Chocolate-Coconut Bars

It's been awhile since I made a recipe from Martha. Do you all refer to her as Martha? I mean, we are BFF's (I've been to her show twice and she waved at me), but I'm guessing that others do it as well.

I pinned this recipe a couple of weeks ago, and I've been craving it ever since. I never had all of the ingredients on hand to make it, though. So a few nights ago when my husband called on his way home from a church activity and asked if I needed anything, I said, "yes! pecans!" And so the next morning my daughter and I got to work.

This is the perfect dessert to make with your kids! We crushed some graham crackers (well, I crushed, she ate). We sprinkled chocolate chips and pecans (and she ate). We poured sweetened condensed milk and sprinkled some coconut. And in no time at all we had a delicious, rich, easy treat!

Chocolate-Coconut Bars
from Martha Stewart
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3 cups finely ground cookies (12 ounces), such as graham crackers or chocolate wafers, or a combination
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup pecan pieces
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or chunks
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly splash a 15-by-10-inch rimmed baking sheet evenly with water, then line with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, stir together cookie crumbs, sugar, and butter until combined. Evenly press onto bottom and up sides of prepared baking sheet. Bake, rotating halfway through, until firm, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; cool, about 20 minutes.

Sprinkle cooled crust evenly with pecans and chocolate. Pour condensed milk over the top, spreading to cover completely (do not let it drip over the edges). Sprinkle with coconut.

Bake until coconut is toasted, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool completely. Trim edges, if desired, and cut into equal-size bars.

Happy 4th of July!

American Flag Rice Krispie Treats

idea courtesy of Random Thoughts of a Supermom

Banana Cream Pie

After I had my baby, my friend brought over her family's favorite dessert - Banana Pudding. I think my husband and I ate the entire pan that night. It had layers of Pepperidge Farm Chessman cookies, bananas, and was so rich, creamy and delicious. I emailed her and said I wanted the recipe, but I couldn't wait for her to respond. So I started a search for banana pudding and found Paula Dean's Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding. I knew I had found the recipe.

My husband requested a banana cream pie for Father's Day. First off, he LOVES banana cream pie. Second, he wanted something easy so that I wasn't spending the whole day in the kitchen slaving away. I searched for recipes but all of the ones that appealed to me involved turning on the oven and stove.


In the end I decided to use a store-bought Nilla wafer crust (gasp!) and filled it with bananas and the pudding from Paula Dean's recipe. My husband guessed right away what I had done. There is no mistaking this pudding. It's a combination of french vanilla pudding, cream cheese, and whipped topping. A-MAZING. And it is so easy. Some may call it cheating, but I just call it good eats.


Banana Cream Pie
Adapted from Paula Dean's Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding
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1 Nilla wafer crust
3 to 4 bananas, sliced
1 cup milk
1 (3.4 oz) box instant French vanilla pudding
1/2 pkg (4 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/2 can (7 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 container (6 oz) frozen whipped topping thawed, or equal amount sweetened whipped cream

Layer the sliced bananas on the bottom of the crust.

In a bowl, combine the milk and pudding mix and blend well using a handheld electric mixer. Using another bowl, combine the cream cheese and condensed milk together and mix until smooth. Fold the whipped topping into the cream cheese mixture. Add the cream cheese mixture to the pudding mixture and stir until well blended. Pour the mixture over the bananas.

Refrigerate until ready to serve, at least 2 hours.

Key Lime Bars

Key limes will always remind me of my 2nd anniversary. We went on a cruise to the Bahamas, and one of our stops was Key West, Florida. They had these touristy shops with everything key lime - so of course I indulged and bought things like key lime taffy and key lime fudge. Me and key limes. We're tight.

I've had my eye on Nellie and Joe's Key West lime juice for years but had never bought it. Until a week ago. I didn't have a reason for buying it. I wanted to have it, just in case.

Well, the awesome people at America's Test Kitchen must have known I was in the market for a recipe to use it on, so they sent me a link to their Key Lime Bars. Granted, probably a million other people got this link via their newsletter, but I still felt like it was directed at me. And I was co-hosting a baby shower that needed some serious delicious desserts. Perfect.


