Category: Dessert

Recipes for desserts.

Categories
Dessert

We now know for whom the pie shell tolls

Toll House chocolate chip cookie pie is a rich dessert based on the classic cookie, with a chewy filling, crunchy walnuts and pops of sweet chocolate.
Toll House chocolate chip cookie pie is a rich dessert based on the classic cookie, with a chewy filling, crunchy walnuts and pops of sweet chocolate.

It turns out, chocolate chip cookies are a much newer invention than I would have thought.

An article on the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library website notes that the famous cookies were first invented in 1938 by Ruth Wakefield.

Wakefield and her husband, Kenneth, ran the Toll House Restaurant in Massachusetts, hence the enduring “Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie” name.

There’s apparently plenty of debate surrounding the true lore of how Wakefield managed to create them, but that’s kind of how all of the stories of famous recipes seem to play out.

Regardless, her invention has become such a part of culture that most of us probably don’t even think about them having an origin. The only reason I looked into it was because I wondered where this week’s recipe for a Toll House chocolate chip cookie pie originally came from and stumbled on the history of the cookie. It makes for good reading along with a slice of pie.

The version of this recipe I tried comes from the blog, “A Family Feast” by Jack and Martha Pesa. You can find the original post at https://www.afamilyfeast.com/toll-house-chocolate-chip-pie/. I added vanilla and whipped cream to my version.

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Toll House Chocolate Chip Pie

Toll House chocolate chip cookie pie is a rich dessert based on the classic cookie, with a chewy filling, crunchy walnuts and pops of sweet chocolate.
Course Dessert
Keyword brown sugar, chocolate chip cookie pie, chocolate chips, cookie pie, semisweet chocolate chips, Toll House cookies, vanilla, walnuts, whipped cream

Ingredients

  • 1 pie crust
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup butter room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips plus a few for decorating
  • 1 cup walnuts chopped
  • about 2 cups whipped cream

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
  • Roll out your pie crust and place it in a deep, nine-inch pie plate. Crimp the edges to your liking and set it aside.
  • In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs for about two minutes or until they are light yellow.
  • Beat in the flour, sugar and brown sugar, and then beat in the butter and vanilla until the batter is smooth.
  • Fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts, and spread the batter into your pie crust.
  • Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.
  • Let the pie cool completely and top with whipped cream and some extra chocolate chips.

When my pie came out of the oven, I didn’t think the top was very pretty, which is why I decided to slather it in whipped cream and chocolate chips. It gave it a real visual wow factor, and the flavors were great together.

This is also a great recipe for a beginning pie baker to try. It’s really easy to put together, and it’s easy to tell when it’s done.

It’s also a great way to enjoy a classic, 85-year-old recipe in a slightly different way. The only drawback is that you probably can’t dip this into a glass of milk, but I won’t fault you for trying.

This piece first appeared in print on Dec. 7, 2023.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Breakfast Dessert

Breakfast bars are ‘apple’utely great for a morning treat

Apple crisp breakfast bars are not overly sweet. The warm cinnamon flavor, along with the nuttiness of oats, makes these a fabulous morning treat with a hot cup of tea.
Apple crisp breakfast bars are not overly sweet. The warm cinnamon flavor, along with the nuttiness of oats, makes these a fabulous morning treat with a hot cup of tea.

Recently, I had the chance to meet one of our readers from Hesston.

We had a fairly short (but very pleasant) conversation, and before I left, he gestured to a bag on his kitchen counter.

“Do you like apples?” he asked me.

And that’s how I became the excited owner of four huge, beautiful golden delicious apples. He said he bought an entire case of them recently and had been working through them, little by little. I was happy to take these off his hands.

I was very tempted to just eat all of them, but instead, I felt like the gift deserved a spot in a new recipe, and after searching for an apple recipe that used sweet apples instead of tart, I landed on the one I’m sharing with you this week.

