. Kenn can't go, and I know I'll miss his emotional support. Thank you for praying! :)

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Good Friday morning. Have you had a good week? Can you believe there's only one week left of August?!??! Wow, this year is FLYING.

Today's recipe is brought to you by Go Bold With Butter. :D And it's pretty apropos! :D

This is a YES, PLEASE. The batter for the cake is THICK; it reminded Mom of something, and I guessed it as "muffin". It would make a FANTASTIC muffin base; it's sturdy, and moist and would stand up to fruit if you chose to add it.

I tweaked the batter by using half Greek yogurt and half sour cream. It ups the protein and cuts the fat just a bit. And it was GOOD. :D

I tweaked the cream cheese by not adding the pecans. The directions for swirling the layer weren't done well; I'd rather do it my way than the way that's written. If you know how to do a good swirl, pay no attention to that part of the directions. :D

I did the crumb topping exactly as written. Well, if you include adding more cinnamon. :D

I cut this recipe into two, and did two 8" square cakes instead of a 9x13. One is in the freezer; with the pumpkin bundt cake in the house, we didn't need a full cake around! :D This way, when we want something special to serve, it's there. I love the freezer! LOL!

OK, I'm outta here. :) Have a wonderful weekend. Try something new! :) BE BLESSED!!!

Peachy Keen Bars

 Good Wednesday morning! How are you doing today? Are you having a good week? Tried anything new?

Today's recipe came from Just a Pinch - I've mentioned them before; Kenn and I went to a luncheon where we got to try out some award-winning recipes. :) This one is called "Peachy Keen Bars".

I made these JUST to show you! :D Well, the core family is enjoying them.... :D

This is an extremely easy recipe; it does have four separate layers, but it's still very easy. And if you keep canned peaches in your closet, you've probably got everything in your pantry you need!

I'm on the cusp about what to recommend about this recipe. I didn't tweak anything, just FYI. It's good, but it just doesn't knock me out. So I'm giving it a YES, THANK YOU - a mixture of both! :D I might use the recipe again if I need something quickly, or to take to someone - it's that easy! :) It's not super-sweet, but it is rich; if you like coffee, this definitely would benefit from a cup. :)

OK, I'm outta here! It's a busy day! Have a wonderful day - and be sure and let me know if you try something new, something I've recommended, or find something you want me to try! :D BE BLESSED!

Cream Puff Cake

 

Good Monday Morning! How are you today? Did you have a good weekend? We just got home yesterday; it feels good to be in our own room again, even though the time with my sister, BIL, and all their children was good. (I hope I'll get a chance to share decorating those cupcakes with you, eventually! :D )

Today's recipe comes to you courtesy of Lil' Luna, for Cream Puff Cake.  No way of putting off my rating on this. Oh. My. Goodness. YES, PLEASE!!!!!!!

If you've never done any kind of choux pastry, please know it's very easy - and this couldn't get much easier! The only suggestion I'd make is that you keep a mixer going in it while you add the eggs. (I put the cooked batter into my Kitchen Aid with the whisk attachment.)

For the filling, I used sugar-free white chocolate pudding, with Hood® Calorie Countdown milk - I really love this stuff, because it's only got 3 grams of carbs per 8 ounces! The filling was a LITTLE loose, even though I used less milk. I'm not sure if it's because of the SF pudding or what, but it didn't keep its form as beautifully as the recipe's photos.

This was GONE in less than 24 hours. My husband LOVED it; he doesn't like a lot of sweet stuff - I think I've mentioned that - but he sure helped eat it! :)

OK, I'm off. Have a WONDERFUL day! Be sure to let me know if you try this - or anything else I've reviewed! :) Or if you find something you'd like me to try. But be warned: I may tweak it. :D

Flan

It's Friday! Woooo, hoooooo! Have you had a good week? Tried anything new? :D Planning to this weekend?

Today's recipe is from AllRecipes.com - for a simple flan.

We went to dinner with dear friends from church last week, and she told me we were having a Mexican fiesta. :) So I decided to throw right in with dessert, and make a flan.

A flan is an egg-based custard. This one's kind of cheesecakey, too. And it got a definite YES, PLEASE! from everyone. :D

I actually made two flans from this single recipe; I didn't have a pan big enough for the entire recipe, so I made one to leave home, and one to take with us. It's *very* rich, so having it to be thinner so it looks like a large slice but is half of what it would be with the whole recipe! :)

It's good for dessert or for breakfast, too. :) If you have a need for a flan recipe, or just want to try making one, go for it! I think you'll enjoy this! Let me know if you try it!

Have a wonderful weekend! Be BLESSED!

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Welcome to August! :) Can you believe how quickly the year is passing?

Today's recipe is from With a Grateful Prayer and a Thankful Heart, for cream cheese pound cake.

This was a LOT of batter; I made some of these mini bundt cakes, and cooked the rest off in a loaf pan.

I don't know. Maybe it would be better with the glaze. Maybe it would be better with strawberries. But I'm not overjoyed with this recipe. It's just OK. And with all the recipes out there to try, I doubt I'll come back to this one. So I'm going to give it a NO, THANKS - but I love her blog! :)

OK, I'm outta here. Do let me know if you try something new! It's fun to do! :) 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!

No-Bake Peanut Butter Cheesecake

Good Monday Morning! :)

How are you doing today? Did you have a good weekend? Try anything new? Y'all are SO quiet out there! I'd love to have a comment.... :D

This is a no-bake cheesecake from Eat Good 4 Life. Go ahead, check it out. I'll wait. :D

First, let me say: I love cheesecake. I could eat it all day, every day. :)

Now, cheesecake in itself is relatively low in carbohydrates; usually where it runs into problems with carbs is in the crust and add-ins. So, I did the crust with only peanuts, no cereal or oats. Because both of those can be pretty carb-heavy, even though whole grains are supposed to be good for you. But I digress. :D

For the cheesecake itself, all I changed was using full-fat cream cheese instead of the lower-fat; the substitutions for lower fat items usually increases the carb count.

I'm afraid this one is getting a NO, THANKS from me. It was OK, but didn't knock me out. It was nice to have in the fridge for when I had to have something sweet. :) But I won't make it again. There are too many other things out there to try, and too many cheesecakes that beat this one. :)

OK, I'm out of here - my aunt from Missouri is visiting us this week. :) Lots to do, lots to make, lots to procrastinate about. :D

Have a WONDERFUL day! Be BLESSED, my friends! And let me know when you try something!