Amish Maple Frosted Sugar Cookies

The other day, a friend of mine posted a recipe for maple pie. Then I saw a recipe for maple donuts. Then I watched a Hallmark movie that featured a candy shop that specialized in maple candy. I took it as a sign from God that I was meant to make something maple-flavored as soon as possible. I scoured Pinterest and amassed a collection of possibilities so vast I'd need a lifetime of autumns to try them all. Of course, then I had to narrow it down to just one to try first!

Cookies aren't my favorite dessert (though I've never said no to eating them), but these cookies looked so tender and the maple frosting so luscious, I put them on my short list. Plus, I'd never tried an Amish sugar cookie, so I was curious to see how they differed from the kind I usually make. Man, am I ever glad this is the recipe I finally picked! These cookies are every bit as delicious as they look, and the texture is absolute perfection. They're a perfect bite of fall flavor.

Amish Maple Frosted Sugar Cookies

Prep time:30 min Bake time: 40 min

Serves 65

Cookies:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
2 large eggs, at room temp.
2 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp maple extract
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar

Frosting:
4 Tbsp butter, melted
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp maple extract
3 - 4 cups powdered sugar

2 - 4 Tbsp milk

Sugar sprinkles, if desired

Preheat oven to 375°F.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter, oil, and sugars until combined. Beat in eggs, vanilla, and maple extract.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Gradually add flour mixture to the butter mixture, beating until just combined after each addition. Do not overmix. 

Chill dough in refrigerator for at least 20 minutes to prevent overspreading.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Drop dough by small spoonfuls onto baking sheets. A tablespoon-size cookie scoop works perfect for this.

Bake for 8-11 minutes, or until edges and bottoms are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Meanwhile, prepare frosting. In a medium bowl, whisk together butter, maple syrup, vanilla, maple extract, and 3 cups powdered sugar. Gradually add in milk and additional powdered sugar as needed to achieve a consistency that is thicker than a glaze but easily spreadable. 

Frost cooled cookies, add sprinkles if desired, and allow to set.

118 calories per cookie. Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!

Salted Caramel Apple Bars

If you read my recent post for Crunchy Peach Coffee Cake, you know I was excited to harvest fresh, delicious peaches from my peach tree for the first time a few months ago. Well, I'm happy to report that my apple tree produced a bounty of tasty Golden Delicious apples for the first time this year, too!

I'm not a fan of raw, tart apples, so of course I had to find a recipe with enough sugar to disguise the sourness. While this recipe doesn't have a ton of sugar in the bars themselves, the salted caramel sauce on top is plenty sweet enough to make these bars the most decadent apple dessert I've ever made. They were so good, I had two bars before they were even cool! 

Don't be too intimidated by the lengthy directions. These bars are fairly quick and easy to make, and totally worth the effort!

Salted Caramel Apple Bars

Prep time 30 min Bake time 45 min

Serves 12

Shortbread Crust

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

Apple Filling

3 apples, peeled and thinly sliced (1/4 inch)

2 Tbs all-purpose flour

2 Tbs granulated sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

Streusel

1/2 cup old-fashioned oats

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup unsalted butter, cold and cubed

Salted Caramel Sauce

1 cup granulated sugar

6 Tbs salted butter, room temperature, cut up into 6 pieces

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 300°F. Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper, leaving some overhang on all sides. Set aside.

Make the crust: Stir the melted butter, granulated sugar, vanilla, and salt together in a medium bowl. Add the flour and stir until everything is combined. Press the mixture evenly into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes while you prepare the filling and streusel.

Make the apple filling: Combine the sliced apples, flour, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in a large bowl until all of the apples are evenly coated. Set aside.

Make the streusel: Whisk the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour together in a medium bowl. Cut in the chilled butter with a pastry blender or two forks until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.

Remove the crust from the oven, and turn the oven up to 350°F. Evenly layer the apples on top of the warm crust. It will look like there are too many apple slices, so layer them tightly and press them down to fit. Sprinkle the apple layer with streusel and bake for 30–35 minutes or until the streusel is golden brown.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes at room temperature, then chill in the refrigerator till set, about 2 hours.

Make the caramel sauce: Melt granulated sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly with a high-heat resistant rubber spatula or wooden spoon until liquid. Be careful not to burn.

Once sugar is completely melted, immediately add the butter. The caramel will bubble rapidly when the butter is added.

Stir the butter into the caramel until it is completely melted, about 2 minutes. (If you notice the butter separating or if the sugar clumps up, remove from heat and vigorously whisk to combine it again.)

Very slowly drizzle in 1/2 cup of heavy cream while stirring. The mixture will rapidly bubble when added. Allow the mixture to boil for 1 minute. It will rise in the pan as it boils.

Remove from heat and stir in 1 teaspoon of salt. Allow to slightly cool down before using.

Once bars are cool and set, lift the foil or parchment out of the pan using the overhang on the sides and cut into 12 pieces. Drizzle some salted caramel sauce on top of each. I only used about half the sauce and it was plenty.

