We have a drawer at work filled with snacks that help get us through the day. There are usually choices like pretzels, granola bars, nuts, chocolate, etc, but you’ll always find Trader Joe-Joe’s Vanilla Sandwich Crème Cookies (with real vanilla bean speckles!) because we’re completely addicted! I usually munch on one type of snack for a couple of weeks until I get sick of it and then move onto something else, but we just can’t get enough of these cookies. You have to go get a box if you haven’t tried them yet, and don’t go thinking you can substitute Golden Oreos or the brand from Whole Foods – we’ve tried them all and they’re not nearly as good!

So, when it was time to bring in a treat for Sima’s birthday, I knew I wanted to use Vanilla Joe-Joes! Sima requested cheesecake, so that made things pretty easy. I made a crust with the Joe-Joe’s and also stirred some cookies into the cheesecake itself. Then I topped the cheesecake with strawberries, spread on a layer of whipped cream, and garnished my creation with a few more Joe-Joe’s. Yes, there’s an entire box of cookies in this cheesecake and I wouldn’t have it any other way – this is the perfect celebratory dessert!

Vanilla Joe-Joe Strawberry Cheesecake
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Crust:
24 Trader Joe-Joe Vanilla Sandwich Crème Cookies, pulsed in the food processor into crumbs (2 1/4 cups crumbs)
3 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Cheesecake:
4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
12 coarsely chopped Trader Joe-Joe Vanilla Sandwich Crème Cookies (I cut mine in fourths, 2 cups)

Strawberries and Whipped Cream Topping:
1 pound strawberries, hulled and sliced (3 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 cup heavy cream
6 coarsely chopped Trader Joe-Joe Vanilla Sandwich Crème Cookies (I cut mine in fourths)

Directions:
To make the crust, heat oven to 350˚F. Mix cookie crumbs and melted butter in a medium bowl. Transfer the mixture to a greased 9-inch springform pan, and press into a uniform layer over the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Cook crust for 10 minutes at 350˚F.

To make the cheesecake, combine the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl and beat on medium-high speed with a mixer for 3 minutes or until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Blend in the vanilla. Gently stir in chopped cookies. Pour into prepared crust and bake at 350˚F for 60 minutes or until edges are set and middle is slightly wobbly. Cool to room temperature, about one hour. Place in the refrigerator for several hours or until chilled.

To make the topping, mix strawberries and 1/4 cup sugar in a large bowl. Let the berries macerate for an hour at room temperature. Meanwhile, place cream and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in a bowl and use an electric mixer with a whisk attachment and beat until stiff peaks form. Immediately before serving, evenly spread strawberries over chilled cheesecake with a slotted spoon (note – if assembling the night before I suggest not macerating the strawberries so no juice runs out). Spread whipped cream on top of the strawberries and evenly sprinkle with chopped cookies. Makes 20 servings.

Nutrition: 400 calories, 30.0g fat, 1.3g fiber, 6.2g protein per serving
Cost: $0.62 per serving

I went to a super fun blogger event on Saturday – Shannon’s annual cookie swap! Last year I made cookies inspired by my very favorite ice cream, Ben and Jerry’s Chubby Hubby, and this year I wanted to incorporate Nestle’s Flipz White Fudge Coated Pretzels aka crack that I can never buy because I’ll finish the whole bag. I thought the pretzels would go well with chocolate cookies bars and then I spontaneously threw some graham crackers in the mix that were left over from this Caramel Apple Cheesecake Pie (yum – the perfect apple treat, I highly recommend the recipe!) and finished them off with some drizzled chocolate.  I really liked the contrast of the soft chocolate cookie and the crunchy goodies on top.

It was so fun catching up with everyone. Our mouth watering spread included Bridget’s Lemon Ricotta Cookies, Cara’s Peanut Butter Butterscotch Rice Krispy Treats, Elina’s Almond Macaroons with Chocolate Ganache, Jen’s Meyer Lemon Shortbread, and Shannon’s Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Cookies. They were all fabulous and I was on a delightful sugar high the rest of the day. I’m already looking forward to next year – big thanks to Shannon for hosting!

Pretzel and Graham Cracker Chocolate Bars
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup baking cocoa
2 teaspoons espresso powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped graham crackers
2 cups coarsely chopped white chocolate covered pretzels
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons heavy cream

Directions:
Heat oven to 350˚F. Place butter and sugars in a large bowl and beat with a mixer until creamed. Mix in eggs, vanilla, and melted chocolate until smooth. Mix in flour, cocoa, espresso powder, baking soda, and salt. Spread dough evenly in a greased 13×9-inch pan. Bake at 350˚F for 15 minutes, then remove from oven, and gently press graham cracker and pretzel pieces into the dough. Return to oven and bake an additional 5 to 8 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Let cool to room temperature, about an hour. Place chocolate chips and cream in a bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute, stirring after 30 seconds; mix until smooth. Drizzle over bars and cut into 24 rectangles.

