Cranberry & Apple topped Cheesecake

I had the pleasure of baking for my family and some awesome friends over the holidays, so I had to make sure I baked something extra delicious. It was the holidays, so I also wanted something easy so I didn't have to spend all day baking. Enter, what I like to call, the 'cheater cheesecake.' This cheesecake base recipe is based off of one on Kraft's website, and is super easy. No water-bath, no tricky ingredients, no complicated instructions. I put a graham crust on it so that you don't even have to worry about pre-baking a shell or mixing up dough. It's also almost impossible to mess up, which I know for a fact, seeing as I slightly over-bake it almost every time I make it and it has never come out anything but delicious.

The cranberry-apple topping is a beast of my own creation in response to the fact that I, one, wanted something unique, and two, find a lot of traditional toppings to be overly sweet.  The cranberries give this topping a tangy twist that helps balance the sweetness of the apples and the rest of the cheesecake. If you are really short on time or lacking in motivation, you can buy a can of pre-made fruit topping and forgo making your own. Since you can make the topping while the cheesecake bakes, it doesn't really add much time onto the process and it tastes way better than store bought, I say go for it-- but if you need that hour to clean your bathroom before your guests come over, or to get that mysterious stain out of your shirt before you go over to someone's house for dinner, I totally understand.

Holiday Cookie Lineup - 7 EASY Recipes

'Tis the season of baking! Most of us will be baking in the next two weeks, be it for parties, our own holidays or new year celebrations.  Since I plan on being occupied with my own fun over the next few weeks, I thought I'd do one of those fantastic cheater posts where I review my favorite holiday-friendly cookie recipes in case you are making some last minute dessert menu decisions. The best part about my list is that they are all SUPER easy, so if you have one of those, "OH CRAP, I FORGOT TO GET A GIFT FOR SO-AND-SO," moments, you can quickly whip up a batch of cookies and act like you planned it that way all along.

Have a cookie that should be on this list? I'm not fancy enough for a linkey, but leave a comment with a link to your favorite, easy, cookie and let's all share!

Drop Sugar Cookies

This recipe is a favorite from my childhood that I recently made as holiday treats for my co-workers. They are quick and easy and very unique. They are soft, light and cakey. I'm told that they taste like old-school Archway soft sugar cookies, but, having grown up in a household that did not believe in store bought cookies, I'll have to take other people's word for it. These are fun because you can add some food coloring to make them festive for a special occasion, and also because THEY ARE DELICIOUS.

This recipe originates from my great grandmother and, other than adding some food coloring, I never alter it. It makes a lot of cookies, so you could easily cut it in half, but, why would you want LESS deliciousness???? :-)

Gingerbread Ninjas (or Ninjabread Men)

Last summer, I bought ninja shaped cookies cutters. I have since been waiting and waiting and waiting for it to be gingerbread season so I could make the coveted ninja-bread-men. As in, gingerbread men shaped like ninjas. If you are not ridiculously excited right now, then I just have to say it-- we can't be friends. But, I guess I'll also state that this recipe does not exclusively work for ninja shaped cookies, and if you wanted to make non-ninja gingerbread men (or ladies), then I suppose that would be acceptable.

To ice these, I used royal icing for the first time. Since I was a first-timer, I used Wilton's recipe. I found I needed to add 3-4 more tablespoons of water than it called for in order to make it pipe-able, and also that it dries so candy-like that it fell off the cookies very easily. However, it piped on well and made for good detailed decoration. Anyone with royal/detailed icing tips, I'll gladly take them!!

Stamped Lemon Shortbread Cookies

Let's start by saying this-- if you've never considered what short bread cookies are made out of, then turn away now and never read this post. Eat your tin of Walkers in blissful ignorance and rejoice in it's delicious splendor......If you already know what goes into a shortbread cookie, then, welcome, pull up a chair-- let's clamp off our aortas together. :-)

As you may have guessed by their flaky, delicious nature, shortbread cookies are pretty much pure butter. WHICH IS WHY THEY ARE SO AMAZING. My baking tends to err on the side of extra chocolaty, a habit I've needed to break since a number of the recipients of my baked goods do not eat chocolate. (Shocking, I know....I'm not sure why they are my friends....) I also like to have a couple of things in my arsenal that are a light, refreshing balance to some of the heavier chocolate based items. These lemon shortbreads are something I created to serve alongside my favorite brownies. I mean, let's be honest-- there is a tray of cookies/brownies.....who eats ONE, right? But two of my favorite brownies leads to being curled up in the corner wishing that I had the good sense to only eat one, so, enter the lemon shortbread!

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Spiced Custard Buttercream

Anyone else so let down by the decline in the flavor of the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte that you find yourself inserting pumpkin into all other possible places in your diet, just hoping to achieve something as glorious as the vintage 2009 Starbucks creation? I don't know what happened to the lattes, or if maybe I just got too old and thinking about things like what the flavor syrup is made out of in such a way as to ruin my own fun, but my last few Fall seasons have been deeply lacking an pumpkin confections.

I started making these cupcakes last year. They are a combination of delicious pumpkin cake and a spiced up version of the custard buttercream you find on Nanaimo bars. I learned about Nanaimo bars last year around this time after two amazing friends of mine sent me a package full of them. I rapidly set to work reading pretty much every Nanaimo related recipe on the internet and fiddling around with my own buttercream until I came up with something resembling the perfection that is Nanaimo bar cream. I then decided that, were I to add some fall spices, it would be the perfect compliment to my favorite pumpkin cake recipe. So, without further ado, I present to you my favorite fall treat!

Apple Cupcakes with Honey Mascarpone Icing

Happy (Jewish) New Year!! For those of you who don't celebrate, one of the key culinary features of the Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) meal is the dipping of apples in honey. We do this to bring sweetness to the year to come.  So, you know, you could take the reasonably healthy route of just dipping apples in honey-- or, you could be me and add a zillion calories to the process by making apple cupcakes with honey mascarpone icing.

Dude-- can we say Worth.The.Calories???????

I'm really quite pleased with myself on this little invention. I have been building this one in my head since last Thanksgiving, when I made this caramel-apple cake. A few months later I got the idea for a mascarpone icing when I saw this recipe on pinterset. From there, I Frankensteined together my creation. So, without further ado.....