Kesari Bath

When we lived in South India, this was a favorite treat at tea shops for breakfast or as a sweet served after a spicy meal at large gatherings. It is super easy to make in under 20 minutes. Sooji is sold in the same section with flours in local shops and comes in small packets. It is very similar to cream of wheat. 

 

Kesari Bath

1/2 cup sooji
1 Tablespoon ghee (for frying)
Palmful of cashews
1 1/2 cups water
1/3 cup sugar
1 saffron thread or a pinch of turmeric*
Palmful of golden raisins
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1-2 Tablespoons ghee

Begin with a hot dry pan. Add sooji and switch heat to low. Stirring frequently over 5-6 minutes of low heat, you should begin to smell the toasted smell of the sooji. Remove from heat onto a plate. In the same pan, heat 1 Tbs ghee over low heat and fry cashews until golden. If you use the fruit variation below, you can fry the fruit here as well. Remove from heat into a small bowl. Into the pan add 1+1/2 cups water, sugar, saffron or the turmeric for color, and raisins. Once the sugar is dissolved, begin adding the toasted sooji into the water in batches, stirring while you pour to prevent lumps forming. Keeping the heat low, add the cashews, cardamom powder, and ghee. Stir well and cover on low for 2-3 minutes. You will know it is cooked when the sooji begins to look translucent. Serve warm. 

Fruit variation: This recipe tastes even better with finely chopped pineapple pieces. You can caramelize the pieces a little when you are frying the cashews, and then add them back into the mixture at the end. You can even use pineapple juice from canned pineapple in place of the water. 

*The turmeric is just for color and will not give the same taste as saffron. It is such a small amount that it does not impart any flavor. I don't have saffron in my pantry so this works just fine. 

No Bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Oatmeal Bars

I don't know what my hankering for peanut butter and chocolate is all about lately, but I have to make half recipes so I don't keep a crazy amount of sweets around waiting to be eaten. I found this recipe on Joy Food Sunshine, and it's amazing! It has all the flavors of a classic no bake cookie. It's dense, rich, and perfect with a cup of coffee. This half recipe makes 8 hearty bars.

No Bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Oatmeal Bars

Oat Layer:

85 grams butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

Chocolate Layer:

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup peanut butter (natural unsweetened works great)

In a medium saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar, and salt over low heat. Once the butter is melted, stir to make sure the sugar dissolves. Allow this to bubble for about 30 seconds before you add the vanilla and oats. Stir to combine and allow to cook for about 2 minutes on low heat.

Using a double boiler or microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips and peanut butter together.

Prepare a loaf pan by lining it with parchment or foil. Add half of the cooked oat mixture into the bottom of the pan. Press it down firmly to create a bottom crust. Pour the melted chocolate/peanut butter mixture over the oat layer. Sprinkle the remaining oat mixture over the top and gently press it down into the chocolate.

Chill the bars for about 2 hours in the fridge. Take them out for about 10 minutes before you cut them apart into 8 squares.

Note: Truth be told, I took the super easy route and used leftover frosting from the Peanut Butter Sheet Cake combined with unsweetened peanut butter to make the chocolate layer--because you can't waste chocolate! It tasted awesome!

Peanut Butter Sheet Cake with Chocolate Frosting

This weekend I really wanted something with peanut butter and chocolate. All the peanut butter pies I saw required ingredients I don't have such as cream cheese. Peanut butter cake with peanut butter frosting seems a bit much. Making a pie crust for a peanut butter dessert sounds like a lot of work. The result of my exploration is this awesome cake that combines two recipes, Peanut Butter Texas Sheet Cake from Mel's Kitchen Cafe and One-Minute Easy Chocolate Frosting from Spend with Pennies. I scaled down the sheet cake recipe to fit a quarter sheet pan (9x13) in a smaller oven. A jelly roll pan works best so the cake doesn't climb over the edges.

What's the best part of this? The cake is thin so you can eat a big piece, but it's a small pan so you get it out of your house quickly! Win-win!

Gooey, buttery peanut butter cake

What happens when you don't sift!

