Lemon Blueberry Crumb Bars

I found myself with an abundance of blueberries again this week, and I needed to find something to do with them.  When I saw this recipe for Lemon Blueberry Crumb Bars on My Baking Addiction, I knew I had found the one.  It calls for 4 cups of blueberries!  Yummy!  I just love the purple color that blueberries turn when you bake them......so pretty!

These bars couldn't be simpler!  And the best part is that you can use your food processor to put the crust/crumb topping together......easy peasy!  With so many blueberries, the blueberry layer of these bars has more of a blueberry pie taste, unlike most blueberry coffeecakes that are simply cakes with a few blueberries tossed in.  And since the blueberries only have sugar and a little cornstarch tossed with them, you just get that true blueberry flavor......not a funky artificial pie filling flavor (which turned me off from fruit pies for years!).

The hubby loves fruit desserts....and he won't stop raving about these!  He's a happy guy!

Check out My Baking Addiction for the recipe.....and Enjoy!!

This post is linked to:

Full Plate Thursday

Fresh Food Friday

Sweets for a Saturday

Sweet Indulgences Sunday

These Chicks Cooked

Cast Party Wednesday

Picnic and Finger Foods Party

Sweet Treats Thursday

Sharing Sunday

This Week's Cravings

Sharing Sundays

Crack Pie

As soon as I heard about the Crack Pie that is served at Momofuku Milk Bar in NYC, I was dying to get my hands on it to try.  I kept hearing it mentioned and how amazing it was, but alas....we're obviously nowhere near NYC (seeing that we're in CA).  Having one shipped from Milk Bar would run about $45 plus shipping!  A little pricey for one pie for me :)

So imagine how happy I was when I opened my Bon Appetit this month, and there is an article about Milk Bar and a recipe for Crack Pie!  Yippee!!  I mean seriously.......aren't you just more than a little curious what it would taste like?  If they're ballsy enough to call it Crack Pie.....it better be good!

First you bake a giant oatmeal cookie......and try hard not to eat it.  Once it cools, you'll crumble that up to make the crust of the pie.  Then you're going to fill it up with all sort of yummy, gooey goodness, including the secret ingredient in most Milk Bar desserts.....nonfat milk powder.

Bake this till yummy and golden........I actually left mine in about 5 minutes longer than I would have liked.  My fault for trying to bake this while trying to get my 2 year old down for a nap.  Oh well.....despite the overbaking, the house was smelling yummy and sugary!

Then comes the hardest part......waiting!! You need to let this bad boy cool for about 2 hours, and then stick it in the fridge to completely chill.  The recipe calls for you to let it chill overnight.....but come on!!  There was no way I could leave it alone that long.  So, after about 3 hours in the fridge, out it came.  It had set up enough by then to cut.......but I'm guessing letting it sit overnight would give the flavors a chance to meld together even more.

And the final opinion on Crack Pie?  Totally worth the hype!  I loved it, the hubby loved it, and my sister loved it!  It is a winner!  The filling turns into a kind of caramel-y/butterscotch-y gooey yumminess with that cookie crust......oh man.......sugary goodness at its best!  I can't wait to try a piece today to see if letting it sit overnight can possibly improve it at all.  Not the most knock-your-socks-off pie to photograph though........but seriously, overlook the blah photos and taste this one!

I can't wait to try some of the other desserts from Milk Bar in the article......and they've got a cookbook coming out in the Fall......yeah!!  Go to Epicurious for the recipe....and Enjoy!!

Update:  Just had a piece a day after making it......even better!!  I guess that's why the recipe calls for it to sit in the fridge overnight.  Wow.......this is good stuff!!

This post is linked to:

These Chicks Cooked

Cast Party Wednesday

Full Plate Thursday

Fresh Food Friday

Sweets for a Saturday

Sweet Indulgences Sunday

Yeah for Sprinkles!

I needed to make cupcakes for our little end-of-season T-ball party we had this weekend.  I think I've mentioned before that my oldest son does not actually eat most of the desserts that I make.....he pretty much will only do Oreos, ice cream, or sprinkles for dessert.  Seriously, if he was given a chance, he would eat a bowl of just sprinkles!

So, I decided if I made the homemade Funfetti Cupcakes from How Sweet It Is.  Since they are covered in sprinkles and there's sprinkles inside, he had to try them!

I decided to use the same nonpareil sprinkles that she used, since they are my kids favorite kind (coming in a close second are rainbow colored jimmies).  These gave the cupcake batter a fun psychedelic disco feel, since the sprinkles color the batter a bit after you stir them in.

