Mini Raspberry Tarts

We hadn't had a potluck at work for several months, and since I was soon going to be out of the office (becauseOMG
Ihaveababynow), we decided to have one, just for fun, a few weeks ago.

I had seen this recipe in a magazine and knew I wanted to try it. Coincidentally, I found it in the middle of my husband's yearly obsession with raspberries, so the timing was right and I deemed the potluck a good occasion to try them.

I was afraid to make the tarts too thin, and I only made 24 instead of 36 ... they puffed up quite a bit in the oven and were not too thin at all, so my initial fear was unfounded, but luckily they collapsed in the middle nicely so that I could still fill them with the cream cheese mix. I didn't have orange zest, either, so I substituted a few drops of orange flavoring.

These taste amazing - EVERYONE was asking me about them and telling me how much they liked them. I think they look a lot more complicated than they actually are, so if you want to impress people with appearance and taste, this is a good way to go. I was fine with just having 24 of them, and I had a good amount of filling and didn't have to worry about breaking the sugar cookie dough in to the 36 parts. And this way I could bake both of my mini-muffin tins at the same time and not have to do a second round in the oven :)

Ingredients

1 (16.5-ounce) package refrigerated sugar cookie dough
1 (8-ounce) package 1/3-less fat block-style cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
32 fresh raspberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°. Coat a mini-muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Divide sugar cookie dough into 32 pieces. Coat hands in flour, and roll pieces into balls. Press each ball into tin, forming dough up and around into the shape of a tart.


Bake for 11–12 minutes or until golden. Let cool 10 minutes in pan.

Remove tarts, and cool completely on a wire rack. Using an electric mixer, combine cream cheese, sugar, orange zest, and vanilla. Spoon cream cheese mixture into each tart.


Top each with a fresh raspberry. Chill until ready to serve.

Source: Health magazine

Raspberry Oatmeal Bars

As the end of my pregnancy nears, I feel like I could be doing or making things for the last time before the baby arrives. I was recently scheduled for a shift in a different department than my usual one and realized it could be my last time in that department before my maternity leave.

So clearly that meant I needed to bake for them.

I had saved this recipe to my "Recipe Box" on allrecipes.com more than a year ago. I don't know why I never made them - they are amazingly cheap, easy and taste absolutely fantastic. They are perfect for summer, too - the berry taste is very prominent, and the bars are so soft and buttery it is ridiculous. I'm a sucker for anything involving cake mix, too. I will definitely be making them again and hope to substitute some other kinds of jam in, too - I'm imagining blackberry, strawberry ... mmmm ...

They were a hit with my coworkers, and my husband suggested that I start selling them.

Ingredients

1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
2 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
3/4 cup margarine, melted
1 cup raspberry jam
1 tablespoon water

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch pan.

2. In a large bowl, mix together oats, cake mix, and melted margarine so that it makes nice clumps and there is no dry mix left. Press 1/2 of the oats mixture evenly into the bottom the prepared pan. In a separate bowl, mix jam with water, and spread over the crust. Sprinkle the remaining oat mixture evenly over the top.

3. Bake in the preheated oven for 18 to 23 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned. Cool before cutting into bars.

Source: allrecipes.com

Orange cheesecake with raspberry sauce

We've never really done anything big for Easter. This year, because of my newfound pregnancy-induced nausea, we didn't even do anything big for Christmas. (Good thing we blew out Thanksgiving since we found out we were expecting four days later!)

Even though I've been feeling better, I've still been exhausted from working two jobs and taking a class. I wanted to keep Easter low-key, food-wise, and had to work Easter afternoon at my full-time job, anyway.

But I did want to bake something new.

I asked my husband what he wanted for an Easter dessert. I was thinking a cream pie. Or an elaborate cake. He suggested "jelly beans and Peeps." Sigh. I asked him to be serious. He responded with "chocolate bunnies."

It seemed I was on my own.

I came home from my part-time job and made some lunch. I looked over at my cookbooks, uninspired. I figured I'd do some hunting on the internet later that day for the perfect recipe. I changed the calendar - it was April 1, after all - and was hit by baking inspiration.

I bought this calendar for 80 cents at Michael's in late December. I hadn't found *the perfect* calendar and figured this one, with a delicious recipe every month, would work perfectly in our kitchen. I've drooled over each month's offering, but this was the first one I actually made.