Peanut Butter Sheet Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Cake:

1 cup sugar

1 cup maida (flour)

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup plain yogurt (thick like sour cream)

1/3 cup peanut butter (if you use natural peanut butter, you'll need more sweetener)

125 g butter

1/2  cup water

Frosting:

1/3 cup milk

75 g butter

1 cup chocolate chips or chopped baking chocolate

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted if you want yours to be pretty

Preheat oven to 205 C (400 F). In a medium bowl, combine sugar and flour. In a larger bowl, combine egg, baking soda, and yogurt, mixing well and allowing to rest. In a small saucepan, combine peanut butter, butter, and water. Bring to a rolling boil for about 30 seconds, stirring to combine evenly. Remove from heat. Add the flour and sugar to the peanut butter mixture. Allow the mixture to cool a few minutes. While you wait, grease the sheet pan. Once slightly cooled, pour the peanut butter mixture into the yogurt mixture and stir until it looks uniform. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for ~20 minutes. A toothpick inserted inside should come out clean and the cake should be pulling away from the sides of the pan.

While the cake cools, prepare the frosting. You could do this on the stove top, but I took the lazy microwave route. In a microwaveable bowl, combine the milk, butter, chocolate chips, and vanilla. Melt everything together. Add the vanilla and powdered sugar. Beat until smooth and silky. This creates a frosting that cracks on top of the cake.

Pour the frosting over the top of the cake while the cake is still a bit warm and smooth it out. Allow it to cool completely before eating it along with a tall glass of milk! If you're really adventurous, you could poke small holes with a toothpick before pouring the frosting over.

Note: You will have extra frosting left over for another awesome dessert. Just pop it into an airtight container in the fridge.

Cinnamon Sugar Blondies

I originally saw these blondies from Buns in My Oven on Pinterest and wondered if they were legit--they are. These blondies are mixed and baked in under 30 minutes! They are a super quick and delicious dessert that doesn't require any special ingredients. The first time we made them they were delicious but flat. When we used more precise measurements the second time, they turned out chewy and flavorful. One big thing to be mindful of is egg sizes. A standard "large" egg is about 57 grams. I weighed a local egg (all of which are different in size), and it weighed only 30 grams. The difference is significant in a recipe so I doubled the eggs. Also my 9-year-old loved that he could do most of the work on these!

Must remember to take photos before we eat things! 

Cinnamon Sugar Blondies
113g or 1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar (packed)
1 large egg, beaten (check the weight if possible)
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
pinch of salt
5 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 170C. Grease and flour an 8x8 baking pan. In a bowl mix together brown sugar and melted butter. Add the vanilla. Stir in the beaten egg. Add the flour and salt and stir until you have a smooth batter. It will look a lot like caramel.

Smooth the batter into the square pan. In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon and sugar. Sprinkle the mixture over the top of the batter. Bake in a preheated oven for 22 minutes. Allow to cool a few minutes before cutting into these delicious little bars.

Note: The base recipe (minus sugar and cinnamon) makes a perfect chewy blondie. You could mix in chocolate chips, a little peanut butter, or other toppings to make different varieties. 

Monkey Breakfast Cookies

I don't know what these cookies should be called, but being loaded with bananas for my little monkeys made me think they should be called Monkey Cookies. These are seriously some of the easiest cookies to make ever! Only 4 ingredients. These are something I can feel good about giving to my kids for breakfast or any other time of day for that matter. Use up those ugly bananas sitting on your counter to make these cookies from The Sweet Life. These are completely safe to eat raw, too, if you're starving while you're making them!

Monkey Breakfast Cookies
1 cup ripe mashed bananas
1 1/2 cups quick oats
1/3 cup peanut butter (try them with crunchy!)
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Combine the bananas, oats, and peanut butter in a bowl. Once the batter is roughly uniform, fold in the chocolate chips. Preheat oven to 170C/350F. Drop cookies by the tablespoon onto the pan, flattening just slightly to help the centers cook more evenly. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Cool and enjoy!

Note: If you are gluten-free, you should buy oats specifically marked as "gluten free" and not assume that locally packaged oats are. 

No Bake "Cheesecake"

This is not an actual cheesecake as it requires none of the expensive imported cream cheese, but it is such an easy, beautiful, and refreshing dessert. I used to make this a lot when my kids were babies and had gotten out of the habit of making it. Last week I made it again for the first time in years and remembered why I like it so much. This can be 100% no bake, but I personally like the baked version of the crust better than the unbaked version because it holds together better when you cut the pie. Top with whatever seasonal fruit you have. Pureed mangoes look gorgeous on top!

