Lemon Squares

Yes, squares — not bars. In fact, in my cookbook both lemon bars and lemon squares are on the same page. Not much difference between the two except these squares are made without the baking soda. And, they only make half as much. I’ve made both recipes a number of times, and I like the squares just a little better. But I’ll take a little lemon sweet treat in just about any form.

So call them bars if you want, because they pretty much are. I think I like that better anyway. Whether it’s with a knife or scissors my cutting skills can use some work. Presenting something as a ’square’ requires more precision than my crooked cutting hands are often capable of.

These are super easy, so get baking!

Lemon Squares
adapted from Lion House Desserts

For the bottom layer:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup flour

For the filling:
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
grated zest of 1 lemon

Heat the oven to 325. In a large bowl, cream the butter and powdered sugar. Add 1 cup of flour. Spread into an 8-inch pan and bake for 15-18 minutes. While the crust is baking, prepare the filling.

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs slightly and add sugar, 2 tablespoons of flour, lemon juice and zest. Mix well and pour over hot crust immediately after removing it from the oven.

Bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with a few tablespoons of powdered sugar. Cool slightly before cutting into 2-inch squares.

Cheesecake Marbled Brownies

A second black and white creation this week.  What’s up with that?  But, seriously, can you really go wrong with chocolate and cheesecake?  I say not a chance, and these bars are an easy way to satisfy that  craving for a rich, sweet, chocolatey treat.  And, don’t you  think there’s a little something people love about that swirling?

Not only do they look good, they taste DElicious!

Cheesecake Marbled Brownies

adapted from Gourmet

For the brownie base:
1 stick  butter, cut into pieces
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup all-purpose flour

Cheesecake batter
8 ounces cream cheese, well softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Also:
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Make brownie batter:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°. Butter an 8- or 9-inch square baking pan. Heat butter and chocolate in a 3-quart heavy saucepan  over moderately low heat, whisking occasionally, just until melted. Remove from heat and whisk in sugar, eggs, vanilla, and a pinch of salt until well combined. Whisk in flour until just combined and spread in baking pan.

Make cheesecake batter:
Whisk together cheesecake batter ingredients in a small bowl until smooth. Dollop over brownie batter, then swirl in with a knife or spatula.  (If you ‘pull’ up the brownie batter from the bottom and fold it onto the cream cheese you’ll have swirling success!)

Sprinkle chocolate chips over the swirled batter or simply swirl them in with the batter.

Bake until edges are slightly puffed and center is just set, about 30-35 minutes.

Black & White Brownies

They don’t look very brown for being BROWNies do they? So what’s with the name? Well, the base of these brownies varies a bit from the normal recipe — it’s got white chocolate instead. Does that mean we should call them whities then? A discussion for another day, I guess.

Even if you can’t settle on a true name for these bars, you’ll definitely be calling them delicious. I was curious to see how the nutmeg and chocolate would come together. Chocolate and cinnamon is pretty good in the right recipe…but nutmeg? I had my doubts. Turns out the nutmeg is subtle and sort of acts like a mystery flavor. People kept wondering what THAT flavor was. Nutmeg, my friends, just simple, not even freshly grated, nutmeg.

I doubled the batch easily using a 9 x 13 pan and used Nestle’s chocolate chunks. Chocolate chips or even just coarsely chopped chocolate would be perfect as well. I’d say stick with the dark stuff though with this one. Although if you go the milk chocolate route let me know how it turns out.

Oh, and one more thing…check out the comments for my iced pumpkin cookies. Amber left a pretty funny one that will make you smile. Thanks Amber!

Black & White Brownies
adapted from King Arthur Flour

• 1 cup chopped white chocolate
• 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) butter
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chips, chunks or chopped chocolate

Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly grease an 8- or 9-inch square pan.

Place the white chocolate, butter, and sugar in a heatproof bowl. Heat at low power in the microwave at 1-minute intervals, or over simmering water, until the chocolate softens; white chocolate is sensitive to scorching, so be careful.

When the butter is melted and the white chocolate looks soft, stir in the vanilla, nutmeg, and salt. Let the mixture cool to lukewarm. Beat in the eggs. Then whisk together the flour and baking powder, and stir into the egg mixture.

Stir in 3/4 cup of the chocolate chunks. Spoon the batter into the pan, and sprinkle the remaining chocolate chunks over the top.

Bake the brownies for 22-25 minutes, until they’re light golden brown and the edges pull just slightly away from the pan.

Remove from the oven, and cool before cutting.

