The Week 1 mean plan suggested Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches. So I asked Chat GPT to give me the World’s Best Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Recipe. Here’s what it came up with.

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World’s Best Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich

Creating the "world's best" peanut butter and jelly (PB&J) sandwich can be a matter of personal preference, but here's a classic recipe that's sure to satisfy your taste buds.

Note: This is a recipe created by ChatGPT and tested by me.

Course Lunch

Cuisine American

Keyword sandwich

Prep Time 2 minutes minutes

Total Time 2 minutes minutes

Author Go Sweet Fox

Ingredients

• 2 slices favorite bread (white, wheat, whole grain, or your preference)
• 2 T Creamy peanut butter
• 1-2 T Fruit jelly or jam (grape, strawberry, raspberry, or your favorite)
• ½ T Butter or margarine (optional for a grilled PB&J)

Instructions

• Choose your bread: Select two slices of your preferred bread. You can use classic white bread, whole wheat, or any other type you prefer.
• Spread peanut butter: Take one slice of bread and spread 2 tablespoons of creamy peanut butter evenly over the entire surface of the bread. You can adjust the amount to your taste.
• Add Jelly or Jam: On the other slice of bread, spread 1-2 tablespoons of your favorite fruit jelly or jam. Spread it evenly to the edges.
• Combine the Slices: Carefully press the two slices of bread together, peanut butter side to jelly side, to create your PB&J sandwich.
• (Optional) Grill it (Grilled PB&J):

  If you want to take your PB&J to the next level, you can make it grilled. Heat a small amount of butter or margarine in a pan over medium heat.

  Place your assembled PB&J sandwich in the pan and cook until both sides are golden brown and crispy, usually about 2-3 minutes per side.
• Serve: If you've made a grilled PB&J, allow it to cool for a minute or two before slicing it diagonally. If it's a regular PB&J, you can slice and serve it immediately.
• Enjoy: Savor your peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a glass of milk or your favorite beverage. It's a classic and comforting treat that's loved by all ages.

Notes

Feel free to customize your PB&J sandwich by experimenting with different types of bread, nut butters (like almond or cashew butter), and various fruit spreads. The “world’s best” PB&J is all about your personal taste and preferences.

Recipe Review

I will be trying this recipe with both a regular PB&J and a grilled PB&J. My family and I will then rate the sandwich utilizing the Go Sweet Fox Proprietary Food Rating System.

One thing I can say right now, though, is that the World’s Best peanut butter and jelly sandwich cannot be made with creamy peanut butter. Chunky peanut butter makes way better PB&J sandwiches.

The post World’s Best Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Recipe (says ChatGPT) appeared first on Go Sweet Fox.

About a week ago I took my daughter to the mall to look for shoes. On our way out, we stopped by a Cinnabon and got ourselves a little cinnamon roll treat. I made these cinnamon rolls this weekend and upon tasting them, my daughter said, “Dad! These are way better than the Cinnabon we had!”

So I asked her to pay for them. She said no. Oh well.

Here is the recipe. Below you will find some more details.

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World’s Best Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

These cinnamon are quite a bit of work, but they're worth it. I just made them and my daughter literally said, "Dad! These are way better than the Cinnabon we had!"

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Dough rising 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 2 hours hours 55 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Author Go Sweet Fox

Equipment

• KitchenAid Mixer with dough hook and paddle
• 9 x 13 baking dish
• Rolling Pin
• Small mixing bowl

Ingredients

The Cinnamon Roll Dough Ingredients

• 1 C Milk Warm but not hot
• 2¼ tsp dry yeast
• 5 T Butter (I use unsalted) melted
• ½ C Sugar
• 1 tsp Salt
• 2 Large eggs room temperature
• 4 C Flour (may need extra)

The Cinnamony Filling

• 1 C Brown Sugar
• 2 T Cinnamon
• 1/2 C Butter Softened
• ½ C Milk warm but not hot

Cinnamon Roll Frosting

• 8 oz Cream Cheese
• 5 T Butter softened
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• 3 C Powdered Sugar

Instructions

Making the Dough Ball

• Ensure that the milk is warm, but not hot. If it is over 135°F, it will kill the yeast.
• Pour the milk into the KitchenAid bowl and add the yeast. Allow the yeast to proof, if not using instant yeast.
• Melt the butter (see notes in post below).
• Add the melted butter, sugar, salt, and eggs to the bowl. Mix with a whisk until combined.
• Add the flour to the bowl and mix using the dough hook. Start on slow so that you don't launch the flour all over the place (learned the hard way).
• Allow the dough hook to knead the dough. You may need to slowly add additional flour (possibly up to another ¼ to ½ cup. The dough is supposed to be somewhat sticky. I add flour just until the dough barely stops sticking to the bowl.

Allowing the Dough to Rise

• Now that your dough ball is formed, the next step is to allow it to rise. To do this, you want the dough to sit in a warm environment in a bowl and with a cover that it will not stick to.
• There are two options for the bowl.

  Option 1: use a separate bowl lightly sprayed with cooking spray (so the dough doesn't stick to the sides).

  Option 2: remove the dough from the KitchenAid bowl, spray that bowl with cooking spray, and put the dough back. I use option 2 just because I don't want to have to clean another bowl later.

  Whichever option you choose, lightly dusting your hands with flour will help keep the dough from sticking to your hands as you handle it.
• Cover the bowl with a cloth or a cellophane (spray the cellophane if using that).
• If you need a warm place, you can start your oven and let it warm up for a minute or two–just long enough to make it a warm and cozy place for your dough. Then turn it off and place bowl inside.
• You want to dough to double in size, approximately. Check on it after 30 minutes. It could take up to an hour.