No Bake "Cheesecake"
1/2 to 3/4 box McVities digestive biscuits, crushed
6 Tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
1 to 1 1/2 liters yogurt
Juice of 1 lime
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 can sweetened condensed milk (see notes)
Fresh fruit

Overnight, drain the yogurt in a cheesecloth or dishtowel in the fridge, making sure the drained liquid does not touch the yogurt. In a bowl combine the digestive biscuit crumbs with the melted butter and sugar. It should look like damp sand. If it looks too wet, add some more biscuit crumbs. Using the bottom of a glass, press into a pie or tart pan. For the no bake version, chill the crust for 45 minutes before filling. For the baked version, place in a 190C/375F preheated oven for 6 to 9 minutes or until just golden. Cool. Place the drained yogurt in a mixing bowl with the lime juice and vanilla. Beat until smooth and creamy. If using unsweetened yogurt, whip in the sweetened condensed milk, too. Pour the yogurt filling into the pie crust. At this point, you can either chill for about 1 hour in the fridge or pop in the freezer until about 30 minutes before serving. Top with fruit, cut and serve.

Notes: Only use the condensed milk IF you start with unsweetened yogurt, otherwise the pie will be too sweet. The more watery the starting yogurt, the more you'll need to use to have enough after draining. I have made this with many different kinds of yogurt, but it is definitely worth spending a little extra to buy a liter of "special yogurt" called juju dhau. It has a greater cream ratio so it's not as watery. The final product has a really creamy texture and is not overly tangy.

Peanut Butter Bites

Picture this: You've got dinner guests coming over in a few hours, and you forgot to plan a dessert. Only now the power is off and will be until after they arrive. Yes, you could skip dessert, but who wants to?! In walk these delicious little beauties to your no bake repertoire. You can make them sweeter or saltier according to your taste by interchanging the kind of biscuit you use. That's my own twist on the original recipe from Spoonful. These even work with the local unsweetened peanut butter if you're trying to pinch your pennies. Just a quick note on the chocolate though. Don't try this with the little packets of chocolate chips, as they do not melt easily. Go for one of the generic blocks of "dark compound" chocolate. Your results will be much better!

Peanut Butter Bites
6 Tablespoons butter
3/4 cup peanut butter (crunchy, creamy, whatever)
1 cup digestive biscuits or salted "Ritz" type crackers
1 cup powdered/icing sugar
1 cup chocolate for melting

Heat the peanut butter and butter together over low heat until melted. Crush your biscuits or crackers in a plastic zip bag with a rolling pin. A few chunks are okay. To the peanut butter mixture, add the crushed biscuits and powdered sugar. It should be nice and thick. Press the mixture into a greased 8x8 or 7x11 pan. I line mine with greaseproof (waxed) paper to make lifting them out easier. Melt the chocolate (adding about a teaspoon of oil for shine) and spread over the top of the peanut butter mixture. Refrigerate for about an hour or pop in the freezer for 20-30 minutes. Take out about 10 minutes prior to serving to make slicing easier.

Notes: Don't fork out your $$ on Ritz crackers unless you need a very specific flavor. Brands like Monaco and Time Pass salted biscuits work just the same in recipes like this for a fraction of the cost.

Granola Bars

Keeping healthy snack foods around is one of my challenges.  There are seasons when fresh fruit and vegetable options are pretty limited, and there certainly aren't many healthy ready-made snack options to purchase.  I was looking for a low-sugar snack to make when I had a group coming over this week, and I found a great recipe for Grab'n'Go Granola Bars at Southern Distinction.  I tweaked them a bit based on what I had around and what is available here, and I was really excited with how they turned out, so I thought I'd share.

Granola Bars
1 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans from my stash I had from the States, but I think almonds would also work nicely in these. Any kind of nut you enjoy would work but would just change the flavor a bit.)
1 cup oats (I used the quick-cooking ones, as those are all that is available here.)
1/4 cup flaxseeds (These can be hard to find here but are available.)
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
2/3 cup unrefined sugar (I used a brand of "mineral sugar" that is sometimes available here, and I've included a photo below. Demerrara or even the local brown sugar would work. Really, regular brown sugar would work as well. I was just trying to go for as unrefined of an option as possible to maximize the "healthiness.")
1/2 cup honey
3 Tablespoons molasses (I kind of just dumped a bit in, but I think around 3-4 T.)
50-60 grams butter (3-4 Tablespoons)
1/2 teaspoon salt (I used Himalayan pink salt because it is easily available here and much healthier than regular table salt.)
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups puffed rice cereal (This is sometimes available here but there is also a local puffed rice that would easily work.)
1/2 cup dried fruit (I had planned to use some apricots which are available here now, but they were bad when I took them out, so I ended up subbing dried blueberries that I had on hand. Many options could work well for this, even raisins.)
1/4 cup shredded coconut



(Mainly from Southern Distinction but edited slightly for what I did.)
 