These apple pie bars can be enjoyed warm, at room temperature, or even cold. Store bars and leftover caramel sauce in the fridge. 

Crunchy Peach Coffee Cake

My absolute favorite time of year is spring. The weather is perfect here in NC, and every week there's a new flower ready to bloom. I just love to see colorful blossoms! 

A few years ago, my husband wanted to plant a new tree in the yard to replace one that had died. My only request was that he come home with something that flowers in the spring. I wasn't too picky because I love all the flowering trees--redbuds, cherry trees, crab apples, dogwoods, even Bradford pear trees. My husband, being practical as ever, came home with a peach tree the size of a twig that looked half dead. I'm pretty sure he found it on the clearance rack.

The first year, we got no flowers and no peaches. The second year, we got a few pathetic blossoms, and a handful of inedible peaches as small and hard as golf balls. The next year wasn't much better. I was unimpressed to say the least.

But this spring, the whole tree was covered with tiny but beautiful blossoms, and soon after, peaches! We waited impatiently while they grew from hard, green knobs to large, peachy globes. Much to my delight, the first one I picked was soft, juicy, and totally delicious! Right away, I started browsing peach recipes. This one looked the best, so I couldn't resist making it first. It turned out just as amazing as it looks, and it is great for breakfast, dessert, or anytime snacking!

Crunchy Peach Coffee Cake

Prep time: 20 min Bake time: 45 min

Serves 20

BATTER:

4 cups baking mix (such as Bisquick)

1 1/3 cups milk

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

4 cups peaches, peeled and diced (about 6 peaches)

STREUSEL TOPPING:

1 1/3 cups baking mix

1 1/3 cups brown sugar, packed

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, chilled, diced 

GLAZE:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 Tbs milk or cream

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13” glass baking dish. (This barely fit in my pan after baking, so use as tall of a dish as possible!)

In a large bowl, mix batter ingredients: baking mix, milk, sugar and eggs. Stir just until smooth.

In another large bowl, mix streusel ingredients: baking mix, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter or fork.

Spread half of the batter into the prepared baking dish. Top with half the peaches. Sprinkle half the streusel topping over the peaches. Repeat layers. Sprinkle pecans or walnuts over top.

Bake at 350° for 40-50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cake completely.

In a small bowl, mix glaze ingredients: powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla. Drizzle glaze over cooled cake.

322 calories per serving. Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!

Maple Pecan Apple Pie Bars

My husband's ex-pat aunt and uncle were coming to visit us from Mexico this week, so I was trying to pick a crowd-friendly dessert to make for them. Since it's officially fall (even though tomorrow is forecasted to be 97°!) my first thought was something pumpkin, but apple seemed like a safer choice. My husband reminded me there's nothing more American than apple pie, so that settled the debate.

Normally, I prefer to make new and creative things, not the same old, same old. And apple pie, while delicious, is kind of boring. But this recipe was just different enough to spark my interest. The inclusion of maple extract in the glaze, something I was eager to try, was the clincher. So, I added a new bottle to my collection of extracts and got baking. (I found maple extract at Walmart, but if you can't find it, vanilla extract would do.)

This recipe turned out to be a huge hit with everyone, and they devoured the whole pan in two days. They pleaded for the recipe, so I promised I'd add it to my blog ASAP. Here you go, Aunt Patty!

Maple Pecan Apple Pie Bars 

Prep time: 15 min Bake time: 40 min
Serves 20

2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, chilled
1 egg, slightly beaten

Filling:
1/2 cup flour
3 apples, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp milk
1/2 tsp maple extract
1/2 cup pecans, chopped (I used candied pecans since I had some on hand)

Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly spray a 9x13 inch pan with cooking spray.



In a large bowl combine 2 cups flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder and mix well. Cut in butter with pastry knife or two forks or until the mixture resembles course crumbs. Add egg and mix to combine. Press dough into prepared pan.



To prepare the filling, combine apples and flour and toss to coat. Add brown sugar, sugar, and cinnamon and stir to combine. Spread over crust. (Alternatively, you could use a 21 oz. can of apple pie filling.)

Bake 40 minutes. Let cool completely.

For glaze, combine powdered sugar, milk, and maple extract and whisk until smooth. Pour over cooled bars. Top with chopped pecans. Allow glaze to set before cutting bars. Store in airtight container.

200 calories per serving. Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!

Summer Squash Lemon Bread

Ah, squash. That tasteless, mushy vegetable that grows in abundance in every neighborhood garden. Does anybody really like that stuff?  Not me, that's for sure. Believe me, I've tried to like it.  I've baked it, sautéed it, even breaded and fried it. I've seasoned it with every spice in my cupboard. I've even hidden it in casseroles and skillet dishes. But no matter what I do with it, I still find it disgusting.

Well, then why do I keep buying it, you ask? I don't! People keep giving it to me! Friends, neighbors, coworkers, clients--everyone seems to think squash is an appropriate gift for a girl like me. I don't know what I do to give them this impression.  Do my fashion choices say, "squash enthusiast?" I do not understand this.

Did you know there's even a national "Leave some zucchini on your neighbor's porch day?"  I think that's because nobody likes squash, and everyone is trying to get rid of it!