The recipe I tried comes from the blog “Healthy Family Project” by Amanda Keefer. You can find the original post at https://healthyfamilyproject.com/recipes/apple-crisp-breakfast-bars/. I added extra maple syrup and cinnamon in my version.

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Apple Crisp Breakfast Bars

Apple crisp breakfast bars are not overly sweet. The warm cinnamon flavor, along with the nuttiness of oats, makes these a fabulous morning treat with a hot cup of tea.
Course Breakfast, Dessert
Keyword apples, breakfast bars, cinnamon, Golden delicious apples, maple syrup, quick oats, sweet apples

Ingredients

  • 1 cup quick oats
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup and 4 tablespoons maple syrup divided
  • 4 tablespoons butter room temperature
  • 4 teaspoons cinnamon divided
  • 1 egg
  • 2 sweet apples I used golden delicious, diced
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare an eight-by-eight-inch baking pan by lining it with parchment paper, and set it aside.
  • In a bowl, mix the oats, flour, salt, one-fourth cup maple syrup, butter and two teaspoons cinnamon, and mix until everything is well combined and the texture resembles coarse crumbs.
  • Set aside one-half cup of the mixture.
  • In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg with a fork, and then pour it into the remaining crumb mixture, stirring to incorporate it completely. Spread the dough into the prepared baking dish into an even layer.
  • In another bowl, mix the apples, remaining maple syrup, remaining cinnamon and cornstarch until the apples are well-coated.
  • Spread the apple mixture evenly over the dough in the pan, and then top it with the oat mixture you set aside, crumbling it evenly over the top. (It won’t completely cover it; just get it evenly over the entire thing.)
  • Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until the topping is golden brown and the apples are fork tender.
  • Let the bars cool completely before slicing them into squares.
  • Store the bars in an airtight container.

These are not overtly sweet, even with the extra maple syrup I added in my version. They truly are a great breakfast bar, even though you could totally get away with sharing them as a dessert, too.

I ended up doubling my batch of these bars and sharing them as part of a brunch with friends. It’s an incredibly easy recipe to double.

It was nice to be able to take a simple gift and turn it into another gift for others. (I’m sure there’s a small-town metaphor in there somewhere.)

And it was a doubly sweet experience to have a nice conversation on a cold afternoon. Thanks again, Harvey; I hope we will chat again one day.

This piece first appeared in print on Nov. 9, 2023.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Cookies Dessert

Try a cookie recipe that is a piece of cake

Spice cake cookies are made very simply with a cake mix and a couple other ingredients. These are a great recipe when you need to bake something in a hurry.
Spice cake cookies are made very simply with a cake mix and a couple other ingredients. These are a great recipe when you need to bake something in a hurry.

For a recent get-together at our office, I decided I wanted my snack table to look ready for fall.

I set up a mini scarecrow, laid a garland of orange and red leaves along the back of the table and sprinkled candy corn strategically around the plates of goodies.

To compliment the look of fall, I decided it was time for some fall spices, too, but I had almost zero time leading up to the event to do a lot of baking.

Thank goodness for this week’s recipe, then, that let me use a cake mix and a few other ingredients to create some yummy cookies to share with our crew.

The recipe comes from the blog “Sizzling Eats” by Amy Desrosiers. You can find the original post at https://www.sizzlingeats.com/spice-cake-mix-cookies/. I did not add anything this one, because it was so easy. I did, however, roll my cookies much smaller than the original directions, which resulted in small, crispy cookies rather than big, soft ones. I made sure to note both options below.

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Spice Cake Cookies

Spice cake cookies are made very simply with a cake mix and a couple other ingredients. These are a great recipe when you need to bake something in a hurry.
Course Dessert
Keyword cake mix, easy cookies, fall dessert, fall spices, spice cake

Ingredients

  • 15.2- ounce spice cake mix
  • 1/2 cup oil vegetable or canola
  • 2 eggs
  • 3-4 tablespoons sugar

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, and line a couple cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  • In a mixing bowl, beat the cake mix, oil and eggs until everything is well combined.
  • Pour the sugar in a separate, small bowl.
  • Roll the cookies into about golf-ball-sized balls for larger, soft cookies or about one-inch balls for small, crispy cookies, and roll them in the bowl of sugar to lightly coat each.
  • Place the balls one to two inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets.
  • Bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until the cookies are lightly browned and set. Let them cool a bit before transferring them to an airtight container.