Preheat oven to 350°F/175C. In a large bowl mix together nuts, oats, pumpkin seeds and flaxseeds. Spread mixture onto a baking sheet and bake until fragrant - about 5 minutes. (The quick-cooking oats start to burn if left much longer, but if you are using regular rolled oats, you could leave it a couple extra minutes to give the nuts and seeds a more toasted flavor.) Transfer the mixture back to the large bowl. If you don't have an oven, you can put the mix in a large pan over low heat on the stovetop and shake occasionally until it starts to become fragrant.

In a medium sauce pan combine sugar, butter, honey, molasses, and salt. Slowly bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Simmer until sugar has dissolved and a light brown caramel forms - about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour caramel all over oat-and-nut mixture. Stir in puffed rice, dried fruit, and coconut and mix until evenly coated.

Line an 9x13 baking pan with foil, extending a bit over the sides. Lightly oil the foil with a bit of cooking oil so that the mixture doesn't stick. Scrape granola mixture into the baking pan in an even layer. Use a second sheet of lightly oiled foil (or waxed paper would work well, I think, but I didn't have any), and press down to compress the mixture. Let it stand for 2 hours or until firm. Using the overhanging foil, lift out the cereal square and transfer it to your counter top or work surface. Cut into bars or squares. Store in an airtight container.

Buckeyes

I grew up in the South and had never heard of buckeyes until I began celebrating holidays in Ohio. I was so confused by this strange dessert and wondered why anyone would want to eat a dessert made to resemble the eye of a deer. My southern ignorance brought forth some blushing when I eventually found out a buckeye was a nut, not a buck's eye. Where I come from, we just dip the whole ball of peanut butter in chocolate so there is no peanut butter visible, and we call them peanut butter balls. Regardless of how you decide to dip these, they taste delicious!

Buckeyes made by my awesome husband

Buckeyes or Peanut Butter Balls
1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup or 192g butter, softened
500g powdered sugar (icing sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla
Chocolate for melting

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl until uniformly combined. If the mixture feels too sticky, you can add a little more icing sugar to make it easier to roll. Roll into 1 inch balls and refrigerate for about 1 hour. Melt chocolate and using a toothpick, dip balls in chocolate and allow to set. Keep cool so buckeyes don't stick together. Makes just over 3 dozen buckeyes.

Note: I have not been successful in melting local chocolate chips. The large baking chocolate bars by Selbourne tend to work better. If your chocolate is not quite as thin as you'd like, add a teaspoon of oil or shortening. Avoid adding butter if possible as the little bit of water in butter might cause the chocolate to seize.

Slice and Bake Cookies

Years ago, I stumbled upon this recipe in a list collected by a group of women I had met. It has been my "go to" sugar cookie recipe since then. What inspired me to try these the first time was a little note with the recipe explaining that it came from a woman who always kept these in her freezer so that she could make a few fresh out of the oven cookies if a guest stopped by. She must have been an amazing hostess! You could roll and decorate these, but if you're looking for something super simple, these are great to just slice off and bake.

Slice and Bake Cookies
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix. This works best with your hands so you can really work it into a uniform dough. Once you have a dough that is not crumbly, slowly roll the dough to form a log shape and place in plastic wrap. I find it easier to get a rough roll first and then smooth it once it's wrapped in plastic. Place the roll in the freezer overnight if you plan on slicing them or in the fridge if you want to roll them out the next day.

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F. Slice cookies with a sharp knife into 1/4 to 1/2 inch rounds. Sprinkle with chunky sugar or other decorations if desired and bake for 8-10 minutes. If you slice thicker, you'll get a more chewy soft sugar cookie, and if you slice thinner, you'll get a more crisp "biscuit" type cookie. You can also opt to roll them out and use cookie cutters, but let the dough rest about 15 minutes after removing from the fridge first.

Crunchy Coffee Cake

Sometimes I just have a craving for a cake. Baked goods are a serious weakness for me actually. So, in good fashion, around 3 o'clock yesterday, I had a hankering for a cake. That probably explains my expanding backside, huh? This little coffee cake was the result of the limited ingredients I had in the kitchen due to our departure for a trip in a few days. Thank you, Better Homes and Gardens 1977! If you need something slightly sweet for tea or coffee time in your house, give this one a try since it doesn't feel like a guaranteed trip to the dentist. It's super simple with tasty results--and it's Miracle Oven friendly since we're approaching that season of very little electricity.

Give me a C! Since someone couldn't wait before snapping a picture...