Now, I can accept that a nice, buttered slice of zucchini bread is a good use of that particular variety, but what about the bland, yellow squash? What are you supposed to do with that? Well, turns out, you can do pretty much the exact same thing!

Now, I'm over 40 years old, and I've eaten a lot of zucchini bread in my time, but never once have I even heard of summer squash bread. But it's a thing! And it tastes amazing! The method and final outcome are similar to zucchini bread, but the taste is very different. With the addition of lemon juice and zest, this gives lemon pound cake a run for its money.

Have it for breakfast, have it for dessert, have it for a midday snack. Don't worry if you eat it up fast. More squash is coming.

Summer Squash Lemon Bread
Prep time: 15 min  Bake time: 60 min
Serves 16 (makes 2 loaves)

1 cup melted butter
2 ¼ cups sugar
¼ cup plus 2 Tbs lemon juice
2 tsp lemon zest
3 eggs
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 ½ cups grated summer squash

Glaze
2 Tbs butter
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
3 Tbs lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare two loaf pans with baking spray.
Combine the sugar, lemon juice, and zest in a mixing bowl. Melt the butter. Add the butter and mix to combine. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until the batter is light and fluffy, (about 2-3 minutes.)
Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and barely combine into a batter. Add the grated squash and mix until just combined.
Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a spatula. Bake at 350°F for 1 hour.
Let cool until the pan is just cool enough to handle, then remove from pans.
While the bread is cooling, make the glaze. Melt 2 Tbs of butter. Add the 3 Tbs of lemon juice. Whisk to combine. Add the powdered sugar and whisk to combine. Add water to thin to the desired consistency. Drizzle the glaze over the top of the loaves.

370 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!

Homemade BoBerry Biscuits

My coworker was talking about making homemade apple fritters all week, and they sounded so good I decided to make some, too. I searched Pinterest for my favorite apple fritter recipe, but you know how it first shows you all the results and then you have to click on "your pins" to find the recipe you saved? Well, right next to all the yummy apple fritter recipes was a recipe for blueberry fritters!

They looked awesome, so I decided to give them a try. Only problem was, the recipe called for 2 eggs and I had no eggs, because I used them all for some delicious egg salad the day before. Bummed, I decided to go back to my apple fritter recipe, only to discover it called for an egg, too! Double-bummed, I went back to Pinterest and saw the blueberry fritter recipe again, which reminded me of the BoBerry Biscuits they sell at Bojangles.

If you don't know what Bojangles is, well, I am so sorry!  Bojangles is a Charlotte, NC-based fast food restaurant with franchise locations pretty much everywhere south of the Mason-Dixon. They specialize in chicken and biscuits, and sticking with the theme, for dessert they offer their amazing buttery biscuits, speckled with blueberries and drizzled with glaze. I decided to search for a copycat recipe for those, and low and behold, I found one--and it didn't even call for eggs!

These turned out great and took about as long to make as it would've taken me to drive to my local Bojangles and buy some. I used some frozen blueberries, but fresh or even dried would be just fine.


Homemade BoBerry Biscuits

Prep time: 10 min  Bake time: 10 min
Serves 12

2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/4 cups buttermilk*
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbs baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 Tbs shortening
1/2 cup butter, cut into 1/4 in cubes
5 oz blueberries

Glaze
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
4 tsp water
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 450F.

Combine dry ingredients. Cut in shortening and butter. Add buttermilk and stir till just combined.  Fold in blueberries.  Add additional flour if dough is too sticky.

Place dough on floured cutting board, rub rolling pin with flour, and roll dough out to desired thickness. (I like 3/4 inch)

Use a cookie or biscuit cutter to cut out biscuits.

Bake for 8-10 minutes till desired brownness.

Combine glaze ingredients and drizzle over biscuits. These are great warm or cool!

*If you don't have buttermilk and can't be bothered to go get some, just add 1-2 Tbs of lemon juice or vinegar to a cup of milk and let it sit for 5 minutes till it starts to curdle. Voila! You have buttermilk.

244 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!

Crunchy Pretzel Pecan Strawberry Salad

It's strawberry season at last! I've been eagerly awaiting its arrival for weeks, and I had grand plans to kick it off with this yummy-sounding salad.  My favorite strawberry farmer told me 2 weeks ago that he should have tons of berries by this week. I don't know what it was that made me give him a call to verify before making the short drive to Early Farms, but I was totally bummed to learn that some kind of infestation had destroyed his entire crop in the short time since we last spoke. I sympathized with him for a few minutes while trying to decide if I even wanted to try this recipe with anybody else's berries. I had been salivating over it for several days, though, so I decided to pick up some still great, but slightly less amazing, berries from another fruit stand nearby. They weren't sweet as candy like my favorites, but with all the goodies in this salad, it really didn't matter. The pretzel/pecan crunch topping is absolutely amazing, and I may have eaten a significant amount of it straight from the pan. Fortunately, there was still plenty left for the salad.

