Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars

This recipe is so easy. It's so easy you'll have time to do all the dishes while it's baking. Because you know what else is great about it? It hardly makes any dishes.

I know, I know. It's another bar recipe, and it's another cheesecake recipe. What can I say? I have a serious problem. But that problem results in delicious recipes to share with you, so quit your complaining.

Just kidding! Sorry, some leftover teacher sass from this morning. But I'm not kidding about how easy and delicious these are. So make them! They're going with our Game Night Mexicana, including a build-your-own taco bar and sangria.

Ingredients: Cream cheese, crescent rolls, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract, butter, and honey

First, roll out one package of the crescent rolls into the bottom of a 9x13. You can use a rolling pin if you want it to be perfect, but that's not how I roll so I just smushed it in with my fingers. Worked like a charm.

Beat the cream cheese, 1/2 cup of sugar, and vanilla extract until it's smooth. Mmm. Spread that deliciousness onto the crescent rolls, then unroll the other crescent rolls on top of that. Repeat the smushing until it's in place. Then take a break and lick the cream cheese spoon.

Mix together the butter, sugar, and cinnamon and dollop the mixture on top of the crescent rolls. Now listen, very carefully. Please do not lick these spoons. It will be so incredibly tempting, and you know me well enough by now to know that I would never stop you unless it was important. And it is really, really important to get every bit of buttery-sugary goodness onto your bars. You'll thank me later.

Now just bake it until the crescent rolls puff up, about 30 minutes. Take it out and immediately drizzle with honey. Bask in how good your kitchen smells while the bars cool.

And then eat them up. Because they are SO SO GOOD. 

Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars
Adapted from My Baking Heart
2 8 oz. packages of cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 8 oz. cans Crescent rolls
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp. cinnamon
honey for drizzling

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9x13 baking pan.

Unroll one of the tubes of crescent rolls and press into the bottom of the pan.

Beat the cream cheese, 1/2 cup of sugar, and the vanilla until smooth. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the crescent rolls. Unroll the second tube of crescent rolls and lay it over the cream cheese mixture.

In a bowl, mix together 3/4 cup sugar, cinnamon, and butter. Dollop the mixture over the crescent rolls. Bake for 30 minutes, until the crescent rolls start to puff up. Take out and immediately drizzle with honey.

Butter Toffee Chess Pie Bars

I'm sorry to have to tell you about this. I really am, because it's about to change your life forever, in a more-fat kind of way. Remember our friend Brandon? Of the velvet-jacketed-musical-prowess fame? Well, he brought over these things to Game Night:

He said, "You can only get these at Walgreens, and they are so delicious." And it was true. It was so, so true. I proceeded to consume untold amounts of Butter Toffee Peanuts. Only me and the recycling know how many cans of these I consumed. And when you get through eating the peanuts, at the bottom are these lovely Butter Toffee bits that get knocked off and wait there for you.

And, as Brandon pointed out, these little bits were ripe for a desert to go into. So I had to make one up. What flavor would complement the butter toffee deliciousness? Chess pie, of course. So here they are:

And I'm sorry to burden you with this knowledge, but they are so, so delicious. So rich and wonderful. Please make them. Please go to Walgreens and buy yourself some Butter Toffee Peanuts.

Your ingredients: Yellow cake mix, 3 eggs, dark brown sugar, powdered sugar, cream cheese, butter toffee bits, and butter

First, melt your butter and mix it with the cake mix and 1 eggs until it's dough-y

Press it into the bottom of a greased 9x13. Mix together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, brown sugar, 2 eggs, and butter toffee bits for about 1-2 minutes.

Now, just pour it over the crust and bake for 40-50 minutes, until the top is golden brown. Oh it's that easy, my friend.

I'm sorry. But you needed to know. It's a secret that must be shared.

Butter Toffee Chess Pie Bars

1 box yellow cake mix

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

3 eggs

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 stick butter, melted

1/2 cup-ish of Butter Toffee Bits

Preheat oven to 300°. Grease a 9x13 pan.

Mix together the cake mix, 1 egg, and melted butter until it becomes a soft dough. Press it into the bottom of the pan.

Mix together the powdered sugar, brown sugar, cream cheese, 2 eggs, and butter toffee bits until smooth. Pour it over the crust and smooth out. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until the top is golden brown.



Cap'n Crunch Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Marshmallow Frosting

Remember those beautiful cupcakes I made last week? Simple, elegant. Dark and beautiful. These are nothing like that. They're like the wacky cousin of the cupcake family. Speaking of wacky cousins.... just kidding!

My wonderful cousin, who made these merely a week or two before going into labor with her second child (who is totally beautiful, just like the first) recommended that I make these, insisting that they had been a huge hit. (I know, right? I told you she was wonderful).

The Husband was so skeptical his eyebrows nearly jumped off his face. The frosting has peanut butter! I shouted at him, and went for it.