These bars tasted so fresh and creamy! I loved the addition of cream cheese to the filling. There was just the right amount so that it didn't overpower the lime flavor, and the toasted coconut added such great texture. (You'll just have to imagine my pictures with toasted coconut because I took these pictures before it was added). The perfect summer treat!


Key Lime Bars
Adapted from Cook's Illustrated and Joy of Baking
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Crust
1 1/4 c graham cracker crumbs
2 tbsp sugar
5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Filling
2 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 tbsp grated lime zest
pinch table salt
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 egg yolk
1/2 c fresh lime juice, either Key lime or regular

Garnish (optional)
3/4 c sweetened shredded coconut , toasted until golden and crisp

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Cut about 12-inch length extra-wide heavy-duty foil; fold cut edges back to form 7 1/2-inch width. With folded sides facing down, fit foil securely into bottom and up sides of 8-inch-square baking pan, allowing excess to overhang pan sides. Spray foil with nonstick cooking spray.

To make the crust: Mix together the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of the prepared pan. Bake for about 10 minutes or until set and lightly browned. Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool while you make the filling

To make the filling: While crust cools, in medium bowl, stir cream cheese, zest, and salt with rubber spatula until softened, creamy, and thoroughly combined. Add sweetened condensed milk and whisk vigorously until incorporated and no lumps of cream cheese remain; whisk in egg yolk. Add lime juice and whisk gently until incorporated (mixture will thicken slightly).

To assemble and bake: Pour filling into crust; spread to corners and smooth surface with rubber spatula. Bake until set and edges begin to pull away slightly from sides, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool on wire rack to room temperature, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Cover with foil and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 2 hours.

Loosen edges with paring knife and lift bars from baking pan using foil extensions; cut bars into 16 squares. Sprinkle with toasted coconut, if using, and serve. (Leftovers can be refrigerated up to 2 days; crust will soften slightly. Let bars stand at room temperature about 15 minutes before serving.)

Apple Blackberry Crisp

In an effort to eat more healthy, I went to the store and bought 4 pounds of strawberries, 4 pounds of grapes, and 18 ounces of blackberries. I was pretty excited to have a bowl of fresh fruit for my breakfast, and the strawberries and grapes tasted so good together. And then I bit into a blackberry. Yow! It was so tart my face scrunched up and I couldn't even finish the berry.

Source: Twin City Frozen Foods

I immediately started thinking of things I could make with my blackberries, and I decided on apple blackberry crisp. I guess this means that my quest to eat healthy was short lived.

I have a go-to recipe for apple crisp that my good friend gave me, but I was concerned about the blackberries and what they might need for balance in the crisp. So I found a recipe for apple blackberry crisp online, and then combined the two (because I LOVE the crisp topping from my friends' recipe) and it was absolutely delicious!

So if you're like me, and you get a batch of tart blackberries, whip up some apple blackberry crisp. Or better yet, go and buy some blackberries just for this crisp. And serve it with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. You won't be sorry.


Apple Blackberry Crisp

Adapted from Fine Cooking and Crystal Wilde's recipe

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Topping

1 cup flour

1 cup quick oats

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup melted butter

Filling

6 cups sliced apples (I used Granny Smith but you could mix things up a little)

2 cups blackberries

1/2 cup sugar

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp butter

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix together the dry ingredients for the topping, and then stir in the melted butter. Set aside.

Put the apples and blackberries into a large bowl and stir in the sugar. In a small dish, dissolve the cornstarch into the lemon juice and gently toss the mixture with the fruit.

Pour the fruit mixture into a 9x13" glass or ceramic baking dish and dot with butter. Top the fruit with the topping and bake for approximately 45 minutes until the fruit is tender when pierced with a knife, the topping is crisp, and the juices are bubbling. Let cool for 20 to 30 minutes. Serve warm.

Brownie Chunk Chocolate Chip Cookies

I was scrolling through my reader yesterday when I saw this recipe from Picky Palate. I didn’t have a pan of leftover brownies, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me from making these cookies. I immediately went into the kitchen and threw a box of brownie mix into the oven.

I let them cool, and started making the dough. As I put the brownie chunks into the bowl and they started to disintegrate into the cookie dough, I realized that I should have made the cake-like brownies, instead of the fudge brownies. Note to self: Make sturdier brownies for these cookies, because the cookies that have an actual chunk of brownie are the best.

