Last weekend I was entrusted with a very important task...to make some treats for a tea party. Now, I've been asked to make goodies before (at least once a week), but this time the event was very dear to my heart, my daughter's baby shower! Yes, I am going to be a first time grandma....a seriously young grandma :-), but a grandma nonetheless. These are very exciting times and as you can imagine, the treats had to be stellar....

Mama-to-be had a few treat requests, mostly involving chocolate. Those were easy for me. Chocolate and I are old friends. But I needed to add a something for the citrus lovers in the group and Lemon Bars seemed the logical choice. First though, I had to research.

The perfect lemon bar...sweet, lemon-y gooeyness on top of a buttery shortbread crust.

I searched the Internet for the perfect recipe. Sweet, but not cloying. Lemon-y, but not too tart. In the end, I mashed up a couple of best. One was Ina Garten's recipe and the other, Ree Drummond's recipe. The result? Perfection.

The BEST Lemon Bars

Lemon-y, sweet, gooey, and beautiful. These lemon bars are truly the best!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon zest
• 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup flour
• Powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.; spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and line with parchment paper.
2. Cream the butter and the sugar until light. Stir in the flour and salt until the mixture just comes together. Turn into the prepared pan and press the dough evenly on the bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crust is lightly browned. Cool.
3. While the crust cools, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour evenly over the cooled crust. Return to oven and bake for an additional 25-30 minutes, or until set. Cool completely. Generously dust with powdered sugar and cut into squares or triangle.

Next up...Pink or Blue? Reveal Cupcakes spill the beans!

Lemon-Buttermilk Cinnamon Rolls

It's been awhile since I've been on a cinnamon roll binge. There was a time when I was cranking out Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls, Banana Bread Cinnamon Rolls, Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls, Cranberry and Eggnog Cinnamon Rolls, Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls, Hot Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls, Cinnamon Roll Bread Pudding....I even posted regular, plain ol' Cinnamon Rolls. Then came a vacation from cinnamon rolls. Oh, there were other binges in the meantime...muffins, all things sweet potato, waffles....but nothing quite as satisfying or as fun as cinnamon rolls. Now, just when you thought you'd never see another cinnamon roll out of me, I've become obsessed once again.

It all started a couple of weeks ago when I made a batch of cinnamon rolls for work. They were such a success that I decided on another batch, this time swapping out the milk for buttermilk and the orange frosting for lemon. To. Die. For. Who knew that buttermilk could make such a difference?!

The beginning of a beautiful thing.....

Of course I didn't stop at Lemon-Buttermilk Cinnamon Rolls. No, I went one further. Blueberries. I added blueberries and created the best cinnamon rolls ever. At least until I come up with another combination....

Lemon-Buttermilk Cinnamon Rolls

Butter, sugar, cinnamon, more butter, more sugar...these cinnamon rolls may the the best ever!

Ingredients

• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 (.25 ounce) package instant yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
• 1 egg, room temperature, slightly beaten
• 3 1/4 cups to 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups fresh blueberries, optional
• Frosting:
• 2 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 tablespoon butter, softened
• 2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon peel
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Instructions

1. Heat the buttermilk, 1/4 cup butter, and 1/4 cup sugar in a small saucepan until the butter is melted and the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool until the temperature is between 110 and 120 degrees F. (bathwater warm).
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the milk mixture with the yeast, egg, 2 cups of the flour, and the salt. Beat well. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has just pulled together, turn it onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 7 minutes. (Alternately, just use the dough hook on your mixer and let the mixer knead the dough for about 5 minutes).
3. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, turning it once. Cover the bowl with a clean damp towel and allow the dough to rise in a draft-free area until it is doubled in size, about 1 hour. In the meantime, mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and softened butter in a small bowl.
4. Gently deflate the dough and let it rest for 5 minutes. Roll out the dough into a 12x9-inch rectangle. Spread the dough with the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Sprinkle the blueberries over the top, if desired.
5. Starting from the long end, roll up the dough and pinch the seam closed. Cut into 12 equal sized pieces and place into a greased 9x13-inch pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. While the rolls are rising, preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
6. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and frost while still warm.
7. For the frosting, beat the cream cheese and the butter in a medium bowl. Add the lemon peel and the lemon juice, blending until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar and beat to desired consistency, adding additional lemon juice if needed.

