Cake Mix Carrot Cake Pancakes

Who says you can't have cake for breakfast? ;) These carrot cake pancakes come together super quick with the help of a boxed mix, leaving you plenty of time to whip up the decadent Biscoff cream cheese glaze to pour over top of these...

Foodie confession time- I do not own a food processor.

Yep, I hear you all gasping at this. ;)

I mean, I have tried to own one... twice now.

The first one I ever had in my kitchen didn't make it past a week before I had boxed it up and returned it to the store.

Food processors & I are just not good company. I always have issues with the lids not locking correctly, or changing out the blades, or snapping in the container the right away. I would literally spend like 15 minutes just trying to get the darn thing lidded & snapped in right just so it would turn on!

I did give it a shot once more.  That food processor ended up in a yard sale a few months later.

Sigh.

Carrot Cake Swirled Cheesecake

I was first introduced to this glorious recipe for a carrot cake cheesecake when Ali from  Jam Hands linked up the recipe post to one of our Marvelous Monday parties.   There was no doubt in my mind that it was going to be a featured post from the party that week.  This is supposed to be a copycat recipe for the Cheesecake Factory's Carrot Cake Cheesecake, but I don't know how close it comes to the restaurant's version since I am pretty sure I have only stepped inside a Cheesecake Factory maybe once.  But I knew I had to make this for my husband's birthday this year.  Carrot cake and cheesecake are two of his favorites so it was pretty much a no-brainer.

I wanted to make sure I shared this with you all this week because it would make the PERFECT Easter dessert, don't you think? ;)

I didn't change too much from the recipe that Ali shared, but I did tweak the Pineapple Cream Cheese Frosting just a tad so that I could make it thicker for piping. 

What you will need:

For the cheesecake-

16 oz of cream cheese, room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

1 tbsp flour

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

For the carrot cake-

3/4 cup canola oil

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

Pinch of salt

8 oz of crushed pineapple, well drained with juice reserved

1 cup grated carrots

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

For the pineapple cream cheese frosting-

4 oz cream cheese, softened

2 tbsp butter, softened

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp reserved pineapple juice

2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9 to 9 1/2 inch springform pan with cooking spray.  Be sure to grease the bottom and the sides well.

In a large bowl, beat together the 16 oz of cream cheese & the 3/4 cup sugar until smooth.  Beat in the 1 tbsp of flour, the 3 eggs, and the teaspoon of vanilla until well combined and smooth.  Set aside your cheesecake batter.

In another large bowl, combine the canola oil, the 1 cup of sugar, 2 eggs, and the 1 tsp of vanilla until blended thoroughly.  Then stir in the 1 cup of flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.  Fold in the pineapple, shredded carrots, coconut, and walnuts.  (Tip- No joke, I used my Baby Bullet to shred the carrots.  I used baby carrots, chopped them into thirds, & then pulsed them in my Baby Bullet.  Great solution for us mamas who have the Baby Bullet, but no food processor. ;) )

Spread about 2 cups of the carrot cake batter into the bottom of your prepared springform pan.  Drop 4-5 large spoonfuls of the cheesecake batter over the carrot cake batter.  Do not spread.  Using large spoonfuls, top the plops of cheesecake batter with the remaining carrot cake batter.  Now pour the remaining cheesecake batter on top and then spread and smooth evenly with a spatula.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 55-65 minutes.  The cake will be mostly set in the middle when done & will be slightly golden brown on top and along the edges.  Cool the cake in the springform pan for about 30 minutes, then pop off the sides.  Allow the cake to cool to room temperature and then refrigerate for at least 1 hour before frosting.  

To prepare the pineapple cream cheese frosting, cream together the 4 oz of cream cheese & the butter in medium bowl until light and fluffy.  Beat in the vanilla and then the pineapple juice.  Add in the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, and beat until nice and creamy.  

Now it is time to pipe the pineapple cream cheese frosting onto the carrot cake cheesecake.  I like to take my frosting bag with the tip inserted and place it into a glass.  That makes it easy and hands free to spoon the frosting into the bag.  

I piped the frosting very prettily all along the outside edge of the cheesecake.  You could do your own design, or skip the piping altogether and just evenly spread the frosting over the top of the cake like Ali did with her version.

After frosting the cake, allow it to set up for at least an hour in the refrigerator before slicing and serving.

