Best Ever Fresh Blueberry Cobbler

This blueberry cobbler is so insanely good, it's sure to disappear in a flash. Just sweet enough, using fresh blueberries assures a very bright flavor.

NOTE: It is very important to remember the blueberry filling must be baked alone without cobbler topping for the first 15 minutes, otherwise the juices will overflow and ruin the cobbler crust!


Ingredients:

Filling:

6 cups fresh blueberries
1 green apple, peeled and grated
1 cup sugar
zest and juice of 1 lemon
4 tablespoons tapioca
1/4 cup cornstarch

Crust:

1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup white sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
6 Tbsp chilled butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup boiling water

Topping:

1/2 cup turbinado sugar (AKA chunky, "sugar in the raw" style sugar).
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 F.
In a large pot over the stove, cook half the blueberries over medium heat for 10-15 minutes, or until berries burst and mixture is thick.


Mix cooked blueberries with remaining raw blueberries, sugar, grated apple, lemon juice and zest, tapioca and corn starch. Bake blueberry filling mixture alone for 15 minutes while preparing the crust.



For the crust, combine flour, white sugar, brown sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.



Quickly cut the butter into the flour mixture with your fingertips until the mixture resembles wet sand. Add 1/3 cup boiling water, stir until fully combined. In a small bowl, combine turbinado sugar and cinnamon.

Remove blueberry mixture from the oven. Place small spoonfuls of cobbler dough all over the top of the blueberry filling, then top the dough with the sugar and cinnamon mixture.




Return cobbler to the oven for another 35-40 minutes.

When cobbler dough is golden brown, remove and allow to cool at least 2 hours before serving. Great with vanilla or lemon ice cream!

Tiramisu Cheesecake

This tiramisu cheesecake will seriously knock you on your butt, and disappear really fast at gatherings. You MUST make sure your eggs and cream cheese are room temp! Cold cream cheese will not mix well and comes out lumpy. Let it sit out for at least 2 hours, even overnight is safe.



Ingredients

Crust

18 Oreos
8 lady fingers
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
4 tablespoons butter, melted

Cheesecake Batter

40 oz. cream cheese, room temperature (5 blocks)
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup flour
15 lady finger biscuits
1 tsp coffee extract if available
1 1/2 cups prepared espresso or strong coffee

Whipped Topping

8 oz. heavy whipping cream
2/3 cup cold milk
2 tbsp sugar
1 packet of instant pudding mix - cheesecake or white chocolate flavor
1/4 cup cocoa powder

Instructions

Preheat oven to 310 degrees and line a 9″ spring-form pan with parchment paper.

Crust

Pulse whole oreos, lady fingers, and espresso powder in a food processor, then add melted butter. Press the mixture into the bottom of the spring-form pan and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

Cheesecake Filling

Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, butter and sugar until smooth. Add eggs one at a time making sure they are fully incorporated after each addition. Add vanilla extract, coffee extract, 6 tablespoons of prepared espresso, and flour. If you don’t have coffee extract, increase the amount of espresso, and save the rest. Pour half of the cheesecake filling into the spring-form pan.



Quickly dip the lady fingers in the remaining espresso and place over the first layer of filling. Do not let the lady fingers fully soak or become soggy. Pour the remaining cheesecake filling over the lady fingers and smooth the top. Bake for 50-55 minutes. The middle of the cheesecake should jiggle a little. Remove it from the oven and let cool completely on a counter top, then place in the refrigerator overnight to chill.

Whipped Topping

Beat the heavy whipping cream and the sugar until it forms stiff peaks. Put in refrigerator to chill while preparing the remaining ingredients.
In a separate bowl, combine milk and pudding mix until completely smooth, let sit 5 minutes until thickened. Stir the chilled whipped cream into the pudding mixture until blended.



Place the whipped topping mixture into a piping bag with a large tip, then decorate the top of the cheesecake with as much as you can fit. Dust the top with cocoa powder and serve chilled. Enjoy!

The Best Thin & Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

8 tablespoons (1 stick) salted butter, room temp
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla or seeds of 1 vanilla pod
1 large egg
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 ½ cups old fashioned oats
3/4 cup raisins (optional)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or spray lightly with nonstick spray.

Cream butter, brown sugar and white sugar together using electric mixer. Beat in vanilla and egg.

In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add the flour mixture to the butter and sugar mixture and stir until blended. Stir in the oats, followed by the raisins.

Shape the dough into walnut-sized balls, space 2-3 inches apart. Cookies will spread out thin as they cook. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until edges are golden brown.

