The Unphotographables: Strawberry Cream Bars

See, I've been bad about posting again. So now I'm making myself do this now, because I can't have breakfast until I finally get my butt in gear and post about these. :)

Last Saturday, I really had no clue what to make. But I knew it would be fruity. It was the first really good day out of the entire month of June. (Yeah, June missed the memo that traditionally the weather should be sunny and a bit warmer. We had rain and grey for like 24 days of the month.) Saturday was beautiful. I even wore shorts and successfully blinded some people, I'm sure. I take after the English/Irish side of my family and am very fair-skinned. Besides, skin cancer is ugly.

Anyways, beautiful day. I always wear sunscreen on my face, else I get a bajillion freckles. I wore a tank top for the first time all year. This is one of those moments where if you had just a little inkling of what the afternoon had in store, it would've been fabulous. You can see where this is going, right? Dave and I went to play miniature golf. He won, as usual. But this time there was a consolation prize of sorts: the first sunburn of the year. Across the shoulds, back of the neck, top of the back. But good news - the legs have kept their traditional white color. :)

(Maybe I shouldn't post before breakfast. Obviously more chatty.)

I wanted something with minimal oven time and nothing was appealing. Somewhere in my head, a lightbulb flashed on. A bar, reminiscent of my Strawberry Kiwi Cream Tart. But only with strawberries and no vanilla pudding. Thus, this recipe was born.

I've found in the past that Martha Stewart's graham cracker crust doesn't always hold well together. So I upped the butter to 4 tablespoons, versus her 3. Yet this time, it was like sand. Thus, no picture because every time I try cut a nice slice out, it's a big mess.

But the taste? Vanilla cream cheese with strawberry slices? Oh, yum. I'm almost kinda glad they don't travel well. That means more for me. Just go to the fridge with a spoon and I'm a happy girl. Maybe I should have that for breakfast. :)

Ingredients:
(your favorite graham cracker crust for an 8-inch baking pan)

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
¼ cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla

1 cup strawberry slices

Directions:
Once graham cracker crust of your choice is cooled and ready to be filled....

Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Spread over cooled crust. Top with strawberry slices. Refrigerate for a few hours before serving.

Caramel Delight Brownies

I've been such a bad blogger these days. I don't know what it is, some kind of funk of sorts, I guess. The weather here certainly isn't helping. It's officially summer today, and what do I see when I look out the window? Grey. Rain. Wind. I wonder if we've even hit 75 yet this year. This is definitely making me miss CA. But, hey, at least this time the recipe's being posted within 36 hours of it being made. That's something of an accomplishment, yes?

Earlier in the year, probably March or so, Leslie at work brought in a cookbook that the local vocational school made, creating recipes that used Girl Scout cookies. I came across a brownie recipe that used nuts, marshmallows, and the Caramel Delights. Of course I copied that one down (the cheesecake one, too!) :)

Fastforward to yesterday morning, where I again noticed the unopened box of cookies languishing in the cabinet. Which put me in mind of a brownie recipe I discovered over at Cookie Baker Lynn - simply called Seduction Brownies. Hmm... what girl isn't going to be interested in that, right? Go look at the pictures; they're gorgeous. A fabulous sounding brownie plus my favorite of the GS cookies? Oh, yes, a match made in sugar heaven. :)

I had one when it was still a bit warm from the oven. Ohhh.... mouthgasm. That's the best word I could come up with. At least once I had the power of speech again. The cookie isn't overwhelmingly strong, but every now and then, you'll get a bite with a bit of coconut or caramel. Mmmm... *blissful smile*



Ingredients:
½ cup butter
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup flour
1 cup chopped Caramel Delights

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F. Grease an 8-inch baking dish.

Melt butter and chocolate together in a medium saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat and beat into sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Gradually add flour. Fold in cookie pieces. Spread into prepared pan.

Bake at 325F for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool completely on wire rack before cutting into bars. Makes between 16 and 24.

Chai Snickerdoodles

I have been so horrendously lazy this week when it comes to posting. I made these on Saturday. And here we are, Thursday evening. It's just every time that I tried posting, something came up. Of course, sometimes that something was Jeopardy or talking to a friend, but you get what I mean.

So! These have been on the "to make" list for nearly two years. Yep, posted on Baking Bites just over two years ago. Oops. The fact that they're cookies is probably part of the reason why they've been on there so long, I'm sure. But they sounded really good on Saturday, a counterpart to the muffins that, well, failed miserably. (Honestly, it was like a chemistry experiment gone horribly wrong. I don't know what happened - hey, kinda like in chemistry!)

