Snickerdoodle Cheesecake Gooey Bars

Can we talk about how much is going on in these bars?  There is a layer of snickerdoodle gooey cake, then a layer of snickerdoodle cheesecake, then cinnamon chips, then more gooey cake, and finally, caramel sauce drizzled all over.  Can I just say "yum?!"

This was created because Stephen and I tied for last in our bowl sheet competition.  The winner gets to pick the meal, the loser gets to pick the dessert.  Well, Stephen and I tied for last (yes, I'm very proud of it) and we all chuckled/groaned, because there couldn't be more two opposite sets of tastebuds than ours.

I like chocolate. 
I like veggies.
I like pumpkin.
I like lots of spreads and dips and condiments. 
I really like food in general.

Stephen ... doesn't. 

But, he does like snickerdooodles.  And he does like helping in the kitchen.  (Generally, when you get someone to help you, they will be a lot more open to eating whatever you make.  It works, I've tried it many times)  So, Stephen and I had a brainstorm session where I sketched this out, asking for his approval.  He gave it, we made it, the family loved it.  I was impressed this could be as rich and decadent as it was without chocolate!

So let's break this down; the first layer is simply cake mix, butter, and egg mixed together.  It is your standard gooey cake mix base.  Then I added a hefty teaspoon of cinnamon, to give it the snickerdoodle flavor.

Then, there is our cheesecake, adding the smooth and creamy middle layer.  Simply cream cheese, sugar, and cinnamon.  Just make sure your cream cheese is softened, which you can do by letting sit out for 30 minutes or (because I never plan that far ahead) you can cut into 4-6 equal cubes and just heat in the microwave for 30-45 seconds on half power.  Just spread it over the gooey cake layer. 

Finally, we sprinkle cinnamon chips (a new found love!) all over those two layers.  They melt into a river of smooth cinnamon heaven!  Add your reserved gooey cake mixture over that and drown it all in caramel sauce.  For all the layers, this is seriously easy peasy.  

I like rich. 

I like gooey. 

I like cheesecake. 

I like cinnamon chips. 

I like caramel. 

So does Stephen. And so will you. 

 

Snickerdoodle Cheesecake Gooey Bars

Recipe Source: The Sweet {Tooth} Life

Yield: 12 servings

 

Cake Layer:

1 box cake mix (butter or white)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

1 egg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

 

Cheesecake Layer:

1 (8 oz.) box cream cheese (you can use low fat)

1 Tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Other layers:

1/2 cup cinnamon chips

1/4 cup caramel sauce

Preheat oven to 350. 

Stir cake layer ingredients together.  Spread into a 9x9 pan, reserving one cup  of cake mixture. 

Brag softened cream cheese with sugar and cinnamon. Spread over cake mix layer. 

Sprinkle cinnamon chips evenly over cheesecake. 

Press remaining cake mixture over cinnamon chips. 

Drizzle caramel sauce evenly over reserved cake mixture. 

Bake for 25 minutes. 

Cool. Refrigerate for at least four hours or overnight. 

Salted Snickerdoodles

This is the recipe that started me on salt with my desserts.

This snickerdoodle recipe is melt in your mouth, cinnamon and sugar heaven.  The snickerdoodle itself is firm enough to hold, but once you bite into it, the soft inside just melts in your mouth. 

And now it is sprinkled with sea salt.

(It is not sprinkled with sprinkles however.  I know it is totally not fair to put sprinkles in a photo of a sprinkle-less cookie.  It just isn't.  However, my lighting was horrible, I was running out of time, and I had no good ideas for props.  None.  So sprinkles saved the day!  But they aren't in the cookies.  #foodbloggerproblems)

 

Have you ever found a product that you just fell in love with instantly?  I've had that moment several times this week.  But after telling Mom how much I liked this mini wheat crunch cereal, she kind of laughed and told me they were discontinuing it.  Oh, ok.  I guess that happens.  But then it happened again.  And then again!  I was complaining to Mom everything I like no one else does.  She told me maybe that says something about my taste.