And there you go!  A gorgeous Carrot Cake Swirled Cheesecake perfect for your Easter table (or any table really... ). :)

This cake was a huge hit at my husband's birthday party.  I am actually responsible for dessert for Easter dinner at my parents' this coming weekend.  This cake may be making an encore appearance. ;)

What will be on your table for Easter dessert?

Carrot Cake Swirled Cheesecake

by Frugal Foodie Mama

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 55-65 minutes

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Ingredients (8 slices)

For the cheesecake

• 16 oz of cream cheese, room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp flour
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla

For the carrot cake

• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• Pinch of salt
• 8 oz of crushed pineapple, well drained with juice reserved
• 1 cup grated carrots
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

For the pineapple cream cheese frosting

• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 2 tbsp butter, softened
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 tbsp reserved pineapple juice
• 2 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 to 9 1/2 inch springform pan with cooking spray. Be sure to grease the bottom and the sides well.

In a large bowl, beat together the 16 oz of cream cheese & the 3/4 cup sugar until smooth. Beat in the 1 tbsp of flour, the 3 eggs, and the teaspoon of vanilla until well combined and smooth. Set aside your cheesecake batter.

In another large bowl, combine the canola oil, the 1 cup of sugar, 2 eggs, and the 1 tsp of vanilla until blended thoroughly. Then stir in the 1 cup of flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Fold in the pineapple, shredded carrots, coconut, and walnuts.

Spread about 2 cups of the carrot cake batter into the bottom of your prepared springform pan. Drop 4-5 large spoonfuls of the cheesecake batter over the carrot cake batter. Do not spread. Using large spoonfuls, top the plops of cheesecake batter with the remaining carrot cake batter. Now pour the remaining cheesecake batter on top and then spread and smooth evenly with a spatula.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 55-65 minutes. The cake will be mostly set in the middle when done & will be slightly golden brown on top and along the edges. Cool the cake in the springform pan for about 30 minutes, then pop off the sides. Allow the cake to cool to room temperature and then refrigerate for at least 1 hour before frosting.

To prepare the pineapple cream cheese frosting, cream together the 4 oz of cream cheese & the butter in medium bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and then the pineapple juice. Add in the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, and beat until nice and creamy.

Now it is time to pipe the pineapple cream cheese frosting onto the carrot cake cheesecake. I like to take my frosting bag with the tip inserted and place it into a glass. That makes it easy and hands free to spoon the frosting into the bag.

I piped the frosting very prettily all along the outside edge of the cheesecake. You could do your own design, or skip the piping altogether and just evenly spread the frosting over the top of the cake.

After frosting the cake, allow it to set up for at least an hour in the refrigerator before slicing and serving.

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Healthy Carrot Cake Banana Bread

This moist Healthy Carrot Cake Banana Bread with it's vanilla yogurt glaze only tastes like a decadent treat...

I am going to let you all in on a little secret right from the get-go- this Healthy Carrot Cake Banana Bread doesn't taste healthy at all.  It actually tastes like a decadent treat. If you can imagine what it would taste like if moist banana bread and homemade carrot cake had a baby, then that is exactly what this banana bread tastes like. ;)

It is chock full of the good stuff- like shredded fresh carrots, ripe bananas, coconut oil, and nonfat vanilla yogurt. This bread is so moist that you would have no idea that there is whole wheat flour in it. 

I always like to sneak in a little extra of the whole grains whenever I am baking.  About 99% of the time, that little bit of whole wheat flour goes unnoticed by my picky eating guys. 

Traditional carrot cake is usually topped with a cream cheese frosting, but that can add up to extra unnecessary calories and fat grams pretty quickly. By making a quick glaze with tangy and sweet nonfat vanilla yogurt, you can sort of trick your taste buds into thinking you are enjoy a slice of homemade cake carrot with a decadent cream cheese icing... ;)

Summer Blog Challenge- Day 9, My Worst Cooking (Scratch that, Baking) Disaster

Aside from my early days of cooking on my own (think of dry turkey burgers and pasta with Ragu), I haven't had too many tragic cooking disasters.  Cooking seems to be a skill that I have cultivated in myself quite well.  Baking?  I also do that pretty well.  Frosting cakes??  Yeah, not so much my thing.  No matter how many times I have tried to or how many tutorials I have read that were supposed to make frosting a cake easy, peasy, I still manage to frost the most ugliest cakes.  

