Desserts

Double Citrus Tart

Tarts are one of my favorite desserts, and I love this one from Southern Living a few years ago.  I’ve used it for a couple of Spring get-togethers in the past, and it’s been nice and refreshing every time.  What attracted me to it originally was the ginger snap crust with the orange – it seemed like a winner.  My only complaint about this recipe is that I usually find I need more crumbs/butter to make the crust than written, but I find that with almost all crumb crusts so clearly it’s me.  Regardless, if you like a thicker crust, plan to 1.5x the crust recipe and you’ll be good to go!  We really enjoyed this for our Easter dessert with some homemade whipped cream.

citrustart

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Dutch Apple Pie with Oatmeal Streusel

Pie is the one dessert I can’t stay away from in any circumstance.  I really do like apple, and prefer dutch.  This one was pretty good, though I felt the topping ended up too crunchy…I think tenting the pie in the last 10-15 minutes, or maybe a smidge more butter might have prevented that.  I would make it again and try to adjust.  I did a braided crust since this was our Thanksgiving pie (I’m a little late to the party posting this!), and it puffed up quite well and I thought really added a nice layer.  We used a mixture of Fuji and Jonagolds which we had picked ourselves for this, and they were great…I think you could use any apple, really.

dutchapple

Recipe!

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Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

I heart anything peanut butter, and these cookies were no exception.  We were looking for something besides the traditional to add to our Christmas gift baskets, and this went well.  Definitely one I will make over and over!  I originally got the recipe from Epicurious and tweaked for more peanut butter and extract (I used almond).

pbcookies

Recipe!

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Peppermint Bark

A holiday favorite!  I am really not a fan of chocolate (especially white chocolate), but I do love this.  The first bark I ever had was at Williams-Sonoma many years ago, and I’ve been searching for a close call ever since!  This recipe came out of Food Network magazine, and was quite close!  Close enough that we actually made it to include in gift baskets this year.

bark

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Iced Sugar Cookies

Nothing says Christmas like iced sugar cookies!  They’re so pretty, and actually sugar cookies are my favorite…and these are so fun.  Icing is included at the bottom of the recipe, but I left a few with just some sprinkles or glitter sugar.  This is an old recipe I have, and they can make thinner, crispier cookies, or thick and chewy.  The icing is a tried and true I got from Allrecipes many moons ago.  Keep in mind that the icing dries as a glaze…this is not a royal icing.  Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

sugarcookies

Recipe!

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Pumpkin Pie Dip

This is a fantastic treat for pumpkin lovers who may be craving something a little bit sweet.  Very low cal, and delicious with fruit slices – I used apples, but pears or bananas would also be great.  I got this from Skinny Taste, used regular yogurt, and about half of what was called for in the recipe.  I also make my own pumpkin pie spice and tripled the amounts; I thought it could easily take more spice if you like.  Recipe is original measurements.

Recipe!

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Key Lime Bars

These are a great dessert to bring to a summer party or picnic…very refreshing.  I brought them to a summer get together at my friend’s house and they went like hot cakes…nice and tart and a good portion.  I got this recipe from Martha Stewart, but I doubled the crust because I wanted a stronger base for the bars.  The recipe below is printed as-is, though.

Recipe!

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Blackberry Pie

I really, really love pie.  Any kind.  And I really love blackberries.  When our local farmer’s market had some fabulous-looking blackberries, I bought a ridiculous amount and of course had to make a pie.  The result was very good, and very tart, and would have been even better if I’d had some vanilla ice cream or whipped cream on hand to go with it.  I got this particular recipe from Joy of Baking, one of my favorite websites – I’ve always had fantastic luck with her recipes!

Recipe!

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Spice Cake

My all-time favorite cake.  I usually turn my nose up at dessert, but I can never resist this.  This is probably the best recipe I have ever found, and it’s been tweaked and adapted so much that I’m not even sure of the original source, though it was somewhere on All Recipes many moons ago.  You can make this cake lighter and fluffier if you use light brown sugar, or more dense and moist with dark brown sugar.  My preference is the latter.

Recipe!

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Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting

I’m not the world’s biggest dessert person, but the frosting was life-changing.  Seriously.  I could’ve eaten the entire bowl.  I used this on a spice cake, but it would also be great on a pumpkin cake, or even just plain vanilla cake.

  • 1 cup Unsalted Butter
  • 4 cups Powdered Sugar
  • 4 tablespoons Milk
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla
  • 2 teaspoons Cinnamon

Beat butter until light and fluffy.

Add sugar half a cup at a time until completely incorporated, adding a tablespoon of milk at a time whenever the icing gets too thick.

Add vanilla and cinnamon and beat until just combined.

 

 

 

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