The recipe is pretty simple and straightforward.....nothing out of the ordinary (which was great since I made these late at night!).   I also went ahead and used the buttercream frosting recipe she had paired with these.......why not right?

Instead of using a pastry bag to frost these guys I decided to just frost them using an off-set spatula.  I figured since they were getting eaten at the park, they didn't have to look all pretty and polished, but man.....it took so much longer for me to do them this way.  Next time I'll just stick with the pastry bag.......waaayyyy faster for me!  And I did have a couple of sprinkle spills.....I keep finding some strays hiding in the nooks and crannies of my kitchen.....ugh!

These were a hit with the kiddos!!  Of course, my oldest didn't eat them :(  He was much more concerned with getting his T-ball trophy and playing on the playground.  He did want to try one when he woke up, and wanted one for breakfast, but I made him wait the couple of hours till after T-ball.  Oh well......at least our youngest devoured his.  The hubby thought they were pretty darn yummy as well......another success!!

Check out How Sweet It Is for the recipe......and Enjoy!!

This post is linked to:
Sweet Indulgences Sunday
Muffin and Cupcake Monday
These Chicks Cooked
Cast Party Wednesday
Full Plate Thursday
Sweets for a Saturday
Cupcake Link Party
Friday Food

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

Today was our last day of T-ball for the season........can't say that I was too sad to see it end since during our game on Wednesday afternoon it was about 100 degrees out (unfortunately I'm not kidding).  But I will miss how gosh darn cute the kiddos are in their uniforms, and how cute the hubby was as coach!

As a little thank you to everyone I made these baseball cookies to hand out to the kiddos along with their team photographs and trophies.  I used a scalloped edge circle since I realized I didn't have any plain large circles....oops!

I was going to try to pipe everyone's names on their cookies, but you know what?  I stink at piping letters!!  I envy those people that can do it.....I know I just need to practice, but I just get frustrated.  So, plain baseballs it is!

Packed up in their little bags with a ribbon, I thought there were an cute little addition to our end of season party.  It was a great season......our T-ball kiddos were even hitting pitches from the coaches today!!  So great to see the smiling faces when they rounded the bases :)  Thanks for a great season!!

I'll be Your Huckleberry!

I am in love!!!  My little sister is visiting us in CA this week, and she went down to Santa Monica with me today.  We decided to pick up some lunch at Huckleberry.....and man am I glad we did!!  When we walked in we were greeted by this amazing selection of bakery goods.....seriously I wanted to take home one of each thing there (and we did take a bunch home)!  I had remembered hearing somewhere that they had great fried chicken there, so we decided to order the fried chicken special and a mixed green salad.

The fried chicken plate was perfect!!  From the amazingly tender fried chicken with a crispy (possibly panko) seasoned crust, to the super tender biscuit, and the sweet corn and perfectly dressed salad.......delicious!  We had also ordered the green salad, which we didn't necessarily need, but we felt like we needed to cancel out the fried chicken ;)

This was our take-home loot!!  We tried the oatmeal raisin cookie, the pumpkin tea cake, the blueberry ciabatta, the bacon-maple biscuit, the plain croissant, and their donut holes.  Oh gosh.......the hubby was so happy to see this, since he missed out on the lunch!  The donut holes were melt-in-your-mouth.......so tender.  The hubby loved the bacon-maple biscuit, but he does love all things bacon (and who could blame him?).  I think my favorite was the pumpkin tea bread.....super moist, tender, and nicely spiced.

Such a great meal, and snacks for the rest of the day......so glad we tried Huckleberry!! 

Ooey Gooey Butter Cookies

This is another one of those recipes that I thought was too sweet, but the hubby and the sister-in-law (who gave me this recipe) both loved them.  They also loved the Cake Batter Blondies from a couple of weeks back.......so if you liked those, then you'll love these!!

These cookies couldn't be easier to make.....since it uses a box of cake mix there aren't any dry ingredients to measure out......easy peasy lemon squeezy!!  Once the batter is together (it will be sticky!), you roll the balls in powdered sugar and bake.

OOEY GOOEY BUTTER COOKIES


1 8 oz. block of cream cheese
1 stick of butter (1/2 cup)
1 egg
1/2 t vanilla
1 box of yellow cake mix
1/4 cup powdered sugar


Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2.  Cream the butter and cream cheese together until thoroughly combined.  Add the vanilla extract and egg and mix to combine.  Stir in the box of yellow cake mix and mix until incorporated.  
3.  Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop batter into balls and roll into the powdered sugar to coat.  Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 10 minutes.

