My family, of course. My kids are still at that age when they want me around all the time, so I’ve been peeling them off me as I head to the car to go to work. It’s a nice feeling, being wanted. I know they won’t always feel that way, so I’m enjoying that. And Kenny is my rock, the one who listens to me talk endlessly when I’m decompressing after a long day.

But let’s not forget you all! JAB is one of my constants as well, and I love the rhythm of baking for the blog. Nothing is quite so relaxing as mixing things together. This week, I decided that the tired bananas on my counter needed a little more than just the usual treatment, so I got sneaky and put a cheesecake filling into the center. Hello, beautiful!

I’m pretty proud of the fact that when bananas turn brown in my house, my son points them out and says, “Time to bake!” That’s right. He knows! I’m proud. Everyone also knows to ask if I’ve taken pictures of dessert yet before they dig in. Life in the home of a food blogger, people. It’s a party every day.

When you bake this much, you fall into the habit of having really good stuff around. Homemade stuff, the good stuff. So as a result, the packaged stuff becomes the treat. It’s a very bizarre reversal of the norm, where I’ll see a package of machine-made chocolate chip cookies and get really excited. I guess novelty has charm, huh? There’s something about that processed taste!

A lot of it is nostalgia, too. When I was growing up, my source of almost all dessert food was Entenmann’s or those really cheap grocery store brand cookies. To this day, no donut tastes better than an Entenmann’s rich chocolate frosted donut with a glass of milk. It’s like my childhood comes rushing back at me with each bite.

Food is a time machine, people. I think there’s no more reliable way to travel to childhood than to eat those foods you ate way back when. Nothing is quite as evocative or powerful. Maybe it’s because taste is such an integral part of our sensory spectrum, along with the sense of smell.

My love of banana in cake or quick bread also goes back to childhood. Now and then, my mom would take those brown bananas on the counter and make a banana bread. I never understood how a fruit that I felt pretty indifferent about (and now don’t eat as an adult unless it’s baked into something) could be the base of such a delicious dessert. That, in a nutshell, is the wonder of baking, and why I never cease to be fascinated at what a little bit of oven and lovin’ can do.

This snack cake is gluten-free, moist, and filled with a very simple cheesecake filling. It’s just cream cheese, sugar and egg. That’s it! The cake is also simplicity itself, all coming together in one bowl. Like childhood, it’s not that complicated. Oh, wait. Childhood is very complicated. I remember!

No matter how old we are, we can always go through adjustments. It’s important to have those constants in our lives that ground us and make us feel connected to something that represents a greater scheme. Along the path, it doesn’t hurt to have a lovely cake with a hidden layer of cheesecake to make life even more fun!

Every time I bake a cheesecake on the blog, people seem to really enjoy it. If you think about it, that makes sense. Very few people in life don’t want cheesecake.

Especially when it’s filled with Samoas. There is Girl Scout cookie goodness through and through, from the cheesecake to the topping! I’ve gone rogue on this thing.

Last week, I had the flu. Or at least, that’s what it felt like. I’m still not sure because I will go to great lengths before I ever let anyone give me a flu test again.

Have you ever had a flu test? They take this implement and shove it very far up your nose. I have a hard time describing the level of discomfort (translate: pain) that is involved with this test. First of all, that region is usually sensitive and congested anyway, and anything being stuck up there is massively unpleasant.

Let me put it this way: I might rather give birth yet again than have a flu test. It’s much more comfortable. And that’s without the epidural.

Maybe that seems hyperbolic, but I swear it’s not. In fact, here’s a list of things I’d rather do than take a flu test ever again:

• Get five flu shots in a row in a 10-minute period
• Fast for a day (no food or water)
• Watch an episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians (oh torture)
• Ask my daughter to pull my hair even harder than she already does while she’s playing hairdresser
• Eat an entire box of stale Cheez-Its (and I don’t even like fresh ones)

And the list goes on and on!

In fact, the flu test is worse than actually having the flu. So now you know how I feel and we can talk about cheesecake.

This one is just happiness. It’s creamy, full of Samoa bits, and topped with more Samoas. Oh, and coconut, caramel, and some hot fudge. Yesssssss.

