Blueberry Crumb Bars

These are easily the most delicious bars that I have ever made. Breakfast, snack, dessert...second dessert?! These crumb bars are so versatile. I baked them for my best friends gender reveal party/Mothers Day Brunch, little did we know that she is having a boy! What a sweet surprise! I also baked them for my husbands birthday party, not knowing that they would be the hit of the party up against my gooey pecan pie & brown butter rice krispy treats! (yeah, those are coming up!)

These bars are loaded with fresh blueberries, oatmeal, butter, & lemon. Simple yet delectable. These keep for a week if they last that long in your house! Perfect to grab on the go, or enjoy after dinner.

As long as you have one bowl, you can make these bars! No mixer needed! The crust and the crumb topping are the same so this recipe is really easy to make with little clean up. You can easily change the fruit too. I want to make it with raspberries next and maybe add some chocolate chips to the topping.

[Recipe]

always

yellow butt(::)n

strawberry summer cake.

This is my go to cake during the summer. I've blogged about it on two other occasions because its simply irresistible and I just want you to try it!  This cake is packed with a whole pound of fresh strawberries. They turn into a jam after 60 minutes in the oven, which makes your kitchen, heck, the entire house smell divine! This is a super easy cake to make with few ingredients. Besides it baking for an hour, it takes less then 10 minutes to prepare and get it into the oven. What better way to use freshly picked strawberries from the farm then on top of this cake?!

 

[Recipe] 

a must add to any homemakers recipe index

always

yellow butt(::)n

tart cherry pie

i wanted pie...

[cherry pie filling]

*use this for the pie filling & for baking instructions.

the most amazing pie crust you'll ever make [yield; 1 crust]*

1-1/4 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of sugar

1 stick of cold butter, reallyyyy cold & cut into small pieces.

2 tablespoons of cold sour cream

2 to 3 tablespoons of ice water

*I doubled this recipe to make a lattice on top

Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl.

Add the cut up butter.

Using a pastry blender (or fingers), mix until it resembles coarse meal.

Add the sour cream & make a well in the center.

Add 2 tablespoons of the ice water and mix with pastry blender.

Be ever so gently. Do not over mix.

You want the dough to come together but still be crumbly.

If needed, add another tablespoon of the ice water.

Turn the dough out onto the counter and form into a ball.

Flatten like a disc, cover with plastic wrap, and chill 2-3 hours.

yellow butt(::)n

Chocolatey banana bread

Mmm, what to do with brown, almost black, bananas....

BANANA BREAD!

And what better to add then cocoa powder and chocolate chunks!

[currently drooling over the aroma in my kitchen as I write]

This is smitten kitchens double chocolate banana bread.

It's a must add recipe to your recipe box! I promise you.

3 very ripe bananas

1/2 cup of butter, melted

3/4 cups brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

1 cup of flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder, dutch process*

1 cup of semisweet or bittersweet chocolate**

[full recipe]

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Butter a 9x5 loaf pan & set aside.
Mash the bananas (I like to leave some small chunks)
Add in the melted butter, brown sugar, egg, & vanilla.
Mix mix mix until combined.
Sift the dry ingredients [flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon]
Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture.
Stir just until combined.
Sprinkle in the chocolate chunks and stir.
Pour into prepared pan, bake for 55-65 minutes,
& let cool for 10-15 minutes on a cooling rack.
Slice, serve, enjoy.

*I added less cocoa then mentioned in the recipe (mainly because I ran out!) which ended up in my favor! Any more and it would have been too sweet. 

**I used both semisweet & bittersweet chocolate, 1/2 cup of each.

Yellow butt(::)n

Lemon Shortbreads.

2-1/4 cups AP flour, spooned & leveled

1/4 teaspoon fine salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon grated lemon zest + 2 teaspoons lemon juice

--coarse sanding or turbinado sugar for sprinkling--

{recipe}

Combine flour & salt.

Beat the butter, sugar, lemon zest & juice until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.

Add the flour on low until combined.

Turn out the dough onto a sheet of wax or parchment paper.

Shape the dough into a rectangle log measuring about 12x2x1 (yes, I used a ruler)

Wrap the dough completely in the wax or parchment paper.