Thanks to my sister-in-law for the recipe.....Enjoy!!

This post is linked to:
These Chicks Cooked
Cast Party Wednesday
Sweets for a Saturday
Sweet Indulgences Sunday

Happy Father's Day! And more Oreos!

I'm ba-ack!!  Just got back from a family vacation to North and South Carolina, and I couldn't wait to get back into the kitchen!!  Seriously, we were home for about an hour before I started getting stuff ready in the kitchen to bake something.....it had been almost two weeks without making anything!  Talk about withdrawal!

Since I hadn't even had a chance to get to the grocery store, I had to work with what I had.....and you guess it.....I've got Oreos!

One of my mommy friends from my son's preschool, Liz, gave me some of these cookies right before we left on our trip......Oreo Chunk Cookies, with chunks of Oreos cookies, as well as some Oreos ground and blended into the dough......fantastic!  They basically taste like Cookies and Cream ice cream in cookie form.......so delicious!  I couldn't wait to make a batch of these bad boys!  

I did a search to see if I could find the same recipe already online, but none of the other recipes that I found included the ground up Oreos.  Also, most included chocolate chips, which Liz's didn't, so for a change I'm posting a recipe, instead of just including a link.  If you don't want to bother with the ground Oreos (but please do try it) you could use this recipe from Cookie Madness.

OREO CHUNK COOKIES

12 T unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup plus 2 T granulated sugar

1/2 cup plus 2 T dark brown sugar

1 1/2 t vanilla

1 egg

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 

1 t baking soda

3/4 t salt

1/2 t baking powder

1/2 t cream of tartar

7 Oreos crumbled in a blender or food processor until the consistency of dirt

12 broken Oreos (broken into halves, then each half into thirds or fourths)

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2.  Cream the butter and sugars together until smooth and fluffy.  Add the vanilla and egg and mix until thoroughly combined.

3.  In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and cream of tartar.

4.  Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and combine until fully incorporated.

5.  Add the crumbled Oreos and mix until just combined.  Fold in the broken Oreos gently with a spatula.

6.  Using a medium cookie scoop (try not to crush up the Oreo pieces too much), place dough balls 3 inches apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet and flatten the tops slightly.

7.  Bake for about 12 minutes or until just slightly darkened around the edges.  Do not overbake.  Cool slightly on cookie sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to set.

Well, there ya go!  I actually tried out one other recipe yesterday, but I think I should probably go see what the hubby is up to.....since it is Father's Day and all.  So give these a try.....and Enjoy!!  And Happy Father's Day!!

This post is linked to:

Sweets for a Saturday

These Chicks Cooked

Cast Party Wednesday

Sweet Indulgences Sunday

Everyday Sisters Sharing Sundays

Pies on a Stick

Does everything taste better when it's served on a stick?  It sure doesn't hurt.....but I do know that it sure does make things cuter!

Today is my oldest's last day of Pre-K.  As a little Thank You to his teachers I thought these little strawberries pies on a stick from Our Best Bites would be so cute!  But since we're getting to leave for vacation I did take a couple of shortcuts to make these a lot faster.

1 - I used store-bought pie crust.  Especially with something small like this, no one is going to be able to tell if you use store-bought vs. homemade.  

2 - I used a strawberry pie filling that I bought at our local baking supply store.  It had real strawberries in it, and was very tasty....and saved me the step of making it myself!  

You could really use any fruit filling that floats your boat......strawberry just really sounded good to me.  In fact they almost tasted like strawberry Pop Tarts....and there's nothing wrong with that!  Just make sure that whatever filling you use, you don't put in too much filling, or it will seep out the sides when you try to put the top layer of crust on.  The amount of filling you'll need will depend on the size of the cookie cutters you use, but just be aware that the bigger the size of your pie, the harder it will be to keep the pie on the stick when it's picked up.  I'd say that if your cookie cutter is bigger than 3 inches (that's why my heart was), then you should do the hand pies (which are also very cute!).  I think for 4th of July I'm going to do some star-shaped hand pies (maybe with blueberries, strawberries, or raspberries).

When these come out of the oven, make sure that you give them a few minutes to rest....the dough will still be very soft and tender and the stick will pop right out if you attempt to pick them up right away.  I learned that lesson the hard way....but got a yummy little snack out of it.....oops!

Check out Our Best Bites for the recipe, as well as ideas on how to make hand pies or pies-in-a-jar......and Enjoy!!