I brought this to work to give to my friend who loves Samoas. She foolishly put the cake out on a communal table and turned around for about five seconds. When she turned back, the cheesecake was gone. Hey, finders keepers!

You’re going to love this, unless you have the flu. Then you can freeze it and eat it later. But for all you well kids out there, cheesecake away. And remember, when the time comes: the flu test is massively sucky, and it won’t take away your flu. But this cheesecake will be waiting for you when you recover!

Everyone tries to get all healthy in the new year, but they don’t see Valentine’s Day coming. No siree, not by a mile. So imagine how health plans do when faced by giant heart-shaped boxes of candy!

This recipe lets you have your romantic dessert and still exercise portion control. These little cheesecakes are full of cookies and cream goodness, but they won’t do horrible things to your healthy resolves. Winning!

So I’m just wondering here: any of you really big into staying busy? Like, always? Like, you do it to yourselves and deep down you’re not really sorry about it?

People always ask me if I have any spare time, and they do it in this totally pitying way. And while I get what they’re saying on one level, I’m secretly wondering what I would do if I had spare time. Watch lots of Netflix? Absolutely. Nap? You bet! Catch up on my reading? Maybe.

As tempting as all of that sounds, it’s so much better to have free time in scarcity. That way you appreciate it so much more. Besides, what would you rather do in the long term: Netflix binge or learn to play the guitar?

A couple of years ago, I took up guitar. It’s been really fun, even if I’m not that great and I suspect my teacher would dump me in a heartbeat if I wasn’t a good paying customer. Many nights, I practice when I’d rather be watching TV. But hey, now I have a new skill!

Same with blogging. It started as a little hobby, and it’s growing slowly into a part-time job. And yeah, I’d have a ton more time and probably less overall cussing in the kitchen if I didn’t do this, but I’m learning how to take pictures and make videos and work with sponsors. It’s a  real gift, one that taking naps wouldn’t compare to.

There’s more, too. I like to take on challenges at work and do classes on the side, and spend time with friends, and (of course) raise my children. When all’s said and done, spare time is just an occasional treat. But if we had treats all the time, they wouldn’t be any fun.

Well, maybe these skinny mini cookies and cream cheesecakes would always be welcome. I’ve been eating one a day all week and they haven’t stopped being wonderful.

These are very easy to whip up, and they employ the lower-fat version of typical cheesecake ingredients. My favorite part is getting to that reduced-fat Oreo at the bottom. Heaven!

Being busy isn’t good all the time, but it’s better than the alternative, which is boredom and pointlessness. So if someone accuses you of having too much going on, be proud! Own your industry. It’s part of the American Dream, after all!

Seriously, when you love something, you don’t set it free. You keep it in your life and obsess over it. I’ve never been able to turn down cheesecake, especially if it’s packed with milk chocolate chips. I’ve never been able to turn down a chocolate chip cookie, unless something is majorly wrong in my life.

Putting them together just equals total happiness. If anyone wants to be unhappy, stop reading.

I’m not sure what’s going on with this year, but my stress level has been through the roof lately. I’ve informed everyone at work to schedule my nervous breakdown for November. If I warn them in advance, will it be okay to take to my bed and stare at the walls?

On a daily basis, I find myself juggling way too much. It’s inevitable that some balls will drop, and then I feel guilty. After all, aren’t women supposed to somehow handle it all without freaking out?

I’m not saying that men have less to handle, necessarily. But when Kenny has a huge to-do list, he gives himself a few weeks to get to what needs to be done, and the piling amount of work doesn’t seem to faze him that much. But with me, I need to get through my lists daily, or it all comes crumbling down.

This week, I have the usual five classes to teach every day and  the resultant large stack of essays to grade. On top of that, I’m finishing up college recommendations for the students I teach who are doing what’s known as “early action,” which means they get into college before everyone else. I admire their drive. It just makes for a lot of letter-writing on my part.

I’m also doing a project proposal for making the literary magazine I run at work have its own app. I don’t know how to make an app, but I’m hoping someone in the building can help me. And I’m taking a leadership course this fall that comes with 18 hours of homework.

