Cookie Butter Popcorn

Ingredients

• 16 cups popcorn (air popped plain popcorn, I did 1/2 cup seeds +TB oil)
• 16 oz candy coating 
• 3 tbsp cookie butter (found at Trader Joes...Biscoff)
• 1/2 cup candy melts (colored)
• 1/2 cup M&M's
• Optional : Sprinkles

Instructions

1. Pop your popcorn and place in a large bowl.  Next melt your vanilla candy coating in the microwave according to the package directions.  Then add the cookie butter to the melted chocolate.
2. Stir until combined.  Drizzle the coating over the popcorn.  Stir until evenly coated.  Mix in m&m's and then spread out on wax paper.
3. Melt your colored candy melts in the microwave and then drizzle on top of the popcorn.  You can always add a few drops of food coloring to white chocolate chips as well.
4. Top with sprinkles.  Enjoy!

Lazy Cookie Cake

• 1 box yellow or white cake mix
• 2 eggs beaten
• 5 tablespoons melted butter
• 2 cups minin chocolate chips
• mix together
• put in a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for 20 mins

Angel Food Cake

INGREDIENTS

• 1¾ cups sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup cake flour
• 12 egg whites, room temperature
• ⅓ cup warm water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1½ teaspoons cream of tartar

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Place sugar in a food processor and blend for two minutes, until sugar becomes very fine.
2. In a small-medium bowl, combine cake flour, salt and half of the fine sugar. Sift together and set aside.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
4. Combine egg whites, water, vanilla and cream of tartar in a large bowl. Whisk ingredients together for 2 minutes by hand until well combined. At this point, switch to a hand mixer or pour egg white mixture into bowl of a stand mixer and using a whisk attachment. Gradually add remaining half of sugar and Beat egg white mixture until medium peaks can be formed.
5. Sprinkle some of the flour mixture over the top of egg white mixture. Gently stir in. Repeat until all of the flour mixture has been stirred evenly in.
6. Spoon mixture into an ungreased tube pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 minutes until golden brown in color and cake is cooked through.
7. Invert cake pan and cool upside down (cake remaining in pan) until completely cooled.
8. Once cooled, and carefully remove from pan, carefully scraping edges from sides.

Smores Fudge Bars

makes 25 bars

Ingredients

Crust

• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• ½ cup butter, melted
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ½ tsp salt

Fudge layer

• 2 cups milk chocolate chips
• 14 oz sweetened condensed milk

Fluff Layer

• ¾ cup sugar
• ½ cup light corn syrup
• ¼ cup water
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 egg whites
• ¼ tsp cream of tartar
• 1½ tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. Line a 9x9 baking pan with foil. Set aside.
3. Mix all the ingredients for your crust together and press evenly into pan.
4. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
5. Next make your chocolate filling. In a medium sauce pan combine the milk chocolate and sweetened condense milk together over medium-low heat and stir until melted. Pour immediately onto crust.

Fluff

1. Combine sugar, corn syrup, water and salt in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Boil together until a candy thermometer reads 240°.
2. While mixture is boiling beat 2 egg whites and cream of tartar together until soft peaks form.
3. When syrup is ready, turn mixer onto low and drizzle the syrup along the side of the bowl slowly combining it into the egg whites.
4. When all the syrup has been added turn mixer up to medium high and beat for 7-8 minutes until thick and glossy. When there is about one minute left add in the vanilla.
5. Spread about 1½ - 2 cups of the Fluff on top of the chocolate layer.
6. Turn oven onto broil and place pan under broiler for 1 minute or until the top of the marshmallow layer gets lightly golden.
7. Cut into squares when ready to serve.

Notes

Store bars airtight at room temperature for up to 2 days or refrigerated for up to 5 days.