Blueberries are an easy addition.

Go ahead and double the frosting recipe if you like lots.

Perfection.....

What should my next flavor be?

I'll admit I haven't been posting with any regularity at all lately. This is largely due to the fact that I'm trying to lose weight and get into better shape. So, while I'm sure you all appreciate an occasional healthy recipe, I'm fairly certain it's the decadent ones that get the attention.

That said, I'm excited that plenty of gorgeous berries are back in the picture! They are so very healthy on their own and mixed into other good stuff, like yogurt and oatmeal.

As you can see, I like a little oatmeal with my fruit...

Awhile back, I found a recipe via Pinterest for a Blueberry-Buttermilk Breakfast Cake. It's perfect for a little weekend treat and I'm sure you could sub any kind of berry.  I've made it a couple of times...once with a little lemon glaze and once with a crunchy, sugary topping. They are both awesome! Not health food, by any means...but not horribly decadent, either. A beautiful compromise, yes? And I daresay, it's not just for breakfast...let's just call it a Tea Cake....

If you prefer, skip the icing and sprinkle a tablespoon of sugar over the batter before baking.

Blueberry-Lemon Tea Cake

Adapted from Alexandra's Kitchen

Swap the blueberries for raspberries or blackberries...anyway you like it, this cake is easy and addictive!

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups all purpose flour, divided
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.; spray a 9" square pan with cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, mix the sugar with the lemon zest until well-incorporated. Add the butter and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and the vanilla.
3. Whisk together 1 3/4 cups of the flour with the baking powder and the salt. Toss the blueberries with the remaining 1/4 cup flour and set aside.
4. Stir the flour mixture into the batter 1/3 at a time, alternating with the buttermilk. Fold in the blueberries.
5. Spread the batter into the pan. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes.
6. Mix together the powdered sugar and enough lemon juice to make a drizzling consistency. Drizzle over warm cake.

I loved the extra lemon-y flavor from the lemon icing.

Which berry would you use?

Lemon Poppy-Seed Pull-Apart Bread #Pillsbury #BakeOff

Yum

So, here's the thing. This is a fabulous recipe. Seriously. Flaky biscuits are dipped in butter, rolled in lemon-sugar and poppy seed, baked until the lemon-sugar is wonderfully caramelized, and topped with an incredible lemony cream cheese glaze. Not only that---it's easy! We are talking seven ingredient- only 20 minutes prep time-easy.

The most amazing thing about this recipe? It's a contender for the $1 Million grand prize in the 47th Pillsbury Bake-Off that will take place in Nashville, TN on November 3, 2014. If you've read my blog before, you know that this will be my third and final try at the Pillsbury Bake-Off. Shock and awe, right? More than that, I am humbled by the recipes this one will be competing with. That said, this is my favorite entry to date. See for yourself.

I was excited to see Watkins™ Poppy Seed on the list of  eligible ingredients...it adds such a nice little nutty crunch to things.

I used the buttermilk Grands! biscuits...but the original works, too. It's the flaky layers that make a great pull-apart....

The seven ingredients begin with a can of Pillsbury™ Grands!™ Flaky Layers refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (8 biscuits)....there isn't a complicated yeasty dough to made, raised, and measured.  The biscuits are separated to make 16 smaller biscuits. Each biscuit is then brushed with melted butter, dredged in a mixture of lemon zest, sugar, and poppy seed and carefully placed in a loaf pan that has been lined with parchment paper.

Parchment paper makes it easy to lift the loaf out of the pan.

The baked loaf is allowed to cool for just a few minutes before it is glazed with a mixture of butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and lemon juice. It's best served warm, but on the off chance there are leftovers, it is fine served at room temperature too. In fact, in order to prevent myself from eating a whole loaf in one sitting, I found that it also freezes well and the slices warm up quickly in the microwave or in a toaster oven.

This bread has it all...sweet, salty, tart, creamy, nutty, sticky...it is truly addicting!

Is it worth $1 Million? My fingers are crossed that it is!

Are you ready for the recipe? You can find it right here on Pillsbury's website. If you try it, let me know how you like it. In the meantime, I'll be preparing to have the time of my life at the 47th Pillsbury Bake-Off!

