Category Archives: sweets

Lemon Squares

Posted in sweets, things we like to eat by

lemon squares 1

I made these delicious lemon squares the other day and I thought it would be worth repeating this great and super easy recipe.

Lemon squares are very easy and use very few ingredients.  This recipe came from a friend of mine and it is my go to lemon square recipe.  As you can see in the pictures, the shortbread crust is actually thicker than the filling, which is a total plus 🙂 If for some odd reason, you’re not a fan of super thick crust, you could put the lemon squares into a larger pan and just shorten the baking time a bit.

To make crust, mix 4 ingredients together and press into a greased 8 x 8″ pan.

crust lemon squares 1

Bake for 25 minutes at 350* or until golden brown. If you like your crust thinner, you can use a larger pan but adjust the cook time.

To make the lemon filling, mix the 5 ingredients together…

filling lemon squares 2

and pour over the hot crust. Bake for about 30 minutes more. If you notice the top getting too brown, cover with aluminum foil and continue baking until set. Cool and cut into squares. I like to sprinkle with a bit of powdered sugar just before serving.

lemon squares 2

lemon squares 3

Lemon Squares
Ingredients for crust:
1 3/4 cup flour
1 cup butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 t salt

Ingredients for filling:
2 cups sugar
4 T flour
4 T fresh lemon juice
Zest from 1 lemon
4 eggs, beaten

To make crust, mix 4 ingredients together and press into a greased 8 x 8″ pan. Bake for 25 minutes at 350* or until golden brown. If you like your crust thinner, you can use a larger pan but adjust the cook time.

To make the lemon filling, mix the 5 ingredients together and pour over the hot crust. Bake for about 30 minutes more. If you notice the top getting too brown, cover with aluminum foil and continue baking until set. Cool and cut into squares. I like to sprinkle with a bit of powdered sugar just before serving.

 

Homemade Dark Chocolate Dipped Peppermint Jo-Jo’s (repost)

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Dark Chocolate Dipped Peppermint Jo-Jo's 1

So a sad turn of events happened around here. First the happy part. Jordan was gifted with a box of dark chocolate covered peppermint Jo-Jo’s from Trader Joe’s. Have you tried them? They are worth driving 45 minutes to get to the closest Trader Joe’s to buy them. So here is the sad part – we went to Trader Joe’s for these amazing cookies only to find that they were sold out. What?! How could they be sold out already? The poor guy working there seemed like he had explained this unfortunate situation to many people. Remember the movie The Little Mermaid where Ursula sings that song, “You Poor Unfortunate Soul”? I felt like that. In case you don’t remember Ursula sings, “You poor unfortunate souls, in pain, in need.” I was truly in pain, in need.

dipped peppermint jo-jo's 3 final

^^^I may be a bit biased, but aren’t ours so much prettier?

So what’s a girl to do? Make her own. So here they are. We bought Cool Mint Oreos and dipped them in melted semi-sweet chocolate and then sprinkled a few crushed peppermint candy canes on top. Delicious!

dipped peppermint jo-jo's 3

Homemade Dark Chocolate Dipped Peppermint Jo-Jo’s
1 package Cool Mint Oreos
1 package semi -sweet chocolate chips
Crushed candy canes

Melt chocolate chips in microwave. I did mine in a two cup measuring cup. Melt at 50% power in 45 second increments, stirring in between. Dip Oreos in melted chocolate. This part is really messy and takes some persistence to get the cookie fully covered in chocolate. Place dipped cookie onto a cookie sheet covered in wax paper. Sprinkle with crushed candy cane pieces, pressing in a bit to be sure that they stick. Place cookie sheet in refrigerator until chocolate firms up. Try to not eat the whole tray by yourself! I was able to make 20 dipped cookies, more had I not completely covered my hands with melted chocolate.

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Cindy

Apple Turnovers

Posted in breakfast, sweets, things we like to eat by

MyDaughterandI- Apple Turnovers

For Father’s Day, we decided to try something a little bit different for dessert- apple turnovers. Somehow we’ve never tried turnovers before, and this first attempt was delicious and so easy!