I didn't like these on the first day, but my dad loved 'em. I found them to be much better, softer and more flavorful, on day two. And they've been munched on at work this week, too. So, I'd say a success overall. :)



Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground ginger
½ tsp. ground cardamom
¼ tsp. ground allspice
½ cup butter, soft
1 large egg
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1-1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp. cream of tartar
½ tsp. baking soda

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine sugar and spices; remove half a cup of this mixture and place in a medium-sized, shallow dish or bowl.

Add butter to bowl and cream with sugar mixture until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, cream of tartar, and baking soda. Gradually add to sugar mixture and stir until fully incorporated.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls and roll in reserved sugar-spice mixture. Place on baking sheet, leaving 2 inches between balls to allow for spreading.

Bake at 350F for about 12 minutes, until edges are firm to the touch, but not quite browned. Cool for 3-5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about two dozen cookies.

Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

I think sometimes it's very obvious what fruits are on sale at the grocery store. :) This week it was both blueberries and strawberries. We'll see what gets made next.

For some reason, I'm having a hard time coming up with what to write on here tonight. I was lazy last night and didn't post. And now it's Monday night, Jeopardy's on, and I'm just kinda eh on everything. Post-vacation downtime? I don't know. And I still owe somewhat of a post on that. Yikes.

Since I'm not coming up with anything remotely entertaining, I'll just talk about the recipe. Originally found at Culinary in the Desert, I altered it a bit for those unfortunate folk who do not like coconut. (Those weirdos lol) The addition of the flour in the crust was different, but I don't feel that it made too much difference compared to a regular graham cracker crust.

Reviews are mixed on this one. I really liked it, and even Dave and my dad ate it. Gina did not, Leslie has never had blueberries before and didn't want to try. Marcos took home the three that didn't get eaten. *shrug* I liked 'em quite well, so that counts the most, since I am the girl with the blog. ;)



Ingredients:
4 Tbsp. butter, softened
1/3 cup graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup flour
1/3 cup sugar

6 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
½ tsp. vanilla
1 cup blueberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch baking pan.

Combine graham cracker crumbs, flour, and sugar; cut in butter using pastry blender. Press onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until light golden brown.

Beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, then vanilla. Pour batter over hot crust. Scatter blueberries on top.

Bake at 350F for 18-22 minutes, or until center is nearly set. Let cool on wire rack before refrigerating. Makes about 16 bars.

Peanut Butter Nutella-Swirled Brownies

I'm ba-ack! :)

Vacation was AMAZING. I am so going on a cruise again, that's for sure. Alaska was beautiful, and, trust me, we have the pictures to prove it. Between Dave and I, we wound up with just over 1200 pictures. Don't worry, I will not be posting them all. In fact, I need a break from organizing photos, so it'll be a few days before any of those get posted.

The food? Oh, man. I tried valiantly to balance out my fruit/veggie consumption with my dessert consumption. I think I was mostly successful. Definitely didn't have to worry about this girl getting scurvy. I kept a notebook with what I ate (including the many new things that I tried), but that's in the other room at the moment, and.. yeah, I'm a bit lazy tonight.

Yesterday morning didn't start out in its usual way. I overslept, didn't wake up until 10:30a. So right there, only one baked good would be made. Which would be good... if only I knew what I was going to make.

I have no idea how I found it, but I wound up at The Craving Chronicles where this recipe was posted. And having read that it was a "forgiving recipe", I decided to alter things around a bit. Theresa mentioned that she found them too sweet, so I dropped the sugar down a bit, and added a bit more Nutella, because, truly, is there such a thing as too much Nutella? I think not.

Overall? It's a dense brownie that has a variety of flavors. LOL I taste more of the peanut butter, while Dave and my mom taste more Nutella. *shrug* I guess it could be a sort of a surprise brownie? Or one of those "choose your own adventure" brownies? LOL (I was never a fan of those books, though. Hmm.)



Ingredients:
½ cup butter, melted
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
½ cup flour
½ cup cocoa
¼ tsp. baking powder
Pinch of salt
¼ cup peanut butter
½ cup Nutella

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch baking pan.

Beat butter and sugar until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, then vanilla. Sift together dry ingredients before gradually adding to butter mixture.

Put peanut butter and Nutella in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for about 30 seconds, until they're easily stirrable. Fold into brownies. Spread in prepared pan.

Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool completely before cutting into bars.

Vacation!

Cutting things down to the wire? No, not this girl. LOL Yet here I am, 3am, and I'm sitting in front of the computer. LOL Our flight leaves at 6am.