This made a ton of cookies, especially with making them a bit smaller, and they were perfect for everyone to have a few on their snack plates while they chatted and nibbled.

I do think you could still get a soft cookie out of the smaller option, but you’d want to under-bake them a bit to make sure they stay more pliable. I want to try these again sometime with the soft option—I’m a sucker for chewy cookies.

I was really happy with how these turned out, and I was especially excited to have cookies with a hint of cinnamon and clove sitting on the snack table. No matter how many mini scarecrows or candy pumpkins you have, it’s just not really fall until the right spices make their debut.

This piece first appeared in print on Oct. 26, 2023.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Cookies Dessert

Chewy cookies can be a real ‘raspberry’ in blue

Raspberry white chocolate cookies feature fresh raspberries in a soft, chewy cookie, with plenty of white chocolate chips to take these to a whole new level of delicious.
Raspberry white chocolate cookies feature fresh raspberries in a soft, chewy cookie, with plenty of white chocolate chips to take these to a whole new level of delicious.

“They have some gross cookies over here,” a gentleman said into his cell phone at a Hesston event we held this weekend, making sure to say it just loud enough for me to hear.

Luckily, he was joking. Or at least I think he was.

The cookies, made with lots of fresh raspberries ended up with a little bit of a strange, green-blue hue from the fruit juice spreading throughout the dough, and he teased that I was trying to give away moldy cookies. I guess that’s what I get for using fresh fruit instead of buying something fake or freeze-dried.

But, darn it, they were far from gross. Instead, they were downright delicious, and I ended up being very happy I doubled the recipe, since my first Tupperware container emptied out extremely quickly. Plus, doubling let me use a full bag of white chocolate chips and a full 12-ounce container of raspberries. I always appreciate not having random bits and pieces of ingredients sitting around after trying a new recipe.

If you want to give these “gross” cookies a try, the recipe comes from the blog “Erhardt Seat” by Caitlyn Erhardt. You can find the original at https://erhardtseat.com/raspberry-white-chocolate-cookies/. I doubled the vanilla, added a few extra chocolate chips and added some salt in my version.

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Raspberry White Chocolate Cookies

Raspberry white chocolate cookies feature fresh raspberries in a soft, chewy cookie, with plenty of white chocolate chips to take these to a whole new level of delicious.
Course Dessert
Keyword brown sugar, fresh raspberries, raspberry, soft cookies, vanilla, white chocolate chips

Ingredients

  • 8 tablespoons butter room temperature
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 egg
  • 1 3/4 cup flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup white chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup raspberries chopped

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a couple baking sheets by spraying them with cooking spray or lining them with parchment paper.
  • In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugars until the mixture is light and fluffy.
  • Beat in the vanilla and egg until they are well combined.
  • Beat in the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Once the dough is smooth, carefully fold in the white chocolate chips and raspberries, trying not to squish them too much.
  • Using a one- to one-and-one-half-inch cookie scoop, scoop the dough into about ping-pong-ball-sized mounds onto the prepared cookie sheets, placing them about two inches apart.
  • Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until the tops of the cookies are starting to turn golden brown. Let the cookies cool almost completely before storing them in an airtight container.

Like I said, these were fantastic. Joey hates raspberries as a general rule, and even he really enjoyed these. The fruit and the white chocolate paired great together, and the cookies were soft and chewy, just how I like them.

I suppose another benefit, if you want to keep these all to yourself, is if yours turn a little bluish, too, you can just sadly tell your family how disappointed you are that the cookies went bad, and you’ll have to dispose of them before anyone accidentally eats one.

