Lemon Ginger Bakewell Slices

I planned to make these bars and I thought I was good on ingredients with the exception of lemons, so my husband and I stopped at the store and picked up some fresh lemons. I got home and I thought I had lemon curd, or something that I could use in its place. I didn’t have lemon curd, so I checked to see what I could use. I identified four possibilities, yes, I am well stocked! I had apple cinnamon curd, apricot pineapple preserves, lemon marmalade, and ginger curd. My husband thought that ginger curd would be good, and I agreed since I love ginger.

Since I used ginger curd, I decided to use a little less lemon zest to these bars. I didn’t add lemon to the base, and I just used the zest of one lemon in the filling. Perhaps I should have added some ginger to the base, but certainly it needed some salt. I did refrigerate my pastry base, but just for 15 or so minutes. It had firmed up but didn’t become so hard that I couldn’t shape it. In retrospect, I think I could have rolled the pastry base thinner, but I didn’t do that this time.

I will say that the ginger curd isn’t super strong, and I cut back on the lemon, so these bars don’t have a prominent flavor. Normally a Bakewell tart/bars have raspberry filling and this was intended to be a lemon version, so mine is a lemon and ginger version. Despite not having a strong, in your face flavor, these bars are excellent. They’d be easier to slice if the pastry base was thinner, but I can envision all sorts of variations made with different types of curd and preserves!

Lemon Ginger Bakewell Slices
1¼ cups flour
6 tablespoons butter, chopped into small pieces
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 egg yolk
1+ tablespoon water

7 tablespoons butter, room temperature
⅓ cup sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
2 eggs
¾ cup ground almonds
2 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons lemon/ginger curd
2 tablespoons sliced/flaked almonds

In a large mixer bowl, combine the flour and butter and mix on low until the mixture is crumbly. Add the powdered sugar, then stir in the egg yolk. Add water, mixing intermittently on low, until the dough comes together. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-inch square pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

Once the dough is chilled, roll the dough out to slightly larger than 8 inches square (trim as needed). Press the dough into the base of the prepared pan, pressing the dough into the edges and corners of the pan. Bake for 10 minutes.

Make the filling: in a large mixer bowl bear the butter, sugar, and lemon zest on medium to combine. Add the eggs, one at a time, and then the ground almonds and flour. Mix until cohesive.

Once the bottom crust comes out of the oven, spread with a thin layer of curd. Top with the almond filling and carefully spread into a smooth layer, doing your best not to disturb the layer of curd. Sprinkle with sliced almonds.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the bars are golden. Allow to cool before cutting into squares.

Recipe from Scrummy Lane

Berry Lemon Cheesecake Bars

I had bought a couple of lemons recently and still had one lemon that I wanted to use. It was starting to show its age so I went looking for recipes, hopefully something where I had all of the necessary ingredients. Since I try to keep cream cheese on hand, this helps a lot! I found these lemon cheesecake bars, which were perfect. The original recipe called for strawberry preserves, which I didn’t have, but I figured I could find something.

Our kitchen is stocked with quite a variety of preserves, which I think I have mentioned before. I knew we would have something that would work with lemon. While some of the flavors we had on hand didn’t combine well with lemon, I ended up finding some preserves that were a combination of blueberry and blackberry. Blueberry and lemon are classic together, and the blackberry would be even a little bit better.

These bars take a little bit longer because there are several steps. I made my crust in the mixer, but I could have also used my food processor. That does a better job of making pastry, but the mixer was fine. The mixer bowl was quite clean so I just used that for the filling as well. These bars are excellent with the blueberry/blackberry preserves! The only challenge was cutting the bars when they were very cold, which was nearly impossible! Once I let the bars sit at room temperature for a short time they were much easier to work with!

Berry Lemon Cheesecake Bars
2 cups flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest
3/4 cup cold butter, cut into tablespoon sized pieces
16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 eggs
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup berry preserves

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9” x 13” pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large mixer bowl, combine the flour, powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon lemon zest and butter. Mix on low until the mixture is crumbly. (You could also use your food processor for this.) The mixture will be dry. Press the mixture evenly into the prepared pan.  

Bake for 20 minutes, until the crust begins to brown.

While the crust is baking, make the filling: in a large mixer bowl beat the cream cheese, sugar, and lemon zest on medium until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, stirring until combined. Stir in the lemon juice.

Once the crust comes out of the oven, carefully spread the preserves in an even layer over the crust. Pour the cream cheese mixture over the preserves and smooth the top.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the cheesecake is set in the center. Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour before refrigerating for several hours. Bring the bars to room temperature for about 30 minutes before cutting into bars.