Oh, and then I run this blog, which I love, not to mention how much I love eating the desserts I show you all. So I’ll do my best to hold off on that breakdown if you let me eat all these chocolate chip cookie cheesecake bars myself. Are we agreed?

The base of these bars is a standard chocolate chip cookie dough which gets mostly baked before the cheesecake layer is added to the top. When I make cheesecake for bars, I keep the batter very low in sugar. The fact that the cheesecake is rich and full of chocolate chips coupled with the cookie base means that you don’t need the extra sweetness.

There’s really no way that these won’t become a household favorite. Even though I admit that my stress level is way out of whack lately, sharing desserts like this gives me unending pleasure. Whether you just gaze at the pics or decide to make some yourself, enjoy whatever stolen moments the day can bring. Calm breathing, everyone!

It’s a pumpkin cookie cake, yep. But it also has delightful pumpkin spice cream cheese frosting. It doesn’t get much better than this. Unless somebody happens to have a jet ski handy, because that’s on my bucket list.

Cookie cakes are so superior to plain old cookies. Think about it: no dough chilling time, nice big wedges to dig into, and frosting. Why do you think those cookie cakes at the grocery store always look so tempting?

Actually, everything at the grocery store looks tempting. You know that whole “don’t shop when you’re hungry” thing people tell you? Yeah, thanks. Why do people go to the grocery store? To get food. Because we ran out. So how in holy heck are we supposed to eat before we go? It’s a totally unreasonable expectation. Plus, I enjoy my drool time in the bakery section. Don’t take that away from me.

I’m sure a lot of advice out there is good, but it doesn’t translate practically. For instance, as a woman above 35, I’ve been told to drink a glass of water before all my meals to curb my hunger. But first of all, well, I’m hungry. I wanna eat now. And even if I think ahead and chug my water 30 minutes before a meal, I have to hit the bathroom by the time the meal rolls around. And I’m often teaching classes, so I can’t hydrate and then leave my kids to rush off to the loo. It just doesn’t work that way.

Another common piece of advice is to sleep eight hours every night. Yeah, right. Assuming I get to bed with eight hours of lead time, something will mess it up. One of my kids will wake me up, or my husband will accidentally roll over me (he’s a restless sleeper), or I’ll have to use the bathroom, or a crazy thunderstorm will hit. And then, I’m up. It’s impossible to go back to sleep, because then the mind race begins. If you’re a woman, you know what I’m talking about. The to-do list begins to build until it reaches a fever pitch, and then you’re there, in the dark, staring at the ceiling and counting the bazillions of things you have to do the next day. Eight hours of sleep, my a$$.

Any more wise nuggets out there that really don’t work? Let me know. We can make a whole list and make fun of all the stupid advice out there. Then we can print it out and burn it.

Too far, huh? Sometimes I cross that line. Ahem. Back to cookie cake.

One piece of advice that will never be bad? Eat dessert. Especially if it’s a pumpkin cookie cake blinged out in pumpkin spice cream cheese frosting.

I got the pumpkin spice cream cheese a month ago at the grocery store (Philadelphia makes it) when I was, of course, hungry. All I knew as I grabbed the tub of cream cheese was that it would come in pretty handy sooner or later. And here we are. If you love cream cheese frosting, you’re going to love the pumpkin spice kind even more.

The cookie cake itself is a perfect use for pumpkin cookie dough. You see, because of a high moisture content in the pumpkin, pumpkin cookies never work out if you add eggs. The dough gets too cakey. So yeah, you can eat the dough off your beaters, but more important, this recipe makes for a fantastically dense cookie cake experience. You’ll enjoy it, I promise. And white chocolate chips can never hurt, either, so in they go!

Believe me, I’m the last person to be giving advice, and I’m also not so good at taking it. But some pieces of advice are easier to swallow than others, especially if what you happen to be swallowing is a cookie cake. Trust me on that one!

That is, until I read the narrative baking book Saved by Cake by Marian Keyes. If you’re not familiar with her work, she’s an Irish chick lit author. Her books are funny, honest, and have some fantastically complex characters. I’ve been a huge fan for quite a while.