Crunchy Coffee Cake
1/4 cup oil
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cups sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Topping:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 Tablespoon melted butter
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Combine the liquid ingredients in one bowl and the dry ingredients in another. Add the dry to the wet and stir just until combined and relatively smooth. The batter will be pretty thick. Pour into a greased 9x9 square pan/round cake tin/Miracle Oven. In the empty dry bowl, mix the topping ingredients together lightly. Sprinkle over the cake. Bake at 375F/190C for about 25 minutes or 30 minutes on low heat in the Miracle Oven. Transfer to a cooling rack after cooling for 15 minutes.

Notes: The cake part is just plain white, especially when cooked in the Miracle Oven. If you want some color, try subbing brown sugar for the white sugar and adding a little cinnamon to the batter. That should get you a more golden cake color even in a stove top oven. Also, just a side note on stove top ovens. I am told that, unlike conventional ovens that start putting out delicious smells right away, stove top ovens let you know when they're done because the smell of a cake won't become obvious until the very end of cooking. In other words, when you smell it, it's probably done. Helpful little tidbit that has been pretty accurate for me in the last 4 years of use.

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

In my years overseas, I have failed to ever bake the perfect chocolate chip cookie, chewy with a hint of crunch. Even the cookies I've eaten at other people's houses seemed to have the same problems that mine did--lots of spread so they were too crunchy. And then, behold, the perfect chocolate chip cookie literally drops right in front of my face (well, in my sidebar) as I was reading another recipe at Family Feedbag. She even has instructions for making these as a dry mix for gifts at the bottom of the recipe. I tried these out for the Mother's Day getaway my friend and I had this weekend. After all, two moms on a break need some cookies! They were wonderful...so good, in fact, that I made them again tonight so I could share photos with you. Look no further for a chewy chocolate chip cookie that takes very little effort. Even though the recipe says it makes 14-16 cookies, I got about 20 out of the batch using my 1.5 oz cookie scoop (makes 2 inch balls).

I dare you not to eat them all!!

Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 1/2 cups flour 1 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt plus a pinch more 1/2 cup oats 1/2 cup chocolate chips 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup white sugar 3/4 cup/192g butter, melted (warm, not hot) 1 egg 1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the over to 170C/350F. In a bowl, mix all the dry ingredients from the flour to the sugar and stir really well to combine. Melt the butter and add the vanilla to it. Add the butter/vanilla and beaten egg to the dry mixture. Stir to combine until all the dry ingredients are moistened. Roll into balls (don't flatten them) and keep 2 inches apart on the pan because they will spread some. My oven runs hot, and baking for 10 minutes is perfect. Keep an eye for 10-12 minutes until you see the edges become golden, but the top is still soft. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Try not to eat them all in one sitting.


Note: To make these egg-free, you can use a mixture of 1 Tbs. ground chia seed or flaxseed plus 3 Tbs. water and substitute the mixture for the egg. I have made them without egg both times since I just happened to not have any eggs in the house.

Summer Treats: Cheesecake Popsicles

Here's another fruity treat that you can use to cool off when the mercury rises. You can use any kind of fruit "topping" for the cheesecake popsicles that would make a good flavor combination.

Capture the essence of this in popsicle!

Cheesecake Popsicles
1/2 cup (140g) cream cheese  or thick drained yogurt
1/2 cup powdered sugar (icing sugar)
1/2 cup milk
Splash vanilla extract
Squeeze lemon juice
1/2 cup frozen fruit (e.g. strawberries, blueberries, raspberries)
Graham crackers or digestive biscuits

In a blender, combine all of the ingredients but the cookies in a blender. Blend on high until you get a smooth consistency. After blending, add roughly crumbled crackers/biscuits to the batter, gently folding in so they won't turn into powder. Pour into popsicle molds, ice cube trays, or cups and freeze for several hours.

Notes: If you're using yogurt, use plain yogurt drained over a cheese cloth for 3-6 hours. If you use sweetened yogurt, adjust the sugar accordingly. If you're feeling particularly decadent or up for some fancy presentation, you could use canned pie filling in place of frozen fruit and layer it with the cheesecake mix in the popsicle molds. Not really an option for those of us over here, but any readers in developed countries could try it.

This recipe filled my 6-piece popsicle mold and 2 small disposable cups.

Guest Post: Impossible Pie

Yay! We have another guest post from Megan. When she sent me this, it totally reminded me of something I would have had back home. If you're a fan of coconut pie, but don't like all the work, this is the perfect recipe for you! I gave it a try, too, to test my blender and couldn't believe how easy it was. Thanks for sharing this, Megan! She says, "It's so ridiculously easy and delicious (if you like coconut). I've tried making it dairy-free using coconut milk, and it tasted good but didn't look as pretty as the dairy version."

Quality late-night snacking!

