Cream cheese-swirled banana bread with pecan streusel topping. Looked so pretty on its way into the oven till I closed the door and realized the sifted dry ingredients were still on the counter. I mixed everything together and baked. Flavor and texture is still good (used a combo of butter and oil), but look forward to getting it right the next time. House smells great, regardless!
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Cream cheese-swirled banana bread cannot be bad! I’m sure they tasted (and smelled) wonderful. I think they look great.
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Torie Hallock’s Everything-but-the-Kitchen-Sink Cookies. Part flour, part oats. Toffee bits, dried cherries, bittersweet chocolate chunks (which I substituted with semi-sweet).
I make these every fall, they just scream pumkins on stoops and rust-colored leaf piles to me.
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What a knockout combo–mmmmmm!
Cashew Guava Thumbprint cookies. A riff on Rose LB’s thumbprint cookie recipe. Ground raw cashew in the dough, roasted salted cashews on the outside.
@kattyeyes - have you made actual Buckeyes before? My parents are from Ohio so I grew up with my mother and grandmothers making them at Christmas each year. However, as my palate has matured, I find their recipe (basically peanut butter and margarine mixed with enough powdered sugar to choke a horse and then dipped in melted Nestle Tollhouse morsels) WAY too sweet. I’m planning to engineer a new version myself this winter, but I was wondering if you had a recipe to share (that I might be able to borrow from!). The brownie looks amazing, BTW!
Thank you! I haven’t, but my mom used to make buckeyes when I was a kid. Back then they didn’t seem overly sweet, but yes, you’re right on with “enough powdered sugar to choke a horse!” Therefore, I took the peanut butter and butter amounts and scaled back the powdered sugar like mad! 
I made an 8 x 8" pan. The frosting component is incredibly thick, rich and somehow fluffy all at the same time. Here’s what I did. Feel free to borrow as you wish! They were a big hit with my favorite tasters.
Thank you! I love the addition of bourbon! I’m guessing that your frosting would be far too airy to roll and dip, but I’m bookmarking it for future frosting purposes.
Aww, thanks–yes, definitely too airy to roll and dip. My guess is that’s why buckeyes are so darned sweet. 
I’ve also seen variations with graham crackers (for the candies) in case that can help add texture without crazy sugar.
Just to get you heading in that direction, here are “Colleen’s Peanut Butter Squares.”
2 cups peanut butter
1.5 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup butter, melted
1# box powdered sugar (I know, I know)
Spread in 9 x 13 pan.
Top with:
6 oz. chocolate chips (someone wrote in “little wax”–no thank you)
1/2 cup butter.
Refrigerate overnight. Same concept, not so sure about less sugar. Sorry!
Thanks! This looks like less powdered sugar than my mom’s recipe, but the graham crackers would definitely add a texture that I’m not sure I’m into. I’m planning to experiment with white chocolate as a sweetener and stabilizer for the filling, but I’m fairly certain I’ll still need something to marry the white chocolate and peanut butter. Unless anyone has had success just melting PB and white chocolate together into something tasty and dippable?
Forgive my candor, but I never think of white chocolate as a less sugary alternative. Are you trying to get rid of the butter (old school margarine), too?
No, I’m totally fine with butter! In fact, I was thinking that a riff on cooked flour frosting might work as a base for this - if I cook the flour and milk together (no sugar), then whip in butter and peanut butter, I’d have an unsweetened “base” that I could then thicken with melted white chocolate as necessary.
I know white chocolate is sweet, but I’m thinking that its power as a stiffener for something like this is probably much greater than that of powdered sugar, so I can get away with using less of it than I would powdered sugar. I could be 100% wrong about that, though. I haven’t worked with white chocolate enough to really know how much stability it can provide. I have been looking at white chocolate truffle recipes for guidance, but they vary WILDLY in the proportion of cream to chocolate they recommend - I’ve seen 2 T. of cream to 8 oz of chocolate and 1/2 c. of cream to 8 oz of chocolate, with the claim that both will become firm enough to roll into balls.
Hi everybody. I just discovered this link not long time ago. I like pastry because it’s so difficult and is so satisfying when succeed. (much more than cooking)
Finally!! After my 4th try on baking this French Poitou-Charentes cheesecake « tourteau fromager » , I have this one that is not cracked on the top. The main ingredient of this cake is a combination of normal or creamy goat cheese. It’s not too sweet, and I especially like the burnt taste.
Mine isn’t very good looking yet…the top isn’t very smooth, and as you see inside, it isn’t very uniform yet, there is a hole. Most of the time, I had a cracked top, the inside was more regular. The difficult part is the reaction between the temperature of the oven with the egg white…
Here is a recipe: https://logrerie.wordpress.com/the-recipes-in-english/sweets/cheesecake-the-french-way-tourteau-fromager-with-creamy-goat-cheese-and-an-intriguing-dark-crust/
The recipe I used: http://www.marais-poitevin-vacances.com/gastronomie/tourteau-fromager.htm
Very interesting recipe - I’ve never seen anything quite like it before! I enjoy “burnt” flavors and I love goat cheese, so I am sure I would adore this!
That is such an interesting dessert, and quite a challenge. Good for you 
How does it taste?
It has a crispy top with a slight burnt taste (not very strong), the cake is light and airy, it’s salty sweet, and you can still taste the cheese, I used a few drops of congac to add some depth. The shortcrust pastry at the bottom add a third texture. It’s a cake that is relatively easy to make (Well, if you don’t particularly care if the cake cracked or not), very tasty. With the recipe, I can make 3 cakes, they were all gone in a day. you can easily eat a lot since it isn’t very sweet. You can keep them in fridge for a few days.
You need to anticipate to drain the liquid from the cheese, which usually takes about 1 day. (I use a strainer, too lazy washing the cloth). The fromager is quite flexible with mould too, it’s an old recipe that start with using a deep plate.
If you like cheesecake, I strongly recommande it!
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Thanks, Naf, that is really different (in a good way!) and I hope to taste this someday. I’ve never even heard of torteau fromager before, but, as we say, it sounds like it would be right up my alley.
Hmmmm… Does the Husky help with the baking? Mine is more inclined to help with the cabbage slicing. He’s got a sweet tooth but cabbage is his favorite.
