Cheesecake bars for St. Patrick’s Day. Photo
courtesy McCormick.

These cheesecake bars, with contrasting layers of green, white and dark brown, combine creamy cheesecake with refreshing peppermint, a chocolate cookie crust and a rich dark chocolate drizzle. The recipe is courtesy of McCormick, which has many more delicious recipes at McCormick.com.

The recipe makes 24 servings. Prep time is 20 minutes, cook time is 30 minutes, and the cheesecake must be refrigerated for 4 hours. If you want to make it after St. Patrick’s Day, you can omit the green food coloring.

GREEN WITH ENVY CHEESECAKE BARS

Ingredients

Preparation

1. Make crust. Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix cookie crumbs and butter. Press firmly onto bottom of foil-lined 9-inch square baking pan. Refrigerate until ready to use.

2. Make batter. Beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add sour cream and peppermint extract; mix well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating on low speed after each addition just until blended. Pour 1/2 of the batter over crust. Tint remaining batter green with food color. Pour over batter in pan.

3. Bake. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool completely on wire rack. TIP: Put a pan of water on the bottom rack of the oven. Known as a bain-marie, the moisture keeps the cheesecake from cracking.

4. Refrigerate. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Lift out of pan onto cutting board. Cut into bars.

5. Drizzle. Drizzle bars with melted chocolate. Serve. Store uneaten bars in the refrigerator.

Find more of our favorite cheesecake recipes.

For an impressive yet easy display, bake a batch of Idaho potatoes and set them out. Pick out some favorites from the list below, and allow guests to customize their own toppings.

Baked Potato Bar Toppings

Also check out these mashed potato martinis with choice of toppings.

Find more of our favorite vegetable recipes.

The Irish version of a White Russian. Photo
courtesy Renaissance Hotel Times Square.

A White Russian combines 2 parts vodka with 1 part coffee liqueur and light cream (a Black Russian omits the cream).

Here, Irish whiskey takes the place of the vodka, and chocolate shavings turn the cocktail into an after-dinner drink/liquid dessert.
WHITE IRISHMAN COCKTAIL

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. Combine first three ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Shake and pour over ice.

2. Garnish with dark chocolate shavings and serve.

Find more of our favorite cocktail recipes for St. Patrick’s Day.

Slim it down with some nonfat Greek yogurt.

 
Here’s another lowfat dairy topping recipe, combining lowfat cottage cheese with nonfat yogurt. Add the seasonings and you’ve got a dip:

 
Punch it up by blending in these optional low-calorie seasonings:

 
For a few more calories and some heart-healthy fats, add:

 
Enjoy!

Find more of our favorite dairy products and recipes.

Editor’s Note: We regret that the popovers video with Alton Brown was discontinued by the distributor. We’ve included links to other popover recipes below, plus this elegant blueberry popover recipe from Two Cups Flour (photo #1).
 
 
March 10th is National Blueberry Popover Day. Here’s a recipe for popovers that can use blueberries, cherries or other fruits.

Crunchy and golden on the outside, moist and airy on the inside, popovers are a puffy delight like the Indian bread, poori. But the buttery, crunchy taste is uniquely popover.

Popovers look fancy, but they are easy to make with the ingredients in your kitchen: eggs, flour, whole milk, butter, and kosher salt.
 
> National Raspberry Popover Day is May 3rd.

> National Cherry Popover Day is September 1st.

> The history of popovers.
 
 
DO YOU REALLY NEED A POPOVER PAN?

Can’t you use a muffin tin?

Sure, a muffin pan will bake popovers just fine. But a popover pan will give you taller popovers with a more defined “mushroom” top. The popovers from a muffin tin will taste the same, but the popovers will have flat tops and won’t be dramatic-looking.

If you want the thrill of a fully risen popover, treat yourself: This popover pan will last a lifetime.

Here are more uses for a popover pan.

Alton Brown makes it look so easy in this video that you’ll want to order the popover pan post haste! The ingredients are already in the kitchen:

In honor of National Blueberry Day, you can add some chopped dried blueberries—or better yet, wait for June when blueberries start to come into season. We think popovers are magnificent plain; or with a bit of flavor from a tablespoon of chopped basil, thyme or Parmesan cheese added to the batter.

You’ll want to dig into the popovers as soon as they come out of the oven. Leftovers will last a couple of days in an airtight plastic bag. Microwave them briefly before serving.

> The History Of Popovers
 
 
POPOVERS AS A “SERVING DISH”

Popovers are more than a delightful brunch or dinner roll.

Just like a baked potato, a popover can be filled to create a dish that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Cut the popovers in half and fill them with scrambled eggs, chicken salad, fruit, yogurt or whatever appeals to you.

For a dessert popover filled with lemon curd, ice cream, or pie filling, add a teaspoon of sugar to the batter.
 

MORE POPOVER RECIPES

[1] How can you resist these blueberry popovers? Here’s the recipe from Two Cups Flour (photo © Two Cups Flour).

[2] This recipe from Joy The Baker adds lemon curd with the blueberries (photo © Joy The Baker).

[3] Plain popovers in a spiffy red pan (photo © Neiman Marcus).

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