Watermelon Lime Slushy

I had some watermelon to use and since it was a hot day, I knew a slushy would be just the thing.  Serve it with whipped cream and a maraschino cherry for a fancy after dinner treat.  The kids will love it!

All you need is 2 cups cold watermelon and 1/2 cup limeade.  Easy.  This made one large serving. 

I had been drooling over a Ninja blender for some time.  But since the price tag is $100+, I went with the Ninja prep and chop.  Still has the double blades and boy-o-boy is it awesome!!  Someday I will splurge on the fancy one, but for now, this thing makes blending a dream.

Watermelon Lime Slushy
*Makes 1 large serving or 2 smaller servings*
2 cups cold watermelon, cubed
1/2 cup cold limeade
1. Blend until smooth and frothy
2. Garnish with whipped cream and cherry.

Raspberry Lemon Bread

When it gets to be 90+ degrees in the afternoon, I have to do my baking in the morning.  We love to have quick breads with all the yummy fruits in season.  And there is nothing better than waking up to a house smelling of fruit and fresh bread.  My girls always wake up just a smidge earlier in the morning when I am baking.  Their little noses bring them straight to the kitchen. 

We enjoyed this bread with a little bit of whipped cream cheese.  My 1 year old licks off the cream cheese first, then snarfs down the bread.

Raspberry Lemon Bread
2 cups bread flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
zest of 1 lemon
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter milk
1/4 cup apple sauce
1 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil
3/4 cup fresh raspberries, cut each berry in half.
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease 9x5 bread pan
2. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix together all of the remaining ingredient except for the berries.  Mix until well blended and slightly foamy.  Add in the flour mixture all at once and mix only until dry ingredients become moist.  Do not over mix or you bread will be gummy. It will be a very lumpy, thick batter.  Gently fold in raspberries until evenly distributed.
4. Pour batter in to a greased 9X5 bread pan and bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes, until done in the middle. 
5. Let bread cool in pan 10 minutes, then remove bread from pan to a cooling rack.  Let cool slightly, slice and serve warm.

Flashback Friday

Here is another recipe I posted last year.  I love the salted caramel frosting on this cupcake.  I have also used this frosting on chocolate cupcakes and on carrot cake cupcakes.

Don't these look yummy?! These flew off the cake stand as fast as I could frost them. And the frosting was to-die-for.
This recipe is a part of my challenge to cook my way through the Betty Crocker "Big Book of Cupcakes"
Butterscotch Cupcakes with Salty Caramel Frosting
2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup milk
3/4 cup butterscotch chips, coarsely chopped
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place paper baking cups in 24 muffin cups
In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt.
In a Large bowl, beat butter for 30 seconds on medium speed. Gradually add sugar, scrapping bowl occasionally. Beat in vanilla. On low speed, alternately add flour mixture, and milk. Beat just until blended. Stir in butterscotch chips.
Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full.
* I have found that a #20 ice cream scoop works perfect for filling the right amount.*
Bake 20-25 min until center is done. Cook completely before frosting.
Caramel Frosting
1/2 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar with a whisk. heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Stir in milk. Return to boiling. Remove from heat and cool 30 min until lukewarm. Beat in powdered sugar with hand mixer. Frost cupcakes right away or this will harden. *you can pop it in the microwave for 15-20 seconds if needed*
Garnish with a pinch of coarse kosher salt.

Apple Pie Bars

I love when I am introduced to new blogs.  I found one recently called Cooking Classy.  These Apple Pie Bars fist caught my eye on pinterest.  I made them for my husband and his parents tonight and they were so yummy. 

Do you have one of these choppers?  You really should.  With this type of apple dessert, you want the filling to be very finely chopped.  I mean, really fine.  It was perfect.  I will keep this filling on hand for apple turnovers as well.  NUM!!

And, if you like sweets at breakfast, these totally replaces a toaster strudel. 

Apple Pie Bars
6 medium Granny Smith apples
2 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 package refrigerated pie crust (2 crusts)
Vanilla Glaze
2 Tbsp half and half (I used fat free. You can use milk as well)
1 cup powder sugar                                                                                                                               
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Set out refrigerated pie crust to come to room temperature.
3. Peel, slice and chop apples finely, I like to use my hand chopper.                                                          
4. Place diced apples in a large mixing bowl. Add lemon juice and 1 tsp vanilla and toss apples to evenlycoat.                                                                                                                                                 
 5. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon and nutmeg. Pour flour mixture over apple mixture and toss to evenly coat, set aside.
To assemble pie:
Roll one portion of pie dough into a 13x9 inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Lift rolled dough into an ungreased 13x9 inch baking dish or stone bar pan.
Toss apple mixture once more and pour into baking dish over pie crust.
Roll remaining dough into a 13 1/2 x 9 1/2 inch rectangle and place rolled dough over apples. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over top pie crust.
Bake in preheated oven 50 - 60 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool at least 30 minutes before cutting into squares. Drizzle with optional glaze or serve with vanilla ice cream. Store bars in refrigerator in an airtight container, rewarm in microwave if desired.
Adapted from Cooking Classy