Preparing the Cinnamon Rolls for Baking

• Once the dough rises, the next step is to flatten out the dough in a large rectangle (24in x 15in), top it with the cinnamony filling, roll it up into a large cinnamon roll log, and then cut it into the actual cinnamon rolls for baking. So here we go.
• Prepare a large, flat surface by lightly dusting it with flour (to avoid sticking).
• Place the dough in the middle of your prepared surface. I like to form the ball into a rough rectangle before I start rolling it out.
• Using a roller lightly dusted with flour, roll the dough out until it is approximately 2 feet and 1¼ feet (or 24 X 15 inches).
• Spread the softened butter across the entire dough surface.
• In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together.
• Spread the brown sugar and cinnamon mix over the butter, completely covering the dough. Keep in mind that the center of the cinnamon roll will be the edge where you start rolling, so if you like the center of your cinnamon rolls to be extra cinnamony, make sure your first fold includes a good portion of the cinnamon mix.
• Roll the long end of the rectangle into a large log (like rolling up a sleeping bag sideways).
• It may help to get the rolling going if you use a scraper or spatula to run underneath the dough.
• Cut the cinnamon roll log into 12 equal slices. It should be about 2 inches per cinammon roll.
• Place the rolls in a 9×13 dish, prepared with cooking spray.
• Cover the dish and allow the cinnamon rolls to rise for about 30 minutes. Some recipes say to allow it to double, but once they look a little fluffier, they are good to bake.
• Preheat the oven to 375°F.
• Prior to baking, even pour the warm milk over the cinnamon rolls.
• Bake for 22-25 minutes, until they are a light golden brown color.

Making the Cream Cheese Frosting

• I use the KitchenAid bowl for this, so make sure the bowl is clean.
• Add the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla to the bowl. Mix until smooth.
• Add the powdered sugar. Add a cup at a time on low speed to avoid mess.
• If you find you want the frosting to be thicker, add more powdered sugar. If you want to thin it out, add milk, 1 tablespoon at a time.
• Once the cinnamon rolls are done baking, spread the frosting throughout and enjoy!

Notes on the Cinnamon Roll ingredients

Warm milk: Just microwave it for 45 seconds. I just do a finger test. It should feel warm but not hot.

Melting the butter: Melting butter probably doesn’t seem like it needs any notes, but it does. If you are using the microwave, heating butter too long or too fast can result in a little butter explosion. So heat it on 50% power. Start with 25 seconds and stir. Then do 10-second increments, stirring between. This will melt the butter without the explosion.

If you are melting butter on the stove top, stirring it will help avoid butter splatters. I will heat it up, and remove it from the heat while swirling the butter around as well.

You also have the option to brown the butter, which you can read about in my Ultimate World’s Best Cheesecake Recipe.

Softening the Butter: I purchase butter that is wrapped in wax paper (rather than foil). Keep the butter in the wax paper and microwave it at 50% power for 20 seconds. That should soften the butter without melting it. If it is still firm, microwave it again at 50% power in 6-second increments.

Softening the Cream Cheese: Remove the cream cheese from the foil wrapper. Microwave it at 50% power for 20 seconds. If it is still cold, zap it again in 10-second increments.

Notes on Preparing the Cinnamon Rolls

I think the recipe card does a good job of describing most of the details (let me know if you have questions on that). I do want to highlight a few of the steps though.

Prepping your work area for rolling out the dough

When you lightly dust your work area, it can be helpful to use a strainer. I add flour to a wire strainer and then tap it around my workstation. It creates a fine (and somewhat even) area to work on.

If you keep the area, your hands, and the roller lightly dusted with flour, you should be able to avoid having the dough stick too much to any of the surfaces.

Measuring and Topping the Dough

The ultimate goal is to have cinnamon rolls that have enough, well, rolls in them. Remember, you are going to roll the dough long-ways. The “Short side” of the rectangle will determine how many spirals your cinnamon rolls will have. The “long side” will determine how tall or thick your cinnamon rolls are.

You will roll the dough along the long side of the dough. As a reminder, you want this long side to be around 24-inches. It does not need to be precise. The short side should be approximately 15 inches. This gives enough size to get a good amount of spirals in the rolls. Yes, I actually do use a tape measure to make sure my sides are where I want them to be.

Once rolled, you will end up with a cinnamon roll log that should be approximately 24 inches (which is what you measured out).

You may have some dough that makes the log longer than 24 inches. I actually cut those sections off to get a more uniform look to the cinnamon rolls. There is nothing wrong with keeping those sections though.

If your log is 24 inches, you will end up with 12 cinnamon rolls if you cut them each 2 inches. Here is a picture of how that works:

Yes, I also use a rule when I am cutting my cinnamon rolls. Again, it just makes them more uniform.

As for cutting the cinnamon rolls, I used to get a long string of dental floss and used that to pinch-cut the rolls. You do this by sliding the string under the roll and just tightening it around where you want to cut. The thought behind using floss is that by pinching the dough evenly, it keeps the circle shape better.

Now, however, I just use a plastic dough scraper to cut through. It’s just easier to use than floss and it does a fine job. I’ve never had a problem with it mangling the shape of the rolls.

As you can see, measuring and cutting your cinnamon rolls in this way creates a cinnamon roll that has about four spirals full of cinnamon goodness.

Enjoy your Cinnamon Rolls!

Other than those items, I think everything should be fairly straightforward. If you have questions, let me know in the comments.

The post World’s Best Cinnamon Roll Recipe appeared first on Go Sweet Fox.

Then I decided to just jump in and start doing it–even if it means I may get things wrong.

I recently joined a challenge with Niche Pursuits to “Grow an EXISTING Site with AI Generated Content.” I didn’t really plan on using AI in my blogging, though I wasn’t against it.

When ChatGPT first exploded, people at work were asking it questions about stock market models or the interpretation of federal regulations. The first thing I though to ask was, “Give me the best chocolate chip cookie recipe.”