Impossible Pie
4 eggs
2 cups milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup grated dried coconut

Put all ingredients in blender. Put on high speed and count to ten slowly. Pour into well greased pie plate. Bake at 40 minutes in a 170C/350F oven. After it is baked you have a definite crust, a custard filling, and a rich buttery coconut topping.

Megan also noted, "I found that I had to bake mine about 5-10 minutes longer for whatever reason." My oven runs pretty hot so the 40 minutes was sufficient, but just keep an eye that your golden brown doesn't become burned brown.

Notes: If your blender is not of great quality, you might want to grate cold butter into the blender before blending to keep the blob from just spinning and not mixing. You can find dried coconut powder in the spices section of grocery stores, but most small shops also sell whole dried coconuts if you like more texture. You just have to peel the skin off with a vegetable peeler and grate it. To make quick work of it, you could also use the peeler to make coconut shavings since they will get chopped up in the blender anyway. Because the coconut is not sweetened and dried, you might also consider 1/4 cup more sugar, but I found the sweetness to be fine for my taste.

I really liked this recipe, Megan! It was amazingly easy, and the payoff was tasty. That's my kind of dessert. You can find the original recipe and lots more kitchen-spiration here.

Hello Summer!

As I opened the window in my living room today to let in a little afternoon breeze, I began to feel that familiar warmth of summer. Our house seems to catch the summer heatwave a few weeks later than many other people so it's not yet hot indoors, but this feels like the time of year for barbecues, salads, and cool popsicles. Despite the fact that my glorious spring break will be over tomorrow morning, I will aim to share a summery recipe each week once I'm back at work. If you have a favorite you'd like to share, email me or leave a comment.

First, on the list? Popsicles. My kids think that they should have one every day that it's summer. I fondly remember my dad bringing home these banana "Banjo" pops from the town mini-mart on summer afternoons, and they were glorious. I think my mom hates them, but they were this deliciously creamy combination of fake banana and sweet cream. This comes from a person who otherwise has a general dislike for all fake banana confections. This recipe is my attempt to recreate those afternoon pops with an ingredient list I can pronounce.

Someone is already a fan of these pops.

Creamy Banana Popsicles
3-4 ripe bananas (small local ones or 1-2 big Chaquita style)
1/4 cup cream
1 cup milk
Scant 1/4 cup sugar/honey/maple syrup

Put it all in a blender and blend on high until smooth. Pour into popsicle molds or small cups and freeze until firm. If using cups, add popsicle sticks or spoons when the ice cream is partially frozen then freeze further. Makes enough for a 6-8 piece popsicle mold.

Notes: To save on cream, I strain the thick stuff off our boiled milk and refrigerate it. By the end of a week, I have more than enough for a small batch of popsicles and no waste. I promise it doesn't have any weird smell and has not gone bad in that amount of time. Also, if you plan on cutting back on sweetener, make sure you add enough for the mixture to taste sweeter than you'd like. The sweetener seems to magically reduce during the freezing.

Guest Post: Lemon Cake

So, life has been a little crazy, as evidenced by the total silence in blog land. It's tough going back to being a working woman with children...and watching someone else's children all day, too! I don't know how people do this all the time because it's exhausting.

Thankfully, my wonderful dear friend Megan came through just in time with a rescue recipe to wake the blog back up again. She moved back to the States a while ago, and I miss her terribly! She's going to be trying to give us a guest post once or twice a month so keep an eye out for this lovely woman whose idea of cooking was transformed by living in this part of the world.

Since lemon cake is among my favorite cakes ever, without further ado (yes, that's really how you write it!), here's Megan:

I found this recipe few years ago while living in Asia and looking for an easy cake that didn't take too long to bake and didn't have to cook at too high a temperature (we had a big, electric toaster oven). At first glance this cake had a lot of specialty ingredients, like organic everything and Meyer lemons, but I decided to give it a go anyway, and now it's one of my husband's favorites!

This is my simplified version adapted from Healthy Green Kitchen's Meyer Lemon Olive Oil Cake:

Lemon Cake
For the cake:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder

Pinch of sea salt

2 teaspoons lemon zest

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1/2 cup fruity olive oil (melted butter would work, too)

For the syrup:

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

For the icing:

1 cup powdered sugar

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C/350°F. Grease an 8x8 pan with olive oil, and flour the bottom of the pan.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the lemon zest and mix well.
3. In a large bowl, combine the yogurt, sugar, eggs, and olive oil. Whisk well to combine. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and whisk again to combine.
4. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. I suggest you start checking after 25 minutes: you do not want to over bake it.
5. Cool the cake for 15 minutes and then remove from the pan. Prick the cake all over with a fork, whisk the syrup ingredients together, and then drizzle the syrup all over the cake. The syrup will seep into all those fork holes you just made, and this is a very good thing.
6. Allow the cake to cool for another 30 minutes or so and then whisk the icing ingredients together. Using a offset spatula (or a spoon), cover the top of the cake with the icing. You can serve the cake immediately, or wait 45 minutes to 1 hour and the icing will harden.

