Cheesecake Brownies

Recently some friends invited us over for dinner, and asked us to bring dessert. With some cream cheese in the fridge, I decided it was time to try Cooking With My Food Storage's Cheesecake Brownies. Since we had had success with this other recipe for brownies in the past, I combined the two. It turned out delicious, but next time I will cook it a little longer.

Cheesecake Brownies

Ingredients for Brownie portion
1/2 c oil
1 c sugar
1 tsp (+) vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 c flour
1/3 c cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Ingredients for Cheesecake portion
8 oz cream cheese (preferably at room temperature)
1 egg
1/3 c sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13" baking dish.
2. Mix together oil, 1 c sugar, and vanilla (from Brownie portion above). Beat in 2 eggs. In another bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Stir into wet ingredients until just blended.
3. Spread brownie mixture into 9x13" baking dish.
4. Use an electric mixer to combine cream cheese, 1 egg, and 1/3 c sugar (from Cheesecake portion above) in a separate dish.
5. Scoop out cheesecake mixture on top of brownie batter in baking dish. Use a spatula to spread evenly across the top of brownie batter. Then, use a knife to swirl some chocolate into the cheesecake.
6. Bake at 350°F for about 25 minutes. Use toothpick to test for doneness. I think I cooked mine for about this long, but my brownies were gooey. Your oven may bake differently than mine, though, so it is a good idea to check on your brownies at this time.
7. Let cool; cut into bars (ca. 12) to serve.

Cinnamon Rolls

"It's Conference once again!" The first weekend of every April and October, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hosts General Conference, a meeting where our present-day prophet and apostles address the world.

Last Conference, we enjoyed these yummy cinnamon rolls, found here at By Common Consent. They were very tasty and warm and perfect for a day at home, especially considering it snowed that morning.

Cinnamon Rolls

Rolls
1/2 cup warm water
2 packages dry yeast (4 1/2 tsp)
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 cup instant vanilla pudding powder
1 c warm water
1/2 cup melted butter
2 lightly beaten eggs
1 tsp salt
5-6 cups all-purpose flour

Cinnamon mixture
1 cup melted butter
2 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 Tbsp cinnamon
Optional: raisins (say, 1/4 cup?), chopped nuts

Icing
8 oz. softened cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups confectioners sugar
1 Tbsp milk
(As I recall this made way too much icing so if you can, go ahead and halve this)

1. Dissolve yeast in the 1/2 c warm water with the 2 Tbsp sugar and let rise/froth.
2. In another bowl, combine pudding and water; mix well. Add butter, eggs, and salt; mix well.
3. Add flour; once mixed, knead until smooth.
4. The original recipe says to let rise for 2 hours. We probably let it rise for only half an hour and it turned out well.
5. Once approximately doubled in size (or less if you're impatient like we were!), roll out into a large rectangle. Pour melted butter from "cinnamon mixture" heading over dough rectangle. Combine cinnamon and brown sugar and crumble over the top.
6. Roll rectangle into a nice cylinder. 
7. Slice cylinder into rolls. Ours were probably too tall which made them doughy in the middle when we baked them. The original recipe recommends 2-inch heights.
8. Place in baking dish... leave space in between since they will rise.
9. Let rise. Again, the original recipe says 2 hours, but we skimped on this and it worked out.
10. Bake at 350°F for 15-18 minutes.
11. Combine icing ingredients and spread over the top of rolls when they are out of the oven.

Carrot Cake

 

This was introduced to Thomas by a missionary roommate and adapted to U.S. specifications. It's been much enjoyed by many a person, but the most devout connoisseur would be my brother-in-law, Saki (blog).

Carrot Cake

Cake
1 C sugar
1 C brown sugar
1 C oil
4 eggs
2 C flour
2 t baking powder
1 t salt
2 t cinnamon
3 C shredded carrots (about 3 large carrots)

1. Mix sugar, oil, and eggs together.
2. Add dry ingredients and then carrots.
3. Pour into a 9x13 pan.
4. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes at 350°F.

Frosting
1/2 C soft butter
8 oz. cream cheese
2 C powdered sugar
vanilla

1. Beat soft (but not melted) butter and cream cheese together.
2. Mix in vanilla and powdered sugar.
3. Spread on cooled cake.
4. Chill the tempting delicacy in the fridge.

David G., Lisa's friend's husband (the couple with which we had dinner a couple weeks ago) enjoying our carrot cake