Mini chocolate Cheesecake bites

My very first tutorial, and it is about a desert that I LOVE!



This is a family favorite recipe, and I'm a horrible blogger but I didn't even thing about blogging about it until I was already half way done, so I only have pics for the second half (so sorry!)  However, I think that you will really enjoy this recipe, even if they aren't the most healthy thing around.

The first thing you MUST do, is soften your cream cheese (just take it out of the fridge, open it and leave it on the counter for an hour or so).

When you are ready, preheat your oven to 350

Then make the chocolate batter.
In a large bowl sift these ingredients together:
1 1/2 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Once the dry ingredients are sifted, add the following liquid ingredients:
1 cup water
1/2 cup oil
1 Tbl white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla

Beat together until well mixed.  It should look something like this.

Yummy chocolate batter.  

Set this bowl aside.

Now we are going to make the cream cheese filling.
Beat together:
11 oz of cream cheese
1 unbeaten egg
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt

Once it is well blended, fold in:
12 oz of chocolate chips.

It will look like this (except a larger amount, again picture fail, sorry!):

Line mini cupcake tins with mini cupcake papers (this is IMPORTANT, don't just spray the tins, you will NOT like the final results), and fill 1/3 full of the chocolate batter

Then, 1 tsp at a time, place the cream cheese filling in the middle

 It may be tedious and time consuming...

 but when they are all filled you can place them in the oven for simply 15 minutes.

Now this recipe does make about 4 dozen so if you only have one tin, this is a bit time consuming.  I have two, so while one is in the oven I can prep the other and then flip them.  I HIGHLY RECOMMEND having at least two muffin tins, it makes this process SOOO much faster.



Once they have come out of the oven you simply scoop them out gently with a spoon.  Do this while they are hot to prevent the cream cheese filling from cracking.

Then simply place them onto a cooling rack.  

Once they are room temperature.  Place them in an air tight container (ie tupperware) and place them in the fridge or even freezer.  Serve cold.

A few helpful hints this recipe.
1) Don't put too much chocolate batter in or you will have too much cream cheese left over 1/3 means 1/3 not 1/2 (I ALWAYS forget this and end up w/ extra cream cheese batter).
2) They are 1 million times better cold.  So don't let them set out to long before eating.
3) Don't over bake.  They really are done after 15 minutes, and if you over bake the cream cheese will burn.


Here is a recap of the recipe to make it easier for you to copy and paste!  Enjoy!
For chocolate batter:

In a large bowl sift these ingredients together:

1 1/2 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup cocoa

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Then add:

1 cup water

1/2 cup oil

1 Tbl white vinegar

1 tsp vanilla

Mix well and set aside

Cream cheese filling.

Beat together:

11 oz of softened cream cheese

1 unbeaten egg

1/3 cup sugar

1/8 tsp salt

Once it is well blended, fold in:

12 oz of chocolate chips.

Line a mini cupcake tin with liners and fill 1/3 of chocolate batter.  Add 1 tsp of cream cheese mix to the center of each.  Bake at 350 for 15 min.  Serve cold from fridge or freezer.

ENJOY!  They are delicious!

31 days to clean

From here

This is a ebook that by the looks of it is right up my ally.  I am super challenged when it comes to keeping a clean home, and by the looks of it, this ebook is a day by day guide to engaging your heart and hands into your house work.  The best news is that by either bloging (which I'm doing) or tweeting about it, you can get a FREE COPY!  Click here to go to Sarah's blog for the details.

As soon as I read it and perhaps actually attempt to get my home clean in 31 days!  I will let you all know how it goes!

All talk, but very little action

I am still unpacking from the move and on Saturday my printer and desk things finally came out of their boxes.  Which means I can finally take and more importantly transfer pictures from my camera to my computer to post!  I actually am going to post my very first tutorial/recipe this week.  I'm really excited but slightly nervous because I didn't even think about making it a tutorial until I was halfway done.  But, I think I can make it work(ish?)

My home is currently 80% unpacked (if you don't count all of the stuff in the garage, which right now, I'm choosing to believe does not exist and will do so until my hubby deals with it or one of our neighbors sees it and calls the HOA.  We found out after we moved in that the HOA does not allow storage in the garage where the car's park. We do have a closet and cabinets for storage in the garage however.  PLEASE don't tell the HOA that we have tons of unbroken down boxes and multiple things just chilling there waiting for a new home.  Blogger fail: no picture sorry!

This week I have tons more to do, but I think I may actually feel ok about taking some pictures of my still not quite unpacked home and actually *gulp* post them.  This blog is about my journey and me learning to be better, so you all seeing my imperfections is part of it.