So, yes, just a quick post that there won't be much going on here until the 23rd or so. Thankfully there's internet access on the boat, so I won't start to get twitchy from extended lack of internet. ;)

Take care! :)

Nutty Brownies

Alright. Slightly more relaxed tonight than I was when I posted yesterday. This is a good thing. My "to-do" post-it notes are still floating about the computer, as well as two "to buy" post-its as well. I'm making progress. Seriously. I do need to remember to pay the credit card bill before we leave, though. LOL Another post-it. :)

So my second birthday treat of this week is for Tasha. I think I've mentioned on here before the girl that didn't like cheesecake? Yeah, that's Tasha. But don't worry, I brought her over to the yum side after all. Thank you Nutella and lemon cheesecake bars. ;) Her birthday isn't until the 9th, but since tomorrow's my last day of work before leaving, she gets hers a bit early. I'm sure there won't be any complaints about that.

Anyways, her request was super-duper simple: brownies with walnuts. I didn't have to do search for any recipes, just went with the stand-by small-batch brownie recipe and we were good to go.

I did manage to get a picture of these, since I've been lazy tonight. Still in the baking dish, still not cut, I really like this picture. And not bad for such horrible lighting. (Blue skies, sunshine? I miss you. Please come back.)



Ingredients:
1 cup flour
½ cup cocoa power
3/4 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
1½ cups sugar
3/4 cups butter, melted
2 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs
1 cup walnuts

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch baking pan.

Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

Beat butter and sugar until smooth, then add vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated. Gradually add dry ingredients. Stir in most of the walnut pieces. Spread in prepared pan. Sprinkle with remainder of walnuts.

Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool completely before cutting into brownies.

Vanilla Cream Blondies

So we're T-minus like 3½ days until vacation, and I feel like all I'm doing is rushing around. Granted, some of it is my own doing, because somehow that always happens that way.

Back in March - maybe? - I decided that I needed to read fifty books BEFORE vacation. That way, ya know, I wouldn't fall behind and what not. Yesterday I finished A Homemade Life by the lovely Molly of Orangette, and that was number forty-eight. So I have between now and Thursday night to read two more books. I think I can do it.

Also on my "Kristen put too much on her plate" list is my own little tradition with friends. For their birthday, they get their own request of a baked good. Whatever they want (within some reason, however; something that's easily portable is a must), and they don't have to share it with anyone if they don't want to. Pretty good deal, right? Except here, all of a sudden, I have three friends with birthdays between May 1st and May 9th. Thank goodness Rachel (the May 1st birthday) said that she'll take hers after my vacation. (Seriously. Thank you lol) So that leaves me with Marcos (tomorrow) and Tasha (Saturday).

Marcos' first request was something with bananas. Um, nope, sorry. LOL I don't like bananas. At all. Taste, texture - ugh. Yuck. So after much deliberation and harassment, he went with something with vanilla. Works.

I had the idea of cream cheese blondies, but could never find anything that really clicked. The recipe I did eventually find (after two days of searching) was over at Group Recipes. I played around with the quantity of vanilla, pretty much adding a bit at a time, until I felt there was enough vanilla-ness. :)

The result? A blondie that's dense yet almost cake-like at the same time, with a vanilla flavor that really makes me question whether I really want to bring these to work tomorrow or not. Just kidding. I promise I'll bring them in. Really. ;)

(They're already packed in a box, thus no picture. But I really wish I had a chance - and better lighting - since the swirls came out so nicely this time!)

Edited to add: So the blondies? They were all gone before 3pm. And supposedly Marcos shared them. ;) I think that has to be a new record. LOL


Ingredients:
9 Tbsp. butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2½ tsp. vanilla
1-2/3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt

6 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 Tbsp. butter, softened
2 Tbsp. flour
1 egg
3-4 tsp. vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F. Grease an 8-inch baking pan.

Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

Beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, beating until well combined. Gradually add dry ingredients. Spread half of the batter onto the bottom of prepared pan.

Beat cream cheese, sugar, butter, flour, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Spoon 2/3's of cream cheese mixture on top of blondie batter and spread evenly. Gently top with remaining blondie batter. Drop small dollops of cream cheese on top and gently swirl.

Bake at 325F for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out nearly clean. Let cool completely before cutting into bars.

Peanut Butter Marbled Brownies

To begin, I must say this: Yay for the 200th post! :D

So our big vacation is creeping steadily closer. And while I'm thrilled with the "only so-and-so many working days left!" countdown, I am starting to get a bit nervous.

