Lemon Mousse Tart

Last night was girls night at a friends house. Sadly we don’t get to do this more often but when we do it is always a great time. I was asked to bring dessert and here is what I whipped  up.

Ingredients ( Serves 6)

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 cups lemon curd or lemon pie filling
• 1  9in refrigerator  pie crust
• 1 tart pan
•  Assorted mixed berries

Directions (Preheat oven to 425)

Press pie crust into your tart pan. with a fork press small holes into the bottom of the pie crust (this will help the crust from bubbling up). Put into your preheated oven for 10-15 minutes. The crust should be lightly browned. Remove and let cool.

While the crust cools place one cup of heavy whipping cream, and 2 tablespoons sugar into a stand mixer with a whisk attachment. Mixed on high till your cream forms soft peaks. Add your lemon curd and slowly whisk till incorporated. Spoon this mixture into your cooled pie crust. Top with assorted fresh fruit, and chill till serving time.

“Dump” Cookies

Please pardon the name, but that is just want came to mind when I whipped these up today… These cookies pretty much have every ingredient you can think of chocolate, oats, nuts, and dried fruit! In addition I made a few of these cookies extra special for two close friends of mine, they are celebrating their one year home ownership anniversary today! Congrats Nick and Katie on turning your house into a home over the last year!

I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my day than baking for friends 🙂 Also now that I think about it my friends had a large tree take a “dump” on their garage within 4 days of moving in last year so I think these cookies are very fitting! You can read more about that here on their blog 🙂

Ingredients ( Make 3 dozen cookies) Preheat oven to 350

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup uncooked quick-cooking oats
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions

• Beat butter and sugars at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla, beating until blended.
• Combine flour, soda, oats, and salt in a small bowl; gradually add to butter mixture, beating well. Stir in chocolate chips, dried cranberries, and chopped pecans. Drop  tablespoonfuls onto lightly greased baking sheets.
• Bake at 350° for 8 to 14 minutes or until desired degree of doneness. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

To make some of the cookies extra special for my friends I sprinkled shredded coconut on them just before popping them in the oven! Alex isn’t a big coconut fan so I left the rest of the cookies coconut free, but either way they will be delicious!

Recipe adapted from Southern Living, 2005

Brown Sugar Banana Cake

Last night I spent my evening with a great group of woman supporting the nonprofit organization Dining for Women. This months featured program was the Children of Vietnam. In a nut shell everyone brings a tradition dish to pass from the country that we are supporting. While we eat, we learn about the county and what our money will do to help support the women and children. At the end of the meeting you have the opportunity to donate if you feel so inclined. There is also wine and mingling, which is always good in my book!  If you don’t know much about this charity follow my link above. It’s a great organization that donates to a deserving cause each and every month.

With all the great food that was shared last night, I was inspired to get into the kitchen. While this recipe is far from ethnic I felt it was perfect for my day off.  And with a slight chill in the air I knew I needed to get my oven fired up. I also had 3 bananas that are about to go bad, so that was really the driving factor 🙂

Ingredients (Makes 8 servings)

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 large eggs
• 3 ripe bananas
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt

Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Topping

• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Stir to combine

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter and flour  a 9in pie dish.

Cream the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Mix in the milk, vanilla, and cinnamon. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add the banana mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until flour disappears.

Pour batter into your prepared pan and top with brown sugar and cinnamon topping.

Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Slice and top with a slab of butter and enjoy

Recipe was adapted from foodnetwork.com

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Bars

Well folks the big half marathon weekend has come and gone… I’m hear to report that I have survived :). But sadly all this running has forced me to start hitting the bottle hard…. the Ibuprofen bottle that is! Lets just say  I’m walking like a 95 year old woman, an it isn’t pretty. Besides all the leg pain I must say that the entire weekend was so much fun, and I’m so proud of what I have accomplished!

Since we were going to be up in Door County all weekend  I wanted to bring some snacks along to share with my fellow runners. In addition to the healthy snacks, I also made something sweet that could work for breakfast, or an after dinner treat. This recipe is so easy that even the baking challenged can make this!

Ingredients

• 4 Cups Mini Marshmallows
• 1/4 Cup Unsalted Butter
• 4 1/2 Cups of Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal

Directions

Start by spraying a 9×9 pan, and a large mixing bowl with with cooking spray. Melt the butter over low heat in a medium sauce pan. Add the marshmallows and cook till you have a smooth mixture. Combine the marshmallow mixture with the cinnamon toast crunch in the large bowl. Transfer to your prepared pan and allow to cool. Slice and serve.

These little treats totally hit the spot, and with only 3 ingredients they will be a making an appearance in my house time and time again! I hope everyone had a great weekend 🙂

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Last week I officially started my first big girl job at a local Milwaukee Hospital. I can’t tell you how excited/ scared I am. So far everything is going great, and I’m ready  to dive right in and start my nursing career! This transition has been going quite well, and I hope I can keep up the energy I seem to have lately! With the half marathon only 2 weeks away, and 40 hours of work each week I still feel like I can do it all. I’m sure that will change very soon, but I’m going to take advantage of every minute that I feel motivated. In addition I now need to make myself a lunch every day. So when I’m packing up my brown bag this week I’ll be having these cookies as desert… you know right before I get ready to pound the hallways saving lives 🙂

(Makes 2 – 2 1/2 Dozen Cookies)

Ingredients

• 1/2 Cup Butter (Softened)
• 1 Cup Peanut Butter
• 3/4 Cup Firmly Packed Brown Sugar
• 1/2  Cup Sugar
• 1 Large Egg
• 3/4 Tablespoons Milk
• 3/4 Teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1 1/4 Cups Flour
• 3/4 Teaspoons Baking Soda
• 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
• 1 cup  Dark Chocolate Chips

Directions (Preheat Oven to 350)

In a mixing bowl combine the butter and peanut butter, and beat the mixture until it is light and fluffy. Add the brown and white sugars and mix until well combined. Add the egg and mix for 1-2 minutes, until the mixture is well combined and light in color. Add the milk and vanilla and mix. Add the dry ingredients and mix just briefly. While there are still large spots of flour, add the chocolate chips and mix until the flour is completely mixed in and the mixture is well combined. Let the cookie dough sit for 15 minutes before scooping onto the baking sheets.

Scoop tablespoon-sized balls of dough onto silpat or parchment-lined baking sheets leaving about 1 to 2 inches in between the cookies to allow for spreading as they bake. Bake for 10-11 minutes. Let cookies rest on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes after baking before removing them to a cooling rack. Transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely. Store in an air tight container and enjoy all week long!

Recipe adapted from Melskitchencafe.com