Eggnog Quick Bread

Do you love Eggnog?
Well, you will enjoy this quick bread. It is really hard to eat just one slice. This bread has a beautiful golden color to it just like eggnog. The glaze makes it even tastier. This bread would be a great addition to any holiday Christmas festivities or for breakfast with a nice hot cup of coffee.


INGREDIENTS
2 medium eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup dairy eggnog
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 tsp rum extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg
EGGNOG GLAZE
3/4 c confectioners’ sugar (sift your sugar to assure no lumps)
enough eggnog to make a glaze…pour a little at a time into sugar


DIRECTIONS
1. Beat eggs, in a large bowl, then add next 5 ingredients, blending well. Add remaining ingredients and stir until just moist. Pour into a greased 9″ X 5″ loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes. Makes one loaf.

Eggnog glaze
1. 3/4 cup confectionery sugar
2. enough eggnog to make it a glaze
3. Stir together and drizzle on bread.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Bread

We are in the middle of strawberry season and I love it! There are so many recipes on Pinterest that I can’t wait to try. This was one of the recipes I have been dying to make and it turned out really good. The recipe has cream cheese in it, making it yummy and moist! T

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups strawberries, rinse, dried and chopped
Text from what2cook.net



Instructions

1. Heat 1/4 cup sugar, the lemon juice and 1/4 cup water in a saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and stir in the almond extract.

2. Brush both sides of each slice of cake with the syrup. Cut the slices into 1-inch cubes.

3. Beat the remaining 2/3 cup sugar and the cream cheese with a mixer on medium speed until smooth and light. Add the cream and beat on medium-high speed until smooth and the consistency of whipped cream.

4. Arrange half of the cake cubes in the bottom of a 13-cup trifle dish. Sprinkle evenly with a layer of blueberries. Dollop half of the cream mixture over the blueberries and gently spread. Top with a layer of strawberries.
Layer the remaining cake cubes on top of the strawberries, then sprinkle with more blueberries and top with the remaining cream mixture.
Finish with the remaining strawberries and blueberries, arranging them in a decorative pattern. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.
Preparation time: 30 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 8

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup and Chocolate Cheesecake Bars

I opted for bars over a whole cheesecake. After adding chopped Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups to the filling and drizzling the baked bars with melted chocolate, I was rewarded with a bar that caused my eyes to roll back in my head.


INGREDIENTS
Crust:
7 whole graham crackers, broken into 1-inch pieces
6 tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp salt
Filling:
2 (8 oz. each) packages cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
12 Reese’s peanut butter cups mini, divided, cut into 6 pieces each
2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped


DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
1. Prepare a 8-inch square baking pan by lining the pan with aluminum foil, leaving 3-4 inches of foil draping over the sides of the pan.

2. Place graham crackers into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the crackers form fine crumbs, about 30 seconds. To the crumbs, add butter, brown sugar, flour, and salt. Pulse until the ingredients are fully combined. Using the bottom of a measuring cup or your fingers, press the crumbs into the bottom of the prepared pan.

3. Bake until the crust is beginning to brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Let the crust cool on a cooling rack for about 30 minutes.

4. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until it is very smooth, about 3 minutes. Scrape the beaters and sides of bowl frequently. Gradually beat in granulated sugar until the mixture is combined, about 1 minute. Beat in eggs, one a time, making sure that each is fully incorporated. Beat in sour cream and vanilla extract until fully combined, about 30 seconds.

5. Unwrap and cut 9 Reese’s peanut butter cups (0.75 ounce each) into 6 pieces. Gently fold into the cream cheese mixture. Scrape the cream cheese mixture into the baking pan, over top of the cooled crust. Spread evenly.

6. Bake until the edges are set but the middle still jiggles slightly when the pan is shaken slightly, 35 to 40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking.

7. Place the pan on a cooling rack and allow the bars to cool for 2 hours. Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, and up to 24 hours.

8. Using the overhanging foil, lift the bars from the pan. Gently remove the foil and cut into 16 bars.
Place the bittersweet chocolate in a small bowl. Microwave on 50% power until melted, stirring every 15 seconds. Drizzle the chocolate over the bars, top each with a small chunk of a Reese’s peanut butter cup and serve.