Apple mini hand pies

These were easy as...pie...(had to, sorry) to make ahead and freeze. They baked up beautifully and the filling was delish!

Hand pie crust
via Foodie with Family

Ingredients

For the Crust (Can substitute 2 purchased pie crust rounds):
• 2 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold butter, in small pieces
• 2 egg yolks
• 4 tablespoons ice water 
•  
• For the Pies:
• 4 cups pie filling (whichever flavour you prefer, I like to use a variety of homemade pie fillings.) 
•  
• Also needed to bake the pies:
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon raw sugar (can substitute granulated sugar) per pie

Instructions

To Make the Crust: 

 

Pulse the flour and salt together in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Open the food processor and add in the butter. Replace the lid and pulse until the butter and flour resemble small peas. Pour the ice water and egg yolks in through the feed tube and process until a coarse dough forms. Turn the shaggy dough out onto a lightly floured surface and press together with your hands until it holds together well. Divide into two equal pieces and form into 1/2-inch thick rectangles. Wrap each rectangle in plastic wrap and chill for at least twenty minutes (but up to 2 days) before rolling.

To Make the Pies:

Line one or two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Lightly flour your work surface and place an unwrapped rectangle of pie crust dough on the counter. Sprinkle a little flour on top of the dough.

Roll it into a larger rectangle that is about 12-inches by 10-inches. Use a bench knife, pastry wheel or pizza cutter to divide the dough in half vertically. Score the dough lengthwise also, dividing the dough into 4 smaller rectangles, to help you visualize where to put the pie filling.

Spoon about half a cup of pie filling near either side of the split on the dough.

Fold the outside edges (using a bench knife to help lift the dough, if needed) toward the center and drape it over the pie filling, pressing down and crimping the seams to keep the filling from leaking.

Use your bench knife or cutter to split between the pies again (just to be sure nothing is sticking!). Use a spatula or bench knife to transfer the pies to the parchment lined pans. Don't worry about leaving too much space between them, because you'll be freezing them.

Repeat with remaining pie dough and filling. Cover the pans lightly with plastic wrap and place in the freezer until frozen solid, about 4 hours.

When firm, carefully transfer the frozen pies to a resealable freezer bag and keep frozen for up to 3 months. 

To Bake Pies:

Place desired amount of pies 2-3 inches apart on a rimmed parchment lined pan. Preheat oven to 425°F. Brush the tops of the pies with the beaten egg and sprinkle each pie with a teaspoon of raw sugar. Cut two small vent holes in the tops of the pies.

Bake for 15 minutes, lower the heat to 350°F, and bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until pies are deep golden brown and filling is bubbly.

Let cool on the pans for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to finish cooling. Serve warm or room temperature. Leftovers can be stored, tightly wrapped, at room temperature for up to three days.

Apple Pie filling

via Paula Deen

 Ingredients

• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling
• Freshly ground nutmeg, to taste
• 7 medium apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced

Mix together the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small bowl. In another bowl, sprinkle apples with the juice of 1 lemon and toss. Stir in the sugar mixture to evenly coat the apples.

 

Blackberry Cake with Raspberry Frosting

Blackberry Cupcakes with Raspberry Frosting

(source unknown)

My husband had this cake at work once and quickly brought the recipe home so that he could have it again :)

Ingredients

White cake mix

1 3oz package raspberry gelatin

1 10oz package frozen blackberries (thawed)

4 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup hot water

1 12oz container cool whip (thawed)

1 10oz package frozen raspberries (thawed and sweetened)

Directions

In a large bowl combine cake mix and gelatin powder. Add blackberries with juice, eggs, oil and water. Beat until well blended. Pour into greased 13x9" pan and bake for 35-40 minutes and 350. When I made the cupcakes I baked 12 at a time and they took about 18 minutes.

For the frosting fold raspberries into the cool whip lightly smashing the berries to release the juices. Spread over cooled cake and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Note: This really gets better the longer you let it sit. We love it best the next day :)

Cassy

Lemon Bars

I have always wanted to try making my own lemon bars, and these did not disappoint! Tart and lemony, they're the perfect start to the warm weather coming our way. I think I'm crushing hard on lemons lately, I can't get enough! Luckily my friend has a lemon tree and she is very generous so I'm going to enjoy it. :D

Lemon Bars
adapted from Make it Do

2 cups flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup butter
2-3 tbsp milk

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Mix above dry ingredients with a pastry cutter until well blended, add milk, and mix until it comes together. Press into pan and cook for 25-30 minutes until slightly golden brown. While crust is cooking make the lemon later:

4 eggs
pinch of salt
4 tbsp flour
2 cups sugar
2 lemons zest and juice

In a medium bowl, beat eggs with salt. Mix in rest of ingredients. Pour over hot crust and bake for another 25 minutes.