This got me thinking, “I wonder if I could use ChatGPT to plan and make meals for my family?”

And that’s exactly what I’m going to do. All of my AI assisted plans and recipes will go under the category “ChatGPT recipes.” We’ll see whether the Google gods smile upon this idea.

Cooking with ChatGPT

I will be using meal plans and recipes created by ChatGPT to feed my family of 8. We’ll use the Go Sweet Fox Proprietary Food Rating System to report on how the recipes turn out.

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ChatGPT’s Meal Plan for Week 1

I asked ChatGPT to make me a large family budget-friendly meal plan for the week. Here’s what it gave me:

I’m going to put this meal plan to the test, though I will definitely be making some adjustments. To add to the fun, where a meal is not totally straightforward (ex: Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich), I will also ask ChatGPT for the recipe.

The post Meal planning with ChatGPT: Week 1 appeared first on Go Sweet Fox.

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Easy Rice Pudding

This is an easy rice pudding that kids love. It's not the custardy type of rice pudding, but it's almost just as good. It's also way easier and faster.

Course Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 2 minutes minutes

Cook Time 12 minutes minutes

Total Time 14 minutes minutes

Servings 10

Author Go Sweet Fox

Equipment

• Rice cooker

Ingredients

• 2½ C White Rice (or rice mix…see post)
• 3 cans Evaporated Milk
• ¾ C Sugar
• 2 tsp Cinnamon
• 1 dash Cloves or nutmeg (optional)

Instructions

• Cook the rice according to the instructions of your rice cooker.
• In a large bowl, or in your rice pot if it is big enough, add 3 cans of evaporated milk, sugar, and cinnamon (as well as any other seasonings you want).
• Mix together well and serve.

Type of Rice for Easy Rice Pudding

I use two types of rice, white long-grain rice and jasmine rice, at a 1/1 ratio. So half white rice and half jasmine rice.

I discovered this mix from trying to make homemade fried rice. An Asian cookbook I have says to use this combination. The popular rice brand Mahatma even sells a 50/50 long grain and jasmine rice mix specifically for fried rice. According to this brand, “traditional long grain white rice … is neutral in flavor” while jasmine rice is “fragrant [and] slightly sweet.” Mahatma notes that, “[w]hen combined, these rice varieties balance each other out perfectly for an enhanced rice taste.” (emphasis in original).

I’ve found that this combination is great for almost any time you are using rice. If I’m making a dish that calls for white rice, you can bet I will be using a 50/50 blend of white rice and jasmine rice.

To Rinse or Not Rinse the Rice, That is the Question

Going back to Mahatma, their rice instructions do not include rinsing. All it states is to “bring water to a boil. Stir in rice. Cover. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until all water is absorbed.”

In fact, most rice produced in the US is thoroughly washed and fortified with vitamins. Those added nutrients create the dusty or powdery layer you see on the grains of rice. If you wash off this powder, you will be washing off these supplemental nutrients.

Mahatma says that the only rice that should be washed is sushi rice.

Still, others, such as culinary scientist Matt Slem via Martha Stewart, argue that even though washing may remove some added nutrients, washing rice also removes any dirt, debris, chemicals, or even bugs from the rice. These unwanted elements could contaminate the rice through the transportation process, even if the rice is thoroughly cleaned by the producer.

People also claim washing rice improves the texture by removing excess starches. This claim has been debunked by food scientists, who found that washing rice has no significant impact on the texture of cooked rice.

In my opinion, if you feel better about washing the rice, wash the rice. If you enjoy the process of washing the rice, wash the rice. If you prefer not to wash the rice, don’t wash the rice.

Rice Pudding Options

If you think rice pudding is more appropriate as a dessert than as a breakfast food, I probably agree with you. I feel the same way about muffins. If you put frosting on a muffin, you have a cupcake. So you are just eating an unfrosted cupcake for breakfast.

But I still eat it for breakfast from time to time.

You can add raisins, which is delicious.

I also sometimes add another 1/4 cup of sugar because I have a problem.

We have also added fresh berries or bananas.

You also have the option of eating it hot or cold, but I definitely think it is best warm and fresh.

Storing easy rice pudding

My opinion is that rice is never really that good after it is refrigerated.

It can be stored in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. My kids will still eat it and like it.

I do not like it as much, though. So my recommendation is that make as much as you think you can eat for your meal.

The post Easy Rice Pudding Recipe appeared first on Go Sweet Fox.

I grew up very American. I don’t speak Tagalog and know embarrassingly little about the Philippines—although I was actually born there. Even if I recognize the food, I don’t always know the name of the food. And if I do know what the name is, I can’t really pronounce it without sounding like I don’t have a single drop of Filipino blood in me.

But I’ve known Polvoron since I was a kid.

I always just knew it as a thick, dry, sweet, and crumbly Filipino treat.

Doing my Filipino treat tasting project has helped me learn more about it.

Historical Background

The geographic area which now constitutes the Philippines was ruled by Spain for over 300 years–from 1565-1898. That may not sound long, but for some context, that’s longer than the United States of America has even existed.

Prior to the Spanish rule, the “Philippines” was not a distinct country. Rather, the more than 7,000 islands were made up of various independent and even isolated city-state groups called barangays. The geographic area was ultimately claimed by Spanish colonizers, who named the area in honor of their future king, King Phillip II of Spain. Therefore, the area was decreed as “Las Islas Filipinas” or “The Islands of Phillip.”

But, for various reasons, the Philippines was difficult to control, with many groups remaining fiercely independent or indifferent to the Spanish rule. Many of the Spanish customs were adopted over time were reinterpreted.