I won’t spoil your secret, but there is a guy in Hesston who might.

This piece first appeared in print on Oct. 12, 2023.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Dessert

There is no point(s) to this easy ‘cheesecake’

Zero-point cheesecake is a low-sugar, low-calorie dessert that can satisfy your sweet tooth even if you’re trying to stick to a healthy diet.
Zero-point cheesecake is a low-sugar, low-calorie dessert that can satisfy your sweet tooth even if you’re trying to stick to a healthy diet.

Although I have never joined an official weight loss program—tracking points, writing down my calorie counts and eating only pre-portioned foods delivered to my door—I have always been fascinated how they work for so many people to slim down.

For me, when working on trying to eat healthier, I normally just follow the rules of “eat more veggies” and “eat less sugar.”

But I am definitely addicted to sweets, and it’s a struggle some days to keep myself from indulging—especially since I know how to bake, and my pantry is well-stocked with supplies.

This week, though, I took a page out of the weight loss program handbook and tried a “zero-point” dessert, which for those unfamiliar, means that a person on Weight Watchers could eat it with no penalties on their diet for the day. It’s low fat, low sugar and low calorie.

The recipe I tried comes from the blog, “Our Wabi Sabi Life.” You can find the original post at https://ourwabisabilife.com/0-point-weight-watchers-cheesecake/. I chose to add some fruit to our cheesecake, doubled the vanilla, and I substituted the cheesecake-flavored pudding mix for a vanilla one, because my local grocery store didn’t have it.

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Zero-point Cheesecake

Zero-point cheesecake is a low-sugar, low-calorie dessert that can satisfy your sweet tooth even if you’re trying to stick to a healthy diet.
Course Dessert
Keyword cheesecake, diet dessert, eggs, instant pudding, low-calorie, low-fat, low-sugar, non-fat Greek yogurt, Splenda, sugar substitute, vanilla, Weight Watchers

Ingredients

  • 3 eggs
  • 3 tablespoons sugar substitute
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 3 cups plain fat-free Greek yogurt
  • 3.4 to 3.9 ounce box instant sugar-free pudding (cheesecake flavor or just your favorite)

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a glass pie dish by lightly greasing it with butter or margarine.
  • In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar substitute and vanilla extract until everything is combined well.
  • Beat in the yogurt and pudding mix, and once the mixture is smooth, pour it into your prepared dish.
  • Bake for 30 minutes. Once the cheesecake cools enough to handle it, place it in the refrigerator for at least two hours or overnight.
  • Serve with fresh fruit. Store leftovers in the refrigerator in an air-tight container.

This was decently good. I would not say that it was a perfect substitute for full-fat cheesecake, although it might have been a bit closer in flavor if I would have had access to cheesecake-flavored pudding.

That being said, it was a bit like a custard texture, and especially with some fresh cherries I had in my freezer from this summer, it was a nice, guilt-free option. It would also be a nice option for people who are low-sugar.

I wondered if it would be good with a lemon or chocolate pudding mix, too, or even with a fat-free Greek yogurt with some flavoring to it. The possibilities are vast.

I still don’t think I want to jump into a structured diet plan, but it’s nice to have some recipes in my repertoire for those times when depending on my own willpower isn’t hacking it.

And, yeah, I know there’s irony in the fact that I’ll probably share something high-calorie, high-fat and delicious with you in this space again very soon. Sometimes you just have to live a little.

This piece first appeared in print on Oct. 5, 2023.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Dessert Snack

It’s good to have a fallback recipe for whatever pops up

Popcorn balls are simple to make and easy to customize with tons of sweet or salty mix ins.
Popcorn balls are simple to make and easy to customize with tons of sweet or salty mix ins.

On a recent free evening, Joey and I decided to watch a movie together, and I wanted popcorn.