Store the remaining Fluff at in an airtight container, refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.

recipe for Fluff adapted from Marshmallow Madness

Original recipe can be found HERE

Cookie Butter Popcorn

Ingredients:

• 16 cups air popped plain popcorn (I did 1/2 cup seeds + 1 TB oil)
• 1 16 oz pkg Krogers vanilla candy coating (or candyquik)
• 3 TB cookie butter (found at Trader Joes ... Biscoff or Peanut butter will work too)
• 1/2 cup colored candy melts
• 1 pkg m&m's 
• Sprinkles

Directions:

1. Pop your popcorn and place in a large bowl. Next melt your vanilla candy coating in the microwave according to the package directions. Then add the cookie butter to the melted chocolate. 2. Stir until combined. Drizzle the coating over the popcorn. Stir until evenly coated. Mix in m&m's and then spread out on wax paper.
3. Melt your colored candy melts in the microwave and then drizzle on top of the popcorn. You can always add a few drops of food coloring to white chocolate chips as well.
4. Top with sprinkles.

Notes: The original recipe found HERE

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites

Ingredients:

1 15-oz can pumpkin

3 eggs

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp salt

1.5 lbs cream cheese, at room temperature

for graham cracker crust:

18 graham crackers (2 sleeves)

1 stick butter, melted

1/4 cup sugar

*whipped cream to top

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl crush graham crackers with your hands. Add sugar and butter and mix well. Press graham cracker crumbs onto a lined (parchment paper or silpat) jelly roll pan. Bake for 5 minutes until toasty. Remove and reduce oven temperature to 325.

Mix together the pumpkin, eggs, brown sugar, cream and vanilla in a large bowl.

In the bowl of a KitchenAid, beat together the cream cheese, granulated sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and ginger. Beat until light and fluffy then slowly pour in pumpkin mixture. Continue beating until mixture is smooth and no lumps remain.

Pour batter onto baked crust and bake for 50 minutes until edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. Let cool completely before cutting into small squares and topping with whipped cream.

Notes: Original recipe can be found HERE 

Salted Golden Caramel Bars

Ingredients

U.S.

Metric

Conversion chart

• Vegetable oil , for greasing dishes
• 8 cup(s) puffed rice cereal
• 3/4 cup(s) corn syrup
• 2/3 cup(s) sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup(s) packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup(s) granulated sugar
• 4 tablespoon(s) unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon(s) sea salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup(s) dark chocolate chips, melted

---

Directions

1. Liberally oil a large mixing bowl and a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Place cereal in bowl and set it and dish aside.
2. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine corn syrup, condensed milk, sugars, butter, and sea salt. Allow mixture to come to a boil, while stirring continuously, until a light golden brown, 5 to 6 minutes.
3. Remove mixture from heat, stir in vanilla, and immediately pour over cereal. Stir to completely mix, and then evenly spread in prepared baking pan.
4. Set aside to let cool, about 45 minutes. Invert and release from pan. Drizzle with melted chocolate and refrigerate until set, about 15 minutes. Cut into 15 bars.

Oatmeal Cake

For some reason, the oatmeal cake already on the blog is not the Wadsworth family favorite.  So, I called Michele, and she gave me the original recipe. Here it is:

Oatmeal Cake

1 ½ c. boiling water
1 c. rolled oats
½ c. shortening or butter
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. white sugar
2 eggs, well beaten
1 ½ c. flour
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt

Pour boiling water over oats & let set until cool. Cream sugar with butter and eggs until fluffy.
Add oats and water mixture. Sift flour with dry ingredients. Pour into greased and floured 9 x
13 pan. Bake at 350 for 35-45 min. Frost while hot. Broil for 1-2 minutes (optional).

½ c. butter
 1 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. evap. Milk
1 c. coconut
1 c. chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts)
1 tsp. vanilla

Melt butter and add remaining ingredients.

The Best Caramel Dip

1/2 cup salted butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar (light or dark)
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add the brown sugar, corn syrup, and sweetened condensed milk, stirring to combine. Stir constantly until mixture comes to a light bubbly boil.  Remove from heat right away and add the vanilla. Stir to combine. Serve warm or at room temperature with apple slices and pretzels or drizzle over ice cream.

Notes:
Don’t let the caramel come to a full, rolling boil. Just let it get nice and bubbly and then take it off the heat. It will get too hard and thick to scoop if you cook it too long.

I found the recipe HERE.

