Cheesecake Trifle

♥ Beginner

My dad believes that you're never prepared to attend a party until a trifle has been made. He right too. They not only hit the spot for flavor, combining all of our favorite things in one, but they also look really beautiful and professional. Let's be honest, it's hard to screw up a trifle.

This one just happens to include all of my children's favorite things. A spin on the traditional red, white, and blue trifle that you see around the fourth of July... this one was gone in a matter of two days. Enjoy!

What you'll need: 
1 Angel Food Cake
1 Box of blueberries
1 Box of Strawberries
1 Box of Raspberries
1 Instant Jell-O Packet, Cheesecake Flavor
2 Cups of Milk
1 Cool Whip, 12 oz.
2 Butterfingers Candy Bars, crushed


How it's done: 

1. Start by preparing your pudding. Make the pudding using the Jell-O packet and the milk. Set in the fridge for 10 minutes.

2.Cut the angel food cake into bite size pieces. Cut off the tops of the strawberries and quarter them. Rinse all of the fruit, and set aside.

3. Once pudding has set, remove from fridge and gently fold in the cool whip. Once combined, it's time to assemble the trifle!

4. Layer in the following order - Angel Food Cake, Fruit, Pudding mixture, Crushed butterfingers bar. Two layers, and whalah! Enjoy!

Cinnamon Apple Chips

♥♥ Intermediate

These are a huge hit at my house - and in all honesty they are beginner level cooking. The only reason that I gave it an intermediate level is because you may want to use a special tool called a Mandolin, AND they take a bit of time in the oven.

My kids love these. So much so, that I made them three nights in a row. Super easy, and super tasty!




What you'll need: 
3 Apples, Cored and Peeled (I use a mandolin to slice them 1/8" thick)
Cinnamon & Sugar mixture to taste

How it's done:

1. Core, peel, and slice your apples. I prefer 1/8" thick. They get really crispy if they are thinner.

2. Preheat oven to 170* or as low as your oven will go.

3. Put all of your apple slices on a cookie sheet that's lined with parchment paper. Do not let any of them touch! Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar to taste.

4. Bake for 1 hour on each side (I sprinkle on the other side when I turn them over), with the oven cracked. They will harden up even more once they have cooled.

Enjoy!!!

Carrot & Cream Cheese "MuffCakes"

♥ Beginner

Originally, these were called inside-out cupcakes because the frosting is on the inside... however, these are more like muffins (because they are great for breakfast!) with a cream cheese filling. Now we call them "MuffCakes".

These were a great hit at the ward linger-longer, and although I anticipated bringing some home because they aren't very pretty, they were all gone before we snuck out. If you're a carrott cake lover, or cream cheese lover (like myself) then you'll love these sweet little muffcakes as much as we do.

I originally made these from scratch, making my own carrot cake, and they turned out pretty good. But the next time, I made them from a Duncan Hines Decadent box mix and not only were they easier, but they were much more flavorful. At roughly $3.00 a box, it was worth it for the ease. If you want the recipe from scratch, let me know and I'll post it. Otherwise, here's my recipe using the box mix (because let's be honest, you're going to take the easy route too.)

*Btw, I stole these from King Arthur Flour (but mine are better, cough) 


What you'll need: 

• 1 Box Duncan Hines Decadent Carrot Cake Mix (New!) 
• 3 Eggs
• 1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
• 8 oz. Package of Cream Cheese (or Neufchatel Cheese)
• 1/4 Cup Sugar
• 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla
• 1/4 Teaspoon Lemon Juice

How it's done: 


1. Preheat your oven to 400*F, and grease or paper your muffin tins. (If you grease, your muffins will rise more and be fuller looking.)

2. Mix up your cake mix with the eggs and oil. Set aside.

3. Combine softened cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice until well blended. 


4. Pour 2 Tablespoons of carrot cake batter into muffin tins. Top with heaping tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture, and then cover with remaining batter. (You want the muffin tins 3/4 of the way full - or more if you're like me.)

5. Tap your muffin tin lightly on the counter to release any air bubbles.


6. Sprinkle the top with course white sparkling sugar, because who doesn't love a little extra sugar??

7. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Baking times will vary. Once baked, let them rest in the muffin tin for 5 more minutes before moving them to a cooling rack. Enjoy!

These little gems are perfect when eaten still warm, although they are just as good when they've had some time to cool too! 

Cream Cheese Crepes with Blueberry Compote

♥♥♥ Advanced

I can remember being nine years old the first time I ever tried a crepe. It was a cream cheese crepe with a strawberry syrup on top, topped off with whipped cream.  I can remember thinking that I would never eat pancakes ever again as long as I lived. To my dismay, many breakfast restaurants don't offer cream cheese crepes for breakfast. I've spent many years searching for a breakfast place close to home that serve my favorite dish, and while I've found a few, they just aren't ever as good as I remember.

I hadn't really considered making them until the other night when I was watching some show on Food Network (one of the ten shows that Bobby Flay is in) and Bobby Flay suggested that very few people could make a "perfect crepe" because they are so temperamental.  Well Bobby Flay, I'm here to say you're wrong. A crepe doesn't have to be perfect!  It doesn't have to be perfectly browned, or even the same exact size as the others on the plate... it just has to taste good. So, I dedicate this post to Bobby Flay, someone I generally admire (even when he's wrong).

I'll be posting a fruit compote recipe here, because it's a good recipe to have all by itself.  You can use nearly any fruit, and can use them in so many ways. I prefer breakfasts, and over ice cream, but you can use them nearly everywhere.



What you'll need:


For the Crepes - 
1 Cup Flour
1 1/2 Cup Milk
2 Eggs
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Oil (I used vegetable oil)

For the Filling-
8 oz. Cream Cheese (One bar)
2/3 Cups of Powdered Sugar
1/2 Teaspoons of Vanilla
1/2 Teaspoon Lemon Zest - or Lemon Juice

How it's done: 

1. Beat your eggs in a large bowl. Add in the flour, milk, sugar, salt, and oil. Blend until combined.  I just left the mixer (with whisk attachment) on while I went and mixed up my filling.

2. In medium size bowl, blend cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice. Mix until combined and creamy. Set aside.

3. Begin making your blueberry compote (Or any fruit compote!).

4. Heat a 6-8 inch skillet with 1 teaspoon oil over medium-high heat. Once heated, remove the pan from the heat, drop in 2-3 Tablespoons of crepe batter.  Tilt the pan in circles to cover entire base of pan, and return to heat. Leave the crepe to cook for 45 seconds to 1 minute. Use a spatula to turn it over, and cook  for 30 more seconds.

5. Once removed from the pan, put your crepe on a plate covered with paper towel.  Your crepe will expire some so your paper towel might be wet when you're all done.  That's okay, the heat and expiration make your crepes really nice and soft, which makes them easy to roll!

6. After all of your crepes have been cooked, you can start to fill them and roll them up! (Roll the pretty side of the crepe outward of course!) I had 6 in. crepes, and i filled with three tablespoons of cream cheese mixture, but you can use as much or as little as you would like.


7. Top with your fruit compote and you're done! It's as simple as that, and they taste fantastic!

Enjoy!