Crunchy Pretzel Pecan Strawberry Salad

Prep time: 5 min  Bake time: 7 min
Serves 10

1 cup pretzels, crushed
½ cup pecans, chopped
¾ cup brown sugar
¾ cup butter, melted
3 cups strawberries, diced about a quart)
8 oz cream cheese, softened
½ cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
8 oz whipped topping

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Mix together crushed pretzels, chopped pecans, brown sugar and melted butter. Spread on a large baking sheet with sides (I used my jelly roll pan) and bake at 400°F for 7 minutes. Allow the mixture to cool and then break it into small pieces.

Beat together softened cream cheese, granulated sugar and vanilla.  Fold in whipped topping.

Before serving, stir the diced strawberries and sugared pretzels and pecans into the cream cheese mixture.

430 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!

Gingerbread Caramel Bars

I really love how different seasons have their own special flavors, like pumpkin in the fall and peppermint and gingerbread for Christmas. It makes them more special when you wait all year for them! I love gingerbread anything and I collect gingerbread recipes all year, so when Christmas rolls around it's always a struggle to decide which one I'm going to make.

This recipe is very similar to a chocolate chip caramel bar I made a few weeks ago that was DIVINE, so I was pretty sure this was going to be awesome, too.  It was chewy, gooey, caramel-y, and had a delicious gingerbread flavor. Everybody who tried it loved it!  Next time I might pretty up the squares with a little swirl of decorative frosting, but it definitely doesn't require any extra sugar.  It is tooth-rotting sweet but oh so good!

Gingerbread Caramel Bars
Prep time: 15 min  Bake time: 30 min
Serves 25

1 (15.25 oz) box yellow cake mix
1 egg
3/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
(or just add more molasses to light brown sugar)
1/2 cup flour
1 1/4 tsp ginger
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
5.5 oz caramels (about 20 caramels)
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

Combine cake mix, egg, molasses, butter, sugar, flour and spices and mix until smooth. Batter will be thick and sticky.

Line a 9x9 pan with parchment paper, extending the paper up the sides of the pan.
Add half of the gingerbread batter to the pan and spread evenly. Batter will be sticky, so it might help to drop spoonfuls into the pan, then spread.

Melt caramels in a microwaveable bowl until mostly smooth, with a few chunks left.  Add melted caramel to sweetened condensed milk and combine.  Pour caramel mixture over the gingerbread dough in the pan.

Drop spoonfuls of remaining dough over the caramel layer, spreading a bit to mostly cover the caramel layer.

Bake at 350 for 30-33 minutes.  Allow to cool in the pan, then cut into squares.

199 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!

Funfetti Gooey Butter Cookies

I love to bake cookies for the holidays--lots and lots and lots of cookies! I like to eat them, of course, but I also like to give them to my friends and coworkers and even the mailman and UPS guy. But this year I didn't plan on baking anything because I was going out of town for Christmas.  I gave my manicurist some candy that someone else had given me, hoping she would just assume I had made it myself (of course she had to ask!) and I felt so bad when I had to tell her I didn't.  And then I started watching Christmas movies where everyone was eating Christmas cookies and the cravings kicked in.  When I found out my old bosses would be joining us for our company Christmas party and I hadn't bought a gift for them, I knew a batch of cookies had to be made.

I wanted something simple yet festive (and I didn't want to have to go to the store for ingredients), plus my new boss loves Funfetti, so when I saw this recipe I thought it was perfect.  I didn't actually have a Funfetti cake mix in the pantry, but I did have a plain white cake mix and a big bottle of Christmas sprinkles, so I improvised and made my own Funfetti by adding about half a cup of sprinkles to the plain mix.  I didn't measure, I just kept dumping them in till it looked right.  They turned out super cute and festive and really yummy! The texture was perfect - thick and soft on the inside with a slight crispiness on the outside.  I will definitely be making these again, I'll just switch up the sprinkles for different occasions!

Funfetti Gooey Butter Cookies

Prep time: 15 min(+1hr chilling) Bake time: 10 min
Serves 50

8 oz cream cheese, softened
½ cup butter, softened
1 egg

1 (15.25 oz) box Funfetti cake mix
¼ cup sprinkles (if desired)
¼ cup powdered sugar

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth.  Add in egg and continue mixing, scraping sides as necessary.  Add in the cake mix and beat until combined.  Stir in extra sprinkles, if desired.

Chill dough for about an hour.  Preheat oven to 350°.

Form dough into 1 inch balls and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet 2" apart and bake for about 10 minutes.

Allow to cool on baking sheet for 2-3 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

73 calories per cookie.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!