Chewy Chunky Blondies

moving this simple sweet over from Sweet Sista’…

O.k. so it’s not a cookie. It’s a blondie. And, it must be a ‘keeper’ because I’ve made it twice in the past two weeks when treats were needed. I like the simplicity of this one. Sometimes I don’t have time or just don’t feel like dropping cookie dough onto pans. It’s got basic ingredients that I typically have in the pantry, and you can substitute ingredients in or out like crazy if you want to. Have some M&M’s on hand? Sprinkle them on top for some color. Change it up and add dried cranberries and white chocolate chunks instead of the chocolatey version you see here. See…LOTS of possibilities! Even if you’re not too much of a coconut fan (which I don’t understand…maybe we can’t be friends then) just give it a try. It adds a little something ‘extra’ that I think you’ll like.

Chewy Chunky Blondies

(from Baking: From My Home to Yours)

2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup bittersweet or semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips or toffee bits *
1 cup chopped pecans **
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 325F. Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer), cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, waiting until each is fully incorporated to add the next, then beat in the vanilla. With the mixer on low, gradually add in the flour mixture, stirring only until no streaks of flour remain. Stir in the chips, nuts and coconut by hand.
Spread batter into prepared pan, using a lightly greased spatula to even it out.
Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a tester comes out with only a few crumbs.
Cool blondies in the pan. I actually put these in the refrigerator for a while so that when I pulled them out with the foil they were SUPER easy to cut.

* I’m not a big fan of butterscotch chips and I didn’t have any toffee ones on hand so I chopped up a king sized Hershey’s bar for a little milk chocolate addition. Use whatever you have. Peanut butter chips would probably be yummy too!

** No pecans on hand so I used toasted walnuts instead.

Iced Oatmeal Applesauce Cookies

Yes, I did make an iced cookie (of the pumpkin variety) very recently. But that’s not a reason to put off making another one! I have to say, this one was also a success. Using applesauce lightened up the recipe and also kept the cookies very moist. In fact, they were even tastier the second day.

If you don’t like raisins or walnuts, leave them out if you must. (But, you shouldn’t…) Add in some more cinnamon or even nutmeg and ginger if you want. But DO use chunky applesauce. All of the reviews from the original recipe made it clear that you’ll have flat cookies if you go with the smooth stuff. Now I just have to figure out what to do with the rest of the applesauce. Stay tuned — I see an applesauce inspired recipe coming soon

Iced Oatmeal Applesauce Cookies
adapted from Martha Stewart Living

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup chunky-style applesauce
• 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1 cup golden raisins
• 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup

Preheat oven to 350. Put butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until combined. Add egg, vanilla and applesauce. Mix until well blended, 2 to 3 minutes. Mix in oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Mix in walnuts and raisins.

Drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake cookies until golden and just set, 13 to 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack set over parchment paper; let cool completely.

To make the icing: Whisk powdered sugar, syrup, and 3 tablespoon milk until smooth. Drizzle over cookies, let set. Once the maple icing is set, these can be stored in single layers in airtight containers for up to three days or frozen for later.

Lighter Cornbread

I’m a cornbread purist. I kind of enjoy reading about cornbread recipes that include corn kernels, sauteed onions or chipotle chilis added in, but when it comes down to actually making some, I never do the mix-ins. One day — maybe. I have tried a lot of different recipes, and I’ve also experimented with fine, medium and coarse grind cornmeal. Use whatever you like. I’ve found that medium grind (like this one) is my favorite.

Halloween seemed like the perfect night to cook up the first chili of the season and, of course, there had to be cornbread. Cornbread with butter and honey…yummmmmm. Two of us could only eat a portion of what was baked, so I cut the leftovers into squares and froze them. So this week I’ve been enjoying warm cornbread with, of course, butter and honey, as my after school snack. Teachers need a little something too, you know.

This recipe originally had twice the amount of butter, but I made some adjustments and it’s still moist and delicious. Next time you’re making soup, chili or just about anything that needs a little ‘comfort’ on the side, give this a try! Oh, and if you’re looking for a delicious and easy turkey chili recipe to try, email me. I’d love to share the recipe…I just probably won’t get around to blogging it any time soon.

Lighter Cornbread
adapted from King Arthur Flour

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup milk
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted and cooled
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 375. Lightly great an 8- or 9-inch square or round pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking sida and salt.

In another bowl or large measuring cup whisk together the milk, buttermilk, melted butter and the egg.

Pour the liquid all at once into the flour mixture, stirring quickly and gently until the ingredients are just combined.