So when she wrote a baking book a few years back, I couldn’t wait to buy it. This cheesecake loaf is an adaptation of one of the recipes in her book. I’ve changed it, but it’s the same idea. Sorry, Marian. I reserve the right to tinker. That’s what baking is all about!

In her book, Keyes shares the perception that anything with Snickers is inherently more “blokey,” or in American, man food. That’s fascinating, because I have never really thought of Snickers as being masculine. I mean, it’s chocolate. Don’t we girls have the monopoly on that? Or does the darker packaging and no-nonsense design scream “male?” It’s a thinker.

Whenever I think of food, I kind of gender assign it. Maybe that’s a bad idea, but the whole stereotype of women liking chocolate and men guzzling beer has held up with a lot of people I know. Which, of course, begs the question: if we hadn’t been raised to like certain foods over others based on our gender, would our tastes be different? If I hadn’t been indoctrinated into chocolate early on, would I be more inclined to skip dessert and just eat a hunk of red meat the size of my head?

Last week, I read three blog posts in a row that involved steak. Suddenly, I couldn’t take it anymore. I stopped at the grocery store on the way home (a much-hated errand after a long day at work) and picked up a steak. Just for me. Everyone else got hamburgers. And eating that steak was so satisfying that I had to wonder: would I miss the brownies if I just ate like a man?

It’s a complex question, and one that I wonder about a lot. Because it’s not like men don’t like their brownies. And I think that after about three days of steak, I’d go running back to the Reese’s with nary a second glance behind me. Sugar addiction might be a serious problem, but I’m not willing to detox yet. Especially if I’ll go running straight from sugar to cholesterol.

Besides, if you can’t eat like a man, work out like one. I’ve been a strength training convert for two years now, and I’ve never looked back. It’s the answer to so many questions about fitness and health. And Snickers is not.

But hey, that shouldn’t stop any of us (male or female) from indulging. And since Snickers have all those peanuts, it’s protein for after a strength training workout. If Snickers really are candy bars for men, maybe that’s why some of them are so buff!

This recipe threw me a little, because the original calls for a combo of ricotta and mascarpone cheeses. On the day I went shopping, there wasn’t any mascarpone at the grocery store, so I bought cream cheese instead. The ricotta is grainier in texture, so I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about the final result. But really, it came out nice and creamy, even though the texture is not what a traditional American cheesecake calls for.

The other question mark for me in this recipe was the baking time. The recipe wants the cheesecake to bake for an hour and half at 325, something that I didn’t have time for. Apparently, baking it at a lower temp will make the top caramelize more. Since I wasn’t able to try that, you’ll see that the recipe below has a higher cooking temp with less cooking time. It’s all about tinkering!

Once you cover this cheesecake with caramel sauce, it’s a sticky delight. I can’t believe this is my first cheesecake loaf, but it won’t be my last. And I plan to taste-test it among men and women alike to see how “blokey” it really is. Thanks for the inspiration, Marian Keyes!

Well, that’s a dumb question. It’s not like I didn’t work hard for July 4th to become a reality. Months of commuting to work in the dark, sometimes in the ice, often in the rain. Months of teaching teenagers the difference between “it’s” and “its.” Months of wrapping myself up in a blanket at my desk when the heat in my classroom, once again, failed to deliver.

I mean, it dang well better be July 4th. And it better be icebox cheesecake weather. Because no-bake is definitely the way to go right now! Especially when this holiday-themed, easy dessert is filled with delicious Hannah Max cookie chips!

July 4th is one of my favorite holidays. For one thing, it’s my annual hot dog indulgence. Once a year, I eat a super-burned, carcinogenic, mega-processed hot dog. And it’s on July 4th. Don’t worry, I balance all of that indulgence with lots of potato chips. And the real Heinz ketchup, not the sugar-free variety I usually have on the table year-round.

It’s magnificent. What is better than standing out in the sun, hot dog on a wobbly paper plate, watermelon juice dribbling down your chin while you somehow balance a frozen margarita with your elbow? Not much beats that, I can tell you. And I can’t wait for this year’s bash.

