St Patrick's Day Cheenies!

TGIF everyone!! Holy Crow I have been knocked out these past couple days. Seriously, I woke up Wednesday morning at 3am and could just tell something was wrong. I'll spare you the details, but it was a horrible day of stomach flu symptoms. It's seriously the worst 24 hours a person can go through physically. I couldn't eat or drink anything, I couldn't stand up because my stomach was in so much pain, and I could barely stay awake. Needless to say, it was terrible. I don't know what's going on, but I had stomach flu this week and a crazy head cold that lasted two weeks right before that. I mean it's so upsetting waking up everyday for weeks and just feeling exhausted and achey and everything hurts.

I'm sooo glad I'm feeling better now. I realized these past weeks that when I'm sick, I hate cooking. Especially if it's a big recipe and I have to stand for a long time, or if theres a ton of steps, my head gets foggy and I mess things up. Plus I feel like you get out of your recipes what you put in, so if you're standing over a mixing bowl blowing your nose, that meal immediately becomes unappetizing. And to top it all off, when I'm sick, I'm never hungry...so cooking is seriously last on my list of things to do. Halleluiah I'm feeling better! Can't wait to bake!!

So one of the few things I like about February, besides Hub's birthday, is that it's short. And that means March gets here that much sooner and that means March 20th gets here that much sooner...that would be the Spring Equinox!! That also means St Patrick's Day is almost here! YAY!!

No I'm not Full Irish on my mother's side or anything like that. My last name does not start with an O'. However, there is a small amount of Irish heritage in my family and I appreciate it. I think the Irish history is fascinating and love that we celebrate this fun holiday every year. Did you know St Patrick's Day was originally started to celebrate the death of St Patrick and has been a holiday for over 1000 years?! Did you also know up until the 1970's bars in Ireland were not permitted to be open on St Patrick's Day?! Crazy.

Since 2009, my Hub and I have been going downtown and celebrating St Patrick's Day like we just came from the Isles ourselves. We head out early in the morning with our good friends and usually make it home by early to late afternoon. We sing, we dance, we wear an obnoxious amount of green and our last stop is always to get some Bangers and Mash. Not my favorite dish, but the people I'm with want it, so I go. One thing I do like to make for the holiday are St Patrick's Day Cheenies!

What are Cheenies you ask? They are my could-be famous Cheesecake Brownies! I use my favorite Fudge Brownie recipe and top it with a quick and scrumptious Cheesecake recipe that is so easy to make. Throw in some green magic and boom! St Patrick's Day Cheenies!

The pictures don't show off just how pretty of a green these are. They kinda look blue on here...just ignore that :) I'm thinking I should bring some of these along for our Day downtown. It's always nice to have food to hand out when green beer is involved :) Personally I stick to the girly apple beers, and I believe this year I will be driving us home, so these can be my treat to myself for not drinking. Sounds great to me!

Ingredients:
Fudge Brownie Recipe
1/2 Cup flour

1/3 Cup cocoa powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 Cup butter

1 Cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

Cheesecake Recipe:
8oz Cream Cheese, softened
1 egg
1/3 Cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
6-8 drops of green food coloring

1/2 Cup semi sweet chocolate chips
Handful of green chocolate candies (I used M&Ms)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8x8 pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray. Set aside.

For brownies:
Mix together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, cinnamon and baking powder in a medium bowl.

Premix the two eggs just a little bit in a small bowl. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, remove from heat and stir in the sugar, mixed eggs and vanilla with a whisk.

Add in the dry ingredients and stir with the whisk until just combined. Pour the batter into your prepared pan.

For cheesecake mix:
Add cream cheese to your mixer and mix on medium for about 1 minute. Add the egg, sugar, vanilla and food coloring and mix for about 2 more minutes. Spoon cheesecake batter over brownie mix.

Sprinkle on the chocolate chips and candies and bake for 48-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the middle comes out clean.

Allow the pan to cool then place in the fridge until ready to serve. Cut up with a buttered knife and enjoy!!




Are you a St Patrick's Day lover like us? Do you take the day off and go to the local parade like we do? Come back soon for more yummy green treats!

Thanks for stopping by!

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