Softbatch Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are seriously the best Chocolate Chip Cookies ever! We have made them two times in one week. I found the recipe HERE

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup cream cheese, softened (use cream cheese in a block or spreadable, don't use fat-free, light or whipped)
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch salt, optional and to taste
2 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks (I used 1 cup chips and 1 1/4 cups chunks)

DIRECTIONS:

1. To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, cream cheese (measure it by smooshing it into a 1/4-cup measure), sugars, egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until well-creamed, light and fluffy, about 5 minutes (or use an electric hand mixer and beat for at least 7 minutes).
2. Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, optional salt, and mix until just combined, about 1 minute.
3. Add chocolate chips and chunks, and beat momentarily to incorporate, or fold in by hand.
4. Using a medium 2-inch cookie scoop, form heaping mounds (I made 28). Place mounds on a large plate, flatten mounds slightly with your palm, cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 5 days, before baking. Do not bake with warm dough because cookies will spread and bake thinner and flatter.
5. Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat Non-Stick Baking Mat or spray with cooking spray and place mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart (I bake 8 cookies per sheet). Bake for 8 to 9 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just beginning to set, even if slightly undercooked, pale and glossy in the center. Do not bake longer than 10 minutes as cookies will firm up as they cool (The cookies shown in the photos were baked with dough that had been chilled overnight, allowed to come to room temp for 15 minutes, and were baked for 8 minutes, with trays rotated at the 4-minute mark. They have chewy edges with soft, pillowy centers). Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a rack to finish cooling.
6. Cookies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored airtight in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.

Frozen Strawberries and Cream Dessert

• 4 graham cracker sheets
• ½ cup pecans
• 10 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup flour
• ⅓ cup brown sugar
• 2 egg whites
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• Juice from 1 lemon
• 4 ounce cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups coarsely chopped strawberries

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 and prepare a 9×13 by spraying with cooking spray. Set aside.
2. In a food processor, combine graham crackers and pecans until finely ground.
3. Melt butter and combine with crumbs, flour, and brown sugar.
4. Spread mixture in the bottom of a parchment lined pan and cook for 20 minutes, stirring halfway.
5. Take out the crumb mixture and let cool.
6. In a kitchenaid, or using a hand mixer, beat egg whites and sugar on medium speed for 3 minutes. Add heavy cream and mix for 6 minutes.
7. Add juice from one lemon and cream cheese and mix until creamy.
8. Gently fold in chopped strawberries.
9. Press half of the crumb mixture into the bottom of your 9×13 pan. Spread strawberries and cream mixture on top and sprinkle the rest of your crumb mixture on top.
10. Cover with aluminum foil and freeze for at least 3 hours but best if overnight. I also found that if you let it sit out 10 minutes before cutting it is easier to remove the bars.

I really love this dessert, it's perfect for a summer treat. I found it HERE

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Roll-Ups

1 loaf (16 oz) thinly sliced white bread, crusts removed
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 cup sugar
1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup melted, butter

Directions:

Flatten bread with a rolling-pin.  In a bowl, combine cream cheese and confectioners' sugar.  In another bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon; set aside.  Spread about 1 tablespoon of cheese mixture on each slice of bread.  Roll-up.  jelly roll style.  Dip in melted butter, then in cinnamon-sugar.  Place on an ungreased baking sheet.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until golden brown.  Yield:  16 roll-ups.

Chocolate Lasagna

 Ingredients
1 package regular Oreo Cookies (not double stuff) -about 36 cookies
6 Tablespoon butter, melted
8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons cold milk
12 ounce tub Cool Whip, divided
2- 3.9 ounce package chocolate Instant Pudding
3 1/4 cups cold milk
1 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips

Directions
1. Begin by crushing 36 oreo cookies.  I used my food processor for this, but you could also place them in a large ziplock bag and crush them with a rolling pin.  When the Oreos have turned into fine crumbs, you are done.

2. Transfer the Oreo crumbs to a large bowl.  Stir in 6 tablespoons melted butter and use the fork to incorporate the butter into the cookie crumbs.  When the butter is distributed, transfer the mixture to a 9x13 inch baking dish.  Press the crumbs into the bottom of the pan.  Place the pan in the refrigerator while you work on the additional layers.

3.  Mix the cream cheese with a mixer until light and fluffy.  Add in 2 Tablespoons of milk, and sugar, and mix well.  Stir in 1 and 1/4 cups Cool Whip.  Spread this mixture over the crust. 

