Crockpot Dessert Recipes - Free Up Your Valuable Oven Space For The Main Course

Does shuffling around your dishes in and out of the oven get complicated during a big holiday meal? We like to have several desserts, so that usually means something's got to come out of the oven so the desserts can start going in. This can get rather tedious and can result in some real timing dilemmas.

Why not put your crockpot to work for you this year? Transform your old favorite dessert recipes into crockpot dessert recipes and free up your oven for what it was meant for... the Turkey and Green Bean Casserole!

I chose three of my family's favorite desserts to make this year in my crockpot in order to free up my oven space and stove top for other dishes. Let's see how we can put my crockpot to work.

Apple Brown Betty

If you make this dessert in the oven, you have to time it just right so that you're pulling it out only a few minutes before serving. That's because it's better served hot with a dollop of vanilla ice cream on top. You can basically use all the ingredients you normally do, but I add a little more butter. You're going to cook it on low for a couple hours so that's all the timing required. No last minute switching casseroles around so you can get this dessert done at the perfect time.

My recipe is sort of a variation of both apple crisp and bread pudding, so a crunchy topping is optional. If you like, you can mix together the ingredients for the topping in a saucepan, then top the apple dessert either in the bowls or in the slow cooker just before serving.

PB and Chocolate Brownie

Brownies are always yummy, but this brownie dessert tops them all with the added peanut butter! You begin with a regular brownie mix, but the dessert isn't cut into squares like normal brownies. You spoon the dessert into bowls instead of cutting them into traditional brownie squares. Serve while hot so that the added ice cream or whipped topping melts a little.

Top this brownie dessert with some sprinkles of Reese's Pieces or other candy topping that you like. Cut a peanut butter cup in quarters and garnish with one quarter for each serving. You want to time the cooking and serving of this so that you are ready to scoop up your dessert just minutes after you shut off the heat.

Pecan Crust Cheesecake

One of my favorite desserts is cheesecake. It's fun using what can be considered a mini oven. Basically, you use the same recipe you normally would. The important thing to keep in mind is you'll be using a 7" springform pan so you need to make sure it will fit. A 5 or 6 quart size is usually big enough, but measure to be sure. Then, make a simple graham cracker crust with some finely chopped pecans added, form the crust in the bottom and up the sides a little in your pan. Make the filling according to the recipe you normally use, then fill your pan.

You'll need to put a small rack in the bottom to hold the springform pan off the bottom. If you don't have a rack that fits, just pull a good length of aluminum foil off the roll and form a donut shape out of it to support the pan. Just be sure the pan is at least an inch off the bottom. You want to cook your cheesecake on high for several hours, then shut off the heat and let it sit in there for another hour or until it's cool enough to handle. Then you'll let it cool completely on a rack on the counter before you remove the pan from the cheesecake.

Rather than sacrificing your favorite holiday desserts for lack of room in your oven, put your crockpot to work for you. Re-creating your old favorite dessert recipes into new crockpot dessert recipes will save you time and stress, and will get everything on the table as planned... hot, bubbly, and delicious!

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