Day 19: New York Cheesecake Cookies (Superbowl Challenge)

Now, in my best King Julian voice...THE NEW YORK GIANTS (and their cookie)!!

A New York style cheesecake is a hard dessert to replicate. Then to put it in a cookie form....hmmm. This was my attempt, hopefully you like it!

New York Cheesecake Cookie

(based on Cheesecake cookies found on food.com)

Crust

1/3 cup of brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

4 tablespoons of melted butter

Filling

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

¼ cup sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1 cup of pie cherries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, combine brown sugar, flour, graham cracker crumbs and chopped walnuts.

Add melted butter.

Mix together.

Reserve 1/2 cup of crust mixture and set aside.

Spread the rest of the crust in baking dish, press firmly.

Bake for 12-15 minutes.

While crust is baking, mix together cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, lemon juice and egg until creamy.

Pour over cooked crust, add cherries.



Add remaining crust.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Cool completely then cut into squares.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

AND THE WINNER IS..........

Day 10: Chocolate Chip Cookies with Walnuts, Sunflower Seeds and Dried Cherries

On our final day of Chocolate Chip Cookie tasting I wanted to bake a cookie with some sort of dried fruit. I had some leftover dried cherries from the Oatmeal Almond Butter Cookies I baked on day four so I decided to use them. I also found a package of salt free sunflower seeds and loved the idea of using them in the cookie to add a different texture.

I used the extra basic cookie dough from the Chocolate Chip Cookies with Walnuts I made yesterday and mixed in the cherries and sunflower seeds.

Bake these cookies for 9-12 minutes at 375 degrees.

Cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack.

Making four different types of Chocolate Chip Cookies was a lot harder then I thought. To take the same basic dough and change it into a totally different cookie was a challenge in itself. To the boys credit, they never once complained about having another Chocolate Chip Cookie. They were challenged to taste the subtle differences, and surprised to find out how one substitution could change the flavor or the cookie. So which Chocolate Chip Cookie reigned supreme????

The Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies!!!

Noah: "I loved the little almond pieces...good job Ian!"

Dane: "It tastes different then the normal chocolate chip cookies!"

Ian: "I made them, they are my favorite!"

How the cookies were rated by taste tester:

I gave each place a point value (1=4pts, 2=3pts, 3=2pts, 4=1pts) to decide winner.

The cookie with the most points won.

Noah

1. Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies

2. Chocolate Chip Cookies with Walnuts

3. Chocolate Chip Cookies

4. Chocolate Chip Cookies with Walnuts, Sunflower Seeds and Dried Cherries 

Dane

1. Chocolate Chip Cookies with Walnuts

2. Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies

3. Chocolate Chip Cookies with Walnuts, Sunflower Seeds and Dried Cherries

4. Chocolate Chip Cookie

Ian

1. Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies

2. Chocolate Chip Cookies

3. Chocolate Chip Cookies with Walnuts

4. Chocolate Chip Cookies with Walnuts, Sunflower Seeds and Dried Cherries

Total Points

1. Almond Chocolate Chip Cookie.................................................................11 points

2. Chocolate Chip with Walnuts........................................................................9 points

3. Chocolate Chip Cookies..............................................................................6 points

4. Chocolate Chip Cookie with Walnut, Sunflower Seeds and Cherries........4 points***

***For the unofficial record the Chocolate Chip Cookie with Walnuts, Sunflower Seeds and Cherries was an overwhelming favorite among adults***