I ended up using strawberries instead of raspberries for the sauce (apparently there was an Easter run on frozen raspberries - who knew?). My frozen strawberries did not have sauce, so I used a bit of water to give them more liquid. And I used orange juice (I had it in the house) and no grated orange peel (for no other reason than I'm lazy). Not surprisingly, the orange flavor was virtually impossible to detect. It didn't matter, though - the cheesecake was delicious, and the sauce was a hit with my husband. I will definitely try to boost the citrus flavor next time I make this, but it was an easy, delectable cheesecake the way it was - and perfect for our Easter dessert.

Ingredients:

CRUST
1 pkg. (9oz) chocolate wafer cookies, crushed
6 T margarine, melted

FILLING
4 pkg (8oz) cream cheese, softened
1 1/3 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 T orange flavored liqueur or orange juice
1 t grated orange peel

SAUCE
1 pkg (10 oz) frozen red raspberries in syrup, thawed
3 T sugar
1 t cornstarch

Directions:


Heat oven to 325°F. In medium bowl, combine crust ingredients; mix well. Press in bottom and 2 inches up sides of ungreased 9" springform pan.

In large bowl, beat cream cheese at medium speed until smooth and creamy. Gradually add 1 1/3 cups sugar, beating until smooth. At low speed, add eggs 1 at a time, beating just until blended. Add liqueur and orange peel; beat 2 minutes at medium speed, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Pour mixture into crust. Bake at 325°F for 55 to 65 minutes or until almost set. Cool 2 1/2 hours or until completely cooled. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.

In food processor bowl with metal blade or in blender, process raspberries with syrup until smooth. If desired, strain to remove seeds. In small saucepan, combine 3 T sugar and cornstarch; stir in raspberry puree. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture boils and thickens. Cool to room temperature.

Just before serving, carefully remove sides of pan. Serve cheesecake with sauce.

Source: 2010 Pillsbury Dessert Recipes calendar

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

I made this amazing white chocolate raspberry cheesecake for Tim's birthday in December, but I thought it might be a nice break in the pumpkin-ness to share it now. I have made it a few times since his birthday, will likely make it again for his birthday and basically just love how easy it is but how fancy it looks and tastes. It also provided the perfect reason to purchase a springform pan :)

Tim and I love the white chocolate raspberry cheesecake at Olive Garden, and Tim said this was almost as good as it :) I'm not a big cheesecake person, but this. dessert. was. good. And Tim actually finished it, which is rare - who would have known that I would marry the one man who could care less if I baked as much as I do?! Tim noted the cheesecake's especially fruity taste, as opposed to the alternative, which I suppose would be a white chocolate taste.

The only thing I did differently from the recipe was use crushed graham crackers instead of cookie crumbs, although I'm sure they would be equally yummy and would add to the chocolate flavor.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chocolate cookie crumbs
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen raspberries
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cups white chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup half-and-half cream
• 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, mix together cookie crumbs, 3 tablespoons sugar, and melted butter. Press mixture into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.

2. In a saucepan, combine raspberries, 2 tablespoons sugar, cornstarch, and water. Bring to boil, and continue boiling 5 minutes, or until sauce is thick. Strain sauce through a mesh strainer to remove seeds.

3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). In a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water, melt white chocolate chips with half-and-half, stirring occasionally until smooth.

4. In a large bowl, mix together cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time. Blend in vanilla and melted white chocolate. Pour half of batter over crust. Spoon 3 tablespoons raspberry sauce over batter. Pour remaining cheesecake batter into pan, and again spoon 3 tablespoons raspberry sauce over the top. Swirl batter with the tip of a knife to create a marbled effect.

5. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until filling is set. Cool, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 8 hours before removing from pan. Serve with remaining raspberry sauce.

Source: allrecipes.com

Monkey Bread gone wild

This month's craft party gathering was deemed a brunch, so I bypassed my usual cookies and cakes and went with monkey breads. I'd never seen monkey bread that wasn't the standard sugar and cinnamon yummy goodness that I grew up with until the shower I cohosted earlier in the month, when one of our coworkers brought Bacon Monkey Bread.

(Note: In a tired moment last week, I referred to it as bacon banana bread. Think about that for a minute. Now gag. And continue.)

