Raspberry Lemonade Bars

Dude it is hot here, like hot. HOT. Not to mention the cicadas are about to eat my sanity whole. So I thought that a light, fruity desert might be nice, plus I was starting to get stuck in a rich, chocolatey, mostly peanut-buttery desert rut.

I love lemon squares- they're one of my all-time favorite deserts, I actually used to get teased about it in college. But come on, lemon squares (good ones) are possibly one of the lightest, tangiest most wonderful deserts on earth. Am I right? Am I right? So I had to grab this recipe.

And I'm glad I did.

Because they are delicious.

 Your ingredients. I know! That's it! Also, I'd like to say how much I love King Arthur Flour. And apparently I love Domino as well. Look at me, I should get paid for this kind of advertising.

 So, your crust. Cream together your butter and sugar, then add in the flour until it's mixed.

Press it into the bottom of an 8x8. You can see I decided to give parchment paper another chance. And I can begrudgingly say that in this recipe, it works great. Bake the crust for 20-25 minutes until it looks like this...

 Yum. Just ignore the drop of raspberry on there- or pretend I did it on purpose for dramatic effect.

 While the crust is cooling, make your filling. Whisk together your sugar, egg, egg whites, lemon juice, lemon zest, flour and salt and it'll look like this- deliciously lemony.

Here comes the tricky part. You're supposed to press the raspberries through a sieve, meticulously pulling out the seeds so that ONLY THE JUICE gets in the lemon mixture. Well, I decided that was impossible and I didn't care about the seeds. So I shoved them through and just got some raspberry guts, seeds and all. And you know what? Didn't affect the taste. So, if you really don't like eating raspberry seeds then you can do it like you're supposed to. Frankly, I think it tastes just as delicious the way I did it. But cooking is all about preference. Anyway.

Then just mix it all together, pour onto the crust and bake for another 30 minutes or so! You'll be glad you did.

And apparently I still have a problem with lemon squares, because I took that top picture at 8:03am and consumed the pictured square by 8:11am.

Raspberry Lemonade Bars
Slightly adapted from Handle the Heat
8 tbsp. butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cup sugar
1 2/3 cup flour
pinch of salt
3 egg whites
1 whole egg
2/3 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons lemon zest (I zested 2 lemons and it was perfect)
1 1/2 cups frozen raspberries, thawed
powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat your oven to 350°. In an electric mixer, cream together the butter and 1/4 cup of sugar. Add the flour and the salt until mixed. Press the dough into an 8x8 pan that has a sheet of parchment paper in the bottom of it with a little hanging over the sides so that you can lift the bars right out when they're done. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until it is just golden brown.

After the crust comes out of the oven, make your filling. Whisk together the lemon juice, lemon zest, egg, egg whites, 2/3 cup flour, 1 1/2 cups sugar in a large mixing bowl. Push the raspberries through a sieve to get a fair amount of juice and raspberry guts into the mixture (about 2 tablespoons). Mix in and then pour the mixture over the crust.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until the filling is completely set, and doesn't jiggle. Let the bars cool completely and then refrigerate. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

S'Mores Bars

Ahhh... summer is finally here. And what says summer more than s'mores around the campfire? 

So my sister-in-law actually challenged me to this recipe. Having never made up a recipe from scratch, I thought it was going to be stressful. I mean, the Husband can tell you I'm a by-the-recipe kind of girl. 

But... here's the secret.... it was actually really fun! And it turned out really well! Obviously I would probably try a few tweaks when I make it again, but I'm pretty proud of the end result. It's edible. It might even be incredible. It's definitely incredibly edible.

And it's easy too!

Your ingredients: chocolate chips, graham cracker crumbs, cinnamon, butter, sugar, vanilla, and little marshmallows. I mean, you can use big ones but I think that little ones probably work best.

 Mix up your graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and cinnamon and press it into the bottom of a very greased 9X13, and bake it for about 8 minutes.

Pour a good solid layer of marshmallows on there, then stick it back in the oven for about 5 minutes

It's hard to see, but look for when the marshmallows start subtly melting together. You don't want them to be a total gloopy mess. Let them "retain some of their marshmallowness," as the Husband put it.

In a double boiler (or a made-up double boiler like mine), put in the chocolate chips, butter, vanilla, and a sprinkle of sugar. The reason that doesn't look like enough is because it wasn't. I wound up having to make a second batch of this to cover the whole pan. But don't worry. Thanks to my error, you won't make the same mistake.

Once it's melted and smooth, pour it over the marshmallow layer. It'll look like this, mmmm. Please ignore the blue glow from my computer screen, sorry but a girl's got to have music while she makes up a recipe.

Then just sprinkle a few graham crackers on top to capture the sandwich-y feeling of a true S'More, and refrigerate!

Mmmm... yeah, that's real.

S'Mores Bars

3 cups graham cracker crumbs

6 cups of marshmallows 

1 tsp. cinnamon

4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

3 sticks butter

sugar

2 tsp vanilla

splash of milk

Preheat oven to 325°. Melt 3/4 cup of butter and mix with 2 1/2 cups of the graham cracker crumbs. Add cinnamon, mix until crumbly. Press mixture into the bottom of a well-greased 9x13 pan. Bake the crust for about 8 minutes. Pour 6 cups of marshmallows onto the crust, until covered, then bake for another 5 minutes, or until marshmallows start to stick together.

