Key Lime Bars

If you love a little sour and a little sweet, then this is the perfect dessert for you. I am a big fan of key lime pie. My favorite is from Joe's Stone Crab, in South Beach. I wanted to try out my own recipe to bring to a girls night last week, and decided to search for something that would compare to Joe's recipe. It was easier than I thought, as one of the very first recipes I came across was actually designed/inspired by Joe's key lime pie (Martha Stewart's key lime bars). At first I was shocked the recipe called for 23 key limes! It was clearly my first time baking with this fruit. Key limes are so tiny and adorable, of course you need 23. The bars turned out to be a hit. I will definitely be making these again. Recipe below. xo RCN

Ingredients:

1 cup + 2 1/2 tablespoons finely ground graham cracker crumbs (1 pack)

1/3 cup sugar

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

3 large egg yolks

1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest (very fine if you do not want much texture)

2/3 cup fresh Key lime juice (about 23 Key limes total, I used 25)

1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 ounces)

1/4 cup heavy cream (for whipped cream) + 1 Tablespoon sugar (for whipped cream)

2 Key limes, thinly sliced into half-moons or smaller for garnish

CRUST:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In medium size bowl stir together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter. Once combined and sticky crumbly, press evenly onto bottom of an 8-inch square glass or ceramic baking dish. Bake until dry and golden brown, about 10 minutes. Keep crust in dish and place on top of wire rack to cool completely. (Leave oven on.)

FILLING:

Put egg yolks (just yolks!) and lime zest in the bowl of an electric mixer. Use whisk attachment and mix on high speed until very thick, about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to medium and add condensed milk in a slow, steady stream while mixer continues to mix. Raise speed to high; mix until thick, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add lime juice; mix until just combined.

Spread filling evenly over crust using a rubber spatula. Bake for about ten minutes until filling is set. Rotate dish 1/2 way through. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Refrigerate for 4+ hrs.  (I kept refrigerated overnight)

WHIPPED CREAM

Put heavy cream and sugar in cleaned bowl of electric mixer. Use whisk attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. "Stiff peaks" mean the cream should be stiff when it comes to a point. Check by removing whisk attachment and holding the top upward to see if the cream stays standing tall and stiff without flopping down or dripping.

Cut into squares of desired size. Garnish bars with whipped cream and a slice of lime.

Peach Strawberry Pop Tarts

Zach and I took the long way home from our Jersey Shore vacation and decided to drive the 20+ hours back to Miami with our lovely Ethel. Believe it or not, despite Ethel's diva nature, she is absolutely spectacular on long distance car trips. Of course, we have to stop a little more frequent with the pup in our care, but it is well worth it. Especially, when we stopped at a gas station about halfway through our Georgia drive and stumbled upon a precious peach and pecan stand. I couldn't help, but get my hands on some of the freshly picked peaches, and I made a friend too ;) When in Georgia...

Upon our return home, I decided to whip up some peach strawberry pop tarts for a special breakfast treat. The recipe below includes the use of Pillsbury Crescent dough sheets, but I only recommend using this type of pre-made dough if you intend on eating the tarts soon after baking and want a softer crust. For better keeping and long lasting crunchy pop tarts, I prefer making homemade dough like this recipe HERE. See all tart details below. Life sure is peachy! xo RCN

Ingredients - You will need the following for 1 dozen 6" tarts (dough + filling):

4 soft peeled peaches cut into small cubes

2 heaping cups of full strawberries then cut into small cubes + a few quartered for topping

3 Pillsbury Crescent Dough Sheets, each sheet cut into 8 equal size rectangles

Sprinkle of flour for cookie sheets and laying out dough

1 1/4 cup Sugar

3 tablespoons Raw Honey

1/4 teaspoon Cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon

1 1/2 tablespoons Lemon Juice

1 1/2 tablespoons Orange Juice

For the iced topping:

3/4 cup confectioners sugar

1 Tablespoon Milk

1/4 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F. Roll out defrosted/thawed dough and cut each dough sheet into 8 equal sized rectangles. Lay dough rectangles onto floured cookie sheet, set aside. Combine chopped fruit (peaches peeled too) and all other ingredients into a medium size mixing bowl. Once combine spoon filling into center of half of the dough rectangles. Cover the filled rectangles with the remaining dough rectangles. Use a fork to pinch shut the edges of the overlapping dough. It's okay if some filling oozes out sides, it'll give them character. Bake for about 20 minutes +, until all edges start to brown. It's important that the dough appears hard at edges. This helps to insure the bottom of the tarts are fully baked. Remove and let cool. Lastly, combine in small bowl 3/4 cup confectioners sugar, 1 Tablespoon of milk and 1/4 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract. Place glaze mixture in ziplock bag and snip corner off bag. Squeeze icing gently across tops of tarts in zigzag formation. Top with fresh cut strawberries (quartered). Enjoy!