Eventually, the Filipino people fought to separate from Spain. The Spanish American War took place in 1898. In this war, the Filipino people fought alongside the United States to defeat Spain. This resulted in the collapse of the Spanish empire.

Polvaron is a Filipino Take on a Spanish Treat

Filipino polvoron is similar to a Spanish cookie called a Mantecado. The main difference is that the Spanish bake these cookies. The Filipino polvoron is not baked.

Polvoron is made out of toasted flour, whole milk powder, sugar, and butter.

Toasted flour is literally what it sounds like–flour that is toasted (ie: browned) over heat in a pan.

The dry ingredients are then mixed with the butter (or another type of fat) and pressed into a compact cookie.

You can purchase a polvoron mold from Amazon.

Having learned more about Polvoron, I like to think of it as a cookie that embodies some of the Filipino spirit. The Spanish introduced it, but the Filipinos reinterpreted it and made it their own.

Rating the Filipino Polvoron

I purchased classic Polvoron made by Goldilocks.

Goldilocks started as a very small bake shop in Manila, Philippines in 1966. It came to the USA in the 1970s and now has over 600 locations worldwide.

I have to say, Goldilocks is a Filipino food brand that has earned my trust.

I tried and rated the classic Polvoron. I posted my initial reaction on YouTube.

I also give it a more careful review using my proprietary Food Rater scale.

Here are my results:

Best on this score, I give Polvoron just under Amazing, but it’s so close. I don’t mind saying that the classic Polvoron is one of my favorite Filipino treats.

If you haven’t had a chance to try it, you should! If you’ve tried it, let me know what you think.

The post Polvoron: A Filipino Shortbread Cookie appeared first on Go Sweet Fox.

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Oreo Cookies & Cream Cheesecake Recipe

A hit with kids and adults alike, this Oreo cheesecake recipes has cookies & cream goodness with a thick cookies and cream crust.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword cheesecake

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 2 hours hours 15 minutes minutes

Chilling 4 hours hours

Total Time 6 hours hours 45 minutes minutes

Author Go Sweet Fox

Equipment

• 1 Spring form pan, 9 inches
• Food Processor
• KitchenAid (or mixer of your choice)

Ingredients

The Cookies & Cream Crust

• 2½ C Oreo crumbs (2 rows of Oreos–see post for details)
• 6 T butter, melted

The Cheesecake

• 16 oz Philadelphia Cream Cheese
• 16 oz Lucerne Cream Cheese
• 1¼ C Sugar
• ½ C Sour cream
• 2 tsp Vanilla
• 4 Large Eggs
• 2 C Oreo Cookie Chunks (about a row-and-a-half of oreos–see post for more info)

Instructions

The Oreo Crust

• Prepare the spring-form pan. Place parchment paper at the bottom of the pan and lightly spray the paper and sides of the pan with cooking spray. You can line the sides with parchment paper as well, but I found that to be unnecessary.
• Using a food processor, grind the Oreos into crumbs. You will use two sleeves of Oreos from a party-size package (see post notes).
• Place the Oreo crumbs into a medium bowl.
• Add the melted butter to the Oreo crumbs.
• Mix the crumbs and butter until evenly moistened.
• Pour the crust into the pan and press the crust around the pan evenly using the bottom of a flat cup. (Note: I prefer a thicker, flat crust so that there is an equal amount of crust in each bite. If you wish to have the crust go up the sides, you can do so by pressing the crust against the sides of the pan.)

The Oreo Cheesecake Filling

• Preheat the oven to 250°F.
• Place all of the cream cheese into the KitchenAid mixer bowl. Using the beater attachment (not the whisk), mix the cream cheese until smooth. Medium speed is fine. Do not worry about overmixing the cream cheese. You need to make sure it is smooth at this step (and before you add the eggs).
• Add the sugar, sour cream, and vanilla. Continue mixing. You may need to scrape the sides of the bowl using a spatula. You will mix until it looks smooth and uniform in color.
• Add the eggs, two at a time. You only mix until the eggs are incorporated into the mix (ie: uniform in color). You do not want to overbeat the eggs. I use the KitchenAid at low speed and finish with a hand whisk just to ensure no eggs are missed.
• Add Oreo Cookie Chunks. I just break the cookies by hand into at least fourths. See post notes for more details.
• Gently mix by hand until well incorporated.
• Gently pour the cheesecake mix onto the crust in the spring form pan.
• You can even out the top of the cheesecake with a spatula or by lightly tapping the bottom of the pan flatly against the countertop.

Baking the Cheesecake

• Bake the cheesecake at 250°F for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Place the cheesecake on the top rack so it is in the center of the oven. Also, place a large cookie sheet on the bottom rack beneath the cheesecake. The cheesecake may "weep" extra moisture from the butter or fat from the cream cheese. The cookie sheet will catch this and help avoid mess in the oven.
• After the initial baking, turn off the oven and crack it open slightly. You can wedge a hot pad against the oven door to stop it from closing all the way. This will vent the oven while allowing the residual heat to continue the baking process. Allow the cheesecake to sit in the oven for an additional 60 minutes.
• After this second hour, the center of the cheesecake may still be a little jiggly. Remove it from the oven and let the cheesecake cool to room temperature (about another hour). Allowing the cheesecake to cool will help prevent it from "sweating" in the refrigerator.
• Chill the cheesecake in the refrigerator for at least four hours. Overnight is best.

All About the Oreos

Use Authentic Oreos

Making Oreos must not be that easy because the knock-off brands are never as good as the real thing. The generic brand that comes the closest is Tuxedos by Signature Kitchens. These are sold at Safeway and Albertsons. Still, Oreos are noticeably better. 

If you want the best cookies & cream crust, you have to buy authentic Oreos. 

You will also want to buy the party sized, regular Oreos for this recipe (not double stuffed).