Okay...I admit it. They are the 7-Up Biscuits that have been all over the Internet for quite sometime. This is so not my original recipe but, frankly, I can't for the life of me figure out who to thank for these babies. As you will see, however, I did put a small spin on them.

A few simple ingredients and a few minutes is all it takes for awesome biscuits....

I am not a good biscuit maker. Canned biscuits have always been my friend. So what made me try my hand at biscuits? On a Thursday night? Why the monthly Improv challenge, of course. Sponsored by Kristen of Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker, the monthly Improv challenges us to take two assigned seasonal ingredients and make something wonderful. This month's theme? Lemon and Lime!

Lemon-Lime Biscuits

By Inspired by Several Internet Recipes
Published 05/16/2014

A few simple ingredients (including your favorite lemon-lime soda!) results in the best tasting biscuits ever!

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 2 cups baking mix (such as Bisquick)
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup lemon-lime soda
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel, optional
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lime peel, optional

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.; spread the melted butter in a 9" baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, cut the sour cream into the baking mix. Add the soda and the lemon and lime zest, and stir just until the mixture is combined (it will be sticky).
3. Generously flour a large sheet of parchment paper or a silicone mat. Scrape the dough onto the prepared surface and sprinkle with more flour. Gently roll out the dough. Make 9 biscuits, using a 2 3/4-inch biscuit cutter. Arrange the biscuits in the prepared pan. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden.

Yield: 9 Biscuits
Prep Time: 00 hrs. 10 mins.

Cook time: 00 hrs. 15 mins.
Total time: 25 mins.
Tags: biscuits, easy, bisquick, 7-Up, lemon, lime

The added lemon and lime zest brightens up the flavor...

Easily double the recipe and use a 9 x 13-inch pan, if desired.

It doesn't get much better.....

Check out what everyone else is making with Lemon and Lime:

An InLinkz Link-up

Sweet Pea Cupcakes with Carrot Cream Cheese Frosting

It's hard to believe that today was the first day of Spring....we actually had a below zero windchill going on in my neck of the woods. Luckily, it doesn't have to be dreary in the kitchen. How about some brightly colored cupcakes to lighten things up?

The third Thursday of each month happens to be an Improv reveal day. Improv is a blogger challenge hosted by Kristen of Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker. This month the flavors to work with are Peas and Carrots. Very Springlike, no?

I have to admit to being a little preoccupied with things other than cooking or baking this month, so when Kristen offered up the idea to use baby food--jars of pureed peas and carrots--I latched on to the idea. This has to be one of the quickest ideas I've come up with yet for our Improv challenge...and I feel a bit lazy with my ingredients. Honestly, though, once in a while there comes a need to use convenience foods...as long as they are doctored up a little.

Oh my gosh..it's been way too long since I bought these little jars...

Sweet Pea Cupcakes with Carrot-Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

1 box lemon flavored cake mix
1 jar (1/2 cup) pureed peas (baby food)
3 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon grated orange or lemon peel

Frosting:

4 oz cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
3 tablespoons pureed carrots (baby food)
1 tablespoon grated orange or lemon peel
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.; line a 24 cup muffin tin with liners.

In a large bowl, blend the cake mix, peas, eggs, buttermilk, and orange peel together until smooth, about 2 minutes. Divide the batter among the 24 cupcake liners and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the tops spring back when lightly touched.

For the frosting, beat the cream cheese, butter, carrots, vanilla, and orange peel together until smooth. Add enough of the powdered sugar to reach the consistency you like. Frost the cooled cupcakes. Sprinkle with cute stuff, if desired.

Don't do what I did and dump the entire jar of carrots in the bowl...duh! I ended up with way too much frosting, and it was so thin I ended up dipping the cupcakes in the bowl to frost them!

My thoughts? This was a lemon cupcake...no indication of peas, which is probably a good thing. I like to think that I made a box mix a little healthier by replacing the peas for the oil. The frosting was good, but there wasn't a huge amount of carrot flavor. I don't think 3 tablespoons of pureed carrot negated the fat and calories in the cream cheese, butter, and sugar, however. The consistency of the cupcake was that of a sponge cake and, all in all, I feel it was a success. Of course, I had to test it all out by eating 3 cupcakes in rapid succession.