Chocolate Chip Caramel Cookie Bars

Anyone who knows me knows I have a terrible sweet tooth.  That, combined with my love of baking and my genetic predisposition towards chubbiness means I am in a constant battle against those malevolent little creatures who sew your clothes tighter at night - calories.  I have lost, and gained back, the same 30 pounds four times in the last 15 years, and since I am currently on the wrong side of that cycle, I'm trying very hard to resist making all the delectable dessert recipes I've been accumulating on Pinterest for the last several years.  All that self control came to a screeching halt a few days ago, though, when someone posted one of those video recipes on Facebook and I was subjected to a vision of molten caramel flowing over chocolate chip cookie dough while I was innocently browsing my newsfeed looking at cat pictures.  My resistance instantly crumbled and I soon found myself in the kitchen making these bars.  OMG, they were SO worth it!  I didn't look at the calorie count on these until just now (it's even worse than I imagined) because I agree with the adage that if you know how many calories are in your dessert you're eating it wrong.  These are definitely not diet-friendly in any way, but they were so amazing I don't regret making them one bit.  I did, however, send 3/4 of them with my husband and daughter to share with their classmates and coworkers, and although I wish I still had some left, it's probably for the best that I don't because I would be eating every last one of them myself!

Chocolate Chip Caramel Cookie Bars

Prep time: 10 min Bake time: 30 min
serves 24

2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (I normally prefer milk chocolate, but these bars are so rich that I think semi-sweet or a combination is best)

5 oz evaporated milk
1 bag (14 oz) caramels
1/2 c. peanut butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually mix in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.

Spread half of cookie dough into the prepared pan. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven.

While the cookie dough is baking, melt caramels and evaporated milk in a double boiler. Add peanut butter after caramels are melted. Melt thoroughly. Spread over baked cookie dough base.
With the remaining cookie dough, drop by spoonfuls on top of the caramel mixture.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until light golden brown.

340 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!

Grape Salad

I am not a big fan of salad.  Sure, I'll scarf down that tiny little pile of lettuce slathered in Ranch dressing that they give you at the restaurant to placate you while they cook your steak, but traditional salad is not one of those things I could ever get excited about.  However, I do love the "salads" that have nothing in common with a Caesar or Cobb -- you know, the ones that are more like dessert!

This salad makes a half-hearted effort to be healthier by using light sour cream and low-fat cream cheese, but I definitely wouldn't call it health food by any means, but it is definitely good food, and super quick and easy!

Grape Salad
Prep time: 5 min
Serves 8

1 ½ lbs green seedless grapes
1 ½ lbs red seedless grapes
8 oz light sour cream
8 oz low-fat cream cheese, softened
½ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Topping:
¼ cup brown sugar
½ cup chopped pecans

Remove stems from grapes and rinse. Beat sour cream, cream cheese, granulated sugar and vanilla with mixer. Stir grapes into the mixture and place in a serving dish. Combine topping ingredients and sprinkle over top right before serving.

338 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!

Blueberry Custard Pie

I LOVE blueberries, but not the tiny, sour, overpriced ones that the grocery store has most of the year. I lived in Michigan for a few years and there were half a dozen blueberry farms within 20 miles of my house and every year we'd buy gallons of dark purple, sweet, juicy berries the size of marbles. They didn't need anything to be delicious so we ate them plain by the fistful, but we'd also eat them with ice cream and bake them in pies.

I was so excited last week when I learned my local blueberry farm was open for business and I sent my husband with explicit directions to come home with no less than 2 gallons of blueberries. I wanted to make a blueberry trifle for the company I had coming, blueberry muffins for breakfast, and 2 batches of blueberry cobbler to feed the teenagers at youth group. He came home with NONE! By the time he got there, they were sold out.Total bummer. I gave up on my extensive blueberry plans, but I was so in the mood for blueberries that I gave in and bought 1 pint from the grocery store. It wasn't enough to make most of the recipes I was craving, but it was just enough to make this pie. I've never put custard in my blueberry pie before, and I've never put streusel on top, but I really loved the end result! This was good cold, but it was amazing served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

Blueberry Custard Pie

Prep time: 15 min  Bake time: 45 min
Serves 8

1 cup (8 oz) sour cream
¾ cup sugar
1 egg
2 Tbs flour
2 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp salt
2 cups fresh blueberries
1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

Streusel Topping:
½ cup brown sugar
⅓ cup flour
¼ cup butter, softened
½ cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large bowl, mix the sour cream, ¾ cup sugar, egg, 2 tablespoons flour, vanilla extract and salt with a spoon until smooth. Gently fold the blueberries into the sour cream mixture. Spoon the filling into the unbaked pie crust.

Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes.

While the filling is baking, prepare the streusel topping: In a medium bowl combine the brown sugar and flour. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles course sand. Fold in the chopped pecans.

After the filling has baked 25 minutes, sprinkle the streusel crunch topping over the top of the pie. Bake an additional 15-20 minutes or until filling is set and topping is brown.

Make sure your crust doesn't burn. Either use a crust shield or make a loose foil tent towards the end of baking.

Remove from oven and let pie sit for at least 10-15 minutes. Serve pie warm or chill it and serve cold.

352 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!

Rainbow Fruit Tacos

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everybody! Today is the day I try to pretend I actually know something about my Irish heritage. My maiden name was Shannon, and I'm a Notre Dame fan, but otherwise I'm not much more Irish than a box of Lucky Charms.  Plus, I recently read a Buzz Feed article listing 7 myths about St. Patrick's Day that essentially negated everything I thought I knew about Ireland. Corned beef and cabbage as Irish staples? Totally bogus. That was sort of a relief, though, because I don't like either one of those.  What I do like are these adorable fruit tacos! This rainbow needs no pot of gold at the end, any little leprechaun would find these to be a perfect treat all by themselves.