Of course, I couldn’t just toss a bag of microwave popcorn in to cook; I needed to make the real stuff on my stovetop.

I melted a spoonful of coconut oil in a pot and waited for it to be nice and hot, testing it with a couple kernels, just like you’re supposed to.

But then it came time to add the rest of the kernels, and honestly, I couldn’t remember how many to dump in. After a bit of time thumbing through my mental Rolodex, I somehow determined that popcorn kernels were measured out like rice, and I dumped a full cup of kernels into the pot, figuring I would make about two cups of finished popcorn.

I added the lid and waited. Soon, my popcorn was popping.

And then it kept popping.

And popping.

It wasn’t long before the lid started lifting off my pot, and I realized the error of my ways.

Joey walked into the kitchen just in time to see me frantically scooping popcorn into several bowls on the counter while more popcorn flew out onto the floor and our schnauzer, K.C., excitedly performed clean up duties. It was a bit crazy, and the aftermath left me with a ton of popped kernels.

So, with that in mind, I decided to opt for a great recipe for leftover popcorn: popcorn balls.

The recipe I used is from Martha Stewart’s website. You can find the original post at https://www.marthastewart.com/339167/popcorn-balls. I simplified the mix-ins a bit.

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Popcorn Balls

Popcorn balls are simple to make and easy to customize with tons of sweet or salty mix ins.
Course Dessert, Snack
Keyword brown sugar, Halloween treat, honey roasted peanuts, mini marshmallows, popcorn, popcorn ball

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup stick butter plus more for your hands
  • 10 ounces mini marshmallows
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 10 to 12 cups popped popcorn
  • 1 cup nuts dried fruit and/or baking chips

Instructions

  • Spread a large piece of waxed paper or parchment paper on your workspace.
  • In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, melt the butter over low heat. Once the butter is melted, stir in the marshmallows and brown sugar, and continue stirring until it’s all melted.
  • Remove the pot from the heat.
  • Add the popcorn and whatever mix ins you want to add, and stir well.
  • Butter your hands, and then shape the mixture into about two- or three-inch balls. Lightly press them together so they stick, but be careful not to crush the popcorn.
  • Place the balls on the waxed paper to cool. Either individually wrap the popcorn balls or store in an airtight container.

I really liked these, and the nice thing about making your own popcorn balls is you can make them whatever size you want for snacking.

I ended up using some honey roasted peanuts I already had in the pantry, and it was delicious.

Plus, I managed to get rid of all of the extra popcorn on my counter. Despite eating a nice, large bowl during our movie night and receiving lots of gracious help from K.C., there was no way I was going to get through all of it on my own.

The next time I decide to make popcorn, I’ll actually look up the measurements so I don’t end up in a cartoon-like situation again. But at least now I know what to do with the extra.

This piece first appeared in print on Sept. 21, 2023.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Cookies Dessert

‘Soy’ vey: These cookies were quite the weird experiment

These soy sauce chocolate chip cookies don’t look pretty, but they are tasty, sweet and chewy and don’t taste like soy sauce one bit.
These soy sauce chocolate chip cookies don’t look pretty, but they are tasty, sweet and chewy and don’t taste like soy sauce one bit.

“Well, these are a disaster,” I told Joey, pulling my baking sheet out of the oven. “I guess they won’t be going in the column.”

Earlier in the week, I was excited to try a recipe I ran across that used soy sauce in chocolate chip cookies. It sounded just weird enough that I had to see what they tasted like.

But then, catastrophe struck. I’m assuming I softened my butter a bit too much, because these cookies spread out like crazy, and I was bummed that the recipe was a total fail.

But then I tried one. And another one. And, dear reader, I must admit, several more, and they were, well…good.

They were thin, yes, and the chocolate chips kind of just hung out in the middles instead of spreading throughout the cookies, but they were tasty, and the texture was soft and chewy.

I was also delighted to find that they didn’t taste like soy sauce at all.