Spread the batter into the greased pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges just begin to pull away from the pan and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

 

• 1 3/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 large egg

 

 

• 7 1/2 ounces King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 5 1/2 ounces cornmeal
• 1 3/4 ounces sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 10 ounces milk
• 4 ounces unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 large egg

 

 

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 9-inch square or round pan (a cast iron skillet will work fine, too), shallow 1 1/2 quart casserole dish, or 12 muffin cups.

1) In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

2) Stir in any desired herbs, cheese, corn kernels, or other flavorings.

3) In another bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together the milk, melted butter, and egg.

4) Pour the liquid all at once into the flour mixture, stirring quickly and gently until just combined.

5. Spread the batter into the prepared pan, or scoop into the muffin tin.

6. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges just begin to pull away from the pan and a cake tester or paring knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

7. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack for 5 minutes before cutting; serve warm.

These are a keeper!

brought over from my posts at Sweet Sista’…

I try a lot of recipes (no surprise there, right?), but I don’t repeat a lot of them. For one, there’s just too many new ones to try, and often I like the finished product, but I’m content to leave it in the past and search for the next great thing. It happens with dinner and dessert recipes alike. Thank goodness for an in house taste tester (i.e. that very easy-to-please husband of mine) who doesn’t mind trying new things for dinner on a very regular basis.

When I find a recipe that is just too good to eat once, well, than it’s a keeper. It becomes part of what’s in the back of my mind when it comes to making dinner or a sweet treat.

Well, my friends, I share with you here my most recent keeper. These peanut butter cookies have a great texture and they’re doubly peanut buttery with the peanut butter and peanut butter chips. You could even make it a triple by using crunchy peanut butter. That’s my plan for the next time I make them.
These are just a little bit crisp on the outside, and almost cakey on the inside. I’m a pretty tough, discriminating judge of new cookie recipes. It’s not just about taste. The texture and appearance have to win me over too.
Just one thing: plan on a purpose for these little wonders. Save yourself a few (or freeze for later!) but I can guarantee that you’ll just keep going back for one more (or two, or three…) if they’re around.

Oh, and that taste tester I was telling you about…the same one who doesn’t get excited at ALL when peanut butter and chocolate come together to make a treat…well, he loved them. They’re that good.

Rolled in sugar and baked to perfection!

 

Peanut Butter Cookies
Adapted from the Magnolia Bakery Cookbook

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup peanut butter at room temperature (smooth or chunky, it’s up to you!)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup peanut butter chips
1/2 cup chocolate chips

For sprinkling: 1 tablespoon sugar, regular or superfine

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, combine the flour, the baking soda, the baking powder, and the salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and the peanut butter together until fluffy. Add the sugars and beat until smooth. Add the egg and mix well. Add the milk and the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat thoroughly. Stir in the peanut butter and chocolate chips. Place sprinkling sugar — the remaining tablespoon — on a plate. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls into the sugar, then onto ungreased cookie sheets, leaving several inches between for expansion. Using a fork, lightly indent with a crisss-cross pattern (I used the back of a small offset spatula to keep it smooth on top), but do not overly flatten cookies. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Do not overbake. Cookies may appear to be underdone, but they are not.

Cool the cookies on the sheets for 1 minute, then remove to a rack to cool completely.

Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake with Buttermilk Icing

Do you know The Food Librarian? Wait, I don’t even really know Mary, the Food Librarian, but I know her baking blog like a best friend. She is one of my favorite foodies to follow. (Loving the alliteration right there, aren’t you?)

Right now, leading up to National Bundt Day on November 15^th the Food Librarian has got a great series of daily posts called ‘I Like Big Bundts’. Kudos on the name Mary. I love it. Let’s not get into the debate about whether there actually should or shouldn’t be a National Bundt Day in the first place for now. We’ll just think of it as another excuse to pull the flour, sugar and vanilla out of the pantry to make another sweet treat and smile.  Sound good?

This recipe comes from day 1 of the Food Librarian’s bundt posts. We had a little staff luncheon at work and, of course, I was assigned dessert. It was a perfect fall success. Although I was surprised that it was a little on the short side. Even after being baked it didn’t fill up the 10-cup bundt pan. I guess I just had ‘higher’ expectations for it. But, the flavor definitely didn’t disappoint.

So, the second time around, guess what?  I decided to double the batch. It  allowed me to put a little more batter in the bundt pan, and then I made four mini loaves out of the remaining.  You already know how I feel about little loaves!  They only took about 30-35 minutes to bake.