Nutrition: 223 calories, 11.9g fat, 1.5g fiber, 3.0g protein per bar
Cost: $0.26 per bar

Is everyone ready for the holidays? We finished our Christmas shopping today and our cards are all ready to be sent out tomorrow. Christmas has definitely snuck up on us this year though and I haven’t had the chance to do any holiday baking yet. I hope I can squeeze some in soon because there’s not much time left!

I do want to share some treats that I made with the hazelnut flour and mini cinnamon chips I scored from King Arthur Flour a few months ago. I originally made these bars for my lab right before Thanksgiving, but the night I was mixing them up, Apolinaras told me that he needed to bring something to a TDay potluck at work…so his coworkers ended up enjoying them instead. He’s such a lucky guy that I already happened to be baking something!

The oatmeal cookie base contains browned butter, pumpkin butter, and hazelnut flour, and the pumpkin layer on top is lovely faux mousse made with pumpkin puree and instant pudding. I topped the bars with chopped toasted hazelnuts and the cinnamon chips. Hopefully I’ll have time to make and share another treat before Christmas too!

Pumpkin Hazelnut Oatmeal Cookie Bars
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Cookie Base:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup pumpkin butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup toasted hazelnut flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups instant oats

Pumpkin Layer:
1 (3.4-oz.) package instant vanilla pudding
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin puree
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons chopped toasted hazelnuts
2 tablespoons mini cinnamon chips

Directions:
Heat oven to 350˚F. Place butter in a small nonstick skillet and cook for 4 to 5 minutes over medium heat or until browned. Place browned butter, pumpkin butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in a large bowl and mix until smooth. Mix in egg and vanilla extract. Stir in all-purpose flour, hazelnut flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Mix in oats. Press cookie dough evenly in the bottom of a greased 8×8-inch square pan. Bake at 350˚F for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and cookie base is golden brown. Cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare pumpkin layer. In a large bowl mix instant pudding, milk, condensed milk, pumpkin puree, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Refrigerate 10 minutes or until set. Spread pumpkin filling evenly over cooled cookie dough crust. Sprinkle toasted hazelnuts and cinnamon chips evenly on top. Makes 16 bars.

Nutrition: 182 calories, 9.1g fat, 2.7g fiber, 3.3g protein per serving
Cost: $0.46 per serving

Yep, another cake recipe! I finally broke out the canned pumpkin and the first thing I wanted to do was make pumpkin cupcakes with Nutella cream cheese frosting. I entered these decorated ones in our work Halloween baking contest today and didn’t win the prize (booo!), but our lab came home with the most important trophy – we won for best group costume! We dressed up as the characters from Glee and did a skit with a few song and dance numbers that my labmate and I choreographed – so fun! Anyone want to guess who I was? I’ll try to remember to snag a picture tomorrow to post. I just love Halloween!

These cupcakes were quite tasty. Since pumpkin puree is so watery, I removed some of the liquid by simmering it on the stove for a bit so the flavor would be more concentrated, much like I did with these pumpkin pie truffles. I originally piped the frosting on the cupcakes, but the Nutella flavor was overwhelming the pumpkin, so I removed most of it and frosted them by hand instead with a thinner layer. This is a really yummy flavor combo. Hope you’re all having fun getting ready for Halloween!

p.s. Erica won my Keys to Good Cooking book giveaway – congrats!

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Nutella Cream Cheese Frosting
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Pumpkin Cupcakes:
1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin puree
2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk

Nutella Cream Cheese Frosting:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup Nutella
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:
To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350˚F. Place pumpkin puree in a small nonstick pan and simmer over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until reduced to 1 cup. Cool completely.

Meanwhile, mix together flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and sift the mixture into a large bowl. Beat butter and sugar with a mixer in a large bowl until creamed. Add in eggs, vanilla extract, and cooled pumpkin puree, and mix until smooth. Slowly mix in half the sifted flour mixture until smooth. Mix in the buttermilk and then the remaining flour mixture. Line 16 cups of two standard cupcake pans with liners and evenly spoon cupcake batter into the liners, filling cups 3/4 full. Bake cupcakes at 350˚F for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan and then transfer cupcakes to a cooling rack. Cool for 20 minutes or until cupcakes are room temperature.

To make the frosting, add the cream cheese, Nutella, and vanilla extract to a large bowl and beat with a mixer until smooth. Slowly mix in the powdered sugar, scraping down sides of the bowl, as needed, until the frosting is smooth. Frost cooled cupcakes. Makes 16 cupcakes.

Nutrition: 322 calories, 13.4g fat, 1.2g fiber, 3.9g protein per cupcake
Cost: $0.44 per cupcake