This recipe, aptly enough, comes from the Kikkoman website. You can find the original at https://kikkomanusa.com/homecooks/recipes/soy-sauce-chocolate-chip-cookies/. I doubled the vanilla in my version and increased the chocolate chips a bit.

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Soy Sauce Chocolate Chip Cookies

These soy sauce chocolate chip cookies don’t look pretty, but they are tasty, sweet and chewy and don’t taste like soy sauce one bit.
Course Dessert, Main Course
Keyword chocolate chips, sea salt, semisweet chocolate chips, soy sauce, vanilla

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce I used low-sodium
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1/4-1/2 teaspoon coarse or flaky salt

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • Prepare two baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper, and set them aside.
  • In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy.
  • Beat in the soy sauce, vanilla and eggs. Finally, beat in the flour and baking soda.
  • When everything is well combined, fold in the chocolate chips.
  • Place the bowl in the freezer for 15 minutes.
  • Spoon out the dough onto the prepared baking sheets in rounded tablespoon scoops, leaving about two inches between them.
  • Bake for 12 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are browned. While they are still hot, sprinkle the cookies lightly with salt. Let them cool before transferring them to an airtight container.

Like I said, despite the weird secret ingredient, these were just darn good chocolate cookies. Honestly, I’m not sure why they spread out so badly for me—especially since I chilled my dough as directed.

But it ended up being a happy accident. Honestly, the fact that the cookies were thinner probably helped with the chewy texture.

“These are going into the column after all,” I told Joey through a large bite of cookie.

He just nodded.

He’s used to my strange kitchen shenanigans. Besides, he’s too polite to talk with his mouth full.

This piece first appeared in print on Aug. 31, 2023.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Dessert

You’ll have strong ‘peelings’ for lemon blueberry bars

Lemon blueberry crumb bars are made with fresh fruit and use a cake mix as a base, making them flavorful and sweet while coming together quickly and easily.
Lemon blueberry crumb bars are made with fresh fruit and use a cake mix as a base, making them flavorful and sweet while coming together quickly and easily.

Upon being invited to a barbecue recently, I announced that it would be a good time to try out a recipe for some cheesecake-y blueberry lemon bars.

“No. No lemon,” one of our friends declared. “Lemon is gross.”

(I think he was at least halfway joking.)

The rest of the group immediately objected.

“Yes! Make lemon bars. Don’t listen to him!”

So lemon bars, it was, and while our one friend didn’t dig into the Tupperware, the entire batch disappeared quickly, and I had absolutely zero leftovers.

And that’s with a recipe that features a cake mix as a base, which made it super easy to put together.

This comes from the blog “Lemon Blossoms,” by Kathy McDaniel. You can find the original post at https://www.lemonblossoms.com/blog/lemon-blueberry-crumb-bars/. I added vanilla in my version.

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Lemon Blueberry Crumb Bars

Lemon blueberry crumb bars are made with fresh fruit and use a cake mix as a base, making them flavorful and sweet while coming together quickly and easily.
Course Dessert
Keyword bake sale, cake mix, cream cheese, easy bars, fresh blueberries, fresh lemon, lemon glaze, lemon juice, lemon zest, powdered sugar, vanilla, yellow cake mix

Ingredients

Bars Ingredients

  • 8 tablespoons butter melted
  • 1 yellow cake mix
  • 2 eggs divided
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice divided
  • 2 teaspoons lemon zest
  • 16 ounces cream cheese softened
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 pints fresh blueberries