The original Oreos, as opposed to double-stuffed, make the best crumbs for the cheesecake crust. Full disclosure: I prefer regular Oreos to double-stuffed Oreos regardless.

Do not use Double Stuff Oreos

There is some science to back up my opinion to not use double-stuff Oreos in this recipe. Food scientist Bruno Xavier examined Oreo cookies on behalf of the Wall Street Journal. Dr. Xavier notes that the Oreo filling is not a dairy product in that it uses no cream. This means that the “cream” in the Oreo is not “cream” at all–it’s “creme.” Pursuant to the FDA, “cream” is a dairy product and “creme” is non-dairy. Instead of cream, the Oreo creme is made with (among other things) oil, and Dr. Xavier says it is likely mostly palm oil.

Therefore, the recipe must take into account that Oreos already have their own oil. Consequently, I use less butter in this crust recipe than I do for my main Graham Cracker Crust recipe for cheesecake. The creme within the Oreo acts as an additional source of fat and moisture to make up for the difference. If you were to use double-stuff Oreos, you would double the amount of oil in the crust (at least by mass, according to truthinadvertising.org).

Using the Oreos

You purchase the party-size package of Oreos because it contains four rows of cookies–just enough for this recipe.

Two rows are for the crust, a row-and-a-half is for the filling, and the final half-row is to garnish the top.

To make the crumbs for the crust, use two sleeves from the Oreo package and grind them up in a food processor. This should be about 30 cookies and that makes approximately 2 ½ cups of crumbs.

To add the Oreos to the filling, there are a few options:

1. You can put the row-and-a-half worth of Oreos in a gallon-size ziplock bag and smash them up with a rolling pin. Just be careful not to smash them up too much that they become crumbs.
2. You can break them apart into fourths (approximately) just using your hands.
3. You can actually cut them into fourths with a knife.

I personally do option 2. I just take a couple in my hand and squeeze them so they break into chunks. It doesn’t matter that they are not uniform in size (in fact I like it.) This method also prevents them from getting too smashed up and it goes by pretty quickly.

When I’m adding the cookies I think about it this way…. When I’m eating cookies and cream ice cream, I like when I get a scoop that has a giant chunk of cookie in it. I feel like I hit the jackpot.

I try to do the same thing with the cheesecake. If there are a few big pieces of cookie in the batter, that’s going to be an awesome slice. But if all the pieces of cookie are that big, it’s not as special to get a big piece.

As for garnishing the cheesecake, do not add Oreos on top until you are ready to serve it. If you refrigerate the Oreo cookies on top, they will get stale and soft.

When you are ready to garnish, crumble the cookies the same way you did for the batter and place it on the cheesecake in way that looks good to you.

A Note on the Cream Cheese

You will see that the recipe calls for two different types of cream cheese. That’s not a typo.

I’ve explained this in detail in my Ultimate World’s Best Cheesecake Recipe, but the gist is that your cheesecake needs to use Philadelphia Cream Cheese. But I found that using only Philadelphia Creme Cheese seems to make a cheesecake that is too soft.

Using a different cream cheese along with Philadelphia seems to create a better balance of creamy and thick. I recommend Lucerne brand from Safeway or Albertsons. But if you don’t have that, just use another mid-level cream cheese. The only one I have tried that I don’t recommend is the Great Value brand from Walmart. I wish I could recommend it because it’s inexpensive for cream cheese, but every time I’ve used it, my cheesecake has ended up with a playdoughy texture.

Final Tips!

• I like a thick, flat layer of crust. It ensures every bite of cheesecake has the optimum ratio of crust to cheesecake (in my humble opinion). If you want crust up the sides, there should be enough to do that.
• I do not pre-bake my crusts, so this recipe does not call for pre-baking.
• I do not believe in the water bath, so this recipe does not require a water bath.
• If the cheesecake appears a little jiggly after baking in the oven, realize that is normal. It will reach its final form through the refrigeration process.
• The texture of the cheesecake is better after it has been able to sit in the refrigerator overnight.
• Before unclasping the spring form pan, run a knife around the edges of the cheesecake. This will help separate the cheesecake from the pan.

The post Oreo Cookies & Cream Cheesecake Recipe appeared first on Go Sweet Fox.

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Coffee Cake Recipe (aka Muffin Cake)

This is a classic coffee cake with a cinnamon struesel topping. We don't do coffee in my household, so we call it Muffin Cake. We eat this almost every Sunday (in various forms). We usually have it with hardboiled eggs.

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Keyword Muffin

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Author Go Sweet Fox

Equipment

• 9 x 13 baking dish (glass)
• Large Mixing Bowl
• Food Processor

Ingredients

For the Cake:

• 1 C Sugar
• 3 C Flour
• 3 tsp Baking powder
• ½ tsp Salt
• 1 C Vegetable Oil
• 1 C Milk
• 2 Large Eggs
• 1 tsp Vanilla

Struesel Topping

• ½ C Sugar
• ⅓ C Flour
• ¼ C Butter (cubed)
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• ½ C Melted butter (optional)

Instructions

The Concept

• You are making a coffee cake with a layer of cinnamon streusel in the middle and a struesel crumble on top. You will make two layers of cake batter and streusel to do this.

To make the coffee cake batter

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• In the large mixing bowl, blend the sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt.
• Make a small well in the middle of the mixture.
• In the well, combine oil, eggs, vanilla, and milk.
• Begin stirring everything together with a whisk, beginning in the middle and working your way to the sides as everything incorporates.
• Set aside.

Cinnamon Streusel Topping

• Add the sugar, flour, cubed butter, and cinnamon into the food processor.
• Blend it until it forms a crumble.