Burn. (It was really funny actually)

Thank goodness salt is not one of those products.  Take away my cereal, my granola bars, my pasta sauce, but leave me my salt, okay?

(It really bugs me that this picture doesn't match the others, but oh well, it was the sharpest)

Salt and sugar - I thought they shouldn't be best friends and so I kept them separated lo these many years. 

But, I had a spontaneous baking time with my friend (I don't think we've ever followed a recipe together ... and when we did it didn't work.  I will never eat cream puffs again.)  Anyways, we decided to bake with my little siblings and thought it would be fun to make a braided yeast bread.  We didn't have enough time to let dough rise, so we needed something faster.  Why not cookie dough?  Why not try braiding cookie dough?  (Um, because it doesn't work - but we didn't think of that.  Or I didn't.)  And then, since we were braiding them into pretzel shapes, why not sprinkle coarse sugar on top?  But I didn't have any, so on went the kosher salt, just for looks.

Oh my goodness, it is SO much more than looks.

That salt made these snickerdoodles so.darn.good.  I can't explain the science of why or find the right words to describe the flavors. 

All I can say is try it.  You will like it.  I promise.  It's worth being the third wheel with salt and sugar's new bestie status.

Salted Snickerdoodles

Recipe Source: The Sweet {Tooth} Life

Yield: 2-1/2 dozen

1 cup shortening
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2-2/3 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp. cream of tarter
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Cinnamon sugar mixture 

A coarse salt (sea or kosher)

Preheat oven to 375. Lightly grease a cookie sheet.

Beat together the shortening and sugar.  Beat in eggs.  

Stir in flour, cream of tarter, soda and salt.  

Form into tablespoon sized balls.  Roll in cinnamon and sugar mixture.  Place on ungreased baking sheet and slightly flatten each cookie.  

Sprinkle with coarse salt.

Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.  Remove from oven even if they look underbaked. Cool before eating. 

Coconut Cheesecake Stuffed Chocolate Snickerdoodles

Humidity is bad.

Humility is good. 

There is a difference, although my spell check doesn't seem to think so!  More on that later.

These are my dream cookie. Here's why. The chocolate cookie itself is soft and fudgy, yet firm enough to picked up and held (except in 80% humidity weather). Then, once you bit into the cookie, there is a creamy cheesecake filled with coconut shreds. Can we talk flavor and texture heaven?  Finally, I dusted them with cinnamon and sugar. They looked amazing, they tasted amazing, you must make these.  My dream cookie.

However, you would be better off taking these Rice Krispy Treats or these peanut butter no bake bars when going to a potluck dinner outside when it's 80 degrees with almost unbearable humidity levels. When you do that, these cookies turn into squishy desserts strongly resembling their form before they were baked.  Delicious yes, as appealing?  Not really. We did bring home an empty box (downside of sharing:) but save these for your air conditioner, okay? 

Then, once you've got yourself in your air conditioned house, you can take your batch of cookies and think, you know, in the name of humility, I'm going to keep these all here that way I won't have any chance of being prideful about them. I'm not being selfish, I'm being humble!  

Them you can stick one of these in your mouth and savor your air conditioned glory.

Ok. Hope you all realize I was joking.

Humility is something you have to have a heart change to even truly desire.  The hardest part about humility is not being humble, but willing to be humble.  As our first volleyball tournament is this next weekend, I've been reminded part of teamwork is humility. If I'm not willing to make choices that will help the team and not just me, then I am not a good team member. Every role is important even though some  don't get any glory. Needing that glory, that attention, is a red flag. If I have to have affirmation based on my playing to have a good attitude, then Houston, we have a problem!  On a team, you win together and you lose together. And teamwork isn't isolated to sports. My family is a team. One that will last way longer than sports. As much time as I invest in volleyball, something that only lasts a couple years, how much more should be invested in relationships that will last my whole life?

Humility, putting others needs first. 

Humidity, melting incredible cookies into dough. 

Avoid the latter. The humidity part, I mean. 

