After school snack: Apple Cider Breakfast Bars

I made these bars for the kids recently that I found on the back of the cider jug. They were an intriguing combination. And required me to reduce cider which I had never tried before. As usual with me, I plunged ahead anyway and I think I did it right??? :) It was fun to do. I did have to pour the reduced cider into a measuring cup a couple times to check how close I was to the correct amount and had to pour it back into the pan then and go a bit further. It ends up not giving the bars a cider flavor but an extra sweet flavor. Maybe they would have had more apple taste if I had used dried apples with the cider reduction, I just didn't have any on hand.

The recipe:

1 1/4 c. sugar
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 c. peanut butter
1/2 c. softened butter
4 c. toasted o's cereal
1 c. cider
1/2 c. chopped dried apples (optional)
1 egg
1 c. oats
1/2 t. salt
1 T vanilla
1 1/2 c. flour

Heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Boil apple cider and chopped dried apples (if using) in a saucepan until reduced to 1/4 c. Mix sugar, butter, peanut butter, cider, vanilla, and egg in a large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients except the cereal. Then gently stir in cereal. Pour (more scoop) into an ungreased 9 by 13 inch baking dish. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown. Cool and cut into bars.

I liked this recipe and I think I'd make them again but I was kind of surprised by how the texture of the o's was changed by baking. It gave the bars a chewy texture. The kids gobbled them up and they made a super after school treat. Give them a try and see what you think.

Cranberry and White Chocolate Cookie Bars

I made these yummy and fast treats for a recent meeting I had.
Here they are all wrapped up and ready to go.

I hope to be posting more regularly now that fall has arrived. I have more time to bake and several things I have already baked and haven't had the chance to share yet. Stay tuned!

The recipe:

1 stick of butter, softened
1/2 c. of Crisco
3/4 c. of brown sugar
3/4 c. of granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1 t. salt
1 t. soda
2 1/4 c. of flour
1/2 c. of old fashioned oats
3/4 c. of dried cranberries
1 1/2 c. of white chocolate chips

Blend butter, Crisco and both kinds of sugars. Add eggs and mix until well blended. Add vanilla, salt and soda and flour. Mix well. Add oats, cranberries and white chocolate chips. Mix until just blended. Pour into a lightly greased 9 x 13 baking dish. Bake in a 365 degree oven for about 22 minutes or until golden brown around edges but not over baked. Cool and cut into 20 bars.

I love these for a fast and easy sweet addition to a brunch. And I think they are best enjoyed the day after baking. They are just perfect then. Enjoy!

Making Baking Healthier: Blueberry Lemon Cookies Revisited

One of my sweet friends just recently discovered I am blogging about baking when she saw my blueberry lemon cookie post posted to my facebook. She immediately tried the recipe out but gave it her own healthier twist. I asked her if I could share the healthier version with you and she agreed!!!

This is a photograph of her blueberry lemon cakes taken by her. Don't they look great???? And here is her recipe and a few words from her too (all noted in italics.)

The recipe

1/2 c. butter (any trans fat free version should work)
1/3 c. sugar
1/3 c. brown sugar
(Didn't have zest, so...)
1.5 -2 Tbs. lemon juice
2 eggs (could have used 3 whites)
1 c. all purpose flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. skim milk
Lots of blueberries

Mine went in at 350 degrees in greased extra large muffin tins. Each had about 3/4 of an ice cream scoop's worth of batter. They probably baked 15-20 minutes. I removed them still warm and covered them with lemon icing (just powdered sugar and lemon juice) My family devoured them! They are extra yummy served warm out of the oven with a fork... Splenda people could also use like 1/2 c. Splenda and 1/2 c. brown sugar and that would still be good with a lower glycemic index.

Thank you so much for sharing, Amanda!!!!! And share again any time. :) Love getting ideas for lighting a recipe. I can't wait to try this one. We have to go and pick some more blueberries!

Blueberry Lemon Cookies

My kids and I LOVE blueberry picking. We went to a nearby patch last weekend and had eight pounds to eat and cook and bake with!

I went hunting for some new blueberry recipes and found this recipe for blueberry lemon cookies on a website I will have to give credit to later because I am not finding it easily when googling the recipe tonight and it is written down upstairs. Anyway,

The recipe:

3/4 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 1/2 t. lemon zest
2 eggs
2 c. flour
2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1/2 c. milk
1 1/2 c. fresh blueberries

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, cream together butter and both sugars; and lemon zest and eggs. Beat well. Add the baking powder and salt. Then add the flour and milk alternating between the two until total amounts are added. Beat well. Gently fold in berries. Drop by heaping tablespoons full unto a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes.

These are super yummy and would be just perfect for a brunch. They reminded me of blueberry pancakes and I loved the hint of lemon in them.

So, find a nearby blueberry patch if you live in a place where blueberries grow and get picking!