I still remember in high school the time my best friend & I decided that we were going to make a carrot cake.... from scratch.  We grated the carrots by hand, spent so much time mixing the batter.  After baking our cakes, making the cream cheese frosting, and letting the cakes cool, we started to frost our cake.  And then the disaster began.  The cake started to crack.  Chunks started to fall off as we spread on the frosting.  We would quickly try to "glue" the fallen chunks back on using even more frosting.  It was by far the ugliest cake in my baking history.  In our defense, the cake tasted amazing.  It just looked far from amazing. ;)

This past March I decided to do what I swore I would never attempt again.  Yep, I had convinced myself that I could make my husband an amazing tasting and beautiful looking cake for his 35th birthday. I wanted to make him a red velvet cheesecake cake with cream cheese frosting.  This cake was literally a 4 layer lake- a layer of red velvet cake, a layer of real cheesecake, another layer of red velvet cake topped with another layer of cheesecake.  Perhaps I had chosen a bit of an overambitious cake to make.  I baked the cheesecake myself from scratch.  I have to admit the red velvet cake layers came from a cake mix.  The trouble started when I tried to slice the cheesecake in half lengthwise.  It looked SO easy pictured in the recipe.  Quite a different story in my less than experienced hands.  The cheesecake cracked in multiple places.  I tried to slide over the first half onto the cake layer and it started to sink off to the side.  Somehow I got all the layers stacked, but it was not pretty.  I slathered on the cream cheese frosting hoping to camouflage my very unattractive cake layers.  The photo below doesn't look too bad.  My high school carrot cake was MUCH uglier  But it was a real mess when I started to cut pieces from the cake.  I think maybe 2 slices came out looking somewhat pretty.  The rest were just globs of red velvet, cheesecake, and frosting.  Once again, I made an amazingly delicious cake that looked like crap.

From now on, I have resolved to either order my cakes from a bakery (you know, with trained bakers & pastry chefs and all) or to just stick with bundt cakes or cupcakes. ;)

Carrot Pumpkin Bundt Cake With Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

Looking for something a little different (you know, something other than a pie? ;) ) to bring to Thanksgiving dinner this year?  How about a bundt cake??  Yes, I am obsessed with bundt cakes.  There is just something classic about a good old fashioned bundt cake, right?  And it is pretty difficult to not make a bundt cake look pretty. They come out looking pretty before you even frost or glaze them! ;)

I actually made this cake for a Halloween costume party last month, and it was a HUGE hit with the guests.  

This cake is delicious, and moist, and best of all.... easy!

What you will need for the bundt cake:

1 box of carrot cake mix

1 large box of instant vanilla pudding

1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree

2/3 cup canola oil

2 eggs

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup warm water

1 cup white chocolate chips

What you will need for the caramel cream cheese frosting:

1/2 stick of butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

4 oz cream cheese, room temperature

2-3 tbsp milk

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a bundt cake pan.

In a large bowl, dump in the cake mix, pudding mix, pumpkin, oil, eggs, sour cream, and warm water.  With an electric mixer, beat until well mixed.  Mix in the white chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into the bundt pan and bake for about 50-55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Let the cake cool for about 10-15 minutes in the pan before flipping over onto a wire rack to cool completely.

While the cake is cooling, whip up your caramel cream cheese frosting.  In a small saucepan, heat the butter and brown sugar until melted.  Mix and bring to a boil for about 2 minutes, allowing the sugar to caramelize. Remove from heat and let cool for at least 10 minutes.  

Pour the cooled caramel into a medium mixing bowl.  Beat in the cream cheese, and then the powdered sugar.  Add in the milk a tablespoon at a time to thin out the consistency.  Your frosting should be a little thicker than a glaze, but not as thick as a buttercream.

Once the cake is completely cooled, spread the caramel cream cheese frosting all over the top and sides of the bundt cake with a rubber spatula.  Let the frosting run down inside the cake as well.  You can leave it plain with just the frosting or sprinkle some fall festive jimmies or candies over the top (like I did!).  

Just slice and serve! :)  A perfectly sweet end to Thanksgiving dinner.

What is your favorite non-pie dessert to serve at your Thanksgiving table?

10 Out of the Box Cake Mix Cookie Recipes

Transform your favorite boxed cake mix into a batch of soft & chewy cookies with these 10 Out of the Box Cake Mix Cookie Recipes...

It is no secret that I have a love affair with using boxed cake mixes in my baking. I like to doctor them up to use in my semi-homemade cake recipes, like my Chocolate Raspberry Layer Cake & my perfect for spring Lemon Layer Cake with Lemon Curd Buttercream.  

