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• Beat cream cheese until it is smooth and creamy. Add white sugar to fully incorporate. Mix in egg and peppermint extract. Stir in droplets of food color to reach desired tint. Set bowl aside.
• Prepare a 9×9 pan by lining it with foil and applying nonstick spray or butter to grease it. Preheat oven at 350-degrees.
• Using a microwave-safe bowl, in brief bursts heat the butter and dark chocolate, stirring well between each pass, until both are melted and smooth. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.
• In the large bowl of a stand mixer, use the whisk attachment to beat together both sugars, the vanilla, and salt. Add the eggs one at a time, and continue to beat at a high speed for 10 minutes. With the mixer on low, pour in the butter-chocolate. Use a spatula to fold in the flour and cocoa until just combined. Batter will be thick.
• Pour half the brownie batter into the prepared pan; use an offset spatula to even it out. Add about half the cheesecake mix in dollops. Repeat twice more, adding brownie and cheesecake in alternate dolloped layers. Use a butter knife to swirl everything together to create a marbled effect.
• Bake for about 45 minutes, until the middle passes the toothpick test. Cool to room temperature then cut into pieces.

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• Preheat oven at 375-degrees; set a baking sheet in the oven to heat up as well (this will reduce the likelihood of a pie with a soggy bottom). Press the pie dough into a deep dish pie pan, if not already formed. Stash it in the fridge while the filling is being prepared.
• Peel and core apples and slice into thin wedges. Toss them with the 2 Tablespoons flour to coat. Set aside.
• In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Dice up the butter and toss it in the mix. Use a pastry cutter or a fork to mash up the butter to make pea-sized and smaller pieces of various shapes. Set bowl in fridge briefly, and bring out the pie shell.
• Pour the apple slices into the pie shell and distribute them to make a nice mound. Drizzle jarred caramel over the top, to personal preference. Use a spoon to distribute crumb topping to cover apples, using butter lumps and powder to fill the nooks and crannies.
• Set pie on hot baking sheet. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until apples are tender when pierced by fork. Cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting in.
• Store pie covered by foil in fridge. Will keep for as long as a week. Great eaten cold or warmed up!

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• Preheat oven at 325-degrees. Apply nonstick spray with flour to coat the interior of the bundt pan.
• In a big bowl, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, followed by the extracts.
• In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the big bowl alternatively with the half & half, beating until they are just combined.
• In a microwave-safe bowl, heat 2 ounces of white chocolate chips in 30 second bursts, stirring well between each zap, until it’s melted and smooth; keep an eye on the white chocolate, as it can burn fast! Add the melted chocolate into the cake batter. Follow that with the sour cream and the remaining white chocolate chips. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
• Bake for about 1 hour 15 minutes; the middle should pass the toothpick test. If it’s getting overly brown near the end, cover the top with foil.
• Let cake cool in pan for 20 minutes, then upend onto a cooling rack. Cool completely, speeding process in fridge if desired.
• Melt chocolate wafers in microwave or on stovetop. Drizzle atop cake to form a thick snowcap. If desired, top with peppermints.

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• Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Beat together the butter, white sugar, brown sugar, and lemon zest until fluffy. In a stand mixer , this will be 2 to 3 minutes. Add the molasses and egg, scraping the bowl to make sure everything is mixed.
• In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, ginger, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves.
• Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Stage the pearl sugar in a small bowl.
• Use a teaspoon scoop to form balls of dough. Roll them in the pearl sugar. If the granules aren’t sticking well, lightly dampen the dough and try again. Place the balls spaced out on the pan.
• Bake until the cookies look crackled on top with the edges just set, at 10 to 12 minutes. Let set on pan a few minutes before transferring cookies to a rack to completely cool. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.

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• Add ingredients EXCEPT cheese into the bread machine. That often means the liquids first. Set the machine on dough cycle and start; this should run for about 2 hours. Once the dough starts mixing, sprinkle in about half the cheese. If necessary–and if safely possible, dependent on the machine–use a spatula to press cheese into the dough. Let dough cycle continue until done.
• Prepare a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan by greasing with butter or nonstick spray.
• Pat out dough on an even lightly-greased surface. It’s time to add the rest of the cheese using a process roughly like French butter lamination.
• Sprinkle a handful of cheese over the lower portion of dough. Fold top part over it, then fold dough the other way, creating a fat dough ball. Pat out dough again. Repeat process again one or two more times, until only a handful of cheese is left.
• Pat out dough again. Use a small round cutter to slice out portions of dough. Place them in the prepared pan, spaced so they don’t quite touch. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Cover pan with plastic wrap or a light towel and let rise again in a warm spot for 30 minutes to 1 hour, until rolls become puffy and double in size.
• Preheat oven at 350-degrees.
• Bake rolls for 15 to 22 minutes. If they begin to brown too much, cover with foil halfway through. Let rolls cool a few minutes before serving.
• Completely cooled rolls can be frozen in gallon freezer bags for several months. Sealed rolls will keep well at room temperature for at least 6 days. They are good eaten at room temperature, but are best briefly warmed in the oven.

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