Tag Archives: dessert

Spring Strawberry Pie

Sorry for the long silence but I was in Chicago enjoying the awesome weather and stunning Lake Michigan up through this past long weekend and I’ve been in total vacation mode. Can you believe Memorial Day was yesterday? It seemed like the winter was never going to be over and I still worry, despite the fact that it is almost June, that there is still a lingering snowstorm somewhere. Because yesterday was Memorial Day, we like to think that the summer has started but it’s really still Spring for about another three weeks. Maybe you went to a picnic yesterday and ate a lot or maybe you just laid low and celebrated the life of a veteran but no matter what you did, enjoy life this week with something Springy and sweet like this Spring Strawberry Pie.

Strawberries are sliced and cooked with a little balsamic vinegar, sugar, and cornstarch creating a chunky, thickened strawberry mixture similar to preserves. This mixture is poured over fresh strawberries and a freshly baked graham cracker crust and topped with a quick crumble of additional graham cracker crumbs, almonds and sugar. Once refrigerated, this pie is ready to be served, especially with a giant dollop of whipped cream, low-fat or regular. Balsamic vinegar and strawberries pair so well together and the vinegar melts away leaving only a complementary flavor and not overly bold taste. This pie is light and scrumptious. My strawberries were still pretty huge so if you can find small ones, all the better (just cut bigger berries in half or quarters). If you don’t feel like making your own crust, you can easily buy a pre-made graham cracker crust to save time.  The strawberries are the real star here (even though I’m a complete sucker for any kind of crust) so if you need to take a short cut, go ahead. This pie is a perfect little treat that takes advantage of strawberries which seem to be so abundant right now. Got too many from the farmer’s market? Meet this pie.

DSC05087Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine graham cracker crumbs, butter, and sugar in a bowl, tossing with a fork until moist. Press into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes; cool on a wire rack.

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To prepare the filling, combine strawberry slices and vinegar in a medium nonstick skillet. Place the berry mixture over medium-high heat; cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in 1/4 cup sugar. Combine the water and cornstarch in a small bowl. Add to pan, and bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in juice. Cool completely.

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Arrange whole strawberries, stem sides down, in crust. Pour cooled strawberry mixture over whole strawberries. Cover loosely, and chill 4 hours.

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To prepare the topping, combine 3 tablespoons cracker crumbs, nuts, 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar, and 1 1/2 teaspoons melted butter in a small bowl. Place crumb mixture in a small skillet over medium heat. Cook 2 minutes or until golden brown; cool.

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Sprinkle crumb mixture over pie. Top each serving with whipped topping.

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Additions:  None

Omissions:  None

Substitutions:  None

Overall Rating:  Love It

Source: Cooking Light magazine

Double Nut Butter Sandwich Cookies

Do you have Girl Scouts sitting at the door of your grocery store asking you to buy cookies? I do. Last year, they were also waiting for me as I came off of the commuter train after work but so far, there has been no sign of them there. I’m all for the Girl Scouts but honestly, I dread seeing their cute little faces and perky attitudes. These little people tap into my interior weakness and I almost crumble. I have no self control and WILL EAT THEM ALL if I buy them! So after saying “No, thank you” to the adorable Girl Scouts, how do I explain the fact that I made these Double Nut Butter Sandwich Cookies which rival the Girl Scouts’ Do-si-dos and taste like no other cookie I have ever made? I can’t explain it. But these cookies are amazing.

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Almond butter and oatmeal make up the soft, chewy cookies, while peanut butter and powdered sugar create the creamy center filling. To make this truly nutty all the way around, use almond milk in the filling in place of regular milk (either one will work perfectly).

I took these cookies to work because they were so good, I very easily could have eaten every single one by myself in one sitting. Luckily, some people at work took some off my hands and I got nothing but compliments. If I could make cookies for a living everyday, I’d be happy. So why am I working in finance instead of in a bakery? Probably for the same reason I say no to the Girl Scouts but then turn around and make these cookies at home. Because I torture myself and I’m seriously losing it.

Double Nut Butter Sandwich Cookies (makes approximately 24 sandwich cookies)

For cookies:

  • 1 1/2 cups oats
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup almond butter (or peanut butter)

For filling:

  • 3/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 3/4 cup peanut butter
  • 4 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 4-5 tablespoons milk or almond milk

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a bowl, combine oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.

In another large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together butter and both sugars until well combined. Add egg, vanilla, and almond butter and mix. Slowly add in the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Drop dough by tablespoon full onto a cookie sheet and bake in a 350°F oven for 8 minutes (cookies may not appear to be done but that’s okay). Remove cookies from oven and let rest on the cookie sheet for 4-5 additional minutes (they will finish cooking). Move to a cooling rack to cool.

While cookies bake, prepare the filling by combining butter, peanut butter, and vanilla until creamy.  Add the powdered sugar and milk. (Add enough milk to bring it to a frosting-like consistency.)

Once cookies have cooled, spoon a tablespoonful of filling into the center of half of the cookies. Top with remaining cookies.

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Double Chocolate-Chip Cookies with Bourbon Ganache

This is a cookie that will whip all your other cookies’ asses.  There are cookies…and there are COOKIES.  This, my friends, is a bad-ass COOKIE.  As in it’s almost a meal and if you can eat more than one, then you are my hero.  I took these Double Chocolate-Chip Cookies with Bourbon Ganache to work and got a lot of rave reviews.  One co-worker even commented that he wanted to make a grown-up cookie for a party and could I send him the recipe?  That is a successful cookie in my book.

Semi-sweet chocolate and heavy cream are mixed together and chilled before being knocked out by a hit of some good old bourbon and chilled again until thickened.  The creamy mixture is then spread between two basic chocolate-chip cookies (i.e. if you really wanted to use store-bought cookie dough here, you could) where you now have the chocolateyest (not a word) and most decadent sandwich cookie.  Because of it’s richness, I would consider either using milk chocolate in the ganache (since semi-sweet chips are in the cookie dough) or making the cookies smaller.  I used a small ice cream scoop for my cookies and think they could have been half the size.  These cookies aren’t joking around, I’m just going to tell you.  They have an attitude and aren’t afraid to show you.  I nearly didn’t finish one and I swear I heard it laughing at me.  I dare you to take them on.

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The ingredients:

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Preheat oven to 350°F. Beat butter and sugars at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until creamy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Add vanilla, beating until blended.

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Combine flour and next 2 ingredients in a small bowl; gradually add to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until blended. Stir in morsels just until combined. Drop dough by level spoonfuls onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets, using a small cookie scoop (about 1 1/8 inches).

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Bake at 350°F for 12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from baking sheets to wire racks, and cool completely (about 30 minutes).  To make ganache, microwave semisweet chocolate morsels and whipping cream in a 2-qt. microwave-safe bowl at MEDIUM (50% power) 2 1/2 minutes or until chocolate begins to melt, stirring at 30-second intervals.

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Whisk in bourbon, softened butter, and vanilla. Cover and chill, stirring occasionally, 1 hour and 30 minutes or until thickened to a spreadable consistency.

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Spread Bourbon Ganache on flat side of half of cookies (about 1 Tbsp. per cookie); top with remaining cookies.

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Cover and chill cookies 2 hours or until ganache is firm.

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Additions:  None

Omissions:  None

Substitutions:  None

Overall Rating:  Love It

Source:  Southern Living magazine

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