Refreshing Lemon Bars

My mom loves lemon and asked for me to make a lemon dessert for an outdoor party she was having.
This is excellent. Refreshing and light this will be a huge hit at any party.
Recipe courtesy of Ina Garten.
Ingredients
For the crust:
1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups 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 (4 to 6 lemons)
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup flour
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
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 it into a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking sheet, building up a 1/2-inch edge on all sides. Chill.
Bake the crust for 15 to 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 the crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature.
Cut into triangles and dust with confectioners' sugar

Glazed Lemon Cookies

I have never been a big fan of lemon. Once I made Martha Stewart's lemon cookies my mind, and my taste buds were changed.

This is another great light summer treat!

This recipe makes 24 tasty cookies.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest, plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Lemon Glaze recipe follows.....
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg, vanilla, and lemon juice and beat until combined. With mixer on low, beat in flour mixture.
Drop dough by heaping tablespoons, 1 inch apart, onto two baking sheets. Bake until edges are golden, 15 to 20 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Let cool 2 minutes on sheets, then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Spread cookies with Lemon Glaze and let set, about 1 hour.

Lemon Glaze
2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
Directions
In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 cups confectioners' sugar, 2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest, and 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice until smooth.

White Chocolate Bark

This is a variation of the bark I posted earlier.

This is my husband's favorite.

I saw it on Barefoot Contessa and had to try it.

It is perfect for a holiday party or any occasion.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup walnuts
16 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup medium-diced apricots

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Using a pencil, draw an 8 by 10-inch

rectangle on a piece of parchment paper placed on a sheet pan.

Turn the parchment paper over so the pencil mark doesn't get into the chocolate.

Place the walnuts in 1 layer on another sheet pan and bake for 8 minutes.

Set aside to cool and then chop roughly into large pieces.

Place 3/4 of the chocolate in a glass bowl and place it in the microwave

on high power for 30 seconds. Stir with a rubber spatula.

Put it back in the microwave for another 30 seconds and stir again.

Continue to heat and stir every 30 seconds until the chocolate is just melted.

Immediately, add the remaining chocolate and allow it to sit at room

temperature, stirring often, until it's completely smooth.

(If you need to heat it a little more, place it in the microwave

for another 15 seconds at a time.)

Pour the melted chocolate onto the parchment paper and spread

it lightly into the drawn rectangle. Sprinkle the top evenly with the

cooled walnuts, the cranberries and apricots.

Set aside for at least 2 hours until firm, or refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Cut the bark in 16 pieces and serve at room temperature.

Peppermint Bark

Around the holidays I always saw bark at William Sonoma and other stores for ridiculous amounts of money.
I never realized how easy this is to make.


I made both white and dark chocolate, the recipe is the same,
just substitute what chocolate you like.
picture courtesy Food Network
Peppermint Bark

2 14 oz bag semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
8 candy canes crushed to 1/4 inch pieces





Melt chocolate on the stove top. Mix in candy canes and peppermint extract.
Spread mixture on baking sheet lined with wax paper. But baking sheet in
refrigerator and let harden for 45 min. Let sit at room temperature 10-15
minutes before serving.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

I love pumpkin, had some leftover, and wanted to make something easy and tasty. I also love chocolate so I decided to mix the two together in a muffin. I got the recipe from allrecipes.com and just changed things up a little bit.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease and flour muffin pan or use paper liners.
Mix sugar, oil, eggs. Add pumpkin and water. In separate bowl mix together the baking flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices and salt.. Add wet mixture and stir in chocolate chips.
Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes

The BEST Pumpkin Bars EVER!

I must say I love pumpkin. I made these for a work breakfast and I had many people say they were the best thing they have ever eaten. I found this recipe on Food Network courtesy of Paula Deen.

Ingredients
Bars:
4 eggs
1 2/3 cups sugar
1 cup veg oil
15-ounce can pumpkin
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon bakind soda
photo courtesy of food network
Icing:
8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy. Stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth. Spread the batter into a greased 13 by 10-inch baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting. Cut into bars.
To make the icing: Combine the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the sugar and mix at low speed until combined. Stir in the vanilla and mix again. Spread on cooled pumpkin bars

Key Lime Pie

Key lime pie is my absolute favorite dessert. Especially in summer. It is refreshing and won't ruin your diet. This is my version of key lime pie using chocolate crust. It's a great spin on traditional key lime pie. I use a store bought chocolate pie crust, but you can make your own oreo one. (image courtesy of prweb.com)

Ingredients:

• 9" chocolate Oreo pie crust
  
• 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk
• 3 egg yolks (whites not used)
• ½ cup Key Lime Juice

Preparation:

Combine milk, egg yolks and lime juice. Blend until smooth. Pour filling into pie crust and bake at 350� for 15 minutes. Allow to stand 10 minutes before refrigerating. Just before serving, top with freshly whipped cream, and garnish with lime slices.