Cadbury Mini Eggs Cheesecake

 Just wanted to throw a little hint out there. You might want to follow me on GFC (google friend connect) because I have a super fun giveaway coming up for getting to 1000 followers.  We are so close and I am getting so excited I can hardly stand it.

Anyway...on to Easter.  There is one candy that I L.O.V.E. this time of year.  Nothing truly compares to it.  I totally don't care about any of that other seasonal candy except for those Cadbury Mini Eggs.

I buy bags and bags of those beauties because they are so amazing I can hardly stand it. I try to add them to pretty much everything and then find myself eating the rest of the bag.  

Seriously! They are so hard to stay out of. 

I was contemplating cheesecake the other day (mostly because I need to use up 32 oz of cream cheese that I didn't want to go bad. What? You don't keep that kind of cream cheese around.  Well silly me I buy it from Costco in big cases--told you we sort of like it around here!).

And from that gigantic amount of cream cheese this little wonder was created. And boy was it delicious and perfect for this Easter season. You should totally make it for Sunday, everyone will think you are the most amazing person ever!

Cadbury Mini Eggs Cheesecake

(click here for printable version)

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs, about 9 sheets
3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar, divided
5 tbsp butter, melted
3 packages (8oz each) cream cheese, softened (Philadelphia is what I like to use--the cheesecake turns out much better)
1/2 cup malted milk powder
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
1 cup Cadbury Mini Eggs, crushed
Toppings:
Cadbury Mini Eggs
Fresh whipped cream

1. Preheat oven to 325°F and line a muffin tin with paper liners (will make about 16-18 cheesecakes in a muffin tin). Set aside.

2. Mix graham cracker crumbs with the 2 tablespoons of sugar and butter. Press about 1 tablespoon into the bottoms of each prepared liner and set aside.

3. Prepare the filling by beating cream cheese, remaining sugar, malted milk powder, and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time mixing on low speed until just blended and smooth. Pour equal amounts over each crusts, filling to just below the top of the liner.

4. Bake 20 - 25 minutes or until centers are almost set. Remove and let cool completely. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight. To serve, top with crushed Cadbury mini eggs and whipped cream. Enjoy!

Source: Adapted from Katrina's Kitchen

Carrot Cake Cookies

Growing up we had carrot cake once a year.  

And it was always on my Dad's birthday.  He L.O.V.E.S. carrot cake.  And usually I looked forward to it too.

Well as long as my mom didn't put in raisins and walnuts but of course that was my Dads favorite part. This year he had carrot cake once again for his birthday (and so did my carrot cake hating sister--I was so proud of her!) and it reminded me of that wonderful little dessert.

But...only the hubs and I like carrot cake so I was on a mission to find something my children would eat and something that didn't require having an entire cake sitting around.  And that's when it hit me.  

Cookies. But with carrots. Weird but hey in cake they are awesome.

Well I am proud to say these turned out fabulously.  And the best bart, the kids loved them and not one of them said anything about carrots being in there.  It does help that cream cheese is drizzled over the top but hey!  they have come along way. There is hope for them and I really hope you try these lovelies out. So delicious.

Carrot Cake Cookies

(click here for printable version)

2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup grated carrots
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1 cup white chocolate chips
Frosting:
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp milk
2-3 cups powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375°F and line baking sheets with silpat liners or parchment paper or spray with non stick cooking spray.  Set aside.

2. In medium bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In another large bowl cream sugars and butter until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add egg and mix well again. Stir in vanilla and grated carrots and completely combined.  With mixer on low, slowing add dry ingredients and mix until no dry streaks remain.  Stir in coconut and white chocolate chips.

3. Drop by tablespoon on baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until centers are set. Remove and let cool 2 minutes on baking sheets before letting cool completely on cooling rack.

4. To make frosting, in medium bowl whip cream cheese, vanilla, and milk until smooth. Slowly add powdered sugar until the consistency you want.  Put frosting in piping bag (or in a Ziploc bag and cut off the corner) and pipe on cooled cookies. Enjoy!

French Bread Rolls

With Easter right around the corner and spring break right before it I thought I should get started on my Easter menu.

Do any of you have your menu ready yet?

Rolls are a must have at our house on this special day. I have many favorites that I love and have used many times (Cheesy Garlic Rolls, Fancy Dinner Rolls, Garlic Knots) but I thought I would try out one that I have been eyeing for awhile and one that I could use many different ways.

One I could dress up and make fancy for Easter or one that is awesome for eating straight out of the oven (slathered with of butter of course!) or one to make sandwiches with or one that I could freeze and use for later.

