Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Pecan Squares

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
2/3 cup butter
3 tbsp whipping cream
3 1/2 cups chopped pecans

Directions:
1. Sift together 2 cups flour and 2/3 cup powdered sugar. Cut in 3/4 cup softened butter using a pastry blender or fork just until mixture resembles coarse meal. Pat mixture on bottom and 1 1/2 inches up sides of a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish.

2. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool.

3. Bring brown sugar, honey, 2/3 cup butter, and whipping cream to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in pecans, and pour hot filling into prepared crust.

4. Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden and bubbly. Cool completely before cutting into 2-inch squares.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake

Ingredients:
25 Ginger Snaps, finely crushed (about 1-1/2 cups)
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
4 pkg. (8 oz. each) Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup sugar, divided
1 tsp. vanilla
4 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
Pinch ground cloves

Directions:
1.Heat oven to 325°F. A silver 9-inch springform pan is best to use. Mix ginger snap crumbs, pecans and butter; press onto bottom and 1 inch up side of pan for the crust

2. Beat softened cream cheese, 3/4 cup of the sugar and the vanilla with electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended. Remove 1-1/2 cups of the batter; place in small bowl.

3. Stir remaining 1/4 cup sugar, the pumpkin and spices into remaining cream cheese batter. Spoon half of this pumpkin batter into crust; top with spoonfuls of half of the reserved plain batter. Repeat layers.

4.Cut through batters with knife several times for marble effect.

5. Bake for 5 min. to 1 hour 5 min. or until center is almost set. (Test by gently shaking the pan. If the cheesecake is done, it will be set except for an approximately 2-1/2-inch area in the center that will be soft and jiggly.)

6. Cool for a least an hour. Run knife or metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen cake. Refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving. Store leftovers in refrigerator