Cheesecake Made in the Microwave!

 Last night, at like 10 pm., I was craving something sweet. Looking through my cabinets, I couldn't find anything that would "hit the spot". So, what did I do?

Of course, I turned to my recipe books and e-books!

A few months ago, I had downloaded this e-book called 25 Marvelous Microwave Desserts. My first thought of this cookbook e-book was, "Oh, how interesting! Desserts I can do in the microwave! I'll have to try some of these one day!"

Well, that day came last night. As I was flipping through the pages of this e-book, searching for a recipe that I knew I had all the ingredients to make, I came across this one! 

Who would have thought you can make a cheesecake in the microwave?!

 The recipe says to use a quiche dish, however since I don't actually own a quiche dish, I used a microwave-safe round casserole dish, and doubled the recipe.

Here's my altered recipe for all you eager, cheesecake-loving fans!

Ingredients:

• 5 Tbsp. cream cheese
• 5 Tbsp. powdered sugar
• 4 Tbsp sour cream
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 4 Tbsp. graham cracker crumbs
• 6 Tbsp. butter, melted

Directions:

1. Spray the inside of a small microwave-safe round casserole dish with cooking spray.
2. Combine the melted butter with the graham cracker crumbs and press into the bottom of your casserole dish.
3. Whisk together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, sour cream and eggs in a small bowl until smooth.
4. Stir in the lemon juice then spoon the mixture into the casserole dish.
5. Microwave on medium for 1 1/2 minutes. Microwave longer, if necessary, at 15 second increments on medium power. The center should be slightly wobbly when done.
6. Chill the cheesecake for a few hours in the refrigerator then serve.

Nutritional Information:

Servings per Recipe: 8 slices
Serving size: 1 slice

Calories: 168.2
Calories from Fat: 129
Total Fat: 14.3g
Saturated Fat: 8.3g
Cholesterol: 82.4mg
Sodium: 140.3mg
Total Carbohydrates: 7.9g
Sugar: 6.3g
Dietary Fiber: 0
Protein: 2.5g

*If you add berries, cool whip, or anything else to this after it is made, please be aware that it will change the nutritional values shown above!

I must say, for a microwaved dessert.... this is pretty tasty! Go try it out and tell me what you think!

Sugar Free Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins

Friday, I was in a major baking mood! I made brownies for my hubby (that I must note, he had been asking me to make for a couple of weeks, he he), Reduced Sugar Strawberry Cookies, and these yummy Sugar Free Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins!

This recipe makes 22-24 muffins, depending on how full you fill the muffin cups.

If this recipe makes that many muffins... why are there only 7 muffins showing in this picture? Because they are so good!!!

After I made them, I gave 8 to my in-laws so they could try them out, and so the kids could have some at their house this weekend. Glad I did... otherwise, they may not have been able to try them at all!!

I originally found the recipe on allrecipes.com but since I wanted to make is sugar free, to lower the amount of carbs per muffin, I did a little tweaking and worked out the adjusted nutritional information on food.com before making them, and sharing this recipe for you all!

They really aren't very hard to make, or very time consuming. Most time consuming part of the recipe is just cutting the cranberries in half (I  used fresh cranberries I had frozen a few months ago). But let me tell you, I am glad I "slaved" over those cranberries to make this! It was worth it! My only complaint about this recipe is that the cranberry taste overpowered the pumpkin taste, so I think the next time I make these, I'll add a touch more pumpkin pie spice to see if that helps bring out the flavor of the pumpkin more.

I'll stop rambling now, and share this awesome recipe with you all! If you make it, leave a comment below and tell me what you think!

Ingredients:

2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 cups Splenda sugar substitute
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons orange zest
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups cranberries, halved

Directions:

1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.

2 Beat eggs, sugar, pumpkin, vegetable oil, and orange zest in a small mixing bowl until smooth.

3 Mix flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl with a fork.

4 Make a well in the center of the flour mixture.

5 Pour pumpkin mixture into the well; stir until the dry mixture is just poistened into the batter.

6 Fold cranberries into the batter.

7 Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups.

8 Bake in the preheated oven until golden and the tops spring back when lightly pressed, 20 to 25 minutes.

Nutritional Information:

Calories 125.5

Calories from Fat 50
Total Fat 5.5 g
Saturated Fat 0.8 g
Cholesterol 16.9 mg
Sodium 117.1 mg
Total Carbohydrate 17.1 g
Dietary Fiber 0.8 g
Sugars 4.6 g
Protein 2.1 g

  Now, I made my own Pumpkin Puree, because I didn't have any canned. To learn how to make your own Pumpkin Puree, Click Here.

Sugar Free Powdered Sugar??

Having a child with diabetes, I am always looking for "reduced sugar" or "sugar free" ideas when it comes to baking. Don't get me wrong, just because he has Type 1 Diabetes, doesn't mean he's not allowed sugar. He absolutely can! It's just a personal preference of mine to limit the amount of sugar he gets. It's healthier, mainly.

Anyway, I wanted to make some cookies today for the kids. The recipe called for "powdered sugar". So, of course, my line of thinking is... "Hm, can you make sugar free powdered sugar, I wonder?"

I hit up Google. Yep, one of my Best Friends LOL!

Here's what I found (on about.com)

• 1 cup granulated Splenda (not the coffee packets or the brown sugar varieties)
• 1 tsp cornstarch

Procedure:

Place the Splenda and the cornstarch in a mixer or food processor. Blend on high speed for approximately 1 minute, until the texture is similar to powdered sugar. You may need to scrape down the mixer or processor bowl several times in the process. Sugar can be stored in an airtight container for up to a month. Try dusting it on candies, tarts, or lemon bars.
Like with any sugar replacer, this is best used when you need the flavor of sugar but not necessarily the baking properties. Don't try to use Splenda-based granulated or powdered sugar in recipes where sugar is the main ingredient, or where the recipe depends on sugar to give it structure or caramelizing properties.

When I made it... it actually tasted just like the real stuff!

Try it out! You might be surprised!