Lemon Coconut Bars

For our bake sale, I had volunteered to bring some treats and I was thinking lemon!!. I tried the recipe from mybakingaddiction.com posted below. I am happy to report that the bars turned out awesome..no tweaking required.  They sold out in the first half hour. I loved loved these bars. I am adding them to my list of favorites and will be making them again and again..

http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/lemon-coconut-bars/

Lemon Coconut Bars

March 15th, 2010

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup cold butter or margarine
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup flaked coconut

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 9 x 13 x 2 inch pan with foil or parchment paper and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In a bowl, combine flour and confectioners' sugar; cut in the butter until crumbly (I used my food processor and pulsed the ingredients until thoroughly combined).
3. Press into the bottom of a lightly greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pan. Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, lemon juice and baking powder until well mixed. Pour over crust; sprinkle coconut evenly over the top.
5. Bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
6. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

adapted from allrecipes

Lemon Coconut Bars

Luscious Coconut Lemon Bars - Still to try

 To start they have a buttery shortbread crust (yum!) with a sweet & tart lemon filling, then sprinkled with coconut! Do I have your attention?! I thought so. So, here we go...let's get these delightful bars in the oven!

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A delicate buttery crust with a sweet & tart filling and topped with a generous sprinkling of coconut!

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For the crust: Put the flour, cold butter (cubed) and the confectioners sugar into a food processor. Pulse for 10-15 seconds, or until the butter is pea-sized.

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It should look similar to this.

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Pour the crust mixture into a sprayed 9" x 13" baking pan. Tip: Cover with wax paper (to keep it off your hands) and press until even and firm.

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Place in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for 15 minutes. Note: Crust will not be completely baked.

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Whip up the lemon filling ingredients.

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 I used my new Bobby Flay Rasp Grater to zest the lemon. Tip: Always zest the lemon before juicing them, because it's very difficult to zest the lemons once they're juiced.

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Pour the lemon filling mixture over the hot crust and sprinkle with the coconut. If you don't care for coconut, leave it out and dust (sprinkle) cooled bars with confectioners sugar instead.

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Place in the preheated 350 degree F oven for an additional 20-25 minutes, or until the filling doesn't jiggle and the coconut is light golden brown.

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I think you'll love these luscious lemon coconut bars. We took these to a dinner and everyone enjoyed them!

Luscious Coconut Lemon Bars

For the Crust

Ingredients:

2 cups unbleached or all-purpose flour

1 cup butter, very cold & cubed

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place all ingredients into a food processor and pulse for 10-15 seconds, or until the butter is pea-sized.

Pour crust mixture into a sprayed 9" x 13" baking pan.

Place a piece of wax paper over the mixture and press until even and firm. Tip: Cover with wax paper (to keep it off your hands) and press until even and firm.

Place in a preheated 350 degrees F oven and bake for 15 minutes. Note: Crust will not be completely baked.

For the Lemon Coconut Filling

Ingredients:

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup fresh or concentrated lemon juice (approximately juice of 2 lemons)

1 tablespoon lemon zest

3/4 cups coconut
* 3-4 tablespoons confectioners sugar, if omitting coconut

Instructions:

Place all ingredients, except for the coconut into a mixing bowl. Tip: Always zest the lemon before juicing them, because it's very difficult to zest the lemons once they are juiced. 

Beat on low until blended and then on medium speed for 3 minutes.

Pour the filling over the hot crust and sprinkle the coconut. * If you don't care for coconut, leave it out and dust (sprinkle) cooled bars with confectioners sugar instead.

Place in the preheated 350 degrees F oven and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes, or until the filling doesn't jiggle and the coconut is light golden brown.

Servings: 24 bars

This recipe is also featured on Wow Us Wednesdays and Fluster's Creative Muster Wednesdays blog hops!

Let me know if you try these lemon bars, I would love to hear your sweet comments!

Moist Vanilla Cake with Cream cheese whipped cream frosting

Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Cream Frosting

Recipe from http://www.perrysplate.com/2009/05/vanilla-cake-with-strawberry-cream-frosting.html
http://www.perrysplate.com/2009/05/vanilla-cake-with-strawberry-cream-frosting.html

Ingredients:

Frosting:
2 8-oz packages of cream cheese, room temperature
1 c (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
4 c powdered sugar
1/2 c seedless strawberry jam
3/4 c chilled heavy whipping cream
Cake:
3 c cake flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 c sugar
1 c (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
7 large eggs
2 T vanilla extract
1 c sour cream
6 T plus 1/3 c seedless strawberry jam
2 1/4 lbs strawberries, hulled, sliced (about 6 cups), divided

Directions:

For the frosting, beat cream cheese and butter in a large bowl until smooth. You'll probably want to use an electric mixer for this so you don't end up with lumps. Stop every now and then to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat in sugar, then jam. Beat cream in a separate, chilled, bowl until peaks form. Fold whipped cream into frosting. Cover; chill for a couple of hours until it's firm enough to spread.
For the cake, preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter and flour two 9-inch cake pans with 2-inch high sides. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Add sour cream, and beat for 30 seconds. Add flour mixture in three additions, beating to blend after each addition. Divide batter into prepared pans.
Bake cake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 50-60 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes. Run a sharp knife around the edges of the pans, then turn cakes out onto a rack to cool completely. (You may even want to refrigerate them for a couple of hours to make this next step easier.)
Using a serrated knife, divide each layer in half horizontally. Place one half, cake side down, on a cake plate. Spread 2 T of strawberry jam over the cake, then spread 3/4 c of the frosting over the jam. Arrange 3/4 c of the sliced strawberries on top of the frosting in a single layer. Repeat two more times with cake layer, jam, frosting, and strawberries. Top with remaining cake layer, cut side down. Spread two cups of frosting over the top and sides of the cake in a thin layer, then frost with remaining frosting. Stir remaining jam to loosen, then spoon teaspoonfuls onto the top and sides of the cake. Use the back of a spoon to swirl jam decoratively into the frosting.
Makes 12 servings.

Nat's Notes:
1. As you can see, I used a 9x13 cake pan and did three layers instead of four. This makes a LOT of cake. (Which seems to justify the pound of butter (between the cake and the frosting) and 7 eggs, no?) It fed well over 20 people at Sophie's party. It does take longer to bake that way. I think I baked it for an hour and 5 minutes or so. Begin the toothpick tests at around 55 minutes, though.
2. Because I decorated her cake, I didn't swirl jam into the frosting.

 I think it’s one of the moistest vanilla cakes I’ve ever had that wasn’t a pound cake. The frosting was fluffy from the whipped cream and had a hint of strawberry cream cheese flavor. After we refrigerated the leftovers and ate it the next day we decided that it was even better chilled.

Notes: Comments from readers: Frosting too slippery and runny. need to put unflavoured gelatin in whipping cream. Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit. original recipe uses 9 inch round pans.

Lemon Sugar Cookies 

(adapted from twopeasandtheirpod)

Yield: 3 dozen cookies
Cook Time: 8-10 minutes

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Zest of 2 large lemons
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup granulated sugar for rolling cookies

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. Using a mixer, beat together butter and sugar until smooth and creamy.
4. Add lemon zest, egg, vanilla extract, and lemon juice. Mix until combined. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients.
5. Roll rounded tablespoons of dough into balls and roll in sugar. Place on prepared baking sheets,  about 1 1/2 inches apart.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until cookies are slightly brown around the edges and set. Let cookies sit on the baking sheets for two minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
*To keep cookies soft, store cookies with a slice of bread in an air tight container.

Lemon Crinkle Cookies  (adapted from LDS Living magazine)
Makes 2-3 dozen

Ingredients:
½ cups butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 whole egg
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoons baking powder
⅛ teaspoons baking soda
1-½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cups powdered sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease light colored baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown and cookies look matte {not melty or shiny}. Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

*If using a non-stick darker baking tray, reduce baking time by about 2 minutes.

Notes: I made these on April 29th. they were everything I hoped for. chewy, soft  and moist. I would tweak presentation wise as they did not have the crinkly effect that was posted in the LDS magazine. One tip I got from the web and will try the next time is to first roll the dough balls in granulated sugar and then in icing sugar)- the other thing to remember is not to overbake..they might look pale and you might be tempted to let it bake it longer but need to remove them when they have puffed up and the top is no longer shiny 9-10 mins max.) The cookies will continue to  cook after they have been removed out from the oven)

Mini Cheesecake with Blueberry sauce

  Mini Cheesecakes with blueberry sauce

(adapted from the Joy of Baking)

http://www.joyofbaking.com/Cheesecakes%28Individual%29.html

  

I used aluminum foil baking cups for the cheesecakes. I found that they peel off easily and stand up really well during the baking process.

Crust:

1 cup (100 grams) graham wafer crumbs or crushed digestive biscuits

1 tablespoon (15 grams) granulated white sugar

4 - 5 tablespoons (55-65 grams) butter, melted

Filling:

2 - 8 ounce (454 grams) packages of full fat cream cheese, room temperature

2/3 cup (130 grams) granulated white sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest

1/2 cup (120 ml) sour cream, room temperature

Cheesecakes: Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) and place oven rack in the center of the oven. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. (Can also use silicone baking cups.)

For Crust: In a small bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Press a heaping tablespoon of crumbs onto the bottoms of the 12 muffin cups. Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.

For Filling: In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the cream cheese on low speed until creamy and smooth. Add the sugar and salt and beat until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated. Add the vanilla extract, lemon zest, and sour cream and beat until incorporated. Remove the crusts from the refrigerator and evenly divide the filling among the 12 muffin cups. 

Bake for about 18 - 22 minutes or until firm but the centers of the cheesecakes still wobble a little. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Let cool and then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate (a few hours or even overnight).

To serve, gently peel off the paper liners and place on your serving plate. Serve with strawberry or raspberry sauce, fresh berries, or drizzle with melted chocolate. These cheesecakes can be covered and stored in the refrigerator for several days.

Makes 12 individual cheesecakes.

Rasberry Swirl Cheesecake Cupcake