I ended up doubling this recipe to make a bigger cake and put it into a 9x13. The cooking time stayed about the same, maybe 5 extra minutes. When I got back to the States, I tried this recipe again using a spring form pan like the original recipe said, and I didn't really like how it came out. The picture (above) is from the spring form pan version. The first time I made it, doubled and baked in a 9x13, looked gorgeous.

Thank you, Megan!!

Molasses Cookies

Apparently it's molasses time here, and of course, it would fall after people need it for making gingerbread houses and other seasonal treats. Having spotted small packets of the solid form of molasses in a shop near my house and secured an ongoing source for the rest of the year, I decided it was time for something warm and gingerbread-y. Molasses cookies are one of my favorite, favorite cookies. They're so classic winter, and you could almost get away with saying they're healthy because of all that iron. :) There's a chewiness there that you don't find in a lot of cookies either. Mmmm...

Molasses Cookies - Makes roughly 3 dozen
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon each cinnamon and ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup or 128g butter, softened (tricky this time of year!)
1 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1/2 cup liquified chaaku or molasses
White sugar

In one bowl, mix all the dry ingredients down through the cloves. Stir to get the baking soda and spices mixed throughout. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar. Once fluffy add the oil, vanilla, egg, and molasses. Stir until everything comes together. It will look almost curdled. Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet until you have a somewhat sticky brown dough. Cover and chill until firm. This happens in about 30 minutes on the counter during winter in our house!

Preheat oven to 190C/375F. Pour some sugar (chunky or fine--both work) into a bowl. Form 1 inch balls with the dough and roll them in the sugar before placing them on a baking sheet. They don't spread too far so 2 inches or so apart is okay. Bake for about 9 minutes. Look for crinkles forming on top that look just barely dry (even underdone) and remove from the oven to cool.

Try not to eat them all... By the way, the dough does not taste good before it's cooked so don't judge the cookies by their raw flavor.

Mini-Mince Pies

I think the name of these is not the most appetizing, but I discovered these little gems while celebrating Christmas with my friend Penny when my husband and I lived in India. I felt like we Americans had missed out on these delicious little morsels, having the ugly cousin, fruitcake, on our tables instead. Traditionally, mincemeat pies contain suet, the fat from around the kidneys, and some booze as part of the mincemeat. Since the suet kind of grosses me out and since I want my kids to eat these, I leave both of these out and still have a tasty little product--more tasty if you ask me. The first instructions are for a food processor with regular instructions following. That's a kitchen tool I waited years to get in Asia and just got a few months ago. Indispensable! You can use whatever dried fruit you'd like in this recipe. Last year I did cranberries and apricots. This year I used dried figs and cherries--both ways were delicious!

If only mine looked this beautiful! They disappeared too fast!

Mincemeat
Juice and zest of 1/2 a lemon
Zest of 1/2 an orange
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 apple, cored and cut into large pieces (not peeled)
1 cup golden raisins/sultanas (kismis locally)
1 cup mixed dried fruit
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon mixed spice
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 cup orange juice or brandy

Since everything is going to chop finely, I use a vegetable peeler to remove the zest from the lemon and orange (white and all). Then, with the outer peel side down, I scrape a paring knife over the peel to remove any pith.

Next, place the orange and lemon rind in the food processor with the brown sugar and whiz until finely chopped and mixed. Add the apple, lemon juice, and half of the golden raisins and mixed fruit. Whiz until the apple is finely chopped, then add the remaining raisins and fruit, spices, salt, and orange juice/brandy, and blitz again just until everything is combined. Sit out overnight in a covered container.

By-hand Alternative: Finely chop the zest of the lemon and orange. Next, finely chop the apple and half of the golden raisins and half the dried fruit. Put all this into a bowl, and stir in the brown sugar, lemon juice, remaining dried fruit/raisins, spices, salt, and liquid. Stir to combine, cover, and sit out overnight.