Cool and dust with powdered sugar.

mini cheesecakes with strawberry sauce

Some yummy mini cheesecakes. I had made some strawberry sauce for a party, but forgot to put it out, so I wanted to use it for something! They turned out pretty yummy, I think.

Strawberry Pretzel Squares

these delicious little treats are so fun! the pretzel "crust" makes for a delicious salty and sweet treat. and, if you take it to a church function or large party, it will probably get devoured quickly. so make sure you get a picture before there are only three left. seriously, 5 minutes after cutting them up, and they were gone! (sorry about the not in focus picture. as i said i was in a hurry to get out of the way of the ravenous people)


Strawberry Pretzel Squares
from Kraft Foods

2 cups finely crushed pretzels

1/2 cup sugar, divided

2/3 cup butter or margarine, melted

1-1/2 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened (although i only used one and it turned out fine, i think!)

2 Tbsp. milk

1 cup thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

2 cups boiling water

1 pkg. (6 oz.) JELL-O Strawberry Flavor Gelatin

1-1/2 cups cold water

1 qt. (4 cups) strawberries, sliced

HEAT oven to 350°F.
MIX pretzel crumbs, 1/4 cup sugar and butter. Press onto bottom of 13x9-inch pan. Bake 10 min. Cool.
BEAT cream cheese, remaining sugar and milk until blended. Stir in COOL WHIP; spread over crust. Refrigerate.
ADD boiling water to gelatin mix in large bowl; stir 2 min. until completely dissolved. Stir in cold water. Refrigerate 1-1/2 hours or until thickened (spoon drawn through leaves definite impression). Stir in strawberries; spoon over cream cheese layer. Refrigerate 3 hours or until firm.

lemon cranberry scones

wow. these were so good even rory ate two. (he's not a fan of cranberries OR lemons) i'm not gonna say how many i ate...for reals..try them. they'd be great with orange zest too, i just had lemons on hand. anyways, perfect saturday morning breakfast or brunch item!


Lemon Cranberry Scones-adapted from The Joy of Cooking (aka food bible)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Whisk together thoroughly in a large bowl:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

drop in:

6 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Cut in the butter with 2 knives or a pastry blender, tossing the pieces with the flour mixture to coat and separate them as you work, until the largest pieces are the size of peas and the rest resemble breadcrumbs. Do not allow the butter to melt or form a paste with the flour.

Stir in:

1/2 cup dried cranberries

Whisk together, then add all at once:

1 cup heavy cream (i used the rest of our half and half)
1 tsp grated lemon zest

Mix with a rubber spatula, wooden spoon, or fork just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Gather the dough into a ball and knead it gently against the side and bottom of the bowl until loose pieces of dough adhere and the bowl is fairly clean. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and pat the dough into an 8-inch round about 3/4 inch thick. Cut into 8 or 12 wedges and place at least 1/2 inch apart on the baking sheet. Brush the tops with 2-3 tsp cream or milk. Sprinkle tops with sugar.

Bake until the tops are golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool on a rack or serve warm.

peach cobbler

YUmmm dessert.

ok this was hands down, delicious. rory likes his cobbler sweet, so this fit the bill.


Easy peach cobbler from myrecipes.com

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar, divided
1 tablespoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 cup milk
4 cups fresh peach slices
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Ground cinnamon or nutmeg (optional)

Melt butter in a 13- x 9-inch baking dish.
Combine flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt; add milk, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour batter over butter (do not stir).
Bring remaining 1 cup sugar, peach slices, and lemon juice to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly; pour over batter (do not stir). Sprinkle with cinnamon, if desired.
Bake at 375° for 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown. Serve cobbler warm or cool.

*** i poured the batter on top of the fruit (since that seemed weird to have fruit on top) and just added the butter, diced up, to the batter. seemed to work just fine, and came out yummy. everything else i did as the recipe says.

mango salsa

2 mangos, diced
3 tbsp diced red onion
1/2 jalapeno, diced small
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 tbsp fresh lime juice

Mix all ingredients in small bowl. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 6 hours ahead. Cover and chill.)

banana chocolate chip muffins

Banana chocolate chip muffins (from the recipes from the i don't cook syndrome book, really old. don't know the exact name)

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 bananas mashed
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cream sugar and butter. Add eggs and beat well. Sift or mix flour, baking soda, and salt. Add bananas, vanilla, and nuts if you like. Spray muffins pan or use cupcake liners. Fill muffins cups 2/3 full. At this point I had forgotten to put the chocolate chips in. OOPS! I sprinkled a few on each top and pressed them in a little. We all liked this! Bake 20 to 25 minutes. 

YUM. Both Rory and Janae ate three in a matter of minutes, so that tells you they were Goo-0d!

strawberry pie

Pie crust recipe

Strawberry filling recipe