This my friends was perfect for everything I tried.  They did awesome in the freezer (which made my day!), were awesome on sandwiches (sharing that recipe next week), and were delicious straight out of the oven.  My tummy is growling just thinking about them. So yummy.

French Bread Rolls

(click here for printable version)

* Remember when working with yeast breads, the flour is a suggestion (it all depends on humidity, altitude, weather, and a myriad of other factors). I stop adding my flour based on the texture and touch of the dough. Here is a great tutorial on what you should be looking for.

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tbsp active dry yeast
2 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tbsp canola oil
1 tsp salt
4 cups all-purpose flour, give or take a few tablespoons

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine the warm water, yeast, sugar, oil, salt and 2 cups of the flour. Begin mixing and continue to add the rest of the flour gradually until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl. Judge the dough not by the amount of flour called for in the recipe but in how the dough feels (which comes with lots of practice and if you need a little help check out the link from the tutorial above). The dough should be soft and smooth but still slightly tacky to the touch.

2. Knead the dough in your mixer until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes in a stand mixer. Lightly spray a large bowl with non stick cooking spray and place the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl with lightly greased plastic wrap. Let the dough rise until it has doubled (this usually takes about an hour but depends on the weather, heat, etc. Just keep an eye on it).

3. Lightly punch down the dough and turn it out onto a lightly greased countertop. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and form the dough into round balls. Place the rolls on a lightly greased or silpat-lined baking sheet about an inch or two apart. Cover the rolls with lightly greased plastic wrap again, letting the plastic wrap gently hang over the sides of the pan to fully cover the rolls but not press them down. Let the rolls rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.

4. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Bake for 12-14 minutes until lightly browned and cooked through. Enjoy!

5. To freeze them, I usually make a double batch (while every things dirty you might as well make a whole bunch) and then once they are baked and cooled, I place them in a zipper-lock freezer bag and put them in the freezer. I either take them out a few hours before I need them or I take them out frozen and microwave them for about 2-3 minutes on 70% power.

Source: Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Easter Menu Plan Ideas

As I said the other day, since the almost 8 year old's birthday is on Sunday and it's almost Easter she gets to pick our dinner menu.

That means I don't have to plan anything super elaborate which I love.  This year seems to fly by and every holiday has just snuck up on me (maybe it's because I am in charge of planning camp for 100 teenage girls this year and we are in the thick of planning right now!!)

But in case you need any last minute ideas for your Easter festivities, here are some of our favorites from previous years.

These Chinese Tea Eggs was a super fun thing to do with the kids.  They loved how they turned out

 These Cheesy Au Gratin Potatoes and Good Luck Potatoes have been favorites and they reappear in our menu frequently.

 Ahhh....rolls.  No fancy dinner is complete without the rolls.  The Fancy Dinner Rolls (above) has been a favorite since childhood and these Garlic Knots are also always a huge hit.

 And of course you have to have the Deviled Eggs.  One of my favorite things, especially if you add bacon. Mmmm...so delicious!

 These pork recipes are at the top of our list.  Pineapple Chipotle Ham and I love the pork chop idea because it can all be thrown in the crockpot while you work on everything else.  My son absolutely adores these porkchops!

Mint Juleps (non-alcoholic) is so delicious, especially as the weather warms up.  And if your looking for a homemade version of Jello, this was delicious.

 Dessert is the focus at our house.  Okay I admit it, it's the focus for me.  I love choosing what to make and get so excited to do it.  These are some of our past favorites:

 Lime Cheesecake with Blackberry Sauce

Glazed Lemon Bars 

 Cream Puffs

Cinnabon Popcorn 

 Buttermilk Cake, which we serve as Strawberry Shortcake, and is absolutely divine.

And if you have any of those delicious Cadbury Mini Eggs left, these cookies are some of my favorites.

Hope your Easter is wonderful and you have some delicious food!

Chocolate Cadbury Egg Cookies

Dear Cadbury (or whoever makes those mini-eggs),

Whose idea was it to make something so wonderful and delicious?  I get how amazing they are but have you noticed what they have done to my hips and my wallet, not to mention my chocolate addiction?  

These little eggs that I eat the whole bag as quick as I can before any one notices I bought them are placed very strategically around the store. They completely ruin my self control.

I mean how do you know that I always walk past the chip isle therefore placing those little beauties right there in front of me so I can't help but see them?  Seriously, do you have someone following me around?

Then you take them away for 9 months!  Whose idea was that anyway?  Now I have to stock up on them so I can make these cookies whenever I want (at least if they haven't been eaten all in one week by little rascals, oh that's me--see it's that self control thing. How can someone resist these eggs!!??)

