Peanut Butter Cheesecake

Oh my gosh.  This has everything that is good, all in one dessert.  Peanut butter, peanuts, pretzels, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, cream cheese, and sour cream.  Think Sound of Music....."these are a few of my favorite things."  Do I sound like Julie Andrews?  You're lucky this is the Internet because I sound nothing like Julie Andrews.

This recipe is from the Taste of Home Cooking School.  Basically it is quite easy.  The hardest part is mixing the cream cheese and sugar and if you use a stand mixer it isn't a problem at all.

Peanut Butter Cheesecake

Crust:
1 1/2 cups crushed pretzels
1/3 cup butter (melted)

Filling:

5 packages of cream cheese (softened)
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 eggs lightly beaten
1 cup peanut butter chips
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Topping:

1 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup chopped peanuts

In small bowl combine pretzels and butter.  Press onto bottom and 1 inch up the sides of a greased 10 inch spring form pan.  Place on baking sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes.  Cool on wire rack.

In large bowl beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth.  Add peanut butter and vanilla.  Mix well.  Add eggs, beat on low.  Stir in chips.  Pour over crust.  Return to pan to baking sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until center is almost set.  Remove from oven and let stand for 15 minutes.  Leave the oven on.

For topping combine in small bowl sour cream, peanut butter, and sugar.  Spread over filling.  Sprinkle with chopped peanuts.  Bake for 5 minutes longer.

Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes.  Carefully run knife around the edge of pan to loosen.  Cool one hour.  Refrigerate overnight.  Remove sides of pan before serving.  Refrigerate the leftovers.

Ovaltine Black Bottom Banana Bread

 

Prep
15 mins

Cook
55 mins

Cool
30 mins

INGREDIENTS:
Nonstick cooking spray
1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 very ripe bananas, mashed well (about 1 1/2 cups)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup plain yogurt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup OVALTINE Rich Chocolate Mix

DIRECTIONS: PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Spray bottom of 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
COMBINE whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl.
COMBINE bananas, sugar, butter, yogurt, eggs and vanilla extract in large bowl; stir well. Stir in flour mixture just until moistened. Remove 1 cup of batter and place into separate bowl along with Ovaltine; stir until combined.
SPOON Ovaltine mixture into prepared pan; top with remaining banana batter.
BAKE for 55 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes; transfer to wire rack to cool completely. (Bread can be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.)

Cheeseburger Pizza with Velveeta

I ran across this recipe in a magazine last week and decided to try it.It's been years since I have purchased Velveeta and now I know why. Velveeta is like crack. First you cut off only one little piece and quickly fold the foil wrapper and place back into the box. Two minutes later your back to cutting off a slightly larger piece and before you know it, you are just leaving the box open and have since dispensed with the foil because it just slows down the process of getting to that glorious smooth processed cheese known as (cue the trumpets) Velveeta.

On to the recipe before my arteries narrow to the point where I cannot get enough blood to operate a keyboard.Spicy Cheeseburger Pizza

I made several changes to accommodate our taste and will note the changes and or additions.

Ingredients

1/2 lb ground beef, cooked and drained (can be done ahead of time)
1/2 lb (8 ozs) of Velveeta cut into cubes
1 pizza crust 12 inches
1 can RO*TEL diced tomatoes & green chilies (I diced 2 fresh Roma tomatoes)
1/4 cup of Hunt's ketchup
1 cup shredded lettuce

I also added grated sharp cheddar cheese (1/2 cup) and some fresh diced sweet white onion.

Heat oven to 400 degrees

Re warm cooked meat in medium skillet and stir in Velveeta cubes, stirring until melted.

Mix RO*TEL and Hunt's ketchup and spread into crust. Top with meat mixture. I smeared the crust with ketchup and then covered with meat mixture and topped with fresh tomatoes, onions, and the additional cheddar.

Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and top with fresh lettuce.