Have I mentioned that, "I LOVE LEMON!!!!"

Lately I can't get enough lemon. I'm drinking lots of lemonade, I keep making the Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes, and then...I needed Lemon for dessert! I decided to make Tart Lemon Triangles. 

For this recipe you need: Eggs, Butter, a whole lemon, powdered sugar, granulated sugar and flour.

I used my pastry cutter to add the butter to the flour and powdered sugar. The mixture seemed really dry, but I pressed it into the bottom of my pie plate anyway, and I baked for about 15 minutes at 350.

Little hands did help make this recipe :) I zested one lemon into my mixing bowl. My lemon gave me exactly 1/4 cup of juice!!!

Stir in the eggs and sugar and beat with an electric mixer until smooth.

Pour over the hot crust and return to the oven. You are supposed to bake until firm...the took about 25 minutes for me.

Allow to cool, dust with powdered sugar and serve. I couldn't even wait until it cooled. This was so yummy that I even convinced myself it was ok to have for breakfast one day with a bowl of fruit :) I see myself making this again VERY soon!

I love shortcuts!

In 2006, I pulled a recipe from People Magazine for Christmas Bark. I made it for Christmas that year...and forgot about it! I came across that recipe in my binder recently, and decided it was time to make it again!!! It's basically just an easy way to make toffee :)

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Lay out saltine crackers to cover the bottom of the pan- I used 32 crackers.

In a saucepan, heat 2 sticks of butter with half a cup brown sugar. Bring to a boil and cook for 3 minutes- stir constantly.

Pour over the saltines- don't worry about making this perfect. It bubbles up a lot and will cover everything! Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

The butter/sugar mixture gets nice and dark as it bakes!

While hot, sprinkle on one bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips.

After the chips start to melt, smooth over toffee with a spatula or knife.

The recipe calls for pecans, but I topped mine with some crushed almonds and some Heath Baking Bits...toffee on toffee = deliciousness!

Chill in the refrigerator for one hour and then break into chunks. This is so easy and crazy good!

Chocolate, that's good for you? I love it!

I stumbled across a recipe the other day completely by accident. Boy am I glad I did! So easy- and I already had everything on hand. I plan on keeping these in the freezer for breakfast or when I need a chocolate fix without all the guilt :)

You only need three things: 1 Box of Devils Food Cake Mix, 1 15oz Can of Pumpkin and 1/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce.

Mix batter, spoon into muffin tins and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes

I made 15 regular muffins and 16 mini muffins...the minis were done in about 15 min. Note- this will come out looking exactly like they went in...the batter is thick! Next time I would take a little more time to smooth the tops :)

Remove from the oven and sprinkle with powdered sugar. For those that don't like pumpkin...you can't taste it. And for die hard chocolate lovers, add a few chocolate chips. They are moist, delicious, and healthy!!

I love a fast fix!

Ever decide you need something sweet...and you want it right now?! I've found the perfect recipe for this problem. Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies. They make a small batch and only require 3 ingredients!

1 cup of peanut butter, 1 egg, and 1 cup of sugar.

  

Throw everything into a bowl...

Mix...

Roll into balls (They don't spread, so you can put the whole batch on one cookie sheet!)

Cross the tops with a fork and throw in a 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, and enjoy! Could not be more simple....or delicious!

I hope I'm not the only one that loves Apple Crisp for breakfast!

This week, we went for a playdate to seeing Robyn's best buddy...and one of my best buddies too :) With all the apples in my house, I decided to take Apple Crisp with for dessert. The only downfall of Apple Crisp for me, is that I consider it to be a breakfast food too...so I made individual portions. I knew this would mean less sitting around the house for me to snack on!

Start by peeling and cutting 6 medium sized apples.

Grease your ramekins or baking dish and layer the apple slices in the bottom.

Mix together 1/2 cup of sugar with 2 tsp of cinnamon and sprinkle over your apples. This makes enough for 8-10 individual dishes. I only made 4 and put the rest in the cupboard for another day.

In another bowl, soften 1 stick of butter and mix with 1 cup each, flour, brown sugar, and oats.

Place the crumb topping over the apples(again, enough topping for 8-10) and bake at 350 degrees for about 30-35 minutes.

Best served warm...even better with a scoop of ice cream! Store extras in the refrigerator. Yum!

A little love...for my little cupcake!