 Coconut Cheesecake Stuffed Chocolate Snickerdoodles

Recipes Source: The Sweet {Tooth} Life.  Cookie base slightly adapted from Craving Chronicles

Coconut Cheesecake Filling:

4 oz. cream cheese

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup shredded sweetened coconut

Cookie:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 ounces cream cheese (I used low fat)
6 tablespoons butter, melted and still warm
1/3 cup applesauce
1 large egg
1 tablespoon milk
1 tablespoon brewed coffee

Cinnamon and sugar for dusting

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Combine sugar, cream cheese and melted butter in a large bowl and whisk until smooth. Whisk in applesauce. Add egg, milk, coffee, and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth. Add flour mixture. Fold in with a rubber spatula until all flour is incorporated and a soft dough forms.

Refrigerate dough overnight or up to four days. 

For filling: Beat softened cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Stir in coconut shreds. Using this method, spoon small balls of cream chess filling onto a lightly greased cookie sheet and freeze for an hour. 

After dough has chilled and cheesecake filling has frozen, remove dough from refrigerator.  Lightly grease two cookie sheets and preheat oven to 350. 

Roll dough into 15-20 uniform sized balls. If dough becomes too sticky, return to refrigerator. Place one ball of frozen cheesecake in the center of the cookie dough and wrap the dough around it. Place on prepared cookie sheet and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. 

Bake 1 sheet at time at 350°F for 11-13 minutes, until cookies are set and tops have cracked. (They might not look done, but don’t over bake!) Cool on the baking sheet for 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Sopapilla Snickerdoodle Cheesecake

I hope you all have heard of sopapilla cheesecake. Some call it churro cheesecake, but whatever you call it, you can add crazy amazing to the title. It's crescent rolls, cream cheese, butter, cinnamon and sugar. Crazy amazing, no?

I could post the original recipe and call it good. Wherever we've brought it, people either eat it all or eat it all and ask for the recipe. But I like making new things. I know, my mom doesn't get it either. Stick with what you know works, she always says.

This works. 

This is sopapilla cheesecake stuffed with soft cinnamony snickerdooodles.  Basically cinnamon and sugar heaven.

See, I told you this works!

I figured since sopapilla cheesecake is cinnamon and sugar inspired, snickerdooodles would work splendidly. They do, trust me.  This is the coveted snickerdoodle recipe my brother calls the best cookies. Ever. And he eats all the other cookies I make as well and these have stood test after test after test. And I layered then between buttery crescent rolls and smooth cheesecake. And covered it all in butter and cinnamon and sugar. And (are you tired of "and" yet?) I got up at 6:30 to take pics for you guys. I'm heading to TX to see my cousins for the weekend, but since you can't come with me (me and Gracie always have the best time together!) I hope this recipe is consolation.

Sopapilla SnickerdoodleCheesecake

Recipe Source: The Sweet {Tooth} Life

Yield: 12-16 servings 

Cheesecake:
1 (8 oz.) can refrigerated flaky crescent rolls

12 oz. low fat cream cheese

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup cinnamon and sugar mixture

Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough:
1/4 cup shortening
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. cream of tarter
1/4 tsp. soda
pinch salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon

For cheesecake:  Beat cream cheese and sugar on high until combined and creamy.  Add vanilla and salt and beat again until smooth.  Set aside.

For cookie dough:  Cream shortening and sugar together until creamy.  Beat in egg yolk.  Add flour, cream of tarter, soda, salt, and cinnamon and stir until everything is incorporated.  (The cinnamon may not completely incorporate; that's okay.  Mine had a marbled look.)  Roll into small balls and set aside.

Assembly:  Press half of refrigerated crescent rolls into bottom of greased 9x9 pan.  Spread 1/3 of cheesecake mixture over the crescent rolls.  Place cookie dough balls on top of cheesecake mixture.  After that, spread remaining cheesecake batter over cookie dough and smooth so all is covered.  Finally, lay remaining crescent rolls on top and pinch seams to seal.  Pour melted butter over top of bars and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar mixture on top of butter.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.  Let cool for 30 minutes to an hour before serving.  Store leftovers in airtight container, preferably in the refrigerator.

And this the cookie recipe!  THE Snickerdoodle recipe and my dad's favorite cookie of all time.  Apparently my brother's too.