Rainbow Fruit Tacos
Prep time: 30 min  Cook time: 7 min
Serves 7

Shells:
7 large flour tortillas
1 Tbs sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
nonstick cooking spray

Filling:
8 oz light cream cheese, softened
1 Tbs honey
1 Tbs sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ cup chopped strawberries
½ cup chopped mandarin oranges
½ cup chopped pineapple
½ cup peeled and chopped kiwi
½ cup blueberries

Preheat the oven to 350°F. 

To prepare the taco shells, use a biscuit cutter (or an empty can) to cut 3" circles out of your large tortillas. Lay the cut tortillas out flat and very lightly spray them with the nonstick cooking spray. Mix together the cinnamon and sugar. Sprinkle tortillas evenly with the cinnamon sugar.

Gently fold each tortilla in half and hang them upside down on the rungs of your oven rack (a slight fold will yield a wider taco shell that is easier to fill). Bake for 5 - 7 minutes and then remove and gently set aside.

For the filling, beat the cream cheese, honey, sugar, and cinnamon until fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Spoon 1-2 teaspoons of the filling into each shell. Top with the chopped fruit.

384 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!

Customizable Pudding Cookies

It's cookie-baking time! I am so excited about Christmas this year. I spend every other year up in Indiana, visiting my family, which is nice, but it means I don't get to celebrate much at home. I don't usually decorate or bake or even do much shopping on the years I go up North, so the years I stay home I really look forward to all those traditions.

I was definitely in the Christmas mood this year and I have to admit I went a little crazy. I spent several days (and more than several dollars) shopping for decorations and decking every inch of my home for Christmas, I spent hours perusing Pinterest for the perfect holiday menu, and I spent the entire day yesterday making batch after batch of scrumptious Christmas cookies in every variety imaginable. Here's the result!

My favorite cookies ended up being the two different kinds of pudding cookies I made, so I wanted to share this versatile cookie recipe with you right away so you can make your own batch of yummy treats!  The basic recipe is always the same, but you can choose your own flavor of pudding and pick any combination of add-ins to design your own unique creation!

Customizable Pudding Cookies
Prep time: 15 min  Bake time: 10 min
Serves 36

3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 (3.4 oz) pkg white chocolate instant pudding mix
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups flour (11.25 oz - weigh for best results) 
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups chopped Winter Oreos (the kind with red cream)
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips


Preheat oven to 350 F.  For best results, use an oven thermometer to verify the accuracy of your oven temperature.  It may be off by as much as 50 degrees and that will significantly affect your results!

In as medium bowl, whisk together baking soda, salt and flour.  This thoroughly incorporates the leavening agent so your cookies bake evenly.  Set aside.

With an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugars, 1-3 minutes.

Beat in dry instant pudding mix.  Add eggs and vanilla and beat until well-mixed.

Add flour mixture and beat just until incorporated.  Do not overbeat! You should still see a little bit of visible flour here and there. Overbeating will ruin the texture your cookies.

Gently stir in Oreos, white chocolate chips, and Andes Peppermint Crunch baking chips just until incorporated. (What that picture-perfect look you see in all those blog pics?  Save a few of the mix-ins and press them into the top after rolling the dough into balls.)

Refrigerate dough for at least 15 minutes. This keeps the dough from spreading too much in the oven.

Roll into 1" balls and place 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet that is either greased or lined with parchment paper or a Silpat. (Can we take a minute to talk about Silpats? If you don't have one, go buy one right now! They are so incredibly useful. They function as a washable, reusable, nonstick pan liner and can be used just about any time you would use grease, foil, or parchment paper. I bought some brand-name ones for about $25 each, then I bought some generic ones for $5 at Aldi and they both work exactly the same.) 

Bake at 350 F for 8-10 minutes. Cookies should come out of the oven when the edges are slightly golden, the top is puffy but no longer shiny, and the cookie looks a little underdone.

Let cookies cool on the pan for 2 minutes (this finishes the cooking process,) then transfer to a cooling rack.

Chocolate Cherry Variation

For these, I followed the recipe above, but I used chocolate pudding mix instead of white chocolate. I omitted the Oreos and the peppermint chips and used a 9 oz bag of Nestle's DelightFulls Cherry Filled morsels along with 1 cup of holiday striped white chocolate morsels. They were awesome! Feel free to try any combination of baking chips you like. The have several varieties of these filled chips and I fully intend to try all of them!

Pumpkin Roll

A few years ago, I was asked to help coordinate the women's ministry at my church along with several of my closest friends. I'd like to think it was because we were revered for our unique and enviable feminine talents, but it's a lot more likely that we were just the only ladies who were actually willing to do it! Either way, we managed to organize some truly fabulous events for the lucky ladies of Word of Life Family Church.