We’ll be combining our July 4th celebration with my daughter’s birthday. Yep, she exploded into the world along with the holiday fireworks five years ago. The hospital was deserted and we bonded over two silent days of meal delivery and baby blankets. But this year, we’ll celebrate with hot dogs, birthday cake, and this icebox cheesecake!

If you’re not familiar with icebox cakes, they’re made with cream (or Cool Whip, for unhealthy cheaters like me), and they’re layered with cookies or cake and kept chilled before serving. They’re delicious. This one is not only strawberry-flavored, but it also has a strong cream cheese base. Thus: icebox cheesecake!

This recipe is, like most of mine, simple and quick. Layered into the cheesecake mixture are the original-flavored Hannah Max cookie chips, which my son was munching on as I made the cake. He couldn’t resist. They’re so addictive! And while a lot of icebox cake recipes call for dipping the cookies in milk before layering, I opted to keep my cookie chips nice and crisp. It makes for more texture contrast when you’re eating.

The festive sprinkles and diced strawberries, along with crumbled cookie chips, make for the perfect July 4th finish. Creamy, crunchy and easy, this cookie chips icebox cheesecake is the best way to say goodbye to those dreary dark mornings. It’s time to kick off your summer!

Note: Hannah Max Cookie Chips provided a product for this post. All opinions are 100% my own.

Years ago, I tried Ben and Jerry’s Cheesecake Brownie flavor. And it was such a great flavor. After all, what could be better than cheesecake ice cream with brownie chunks? I asked myself that very question while I made this ice cream.

Answer? Cheesecake ice cream with BIGGER brownie chunks and chocolate chunks to boot! You’re welcome. Feel free to send me an award of some kind.

By the time this goes up, I’ll be sitting at my office computer, twiddling my thumbs. We had quite a few snow days this year, so the school system dutifully tacked days onto the end to make up for lost time. And that would make sense, if not for one small detail: kids in high school take final exams and leave.

So that leaves us, their loyal teachers, a few extra days to clean out our rooms, file papers, clear off desks, and finalize grades. It’s nice to have the time, but I have the bad habit of not procrastinating at the workplace. Or anywhere. You might think that’s a good thing, but I happen to believe that procrastination is a hidden virtue. Back in the day, I was a champion procrastinator and I was happy, lazy and carefree. Now I get everything done well before it needs to be, and instead of relaxing, do you know what happens?

I find more things to do. I am a bastion of productivity. As a result, there are very few thumb-twiddling moments, and that is not okay. Being lazy is a virtue. I said it, and I meant it. That’s why when all the students are gone and I’m sitting around with nothing left to do, it’s a rare feeling of boredom.

Then the summer whirlwind begins, and if you’re a parent, you know that summer is not relaxing. It’s a lot more work. That’s why you have to stock the freezer with cool, loaded cheesecake brownie chunk ice cream!

My number one complaint with ice cream is the stinginess of so many brands when it comes to mix-ins. So I was sure to chop up half a brownie pan and dump those delightful pieces into this ice cream along with another cup of giant chocolate chunks. Let nobody accuse me of having any one bite not include mix-ins!

This recipe is no-churn, which means I mixed it all up in a bowl, froze it, and that was the end. I also put the ice cream in adorable mini ice cream containers to portion out helpings. I want to scoop giant spoonfuls into my mouth, but when I hit the bottom of the little containers, that’s all for now!

The ice cream itself is creamy and tastes just like cheesecake, probably because of the block of cream cheese in it. That helps. And when your summer hits, you’ll either do what’s on your list of tasks or kick back. But procrastinator or not, you’ll have ice cream to keep you company!

So are the cheesecakes. In a really good way! Because in addition to being li’l bites of heaven, they’re not too heavy on the sugar. And they’re also completely full of Hannah Max chocolate chip cookie chips, i.e., my favorite flavor.

I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t love a chocolate chip cookie. When you put them into crispy cookie chips, they’re that much more addictive. Add cheesecake and I’m not really surprised that people’s eyes lit up at work when they saw me bring these in.

Let’s just accept some of life’s truths: cookie chips are super tasty. Perfect weather days are few and far between. Beaches smell amazing (or they should). And left-handed people are not disabled.

