Pink Zin: Baking Recap and Recipes!

Happy Wednesday Readers!

I can't believe winter break is halfway over! I feel like I just arrived home yesterday! Things certainly have been busy but I've loved every second of it! Last week I was super busy baking in preparation for Christmas and thought I would share with you a few recipes that I've collected over the years and are big crowd pleasers! These cookies can be made for any occasion- not just the holiday season! Please let me know if you have any questions about the recipes!

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies
- 1/2 cup butter
- 2 oz dark chocolate, coursely chopped
- 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

Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8- or 9-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil and lightly grease.
In a small, heatproof bowl, melt butter and chocolate together. Stir with a fork until very smooth. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and red food coloring. Add in the chocolate mixture and stir until smooth. Batter should be red. If a brighter red is desired, add an additional 1/2 tsp food coloring. Add flour and salt into the bowl and stir until everything is just combined and no streaks of dry ingredients remain.
Pour into prepared pan and spread into an even layer.
Prepare cheesecake mixture. In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla extract until smooth. Drop in dollops onto prepared brownie batter. Gently swirl two batters with a butter knife.
Bake for 35-40 minutes, until brownies and cheesecake are set. A knife inserted into the cheesecake mixture should come out clean and the edges will be lightly browned.
Cool in the pan completely before slicing and serving, either at room temperature or chilled.
Brownies can be refrigerated, covered, for several days.
Makes 16 large brownies or 24 smaller brownies
Source

Pecan Danties

- 1 cup butter or margarine, softened

- 1/2 cup sugar

- 2 cups flour

- 1 teaspoon vanilla

- 2 cups finely chopped pecans (use food processor)

- 1 tbls water

- Red and Green Sugar

Cream buttter and sugar together until light.
Add flour, vanilla, water and pecans. Mix well.
Chill until firm.
Preheat oven to 325F
Shape dough into balls and squash flat into either red or green sugar
Bake about 20 minutes!

Source: my mom's best friend!

**Use different colored sugar for different occasions (Valentine' Day?! Use pink!)**

Chocolate Chip Cookies

- 1/2 poun (2 stick) sweet butter, softened

- 1 cup brown sugar

- 3/4 cup granulated sugar

- 2 eggs

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

- 1 teaspoon baking soda

- 1 teaspoon salt

- 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chops

Preheat oven to 325F, Grease a cookie sheet .
Cream butter and both sugars together until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.
Sift dry ingredients together and stir in, mixing thoroughly. Add chocolate chips to batter and mix. Use an teaspoon to scoop out dough onto cookie sheet. Wet your hand with water and splat the dough into a 5-inch round.
Bake on prepared cookie sheet, on the middle of the rack, for 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven while centers are slightly soft. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring cookies to a rack to cool completely.