Low Carb Chocolate Cream Cheese Brownies ~ adapted from Yummy Inspiriations

3.5 oz high quality dark chocolate, 90% cacao minimum
3.5 oz butter
2 eggs
2 T honey
1 t vanilla
1/4 c coconut flour
1/4 c cream cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 8x8 pan, set aside.

Melt butter and chocolate over low heat until completely smooth. Take care not to scorch chocolate, remove from heat as soon as completely melted and allow to cool slightly.

In medium bowl, beat eggs, honey, and vanilla until honey is fully incorporated into eggs. Slowly add cooled chocolate mixture, whisking constantly. Gradually add coconut flour, one tablespoon at a time,  until thoroughly incorporated.

Pour half batter into prepared pan. Dot with small pieces of cream cheese and top with remaining batter, covering cream cheese completely. Bake 15-18 minutes. Do not over bake or brownies will be dry. Cool a minimum of 15 minutes prior to cutting. Store loosely covered at room temperature up to 3 days.

Low Carb Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting ~ adapted from Cut the Carbs

Carrot Cake
3 eggs
1 1/2 stick butter,  melted
2 T honey
2 t vanilla
3 c carrots, grated
1/2 c walnuts, chopped
1/2 c unsweetened flake coconut
1 1/2 c blanched almond flour
2 t baking powder
1 t allspice
1/2 t cinnamon, more to taste
1/2 t ginger powder

Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz cream cheese, softened
4 T butter, softened
1 T honey, more to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Grease heavily one 8 inch cake pan, line bottom with wax paper and grease with butter. Set aside.

In large bowl, beat eggs, melted butter, honey, and vanilla with a wooden spoon until combined. Add carrots, walnuts, and coconut. Mix thoroughly. Add almond flour, spices, and baking powder and fold until combined.

Pour into prepared cake pan and bake 45 to 50 minutes or unitl a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan 15 minutes then transfer to rack to cool completely before adding cream cheese frosting.

In medium bowl, beat softened cream cheese, butter, and honey until very smooth. Frost top of cake generously with cream cheese frosting. Store cake tightly covered in refrigerator up to 5 days.

Approximate nutrition facts:
Serving size: 1/10
Calories: 320
Carbohydrates: 5.5g
Protein: 5.4g

Healthier Spinach and Artichoke Dip

16 oz frozen spinach
8 oz neufchâtel cheese
8 oz nonfat plain greek yogurt
1 c fresh grated parmesan, not canned
16 oz artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 t cayenne pepper, more or less to taste

Cook spinach to package directions. Remove to mesh strainer and use a wooden spoon to press out as much water as possible. Set aside.

In medium saucepan, combine neufchâtel cheese, yogurt, and parmesan. Cook over medium heat until  neufchâtel is melted. Add remaining ingredients, including drained spinach, and heat through.

Serve warm as a dip with tortilla or whole wheat pita chips, or as a spread on toasted baguette or 12 grain bread. Will keep 5 days in refrigerator, simply reheat as needed. Yield approximately 4 cups dip.

Healthy Cheesecake Bites ~ adapted from heathersdish

Crust
1 c raw almonds
1 egg white
1 T honey
Pinch of salt

Filling
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 egg yolk
2 T honey
1/2 t vanilla
1 T milk

Preheat oven to 325.

Place almonds in food processor and grind until very fine, but not into a paste. Add remaining crust ingredients and pulse to combine.

Spray 8 to 10 cups of a mini muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Place approximately one tablespoon almond mixture in each cup. With wet fingers, press mixture into bottom and up sides of cups. Bake 7 minutes.

While crust is baking, cream filling ingredients in a small bowl. Divide filling into crusts and return to oven to bake 20 minutes or until tops are set and begin to crack.

Cool cheesecakes completely before removing from tin. Refrigerate for best taste. Yield 8 to 10 mini cheesecakes.



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Cream Cheese Stuffed Roasted Peppers

8 green chile peppers
4 oz cream cheese
1/4 t each dried oregano and cilantro

Preheat oven to 425. Mix cream cheese and dried herbs well. Cut each pepper in half lengthwise, remove seeds and membrane. Spread cream cheese mixture on one half of pepper and place on foil lined baking sheet, top with other half of pepper. Roast in oven 25 to 30 minutes or until pepper is browned. Leave on baking sheet 10 minutes to cool. Serve warm with ranch dressing if desired.
Serves 4.

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Fall is here, hooray hooray! Of course, fall in Phoenix means it only heats up to 99° during the day. But the nights are wonderfully cool and I love thinking it's fall. Humor me, it's the best I can do living where I live.

Fall baking to me means all things pumpkin. I try to cram as much pumpkin into my baking between late September to the end of November as I possibly can without making myself sick. Well, I guess I am trying to make myself sick of pumpkin until next year.




Pumpkin Cupcakes
1 Duncan Hines Yellow cake mix
1 c solid pack pumpkin
4 eggs
1/3 c oil
1/2 c milk
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t ground ginger
1/8 t ground nutmeg
1/8 t ground cloves

Preheat oven to 350°. Line 2 muffin pans with 24 cupcake liners. Combine all ingredients in standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment and mix on medium high for 3 minutes. Divide evenly between cupcake pans.

Bake approximately 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Rotate pans half way through cooking time, if necessary. Remove cupcakes from pans to wire racks and cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz cream cheese, softened
4 oz butter, softened
2 lb powdered sugar
1 T vanilla extract

Whip all ingredients until very smooth.