Could you please not make something so good? Or maybe could you offer self control classes on "how not to eat an entire bag of Cadbury mini-eggs".  Just an idea.

Love (your mini eggs), The Farm Girl

Whew!  That's out of my system, not you just need to make these cookies (and stock up on Cadbury mini-eggs because I don't think anyone should wait 9 months between these delicious chocolate cookies).

Chocolate Cadbury Egg Cookies

(click here for printable recipe)

1/2 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. butter flavored crisco
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 t. vanilla
2 c. flour
2/3 c. cocoa
1/2 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1 1/2 c. Cadbury Mini-Eggs, crushed

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Beat butter, crisco, and sugars until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla, beat well.  Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined.  Stir in 1 1/4 c. of crushed eggs.  Drop by tablespoon (or medium scoop) onto ungreased cookie sheet.  Using 1/4 c. of reserved crushed eggs, add a few to the top.  This is so you can make them look pretty, very optional.  Bake for 8-9 minutes.  Remove and cool for 3 minutes before cooling completely on cooling rack.  Enjoy!

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 Quit Eating Out

Pineapple Chipotle Honey Glazed Ham

Easter...ahhh yummy food.

When Easter rolls around I know I have two things to do:

One, have another excuse to make some delicious food and two, work in my yard.

As I have mentioned before I love to work in my yard and garden but (and that's quite a big but, no pun intended he, he, he) I have to get over the hurdle of getting out there.

I mean come on it's Idaho.  The weather is still very cold and the wind blows like the dickens (by the way any idea on how that phrase came about?  just wondering).  Which all leads me to not going outside unless I absolutely have to.  No reason to freeze my ears off if I don't have to.

I continue to look out my window in my nice warm house watching the dandelions creep ever bigger (who are my nemesis) and the grass grow ever taller.

I know I should be out there, for heavens sake, I really want to be out there but all of it signifies 6 months of weed pulling, lawn watering, grass mowing, vegetable harvesting, and flower fertilizing.

As much as I want to be out there I haven't brought myself to do it.  Even being the last one of the street to not mow their lawn hasn't gotten my out there yet.  Maybe tomorrow...or maybe not, but in the meantime at least I am fulfilling one of my things to do.

I know ham is so cliche for this time of year but this glaze is so perfect.  Lightly sweet but with a touch of smoky flavor.  The chipotles give it the nice smoky, spicy flavor that complements the sweetness perfectly.  I was a little worried about my children liking it but it's not spicy at all just absolutely delicious.  So try something different with your ham this year. 

Pineapple Chipotle Honey Glazed Ham

(click here for printable recipe)

1 (20 oz) can pineapple with 1/2 the juice drained out

2 Chipotle peppers, with seeds

1 c. honey

1 t. fresh grated ginger

salt and pepper, to taste

1.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Put all ingredients in your food processor until pureed and smooth.

2.  Place your ham fat side up in a roasting pan.  Pour 1 c. water in bottom of pan and drizzle 1/2 c. pineapple glaze over ham.  Cover tightly with foil and bake according to directions on package (mine was 20 minutes for every pound).  Save the rest of the glaze for later.

3.  When ham has one hour left of cooking time, put the leftover glaze in a saucepan and bring to a slow simmer over medium heat, let simmer 5 minutes, stirring frequently.  Remove ham from oven and drizzle the rest of the glaze over entire ham.  Return to oven, uncovered, and let finish cooking.  Remove from oven, slice and serve warm.  Enjoy!

Source:  A Southern Fairytale

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Bacon-n-Cheese Deviled Eggs

Have you seen all the bacon recipes floating around the internet?

I can't believe some of the things.  Bacon Popcorn?  Bacon Cupcakes?

Seriously!!??!

I mean I love bacon but I don't know if I love it that much.  Someone needs to try it out for me and let me know if it is worth making.  I just have a hard time wrapping my mind around candied bacon.  It sounds like an oxymoron to me.

But in honor of the bacon craze here is one for Easter.  Not super original but a little variety from the same old deviled egg recipe.  The boys in our house loved it, especially my carnivore son.  Is that a boy thing?  Random question but that's about all I can get him to eat.

But on to the eggs...and bacon!

Bacon-n-Cheese Deviled Eggs

(click here for printable recipe)

6 hard boiled eggs 

1/3 c. mayonnaise 

1-1/2 t. mustard

4 strips bacon, cooked and finely chopped

¼ c. cheddar cheese, finely shredded

1 green onion, finely chopped

paprika

freshly ground pepper

1.  Hard  boil the eggs in whatever way you choose and let cool. Remove shell carefully and cut eggs in half lengthwise.  Remove egg yolks.