Preparing for baking

• Pour half of the batter into a prepared 9 x 13 pan and spread evenly throughout the pan.
• Pour half of the streusel and spread evenly. (This will make a layer of struesel in the middle of the cake)
• Pour the remaining batter on top of the streusel and spread evenly.
• Top with the remaining streusel.
• If you desire, you can drizzle the top with ½ C of melted butter.
• Bake for about 45 minutes at 350°F.

Backstory to this Coffee Cake Recipe

When my wife was a kid, her family would eat muffins and eggs almost every Sunday morning. That was a family tradition I could get behind so we started doing that with our own family.

However, the thing I did not like about muffins was cleaning the muffin tray. Also, as our family grew, we started to have to double the muffin recipe, meaning we went from making 12 muffins to 24 muffins.

I did not like having to spoon out 24 muffin cups and then clean two muffin trays.

Therefore, I decided to try to turn the muffin tradition into a coffee cake tradition. Now, instead of having to spoon out a bunch of muffins and clean the little muffin holes in the trays, I can dump everything into one 9×13 baking dish. It’s faster and easier to clean than muffins.

Also, since we don’t do coffee in my household, we call this recipe “muffin cake.” It is our muffins tradition in a cake form.

Notes on the Coffee Cake Batter

When I first started making this coffee cake, I would make the well in the dry ingredients as described. I don’t do that as much anymore. So if you don’t know what I mean by “make a well” you can just ignore that part. Otherwise, I would say you just make the dry ingredients look like there is a sarlacc pit in the middle (minus the sarlacc). You then put the wet ingredients (oil, milk, eggs, vanilla) into the pit.

Also don’t worry too much about whether your layers of batter and streusel are perfectly divided. You use about half of each for each layer of batter and streusel. In fact, I’ve even swirled the layers together and it’s been fine.

Making the Streusel

Before we had a food processor, I made the streusel by hand with a whisk. It took forever and was quite a workout to beat the butter into the crumbly texture. It’s much easier with a food processor.

When you are grinding everything with the food processor, the streusel can go through three phases.

First, it will become a sandy texture.

Second, it will become a crumbly texture.

Third, it will become a more chunky or doughy texture.

You want to stop the food processor during the second phase. I actually like to stop the mixing just after it gets passed the sandy stage and begins forming smaller chunks.

It will still be good if you get to the chunky stage though. In fact, everyone will want the pieces with thick streusel. But it is harder to spread the streusel evenly if it gets too chunky.

Adding butter on top

You can add melted butter on top of the coffee cake prior to baking. To do this, envision making a winding river of butter that goes up and down the entire coffee cake.

I will say that adding the butter river is quite delicious.

I don’t add it anymore though.

A 1/2 cup of butter is 814 calories. Obviously, coffee cake is not a superfood–muffins is how we get away with eating dessert for breakfast. Leaving out the extra butter makes me feel a little better about serving this to my kids for breakfast.

It’s still really good without it.

Adding other Coffee Cake mix-ins

If you want blueberry coffee cake, add 2 cups of blueberries.

Banana cinnamon coffee cake? Cut or mash up 2 or 3 over-ripe bananas and sprinkle some cinnamon into the cake batter.

Would you like peach coffee cake? Add 2 cups of diced peaches.

I’ve also done chocolate chip coffee cake by adding a package of chocolate chips (but not very often because, again, this is supposed to be breakfast).

The variations are really only limited by your own imagination. If you think something might be good in a coffee cake, add it and see what you think.

The post Coffee Cake Recipe appeared first on Go Sweet Fox.

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White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Recipe

This cheesecake is loaded with white chocolate chunks and bright, lively raspberries on top of a thick graham cracker crust.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword cheesecake

Prep Time 45 minutes minutes

Cook Time 2 hours hours 15 minutes minutes

Chilling 4 hours hours

Total Time 7 hours hours

Author Go Sweet Fox

Equipment

• 1 Spring form pan, 9 in.
• KitchenAid (or mixer of your choice)

Ingredients

The Graham Cracker Crust

• 2½ C Graham Cracker Crumbs
• 2 tsp Cinnamon
• ¾ C Melted Butter

The Cheesecake

• 16 oz Philadelphia Cream Cheese
• 16 oz Lucerne Cream Cheese
• 1¼ C Sugar
• ½ C Sour cream
• 2 tsp Vanilla
• 4 Large Eggs
• 1 C White Chocolate Chunks see post on choosing white chocolate
• 1½ C Frozen raspberries see post on why frozen

Instructions

Making the Graham Cracker Crust:

• Prepare the spring-form pan. Place parchment paper at the bottom of the pan and lightly spray the paper and sides of the pan with cooking spray. You can line the sides with parchment paper as well, but I found that to be unnecessary.
• Place the graham cracker crumbs in a medium bowl.
• Mix the cinnamon into the graham cracker crumbs.
• Melt the butter (the flavor of the crust can be more toasted if you brown the butter. To do this, stir the butter over medium heat. It will start to bubble and then the bubbling will go back down. It should start to brown shortly thereafter).
• Add the melted butter into the bowl and mix with a whisk until evenly moistened.
• Pour the crust into the pan and press the crust around the pan evenly using the bottom of a flat cup. (Note: I prefer a thicker, flat crust so that there is an equal amount of crust in each bite. If you wish to have the crust go up the sides, you can do so by pressing the crust against the sides of the pan.)

