Ain't joshin' ya neither. Nor kidding. Nor yankin' your chain.
This is serious business, heavy-duty cheesecake. Not for the faint of heart. It's not so rich and dense in the knock-ya-dead, sleep for an hour after and unglue your jaw with water and coffee, but it packs its own sort of punch.
The creamy, crunchy, salty, sweet, nutty, fruit, caramely kind. 

Peanut Butter Cheesecake

Crust:
1 c ww flour
½ c cocoa
1/3 c sugar
½ c butter
½ tsp vanilla
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon

Whisk together dry ingredients. Melt butter, mix with vanilla, and drizzle over the dry. Mix gently until moisture has touched everything, then empty into the base of a greased spring form pan. I used an 8” pan, but 9 or 10” would work as well, simply resulting in a thinner cake.

Parbake at 400º for 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and set aside until cool to the touch.

Peanut butter filling:
½ c peanut butter
1 lb cream cheese
¾ c heavy cream
½ c sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp salt

Plain filling:
1 lb cream cheese
8 oz ricotta
½ c heavy cream
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp salt

For either filling: soften cream cheese to room temperature. Beat it with sugar, then add ricotta or peanut butter, and once incorporated and smooth add the eggs, salt, and vanilla.

To finish the filling, either fold in the cream or beat—beaten will begin to whip the cream, making the cake a bit less dense.

Pour filling onto crust.

Roasted Banana Topping:
2-3 bananas, sliced
¼- ½ c brown sugar

Arrange bananas on top of uncooked filling as desired.

Bake at 450ºF for 10 minutes covered, then reduce temperature to 350ºF and bake for 1 hour. Let cool for at least 1 hour before serving, ideally refrigerate 2-3, until chilled.

This bread comes in many forms, but as I am partial to both soft, doughy loaves and dark, bitter chocolate, I choose to make my babka in a loaf pan, swirled, no extra frills. Just dough, butter, and chocolate.

Dough:

1 ½ c water or milk

2 tsp yeast

¼ c sugar

¼ c butter

pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

5+ c flour

Filling:

4 ½ oz chocolate

¼ c butter

1/3 c sugar

1 tsp vanilla

½ tsp cinnamon



Dough: Stir yeast into warm water or milk. Add sugar, then let rest for ten minutes.

Mix 1 c flour, salt, and vanilla into the yeast. Once combined, add softened or melted butter, then the egg. Finish by stirring in flour until the dough no longer clings to the spoon or your hands.

Let rise in a warmish place for two or three hours or twenty minutes, and then refrigerate for four to twenty four hours.

Knead dough with extra flour for five to ten minutes, and then press and pull it into a rectangle. Roll the dough until it is roughly ten by fourteen inches.

Filling: Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler or the microwave. Stir until fully combined, and then add the sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. Allow to cool for a bit/refrigerate until it has set a bit. Spread the chocolate mixture evenly over the rectangle of dough, leaving a small clean edge. Roll the dough tightly into a log, then twist and place gently into a loaf pan.

Cover and set aside for twenty minutes.

Bake at 375ºF for 30 minutes.

Optional: Brush warm loaf with simple syrup (I used rosemary honey!).

As the weather (at least ostensibly) cools down, toast, oatmeal, and hot gooey cookies all sounds pretty great. Toasting oats before adding them to the cookie dough as well as grinding some of said oats into the flour of the dough keeps the flavor from being hidden, and results in a crispy, chewy, caramely, lovely cookie.

Toasted Oat Cookies

1 ½ c whole rolled oats, toasted

            Divide into 1 c ground and ½ c whole

1 tsp baking powder

1 c butter

7/8 c sugar

1 egg + 1 yolk

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp salt

½ tsp cinnamon

1/3 c ground flax

1/3 c whole wheat flour

1 ½ c mix-ins (I used dried cranberries, chocolate chips, and toasted pecans)

 
Dough:

Beat together softened or melted butter, sugar, and eggs. Add vanilla, salt, and cinnamon.

In a separate bowl, whisk flax, flour, and baking powder. Stir this into the butter/sugar/egg. Once just combined gently mix in the goodies.

Refrigerate dough, tightly covered, for at least one hour.

To bake:

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Scoop into 1” balls and flatten slightly, spacing 2” apart.

Confetti is fun but stupidly messy, the inedible younger cousin of the piñata. So why not put it in cupcakes instead, since eating is better than vacuuming. Homemade treats are also better than those out of a box, so these cupcakes are a super birthday gift.

Funfetti Cupcakes

9.26.14


8 tbs/ ¼ lb/4 oz butter, melted

1 egg plus 1 white


vanilla and salt


2 c flour


1 ½ tsp baking powder

1 c sugar

3/4 c milk

2 tbs (or more) sprinkles

 

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Whisk together dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, beat eggs and sugar into melted butter. Once combined, add vanilla and salt.

Alternate adding dry ingredients and milk into butter mixture until just mixed. Pour into 10 cupcake liners.

Bake for 20 minutes.

I frosted this batch with a brown sugar buttercream, which was sweet but not too sweet, a little crunchy, and molasses-y enough to offset the sweet white cake, but feel free to top them however you like.

 

Butternut Squash Pie

1 pie crust
(I make my own, based on Baking Illustrated’s recipe)
http://food52.com/recipes/24966-cook-s-illustrated-foolproof-pie-crust

Filling:
2 c butternut squash puree

1/3 c brown sugar

1 large egg

1/3 c milk (I used coconut)

1 ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice

or ¼ tsp each: nutmeg, cardamom, ginger, cloves + ½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp vanilla

¼ tsp salt

To roast squash, cut in half lengthwise and set facedown on a tray and bake at 400ºF for 1 hour. Allow to cool. Seeds can be removed before or after roasting depending on preference.

Puree squash flesh. I found a medium sized butternut squash to yield just over three cups of puree.

Roll out piecrust, set in refrigerator or freezer until filling is complete.

Mix together butternut puree, egg, sugar, vanilla, salt, and spices, then milk. Pour into piecrust.

Bake at 400ºF for 45 minutes or until set.

Brownie Bites

Makes 16 mini muffin-sized brownies

Batter:


1/2 c butter, browned


3/4 c whole-wheat flour

1/3 c cocoa


pinch of salt


1 1/2 tsp baking powder


2/3 c white sugar


1 egg + 1 yolk


1 tsp vanilla


 

Base:


1/4 c flaked coconut, toasted

2 tbs brown sugar


1/2 tsp cinnamon


Butter for pans

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Toast coconut flakes, toss with brown sugar and cinnamon. Butter tins, and press in 1/2-1 tsp of coconut mixture into pan.

Whisk together flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder, and sugar. In a separate bowl, beat egg and yolk, add vanilla, and then stream in cooled brown butter.

Lightly mix the wet ingredients into the dry, until just mixed. Divide between tins, bake at 350º F for 12-15 minutes, depending on preference.