If you haven’t made a little pumpkin something yet, (get going, it’s almost November!) this is another great option. And definitely check in on the Food Librarian when you get a chance!

Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake with Buttermilk Icing
idea from The Food Librarian, originally from Gourmet

For the cake:

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin (how much do I love Libby’s?)

3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

3 large eggs

For the icing:

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons well-shaken buttermilk

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Make cake:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350. Grease bundt pan generously.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together pumpkin, 3/4 cup buttermilk, and vanilla in another bowl.

Beat butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes, then add eggs and beat 1 minute. Reduce speed to low and add flour and pumpkin mixtures alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture and mixing until batter is just smooth.

Spoon batter into pan, smoothing top, then bake until a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack 15 minutes, then invert rack over cake and reinvert cake onto rack. Cool 10 minutes more.

Make icing:
While cake is cooling, whisk together buttermilk and confectioners sugar until smooth. Drizzle icing over warm cake, then cool cake completely. Icing will harden slightly.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

I consider myself to be a work in progress at pizza making (and a few of other things…I’ll save that for another time).  But, I do like what I make, especially this dough.  The wheat flour adds a little extra texture and deeper flavor.  And maybe since I’m using whole wheat flour the health benefits of it will cancel out any fattiness in the toppings.   If only it worked that way!  I’d eat five pounds of carrots to savor a cinnamon roll completely guilt-free.

Back to the dough.  If you’ve got a food processor this recipe will come together super fast.  But, don’t stop reading if you don’t.  All it will take is mixing the ingredients and about 10 minutes of kneading.  And sometimes it just feels good to be up to your wrists in dough.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp. instant yeast
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
3/4 cup warm water
1 tablespoon olive oil

Combine flours, yeast, salt and sugar in a food processor.  Pulse to mix.  Combine warm water and oil in a measuring cup.  With the food processor on, gradually pout in enough of the warm liquid until a sticky ball forms.  The dough should be pretty soft.  If it seems dry, add  to 2 tablespoons of warm water.  It it’s too sticky, add some flour, starting with 1 or 2 tablespoons.  Process until the dough forms a bal and then process it for another minute to knead.

Lightly coat a large bowl with cooking spray.  Place the dough inside, turning to coat.  Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let it rise for about an hour, or doubled in size.  Punch down and let the dough rest for about 10 minutes before rolling.

After you roll out your dough just throw on some sauce, cheese and toppings.  If you’ve got kids wash their little hands and put them to work!  ‘Decorating’ the pizza dough is the most fun part!  We don’t have kids yet, but my husband steps in and covers the dough like a pro.

Last year I got a little creative around this time of year and we celebrated Halloween with this.  Give it a try if you’re still looking to fill your Halloween menu!

Pumpkin Apple Bread

It’s pretty obvious by some of my recent posts that I’m loving the flavors of Fall. This recipe is pretty much Fall folded together as apples and pumpkin are combined.

I’ll admit, I raised an eyebrow, had doubt-filled thoughts and wasn’t quite sure if I even wanted to try combining my two favorite fall flavors.

But, guess what? It’s delicious.

Of course the pumpkin creates a moist, dense bread. The apples add a subtle sweetness and nice texture throughout. I love the apple chunks in every slice. And streusel topping? Well, it really wouldn’t matter if it’s apple or pumpkin. A little cinnamon and sugar goes nicely on top of just about ANYthing, including this Fall-filled bread.

Pumpkin Apple Bread
I used small loaves for this recipe, which is pretty much how I always do quick breads. They’re easier to freeze, cut into realistic portions AND give as gifts wrapped up in cellophane and tied with a cute raffia bow.

For the topping:
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter, softened

For the bread:
3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1 (15-oz) can solid-pack pumpkin (another shout out to Libby’s!)
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 Granny smith apples, peeled, cored, and chopped; about 2 cups (again, this would coming very handy!)

Make the topping:
Blend together flour, sugar, cinnamon, and butter in a small bowl with your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal.

To make the bread:
Put a rack in the middle of oven and preheat oven to 350. Grease two 9 X 5 inch loaf pans or 6 small loaf pans.

Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice into a medium bowl.

Whisk together pumpkin, oil, sugar, and eggs in a large bowl. Add flour mixture, stirring until well combined. Fold in apples.

Divide batter between greased loaf pans. Sprinkle topping evenly over each loaf.

Bake until a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center of bread comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes. For smaller loaves, 35-40 minutes

Cool loves in pans on a rack for 10-15, then turn out onto rack and cool completely.