Glaze Ingredients

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a nine-by-13-inch baking dish by lining it with parchment paper, leaving some hanging over the edges so it’s easier to remove the bars from the pan later. Set it aside.
  • In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, cake mix, one egg and two tablespoons lemon juice. Beat the ingredients together until they’re smooth
  • Dump about two-thirds of the mixture into the prepared baking dish and press it down evenly on the bottom of the pan with your hands.
  • In another mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar until it is well combine. Beat in one egg, lemon zest, vanilla and two tablespoons lemon juice until the mixture is smooth.
  • Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over the batter layer in the baking dish. Evenly distribute the blueberries on the top of the cream cheese.
  • Crumbling it with your fingers, evenly sprinkle the rest of the batter over the top of the blueberries. You will have gaps, and that’s OK.
  • Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until the center is set.
  • While the bars bake, whisk the ingredients for the glaze together. It should be just thin enough to be pourable. If your mixture is too thin, add more powdered sugar. If it’s too thick, add more lemon juice.
  • When the bars are finished, drizzle the glaze over the hot bars, and then let the bars cool completely before placing them in the refrigerator for about one-half hour.
  • Carefully lift the bars out of the dish with the parchment paper and slice.
  • Serve. Store any leftovers in an airtight container.

These were lightly sweet with a nice combination of fruit flavors and just a bit of tartness from the lemon juice and zest. They were a huge hit at the barbecue.

And, being the peacemaker I am, I may have made a second, lemon-free dessert to go on the table, too. You have to give the people what they want, I suppose—even if they’re wrong about lemons.

This piece first appeared in print on Aug. 17, 2023.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Breakfast Dessert

Say ‘oui’ to this yummy overnight breakfast casserole

Overnight French toast casserole is a much easier way to feature French toast for breakfast. Add in a little fresh fruit, and you have quite the wow factor for your morning meal or even a dessert table.
Overnight French toast casserole is a much easier way to feature French toast for breakfast. Add in a little fresh fruit, and you have quite the wow factor for your morning meal or even a dessert table.

When I began writing this column over 10 years ago, I had grand illusions of people sending me their favorite recipes and me trying them.

What I found was that people are normally pretty guarded with their best dishes, and even more so, everyone wanted me to tell them something new to try instead of the other way around.

Since then, I have amassed quite the Pinterest page of recipes, a notebook of magazine cutouts and a large collection of saved tutorial videos that I source each week for my inspiration.

But for this week’s recipe, I didn’t have to go out looking. It found me.

Every summer, I get the opportunity to direct a short kids camp at Camp Mennoscah, and for the past I-don’t-know-how-many years, a wonderful group of ladies has volunteered to man the kitchen during our little camp.

This summer, on the last morning, they served us a fabulous blueberry French toast casserole for breakfast, and as I came through the chow line, they teased me a bit.

“Are we going to see this one in the paper?”

“If you send it to me, you will,” I told them.

So Marla emailed it to me right after camp, letting me know that her way of spicing up the recipe was to add the blueberries.

Well, over a month later, I finally had time to give this a try, only I used fresh cherries, since that’s what I had on hand. It was still delicious.

This original recipe comes from the blog “Fresh April Flours,” was tweaked by Marla Gillmore and the rest of the amazing kitchen crew, and received some more cinnamon in my version below.

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Overnight Baked French Toast Casserole

Overnight French toast casserole is a much easier way to feature French toast for breakfast. Add in a little fresh fruit, and you have quite the wow factor for your morning meal or even a dessert table.
Course Breakfast, Dessert
Keyword breakfast casserole, breakfast for a crowd, brown sugar, canned cinnamon rolls, easy breakfast, French toast, fresh fruit, vanilla

Ingredients

  • 8 to 9 cups stale bread cut into one-inch cubes
  • 2 cups fresh fruit cut in bite-sized pieces (I used cherries)
  • 1/4 cup butter melted
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar
  • 8 eggs
  • 2 cups milk I used 2 percent
  • 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
  • 3 rounded teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

  • Prepare a nine-by-13-inch casserole dish by spraying it with cooking spray.
  • Spread all the bread cubes and fresh fruit evenly into the dish and set it aside.
  • In a mixing bowl, combine the butter, brown sugar, eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon and salt and whisk well until everything is well incorporated. (My brown sugar got a bit lumpy. If that happens even after lots of mixing, don’t sweat it. Just evenly distribute the lumps on the next step, and it’ll be fine.)
  • Evenly pour the egg mixture over the bread cubes in the dish and cover it with aluminum foil, plastic wrap or a lid. Refrigerate overnight or for at least three hours.
  • To bake the casserole, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake, uncovered, for one hour or until the top is nicely browned and the custard is set.
  • Serve warm by itself, with some syrup, or even with a little powdered sugar sprinkled on top.

