Instant Pot Pecan Pie Cheesecake

October 25, 2022 Amanda Plott

With Halloween this week, and Thanksgiving just around the corner, I thought it would be a good time to play around with a new cheesecake recipe. Desserts around the holidays are always a source of debate in our family. What to make, who’s making it, and when to eat it. I’ve got a handful of favorites to serve around Thanksgiving and Christmas, but I also like to come up with new ideas to throw out there. This Instant Pot Pecan Pie Cheesecake is definitely going in as a suggestion.

It’s pretty easy to make, especially for a cheesecake. The instant pot does the most of the work and quickly too. As it turns out, a pressure cooker is a really efficient way to make cheesecakes! This one though, kind of combines a cheesecake with a pecan pie, so it’s basically the best of both worlds…

Maple & Bourbon Banana Bread

October 16, 2022 Amanda Plott

Why make standard plain jane banana bread when you can have this Maple & Bourbon Banana Bread? I took a standard banana bread and pretty much healthified it by subbing out the brown sugar for a brown sugar blend. I also used a greek yogurt in place of any sour cream. Other than that? I added in some pecans, bourbon, and maple syrup for the flavor.

My maple syrup was bourbon aged too, which gave me extra bourbon flavor. And once it was all done and still warm? I poured just a little bit more of the maple syrup on top to let it soak into the bread. More flavor. More maple. More moisture. More sweetness!…

No Bake Zombie Brain Cheesecake

October 13, 2022 Amanda Plott

Halloween dessert at it’s finest. This No Bake Zombie Brain Cheesecake will… take the cake! I used a plastic brain mold to make this no bake cheesecake extra spooky! With a little bit of green food coloring and some time chilling out, this dessert is perfect for Halloween vibes. I based this no bake cheesecake off of one that I made a while back, I just discarded the crust and formed it into a brain.

All in all this gooey green zombie brain is a great way to spook the kiddos and also get in good on the dessert! You can use cookies or sweet pita crisps to scoop up this cheesecake to enjoy. I also used some graham cracker crumbs around the dish to really get that cheesecake feel in there…

Skinny Pumpkin Crunch Cake

October 10, 2022 Amanda Plott

Ahh, pumpkin crunch cake. You know the one. The one that's super easy to make and graces almost any dessert table during Halloween and Thanksgiving. Usually pumpkin crunch cake is pretty straight forward as a 'dump-n-go' style of cake, but I've made a few simple swaps today to make this famous cake a little more guilt-free.

You know me, always trying to make some of the most complicated and indulgent recipes into something more wholesome. I believe strongly in that small changes to any recipe can leave you with a great end result that still tastes just as amazing and won't leave you feeling guilty at the end of it…

Halloween Amaretti Cookies

September 28, 2022 Amanda Plott

I’ve taken Amaretti cookies and turned them into a lightened up version that also happens to be seasonal to Fall! They’re lightened up easily with a simple swap of half of the sugar for natural sweetener. I prefer to use a stevia or monk fruit sweetener. The important thing here is that the sweetener should measure cup-for-cup like sugar. Other than that, feel free to use whichever you prefer.

The only real thing I did here to make them ‘Halloween’ was the sprinkles that I used. So honestly, you could swap out sprinkles for other seasonal colors and themes to change these cookies up! These also call for cake batter extract, which can be tricky to find in some places. If you don’t have it and can’t find it, no big deal, just use some vanilla extract instead!…

Pumpkin Spice Poke Cake

September 19, 2022 Amanda Plott

Not all poke cakes are created equal! This Pumpkin Spice Poke Cake is basically taking a poke cake and mashing it together with the deliciousness that is pumpkin spice. It starts off with a boxed spice cake mix and adds even more spice to it a long with a TON of pumpkin. In fact, whipping up a cake mix or brownie mix with pumpkin puree is an old trick I’ve used before to lighten up a cake!

Once the cake is baked, it’s poked through and topped off with some sweetened condensed milk that seeps through and makes that cake sweet and full of richness. Then it’s all topped off with some whipped cream and even heath bits for added crunch texture!…