I was shopping at my favorite Drug Store last weekend, and I came across a cart of Cake Cones (for ice cream) marked down to $.25/box! I bought a box and new instantly what I was going to use them for. With friends coming for a play date, I knew it was the perfect opportunity to make Cone Cupcakes!

For this recipe you need: 1 box of your favorite flavor cake mix (prepared according to package), 24 cake cones, muffin pans, frosting and sprinkles :)

After mixing the cake batter, place cake cones into your muffin tin. I still use liners, to cut back on messes!

Fill each cone about 3/4 of the way full. 

I made 12 cake cones and 24 mini muffins out of one box of cake mix. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes (the minis only took about 15).

Allow to cool completely before frosting. Don't worry what the tops look like, they will be covered!

My first thought for these was cream cheese frosting...my favorite! I mixed cream cheese, a little butter, powdered sugar and vanilla. Chill before frosting the cupcakes.

Unfortunately, I ran out of powdered sugar before I got it to the consistency I wanted...but the end result dried looking like real ice cream!

I decorated half of the cupcakes with canned strawberry frosting and added cute sprinkles!

Yum!

Robyn and her buddy loved their ice cream...that didn't melt :)

What's not to love....Fresh Blueberry Oat Bars!

I was feeling uninspired for breakfast today....so I decided to bake. I consider Apple Crisp to be perfectly acceptable for breakfast, so I figured a Blueberry Oat Bar could be breakfast too. It contains oatmeal :)

I couldn't find a recipe I like for Blueberry Crisp or Bars, so I used this Raspberry Oat Bar recipe and subbed in my homemade Blueberry Jam.

You begin by pre-heating your oven to 400 degrees. Cream together 3/4 cup softened butter and 1 cup of brown sugar. I added 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and 1 tsp of vanilla to this mixture.

Gradually add in the oatmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt mixture. This will be crumbly, but hold together if you squeeze it.

Press half the mixture into a greased 9x13 casserole dish.

Top with jam leaving a little room on the edges so the jam doesn't burn. I topped mine with a few handfuls of fresh blueberries too.

Top with remaining crumble mixture. I pressed this down a bit so it would stick after baking.

Bake for about 20 minutes, until golden brown. I love how the berries were peaking through the top after baking.

Yum! This was my "super healthy" breakfast today...with a few fresh berries for good measure!

I've Fallen in Love with Fondant!

I wanted to do a fairly intricate cake for Robyn's birthday this year. I didn't see how I could possibly pipe all the decorations, so I got brave and decided to try Marshmallow Fondant. It was awesome! Not only was it easy...it produced beautiful results that taste good!

Can you say, simple? Melt one bag of mini marshmallows and slowly add in 1 bag of powdered sugar, using butter to knead it into a soft dough.


Once the dough forms, I rubbed it with butter and wrapped in two layers of plastic wrap. Throw it in the refrigerator overnight at least, or until you are ready to use it.


On a side note...I wanted to do a large cake for this, but didn't want to buy a fancy pan. Instead, I lined a regular 9x13 with cooking spray and parchment paper. I was able to easily lift out my cakes. I made one white and one chocolate.


I placed both cakes on a piece of foam board from the craft store ($1) and used butter cream frosting to seal them together. I did a crumb coat, refrigerated and then applied my final coat of frosting. Set aside...


I used butter and gel colors to tint my fondant. I kneaded until the color was even (couldn't get a photo because my hands were a mess!!!!). Then place each color on a surface coated in powdered sugar.


Roll out to desired thickness. I used a sharp knife and cut all my shapes free form...except the 9 million hearts :) I used a mini cookie cutter for those.


Check out these bright colors! They came out just the way I was hoping. And note to self...don't start with red. My hands were pink for 2 days!

I adhered the cut-outs to the cake while the butter cream was still soft.

The finished product!!

And since I made this for Robyn's party and not her actual birthday, I needed to make a second treat for after dinner tonight!! I read about this in another blog, and it was perfect. To achieve the same consistency of a Great American Cookie Company Cookie, mix one tube of refrigerated cookie dough with 1/4 cup of karo syrup. Super healthy...I know! I'm all for homemade, but this is really yummy!


This makes enough for a 9 inch cake pan. Spray well and leave a little room around the edges for the cookie to expand.


I let the cookie cool and used my leftover butter cream and fondant to decorate. It was even easier to do a second time after I had learned to work with the fondant. I can't wait to use it again. What an amazing recipe :)

Happy 2nd Birthday, Robyn!