Using a basic pie crust recipe (slightly sweetened if you'd like), press the crust into a muffin pan to make mini-pies. Fill each pie with about a tablespoon of the mincemeat. If using a mini-muffin tin, use only about a teaspoon. Top with another piece of crust. I like to use the star design that you see all over the web, but a simple crisscross looks great, too. To make them really sparkle, brush the tops with an egg wash or butter and sprinkle with chunky sugar. Bake in a 200C/400F oven for 12-15 minutes or until the pastry is golden. Once cooled, store in an airtight container. They freeze really well, too, so I think these shouldn't be just reserved for holidays.

These are perfect little afternoon tea snacks!

Note: The recipe did not come from the Joy of Baking site, but theirs were so cute I had to share the picture.

Hot Cocoa Crispy Treats

I've been holding this recipe waiting for a photo far too long so I'll go ahead and release it (adding the photo later). I'm a sucker for desserts of almost any kind. I got the inspiration for these wintry treats from a parenting blog. Who doesn't love hot chocolate in the winter? Now you can enjoy hot chocolate as part of your rice crispy treats. This recipe is for a family-sized batch (8 or 9 good-sized portions) so you don't eat yourself sick like I would if I had a full batch.

Hot Cocoa Crispy Treats
3 cups puffed rice (cheap local one makes these affordable)
1/4 cup butter
14-18 marshmallows (Haribo Pink and White)
3 Tablespoons hot chocolate powder (aka drinking chocolate)

Place the puffed rice on a baking sheet and toast at 120 for 5-10 minutes. I just do this while I'm prepping the rest and take them out when the other stuff is ready. If you have a microwave, melt the butter and swirl around the bowl. Add in the marshmallows and chocolate powder. Heat in 1 minute bursts, stirring in between, until the marshmallows are melted into a chocolatey syrup. If doing this on the stove top, follow the same sequence and stir until everything is melted together. Remove from heat. Stir in the puffed rice until completely coated in the chocolate mixture. Press into a greased dish. It helps to oil the spatula to keep it from sticking as you press. Cool for about 30 minutes, cut, and enjoy the deliciousness!

Note: It really is a good idea to toast the puffed rice. Using the local ones is a huge price difference, but straight from the bag, they taste a bit stale. To me the price difference makes these less of a luxury and something we can enjoy more often. Toasting them makes them taste almost like the real thing in this form. If you use a Miracle Oven, just pour them in to toast for 5-10 minutes over low heat.

Pumpkin Pie Bars

Feeling like it's fall yet? I hope these recent pumpkin-y posts have inspired you. If you hate pumpkin, I promise I'll be done soon! These pumpkin pie bars are designed to give you the goodness of a pumpkin pie without the fuss of a pastry crust. I'm honestly not sure it makes the process any easier, but the end result is delicious. I'll leave the choice to you because I, personally, would prefer these with the pastry crust. I am one who has never really made a great pie crust until I got a food processor so now that I can do it well I don't dislike the process so much. If you do pastry well, go for it. If not, opt for one of the easier crust variations. Also, the pan sizes are relative. Just use whatever you have on hand that it will all fit into or break it into small batches.

Pumpkin Pie Bars

Crust 1: Single Pie Crust
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup cold butter
4 to 5 Tablespoons cold milk/water

Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Cut in the butter until the mixture looks like a coarse cornmeal. Add the water, starting with the 4 Tablespoons and adding more until you get the right consistency. It should look like a shaggy dough and with minimal kneading turn into something relatively smooth. To make rolling easier, wrap in plastic and chill for 15 minutes. Roll the pastry dough to a 9x13 or tart pan size and press into the pan.

Crust 2: Oatmeal Shortbread
1 cup flour
1/2 cup oats/porridge, uncooked
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter

Combine the flour, oats, and brown sugar. Cut in butter until it resembles coarse bread crumbs. Press into the bottom of a 9x13 or tart pan. Use a flat-bottomed drinking glass to press.

Crust 3: Gingersnap Crust
1 1/4 cup gingersnap crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
6 Tablespoons melted butter

Mix altogether in a bowl. Press into a 9x13 or tart pan.

Preheat the oven to 170C. When preheated, place whatever crust you have chosen into the oven and bake for about 15 minutes or until just starting to turn golden.

Pie Filling:
1 3/4 cups pumpkin puree
1 can evaporated milk
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (omit if using gingersnap crust)
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine the filling ingredients and pour over the cooked crust. It will sizzle, but it still turns out fine. Bake the filling at the same temperature for 45 minutes.

Crumble:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
1 Tablespoon melted butter

Mix ingredients for the crumble and place on top of the bars. Cook for another 15 to 20 minutes. Cool the finished bars at least 20 minutes, cut into squares, and serve.