I am also a fan of using my favorite cake mixes to bake up a batch of sweet rolls  or my moist & fluffy Banana Spice Streusel Muffins on a weekend morning. There is absolutely no shame in my store-bought cake mix game, you all. ;)

But perhaps one of my favorite things to use boxed cake mix in is cookie recipes. You can transform just about any flavor of cake mix into a batch of perfectly baked, soft & chewy cookies.

And there is no need to waste your time with measuring flour, and baking soda, and sugar. The cake mix has done all the hard work for you!

Since I can't get enough of cake mix cookies, I decided to visit some of my favorite food blogs to find some of the most creative, out-of-the-box (I know.... punny, right? ;) ) cookie recipes made from a cake mix. 

Whether you are a chocolate addict, a strawberry lover, or are into more traditional cookie flavors, you are sure to find the perfect cake batter cookie for you in this collection of easy recipes I am sharing with you all today... 

Pumpkin Spice Mug Cake {A Recipe Makeover}

This perfectly portioned for one Pumpkin Spice Mug Cake can be ready in just 4 minutes...

My Pumpkin Spice Mug Cake is perfect for a fall evening (or afternoon... or morning ;) ) when you are craving a delicious, moist, perfectly spiced slice of pumpkin cake or bread, but don't have the time or motivation to bake a whole loaf or cake.  You can whip this up in literally less than 4 minutes, folks.  

And it is a perfectly portioned taste of fall for one.  (Also good for those of us trying to not to overdo it on the fall baked sweets! Built-in portion control, my friends.)

I originally shared my recipe for Pumpkin Spice Mug Cake in October of last year. And because this is another Frugal Foodie Mama Recipe Makeover, here is a one of the photos I used in the original post...

I knew I had to remake this recipe because that photo was not doing this delicious and quick recipe proper justice.  

I did tweak a few things in the recipe itself.  Swapped out the white sugar for brown, but nothing too major.

Yield: Serves 1

Author: Carrie Robinson

Pumpkin Spice Mug Cake

This perfectly portioned for one Pumpkin Spice Mug Cake can be ready in just 4 minutes.

prep time: 3 min cook time: 1 min total time: 4 min

ingredients:

• 2 tbsp flour
• 3 tsp brown sugar
• 2-3 dashes of nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp canola or vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp milk
• 1 1/2 tbsp pumpkin puree
• 1-2 drops of vanilla extract
• A  small handful of white chocolate chips (optional)

instructions:

How to cook Pumpkin Spice Mug Cake

1. In a mug, mix together the flour through the baking powder. Add the oil, milk, pumpkin, and vanilla and mix well.
2. Drop in a few white chocolate chips, if you feel so inclined. You could also pop a handful of pecans or walnuts in there. Mix to cover the chips or nuts. Microwave for 1 minute.
3. Top with whipped topping, if desired. Enjoy!

Created using The Recipes Generator

This pumpkin mug cake is seriously the best thing ever to happen to my microwave in the fall. ;)   

Which fall dessert would you like to turn into a less than 5 minutes, single serving wonder of microwave baking?

If you loved this recipe, you might also like my...

Pumpkin Spice Latte Layer Cake

Carrot Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

Triple Spice Pumpkin Buttermilk Pie

Have a mean sweet tooth? Satisfy it daily by joining the Desserts First recipe group on Facebook! :)

S'mores Bunny Graham Bars

These ooey, gooey S'mores Bunny Graham Bars are packed full of chocolate, marshmallow, and bunny shaped graham crackers. The perfect sweet treat for Easter!

In case you all have not already been counting down, Easter is less than two weeks away.

That tidbit kind of just dawned on me the other day when I pulled out at my blog planner at the start of April to start plotting my culinary creations for the next few weeks.

Oh yes... it is time for me to start pulling out the pastel sprinkled, bunny shaped deliciousness for you all. ;)  I am determined to not let the Easter season sneak up on me like it did last year.

I mean, last year I pretty much slacked in the Easter recipe department and I totally feel like I owe you all...

Seriously.  I posted just one recipe that was even remotely Easter in nature in 2013- my Carrot Cake Swirled Cheesecake.  Not that I am scoffing at the cheesecake.

It was seriously the best cheesecake that has ever come out of my oven, & I highly recommend it for your Easter dinner dessert spread.

But it may not be a dessert that everyone will appreciate.