Recipe from Cookies and Cups

Chai Sugar Cookies

I have made some cookies in the past that were similar to these, but you can never go wrong with the spices in these cookies! These cookies call for five different spices, and you have the option of using the spices that you prefer. The original recipe called for cardamom, and that isn’t my favorite, so I took that out and added some nutmeg. I know that cloves can be strong, so I decreased the amount slightly. In the end, they are spice cookies of your own creation, and that is great!

This recipe uses a combination of volume and weight measurements. When I bake, I do like using weights, as that’s always going to be precise. For a teaspoon, the weight might be too small, so it makes sense to use a combination. The one cup of sugar weighs 200 grams, but I find sugar very easy to measure. When you are baking, and I hope you are doing it because you enjoy it, and you can do what works for you.

This dough comes together easily, but make sure you make the flour mixture first. With so many spices, it’s best to make that combination first so you don’t have to think about it later. I flattened the cookies slightly, but I don’t know how much that changed the shape of the cookies. For the glaze, I changed the coffee glaze to a cinnamon glaze, which I preferred. I tried to be artistic with the glaze, and I think the look good. I love the flavor of these cookies, perhaps they are a fall cookie, but I could make these any time of the year.

Chai Sugar Cookies
270 grams flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon cloves
142 grams butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1 egg + 1 yolk

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2-3 tablespoons milk

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cornstarch, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves; set aside. In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light. Add the honey, egg, and egg yolk and stir on medium to combine. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour mixture. The dough may be slightly crumbly and doing the final mixing with a spatula helps bring the dough together.

Shape the dough into 1 tablespoon balls and place on the prepared baking sheets. Flatten the cookies slightly with your hand or a flat spatula.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the cookies are set. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once the cookies are cool, make the glaze: in a small bowl combine the powdered sugar and cinnamon. Whisk in 2 tablespoons milk, adding additional milk until the glaze reaches a thick drizzling consistency. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cookies and allow the glaze to set before serving the cookies.

Recipe from Handle the Heat

Lemon Oatmeal Cookies

Since my cache of cookies that I have baked was dwindling, I wanted to make a couple of things to have in reserve. I didn’t quite know what I wanted to make, but I searched my recipes and figured that I was good with the exception of lemons for lemon zest. We picked up a couple of lemons at the store and headed home, knowing I could make something great!

One recipe that I made called for the zest of three lemons, but I edited that website slightly and used only one lemon. Having lemons on hand, I found this recipe that sounded great and it was also easy to convert this to a dairy free recipe. I try to make dairy-free recipes from time to time, and by substituting vegan butter here this cookie is instantly dairy free. The vegan butter tends to be softer, so I did end up chilling the dough for a short time to firm it up.

The original recipe had you flatten the cookie with a glass dipped in sugar, but I simply rolled the cookie dough in sugar. The cookies are extremely flat, and I don’t really think that you need to flatten the cookies. I did a little, but I don’t think it made much difference. While these cookies are flat, they are super crunchy and oaty. Oats and lemon are such a good combination, and these simple cookies fit the bill.

Lemon Oatmeal Cookies
1 cup butter or vegan butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon lemon extract
Zest from 1 lemon
1 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
Additional sugar or sanding sugar

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a large mixer bowl, combine the butter and sugar and mix on medium until light. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the lemon extract and zest. Stir on medium to combine. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Once those ingredients are incorporated, mix in the oats with a spatula.

Shape the dough into tablespoon-sized balls. Roll the dough balls in sugar and place on the prepared baking sheets. Flatten the cookies slightly with the palm of your hand.

Bake the cookies for about 10-11 minutes, until golden. Some of the edges may be a little loose, but I tidied those up with a small metal spatula. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes and then cool completely on a wire rack.

Recipe from Leigh Anne Wilkes

Brown Sugar Toffee Bars

I had built up a fair number of recipes to post but I was getting to the point where I needed to start baking some treats! It starts to get hard this time of year when there are many commitments, weekend trips away, and that sort of thing, so I rely on having some recipes ready to go. I have a lot of recipes planned, but then figure I will change this thing or that, which makes deciding what to bake a bit more challenging.

These bars don’t call for much that is different, but does require rice flour. I didn’t have that on hand, and I was surprised at how difficult that was to find at some grocery stores! There are different types of rice flour, and they do vary so that was more complex. Since I needed such a small quantity, I ended up going to the local organic/community market and they had rice flour in their bulk section, which was exactly what I needed. The rice flour gives the shortbread base that classic sandy texture.

When you bake these bars, the shortbread is thin, but I didn’t have any trouble covering the base of the pan. I have had much more difficulty with other recipes! I do think I baked the shortbread base a bit too long, and likely should have taken it out of the oven after 25 minutes. As a result, my bars are quite crunchy. They taste wonderful, but they do have that crunch!