4. In a bowl, combine chocolate instant pudding with 3 and 1/4 cups cold milk.  Whisk for several minutes until the pudding starts to thicken.  Use a spatula to spread the mixture that the pudding can firm up further.

5. Spread the remanining Cool Whip over the top.  Sprinkle mini chocolate ships evenly over the top.  Place in the freezer for 1 hour or the refrigerator for 4 hours before serving.

Best Cocoa Brownies

These brownies are chewy, fudgy and chocolatey.  I can't get enough of them.  I also like them because they only use cocoa powder, which I always have on hand.  I found them at Mel's Kitchen Cafe who adapted them from Smitten Kitchen.

Ingredients

• 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks or 5 ounces) butter
• 1 1/4 cups (9 7/8 ounces) sugar
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (2 7/8 ounces) unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup (2 3/8 ounces) all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F. Line the bottom and sides of an 8×8-inch square baking pan* with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides. Lightly grease with cooking spray and set aside.
2. Combine the butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a medium microwave-wafe bowl. Microwave for one minute intervals, stirring in between, until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth. Set the mixture aside until it cools slightly (is warm to the touch not hot). It will look gritty but it will become smooth once the other ingredients are added.
3. Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes with the wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. Spread evenly in the lined pan.
4. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center emerges slightly moist with batter, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack. After the brownies are cooled completely, I like to throw the pan in the refrigerator - cold brownies cut much easier and taste heavenly. Lift up the ends of the parchment or foil liner, and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Cut into squares and serve.

*These can be can be doubled and baked in a 9x13 pan.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Brownies

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Brownies

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8 X 8 pan.
• In a medium bowl, stir the flour, baking powder and salt together with a wire whisk and set aside.
• In a mixer, cream the butter and peanut butter until smooth. Add the sugars and mix until combined.
• Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.
• Add the dry ingredients and mix on low until combined.
• Stir in the chocolate chips.
• Spread in the pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until done.

Notes: I baked these for 32 minutes but they really needed a few more for the center to be completely done. So to avoid the top turning too brown, place a sheet of aluminum over the pan about halfway through baking. Or you could bake them in a 9 X 13 inch pan for a few minutes less and get more brownies too.

Frosting
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
Milk

• Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second intervals until smooth.
• Stir in the peanut butter until completely combined and set aside.
• In a mixer, beat the butter until smooth.
• Add the sugar and mix until combined.
• Add the chocolate and peanut butter mixture and mix until completely blended.
• You can add a teaspoon at a time of milk if you would like the frosting creamier.
• When the brownies are cool, spread the frosting on top.

Recipe found at bakerella.com

Monster Cookies

1 1/2 cups creamy or chunky peanut butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated white sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup M&M's plain chocolate candies

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick spray, or line with parchment paper or a silpat mats.

2. In a large bowl, combine the peanut butter with the sugars and butter. Use an electric mixer to mix until well combined. Mix in the eggs and vanilla. Mix in the oats and baking soda. Then stir in the chips and M&M's.

3. Drop the cookies by heaping spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets. If you'd like your cookies to look pretty (like the photo), dot a few extra M&M's and chocolate chips on each mound of dough before baking.

4. Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Do not overbake. Cool for 5 minutes on cookie sheets until cookies are set. Transfer to wire racks; cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Tips:

*If you are preparing this cookie as gluten-free, just be sure to make sure you are using brands of the following items that are known to be GF: peanut butter, vanilla, oats, chocolate chips and M&M's.
*If you'd prefer to make giant cookies, use an ice cream scoop instead to scoop the dough onto the cookie sheet. They'll need to bake for 18 to 20 minutes, and you'll end up with about 22 cookies.

Source: RecipeGirl.com

School Lunch Peanut Butter Bars

These are a good little treat that my kids love I found the recipe here.

School Lunch Peanut Butter Bars

1 1/2 C Flour

1¼ tsp. Salt

½ tsp. Baking Soda

¾ C Butter

¾ C Sugar

¾ C Brown Sugar

1 ½ tsp. Vanilla

1 1/2 C Creamy Peanut Butter (split)

2 Eggs

1 ½ C Quick Oats

Frosting:

½ C Butter (1 stick)

3 ½ C Powdered Sugar

2 T Cocoa

¼ C Milk (I use whatever I have in the fridge)

1 tsp. Vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small mixing bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and salt. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, sugars, 3/4 C peanut butter, eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy. Gradually add dry ingredients, just until incorporated. Then, stir in the oats. Spread onto a greased 11 x 15 Jelly Roll Pan (cookie sheet). Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes.