Irish Potatoes

My Mom and Mom Mom have been making Irish Potatoes for Saint Patrick's Day ever since I can remember. Not only are these little delectables one of my favorite treats, ever, but they are super easy to make. And, no, they aren't actual mini potatoes, they are super sweet candies. There are a few renditions of this Irish-American Philadelphian dessert, but my favorite recipe consists merely of butter, confectioners sugar, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, coconut, and cinnamon. That's it! Other's often use cream cheese or even mashed potatoes, but this version is my Mom's and my most favorite. This recipe is equally tasty when the sugar/milk/butter/vanilla/coconut mixture is coated in chocolate and made into cream eggs for Easter. Enjoy these addictive little delights, recipe below! xo RCN

Ingredients: Makes about 90-100 1.5-2" sized potatoes ...you can always 1/2 the recipe

1 cup Butter

2 tsp Vanilla

14oz can Sweetened Condensed Milk

3lbs sifted Confectioner's Sugar

16oz bag Sweetened Coconut

Cinnamon (for rolling/coating)

Cream butter and vanilla in large bowl. Blend in the milk until smooth. Gradually add sifted sugar until mixture becomes stiff. Knead remaining sugar into mixture. When mixture is no longer sticky, knead in desired amount of coconut. Divide candy mixture into 1.5"-2" ovals. Refrigerate for an hour (or overnight) then roll in cinnamon. Store in refrigerator, but may serve at room temperature.

Key Lime Bars

If you love a little sour and a little sweet, then this is the perfect dessert for you. I am a big fan of key lime pie. My favorite is from Joe's Stone Crab, in South Beach. I wanted to try out my own recipe to bring to a girls night last week, and decided to search for something that would compare to Joe's recipe. It was easier than I thought, as one of the very first recipes I came across was actually designed/inspired by Joe's key lime pie (Martha Stewart's key lime bars). At first I was shocked the recipe called for 23 key limes! It was clearly my first time baking with this fruit. Key limes are so tiny and adorable, of course you need 23. The bars turned out to be a hit. I will definitely be making these again. Recipe below. xo RCN

Ingredients:

1 cup + 2 1/2 tablespoons finely ground graham cracker crumbs (1 pack)

1/3 cup sugar

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

3 large egg yolks

1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest (very fine if you do not want much texture)

2/3 cup fresh Key lime juice (about 23 Key limes total, I used 25)

1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 ounces)

1/4 cup heavy cream (for whipped cream) + 1 Tablespoon sugar (for whipped cream)

2 Key limes, thinly sliced into half-moons or smaller for garnish

CRUST:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In medium size bowl stir together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter. Once combined and sticky crumbly, press evenly onto bottom of an 8-inch square glass or ceramic baking dish. Bake until dry and golden brown, about 10 minutes. Keep crust in dish and place on top of wire rack to cool completely. (Leave oven on.)

FILLING:

Put egg yolks (just yolks!) and lime zest in the bowl of an electric mixer. Use whisk attachment and mix on high speed until very thick, about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to medium and add condensed milk in a slow, steady stream while mixer continues to mix. Raise speed to high; mix until thick, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add lime juice; mix until just combined.

Spread filling evenly over crust using a rubber spatula. Bake for about ten minutes until filling is set. Rotate dish 1/2 way through. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Refrigerate for 4+ hrs.  (I kept refrigerated overnight)

WHIPPED CREAM

Put heavy cream and sugar in cleaned bowl of electric mixer. Use whisk attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. "Stiff peaks" mean the cream should be stiff when it comes to a point. Check by removing whisk attachment and holding the top upward to see if the cream stays standing tall and stiff without flopping down or dripping.

Cut into squares of desired size. Garnish bars with whipped cream and a slice of lime.

Eye Love Halloween

There are countless great things about Halloween.  Creating original costumes, replicating favorite super heroes, carving pumpkins, eating lots' of junk food.  I love it all.  Here is a quick treat and template to make and decorate some very creepy Halloween Eyeball Cookies.  They are perfect to share with the kids and adults for any Halloween celebration.

My eyeball cookies partly belong to Pillsbury.  After all, the dough did come from a box, Pillsbury Sugar Cookie Mix.  But, who am I kidding acting as if it's a bad thing.  Pillsbury dough and mixes are wonderful and when I am in a pinch for time it is my go to baking brand. 

Step 1:  Bake cookies and let cool

Step 2:  Create foil template for red dye veins, template below

Step 3:  Use stencil for veins on all cookies 

Step 4:  Use green icing to pipe circles in center of each cookie

Step 5:  Place candy eyeball in center of each green icing circle

Step 6:  EAT!

Here is what you need...oh, and aluminum foil and a pencil too!