Allow to cool at least 15 minutes before enjoying. Makes 24.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

It's chilly outside. You want to hang out near a warm oven. You need your chocolate fix. You need your salty peanut butter fix. You love tender, chewy cookies with crispy edges. If these statements apply to you, then you've come to the right place for THE BEST peanut butter chocolate chip cookies you can make from scratch. And the best part - they're so easy! This recipe is practically idiot proof because the texture is so perfect. I like to serve them still warm out of the oven for a maximum melt-in-your-mouth eye-rolling pleasure. I promise if you make these you will love them! Just be sure to toss a stick of butter onto the counter to soften a couple of hours before you want to bake.


Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) room-temperature butter
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips
Preheat your oven to 350F or 176C. Mix the dry ingredients - flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt - in a small bowl and set aside.

In a larger bowl, cream the butter and peanut butter together with an electric hand mixer until blended. Add the white and brown sugar and blend together. Next, beat in your egg, milk and vanilla on low speed (no splashing!). Gradually beat in the flour mixture a little at a time; I do it in thirds. And now the most important part: chocolate chips! I like to use milk chocolate or semi-sweet chips, but bit tersweet works too. Just make sure it's some kind of sweet, because if you use unsweetened bakers chocolate then everyone will hate you.

Mix your chocolate chips into the dough using a wooden spoon. The mixture should come away from the sides of the bowl. If you like, transfer the mixture to some plastic wrap, then form a ball or tube shape that can be easily sliced later, and refrigerate for one half hour.

To bake, roll pieces of dough into ping-pong-sized balls, then place them 2 inches apart from each other on an ungreased cookie sheet. Use your fingers to lightly press down the dough balls. Bake for 11-12 minutes. Cookies should look pale and like they need a few more minutes of baking, but they don't! I swear! The edges and bottoms of the cookies will be a perfect golden brown and the texture will be chewy, melty, slightly cripsy and yummy to the max. Yes, I just said to the max, because I like to pretend that it's the 80s and I live in the movie Valley Girl. Finally, as with all warm cookies fresh from the oven, wash 'em down with a big glass of cold milk. Enjoy, fellow kitchen nerds!

Ginger Sesame Noodle Salad

Okay. I've made this several times now, and let me say this:

People LOVE this salad. At barbecues, at picnics, at home, at the office. You will be very popular if you show up with a ton of it for a party. This is an awesome salad that lasts for several days, travels well, and makes an excellent chilled lunch. The veggies stay crunchy and the flavor improves the more it sits. I've seen similar recipes for "Asian"-inspired noodle salads, but for mine, I prefer to leave out things like cucumbers or bean sprouts, and add things I like such as extra firm tofu (it does a great job of soaking up all the other flavors)!

To make this recipe vegan, simply replace the spaghetti with a vegan (no egg) version, leave out the oyster sauce, and increase the other liquids to make up the difference. If you can find a vegan oyster sauce substitute, even better. These days, it's all about that umami flavor! When it comes to this salad, it's easy to change it up to suit your personal tastes. You do you, boo.


Ingredients:

Salad:

10 ounces whole wheat spaghetti
1 package extra firm tofu, diced into bite-sized pieces
1 cup grated or julienned carrots (pre-shredded from the store is helpful)
4-5 scallions/green onions, finely sliced
½ cup julienned sweet red or orange bell peppers
half bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 head napa cabbage, sliced with thick core removed
1/2 head purple cabbage, sliced with thick core removed
1/2 bunch kale, leaves torn off the stalks and shredded
2 to 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup roasted peanuts, chopped
3 tbsp sesame seeds

Dressing:

1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup oyster sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1/3 cup brown sugar
2-3 tbsp grated fresh ginger


Boil a large pot of water, add a small handful of kosher salt. Boil spaghetti 8 minutes and drain. You can use whole wheat, vegan, gluten free or whatever kind of spaghetti you like in order to fit your needs and they should all work fine.

Slice, julienne and chop all salad ingredients. Place sliced red cabbage, napa cabbage, kale, carrots, green onions, sweet peppers, cilantro, garlic, peanuts, tofu and sesame seeds into the largest bowl you can find.

Make the dressing. Whisk together olive oil, soy sauce, oyster sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, sesame oil, and fresh grated ginger into a medium-sized bowl. Grab handfuls of pasta and drench into the dressing, then place into the large bowl of veggies. This step allows all of the noodles to separate more easily for tossing the whole salad together. Continue this step until all of the pasta is wet, separated and thrown into the mixing bowl. Pour the rest of the dressing into the mix and use your hands to toss the salad thoroughly.

Store in tupperware containers and chill at least 2-3 hours. Salad can last for 3-4 days and will taste better the longer it sits. Makes a lot!