THE Snickerdoodle Recipe

There are many recipes that claim to have the best snickerdooodle recipes. I've tried some of them . . .

  

. . . and was this close to being excommunicated from my family.

This was my mom's aunt's recipe. Its been used for three generations at least.  You don't mess with the snickerdooodles. Oh no.  And why would I?  I'm sure you've heard that the way to a man's heart is through food.   

Think you know the way to my dad's heart?

Haha, nice try, but its not through these cookies.  (It's through treating me like I'm the princess he thinks I am:)

These are super soft because of the shortening and I love how easy they are to make. One bowl and you are done.  I've tried Snickerdoodle Brownies, but it doesn't come close to these cookies. They have a slightly crispy outside that breaks to reveal a pillow soft cookie. The dusting of cinnamon and sugar leaves you wanting to suck on your fingers even though you know thats only for little children.

See it? It sticks all over your fingers. Go on. Be the little child in you. Lick all that cinnamon and sugar and snickerdoodle crumbs off your fingers. Its really good.

Snickerdoodle Cookies
Recipe Source: The Sweet {Tooth} Life
Yield: 2 1/2 dozen

1 cup shortening
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2-2/3 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp. cream of tarter
1 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Cinnamon sugar mixture

Beat shortening and sugar.  Beat in eggs.  Stir in flour, cream of tarter, soda and salt.  Form into tablespoon sized balls.  Roll in cinnamon and sugar mixture.  Place on ungreased baking sheet and slightly flatten each cookie.  Bake at 375 for 10 minutes.  Cool before eating.

Brown Sugar Cookies with Snickerdoodle Frosting

Today is a post without chocolate.

Oops . . . I already failed.

 

This is technically a very fallish cookie.  Lucky for you, I have a very fallish sweet tooth.  (What!  Spell check is telling me that it isn't a real word?  Okay, take this spell check!)  Along with wintryish, and summerish, and springish, but today, its fallish.
 

 

To celebrate my grandpa's 85th birthday, we went out to dinner with my grandparents and uncle's family and then headed back to my grandparent's house for desserts.  So my dad would not be alone in a world of chocolate desserts, I made these for him.

These are brown sugar cookies, because we didn't have any molasses, which is what the original recipe called for.  They are the perfect size for frosting and don't get soggy even after being frosted.  The spices pair delightfully well with the snickerdoodle cookie dough frosting . . .

Oh there is the frosting!  I thought it had disappeared . . . in my stomach. 

Now this frosting is A-Mazing!  While me and my sisters were stirring it, we finally decided to ditch the mixer because it made it to hard to stick our fingers in.  Spatulas are much less dangerous. 

                                     

Brown Sugar Cookies with Snickerdoodle Frosting 

Yield: 12 regular sized cookie sandwiches or 24 mini sandwich cookies

Cookie:

1 stick margarine

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

Beat butter and sugar, add egg.  Stir in flour, salt, soda, and spices.  Roll into 24 regular sized cookies or 48 mini cookies.  Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.

Frosting:

4 tbsp. margarine

4 tbsp. shortening

2/3 cup white sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

up to 1/3 cup milk

Beat butter and shortening, add sugar and salt.  Stir in flour and cinnamon.  Add milk until desires spreading consistency is achieved.

Spread frosting on cookies and top with the remaining cookies.

These cookies have my dad's stamp of approval.  He even ate them without the icing (and the day before my grandpa's birthday without asking, but that's another story) and pronounced them really, really good.  (He actually liked them better without the icing which goes to show my dad tends to like boring desserts.)  Do you how many recipes on this blog have my dad's stamp of approval?  Three.  That's it.  Three.  (Please don't think these are boring . . . because they aren't!)

Dishpan Cookies

Apple Crisp

Snickerdoodle Brownies

Make that four now that we've added these cookies.

