Cookies & Bars

Lemon Bars

~ lindy

 My favorite part about these lemon bars is the crust, it can hold up to all the lemon flavor and makes a nice size serving square.  This recipe worked out great for my fruit lemon bar flags.

Also see Americana Tablescape

Lemon Bars

Crust:

*1 cup Cold Butter, sliced into chunks

*2 cups All-purpose Flour

*1/4 cup Sugar, plus 2 tablespoons

*1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt

In a small mixing bowl add the above ingredients and with a pastry cutter, cut together to combine to a crumbly mixture and press into a 9×13 glass or ceramic baking dish, greased with butter and lined with parchment paper.

Bake the crust in a pre-heated 350*F. oven for about 20 minutes. (Make lemon filling while crust bakes.)

*
Lemon Filling:

*1  and 1/2 cups Granulated Sugar

*pinch of Salt

*1/4 cup All-purpose Flour

*4 Eggs

*3/4 cup Fresh Lemon Juice

*1/4 cup Lemon Zest, plus 1 tablespoon

Mix together sugar, salt and flour.  Add the eggs, fresh lemon juice and zest. Mix until smooth and add pour on top of the baked crust.

Bake the lemon bars in the oven at 350*F. oven for another 20 minutes or until set.

Remove from oven and allow cooling and refrigerate for two hours before serving.  Sift on the powdered sugar and decorate with the fruit as desired.

Topping:

*Powdered Sugar, sifted onto baked and cooled lemon bars

*Strawberries and Blueberries, optional

Cut into squares and toppings and serve chilled.

Recipe adapted from Ree Drummond Lemon Bars

 






Enjoy!

Lindy

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

~ lindy

I kept trying to make different chocolate chip cookie recipes, but I still go back to this recipe that I’ve made since my children were little.  I hope you will give them a try; they seem to just melt in your mouth with yummy flavor that you expect from a traditional chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

*1 cup Butter, room temperature OR use 1/2 cup Butter Flavored Shortening and 1/2 cup Butter, room temperature

*1/2 cup White Sugar

*1 cup Brown Sugar

*3 Eggs, room temperature

*1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

*2 and 3/4 cups All-purpose Flour, 1/4 cup more only if needed (Humidity in the air can make dough sticky adjust as needed.)

*1 teaspoon Baking Soda

*1 teaspoon Baking Powder

*1/4 teaspoon Salt

*1 cup Guittard Semisweet Chocolate Chips (my favorite) or Dark Chocolate Chips or Milk Chocolate Chips

Note:  I like to hand mix this recipe with wooden spoon in a medium glass bowl.

Instructions:

1. Cream together in a bowl; Shortening, butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla.

2.  Add eggs one at a time, stirring until ingredients are combined.

3. Whisk together in a separate bowl the dry ingredients.

4.  Add a cup at a time of the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture.  Add more flour if needed, cookie dough should be slightly sticky.  Refrigerate 1-2 hours or overnight for best results.

5.  Using a cookie scoop (about 1 or 2 tablespoons per cookie dough ball), scoop 6 to 12 scoops of dough onto Silpat covered 1/2 baking sheet, or cooking spray, or parchment paper would work as well.

Do not press down cookie dough scoops/balls.  (You could also top with a few chocolate chips if desired.)  Keep dough chilled between batches.

6.  In a pre-heated oven on 350*F.  bake the cookies about 8-10 or 10-12 minutes, (depending on scoop size) or when the edges barely begin to turn a light golden color, being careful not to over bake.

Makes about 30 large to 58 small cookies, depending on scoop size.

Tip:  For best results on baking any cooked or baked goods in the oven, make sure your oven is heating at the correct temperature.  Use an oven thermometer to test your ovens temperature and adjust your oven temperature as needed according to oven thermometers reading.

                    

Enjoy!

Lindy