The Most PERFECT Thin & Chewy Gingerbread Cookies!

I am really picky about my gingerbread cookies, and after a bit of trial and error, I can confidently say that these are the BEST gingerbread cookies I've ever made. They're not thick, dry, or bready, nor are they gingersnaps with crunch. These are thin, delightfully moist and chewy, and just the teeniest bit crisp around the edges. You can choose to either roll these in sugar before baking them, or glaze and decorate them after they've cooled. This dough also works for gingerbread men (or other cookie cutter shapes), if you feel like taking the time to roll it out with a rolling pin. This time I decided I was fine with regular circle shapes.

I opted to use a good amount of ginger in this to give it an extra punch. Dry ground ginger is fine, but you can also do a combination of dry ground, fresh ground, or crystalized ginger pieces. The best part about these bad boys is that the molasses in them lets them stay incredibly moist for days! These cookies are great for when the temperature outside starts dropping, and as an added bonus, they make your house smell AMAZING! I am so excited to add this recipe to my collection. I hope you give them a shot. Enjoy!



Ingredients:

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp ground ginger
OR ½ tbsp ground ginger and 1 tbsp chopped crystalized ginger
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp salt
¾ cup butter (1 ½ sticks), softened/room-temperature
¾ cup white sugar
¼ cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 ½ tbsp milk
¼ cup molasses

Icing (optional but recommended!):

1 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp corn syrup
2 tbsp water
crystal sprinkles (optional)


1. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt.

2. In another large bowl, mix softened butter into sugar until uniformly blended together. Add the egg and mix thoroughly, then mix in the milk and molasses.

3. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Gradually stir the dry mixture into the wet mixture until fully combined.

4. Shape heaping teaspoons of the dough into balls the size of a walnut or ping pong ball. If you are skipping icing and sprinkles later, you can use this time to roll each ball in sugar first (either regular white sugar or chunkier, raw turbinado sugar will do). Space dough balls 2 inches apart on a lightly greased cookie sheet, and use the heel of your palm to flatten the ball somewhat. They will flatten out a little more as they bake, but will not be flat enough if you don't give it a little pre-squish with your palm first. Alternatively, the dough can be chilled, rolled out flat with a rolling pin, and then cut into fun shapes.

5. Bake at 350 F for 9-10 minutes, then remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

6. Optional: Make the icing.

Mix together water and corn syrup, then add powdered sugar and mix thoroughly until a uniform icing has formed with no lumps. Scoop the icing into one corner of a plastic sandwich bag and cut the smallest bit of the corner with scissors, making sure to create a very small opening to better control the icing. Decorate the cooled cookies with the icing any way you like, and optionally, add sprinkles while the icing is still wet. The icing should dry within a few hours to be hard and shiny.

Makes approximately 28 insanely delicious cookies!

Best Ever Peach Cobbler That Will Ruin You For Life

Summertime means swimming, grilling, and of course, taking advantage of all the great fresh fruit in season. I love a good cobbler, and after fiddling with this recipe, I can say this is just the most insanely delicious, sweet-salty-tart, crunchy-gooey cobbler I've ever had. Be sure to choose peaches (or nectarines) that are really ripe, just not to the point of mushy. A hard peach without a lot of juice will be more difficult to slice and will result in a more tart cobbler. Otherwise, this is a very simple recipe, even if you don't bake! I hope you try it and let me know how it is. 

Filling:

2 tbsp butter
8 fresh ripe peaches, pitted and sliced
¼ cup white sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp salt
1 tsp lemon juice, plus zest
3 tbsp tapioca
3 Tbsp cornstarch

Crust:

1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup white sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
6 Tbsp chilled butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup boiling water

Topping:

5 tablespoons turbinado sugar (AKA chunky, "sugar in the raw" style sugar).
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 F. Use 2 tbsp butter to grease a 2 quart baking dish. In a large bowl, combine sliced peaches, white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, lemon zest, lemon juice, tapioca and cornstarch.  

 
Toss together until evenly coated. Bake peach mixture in buttered baking dish for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, begin preparing the crust. In another large bowl, mix flour, brown sugar, white sugar, baking powder and salt together. 

Next, add the chilled butter pieces. 

Using a pastry cutter or your fingertips, quickly cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles thick sand with no large lumps of butter.
 

Stir in boiling water and mix until combined, being careful not to over-mix. 

Remove the baking dish from the oven and cover the peaches with spoonfuls of the dough. 

Combine cinnamon and turbinado sugar. 

Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar generously all over the top of the cobbler, then bake for another 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. 

Let sit for at least 1 hour before serving warm with whipped cream or ice cream!