Apple Cream Cheese Bar

We have been invited to our brother and sister-in-laws home for Thanksgiving dinner and we are tasked with bringing a second dessert, since pumpkin pie will be the star of the show, I decided to make this Apple Cream Cheese Bar. The idea is that this dessert will compliment the pumpkin pie.

This recipe requires multiple steps to prepare it as there are 4 layers in total to makeup this dish. 

                        1. The first layer is a crust at the bottom made of graham crackers and butter 

                               ... bake at 350 degree for 6-7 mins

                                2. The second layer, is a cream cheese mixture. You have to pay attention so it is layered smoothly and evenly. I used the back of a spoon or you could use a plastic knife for this purpose

                                    

                             

                             3. The third  layer is an apple pie filling, Just drop this filling over the cream cheese                                       layer.....

                      

                        ...here is the evenly smoothed 3rd apple filling layer

                  

                         4. The fourth layer is an oatmeal topping, Again tamp it down lightly using the                                              back of a spoon .

                              Bake in the oven for 50 minutes at 350 degrees, 

                              Let it cool completely and then place it in the freezer for 1-2 hours. 

                              Then you can evenly and easily cut your Apple Cream Cheese Bar. 

           

Recipe:

Crust - bottom layer (1st layer )

1 1/2 cup of crushed graham crackers (from a pack of graham crackers )

3 Tbs soften melted butter or oil

2 Tsp sugar

Lined parchment paper on bottom of 8 x 8 pyrex pan dish.

Mix all ingredients and spread evenly on dish, bake for 7 mins at 350 degree.

Cream Cheese Layer

8 oz soften (room temp) cream cheese

1 egg

1/4 cup sugar

Mix all ingredients, with patience, slowly and evenly spread cream cheese mixture using plastic spatula or knife on top of crust layer.

Apple Pie Filling

3 apples peeled and diced into small cubes

2 Tbsp lemon juice (optional)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

1 Tbs cornstarch

In a sauce pan, over medium heat, cook all ingredients except cornstarch until bubbly.

Add cornstarch as soon as apples are soften/bubbly, stir quickly, turn off stove.

Scoop apple pie filling onto the cream cheese layer.

Again, evenly smoothen apple pie filling topping.

Oatmeal Crumbles layer:

1 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

6 Tbsp melted butter

Mix well all ingredients, spread over top of Apple pie filling layer.

Lightly tamp down layer.

Bake at 350 degree for 50 mins.

Cool dish completely.

Place dish in freezer for an hour or 2.

Cut Apple Cream Cheese Bar to desired bite size pieces/bars.

Enjoy!!

 

Decorated Cookies - Cupcake & Ice Cream

 It's been awhile since I did some fun baking and I have a couple of friends that are deserving of a treat, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone and put together a few of my favorite cookie designs in order to create some pretty and delicious gifts for them. And baked treats are always a nice gift !

 I made 2 nice designs with 4 bright and fun color themes. I had some nice supplies to work with and with the ideas I wanted to execute, it all worked out pretty well. My pink didn't come out as good because there was a little blue left in the mixer when I mixed and created the pink, but the pink was still pink, so it still looked good.

 Now for my Cookies;

I decorated the Ice Cream Cookies late at night and was really tired so I am not as happy with my work. But after having a good night sleep and being well rested, I did a better job decorating the Cupcake Cookies this morning and really enjoyed how the colors and design turned out. Happy me :)

Year End Cakes & Cookies

This is the time of year people really enjoy baked goods. It's the holiday season. Hot drinks and baked goodies go well with the cold temperatures. I have baked my first apple pie and made dozens and dozens of nicely decorated sugar cookies. Two birthday cakes were on my agenda this weekend. And I am happy with the results. Let's see how long they last tomorrow ?

I have been baking much more last and this month then any other months this year why? Because of Thanksgiving and the Christmas Holidays :)

So I will be adding more pictures as I continue to bake and add to this post.

Fall Cookies

Birthday Cakes

Christmas Cookies

Update, here are my last (....maybe!?... ) batch of cookies just in time for Christmas ! I have to admit, I am sort of disappointed with myself how the Christmas cookies turned out, they are not as nice as those I made last year. Do I have to give an excuse?... I have a little cold and I just couldn't get it going and was struggling especially with the elves!...sorry guys!!

A Potpourri of Decorated Christmas Cookies

I have enjoyed baking and decorating cookies the last few months now. I get a lot of enjoyment out of the challenge and the beauty of what I make. Others enjoy the tastiness. But this is the first time I went all out to decorate my Christmas Cookies in the most festive way I could.
 For me, it was an amazing ride as I tried a variety of different shapes, designs and colors. I was really pleased with the results, especially my little elf cookies, which were a  fun play on an upside down ice cream cone design I had used in the past. They really looked like Santa's little helpers. Very creative design , don't you think ?

                                    This is my first batch, star snowflakes.

                                             Next I have the Christmas Tree

                             storing in container layered with parchment paper.

                                                         bigger snowflakes

                                 big and small snowflakes ... different colors

                                                 tada!!! Elves ... aren't they cute/!!

                                                     FUN, FUN, FUN !!!

that time of the year ....

 Today marks the first day of Advent. It is during the Advent season we focus on anticipating Christ’s birth. We do our best to prepare ourselves spiritually during this special time leading up to Christmas. So we work with a grateful spirit as we prepare our home for this special time. We start by bringing out all the boxes with all the Christmas decorations. We put together a Christmas village with churches, barns, a theater, some village shops and houses with lighting so festive it makes you dream of a cozy white Christmas. We hung up wreaths and stockings with colored lighting to bring that holiday look of this special season. The house is warm and festive with Christmas music playing in the background and freshly baked goodies mixing wonderfully with the scented candles we both enjoy. It really is beginning to look, taste, smell and feel like Christmas !

 The pictures below are from a small batch of winter cookies to I made for our church's coffee fellowship this morning. I will take some more Christmas cookies pictures soon as I will be making more Christmas all during this Advent season. The next batch will look more 'Christmasy' than these !

The picture below is of a couple of wreaths I repurposed into one very festive Advent wreath wreath that I display at our front entrance way to our living room. What do you think ? Pretty nice, right ?

one more reason to be Thankful ... Cookies

I am so thankful for the many blessings God has given me 'every day in every way' ... "Blessed Beyond Belief" is my mantra. It is a great way to start each day.  And here is another reason to be thankful;  I get to bake more wonderful batches of cookies to help bring in this festive and joyful Thanksgiving holiday. It was a joy to ice these cookies .. it definitely make me smile :)   and I hope my tasters will enjoy them as much as I did making them. Let's us give Thanks to the Lord !!!

cupcake cookies

Trying on Cupcake cookies and posting pictures including 3 floral cookies.

Ice Cream Cookies

Here I am trying out my new ice cream cookie cutter. I am quite happy that these turned out really well for my first attempt. I love it when a plan comes together because many times it does not :) What do you think ?

Floral Cookies

I made a batch of cookies and flooded them with pastel pink. I decided to try some simple floral designs... Though these are some what a little better than my previous decorated cookies ... I still need more practice to get better to perfect my cookie decorating results! ...still in my infancy on my decorating skill ... more like baby steps still, wishing I could make bigger leap next time :).