2.  In a medium bowl mix together egg yolks, mayonnaise, mustard, cheese, bacon and green onion. Mash the ingredients together to get the right consistency. If you need too add a little more mayonnaise, go for it. Sprinkle the eggs with a little paprika and freshly ground pepper and serve immediately.  Refrigerate leftovers.  Enjoy!

Source: Mom's Crazy Cooking

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Chinese Tea Eggs

I seriously can't believe it's almost Easter, let alone the middle of April!!

I looked at the calendar this week and realized how close we were to Easter and thought I better post some of the recipes I have been working on for Easter.

This one was for the kids.  

We started out wanting to make Chinese Tea Eggs but my children didn't think that was "cool" enough.  They said the colors were "boring" so we pulled out the food coloring and made this version.

I thought they looked like bird eggs.  What do you think?  I love how they look like they are breaking out of their shell.  And their veins.  My kids thought that was "awesome"! I say it's a little freaky but hey they loved it.

I do have to admit that I think they look pretty cool, especially the different colors.

Chinese Tea Eggs (aka Bird Eggs)

Hard boiled eggs

Food Dye

Water

Cups

1.  After hard boiling your eggs in whatever way you want (I try all sorts of ways and haven't figured out one that's fool proof so use whatever method works for you), gently crack the exterior of the shell.  Try not to make big cracks.  You can also gently crush the shell in your hand.  

2.  Fill the cup up half full (I find my IKEA cups work best) with water and put several drops of food coloring in each cup.  I don't measure, I just let my children drop away.  Place an egg in each cup and let sit overnight.  In the morning peel off the shell and you will have these pretty little things.  Enjoy!

Idea from: Our Best Bites

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Deviled Eggs

I hope all of you had a fabulous Easter.  We did!  We ate so much yummy food, I hope you did too.  One of our favorites on Easter is Deviled Eggs.  I changed our recipe up a little this year and everyone loved it.

18 eggs, cooked

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/3 c. mayonnaise

1 T. mustard

1/2 t. salt

1/4 t. pepper

Paprika

*  Prepare cooked eggs, by removing the shells and washing the outside (you do not want anyone biting into any shells).  Cut each egg lengthwise.  Put yolk in medium bowl and set whites aside.  Do this with all the eggs.  Smash eggs with fork.  Add cream cheese, mayonnaise, mustard, salt and pepper.  Combine thoroughly.  Spoon ( I used my smallest scoop to reduce the mess) about 1 t. back into each egg white.  Put on platter.  When finished sprinkle with paprika.  Serve.  (Keep extras in the fridge)

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

This cake was so moist and delicious.  It is perfect for strawberry shortcake or for your Easter party. I found this at Taste of Home and was a huge hit, I mean how could it not be with so much butter and sugar?

1 1/2 c. butter, softened
1 8oz. cream cheese, softened
3 c. sugar
6 eggs
2 t. vanilla extract
1 t. lemon extract
3 c. flour
1/2 t. baking poweder
1/4 t. salt
Strawberries, optional
Whipped cream, optional

*  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  In a large bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one.  Beat in vanilla and lemon extracts.  In medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt.  Beat into creamed mixture just until blended.

*  Pour into greased and floured 10 in. bundt pun.  Bake for 55-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack to cool completely.  When cool, cut into pieces and serve.

* If making strawberry shortcake, top with strawberries and whip cream and dust with powdered sugar.

Bunny Tail Rolls

Does this look like a bunny with a tail?  Hopefully.  My boys called them "bunny bums" (which is so typical of boys), but I thought they would be fun since Easter is coming.  I found the idea at Kara's.  You can use whatever dough you want, frozen or homemade, it's the shape that makes them fun.

2 C. milk

1/2 c. butter

2 t. salt

1/2 c. water

1/2 c. sugar

2 T. yeast

2 eggs, beaten

8-10 cups flour

* Heat milk, butter, salt, water and sugar in saucepan on stove until warm.  Pour into mixer.  Add yeast and eggs and let stand until frothy.  Add enough flour to make a soft dough (in my Bosch mixer that is when the doughs stops sticking to the sides).  Let knead in mixer for 1 minute.  Dump into greased bowl and let rise until double in size.

* Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Pinch off a piece of dough and roll into a rope, about 6 inches long, on a greased counter top.  Then grab one end of the rope and loop it over the top of the other end, to form the ears.  Place on a greased cookie sheet.  Then pinch off a small piece of dough, form it into a ball and set it in the middle of the bunny body, to form the tail.  Let raise until double in size.  Bake for abt. 14 minutes or until light brown.  Brush with butter as soon as you remove them from the oven.