This post is linked to:
These Chicks Cooked
This Week's Cravings

Blueberry Boy Bait

It's blueberry season!!  After buying a couple of huge containers of blueberries, I had to start finding some recipes to use them in........and this one uses a whole 2 cups of blueberries......yeah!

According to Sticky Gooey Creamy Chewy, this is based on a recipe from the 50's that was entered in a Pillsbury baking competition.  The baker that submitted it claimed that one bite of this cake and the boys were hooked.  Well, I gotta say the hubby loved these!  

One goof-up I made in this one (and it's a pretty easy recipe, so I feel kind of silly).......I forgot to toss the blueberries with flour before folding them into the batter.  Because of that, most of my blueberries sank to the bottom while the cake was baking.  If I had remembered to do that step (my fault for trying to get this in the oven and get the boy's dinner on the table at the same time), then the blueberries would have been scattered throughout the cake, instead of being primarily on the bottom.  Oh well......at least the cake still tasted fantastic.....moist, buttery.....and with a yummy sugar-cinnamon topping.

The hubby and I had this for dessert last night.....fantastic with a little whipped cream!  Today I had a piece with my afternoon coffee.....a perfect pick-me-up!!

Check out Sticky Gooey Creamy Chewy for the recipe.......Enjoy!!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls

Yes, these are called Cookie Dough Balls, and yes, they do taste like peanut butter cookie dough (with chocolate chips).....but actually these guys are cookies that have been baked!

I made these the first time right before Christmas after seeing them on the blog, What's Megan Making, and they were a huge hit!  I don't know why it took me so long to make these again....oh wait, I remember......the hubby does not like peanut butter/chocolate desserts!  His loss!

The first time I made these I left them plain, without the melted chocolate on top.  They aren't the most beautiful cookie, so if you're trying to get people to look at them, you may want to add a little fancy finish to the top of them to attract people's attention.  Unless, of course, your goal is to get them all to yourself....then by all means, leave them plain and let them fly under the radar.  More cookies for you!

Check out What Megan's Making for the recipe.......Enjoy!!

This post is linked to:
These Chicks Cooked

Oreo Cheesecake Brownies

Continuing with our household's love affair of all things Oreo (did I mention I bought a giant pack at Costco the last time I was there?)....may I introduce to you, the Oreo Cheesecake Brownie!

A fudgy brownie packed with Oreo cookies chunks, and then topped off with a delicious cheescake-y swirl.......yes please!!

This is my kind of dessert.  I'm pretty much a sucker for most brownies....but my oh my......adding in brownies and the cheesecake topping.......get in my belly!

It's a pretty rich dessert, so like my post from yesterday, you're probably not going to eat the whole pan in one sitting.....but if you need a choco-fix (I'm not the only one right?), this will definitely hit the spot!

Check out the blog Brandy's Baking for the recipe......Enjoy!!

This post is linked to:
Everyday Sisters Sharing Sundays

Cake Batter Blondies

You might want to give your dentist a call if you make these......just a friendly warning.....

 I like sweets......I definitely have a sweet tooth......but these are actually almost too sweet for me.

While the recipe calls the Cake Batter Blondies, the hubby summed them up best when he said the tasted like a concentrated version of birthday cake!  That's exactly it....with the addition of sprinkles and white chocolate, you get the taste of a piece of birthday cake with one bit of these guys.

This is definitely one of those desserts that you can only eat a little of, but if you like your sweets sweet (I'm thinking of my sister-in-law), then you will like this.  It's also really easy to throw together....gotta love that!

Check out Girl Meets Life for the recipe.....Enjoy! (oh, and brush your teeth so your dentist won't get mad at me ;)

Update:  Took these bad boys to a family birthday party today......they were gone really fast!  They were a big hit with the kids and my sister-in-law ;)  Guess it was just me that thought they were too sweet!

This post linked to:
These Chicks Cooked

There's always room for Oreos!

I know, I know........the very first post that I did on this blog was for these cookies.....but come on!!  Chocolate chip cookie + Oreo cookies = match made in heaven!!  Why haven't you made these yet?!?

I made these again for our dear friend's birthday.  He had tried one from the first time around and loved them, so, bingo!  An excuse for me to bake up some of these bad boys again!

They were just as delicious this time around.......but these cookies are huge!!  I gave our friend a 1/2 dozen of these, and it felt like I was handing him a brick!  There is possibly a few calories in each of these cookie ;)  But, they are soooo good.....who's really keeping track?

Head on over to Picky Palate for the recipe.....and make some today!  You won't regret it.....Enjoy!

This post is linked to:
Sweets for a Saturday