Cheesecake Cupcakes

The theme for this week is to use up as much of the house warming party leftover food as possible.  It takes some creative repurposing so we'll see what I come up with.  The first item that I made tonight were Cheesecake Cupcakes to get rid of some of those nilla wafers that we had leftover from the chocolate fountain (which, omg was awesome!). 

The recipe comes from a site that I discovered during my engineering days at UC.  If you look at the original recipe, the formatting for the instructions is a little different than a traditional cookbook but makes so much sense and takes up so little room.

Cheesecake Cupcakes
(Source: Cooking for Engineers)
Serves 12

Ingredients

• 1 lb cream cheese, softened
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 c sugar
• 12 vanilla wafer cookies (such as Nilla Wafers)
• topping of choice - cherry pie filling, strawberry pie filling, blueberry pie filling, mandarin oranges, chocolate kisses or chips, nuts, etc...choose your poison ;)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line a muffin tin with aluminum foil muffin cups.
3. Place a vanilla wafer cookie in the bottom of each cup.
4. In a mixing bowl, cream together cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and eggs.  Let rest and disperse air bubbles by tapping mixture.  (This will prevent the cake from "falling" after you remove it from the oven.)
5. Fill cups about 3/4 full with cream cheese mixture.
6. Top with topping then bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.
7. Take out of oven and remove cups from pan.  Place on a cooling rack until completely cooled then transfer to refrigerator.  Refrigerate until ready to serve. 

Grandma B.'s Brownies

I asked Mary Lynn to make this classic family recipe as one of our open house desserts.  Chris' Grandma B. was a fabulous baker.  Her desserts were delectable and the sweet tooth was definitely passed onto Chris.  I used to think that boxed brownie mix was good...until there was this.  It was love at first bite.  Sometimes Mary Lynn will even substitute some peanut butter chips or add peanut butter for that nutty taste that Chris goes gaga for :P. 

Sorry, no pictures at the moment but next time they're made I'll be sure to snap a photo to add to this entry!

Grandma B.'s Brownies
(Source: Helen B., Chris' grandmother)

Ingredients
Brownies

• 1 c sugar
• 1 stick margarine
• 1 can Hershey syrup (not the stuff in the plastic bottle)
• 4 eggs
• 1 c flour

Frosting

• 1 stick margarine
• 1 c sugar
• 2 Tbsp milk
• 1 c chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. To make brownies, beat together sugar, margarine, and can of hershey syrup.  Then beat eggs.  Once well mixed, add flour.
3. Pour brownie batter into a greased 13"x9" pan and bake for 30-35 minutes.  If toothpick comes out of center clean, it is done.
4. While brownies are baking, prepare frosting.  In a saucepan, stir together margarine, sugar, milk.  Bring to a boil for 2 minutes then add chocolate chips.  Beat until smooth then pour over warm brownies.

Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip

This dip was included in our recent open house menu.  Who can argue about something creamy, cheesy, and gooey?!  Oh and yes, there is spinach and artichoke so count that towards your veggie quota for the day ;).  Once you make this dip, you'll be so happy that you can make it home instead of buying it at the restaurant!  It's so easy and so good!  I've found that you can just use the "italian blend" cheese instead of individual cheese and it works great (and it's cheaper to not have to buy 3 types of cheese individually!).  I heat mine up then throw it in the crockpot to make sure it's nice and hot throughout the party :).

Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip
(Source: Modified from All Recipes)

PREP TIME	15 Min
COOK TIME	25 Min
READY IN	40 Min

SERVINGS 12

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened (low fat OK) 
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise (low fat OK) 
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese  
• 1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
• 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (or instead of above 3, just use 3/4 cup Italian Style shredded cheese)
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder 
• salt and pepper to taste
• Dash of hot sauce 
• 1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, mayonnaise, cheese(s), garlic, basil, garlic salt, onion powder, salt and pepper. Gently stir in artichoke hearts and spinach.
2. Microwave until mixture is hot, stirring occasionally.
3. Transfer the mixture to a crockpot on "warm" setting.  Turn off occasionally or add water or additional mayo over time if mixture starts to become too dry.  Serve with tortilla chips, pita chips, and/or celery.