Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies {Recipe}

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Strapped for cash and too pregnant to want to go to the stores for Valentines Day (crowds *cringe*) 

I decided the best gift for my hardworking husband was a nice desert.

He is not picky and loves sweets (especially if I experiment, then he's my taste tester hehe)

I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to make, until I saw this post from Sweet Pea's Kitchen through Pinterest.

Funny thing, sweet pea is actually my aunt's nickname for me! but that's not why I chose this desert...

it just looked amazing and I NEEDED to make them!!

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It was actually super easy and fun to do.

Here is the recipe with my own highlighted notes in case you care :)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2-oz dark chocolate, coarsely chopped *I used milk chocolate chips, 2-oz*
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsp red food coloring
• 2/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 8-oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 8 inch metal baking pan (I used an 8" glass dish, worked well). Put a long piece of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan, letting the parchment extend up two sides of the pan and overhang slightly on both ends. (This will make it easy to remove the bars from the pan after they have baked.) Butter the parchment. (Foil will also work just fine, but spray it with a cooking or baking spray.)
2. In a small, heatproof bowl, melt butter and chocolate together. Stir until combined and very smooth. Set aside to cool for a few minutes. (I threw it in the micromave to melt and it was good. I wasn't patient enough!)
3. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and red food coloring. Add chocolate mixture and stir until smooth. Add flour and salt and stir until just combined and no streaks of dry ingredients remain. (You can add another 1/2 tsp of coloring if you want it more vibrant.)
4. Pour into prepared pan and spread into an even layer.
5.  To prepare cheesecake mixture, beat cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla extract in a medium bowl until smooth. Distribute the cheesecake mixture in 8 dollops over batter in the pan. Swirl in with a knife or spatula. (Knife worked way better for me!)
6. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until brownies and cheesecake are set. A knife (or toothpick) inserted into the cheesecake mixture should come out clean and the edges will be lightly browned.
7. Let cool completely in pan on a cooling rack before lifting out the parchment paper to remove the brownies.
8.  Cut into squares and serve!!

My little ghetto desert setup hehe 

The husband loved it :)

Amazing Chocolate Chip Cookie {Recipe}

 There are times in life where one steps back and says...
"Man, this is one great cookie!!"

Last week, I had such a moment with this recipe I found on Cooks.com

I was left with a condo that smelled like heaven, a husband who couldn't wait for the next batch and a very satisfied preggo woman :)

Here's what I did:

1 1/2 sticks butter (12 tablespoons)
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 1/4 cups sifted flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup semi-sweet morsels

(the original recipe had nuts and raisins but I opted out.) 

Preheat oven to 375°F.

In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Add eggs.

Sift flour and measure out 2 1/4 cups. After measuring the sifted flour, sift again with remaining dry ingredients. Add the flour mixture to the creamed butter and sugar mixture. Stir in vanilla and semi-sweet morsels.

Drop the cookie batter by tablespoonfuls onto a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet. (I actually had neither, so I settled for some good ol' aluminum foil...sprayed with cooking spray & worked great!)

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cookies are set and firm and only lightly colored.
Do not allow cookies to brown.
(Seriously, I have a habit of doing that! With this recipe though, 10-11 min is plenty and you'd be surprised how moist and perfect the cookies are if you don't let them brown on the top.)

Transfer to wire racks to cool. (I just left them on the foiled pan, whatever) This takes like two minutes.
Serve with the tallest glass of cold millk you can find and eat your little heart out!!!

As usual, since I'm only baking for two, I had lots of dough left over. This makes a bunch, so I scooped half of the leftover dough in a container for cookies the next day (per my handsome man's request) and the other half, I rolled in a nice cylinder shape, wrapped with freezer wrap, marked the date and froze it.
This dough can most likely last frozen for up to 3-4 months! But...I doubt it'll last that long in my house...