Birthday Weekend

Sunday was Runday and Saturday was Cook-a-thon day.  We were celebrating lots of March Birthdays Saturday night and I wanted to bring some fun cookies I saw on Picky Palate.  I'm posting about this recipe because it's so simple and they would have been delicious, had I not burned them.  Don't worry though, I redeemed myself later on with a delicious cheesecake.

Three ingredient Reeses PB Cup Cookies:

Throw about 20-24 cups in a food processor.  Process away, then add in 1 egg.  Continue to process.

Then scoop cookie dough into small balls onto a lined cookie sheet.  

Flatten with a fork, add some sea salt.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Watch them though! They can burn easily!

Dave and I enjoyed the second batch- I loved the subtle addition of sea salt.  Such a nice touch! Too bad I burnt the first batch and couldn't bring them to the party!  Next time : )

Saturday night, we celebrated four of our friends birthdays with pizza and cake and lots of baby time : )

These four kids all had March birthdays...

So we got them a store-bought birthday cake...

It was a fun night! Also during the day Saturday, I prepped the Joe Joe's Vanilla Strawberry Cheesecake for my sisters birthday dinner (on Sunday).  Her and my brother are pretty much obsessed with Trader Joe's and love these cookies, so when I saw this recipe on Cake Batter and Bowl, I knew I had to make it.

These are the cookies.  Have you had them?  They are like white oreo cookies- only better!

So you take about 24 of these cookies (about 50 come in a package so you only need 1 package, but I bought two just in case) and you put them in your food processor and you start pulsing!

Then mix that with 3 T of melted butter to form the crust.

Be careful not to microwave your butter too long.  Or your microwave will not be happy.  Oops.  I knew I was going to have at least one issue... after-all, cook I may be, but baker... that is a work-in-progress.

After you mix the cookie crumbs and butter together in a bowl, transfer to a greased 9inch springform pan and press into an even layer over the bottom and up the sides.  Cook crust for 10 minutes at 350.

While thats happening, mix together 4 8ounce room-tempeture cream cheeses and 1 and 1/3 cups of sugar.  I used 1 8 ounce container of light cream cheese to try to make this extremely rich and decadent dessert a little lighter. Once smooth, add in the 4 eggs, one at a time.  Then blend in 2 teaspoons of vanilla and about 10 more cookies, cut into forths.  Mix that all together, then pour over prepared crust.

Place cake pan on a baking sheet lined with foil (YOU MUST DO THIS or else your oven could look like THIS and your fire alarm will go off!!).  Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour.  Until the edges are firm but the middle is a little wobbly.  Let cool to room temperature, then place in the refrigerator for several hours.  I put it in the fridge overnight and finished the cheesecake right before serving.

Sunday night before my sisters family dinner, I put together the cake.

I mixed 1 cup of heavy whipping cream with 1/4 cup of sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.  I also had earlier sliced up a pound of strawberries and macerated them with some sugar for an hour or so at room temperature.  Then I started the layering process.  First I added strawberries on top of my cake using a slotted spoon.

Then I added the whip cream (is there anything beter than freshly whipped whip cream?!) And added more cookies.

And then it was time to SING!  Happy Birthday to you.....

And enjoy!

The cake rocked, and it was pretty simple to make.  This is better than any cheesecake I've tasted/made.  If you like Joe Joe's, this is a no fail recipe that will really impress people. And homemade cakes are so much better than store-bought.  That cake we got on Saturday night was tasteless in comparison to this one : ) Thanks for such an amazing recipe Kerstin!

I'm glad I FINALLY have a successful baking story to share with you guys!  

Have you ever made cheesecake?  Tried Joe Joe's?