Lemon Bars

I've always loved Lemon Bars. My boys are not crazy about them, but every now and then it's worth making a batch and sharing with friends so that I can enjoy them myself. These are seriously lemony lemon bars, so if you don't love the taste of lemon, you probably won't be too crazy about them.

Lemon Bars
From Barefoot Contessa Parties

For the crust:
1/2 pound unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

For the filling:
6 extra large eggs, at room temperature
3 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest (from 4-6 lemons)
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup all-purpose flour

Confectioners sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Combine the flour and salt and, with the mixer on low, add to the butter until just mixed. Dump the dough onto a well floured board and gather into a ball. Flatten the dough with floured hands and press into a 9x13" baking dish, building up a 1/2" edge on all sides. Chill.

Bake the crust for 15-20 minutes, until very lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.

For the filling, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour over hte crust and bake for 30-35 minutes, until the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature.

Cut into triangles or squares and dust with confectioners sugar. Store in the refrigerator covered with plastic wrap.

Yields 20 squares or 40 triangles.

Apple Pie Bars

If you like Apple Pie but don't feel like going to all the work to make one, try these bar cookies. They're amazing! I like to eat them fresh out of the oven, they'd be great with vanilla ice cream. The recipe says to make them in a springform pan and cut into wedges. My picture shows them cut into squares because I made a double batch and baked them in a rectangle pan. Either way works just fine. Enjoy!

Apple Pie Bars (adapted from Cuisine at Home)

Base and Streusel:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Apple Pie Filling:
3 1/2 cups tart apples (like granny smith) peeled, cored and diced
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream (use milk if you don't have it)
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350°; coat a 10-inch springform pan with removable bottom with nonstick spray.

Combine 2 cups flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt for the base and streusel mixture in a bowl. Transfer 3/4 cup of the mixture to a second bowl; set aside for the streusel. Cut 6 tablespoons cold butter and milk into the remaining dry ingredients using a pastry blender or your fingers. Mix until clumps form.

Pat mixture evenly into prepared pan, using the bottom of a measuring cup to tamp down the dough. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until set and golden at the edges. Stir melted butter into the reserved streusel mixture until sandy; set aside.

Toss all ingredients for the apple filling together. Arrange over the hot base, pushing apple pieces to the edges of the pan to completely cover the crust.

Sprinkle apples with the streusel topping and bake until apples are soft and topping is golden, 30-40 minutes. Cool bars for at least 30 minutes before removing the side of the pan and cutting into wedges. Store bars at room temperature or chill.

SoNo Brownies

I love brownies! There are so many great ones, that's it's hard to decide which is my favorite. This one is my favorite if I need to whip up something yummy in very little time. It's so fast to throw together...I can't imagine ever using a mix again!

SoNo Brownies
adapted from the SoNo Baking Company Cookbook

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
pinch of baking soda
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 8" baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

In a bowl, whisk flour with the cocoa, salt, baking powder, and baking soda, set aside.

Melt butter. Add sugar and corn syrup and whisk to combine. Whisk in the eggs one at a time, whisking until well blended after each addition. Whisk in the vanilla.

Add the dry ingredients and fold until the flour has been incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into the baking pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. (It can be tough to tell when these are done because the chocolate chips melt and may make your toothpick look like the brownies aren't done.)

Let cool completely in the pan on a wire rack, then cut into 2 inch squares.

Halloween Brownies

I found a similar idea to these online and thought that it would be fun to make with the kids. You can make these brownies from a mix or from scratch. To make the gravestones, pipe RIP onto Milano cookies and then press them into the brownie. Here's the brownie recipe that I used. It makes a large pan so you may want to half the recipe and bake in an 8x12" pan.

FROSTED BROWNIES

1 1/2 cups butter
6 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate
3 cups sugar
6 eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour

Melt butter and chocolate together in a saucepan. Remove from heat and add sguar, eggs, vanilla, and flour and mix well. Pour into greased large (11x17") cookie pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or frost with chocolate frosting.