I’m kind of into the salty-sweet combo lately, so when I saw that the recipe only called for a ½ tsp of salt, I decided to up it to 1 tsp. I’m really glad I did. The saltiness came through perfectly, and I thought these were a fun variation on chocolate chip cookies.

Brownie Chunk and Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from Picky Palate

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup chocolate chips
2 cups cubed prepared brownies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a large baking sheet with parchment or silpat liner.

Place butter and sugars into the bowl of a stand or electric mixer, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, beating until well combined.

Place flour, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl, mixing to combine. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips and brownie chunks until just combined.

Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop dough onto prepared baking sheet about 1-inch apart. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes until cooked through. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Makes 3 dozen cookies

Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

The day before Mother’s Day, I told my husband that I wanted to make my own breakfast for Mother’s Day (don’t worry, I made it Saturday night so I wasn’t slaving away on the actual day). He thought that was a pretty awesome idea, and my daughter thought it was pretty neat that we got to have cake for breakfast.

I found this recipe in my email from America’s Test Kitchen, and as anyone could predict, I was immediately drawn to this recipe. Cream cheese in sweetened form? Um, yes.

This cake was extremely moist and dense, and the cream cheese swirl was delicious. I loved the hint of lemon that was both in the cream cheese swirl, and the sugar-almond topping. My swirl was less than pretty, but I’m sure with practice it’ll get better. Because I do plan on making this again. And again. And again.

Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
From Cooks' Illustrated

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Makes one 10-inch cake, serving 12 to 16

Lemon Sugar-Almond Topping
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated zest from 1 lemon
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Cake
2 1/4 cups (11 1/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/8 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/8 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon table salt
10 tablespoons (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1 cup plus 7 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated zest plus 4 teaspoons juice from 1 to 2 lemons
4 large eggs
5 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups sour cream
8 ounces cream cheese, softened


FOR THE TOPPING: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together sugar and lemon zest in small bowl until combined and sugar is moistened. Stir in almonds; set aside.

FOR THE CAKE: Spray 10-inch tube pan with nonstick cooking spray. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in medium bowl; set aside. In stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter, 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, and lemon zest at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down sides and bottom of bowl with rubber spatula. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, about 20 seconds, and scraping down beater and sides of bowl as necessary. Add 4 teaspoons vanilla and mix to combine. Reduce speed to low and add one-third flour mixture, followed by half of sour cream, mixing until incorporated after each addition, 5 to 10 seconds. Repeat, using half of remaining flour mixture and all of remaining sour cream. Scrape bowl and add remaining flour mixture; mix at low speed until batter is thoroughly combined, about 10 seconds. Remove bowl from mixer and fold batter once or twice with rubber spatula to incorporate any remaining flour.

Reserve 1¼ cups batter and set aside. Spoon remaining batter into prepared pan and smooth top. Return now-empty bowl to mixer and beat cream cheese, remaining 5 tablespoons sugar, lemon juice, and remaining teaspoon vanilla on medium speed until smooth and slightly lightened, about 1 minute. Add ¼ cup reserved batter and mix until incorporated. Spoon cheese filling mixture evenly over batter, keeping filling about 1 inch from edges of pan; smooth top. Spread remaining cup reserved batter over filling and smooth top. With butter knife or offset spatula, gently swirl filling into batter using figure-8 motion, being careful to not drag filling to bottom or edges of pan. Firmly tap pan on counter 2 or 3 times to dislodge any bubbles. Sprinkle lemon sugar-almond topping evenly over batter and gently press into batter to adhere.

Bake until top is golden and just firm, and long skewer inserted into cake comes out clean (skewer will be wet if inserted into cheese filling), 45 to 50 minutes. Remove pan from oven and firmly tap on counter 2 or 3 times (top of cake may sink slightly). Cool cake in pan on wire rack 1 hour. Gently invert cake onto rimmed baking sheet (cake will be topping-side down); remove tube pan, place wire rack on top of cake, and invert cake sugar-side up. Cool to room temperature, about 1½ hours. Cut into slices and serve.

Leftovers should be stored in the refrigerator, covered tightly with plastic wrap. For optimal texture, allow the cake to return to room temperature before serving.