Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Squares

CC Cream Cheese Square

I pulled this recipe out of one of those Kraft Food & Family magazines a few years ago. I have been receiving this free magazine for quite a few years and I really enjoyed scanning it for recipes and ideas. My last issue arrived and out fell an invoice?? Hmmm. An invoice in the magazine that I have been receiving for free all these years? Can’t be. Can it? Oh but it was. Seem even the people at Kraft are feeling the effect of this economic downturn and now would like us to pay for the normally free publication. Rats. I’m torn. I already subscribe to Gourmet, Bon Appetite, Saveur, Everyday Food, Taste of Home, Yankee (yup there’s recipes in dem dar magazeens), and another magazine that I just got a sample copy of whose name escapes me at the moment, but it was nice! Really, even though I can't for the life of me remember the name. (I cancelled Cook’s Illustrated, got bored with the 6 page recipes and black & white hand drawings. I need big glossy colored photos people. I am a visual person, and black & white hand drawings just don’t cut it with me, plus their were mean to some nice people I know, so that’s enough for me to kick them to the curb).

So whether or not I decided to subscribe to the Kraft magazine, I have to say I have scoffed quite a few crowd-pleasing recipes from it over the years.

Now back to the food. Do you like cheese danish? Cause if you do, then do I have a dessert for you. This dessert reminds me of a great, creamy cheese danish and the best part about it is, you can throw his puppy together in just a few minutes.

I varied the original recipe (imagine that) and added the mini chocolate chips in. You could also add a bit of flavoring into the cream cheese if you’d like…orange, lemon, almond, etc. These squares are very versatile. You could also mix in some fruit, nuts, etc. Experiment and see what you can come up with.

I also cut down on the amount of topping it called for. Originally it was a ¼ cup and 2 tablespoons of cinnamon. I found that to be just way too much. The 1/8 of a cup and 1 tablespoon tastes much better. Just make sure you sprinkle the topping on as soon as it comes out of the oven so it can melt into the squares.

CC Cream Cheese Square1


Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Squares
Printable recipe
2 cans (8oz each) refrigerated crescent dinner rolls or 2 cans of the Recipe Creations crescent rolls
2 pkgs (8oz each) cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg, lightly beaten
½ cup sugar
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Topping:
1/8 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350. Unroll 1 of the cans of crescent rolls and press it into the bottom of a 9x13 inch-baking pan to form a crust. If you are using the dinner rolls, make sure to firmly press the seams together.

Beat cream cheese, vanilla, egg and ½ cup sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Stir in one cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Unroll remaining can of crescent dough onto a large sheet of wax paper. Pat out the dough to form a 9x13 rectangle, pressing the seams together to seal. Invert over the cream cheese mixture to form the top crust.

Bake 30 – 35 minutes or until light golden brown.

For topping: Combine the sugar and cinnamon into a small bowl and sprinkle over the squares as soon as they come out of the oven.

11 comments:

Jeff said...

I agree about CI. It seemed to me they were running out of ideas so decided hey let us write articles on common sense stuff or push people to our sponsor's stuff.

Cheesecake is my favorite dessert and I love the flavors of this.

Brenda S Okie in Colorado said...

Can you get the recipes online rather than pay for the subscription to Kraft?
These squares look great.

The Cutting Edge of Ordinary said...

Yes Brenda you can. I just liked getting the magazine in the mail. It's too bad they can't keep sending it free, lol.

test it comm said...

Cream cheese and chocolate chips...mmm... it looks really good!

Doreen Frost said...

wow..crescent rolls..I'm so surprised! Sounds like a great recipe!

Raindrop were falling here to..but the sun has finally broken through!

Have a wonderful day :)
Doreen

Bunny said...

Crescent rolls, cream cheese and chocolate chips, a dream come true!! I know carol was saying something about the magazine too Lisa. It's too bad, the economy has it everyboy!

Melissa said...

It's funny. My mom send me magazines from her doctor's office or things she finds in the break room at work (she works at an organic market in Dallas). And the last box of stuff she sent me, I opened it up and saw a pencil drawn Christopher Kimball staring at me. She sent me a mini-mag of CI that someone had left at work. I had to laugh.

Anyway. I try not to subscribe to too many. So far only Bon Appetit and Food & Wine. If I go for more, I won't have room for them anywhere and my big pile next to the computer will keep getting bigger.

These squares remind me of the cheese danish with chocolate chips we used to bake fresh every Sunday at the Jewish deli I worked at after high school. Ridiculously good. I need to not make these squares (or black and whites or fresh whipped cream cheese) because, seriously, I gained 10 pounds in the measly 4 months I worked there. Oops.

Susan from Food Blogga said...

These would please kids and adults alike. Mmmmm...good.

Juliana said...

Yummie...sounds great! Such an interesting recipe... Love your pictures!

RecipeGirl said...

Looks yummy. I get that free mag too. Wouldn't pay to subscribe though. I think you can usually find everything online.

Anonymous said...

A good story

GK Chesterton: “The poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese.”

Voila: www.tastingtoeternity.com. This book is a poetic view of 30 of the best loved French cheeses with an additional two odes to cheese. Recipes, wine pairing, three short stories and an educational section complete the book.

From a hectic life in New York City to the peace and glories of the French countryside lead me to be the co-founder of www.fromages.com. Ten years later with the words of Pierre Androuet hammering on my brain:

“Cheese is the soul of the soil. It is the purest and most romantic link between humans and the earth.”

I took pen and paper; many reams later with the midnight oil burning Tasting to Eternity was born and self published.

I believe cheese and wine lovers should be told about this publication.

Enjoy.