Thank goodness. Because these are so awesome, they'll practically melt your face off.

Your ingredients: Cap'n Crunch cereal, Duncan Hines classic yellow cake milk, eggs, milk, buttermilk, peanut butter, powdered sugar, marshmallow creme, vanilla, butter (and oil, not pictured)

So first, crush up 2 cups of cereal. Crush it up real good, it's going in the batter.

In your mixer, mix the crushed cereal, cake mix, eggs, oil, and buttermilk. Beat it on low for a minute, scrape it all down in there, and then beat it on medium for 2 minutes. Stir in the whole cereal by hand.

Pour it into cupcake liners that look like this, preferably. True Story: I pulled these out of the bag and Husband said, "Oh, pirates, for Cap'n Crunch." And I said, "Uh, yeah! Yeah! For Cap'n Crunch! Not because I'm 7 and just wanted to buy pirate cupcake liners."

Notice that I got a little overzealous pouring filling into a couple of them. DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO. Only fill them 2/3 full. Bake for 12-15 minutes. While they're cooling, make the frosting.

Beat the peanut butter, butter, milk, and vanilla together until smooth. Add the powdered sugar slowly, until just mixed. Turn the mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in the marshmallow creme by hand. It's flippin' delicious, taste it.

Frost the cupcakes generously- don't skimp on icing, I made that mistake last week. Sprinkle with Cap'n Crunch.

Bask in what an awesome baker you are. You deserve it.

Cap'n Crunch Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Marshmallow Frosting
From Confessions of a Cookbook Queen
For the cupcakes:
4 cups Cap'n Crunch cereal, plus extra for garnish
1 box Duncan Hines Classic Yellow Cake Mix
4 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup oil
For the frosting:
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 sticks butter, room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
7 oz. marshmallow creme
1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350°. Line your muffin pan with liners.

Finely crush 2 cups of Cap'n Crunch. In a mixer, beat together the crushed cereal, cake mix, eggs, buttermilk, and oil on low speed for 1 minute. Scrape down everything into the bowl and mix it on medium speed for 2 minutes. Fold in the remaining 2 cups of whole cereal into the batter. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 way full, bake for 12-15 minutes, until the tops are springy.

Let the cupcakes cool on a wire rack while you make the frosting.

For the frosting, beat together the peanut butter, butter, milk and vanilla until smooth. Add the powdered sugar a little at a time until just mixed. Mix it on medium speed for 2 minutes, until fluffy. Stir in the marshmallow creme by hand.

Frost cupcakes very generously and garnish with Cap'n Crunch.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Guess what, friends. This week I discovered that Joy the Baker and I both use Knock Knock's All Out Of shopping lists to write our grocery lists on. Don't believe me? Look! You know what that means? She and I are one step closer to being blog buddies.

They're pretty fun, actually. You should get one. All the cool kids are doing it.

Chocolate peanut butter cupcakes. There's not much to say about these except that they're delicious. And pretty easy. And they made me long for a bigger muffin pan.

They're not as pretty as Joy's, but who am I to compete with Joy the Baker?

Your ingredients: Flour, sugar, oil, white vinegar, cocoa powder, vanilla, peanut butter, butter, powdered sugar, cold water, and a little milk.

First, sift together all your dry ingredients into a big bowl.

In another bowl, whisk together the oil, water, vanilla, and vinegar. Now slowly mix your wet ingredients into your dry ingredients. Don't over mix. It will be a very liquidy mixture, that's okay, don't worry. Pour into cupcake liners and bake for 22 minutes or so, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Aren't they a gorgeous, dark color? I wanted to scarf them all down right then and there.

While they're cooling, make your frosting. In a mixer, blend the butter and peanut butter until you can't see any butter chunks left. Don't even think about not using natural peanut butter in this frosting. Friends don't let friends not use natural peanut butter. Or something like that. Add in your powdered sugar, and then that litttle bit of milk. Mix it together real good.

Now just wait until the cupcakes are cooled, then frost! You can either chop up the peanut butter cups, like Joy did, or get little ones and chop them in half, like I did, or just leave them plain.

Mmmmm...

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes
From Joy the Baker
Makes about 24 cupcakes
For the Cupcakes:
2 1/4 cups AP flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups cold water
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. white vinegar
2/3 cup vegetable or canola oil
For the frosting:
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tbsp. milk

Preheat oven to 350°. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners and set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda. In another bowl, whisk together the cold water, vinegar, oil, and vanilla. Slowly mix the wet ingredients into the dry, be careful not to overmix. Pour into cupcake liners and bake for 20-24 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack. While they're cooling make the frosting. In an electric mixer beat the butter and peanut butter together until no butter lumps remain. Add powdered sugar and beat on low for 1 minute. Add the milk and beat on medium-high for one minute.

Once cupcakes are room temperature, frost and garnish with peanut butter cups.