Please do yourself a favor and check out what everyone else is making with Peas and Carrots!

Blue Moon Ice Cream

Holidays, such as July 4th, always make me a little nostalgic, so naturally I go looking for some childhood memories...mainly food. One of my favorite food memories involves an ice cream flavor that may be the dessert equivalent  of mystery meat. No Kidding. I googled this stuff and it's described as tasting like everything from pineapple to marshmallows to Fruit Loops. If you've ever lived in Michigan or Wisconsin, you will know this ice cream is called Blue Moon. If you grew up anywhere else, you probably won't know what I'm talking about....

Recently, a new soda fountain opened up in St. Paul. Of course, I had to check it out and, lo and behold, they sold Blue Moon ice cream. I hadn't tasted Blue Moon since I was about ten, so I asked for a taste. Holy Smokes! It was spot on! For the record, they described the taste as the milk left over from your bowl of Fruit Loops...not a bad comparison. I had to see what I could do to make it at home.

I found a few recipes on the Internet that looked promising. One in particular, from Food.com,  sounded like it might be right, so I started with that and put my own spin on it. 

Blue Moon Ice Cream

Printable Recipe

2 eggs

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon raspberry extract

1 teaspoon lemon extract

1 packet of Duncan Hines® Frosting Creations™ Cotton Candy Flavor Mix (or sub 1 tablespoon vanilla pudding mix)

1/2 teaspoon blue food coloring

1 1/2 cups whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

In a small bowl, beat together the eggs and the sugar with a hand mixer until thickened and lemon colored, about 2 minutes. Stir in the vanilla, raspberry, and lemon extracts, the flavor mix, and the food coloring; set aside.

 

I found the Cotton Candy flavored Frosting Creations at the store...it sounded like it might just fit in to this recipe. As a bonus, it's blue! Since I used eggs in this recipe though, it wasn't blue enough...it had a slight green tinge, so I still added some blue food coloring.

Place the milk and the cream in a medium sized saucepan. Heat over medium/low heat until the mixture just comes to a simmer. Slowly whisk the egg mixture into the hot cream and continue to heat until it comes to a boil, whisking constantly. Reduce the heat and simmer for another two minutes. Remove from heat and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Pour the chilled cream into an ice cream maker and churn according to directions, about 30 minutes.  If a firmer consistency is desired, transfer the ice cream into an airtight container and freeze for several hours.

Oh, yes! This is pretty darn close. Next time I'll try the vanilla pudding mix to see if there is a difference. 

What special food did you make for the 4th of July?

Blackberry-Lemon Muffins

Blackberry-Lemon Muffins

I was thinking of maybe having a "muffin Monday" segment on my blog, but (whoops!) it's Tuesday Wednesday. Does it count that I made them on Sunday? Really, who cares? These are terrific any day of the week and, since it is now just my husband and me at home, I like to bake up a batch to put in the freezer. While they are at their best warm from the oven, it's nice to be able to pull one out in the morning before work.

Who couldn't resist making blackberry muffins when presented with these beautiful berries?

Blackberry-Lemon Muffins

Printable Recipe

2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups fresh or frozen blackberries
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 (6 oz) container lemon Greek yogurt
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon peel
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon lemon extract

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.; line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt; fold in the blackberries and set aside.

Combine the egg, yogurt, buttermilk, lemon peel in a microwave safe bowl or measuring cup. Microwave for 20-30 seconds, until just warmed to room temperature. Stir in the melted butter.

Add the liquid mixture to the dry and gently mix together until just blended, being careful not to over mix. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups and sprinkle the remaining sugar over the tops.

Bake muffins for 18-20 minutes, or until the tops spring back when lightly touched. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

A cookie scoop makes it easy to distribute the batter.

If you prefer even more of a lemon flavor, omit the sugar topping and glaze the warm muffins with a mixture of powdered sugar and lemon juice.

You might see a pattern with my muffins...the addition of Greek yogurt and buttermilk. I like to use the flavored yogurts to compliment the flavor of the muffin, but you could sub plain. The buttermilk simply gives the muffins a great texture.

Blackberry-Lemon might just be my favorite combination so far, but don't think I'm finished with the whole muffin theme....there are a whole bunch of flavors whirling through my brain. I'm even thinking of some savory versions. What kinds of muffins do you like?