Brown Sugar Toffee Bars
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup packed brown sugar
½ tsp almond extract
1½ cups flour
½ cup rice flour
¼ tsp salt
12 ounces chocolate chips
4 ounces sliced almonds, finely chopped

Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a 9” x 13” pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

Beat the butter on medium in the bowl of a mixer for 2 minutes. Add the brown sugar and beat on medium until light. Add the almond extract and stir to combine. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour, rice flour, and salt. Press the dough in a thin layer into the prepared pan.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until firm along the edges. (Keep the oven on.)

Once you have removed the shortbread from the oven, immediately sprinkle the chocolate chips in an even layer over the bars. Return the bars to the oven for 3 minutes.

Remove the bars from the oven and spread the chocolate into a smooth layer. Sprinkle the bars with chopped almonds.

Allow the bars to completely cool before cutting into bars. It helps to refrigerate the bars right before cutting.

Recipe from Sweet Recipeas

Peanut Butter Marshmallow Cookies

From time to time, in an effort to make something resembling a chocolate chip cookie in order to appease my husband, I try to find something that is close to chocolate chip cookies. When I first came across this recipe, I wasn’t sure how close it would be, with the peanut butter in the dough and the mini marshmallows, but in the end, these were a very interesting take on chocolate chip cookies.

There isn’t anything unusual in these cookies, and the combination of peanut butter and marshmallow is becoming more common. I was sure that I had all of the ingredients for these, and I went to bake them and realized that I didn’t have mini marshmallows. I did have freeze-dried marshmallow bits, which are significantly smaller than mini marshmallows, but I figured they would work. I used all the marshmallow bits I had and now I have to find those again. Oh well!

These cookies come together like a traditional peanut butter cookie, but then you shape them before chilling. I have come across this in a handful of recipes and I think it helps cookies keep their shape, but I honestly haven’t done any sort of real testing to be sure. Chilling the dough did keep these cookies together very well, and I didn’t have an issue with them spreading. The combination of chocolate, peanut butter, and marshmallows was really interesting, and I really liked these cookies. It didn’t make a huge number of cookies, so I guess I will have to make them again!

Peanut Butter Marshmallow Cookies    
10 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1 egg
1-1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup mini marshmallows

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter, sugar, brown sugar, and peanut butter on medium until creamy. Add the egg, stirring to combine, and then the vanilla. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour, baking soda, and salt. When the dough is almost together, add the mini chocolate chips and mini marshmallows and stir with a spatula to incorporate.

Shape the dough into 2-tablespoon balls and place on a plate lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate the dough for an hour.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Place 6-8 cookie dough balls on the prepared baking sheet, leaving plenty of room between the cookies as they may spread.

Bake for 13-15 minutes, until the cookies start to brown slightly along the edges. Allow to cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes before removing to a rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Parsley and Icing

Cinnamon Sugar Blondies

I was planning what cookies to bake, something that would make a decent-sized batch that I could take and share with others. I had my recipe all planned and there was only one ingredient that I needed to get. I thought that was great but then did that final check on my blog and I had made those cookies previously. Once I made a recipe I typically move that recipe to a different Pinterest board, but I guess I hadn’t done that. I’ve been blogging for a long time so I suppose that is bound to happen.

I adjusted and decided to make these cinnamon sugar blondies instead. While I have made similar recipes, this one was new to me. Anything with cinnamon sugar or anything snickerdoodle-like is well received, so I figured these would be a good choice. I had everything on hand, so great! I usually have cinnamon sugar on hand, if you want to make your own I use 3-parts sugar to 1-part cinnamon. You can adjust your ratio depending on your taste.

These bars are simple, just using brown sugar, and then the cinnamon sugar goes on top of the dough before baking. Depending on how dark your cinnamon sugar is, it may be difficult to tell when the bars are done. Mine didn’t quite seem done after 25 minutes, but perhaps the few extra minutes was too much. The glaze is nice, and it does spread but I liked that. It didn’t fully cover the bars, but it was close! These bars are simple bit very tasty. I am used to the flavor of a snickerdoodle, which is slightly different, but they are very yummy.

Cinnamon Sugar Blondies  
1 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 ½ cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cinnamon sugar

1 cup powdered sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2-4 tablespoon milk

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9” x 13” pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar on medium until creamy. Add the eggs and vanilla and stir to combine. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Press the dough evenly into the prepared pan. Top the dough with cinnamon sugar.

Bake for 25-28 minutes, until the bars begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. Allow the bars to cool for 30 minutes before adding the glaze.

Make the glaze: in a small bowl whisk the powdered sugar and cinnamon. Add 2 tablespoons of milk and whisk until the glaze comes together. If needed, add additional milk to make the glaze more spreadable. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled bars in a crisscross pattern. Allow the glaze to set before cutting into bars.

Recipe from This Delicious House