Say what? No, I’m not kidding. I’m a lefty, and I was shocked out of my senses a little while back when someone referred to being left-handed as, no joke, a disability. Verbatim. That is so offensive to so many people on so many levels.

Back in the day, of course, people thought that being left-handed was a disadvantage. I was fairly certain we’d moved past that point of view. My handwriting is neater than most people who write with their right hands. I adjust for righty desks because it’s not really that hard, just mildly annoying. And even the smudge on the side of your hand doesn’t have to be there when you write. Just turn the paper sideways.

They make left-handed baseball mitts. My son is also a lefty, and if he ever gets into playing baseball, he could make enough money to buy us a mansion. That’s not a real dream, don’t worry. But it bears thinking about. If lefties are more unusual, doesn’t that make us valuable? Supply and demand, you guys. I learned about it in economics.

Okay, weird rant over. I just don’t believe in using the word “disability” lightly. I would never show disrespect to people who are struggling with serious challenges by implying that writing with a left hand, of all things, puts me at any kind of disadvantage. It doesn’t.

Now I’ll get back to cheesecake. These muffin-sized cheesecakes are filled with mini chocolate chips and chocolate chip cookie chip bits. The cookie chips also comprise the bottom crust and are crumbled on top. This is my personal favorite, the chocolate chip kind. Here’s what they look like:

The cheesecake batter is on the tarter side to balance out the sweetness of everything else. There are benefits to having a cheesecake base that’s lower in sugar. It’s a lot healthier! Plus, this cheesecake is very simple. Just cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla. No sour cream, no yogurt. It manages to be creamy without a bunch of add-ins.

It takes recipes like this to remind me that simplicity is often best. When the foundation of your recipe is basic, then you can have a lot of fun with mix-ins. I can’t think of a better way to use these cookie chips!

Listen, a lot of what you hear out there in the world is totally whack, like my aforementioned left-leaning rant. No, I’m not talking politics. Go back up and read what I wrote if you skimmed this for the recipe. But in all seriousness, cheesecake rocks, and that is truth. Chocolate chip cookies, ditto. And you’ll love these little cheesecakes!

Note: This post is sponsored by Hannah Max Cookie Chips. All opinions are 100% my own.

Mine always begins with the biggest physical shock possible to my system. I stumble out of bed (no snooze, get right up), throw on my workout clothes, and immediately start moving. It’s always a little odd knowing, as I lie in bed for those last precious seconds, that within a few minutes I’ll be moving at top speed.

It sounds awful to almost everyone I know, but I love getting my body going before my mind. As I do my routine, my mind slowly wakes up and catches up with the rest of me. And there’s something really gratifying about getting all those muscles firing before most people are even awake.

Plus, then I have the rest of the day to eat cheesecake bars! No, really. If I kick my own butt for an hour every morning, you can bet your own derriere that I’m eating dessert every day. Not all day. Just every day.

These bars in particular are quite the reward for any early-morning workouts. Butterscotch is neglected and that is so unfair, because it’s one of the best dessert flavors out there. I was going to do this as a cheesecake before Lindsay did it, and because she’s better than I am, I adapted my idea to this.

These might be the most addictively sticky cheesecake bars I’ve ever made. Yes, you’ll need a fork for that butterscotch ganache top, and it’s worth the extra effort. If you’ve never been to butterscotch heaven, this is it!

There are actually three layers of butterscotch in these bars. The first appears in the graham cracker crust. One of my favorite baking hacks of all time is melting baking chips into the crusts, so the butterscotch chips are part of the base. They also appear in the cheesecake filling, and finally, in the ganache on top.

Ganache sounds complicated, but it’s really easy. You simply melt the butterscotch chips with some heavy cream in the microwave, stir until smooth, and then pour on top. It chills very nicely indeed, and that makes the glossy, enviable topping!

Truth be told, these are very sweet. Bar squares are just right for something like this. You can eat your cheesecake and not undo your workout!

We all start our days differently. By all means, share your favorite way to wake up! But mine is to exercise first and sugar later. I know that seems contradictory, but we’re all human, and we’re allowed our inconsistencies. And we’re definitely allowed our cheesecake!