I ended up making a half batch of this in an eight-inch casserole dish, and it turned out great. It was more sugar than I’d want to have all the time for breakfast, but the warm, fresh cherries combined with the cinnamon and custard-y bread was excellent.

I don’t think mine turned out quite as well as the one I had at camp, but I think it’s because I made mine on my own. I suspect when you add the love of half a dozen wonderful volunteers, everything is bound to taste better.

This piece first appeared in print on July 27, 2023.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Cookies Dessert

Preserve your time with a quick strawberry bar

Strawberry oatmeal bars are a snap to put together and bake in 30 minutes or less. They feature a light sweetness from coconut, nuttiness from quick oats, and of course, delicious strawberry flavor from preserves.
Strawberry oatmeal bars are a snap to put together and bake in 30 minutes or less. They feature a light sweetness from coconut, nuttiness from quick oats, and of course, delicious strawberry flavor from preserves.

I am often lost when it comes to buying preserves, jams, jellies, etc.

I know there are differences, but for some reason, my brain can’t seem to keep it all straight. If you ever see me at a store, staring at my phone in front of a shelf of spreads, you’ll know exactly what I’m Googling at that moment.

A farm out of Pennsylvania, Masonic Village Farm, has a blog post on its website, explaining all the ins and outs of the fruity offerings.

Jelly is made with juice. Jam has fruit mashed up in it. Preserves uses big pieces or whole fruit. Spreads are fruit without any added sugar, and butters have pureed fruit.

It’s amazing to me that there’s a term for every subtle difference.

I found myself researching this mystery yet again this past week, as I needed to buy some strawberry preserves for some delicious bars, which did not disappoint at all.

This recipe comes from “Taste of Home” magazine. You can find the original post at https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/strawberry-oatmeal-bars. I added just a touch extra of vanilla in my version.

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Strawberry Oatmeal Bars

Strawberry oatmeal bars are a snap to put together and bake in 30 minutes or less. They feature a light sweetness from coconut, nuttiness from quick oats, and of course, delicious strawberry flavor from preserves.
Course Dessert
Keyword bar cookies, coconut, easy dessert, quick bar cookie, quick dessert, quick oats, strawberry, strawberry preserves, vanilla

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup butter melted
  • 3 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 1/4 cups flour
  • 1 1/4 cups quick oats
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup strawberry preserves or flavor of your choice
  • 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • In a microwave-safe mixing bowl, melt the butter. Dump in the vanilla, flour, oats, sugar, baking powder and salt and mix well until everything is completely combined.
  • Add all but one cup of the mixture to a nine-by-13-inch baking pan (you don’t need to grease it). Press it down evenly over the bottom of the pan.
  • Spoon the preserves over the top, spreading it out evenly.
  • Stir the shredded coconut into the remaining cup of crumbs, and loosely sprinkle the crumb/coconut mixture evenly over top of the preserves layer.
  • Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the top is nicely browned. Let the bars cool completely before cutting, and store them in an airtight container.

These were a big hit at the barbecue I took them to, and they were so, so easy to make, too. This would be a great recipe to make for a young or beginning baker. The tinge of coconut was the perfect amount, and the preserves did all the work outside of that.

The nice thing is, you can easily use the preserves of your choice if strawberry isn’t really your thing or if you want to have several options for a bake sale or snack table.

And honestly, if you wanted to use a jam instead, you’d probably be just fine. Although, as we have established, I am definitely no expert.

This piece first appeared in print on July 13, 2023.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

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