Chocolate Frosting:
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
5 to 6 tablespoons milk
2/3 cup cocoa

Beat all ingredients together until creamy.

Baked Brownies

Do not let the typical appearance of this brownie fool you. These are SERIOUSLY delicious brownies. With 11 ounces of melted chocolate, how could they not be? Now, I've never really met a brownie that I didn't like, but these ones are so good that I have to cut up and freeze half of the batch (after we devour the first half) so that I won't eat a half a pan of brownies by myself while the kids are at school!

Enjoy!


Baked Brownies (adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking)

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons dark unsweetened cocoa powder
11 ounces dark chocolate (60 to 72% cacao), coarsely chopped
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder (I leave this out)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
5 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter the sides and bottom of a 9x13" baking pan (I use Pam spray). In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and cocoa powder.

Put the chocolate, butter, and instant espresso powder in a large bowl and set it over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and smooth. Turn off the heat, but keep the bowl over the water and add the sugars. Whisk until completely combined, then remove the bowl from the pan. The mixture should be room temperature. (I just put the butter and chocolate in a glass bowl and microwave. Just be sure to not overdo it. It sometimes looks like it needs more time but when you stir it the rest of the chocolate will melt. As soon as the mixture is melted, I whisk in the sugars).

Add 3 eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Add the remaining eggs and whisk until combined. Add the vanilla and stir until combined. Do not overbeat the batter at this stage or your brownies will be cakey.

Sprinkle the flour mixture over the chocolate mixture. Using a spatula (not a whisk), fold the flour mixture into the chocolate until just a bit of the flour mixture is visible. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth the top. Bake in the center of the oven for 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs sticking to it. Let the brownies cool completely, then cut them into squares and serve.

Will keep at room temperature for up to 3 days when tightly covered with plastic wrap. I like to individually wrap and then freeze (it helps my willpower and they're also great right from the freezer!).


PS - If you're looking for a good baking chocolate, this is what I like to use. The price and quality are both great. Merckens Bittersweet Chocolate

Cranberry Oatmeal Jumbles

These might be the perfect cookie. They have the perfect combination of ingredients. Everyone I've made them for loves them...and I'm sure you will too.

Cranberry Oatmeal Jumbles (adapted from Fine Cooking Magazine)

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 Tbs. light corn syrup
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cake flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries
1/2 cup rolled oats (old-fashioned, not quick-cooking)
1/2 cup pecan pieces (or coarsely chopped pecan halves), lightly toasted
1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes, lightly toasted
3-1/2 oz. good-quality white chocolate, coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment or spray with nonstick cooking spray.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and both sugars until light and fluffly, about 2 minutes. Scrape the bowl. Add the egg, corn syrup, and vanilla; beat for 1 minute on medium speed. Mix in half the all-purpose flour on low speed until combined, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Scrape the bowl. Briefly mix in the remaining half of the all-purpose flour. Sprinkle the cake flour, baking soda, and salt into the bowl and beat on low speed until well blended. With a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, stir in cranberries, oats, pecans, coconut, and white chocolate.

Drop cookie dough onto baking sheets (make whatever size you prefer). Bake until the cookies edges and bottoms are golden and the centers feel dry on the surface but still soft inside (about 10-12 minutes).

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

We're big pumpkin fans around here. Anything with a pumpkin taste will be devoured in virtually no time. These are our favorite pumpkin cookies.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

3 cups canned pumpkin
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup oil (I use canola)
2 teaspoons nutmeg
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
5 cups flour
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

In a large bowl combine pumpkin, eggs, vanilla, oil, nutmeg, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Mix well. Add flour and mix to combine. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop dough onto ungreased baking sheets and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.


Note: Feel free to add some whole wheat flour in place of the regular flour if you're like me and like to use whole wheat flour. I use 2 cups all purpose, 3 cups whole wheat.