Needing a break from some of my responsibilities and wanting to devote more time to some new projects, I resigned from the committee a few months ago. However, the group is headed by a tireless recruiter who does not take no for an answer, so during an innocent chat one Sunday morning I ended up agreeing to teach the ladies of the church how to make pumpkin rolls at the next ladies' event.  I'm still not sure how that sneaky bit of sorcery occurred, but here I am on a Thursday night prepping half a dozen pumpkin rolls during the commercials breaks of my favorite shows.

We chose this recipe to teach the ladies because it looks special and elegant but it seems complicated and time-consuming, so many wouldn't even consider trying it. In reality, though, it comes together fairly quickly and with a few handy tips it's not that hard to execute.

If you aren't afraid to try new things you can definitely make this on your own, but if you want some guidance, feel free to stop by Word of Life Family Church this Saturday and I'll walk you through it!

Pumpkin Roll

Prep time: 25 min Bake time: 15 min
Total time including chilling: 3 hrs
Serves 10

1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)
3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup pumpkin puree

FILLING:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
6 Tbs butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375° F. Grease a 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Generously sprinkle a thin, cotton kitchen towel with powdered sugar.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl.

Beat eggs and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan.

Bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. (If using a dark-colored pan, begin checking for doneness at 11 minutes.) Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.

Beat cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired. 

341 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!

Praline Pumpkin Layer Cake

This is America, land of opportunity. We believe in the freedom to make our own choices and we perpetuate that philosophy by offering every choice under the sun! I mean, seriously, have you been to Walmart lately? There are like 50 varieties of peanut butter, for heaven's sake!

But too many choices can definitely be a bad thing. It just makes life way too complicated. Take my Pinterest dessert board for example. I love dessert, so at least half my pins are sweets. Sounds awesome, but when it comes time to actually make something, it's a nightmare! It takes me an hour just to scroll through all my pins, let alone pick one.

I had company this weekend and I promised I would make dessert, so I began the laborious process of searching through my recipes for the perfect one. Usually, I'll pick three or four that look really good then spend half an hour debating which one would be the best choice. When I finally do pick one and start making it, I second guess myself and wonder if one of the others would have been better! Quite a mind warp, for sure.

But this time was different. When I saw this recipe, I knew it was the winner. It's made from a cake mix, so it's simple; it's got pumpkin AND pecans, so it has a great fall flavor; and it looks beautiful even if you have no idea how to work a piping bag. Now that's all-American!

Praline Pumpkin Layer Cake
Prep time: 15 min  Bake time: 45 min
Serves 16 

1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup pecans, chopped
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup canned pumpkin (not pie mix)
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice


FROSTING:
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Heat oven to 325°F. In 1-quart heavy saucepan, stir together butter, whipping cream and brown sugar. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, just until butter is melted. Pour into two ungreased 9- or 8-inch round cake pans; sprinkle evenly with 3/4 cup pecans.

In a large bowl, beat cake mix, pumpkin, water, oil, eggs and the pumpkin pie spice with electric mixer on low speed until moistened, then on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Carefully spoon batter over pecan mixture in each pan.

Bake 41 to 47 minutes or until cake springs back when touched lightly in center. Cool 5 minutes; remove from pans to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, vanilla, and sugar until light and creamy.  Beat in  1/4 cup whipping cream until smooth (scrape and stir with spatula as necessary). Add the rest of the cream and pumpkin pie spice and beat until it has the consistency of whipped cream (don’t overmix). Spread half of the frosting between the two cake layers then spread the rest over the top layer.  Decorate with pecan halves if desired. Store loosely covered in refrigerator.

325 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list! 

Apple Fritter Casserole

It's Labor Day weekend, and that means September has arrived--time for back to school, (slightly) cooler temps, and apples! It doesn't really start to feel like fall here until about November, but I start craving apple recipes just as soon as I see all those shiny, new school supplies.

I love a good apple pie as much as the next guy, and I have some nice recipes for apple cakes, breads and donuts, but this recipe is an interesting combination of all of those. I can't decide if it's breakfast or dessert, so I ate it for both!

Apple Fritter Casserole
Prep time: 20 min  Bake time: 25 min
Serves 12

5 apples, peeled & chopped
6 Tbs butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
2 Tbs water

5 large croissants (about 12 oz)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup apple butter
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

3/4 cup powdered sugar
4 Tbs heavy cream

Melt butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add brown sugar and stir until completely incorporated. Transfer chopped apples to pan and stir until coated with sugar mixture. Cook for 5 minutes while stirring frequently. In a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and warm water. Add the cornstarch mixture to apples and continue to cook/stir for 5 more minutes. Remove from heat and set aside while prepping the other ingredients. The apples should be soft and the liquid will be a syrup consistency.

Preheat oven to 375°F
Whisk together the heavy cream, apple butter, eggs and cinnamon. Spray 9x11 casserole dish with non-stick spray. Slice the croissants in half across middle. Place the bottom halves of the croissants in an even layer. Pour half of the apple butter/cream mixture over the croissants. Top with half of the caramelized apple mixture. Arrange the croissant tops in an even layer. Top with the remaining cream mixture and apples. Pour all of the syrupy apple mixture over the casserole. Gently press down on the top with a wooden spoon or spatula. Bake at 375° for 25 minutes, or till lightly browned on top.