My dad’s favorite dessert is apple pie, but due to limited time, and no ready-made pie crust, we couldn’t whip up a pie. Instead, we used up some puff pastry sheets that we had in our freezer, and made these delicious turnovers.

They were definitely a hit- we served them with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and some caramel sauce drizzled over the top. It’s definitely a keeper recipe!

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Apple Turnovers

  • 4 Granny Smith apples – peeled, cored and sliced
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 1 (17.25 ounce) package frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed

Directions:

  1. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Place apples in pan, and cook and stir for about 2 minutes. Add brown sugar, and cinnamon, and cook, stirring, for 2 more minutes. Stir together cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water. Pour into the skillet, and mix well. Cook for another minute, or until sauce has thickened. Remove from heat to cool slightly.
  2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
  3. Unfold puff pastry sheets, and repair any cracks by pressing them back together. Trim each sheet into a square. Then cut each larger square into 4 smaller squares. Spoon apples onto the center of each squares. Fold over from corner to corner into a triangle shape, and press edges together to seal. Place turnovers on a baking sheet, leaving about 1 inch between them.
  4. Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until turnovers are puffed and lightly browned.

Cindy & Jordan

Double Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

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My Daughter and I double chocolate chip oatmeal cookies

We’re finally back to posting new recipes again! I (Jordan) finally got a camera again that will work for blog photos, so we’re free to post new recipes. We’re not exactly sure how often we’ll be posting from here on out, but we’re happy to be back! We never stopped making new recipes, but it will be nice to be back sharing them with you all.

Here’s a recipe I made this past week- double chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. These are some pretty amazing cookies- honestly, I’m not normally a fan of chocolate chocolate cookies- I’d choose chocolate chip instead, any day. But these cookies? Well, they give chocolate chip cookies a pretty good fight.

We found the recipe here, on Mel’s Kitchen Cafe. She mentions that using two different types of oats (Old Fashioned and Quick Oats), gives the cookies a good texture, and I agree! I would have never thought of using two different types, but it was definitely a good call.

We’re looking forward to posting more often now, so thanks for sticking around through that blog post dry spell!

My Daughter and I double chocolate chip oatmeal cookies 1

Double Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 cup butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup  granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup old-fashioned oats
  • 1 cup quick oats
  • 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  2. Whip together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Add the vanilla and eggs and beat until creamy and light in color, 2-3 minutes.
  3. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and both kinds of oats.
  4. Add the dry ingredients to the batter and mix until a few dry streaks remain. Add the chocolate chips and mix until everything is just combined.
  5. Drop the batter by heaping tablespoon-sized scoops about 2 inches apart.
  6. Bake for 10-11 minutes until the edges are just set but the middles are still soft. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Cindy & Jordan 

Oatmeal Cake

Posted in sweets, things we like to eat by

My Daughter and I- Oatmeal Cake

 

This may be one of the more surprising successful recipe attempts. After I baked it, I was pretty much resigned to the fact that it was going to be a failure. The ingredients are a little unusual, and, frankly, the cake isn’t very pretty.

But! It’s absolutely delicious! The cake itself is super moist and the brown sugar flavor is prominent and yummy. And the unusual, caramelized topping is delicious. This is a definitely a keeper recipe- everyone loved it. We ate it with a little squirt of whipped cream and that only added to the yumminess.

My Daughter and I- Oatmeal Cake 2

Oatmeal Cake

    • 1 1/2 cups hot water
    • 1 cup old fashioned oatmeal
    • 1 cup brown sugar
    • 1 cup white sugar
    • 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
    • 2 eggs
    • 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
    • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
Topping
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • 1 cup flake coconut

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

Combine the water and the oatmeal and allow to soak while you prepare the remaining ingredients.

Cream together the butter and both sugars. Beat in the eggs. In another bowl, mix together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Add half of the flour to the creamed butter mixture, followed by the soaked oatmeal, then the remaining flour, mixing between additions. Pour into the prepared baking dish and bake until set, 38-42 minutes.

For the topping, turn the oven to broil. Combine the butter, brown sugar and milk in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, while stirring. Boil for one minute. Stir in the coconut. Pour over the cake, spread, then broil for one minute.

Original recipe from Taste and Tell

Jordan