The White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Filling:

• Preheat the oven to 250°F.
• Place all of the cream cheese into the KitchenAid mixer bowl. Using the beater attachment (not the whisk), mix the cream cheese until smooth. Medium speed is fine. Do not worry about overmixing the cream cheese. You need to make sure it is smooth at this step (and before you add the eggs).
• Add the sugar, sour cream, and vanilla. Continue mixing. You may need to scrape the sides of the bowl using a spatula. You will mix until it looks smooth and uniform in color.
• Add the eggs, two at a time. You only mix until the eggs are incorporated into the mix (ie: uniform in color). You do not want to overbeat the eggs. I used the KitchenAid at low speed and finish with a hand whisk just to ensure no eggs are missed.
• Add white chocolate chunks to the batter.
• Add frozen raspberries to the batter.
• Mix gently by hand until well incorporated.
• Gently pour the cheesecake mix onto the crust in the spring form pan.
• You can even out the top of the cheesecake with a spatula or by lightly tapping the bottom of the pan flatly against the countertop.

Baking the Cheesecake:

• Bake the cheesecake at 250°F for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Place the cheesecake on the top rack so it is in the center of the oven. Also, place a large cookie sheet on the bottom rack beneath the cheesecake. The cheesecake may "weep" extra moisture from the butter or fat from the cream cheese. The cookie sheet will catch this and help avoid mess in the oven.
• After the intial baking, turn off the oven and crack it open slightly. You can wedge a hot pad against the oven door to stop it from closing all the way. This will vent the oven while allowing the residual heat to continue the baking process. Allow the cheesecake to sit in the oven for an additional 60 minutes.
• After this second hour, the center of the cheesecake should still be a little jiggly. Remove it from the oven and let the cheesecake cool to room temperature (about another hour). Allowing the cheesecake to cool will help prevent it from "sweating" in the refrigerator.
• Chill the cheesecake in the refrigerator for at least 3-4 hours. Overnight is best.

Backstory to the White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake recipe

When I set out to make the Ultimate World’s Best Cheesecake, one thing I discovered is that many people preferred to try lots of different flavors of cheesecake rather than having one big cheesecake of a single flavor. I therefore began specializing in making personal-sized cheesecakes.

I made these cheesecakes in 4-inch spring form pans. Each batch of the Ultimate World’s Best Cheesecake would make five 4-inch cheesecakes. This means that instead of having one cheesecake flavor, you would end up with 5 flavors.

The white chocolate raspberry cheesecake was one of the favorite cheesecakes.

What a fascinating backstory, right?

Selecting the White Chocolate

When I was developing this recipe, I was trying to balance cost and quality because I was considering retailing the cheesecakes. For instance, if people only want to spend $7 on a 4-inch cheesecake, I can’t have expensive ingredients that would cost over $7 to produce. I had to consider the profit margin.

As part of the testing process, I tried making the cheesecake with a variety of types of white chocolate–from expensive white chocolate with real cocoa butter to cheapo white flavor chips.

If you’ve followed my recipes, you probably know the outcome….

By and large, people cannot tell the difference between a cheesecake with expensive white chocolate and a cheesecake with plain old white chocolate flavor chips. There is a difference–better white chocolate creates chunks that are smoother in your mouth. But the difference is miniscule.

So if you are deciding what white chocolate to use, I personally do not think it really matters.

That being said, it may be more emotionally satisfying to know that the cheesecake has higher-quality white chocolate rather than generic store-brand vanilla chips. So, to me, that’s the litmus test–if you feel better about having better chocolate, use that.

But if I’m making this cheesecake for my family, we don’t really care about fanciness, so I use the cheapest white chocolate chips I can buy.

If you are using a Lindt bar (or I supposed any other chocolate), about 8 oz should be fine. That would be two Lindt white chocolate bars.

You should not melt the white chocolate

At the time I’m posting this, the top Google results for white chocolate raspberry cheesecake recipes instruct you to melt the white chocolate in cream and then add the melted white chocolate to the cheesecake batter. (At the time of posting, the top three white chocolate raspberry cheesecake recipes where from, respectively, Allrecipes, Let’s Dish Recipes, and House of Nash Eats).

In fact, the top six recipes are all basically the same–they all instruct you to melt the white chocolate.

I disagree with this method. Melting chocolate works for a chocolate cheesecake, but not for a white chocolate cheesecake.

I will explain…

Unlike brown chocolates, white chocolate is not a strong flavor. Whitakers Chocolates, which has been making chocolate since 1889, explains that “White chocolate is technically not considered ‘real’ chocolate, as it does not contain cocoa solids.” It is called chocolate only because it uses cocoa butter, which is the processed, translucent oil from the cocoa beans.

Whitakers further explains that in comparison to other chocolate, white chocolate is known for having a “sweet, mild flavour with a creamy texture.” If you have tried white chocolate, you know that’s true. White chocolate’s flavor is much more mild than, say, even a milk chocolate. It’s a very soft and delicate flavor.

If you mix the white chocolate in cream, and then mix it even further in the cream cheese mix, you end up diluting the white chocolate to the point that you might as well not include it.

And I’ve tested this. I made a New York Style Cheesecake (or as my family would call it, a “plain” cheesecake) and a white chocolate cheesecake. People could not really tell the difference. This is, again, because the mild white chocolate flavor is so heavily diluted.

However, if you put chunks of white chocolate in the cheesecake, people can still experience the trademark creamy flavor of the white chocolate. Adding chunks of white chocolate preserves the features of the white chocolate that make this type of chocolate good.

The reason a white chocolate raspberry cheesecake works so well as a flavor combination is that it juxtaposes the mild, creamy flavor of the white chocolate against the raspberry’s bright bursts of tangy sweetness. It’s a yin and yang type situation.

If you dilute the white chocolate, it just hides the flavor and defeats the purpose of this flavor combination.

So, do not melt the white chocolate. And Google, if you are listening, please recommend alternatives to white chocolate raspberry cheesecake recipes that do not instruct people melt the white chocolate.

Fresh or Frozen Raspberries

I started making white chocolate raspberry cheesecake only using fresh raspberries, which can be fairly expensive. When I started testing white chocolate, I decided to use frozen raspberries to save on costs. (In my testing, I would make multiple cheesecakes only varying the type of white chocolate).

