Homemade Chocolate Cheesecake and Cinnamon Rolls...

The night before Thanksgiving, Savannah and I put together some homemade goodies. I had said earlier that day that it had been sort of a slow blogging week. She asked me to take pictures of our treats in the making and then post them to my blog. Yes, it has taken a week to do that, but my living room, dining room and kitchen all got painted during that time - more about that in another post. The first recipe for the Chocolate Cheesecake came from my sister-in-law, Jessica. I think it was several years ago when she was here on leave from Korea. She wanted to make something for all of us and she knew how very much I loved chocolate. It was a really simple recipe she found on Hershey's website. Warning... it is VERY RICH, but oh so good! We actually make a homemade graham cracker crust to go with it too. Yummy! The second recipe is for homemade cinnamon rolls. This comes from a very nice homeschooling mom that goes by the screen name of Quiverof10 on The Well Trained Mind Message Boards. They are a huge hit for those of us that frequent that board. Again... these things are RICH and YUMMY! Here are the recipes.

Graham Cracker Crust

1 1/4 cups of Graham Cracker Crumbs (one individual package crushed up)

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup margarine of butter, melted

Place one individual package in gallon size ziploc bag and crush or use food processor.

In small bowl stir crumbs and sugar. Add margarine or butter. Toss until combined.

In 9-inch pie plate evenly spread crumb mixture. Press onto bottom and sides of pie plate. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm. (Or, bake at 375 degrees for 6 to 8 minutes or until light brown. Cool.)

No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake

1-1/2 cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1 package (3 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine, softened

2 cups frozen non-dairy whipped topping, thawed

Place chocolate chips in small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at HIGH for 1 minute; stir. If necessary, microwave at HIGH an additional 15 seconds at a time, stirring after each heating, just until chips are melted when stirred. Set aside to cool.

Beat cream cheese, sugar, and butter in large bowl on medium speed of mixer until creamy. Gradually add melted chips, beating on low speed until blended. Fold in Whipped topping until blended; spoon into crust.

Refrigerate until firm. Garnish as desired. Cover; refrigerate leftover cheesecake. About 8 servings.

Cinnamon Rolls

Dough

1 T. Dry Yeast

1 Cup warm milk

1/3 C. white sugar

1/2 C. melted butter

1 tsp. salt

2 eggs

4 C. flour

Dissolve yeast in warm milk. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Knead into a ball. Let rise until double in size. When ready, roll out to about 1/4 inch thick. Spread with filling.

Filling
1/4 C. butter, softened

1 C. brown sugar

3 T. cinnamon

Spread butter on dough evenly. Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon over dough evenly. Roll dough up. Slice roll into 1 inch slices. Place on greased pan. Let rise again until doubled. Bake 10 minutes at 400 degrees.

Icing
1/2 C. butter, softened

1 1/2 C. powder sugar

1 oz. cream cheese

2 T. whipping cream (or milk)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

pinch of salt

Beat until fluffy. When rolls are hot, spread lots of icing on them.

To make these the night before needed, skip the final frising step. Let rise overnight in the fridge. In the morning, bake.

To make slicing easier, I use dental floss. Just slip it under, criss cross and pull and you have nice, even slices.