Strawberry Crumb Bars

Quite possibly, one of my favorite things about summer is all of the beautiful, fresh fruit available for my eating and baking pleasure. I like to pretend that it makes up for the sweltering heat we suffer through every year in North Carolina...

So, as I perused the produce section at the grocery store last week, I was delighted to notice that strawberries were on sale! I simply couldn't resist buying as many as I thought I could fit in our refrigerator. I absolutely love strawberries, and could (shamefully) sit down and eat a pound of them all by myself. However, I happen to be the only one in my house that loves them, so I had to find a good use for them before they went to waste.

After searching recipe books, websites, and blogs I stumbled upon a strawberry crumb bar recipe, courtesy of Can You Stay For Dinner.

strawberry crumb bars

Don't they look amazing?! Honestly, they taste even better than they look. This is a perfectly refreshing treat that can be served as a dessert or enjoyed in the morning with a nice cup of coffee. I imagine it would be equally delicious with many other types of fruit: blueberries, peaches, etc. I hope you try it, and enjoy it as much as I did! Happy baking!!

Ingredients:

1 2/3 c sugar, divided

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

3 c AP flour

1 c butter, cold and diced into small pieces

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/4 tsp salt

Juice and zest of one lemon

5 c chopped fresh strawberries

1 tbs plus 2 tsp cornstarch

Preheat oven to 375 and line a 13x9 inch baking pan with aluminum foil, allowing for an overhang so that you can remove the bars easily from the pan. Coat foil with nonstick cooking spray.

Whisk 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, 3 cups flour, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest together in a large bowl. Use a fork to blend in the cold butter and egg. Once blended, the dough should be crumbly. Pat approximately half of the dough into your prepared pan.

In a separate bowl, stir together the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, lemon juice, strawberries, and cornstarch. Evenly spread the strawberry mixture over the crust. Then crumble the remaining dough over the berry layer.

Bake for 45 minutes, or until golden brown. Let the bars cool completely in the pan before cutting into squares.

Cookie Dough Brownies

I recently realized that we had a package of brownie mix sitting in our pantry, just begging to be used. Since we don't usually keep sweets in our house for no good reason I was perplexed when I stumbled upon them, but decided to take it as an opportunity to experiment!

I began flipping through my trusty recipe box and found a cookie dough truffle recipe I had tried sometime last year. I thought to myself, I love cookie dough, and I love brownies, so why not?! I simply took the cookie dough recipe from the truffles and decided to make a sort of "filling" for the brownies. For the top chocolate layer I would typically use Baker's chocolate, but I had half a bag of mini chocolate chips leftover and it just made sense to use those instead. They worked perfectly.

My brother, sister, and brother-in-law kindly indulged me in taking on the jobs of taste testers, and they gave the brownies RAVE reviews! My husband even had a few bars, which is a big deal for those of you that know him... and his complete lack of a sweet tooth! :-) Enjoy and happy baking!

Ingredients:

1 pkg fudge brownies

1 c butter, softened

1 c packed brown sugar

4 tbs milk

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 c white sugar

2 c AP flour

2 c mini chocolate chips, divided

1 tbs Crisco

Begin by baking the brownies in a 13x9 inch dish according to the directions on the package. Once they are done baking, allow them to cool completely before moving on to the next step. If I'm really in a hurry, it helps to put them in the refrigerator or freezer for just a few minutes.

For the cookie dough filling, combine the butter, brown sugar, white sugar, milk, and vanilla together in a large bowl. Cream these 5 ingredients together, add the flour, and stir to combine. Once the flour is fully incorporated into the batter, add 1 cup of the mini chocolate chips and stir to combine them evenly into the batter. Spread the cookie dough mixture onto the cooled brownies and chill for 15 minutes.

For the chocolate topping, melt the remaining 1 cup mini chocolate chips with 1 tablespoon Crisco. If you're like me, you cringe at the very idea of using Crisco, but it will help keep the chocolate shiny and pretty! Try heating them together in the microwave for 30 seconds and then stir. If the chips don't melt together when stirred, continue heating in the microwave at 15 second increments. Once melted, spread over the cookie dough and chill until set. Then cut into bars and enjoy!

Happy Independence Day!

I hope everyone had a happy and safe Fourth of July! Jason and I spent the holiday weekend visiting my family in Charlotte. It was such a treat to have everyone together for a long weekend of fun and celebration. First on the agenda was a visit to Mom's house where we enjoyed a delicious dinner on Friday evening, followed by a Saturday afternoon filled with lunch, shopping for fabric, and (my personal favorite) polishing some of mom's beautiful silver serving pieces! She has acquired quite a large collection over the years, and every time we get her silver out I fall in love with a new piece. =)

We spent the rest of the weekend at Dad & Jackie's house. On the agenda: Saturday evening cocktails at Selwyn Pub with the siblings and spouses, a Sunday afternoon belly flop contest for the men (yes, you read that right), followed by a yummy cookout courtesy of my Dad and Step mom, and then on to the National Whitewater Center for lunch and rafting on Monday. The whitewater center was REALLY neat (its where the US kayak/canoe Olympic teams train) and I can't wait to go back. Jason and I are dying try out their canopy tour! 

It was a fun-filled weekend and wouldn't have been complete without trying a new dessert recipe! I decided to make a Key Lime Pound Cake, and was quite pleased with how it turned out. I've posted the recipe below, along with some photos from the weekend!

bon bon spoon - my new favorite!

Me and Jason at Selywn Pub

my Sunday tanning and napping locale...

until I was interrupted by the boys =)

my brother-in-law, belly flopping

Key Lime Pound Cake - this cake is lovely and refreshing, and a great summer dessert option! It was just a little bit sweet, a little bit tart, but very velvety and super yummy. The only thing that disappointed me was finding that most of the glaze dripped onto the cake plate. I will probably make this cake again, and just play with different ways to ice it, so as to not lose most of the glaze. Enjoy and happy baking!

Cake Ingredients:
1 c butter, softened
1/2 c shortening
3 c sugar
6 large eggs
3 c all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1 c milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lime zest
1/4 c fresh key lime juice

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, beat the butter and shortening together until creamy. Then, gradually add sugar (beating at medium speed) until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until just blended together after each addition.

In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternately with the milk. Be sure to begin and end with the flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Then, stir in the vanilla, lime zest, and key lime juice. Pour the batter into a greased and floured bundt cake pan, and smooth the top with a spatula.

Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. *I checked on the cake at 1 hour and then every 10 minutes afterwards until it was done* Cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 15 minutes, then remove the cake from the pan to a wire rack or cake stand.

Prepare key lime glaze (recipe below) and immediately drizzle over the top and sides of cake. Cool completely.

Glaze Ingredients:
1 c powdered sugar
2 tbs key lime juice
1/2 tsp vanilla

Whisk all 3 ingredients together in a small bowl, and use immediately.

key limes, so much smaller than I expected!

ready for the oven

glazed and ready to eat