Springy Lemon Coconut Bars

This time of year makes me want to book my calendar with weekly Sunday brunches for the ladies. I love to search for spring brunch ideas and bookmark décor and menu ideas. My Pinterest boards are growing. I have several ideas in mind but really need to narrow it down to more reasonable and budget-friendly options. I get too excited sometimes and plan for extravagant décor and menu only to realize the important thing is to make quick and delicious options so that I have more time to hang out and relax with the ladies. A girl can dream though.

It doesn’t take much time, energy or cash to throw together a brunch. For example, I usually have a main dish such as a spinach quiche. I always have fruit in some form. My favorite is to just slice up strawberries and grapes and stir together with whole blueberries. Keep it simple. And I like to have a sweet dessert type dish if my main is savory. So I’ll have coffee cake or mini muffins made up from the day before to save me time the day of. That’s really all there is to it.

For beverages, I like to have lemonade or tea as well as ingredients for mimosas on hand. That way everyone has the option to have plain juice or kick it up with a splash of champagne. I usually have a couple of juices to try out. For Valentine’s brunch, I had blood orange juice and it was a hit over the normal orange juice. Plus it was a festive reddish-orange color.

These bars would make a great sweet addition to any brunch menu or just a sweet gift for a sweet friend. I found a few recipe ideas for lemon bars, lime bars and also ones that included coconut, which I love. It gives the bars a great texture and boost of flavor. Some lemon bars to me are too custard-like which I’m not always in the mood for. This filling sets up just right in my opinion. The coconut is optional if you’re not a fan.

Crust

1 c flour
1/4 c powdered Sugar
1/2 c (1 stick) butter, cold

Filling

3/4 c granulated sugar
1/4 c flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 large eggs, beaten
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 – 1 ½ tsp lemon zest
1/2 c sweetened, flaked coconut


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, combine flour and powdered sugar. Cut in butter with a fork or fingers until mixture resembles coarse meal. Press crust mixture evenly into a greased, 8 x 8-inch baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Set aside to cool while you prepare the filling.

Stir together sugar, flour and baking powder. Add beaten eggs; combine thoroughly. Add lemon juice, lemon zest and coconut. Blend well so all ingredients are incorporated. Pour onto cooled crust.

Bake for 25 minutes or until lightly browned on top. Cool. To help set up faster, place in the fridge for 30 minutes or more. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Cut into bars. Store covered in the fridge so they stay firm.

Quick Mini Pie Bites

I love tiny desserts! I love them even more when they are super simple. I was having a craving after dinner and needed something easy and sweet.  I pulled a couple of ingredients together and figured the results couldn't possibly turn out bad.

I was right!  I'll be honest and say that I could have easily eaten all of them by myself but I'm so nice I shared with my husband.  He loves raspberry so I let him have most of the ones with raspberry jam.  I ate most of the pockets with cherry jam.  They tasted like little cherry pies. Yum! These would also be good with a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream. 

1 sheet of puff pastry
Jam of your choice (cherry, raspberry, apricot)
sugar for sprinkling
1 egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 415 degrees. Butter a cookie sheet. Lightly beat the egg in a small bowl and set aside.  Fold out pastry and cut along seams to get 3 long strips. Then cut each of those twice so you get 3 squares. I used a pizza cutter as it the easiest and cleanest way in my opinion. Place the squares onto prepared cookie sheet.

Spoon about a tablespoon of jam in the center of each square of pastry. Pull up 2 opposite corners and pinch together, then the remaining corners and pinch corners closed in the center so it forms a little pouch. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle a pinch of sugar over the top of each pouch.

Bake for about 15-18 minutes or until golden and puffy.  Makes 9 small bites.

Welcome Fall with an Apple Braid

I try to take shortcuts as much as I can while in the kitchen to save time.  It's worth it to have more time to spend on another dish or to visit with friends and family.  I've learned over the years that the last thing I want to do while I have visitors is to slave away in the kitchen, sweating and stressing out while everyone else is relaxing and enjoying the meal.  I'll still slave away as needed but where I can cut it out, I go for it. 

For a shortcut, one of my favorite ingredients to use in a recipe is crescent roll dough. You can make a lot of things with this little tube of pre-made dough. Adding fruit to it to make a Danish-type dessert is so easy and the results are delicious. I used apples since fall is here and I love the homey smell of baking apples with cinnamon. The scent filling the house reminds me how much I’ve missed the cooler weather. It also makes me daydream about all the delectable treats I want to make for dinner, dessert and holidays. I love it!

Crescent Rolls are usually on sale or you can find coupons online to save money but they aren't ever that expensive.  You can find it in the refrigerated section with the pie crusts and pre-made cookie dough.  

1 tube of crescent roll dough

1 medium apple, sliced thin or diced (I used Granny Smith)

2 tbsp flour

2 tbsp sugar + 1 tbsp for topping before baking

1 tsp cinnamon

pinch of nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  

In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Add in apples and stir until coated with dry ingredients. 

Press out the rectangle of the crescent roll dough onto a cookie sheet.  Make sure to press all seams together.  Pour apple mix down the center of dough, leaving a half finger length on each side.   

