This is one of those recipes that came from total necessity.

Necessity to make a dessert that had an apple bottom.

I figured chocolate always has all the fun with black bottom pies why can’t we celebrate the apple bottom? Of course there were a whole slew of recipe ideas I had to incorporate the apple bottom like pies, cakes, trifles, etc. but in the end cheesecake bars won the apple bottom dessert olympics™.

Gold, silver, bronze, all to the cheesecake.

I mean, basically this is a handheld apple pie cheesecake hybrid of a beast that’s perfect for your thanksgiving dessert. The apples sort of cut through that rich cream cheese feel which means you don’t get that feeling that maybe you just ate a bottle of elmer’s glue that you sometimes get right after you eat a face size slice of cheesecake that was meant for more than two people.

But it’s also great that the apples don’t necessarily steal the show, everyone works together and makes you make multiple trips to the fridge for just one more piece until half the pan is gone.

The bars happen for several reasons:

• easy grab from the fridge
• scalability (this easily doubles for a 9×13″ pan for a larger crowd)
• no need for a springform pan
• no water bath
• easier to sneak pieces before you take it to dinner and not have anyone notice

All good reasons, including the fact that they should totally be made a day or two before so it’s one less thing for you to worry about on turkey day, and if you’re stressing out about other dishes, it’s cool, I’ve got a couple more things coming your way this week.

Until then plan for these cheesecake bars, no boots with the fur.

Continue Reading

You guys, all I want to eat right now is pumpkin in the form of baked goods.

Maybe pumpkin in the form of anything.

I’ve somehow managed to have a loaf of pumpkin bread in my fridge at all times for the past few weeks. It’s been amazing/sometimes I felt very attacked whenever I opened the fridge because there’s just this beautiful loaf of pumpkin bread giving me major heart eyes. I mean, it was wrapped in foil, but I knew it wanted me.

It went from this beautiful creature to not chocolate pumpkin bread with reese’s peanut butter chips then back to this loaf, because the trifecta of chocolate and pumpkin and spices is just the greatest. The bread’s not too sweet so it’s perfect for an afternoon snack or you could eat half a loaf for breakfast if that’s how you roll (let’s roll together).

Continue Reading

Ring the alarms because this is the very first of many ‘how to be a basic’ posts where you get to read me ramble on about some basic recipes like pumpkin pie spice, fudge brownies, chocolate chip cookies, etc. with zero shame because I don’t have time for that.

Obviously we’re not all basic, praise lohanthony, but there’s a lot of recipes I haven’t shared yet that are. Usually the tactic with basics is that they’re the best ever ____, but we all know that’s a crock of shit. Just because your chewy chocolate chip cookie fills that hole of yours doesn’t mean it’s going to do anything for that bitch that likes it crispy.

So now a couple times a month we get to make all the basic recipes that make us anything but.

In case you haven’t figured it out by now, round 1 is pumpkin pie spice. Notice the word pie, because even though we put it in everything with pumpkin, pumpkin spice on it’s own is a starbucks trap for actual basics everywhere.

I’ve made it on here before but this is like pumpkin pie spice 2.0 compared to that stuff. Less cinnamon, the addition of other spices, wayyy better than the stuff you get in the store. You know what I’m talking about, that tiny $4 container that’s basically all cinnamon with a fart of nutmeg. This stuff is way better.

I guess if you wanted to you could just measure out a bunch of spices each time you made something with pumpkin but this is way easier to make a batch and keep it in your cupboard for the approximate months of October – December for all your basic pumpkin loving dreams.

Let’s make those basic dreams happen.

Continue Reading

It’s officially that time of year again where we go any put pumpkin in anything and everything because America I guess?

I mean, I’m not against it. At all. I love pumpkin everything as soon as I can make a trip to the grocery store and back without sweating balls.

‘Tis the season.

Even though it’s the humans that love the orange puree, dogs LUV pumpkin too and it’s probably time to get them in on the action. Enter Pumpkin Flaxseed Dog Treats.

This is the final sneak peek of the book (for now!) and come Friday I’ll have even more sneak peeks with all the super cool bloggers that participated in the blogger book tour.

Until then we get to make our dogs treats that they’ll love and also look over on Cake Over Steak at all the bloggers that are participating in the #virtualpumpkinparty!! so much good so much yes soo much pumpkin.

Continue Reading

Hey Guys!

I’m over on Oh Happy Day! today with these pumpkin butterscotch sundaes and 2 copies of the book to give away!!

and if ice cream isn’t your thing (freak) then slam it on some pancakes or waffles.

It’s here It’s here It’s here.

This thing that I’ve gone overboard on creating is finally out in the world, waiting for you to go buy it. It’s like a piece of me, so you’re basically purchasing a finger, or a lock of my hair.

The feeling I have right now is actually super weird, I want to throw up and cry and eat ice cream and party all at the same time, but I probably shouldn’t make that happen. For now we’re gonna stick to just eating the ice cream.

Baby steps.

 We’ve already discussed what’s in the book, and given a couple sneak peeks, so now all that’s left to do is celebrate with a scoop of ice cream the size of my head, maybe smashed between a couple chocolate espresso snickerdoodles or on top of that ricotta waffle we talked about last week.

Actually you could really eat it with just about anything. I know mayyyybe buttermilk in your ice cream sounds weird. My grandpa used to drink buttermilk straight up with black pepper, I’m not asking you to get that crazy. It’s an unbutton a couple buttons vs taking your top off buttermilk experience. It’s got a nice classic vanilla flavor with just a slight tang that works perfectly with any dessert, It’s similar to the sour cream spiked whipped cream I made last thanksgiving.

I’m giving this to you now because there’s still plenty of apple pie to have in your life and ice cream can totally be a year round thing, especially when it’s as versatile as this. It’s the perfect accessory for your melting summer face but also a warm bread pudding.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, you should head over to amazon and grab yourself a copy! I’ll love you 4evr. I know I’ve gotten a few emails from people asking if they could buy it other places and you totally can! I think the best thing to do is head to your favorite bookstore’s website and search for it. The U.S. distributor is Rizzoli so there’s a pretty good reach.

And if you’re stiiillll on the fence keep your eyes peeled on the twitters and facebooks and instagrams for the #whipitupcookbook. We’ve got a blogger book tour happening this week and they’re sharing even more recipes and goodness and opinions so check ’em out!!

Now that that’s all out of the way let’s go ahead and celebrate with all the ice cream 4ever and always.

Continue Reading