I thought it would be perfect for craft party brunch. I made a lot of adjustments to this recipe, and it turned out pretty well. Personally, I'm a fan of my arteries, so I cut the butter way back. I didn't feel like battling onion breath all day, so I skipped those. The bread tasted great, though!


Ingredients:
3 cans refrigerated biscuits (I used four, as they came in a pack of four)
1/2 lb. fried bacon (I think I used 12 slices but didn't measure out how many pounds that was)
3/4 c. chopped bell peppers
3/4 c. chopped onions (I omitted these)
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese (I used 1/4 cup)
1 1/2 sticks butter (I used about 5 tablespoons)

Directions:
Cook peppers (and onions) in butter. Cut biscuits into quarters. Crumble bacon into cheese. Toss biscuits with bacon and cheese. Layer dough in a well-greased bundt pan.

After layering 1 can of biscuits, spread 1/3 of the pepper and onion mixture. Drizzle about 1/4 cup of butter over dough. (I did not add butter in each layer and instead poured it over everything at the very end - it tends to seep down, through and around the biscuits.) Continue the layers. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

Note: I think you could also add some shredded cheese to this recipe for a cheesy, bacon-y breakfast bread.

I also realized that not everyone eats meat, so I wanted to make a sweeter, meatless monkey bread ... I searched through some recipes and found one that I adapted to make Raspberry Monkey Bread. I honestly didn't think it would work, though, so I kinda didn't measure anything exactly.

Ingredients:
4 cans refrigerated biscuits
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
3/4-1 cup raspberry preserves

Directions:
Cut biscuits into quarters. Combine butter, honey, sugar and raspberry preserves. Toss biscuit quarters with mixture to fully coat them. Bake in a well-greased bundt pan at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.


The recipe I adapted mine from also suggested using 1/2 of nuts.

For many, many more monkey bread recipes, check out this site.

Sources: cooks.com (for Bacon Monkey Bread) and recipegoldmine.com (for Raspberry Monkey Bread I based mine on)

Lemon Raspberry Bars

A friend of mine (the same person who mentioned the Cookie Dough Cupcakes) was talking about bringing lemon bars to our last craft party. (Sidebar: Lisa, I just realized what you're doing, and you're very clever, mentioning things so that *I* then make them!) I think I started drooling at the mere thought of lemon bars.

When the idea of Lemon Week was born, I wanted to find a heavenly lemon bar recipe.

And find it I did.

My coworkers enjoyed these lemon raspberry bars last week at work. I HAD to get them out of the house before I devoured them all. One coworker called them "decadent" and said he could taste the butter in the crust. My husband has been asking for an entire batch for himself since he first tasted them. Coming from the guy who doesn't really partake in my baked goods (again, how did I end up with the one guy who is always watching his weight and doesn't want to eat all of my baked goods?), this was big.

Lemon Raspberry Squares

Ingredients:
1 3/4 c. plus 1/3 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. confectioners’ sugar
1/2 tsp salt
16 Tbsp (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 tsp ice water, if needed
1 c. jam, such as raspberry
2 c. granulated sugar
2 tsp grated lemon zest
4 eggs, beaten
3/4 c. fresh lemon juice (oops, don't tell - mine wasn't fresh!)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan.

Place the 1 3/4 c. flour, 1/2 c. confectioners’ sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse to blend. (I was tricky and just did this with my mixer - my new food processor is not close to big enough to handle these ingredients. The mixer did the trick!)


Add the butter and process until the dough begins to form a ball, adding the ice water if necessary.

Press the dough evenly over the bottom of the prepared baking pan.

Bake until the crust is lightly golden, about 20 minutes.

Let cool for at least 30 minutes, then evenly spread the jam over the crust.

In a bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar, the remaining 1/3 c. flour and the lemon zest.

Place the eggs in a large bowl and slowly add the flour mixture, beating with an electric mixer until well blended, 1 to 2 minutes.

Add the lemon juice and mix to combine.

Pour the lemon mixture carefully over the raspberry jam layer, making sure to keep layers separate.



Bake until the lemon topping is just set, 25 to 30 minutes.

Let cool completely in the pan.


Dust with confectioners’ sugar and cut into squares with a serrated knife.

Place in a covered container and keep cool until ready to serve.

Source: Williams Sonoma via Good Things Catered