Refrigerate 3-4 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350degrees.

Slice the dough into 1/3" slices, lay on sheet pan & sprinkle with turbinado sugar.

Bake 12-15 minutes, rotating trays half way through.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

yellow butt(::)n

Homemade cinnamon buns

I've always been intimidated by any yeast dough, especially cinnamon buns. They're time consuming, messy, delicious, oh & did I mention, TIME CONSUMING! 

I stumbled upon Americas test kitchens quicker cinnamon bun recipe and decided to give it a shot. By doubling the amount of yeast and baking powder, the dough only needs 30 minutes to rise. So why not?!

Little did I know I could make and bake them and even eat them all within 2 hours! But honestly that's not even the best part about these buns. They're soft and fluffy, yet cakey and goeey. Mmm you should make them right now! 

Americas test kitchen's

::quicker cinnamon buns::

For the filling

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1 T cinnamon

1/8 t salt

2 T unsalted butter, melted (I always use salted, though.)

1 t vanilla extract

For the dough

1&1/4 cups of whole milk, room temp.

4 t instant or rapid rise yeast

2 T white sugar 

2&3/4 cups all purpose flour 

2&1/2 t baking powder 

3/4 t salt

6 T unsalted butter, melted 

Glaze.

3 oz cream cheese, room temp

2 T unsalted butter, melted

2 T milk

1/2 t vanilla extract

1/8 t salt

1 cup confectioners sugar; sifted

Make the buns;

Combine all of the filling ingredients until it resembles wet sand. Set aside.

Grease and line a 9" dark cake pan, top with parchment paper, and grease again. Microwave a 1/4 cup of milk for 15-20 seconds. Add the yeast and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Stir until combined and let it sit until bubbly - about 5 minutes.

Combine flour, salt, baking powder and remaining 5 teaspoons of sugar. Stir in 2 tablespoons of the melted butter, yeast mixture, and 1 cup of milk. Mix until the dough forms. It will be a little sticky. Kneed on a floured surface until a smooth ball forms.

Roll the dough out into a 12 by 9" rectangle (as pictured above). Brush the dough completely with 2 tablespoons of melted butter. Sprinkle the entire sheet of the dough with the filling mixture and press it into the dough. Roll the dough away from you into a log, pinching the seam to seal.

Cut the log into 8 equal pieces and put them into the 9" prepared pan. Brush the buns with the remaining melted butter, cover loosely with plastic wrap and let the buns rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350•F

Remove the plastic wrap and bake the buns until brown, about 25-28 minutes.

Remove from the oven, let cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a plate. 

To make the glaze, mix all of the ingredients in the mixer and slowly add the sugar. 

Top the buns with the ooey gooey glaze and enjoy! 

Yellow butt(::)n

November 9th; A naked wedding cake.

I had the honor of baking for my best friends wedding this past fall. When she got engaged, we had talked about me baking the cake for them. I was honestly a little nervous because I only ever bake wedding cupcakes with a small bride and groom cake.

She told me she wanted a naked wedding cake. Who doesn't?! They're beautiful, simple, and rustic. Plus, her and Adam preferred no icing so this seemed like the perfect cake! She said that I could have total freedom with the flavors, but we decided to stick with all vanilla and raspberry jam. Mm

I spent a month trying to find the best! vanilla sponge cake. Ugh, that was a disaster. Night after night I would bake new recipes and just throw them into the trash. It wasn't until I decided to try Joy Of Baking. FINALLY! The search was over. A recipe similar to a pound cake, yet still light. Was this for real?

Indeed it was. I decided to bake a trial cake at 10pm, fill and decorate it at 6am and bring it to work where we could all try it. Whew. I was so relieved when the cake was just crumbs left on plate. 

Long story short, this vanilla cake is the bomb. And I'm choosing to share it with you!

3 cups AP flour, sifted

1T baking powder

1/2 t. Salt

1 cup (2 sticks) room temperature butter

1 & 3/4 cups of sugar

4 large eggs 

2 t. Pure vanilla extract

1 cup of whole milk, room temperature

Full recipe and video posted below!

http://m.joyofbaking.com/cakes/VanillaCake.html

Yellow Butt(::)n