With a small knife, make slits down each side of dough.  Braid or fold dough over the filling so it makes a braid.  For the ends, I try to fold up and pinch the sides together so the filling doesn't run out onto the pan.  You can use the photo as a reference to how mine looked.  Sprinkle 1 tbsp sugar over top of dough.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.  This is perfect served warm with a maple glaze.  Or you could serve with vanilla ice cream.  Enjoy!

Cheers to a New Year and Brunch

Cheers to all!  I hope everyone had a safe celebration while ringing in the new year of 2012! 

Here is a delicious breakfast/brunch recipe I wanted to share with you to kick off the new year on the right foot.   My husband introduced me to the Dutch Baby.  Honestly, I had never tasted or even heard of it before I met him.  His parents served this delectable eggy dish for breakfast the first time I met them about 9 years ago for Christmas.  A few wonderful firsts for me happened during that visit: First time meeting his parents, first trip to New York and first time to try Dutch Baby. 

I'll give my sweet man props for being the main reason my eyes and tastebuds are now open in the culinary world.  Unlike me, at an early age, he was fortunate to be encouraged to try interesting foods and is still open to anything.  {By the way, have you heard of Porcupine Meatballs? That was yet another dish I had not heard of or eaten until I met him.  That was another interesting first I when I met his parents that same visit.  I loved it!  He laughed at me because he said it was more of a nostalgic dish his mom wanted to make but not really something he enjoyed.  I'll have to make it with my spin on it and share with you.}

Back to the focus of the post.  He and his family like to serve Dutch Baby with apple sauce and sausage links over the top.  It's a very light and versatile dish so I wanted to make it a little different.  I had a pear on hand so thought I'd try to incorporate that into it.  We loved it! 

Pear Dutch Baby
1 pear, peeled, cored and sliced thinly
1 tbsp brown sugar
6 tbsp butter, divided
4 eggs
1 c milk
2/3 c flour
3 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Add the eggs, milk, flour, 4 tablespoons melted butter, sugar and vanilla to a medium bowl and whisk until combined.  You can also use a blender or food processor if you prefer.  The batter may have a few flour chunks in it and blending will break those up.  Blend or whisk until well mixed.  Set aside.

Melt the remaining 2 tbsp of butter over medium-high heat in cast iron skillet.  Then add the pears and brown sugar. Stir to coat the pear slices in butter until the sugar is melted.  Then add the batter over the pears and immediately place the skillet in the oven.  No stirring necessary. Bake for about 30 minutes or until puffed up and golden brown and the middle is cooked through.  (Note: It will sink down once you take it out of the oven and cut into it.) Sprinkle powdered sugar and cinnamon and serve immediately. Enjoy!

Pear Tart with Gingersnap Crust

 I made this fancy but easy dessert for a friend's dinner party.   Every bite is full of flavor but very light!  This was a new flavor combo for me. You can really taste the gingersnaps and the zestiness of the orange and Tuaca flavors.  At first taste, I was unsure... it was interesting and different but I realized that I actually really liked it more after each bite.  So give it a try!!  The filling has a very citrusy flavor, so if you want to cut back use less Tuaca or a smaller orange.  I used a large navel orange in this recipe.

Crust
2 c gingersnaps
2 tbsp granulated sugar
6 tbsp butter, unsalted, melted

Pears
4 pears, peeled and cored (Bartlett or Bosc will work well)
6 c white wine
1 c granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean

Filling
1 lb cream cheese
1/2 c granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 c Tuaca
Zest 1 large orange

CRUST DIRECTIONS - Place the crumbs and sugar in food processor. Grind into fine crumbs. Add the butter and mix well. Press into a well greased 10-inch flan or tart pan with a removable bottom. Refrigerate until ready to use.

PEARS DIRECTIONS -  Place the pears, wine, sugar and vanilla in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook until the pears are fork tender about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool. 

FILLING DIRECTIONS - Place the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, Tuaca, and orange zest in a large bowl and blend with a handmixer or stand mixer until smooth.

To assemble the tart, remove the tart shell from the refrigerator. Spoon the filling in the bottom of the tart pan. Slice the pears and arrange the slices on top of the filling and arrange in concentric circles. Cool about 2 hours slice and serve cool with softly whipped cream.  Enjoy!

4th of July & Berry Cobbler

I hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th of July.   Thankfully the rain subsided and we were able to enjoy fireworks last night.  We brought Daxter along with us as well.   He was excited at first and we were having second thoughts but after we settled in, he relaxed and was more calm.   He even watched the beautiful fireworks with us and it was almost as entertaining to watch him than the show.   I'm sharing a cobbler recipe that I made that turned out wonderful.  It had a perfect berry flavor and crispy, buttery crust.  Thanks for the idea Pioneer Woman!

1 c self-rising flour
1 c milk
1 stick of butter, melted
1 c sugar + 1/4 c, separated
1 c raspberries
1 c blueberries
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Melt butter in a microwavable dish.  Set aside to let cool.  Pour 1 c of sugar and all the flour into a mixing bowl, whisking in milk.  Mix well.  Then, pour in the melted butter and vanilla and whisk it all well together.  Butter a baking dish.

Rinse and pat dry the berries.  Pour the batter into the buttered baking dish.  Sprinkle the berries over the top of the batter, distributing evenly.  Sprinkle the 1/4 c sugar over the top.

Bake for 1 hour or until golden and bubbly.  Serve with ice cream or cool whip.