Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake

This recipe is surely going to make you a crowd pleaser! Substitute this dessert for your traditional Thanksgiving pumpkin pie and no one will mind!



Crust

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 1/3 cup Christie Honey Maid Graham Crumbs
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  

Directions

• Melt the butter
• Pour the crumbs and sugar into your 9 inch pie plate. Pour the melted butter on top, mix together and press into the bottom of the plate.
• Optionally, you can bake at 375°F for 8 minutes.

Hints

• For a twist to this crust mix, why not grind up some Oreo cookies? If you use Oreo cookies, then don't worry about adding sugar or butter!
  

Cheesecake Filling

Ingredients

• 2 (8 ounce) packages of Cream Cheese (Kraft's Philadelphia works best)
  
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup canned puree pumpkin
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ginger
  
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
  

Directions

• preheat oven to 250° F
• In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, 1/2 cup of sugar and vanilla; mix at medium speed with an electric mixer until well blended.
• Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Put aside one cup of this cream cheese mixture (for swirling). To the remainder of the mixture, add the pumpkin puree, remaining 3/4 cup sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Mix well.
• Pour the cream cheese mixture over the crust. Then pour the remaining cream cheese mixture that we put aside onto the top of the mixture we just added. Using a butter knife, swirl the batter several times without touching the crust for a marbled effect.
• Bake for 75 minutes or until set.

Hints:

• You can substitute spiced pumpkin pie puree for the pumpkin, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.
• When making this dessert, I tend to make it the day before so that I can leave it covered in the fridge overnight. This gives the cake a good consistency.
• Use a circular 9 inch springform pan (I use this one from Paderno).
  

Grandma's Peanut Butter Cookies

For as long as I can remember, my Grandma has ALWAYS had her cookie jar filled with these cookies whenever I have gone looking for them. For me, I have never tasted a better cookie, peanut butter or otherwise. I hope you like them as much as I do!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup margarine
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (eg. Kraft Smooth)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (try Roger's Golden Sugar!)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup flour (eg. Robin Hood All-purpose)

Equipment

• Medium bowl
• Cookie sheets
• Fork, knife, spoon

Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F
2. Cream together the margarine and peanut butter using a fork.
3. Add the granulated and brown sugars to the creamed mix, and mix well.
4. Stir in the egg, vanilla, flour, and baking soda. Mix well. Don't be scared to get in there with your hands and mash it up really well!
5. Take small amounts of dough (maybe 1 tbsp) and roll into small balls and drop them on to the cookie sheets. (You shouldn't need to worry about greasing the sheets.)
6. Press the dough balls flat using a floured fork. This will also make the nice ridges in the cookie that make them so easily identifiable!
7. Bake at 350 F for 10 minutes.
8. Remove from the sheets immediately and place them on a cooling rack. They will be quite soft at first, but they will cool into a deliciously soft cookie.

This recipe will make up to 5 dozen cookies, depending on the sizes that you make. Once you try them, I'm sure you will agree that 5 dozen isn't enough!