Mix powdered sugar and heavy cream together with a fork until smooth. Drizzle over the finished casserole.


320 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!
 

Creamy Watermelon Pie

Is it weird that I'm posting another watermelon dessert recipe less than 2 weeks after the last one?  I just can't help it; I love watermelon in the summer! Don't worry, September is almost here and that means all things apple, quickly followed by pumpkin season, then peppermint and gingerbread for Christmas....there's always another season coming up with its own set of flavors! But for now, I'm going to savor the last juicy melon of the summer in this amazing pie.

This is great for that end of summer watermelon that's not quite as sweet and tasty as earlier ones, and it's also perfect for this super busy time of the year when complicated recipes are just not gonna happen.  I've made this many times before and I plan to serve it this Labor Day because it's quick, cool, and everybody loves it. The only thing challenging about this recipe is finding the watermelon-flavored gelatin. Last year I tried several stores with no luck, but a buddy of mine found it and bought me several boxes because she knew how much I love to make this pie!

Creamy Watermelon Pie
Prep time: 10 min  Chill time: 2 hrs 
Serves 8

1 box (3 oz) watermelon gelatin
1/4 cup boiling water
1 tub (12 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed
2 cups diced seeded watermelon
1 (9 inch) graham cracker crust


In a large bowl, dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Cool to room temperature. Whisk in whipped topping; fold in watermelon. Spoon into crust. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until set.

Turkey & Cranberry Spread Croissants with Grilled Peaches

Don't you just love simple suppers? You know, the kind that only take a few ingredients, whip up in minutes, and dirty just a few dishes? Yeah, I know, that's a pretty rare combination! Usually I try to blog about interesting recipes--the kind that look complicated and gourmet, draw oohs and ahhs, and will impress your friends and family.

This supper was none of those things, but it was so quick, so easy, and so yummy, that I figured maybe you would appreciate it just as much as I did. This is actually three recipes in one, though, so maybe that makes up for its simplicity. Make each one separately or make them all at once, but definitely make them!

Turkey & Cranberry Spread Croissant Sandwiches
Total time: 5 min
Serves 4

4 large croissants, split
1 batch cranberry walnut spread (recipe below)
8 oz shaved turkey
4 slices Swiss cheese
1/2 cucumber, sliced
8 lettuce leaves

Spread cranberry spread on insides of croissants then top with turkey, cheese, cucumber slices and lettuce.

Cranberry Walnut Spread
Prep time: 5 min
Serves 4

4 oz cream cheese, softened
4 Tbs cranberry sauce
2 Tbs chopped walnuts
1 Tbs honey
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon 

Stir cream cheese until smooth then blend in remaining ingredients.  Serve as a dip for veggies or crackers, spread on a sandwich, or just eat by the spoonful! 

Grilled Peaches
Total time: 10 min
Serves 4

4 peaches, halved and pitted
4 Tbs honey
8 scoops vanilla ice cream

Preheat grill. Grill peaches flesh side down for 4 to 5 minutes over low flame. Flip and grill for an addition 4 to 5 minutes. Do not let skin blacken.

Remove and drizzle with honey. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Monkey Squares (Banana Bread Bars)

What is up with bananas and their incredibly short edibility window? Nobody in my family cares much for bananas except me, so I don't buy them often, but when I do it seems like I never actually get to eat more than one of them before they're brown and mushy! I've tried buying them green to give myself a little more time, but somehow they manage to go from under-ripe to overripe in less time than it takes me to convince myself to snack on a banana instead of a bag of chips.

I used to turn my brown bananas into a loaf of banana bread, but this recipe takes it up a notch with the addition of a browned butter icing that is freaking awesome! Even better, I've learned that I don't have to use my over-ripe bananas immediately, I can stick them in the freezer and pull them out when I'm good and ready! This is great for when you only have one sad, little banana left and the recipe calls for three.  The skin turns completely brown when you freeze them, but the inside is just the right kind of mushy for this yummy treat.

Monkey Squares
Prep time: 15 min  Bake time: 25 min
Serves 24

1-1/2 cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
3 ripe bananas, mashed
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Brown Butter Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
4 cup powdered sugar
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 Tbs milk

Heat oven to 375F.  Grease and flour 15x10-inch jelly roll pan.

For the bars, in a large bowl, beat together sugar, sour cream, butter, and eggs until creamy.  Blend in bananas and vanilla extract.  Add flour, baking soda, salt, and mix just till combined. Stir in walnuts.

Spread batter evenly into pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Meanwhile, for frosting, heat butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until boiling. Let the butter turn a delicate brown and remove from heat immediately. (The color change happens in an instant so watch carefully or it will burn!)

Add powdered sugar, vanilla extract and milk. Whisk together until smooth (it should be thicker than a glaze but thinner than frosting).  Using a spatula, spread the brown butter frosting over the warm bars (the frosting will be easier to spread while the bars are still warm).

286 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!