In a double boiler, melt together chocolate chips, 2/3 cup butter, vanilla, and a sprinkle of sugar. When smooth, pour over the marshmallow layer. Sprinkle remaining graham cracker crumbs on top of the chocolate. Let cool for 15 minutes, then refrigerate.

Peanut Butter Truffle Brownies

The Husband accuses me of always picking deserts with cheesecake or Oreos in them. And so I would like to take this time to point out that the first two recipes on this blog do not have Oreos in them, and do not involve cheesecake in any way. So there.

However, the Husband loves peanut butter, like A LOT, and so occasionally I try to choose deserts with peanut butter in them. I mean who are we kidding, I don't hate peanut butter. For his birthday I made these peanut butter cup bars (which rocked and were totally delicious, by the way. You should make them.) So when I saw the words peanut butter in the title of this desert I automatically saved it for trying.

 

I will warn you of two things about this recipe: it is very rich, and it takes a long time to make. But it's worth it. The chewiness of the brownie layer balances the creaminess of the peanut butter filling and the ganache and it's just... yum.

Your ingredients. Pretend that the half and half is heavy cream, and let's get on with our lives. Also, I recommend natural peanut butter in every possible part of your life.

First, your brownie ingredients get mixed together and poured into your pan. If I made this again, I would skip the parchment paper. Sure it makes for an easier cleanup and the brownies come out of the pan easier, but look at that parchment paper. It's obnoxious. Anyway. While your brownie layer is baking, make your peanut butter filling.

It'll look something like this when you're done. Spread it over your brownie layer once it's done cooling. Add more milk to it if you're having trouble spreading. (A WORD OF WARNING- let your brownies cool completely- if you get impatient like me, your brownies will not take the spreading very well and it'll get a little crumbly)

(Here you can pretend there's a picture of me making the ganache, because I had slight baking difficulties this week and there is not an actual picture of it.)

After you've made your ganache, just pour it on top of the peanut butter filling and refrigerate! It's fairly easy, but each step has to cool and set and it takes a while. But you get this:

Peanut Butter Truffle Brownies

Very slightly adapted from Sweet Pea's Kitchen 

Brownie Layer

 1 cup butter, melted

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

3 tsp vanilla extract

2/3 cup cocoa powder

1 cup AP flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

Peanut Butter Filling

1/2 cup butter, soft

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

2 cups powdered sugar

4 tsp milk

Ganache Topping

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup butter

2 tbsp heavy whipping cream

Preheat your oven to 350°. Liberally grease a 9x13 baking pan.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the melted butter and sugar, stir until well mixed. Beat in the eggs and the vanilla extract until combined. Mix in the cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Add the all-purpose flour and stir until combined- until no pockets of flour remain. Pour into the baking pan and bake for 25-30 minutes. 

While your brownies are cooling, make the peanut butter filling by combining all the ingredients in a mixing bowl. You can use an electric mixer, it's easiest, but you can also do it by hand. Once the filling is smooth and the brownies are completely cool, spread it over the brownies.

Put the pan in the refrigerator so that the filling can set while you make the ganache (make sure it sets at least 30 minutes). In a double boiler, combine the ganache ingredients and cook over medium high heat until melted. Or you can put them in a bowl in the microwave and melt them together. Pour the ganache over the peanut butter filling, then just put them in the refrigerator to set!

Gooey Cake and First Posts

Well what do you know, my first post! This is a recipe straight from my mom, who was a wonderful cook and my best friend. It's called Gooey Cake and it's about to rock your world.

 

When I made this recipe for Game Night, one of our most loyal regulars said, "Oh! I thought you just made a cake, like a regular cake." This, my friends, is so much more than a cake. It's straight up divine.

 Your ingredients: chocolate cake mix, caramel syrup, chocolate syrup, condensed milk, cool whip, and chocolate sprinkles. Someday I'll be cool enough to make my own chocolate cake from scratch, but until then this is how it stays.

Once you have your cake made, poke holes in it with the thinnest spoon or utensil handle you have. Don't poke too many or you'll damage the structural integrity of the cake.

 Then, comes the magic. Pour the condensed milk over the top of the cake, making sure to pour over the holes that you made. This'll let the good stuff get all down in your cake.

Repeat the process with the chocolate syrup...

 Then the caramel. Yum.

 When the dust settles, it'll look something like this.

 Then just Cool Whip it, then add sprinkles. Then you can lick the Cool Whip bowl. Go ahead, I won't judge you. It's good for your health. You think I didn't do it? I did, and it was 8 o'clock in the morning.

Then, cut and enjoy. It's not clean, it's ooey, and gooey, and it makes a mess of plates, forks, and knives. But it is delicious.

Gooey Cake

1 box chocolate cake mix

1 jar chocolate syrup

1 jar caramel syrup

1 14 oz. can condensed milk

1 8 oz tub Cool Whip, thawed

Chocolate sprinkles

Make the chocolate cake as directed. Immediately poke holes throughout the cake. 

Heat the chocolate syrup and caramel as directed. Pour on the condensed milk, then the chocolate syrup, then the caramel syrup, being sure to pour over the holes. Let cool, preferably overnight. Top with Cool Whip and sprinkles.