***Side note: Don't you just love the new cutting board that the cookies are sitting on in the picture? My mom gave it to me - a man sells these beautiful wooden cutting boards at a craft show every year in beautiful Manistee, Michigan.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

My wonderful man's birthday was last week. His mother had already made him his very favorite - carrot cake. So I decided to make a strawberry/rhubarb crisp to eat on his birthday. He's a fan of most things sweet, so he was good with that plan. :)

The Recipe:

Fill a large pie plate with rhubarb cut into 1" pieces and strawberries sliced (about 3 c. of each) that have been mixed with 2 cups of sugar. (you can see from the picture, I used a 9 x 13 dish, if you decide to use that large of a baking dish, consider doubling the following topping recipe, if you really like the crisp part.)

The all important crisp topping -
3/4 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
5 1/3 T cold butter

Cut with a pastry blender or crumble with fingers until butter is in pea size pieces. Add a handful or two of old fashioned oats. Distribute evenly over rhubarb and strawberries. Bake at 375 for 40 to 50 minutes - until topping is golden brown and filling is bubbly.

My first "dump" cake...

Have you checked out Bakerella's website? I recently discovered her - wow, does she make some elaborate things and I love her blog's name. Her snowman pops look amazing. The other day she had this post about Peach Crunch Cake. I had to try it.

Here's a picture of how mine turned out.



We really loved it and almost the entire 9 x 13 is already gone 24 hours later.

The recipe is in bakerella's post but if I was going to do it again, I'd make a few changes:

I'd use more peaches - hers called for 24.5 oz. I even used more this time around but I'd do even more when I make it again. I used two 15 oz. cans and I think I could even use three cans. Maybe it would make it more runny or take it a bit longer to bake??? But I just felt the delicious topping could have used more fruit beneath it.

I also skipped the nuts on almost the entire thing (we have no nut people in our house - not allergies, just dislike of them.) But for a small section on one end - I used chopped pecans instead of walnuts like the recipe called for. Loved it!

Give this one a try. You'll be so glad you did! So easy and delicious!

Mini Lemon Meringue Pies

We had friends coming to dinner on Sunday and I was planning mini-burgers for dinner. I wanted to keep my mini theme for dessert plus I wanted to use my new mini-muffin pans that I received for Christmas and I may be slightly mini obsessed. :) They are just so cute!!!!!

If you are feeling brave (these are kind of labor intensive) and want to make your own mini-lemon meringue pies, you’ll need:

2 mini-muffin pans (48 count total)

2 ½ inch circle cookie cutter

3 frozen pie crusts

For lemon filling:

3 large egg yolks

1 ½ c. sugar

1/3 c. plus 1 T. cornstarch

1 ½ c. water

3 T. stick butter

½ c. lemon juice

2 drops yellow food color

For Meringue:

3 large egg whites

¼ t. cream of tartar

6 T. sugar

½ t. vanilla

Heat oven to 475 degrees.

Cut 48 2 ½ inch circles from the thawed pie crusts.

(You could certainly make the crust from scratch and then cut circles from it, but I decided not to do that this time. These mini pies were a little labor and time intensive already, so I saved some time with the frozen crusts.)

Lightly grease the mini-muffin pans. Place a pie crust circle into each mini-muffin cup. Press down and poke the bottom with a fork. Bake these mini-crusts for about 5 minutes at 475. When crusts are done, remove from oven and set aside. Turn oven temp down to 400 degrees.

(Watch the crusts. Mine browned very quickly. I even thought mine were a little over done, but I baked them about 7 minutes, 5 minutes should be about right but it will depend on your oven and your pans, etc.)

Next, prepare the lemon filling. Beat egg yolks with fork in small bowl. Mix sugar and cornstarch in 2-quart saucepan. Gradually stir in the water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute.

Immediately, stir at least half of the hot mixture into the egg yolks to temper them. Stir back into hot mixture in saucepan. Boil and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in butter, lemon juice and food color. Spoon about 1 T. of filling into each of the prepared mini-pie crusts.

To prepare meringue: Beat egg white and cream of tarter in medium bowl with electric mixer on high speed until foamy. Beat in sugar, 1 T. at a time. Continue to beat until stiff and glossy. Do not underbeat. Beat in vanilla.

Spoon or use pastry bag fitted with large tip to pipe about 1 T. of prepared meringue unto each mini pie. Be careful to seal meringue to edge of each pie to prevent shrinking and weeping. (I spooned mine on, but they would have been prettier if it had been piped on.)

Bake in the 400 degree oven for about 6 minutes until meringue has browned slightly. Cool a few moments and then run knife around each mini-pie to be sure they are easier to remove when completely cooled.

Enjoy!

*Thanks to Betty Crocker’s New Cookbook for lemon filling/meringue ingredients, amounts and some directions.