‘Tis the season for cool mornings, warm coffee, and one of my other winter favorites — Cranberry Bliss season at Starbucks!
If any of you have ever tried their heavenly cranberry bliss bars laced with white chocolate and cranberries, you know the reason why these treats fly off the pastry shelves each day. So for my fall baking season this year, I decided to experiment and try translating this favorite into a cookie. Hence the name, “Cranberry Bliss Cookies”!
Holiday baking season seems to have officially arrived. But for the days (or holidays) when you may not have time to bake the day away, I’m a big fan of no-bake cheesecakes. Especially these no-bake caramel apple cheesecakes!
These little guys are all of the goodness of caramel apples “no-baked” into fluffy, creamy individual cheesecakes that everyone will love! The crust is a buttery pecan mixture (or you can go nut-free with graham crackers). Then the filling is a smooth creamy cheesy mixture made with applesauce. And of course, I like to add a little extra whipped cream and caramel on top. So good! And much easier to eat than a caramel apple. ;)
‘Tis the season for babies, apparently! I have so many friends right now who are expecting little ones, and spent the evening last night with a close friend who just delivered two days ago. So fun!
Today I’m excited to also be celebrating one of my blogging friends who is expecting — Jen from My Kitchen Addiction! Jen’s site was actually one of the first food blogs that I began reading years ago, and it has been amazing to follow along as she has built her beautiful blog (also including her awesome Kitchen Bootcamp series) and shared her life with us along the way. Jen is also one of those bloggers who is a tremendous encourager, and her kind words have meant a lot over the years.
Earlier this week, I hosted a little birthday gathering for a beautiful friend who recently moved to England but is back home (yay for us!) for a few weeks. And when I asked her what might “happen” to be one of her favorite desserts, she responded that she always loves cheesecakes, but then also really loves peanut butter and chocolate. So I decided to bring together the best of both worlds and make these Reese’s mini cheesecakes!
It was also a chance to use a new little kitchen purchase that I finally caved in to buy – this mini cheesecake pan. Sure, you can make little cheesecakes in mini baking cups, but I had long admired the sleek vertical lines of this pan, so may have squealed in delight just a tad when I finally purchased one of my own.