Oh, did I mention where we were going? For Dave's mom's 60th birthday, his dad decided to take the family on a cruise. An Alaskan cruise. (Have I mentioned how glad I am to be part of this family? Just kidding lol) We fly out on May 8th, for two days in Vancouver (haven't been there yet; heck, haven't been to Canada either!), then a seven day cruise through the southern part of Alaska, two days in Denali National Forest, and then what winds up being a day and a half in Fairbanks. We get back here on the 21st. I am super-duper excited. So many new places and all the food! I was looking at the cruise website and their sample menus. *jaw drops* Holy moly.

But I am nervous, though. I'm not a big fan of boats. I've been on two in my entire life (those dinner/dance cruise-around-the-harbour kinds in Norfolk, VA, and up in Boston), and those were okay. They were big enough. So I'm sure I'll be fine. But still, I wouldn't be me if I weren't a bit wary of it.

Anyways, that has nothing to do with these brownies, but I couldn't come up with anything else to say. :D (It was a long day at work today, can you tell?)

So. Brownies. I poked through the cabinet and discovered I still had some of the Nestle's Swirled morsels. When nothing came up on my usual blogs, I decided to go the Nestle website. These won mostly because it involved the same temperature as the strawberry lime bars.

They remind me a great deal of those Peanut Butter Munchies from January. PB and I got along well enough. But these I have no qualms about bringing to work or sharing with my dad. Besides, there are still some of the pomegranate chocolate cupcakes; everyone else can have those and these, and I'll have my lime bars. ;)



Ingredients:
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
1-2/3 cups packed brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 Tbsp. water
10-oz. Nestle's Peanut Butter/Chocolate Swirled morsels, divided
½ cup creamy peanut butter
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 13x9-inch baking pan.

Whisk flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl; set aside.

Beat butter, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture alternately with water. Stir in 1 cup morsels. Spread in prepared pan.

Combine peanut butter and granulated sugar medium, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds, or until it reaches a pourable consistency. Stir until smooth. Drop mixture by teaspoonful over batter in pan. Swirl into brownie batter with back of a spoon. Sprinkle with remaining morsels.

Bake at 350F for 23-28 minutes, or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out still slightly sticky. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

Strawberry Lime Bars

Last week, when Johanna told me it was in the 90s in the San Jose area, I told her to send me some. Because, frankly, spring really hadn't felt like it arrived yet. Yeah, some low 60s here and there, but that's it.

Until she sent me some warm weather. It hit 87F here, folks. Probably about 84F by the water where I am. It's about freakin' time. :D

So, having seen the forecast, I knew I wanted something summery. And I'm sure you can imagine where this is going. The Lime Monster snuck in the back door when I let the dog out. ;)

These are pretty much the exact same thing as last year's Strawberry Lemon Bars, which tasted just like strawberry lemonade. And, hey, amazingly enough, these taste like strawberry limeaid. (Hmm... wonder if I could do this with cherries? Mmmm, cherry limemade...)

Usually I bring a good portion of the baked goodies to work to share with my friends. I don't know if these are going to make it there. LOL Can you tell sometimes that I'm an only child? ;)



Ingredients:
Crust:
7/8 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
Pinch of salt
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Lime Filling:
2 large eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1½ Tbsp. flour
¼ cup lime juice
2 tsp lime zest, from 2 limes
2 Tbsp milk
Pinch of salt

Strawberry Puree:
1 cup chopped strawberries
1–2 Tbsp. granulated sugar, depending on how sweet the berries are

Directions:
Mix the chopped strawberries with sugar and set aside to macerate for about 30 minutes.

Mix flour, confectioners' sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a bowl. Add the pieces of butter and, using a pastry blender or your hands, mix until it's a pale yellow and looks like coarse cornmeal. Line an 8x8 baking pan with a sheet of parchment. Press crust mixture into an even ¼-inch thick layer and about ½-inch up the sides. Chill in fridge for 30 minutes.

Blend the strawberries in a food processor (for a few seconds) or mash with a fork until there are no large chunks. Cook over medium heat for about 5-10 minutes until thickened. Set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 350F and bake crust for 20 minutes, until golden brown.

For filling: Whisk the eggs, sugar, flour and salt in a bowl until the sugar dissolves. Then whisk in the lime juice, zest, and milk.

Reduce the oven temp to 325F.

Pour the filling into the crust. Drop spoonfuls of the strawberry mixture on the surface. Use spoon or knife to swirl the strawberries through the filling.

Bake at 325F for about 20-22 minutes, or until the filling feels firm when touched lightly. Cool to room temperature, and dust with confectioners' sugar, if desired.