Three awesome holiday desserts

Yesterday was the perfect Saturday.  It was snowing, I had a fire going, and I baked all day.  I was making bite-sized desserts for a party, all recipes I have never tried before.  Some how they all turned out great.  I did a nut, a sour fruit, and the most deadly of chocolate.  I cut the bar and brownies into 2 inch squares and arranged everything on a big silver platter.  There was a little something for every palate.

Pecan Tassies
Recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

(Dough)

• 1/2 cup pecans
• 1/2 cup (4 ounces) cream cheese
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• Pinch of salt

(Filling)

• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make the dough: Process pecans in a food processor until finely ground (you should have about 1/3 cup); set aside. Put cream cheese and butter into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until well blended. Add flour, ground pecans, and salt; mix just until dough comes together.

Roll dough into sixteen 1-inch balls, and press into bottoms and up sides of cups of mini-muffin tins.  You may need to use some flour on your hands to stop it from sticking to you.  Keep tart shells in the fridge while making the filling.

Make the filling: Whisk the egg, sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, butter, and salt in a small bowl. Stir in pecans. Spoon about 1 1/2 teaspoons filling into each muffin cup.

Bake pecan tassies until crust begins to turn golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool completely in tins on wire rack. Unmold. Pecan tassies can be stored in single layers in airtight containers up to 3 days.

Lemon Bars

Recipe courtesy of Recipe Connoisseur

Ingredients:

(Crust)

• ½ pound unsalted butter, room temperature
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ⅛ tsp. salt

(Filling)

• 6 large eggs
• 3 cups sugar
• 2½ tablespoons grated lemon zest, packed
• 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 cup all-purpose flour

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy in electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Combine the flour and salt and with mixer on low, add to sugar mixture until just combined. Gather dough into a ball and press into a 9 X 13 inch pan, pressing the edges up the sides about a ½ inch. Chill in freezer for 15 minutes.
Bake the crust for 15-20 minutes, until edges start to brown. Let cool while making filling.
Whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for 30-35 minutes, until the filling is set. Cool to room temperature before slicing.

Flourless Dark Chocolate Brownies with Queen Mother Icing

Recipe courtesy of Yammie's Gluten Freedom

Ingredients:  

(Brownies)

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup special dark cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons instant coffee powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

(Queen Mother Ganache)

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 4 tsp instant coffee
• 16 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips (2 2/3 cups)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking pan. Combine the sugars and oil and beat until well combined. Add in the eggs and whisk together. Mix the vanilla and instant coffee together until the coffee powder is dissolved and add to the egg/sugar/oil mixture. Beat for about two minutes. Stir together the cocoa and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the batter and blend until smooth. Pour into prepared pan and bake about 20 minutes.

While the brownies are cooling, make the queen mother ganache.  Heat the cream in a sauce pan over medium heat until bubbles form around the edge.  Whisk in instant coffee until dissolved, then add in chocolate and whisk about 30 seconds.  Now remove from the heat and continue to whisk until ganache is completely smooth.  Pour ganache over brownies and put in the freezer for about a half hour.  You want them to be chilled and set enough to cut without the knife catching in the chocolate.  The brownies are really moist and crumbly, and the ganache becomes like fudge so it wants to stick on the knife.  While you are cutting, keep wiping off the knife of excess chocolate to get a clean cut.  

Coconut Banana Oatmeal Bars

I was feeling adventurous today... I took a simple bar recipe and made it into a delicious combination of natural sweetness with a butterscotch surprise.

So if you leave out the peanut butter and the butterscotch chips this recipe is crazy healthy- no added sugar, no gluten, no animal products. It's vegan, gluten-free, and sugar conscious. You can definitely add nuts, chocolate chips, any kind of seed or other fruit you want, a tbsp of molasses would make it darker and richer, I think the possibilities are endless. Next time I want to try baking it in a smaller pan so they come out thicker, because they don't rise they stay short and dense. It might be nice to have them thicker and crustier on the outside with a soft inside. Some sort of crusty top might be nice too, like coconut or oats on the top that will get toasted and brown. Hmmm...

Ingredients:

2 cups rolled oats
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1/3 cup raisins
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butterscotch chips

2 large, ripe bananas
2 apples, peeled and grated
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp peanut butter

Method:

Preheat oven to 350
Line a 9x9 pan with tin foil and brush foil lightly with canola oil
In one bowl combine all dry ingredients- 1st paragraph
In another bowl combine all wet ingredients- 2nd paragraph
Combine wet and dry and pour into pan
With a fork press the mixture flat into the pan
Bake for about 35 mins or until the bars are brown and toasted on the edges
Let sit for a few minutes- they do taste really good warm so you can eat them right away
Keep in tupperware in fridge because of the fruit

Sharing Recipes

I have been bookmarking recipes for a while now, but I can't bake them quick enough! I tend to like simple recipes that don't take too much time, too many weird ingredients, or have too many steps. Here are a few that I have been wanting to try:

1. Healthy-Delicious' Earl Grey Banana Bread

2. Mel's Kitchen Cafe Banana Bars

3. Joy The Baker's Honey Chamomile Cupcakes

Photo Credits: Healthy Delicious, Mel's Kitchen Cafe, Joy The Baker

Natalie's Killer Kitchen- Grammy's Yum Yums

Big props to Natalie of Natalie's Killer Kitchen (I love your blog) for these bars. I made the mistake of cutting these while they were still warm so they gooed all over the counter, but eventually they set up nicely. You can sub any other kind of nut you want- I think I used slivered almonds.

yield: 12 bars

1 1/4 cup AP Flour
4 TBS Brown Sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) Butter, melted
2 Eggs
1 1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup Pecans

prepare a 10 x 10 baking pan
preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Mix first three ingredients in a bowl with your hands. Press evenly into prepared pan and reserve 1/2 cup of the dough for topping.
2. Whisk eggs, brown sugar and vanilla in a bowl until smooth and frothy. Should be light in color. Add pecans and stir to mix.
3. Pour mixture over unbaked crust. Sprinkle with remaining crust.
4. Bake for 25-30 minutes (30 only if your oven is known to be a slow baker). Cool all the way before cutting into squares.

Photo Credit: Natalie's Killer Kitchen

Cranberry Oatmeal Bars

My mom and I made these from Natalie's Killer Kitchen for my mom's school. When we made the crust we doubled the crumble part of the recipe to cover the top of the bars- the original recipe didn't make enough to cover the top. But when we baked them the filling absorbed all of the top crumb so next time we will try to stick the original recipe and let the top be a little naked.

Crust

1 cup AP Flour
1 cup Quick Cooking Oats
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
6 TBS Butter, melted
3 TBS Orange Juice

Filling

1 1/2 cup Dried Cranberries
3/4 cup Sour Cream (I used light)
1/2 cup Sugar
3 TBS AP Flour
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 tsp Orange Zest
1 egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

1. Combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, baking soda, in a large bowl and combine with a spoon until clump free and evenly mixed. Add the butter and orange juice and mix with a spoon until fully combined. Press half of the crust mixture into a prepared 11×7 inch baking dish.
2. In a separate bowl add the cranberries, sour cream, sugar, flour, orange zest and egg. Mix until fully combined. Spread cranberry mixture over prepared crust; sprinkle reserved oat mixture evenly over filling. Bake for 40 minutes, or until edges are golden. Cool completely before cutting.

Photo Credit: Natalie's Killer Kitchen