Sugar and Spice Pound Cake

1 box Spice Cake mix, recommended: Duncan Hines
1 ~6 oz vanilla instant pudding mix, recommended: Jell-o
1 c milk
3 eggs
1/2 c oil
3/4 c sour cream
1 recipe cream cheese frosting, recipe to follow
sugar sprinkles, for decorating

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour Bundt pan and set aside.

Place cake mix, pudding mix, milk, eggs, oil and sour cream in bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Whisk on low 30 seconds to combine, then mix on medium high 3 to 4 minutes until thick and creamy. Pour into prepared Bundt pan and bake in center of preheated oven 45 to 55 minutes or until pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool 10 minutes in pan then remove to wire rack to cool completely. Wrap cooled cake in foil or plastic wrap and refrigertate 1 to 12 hours. Place cold cake on platter and pour icing over. Decorate with sugar sprinkles. Serves 18.

Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1 stick butter, softened
2 c powdered sugar
1/4 c milk

Place all ingredients in bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Whisk on low 30 seconds to combine, then mix on medium high 5 minutes until smooth and no lumps remain. Yield 3 cups frosting.

Chef's Note: If desired, the frosting can be omitted and a light dusting of powdered sugar can be used to achieve the "sugar" portion of the recipe.

Spinach Alfredo

1/2 c butter (1 stick)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 T red pepper flakes
8 oz cream cheese
1 c milk, divided
6 oz grated parmesan cheese
10 oz fresh baby spinach
chopped basil

In large non-stick skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until golden brown.

Add pepper flakes and cream cheese. Whisk until combined. Don't worry if your cream cheese won't incorporate, just keep whisking until it's melted.

Add milk and whisk until smooth. Add parmesan cheese and stir until melted. Add spinach, cover pan and remove from heat. Let stand 3 minutes, remove cover and stir until spinach is wilted.

Serve over asiago ravioli or fettucini, garnish with additional shaved parmesan and basil. Serves 6.

Chef's Note: You could use pre-grated parmesan cheese for this dish, but I wouldn't recommend it. The anti-caking ingredients contained in canisters of cheese affect the melting capability and ultimately affect the taste of the dish. Use a fine box grater or micro-plane (my favorite) and grate your own cheese. It's worth the extra effort.

Baked Creamed Spinach

2 T butter
1 T garlic, minced
4 oz cream cheese
1/4 c freshly grated parmesan, plus 2 T for topping
1/4 t dried basil
1/4 t chives
1/4 t salt
dash ground marjoram
dash cayenne pepper
1/4 c whole milk or half and half
10 oz fresh spinach

Preheat oven to 375°. Spray small casserole dish with butter flavored cooking spray.

In large skillet over medium low heat, melt butter and saute garlic 1 minute, do not brown. Add remaining ingredients except spinach and stir until cream cheese is melted. Add spinach, cover and cook until wilted, 3 to 5 minutes. Mix well and transfer to casserole dish. Top with additional parmesan cheese and bake uncovered 20 minutes. Turn oven to broil and cook another 5 minutes or until top is well browned. Serves 4.

Cream Cheese Wontons

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 c ranch dressing (recommended: Litehouse Homestyle Ranch)
4 oz canned water chestnuts, drained and diced
1/4 t garlic powder
1 T water
1 package wonton wrappers (recommended: Nasoya)
Ginger Soy Sauce* recipe to follow
Special equipment; mini muffin pan, butter flavored non-stick cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400°, spray muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Mix cream cheese, ranch dressing, water chestnuts and garlic in medium bowl until well combined. Working with 4 wonton wrappers at a time, spoon approximately 1/2 t cream cheese mixture in center of wrapper. Using one finger, wet outer edge of wrapper with water. Fold wonton in half to make a triangle, gently pull corners into center making a point, pinch to seal.

Transfer individual wonton to muffin cup. Continue with remaining wonton wrappers until all mixture is used. Lightly spray tops of wontons with cooking spray to aid browning.

Bake in preheated oven 12-14 minutes or until golden. Serve with ginger soy sauce. Makes approximately 40 wontons.

Ginger Soy Sauce
1 c soy sauce
1/2 c brown sugar
2 T honey
1 T ground ginger
1 T rice vinegar

Mix all ingredients well, adjust to taste. May be stored airtight in refrigerator up to 2 weeks. Yield approximately 1 c sauce.

Artichoke Cheese Dip

8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 T lemon juice
1 c grated parmesan cheese
1 c canned artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 box Triscuit crackers, recommended: Cracked Pepper & Olive Oil

Mix cream cheese, lemon juice, parmesan and artichokes until well blended. Spoon 1/2 t cheese mixture onto cracker. Recipe tops approximately 60 crackers.

Chef's Note: Although this recipe is delicious at room temperature, I am particularly fond of placing 1/2 c in the microwave for 30 seconds prior to topping 10 crackers.

Cheesecake Cookies

1 c butter (2 sticks), softened
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1 t vanilla extract
2 c sugar
1/2 t salt
2 c flour
1 c pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 375°. In standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add vanilla and sugar followed by flour, salt, and pecans. Scoop into 1" balls and place on cookie sheet 2" apart. Press gently with palm of hand to flatten slightly.

Bake 10 minutes and let cool on cookie sheet 5 minutes before removing to cooling rack. Store tightly covered. Makes 4 dozen 3" cookies.