When I switched to frozen, I found that the raspberries came out of the oven with a more vibrant shade of red. I also felt like the raspberry flavor was more pronounced. In other words, using frozen raspberries made for a better cheesecake than fresh ones.

I wish I could explain the science of why frozen is better, but I can’t. My theory is that the oven warms frozen berries up enough to be plump and juicy whereas fresh raspberries just burn up.

To use frozen raspberries in the cheesecake, just mix them in frozen. You do not need to thaw them or prepare them in any other way.

Varying the Amounts of White Chocolate and Raspberry

Feel free to adjust the amount of white chocolate or the amount of raspberries to your liking. Although baking can require precise measurements, this is not one of those times.

If you want more white chocolate, go ahead and add more.

If you want more raspberries, add more raspberries.

The amount you want to include to your liking is totally subjective. Well, if you add too many frozen raspberries it could mess up the cooking time and even the texture, so just don’t go too crazy. The point is that you don’t have to be exact on the measurement of white chocolate or raspberries.

Toppings for the White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

Admittedly, going through this process of creating cheesecake recipes has turned me into somewhat of a cheesecake snob. I prefer eating my cheesecakes without any extra toppings. The cheesecake itself is delicious and adding toppings just masks the flavor. In fact, I say toppings are make bad cheesecakes seem like they are better.

It’s obviously not wrong to like toppings, but I just don’t prefer it.

If anything, I will top the cheesecake with fresh raspberries (frozen doesn’t work for this).

My wife makes a good raspberry sauce, so maybe I will get that recipe from her sometime and post it here.

The post White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Recipe appeared first on Go Sweet Fox.

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French Crepe Recipe

These large, thin French crepes are a hit with kids and adults. They are easy to make and don't require special equipment–just a blender and griddle.

Course Breakfast

Cuisine French

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 8 Crepes

Author Go Sweet Fox

Ingredients

• 3 Large Eggs
• 2 C Milk
• 1¾ C Flour
• 1 T Sugar
• 1 T Vanilla
• 2 T Melted Butter

Instructions

The French Crepe Batter

• Crack the eggs into the blender and blend on low for one minute.
• While the blender is running, slowly add the milk and flour. To do this, alternate between adding about 1/2 cup of milk and 1/2 of flour. Add the flour gradually. If you add the flour too quickly, it tends to clump up instead of blending smoothly.
• Add the sugar, vanilla, and melted butter. Blend until smooth. Note: it will be a thin, runny batter.

Cooking the French Crepes

• Pre-heat your griddle to medium heat and treat with cooking spray.
• I use a 1/2 C measuring cup to both scoop the batter and to spread it evenly on the griddle.
• Use the bottom of the measuring cup to evenly spread the batter into a circle.
• Cook until the top of the crepe no longer appears wet. This may be 1-2 minutes. Then flip and cook for about 1 minute.
• You can make two crepes at a time on a griddle.

Background to this French Crepes Recipe

I grew up in Henderson, Nevada. My dad grew up in Pleasant Grove, Utah. I had heard stories about his best friend from Pleasant Grove, Tom, but never met him. Tom lived with his family in Hawaii. One day my dad announced that we were going to go to St. George because Tom and his family were moving there. We were going to help them put in sod and Tom’s wife was going to make us her signature dish–french crepes.

That is my first memory of trying French crepes. It also happens to be my first memory of laying sod. If I had to choose between eating french crepes and laying sod, I would choose french crepes. But actually laying sod is not that bad. I prefer laying sod to pulling weeds.

It turns out my kids also prefer eating french crepes over laying sod or pulling weeds. French crepes is one of the things my family eats that is universally loved. If you’ve ever raised 6 kids, you know that is hard to come by.

Over my years as a parent, I’ve gradually compiled a Google Doc of recipes that my family likes to eat. I call it the “World’s Best Recipe Book.” This is because whenever I search for a recipe online, I usually type “World’s best [whatever it is] recipe.” Unfortunately, I do not recall where all of these recipes came from. Some of them are from random websites and some of them are from friends or family.

This French crepe recipe has been in my book pretty much since the beginning. I do not recall where it came from.

Some say it miraculously appeared.

The Downside of Making French Crepes.

I have 6 kids, so 8 people total–2 parents, 6 kids (and 2 cats). I have to double this recipe to make all the French crepes people want.

The problem with crepes is that the crepe itself takes up a lot of space on your cooking surface.

So, for example, if I were making pancakes over the griddle, I could fit 8 four-inch pancakes at a time. If people each want 2 pancakes, that is two rounds at the griddle. Each turn at the griddle takes about 3 minutes, so that is 6 minutes total at the griddle.

With French crepes, I can only fit two crepes at a time on the griddle. Now if people want 2 crepes each, I need to spend 8 rounds at the griddle. If each round takes 3 minutes, that’s at least 24 minutes. (And my kids want more than 2 crepes each).

And that’s just the time with crepes on the griddle.

Ultimately, making crepes for the family turns into a big time commitment in comparison to other breakfasts. And most recipes I see online have you using one pan! That would double the time to make all the crepes you need.

Because of the time it takes to make enough crepes, we only make these for special occasions such as birthdays, holidays, or vacations.

What to put on French Crepes

Obviously, there are no hard and fast rules. You can use sweet toppings or savory one. I personally have never had a savory crepe. It just doesn’t interest me.

Here are some ideas based on what we like to put on crepes:

• Maple syrup
• Caramel syrup
• Whipped Cream
• Cinnamon Sugar
• Berries
• Bananas
• Peaches & Cream
• Nutella
• Peanut Butter (but not with jelly because I only think that’s good on sandwiches)
• Jam
• Pudding

Again, the limit for French crepe toppings is your own imagination.

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