The frosting is a two step process. First, whip the remaning ¾ C Creamy Peanut Butter until it becomes lighter colored and fluffy. Carefully spread the whipped peanut butter over the pan cookie.

Then, add butter to a small sauce pan and melt the butter. Add the milk and cocoa. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. Heat just until boiling. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Then, gradually add the powdered sugar. Stir until thickened. Pour over the peanut butter and gently spread over the cookie. Cool completely, and slice into bar cookies.

Brownie Pudding

The other night I was craving something with chocolate and I found this recipe HERE. It is very chocolaty and rich, it tasted great with some vanilla ice cream.   

Brownie Pudding

Ingredients

• 2 sticks butter, melted
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder (I prefer Hershey's Special Dark)
• 1/2 cup flour
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips

How to Make

1. Preheat oven to 325°
2. Melt butter in microwave safe dish and set aside.
3. Spray a 2 qt baking dish with cooking spray.
4. In a large mixing bowl beat both sugars and eggs for 10 minutes on medium-high speed until mixture thickens.
5. Turn mixer to low. Add in vanilla and sift cocoa and flour into mixture, stirring until just combined.
6. With mixer still on low pour in melted butter.
7. Stir in chocolate chips.
8. Spread batter into prepared baking dish. Place baking dish into a larger dish and fill larger dish with hot water, coming halfway up the side of brownie dish.
9. Bake for 1 hour. Edges will appear set, but a toothpick will not come out clean.
10. Let cool about 20-30 minutes and serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Squares

These were delicious, and I will definitely be made again, especially since my sweet tooth is back! I saw this recipe on several blogs. The original recipe is from The Essential Chocolate Chip Cookbook.

Crust
1 & 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips (I didn't have mini, so I used regular sized.)

Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter a 9″-square baking pan. Line pan with parchment paper, leaving enough to extend over the sides. Butter the parchment paper. (I did not use parchment paper, and I had no problems.)

Combine graham cracker crumbs and butter until crumbs are moistened. Stir in chocolate chips. Press crust mixture into bottom of pan. Bake for 6 minutes. Set pan on wire rack to cool.

Cookie Dough
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Using an electric mixer, mix butter, brown sugar, sugar, salt, and vanilla extract at medium speed until smooth. Decrease mixer speed to low and add flour. Mix just until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips. Set aside.

Filling
10 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar just until smooth. Add egg and vanilla extract, beating just until blended. Pour batter into baked crust. Drop cookie dough by teaspoonfuls over the top of the filling.

Bake about 30-35 minutes, or until set. Transfer to wire rack.

(I totally forgot about the chocolate topping... they were just fine without it. I am sure it would make it extra delicious.)
For chocolate topping, melt 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips in a double boiler or in the microwave. (Tip: put the chocolate chips into a zipper bag and heat on 50% power for a few minutes. Cut the corner off the bag and squeeze the bag to make drizzling less messy). Use a teaspoon to drizzle chocolate over top of bars. Cool bars in pan completely, about an hour. (Stick the bars in the freezer for 5 minutes to set quickly if you're in a hurry).

Using the edges of the parchment paper, remove bars from pan. Cut into bars (clean the knife after each cut) and serve.

Choco-dot Pumpkin Cake

2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1/1/2 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp allspice
¼ tsp ginger
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1- 1 lb. can (2 cups) pumpkin
1 cup cooking oil
1 cup All-Bran Cereal
1 cup semi –sweet chocolate chips
1 cup coarsely chopped nuts

Mix together flour, baking powder, soda, salt, spices and sugar. Set aside. In large mixing bowl beat eggs until foamy. Add pumpkin and cooking oil. Add dry ingredients, mixing only until combined. Stir in chocolate morsels and nuts. Spread evenly in ungreased 10 x 4 in tube pan. Bake at 350 about 1 hour 10 minutes or until tooth pick comes out clean. Cool completely before removing. Drizzle with confectioners’ sugar glaze if desired.