My grandpa was turning 85, which is a really big number!  He's got seven decades on me, which is a whole bunch of years.  He has always been in my life; taking me to football and basketball games (all KU of course) on Girl's Days, on walks through his garden, to book stores, the KU Relays . . . he's always been there.  I think as we celebrated his birthday, the reality that he probably won't be here much longer was a bit more real.  I have been so blessed that he and my grandma are in excellent health and I know I can't take that for granted.  Every day is a blessing.  We can't make an hour any longer than 60 minutes, but we can decide how we are going to spend those 60 minutes.  The idea of being selfless instead of selfish in my life is not an easy concept.  The quote, "It's not thinking less of yourself, but of yourself less" gives an excellent picture as to what a selfless life would look like. 

We made a list of 85 things we remember or love about my grandpa and asked my aunt and uncle to contribute.  Some of their memories were serious, like being thankful for his selflessness, but most were really funny.  Both my aunt and uncle have great senses of humor and all of their thoughts and memories had smiley faces and exclamation marks.  Lots and lots of them.  My favorite was my aunt's memory of Grandpa sitting on a milkshake in his truck.  I wish I had been there. 

Mom also thought we should do a birthday hat.  I wanted to do one that had a bag of confetti that popped and went everywhere when he put the hat on, but Mom vetoed that idea.  Instead we found a glittery, jingly jester.  Not quite as good as the confetti hat (which I wouldn't have had the creativity or time to make) but it was fun.  We also got balloons!  I can't remember the last time we had balloons with helium!  When we were heading into the restaurant, Mom thought one of them had blown away when really it had just gotten stuck in the top of the Sprinter.  Goes to show you how high the Sprinter's ceiling is.  Grandpa had two balloons (instead of four) tied to his chair . . . its the thought that counts, right?

We read the page of 85 things at the restaurant and had a great time rehashing memories.  Since I have been in the picture for a much shorter time (computer cards . . . what are those?) it was neat getting to hear my dad and aunt and uncle relive the things they loved about Grandpa.  I hope to have the legacy that my grandpa has among his friends and family.  A selfless life is one well lived.  

Snickerdoodle Brownies

My mom and my dad are unified on most things, like God, faith, money, children, etc.  But when it comes to desserts, well, thats a different story.  My dad is a lot like his mother; not very rich, not very sweet, and definitely not very chocolate-y.

Me and my mom are the exact opposite.  We like the cheesecakes, brownies and mousses of this world, all chocolate.  Does this sound familiar?

So (thanks to Pinterest) I have found a recipe that I thought could breach the dessert divider.  One of my dad's favorites are snickerdoodles and as I have said before, me and my mom, well, we could live off of brownies.  You know when Jesus said man does not live on bread alone?  That's because he knew some genius would create brownies.

These brownies . . . really aren't brownies.  They might be shaped like them, but thats about it.  However, I just loved the idea of combining both my parents distinctly different tastes into one dessert so I am keeping the name. 

These are thick, a little doughy and chock full of cinnamon sugar goodness.

My family decided it was like a cross between snickerdoodles and Spice Bars (a family recipe) rather than snickerdoodles and brownies.  That is way more appealing, but it would be interesting to combine chocolate and cinnamon/sugar and see what you came up with.  Maybe a snickerdoodle base with chocolate chips?  Hmmm . . . I'll have to think about that one. 

Snickerdoodle Brownies
Recipe Source: The Sweet {Tooth} Life
2-2/3 cup flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. salt
1-3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup applesauce
2 eggs
1 tbsp. vanilla

Cinnamon Sugar Mixture

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray a 9x13 pan.
Beat butter, applesauce, and sugar in a bowl until combined.  Combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt and add to butter mixture.  Add eggs and vanilla and beat well.
Spread into pan and bake for 20 minutes.  Immediately sprinkle cinnamon and sugar mixture over top.
Cool before cutting and enjoy!

But really, when Jesus said man does not live on bread alone, He meant we can't expect to make it successfully through life without Him.  Even if our exterior screams popular and successful, if our soul is not being fed by God, our soul is dying.  We have to feed our physical bodies, food like the brownies above, because we need food to be sustained.  Same goes for our souls and I don't think I've been eating the "brownies" of the Bible like I have the brownies of this world.  So as I eat these brownies, pray I'll remember to savor God's word just as much.