Cream Cheese Cookies

I am going through a cream cheese obsession.  I dream about cheese cakes, I want it stuffed in a jalapeno and wrapped in bacon, and honestly… I could probably eat it with a spoon (although, I haven’t gone that far, yet). 

Not sure if it is the holidays making me crave cream cheese this much, or my current pregnant state, but I love the creamy, slightly tart and sweet flavor that it has.  

I can’t remember if it was Pinterest, or just a random craving, but I had an overwhelming urge to make cream cheese cookies.  I honestly don’t think I have ever had cream cheese cookies before, but the idea seemed like a good one, so I went with it!  

I grabbed my little sous chef (my four-year-old daughter) and we set to work whipping up a few batches of these delicious cream cheese cookies.  And they didn’t disappoint!  All three dozen were gobbled up in a day or two! 

Cream Cheese Cookies

Makes 3 dozen cookies

• 1/2 cup butter
• 4 ounces cream cheese
• 1 cup organic sugar cane 
• 1 egg 
• 2 tsp vanilla extract 
• 2 cups unbleached flour 
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

Allow butter and cream cheese to soften by setting out at room temperature for 30 minutes.  Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease a baking sheet. 

Combine butter, cream cheese, and sugar in a large bowl, and cream together with a hand mixer.  Add in egg and vanilla extract, and mix until incorporated. 

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, to the cream cheese mixture, beating well after each addition, until all fully mixed. 

Divide out cookie dough into tablespoon-sized spoonfuls, and roll into small balls and place onto baking sheet, leaving enough room between each cookie. 

Bake in preheated oven for 8 – 10 minutes, or until cooked through.  Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool. 

Homemade Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

When I made the switch to real food, it really affected the way we celebrated birthdays. In the old days, we used to pick up a cake from the grocery store, top it with some candles, and start singing the birthday song. But since the ingredients in the cakes we used to buy are horrendous (preservatives, food dyes, artificial sweeteners, MSG, etc.), we can no longer go that route for birthdays.

So instead of a chemical laden cake, the usual request for a birthday cake is this extremely moist and flavorful homemade carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Aside from how easy it is to make, it’s full of flavor and is the perfect substitute for birthday cake.

I’m pretty sure this cake takes a little longer to bake than a regular chocolate/white cake would, but that’s because it’s more of a sweet bread than a cake. And the cream cheese frosting adds to the sweetness of it, making it sweet enough to be cake.

One thing I love to do when I’m making this cake for a large get-together is make two cakes, double (or even triple) the frosting, and stack the cake in layers! So then it’s a two-layer homemade carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. You can make the slices thinner to serve more people (since there’s double the cake in one slice). 

I think the most time consuming part of making this cake is shredding the carrots, which is something I’ve never been great at doing quickly. I think there are food processors out there that can shred carrots, but I’m not sure if they’ll shred the carrot small enough. Oh well, the old-fashioned way will do.

Whether you’re making this cake for a special occasion or you just want to indulge in something a little healthier, this homemade carrot cake with cream cheese frosting is sure to blow you away.

Homemade Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes 1 (9-inch) cake or 8 servings

Ingredients:

For the Cake:

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unbleached pure cane sugar
• 2/3 cup (5 1/2 tablespoons) salted butter, softened
• 3 large eggs
• 2/3 cup whole milk
• 3 medium carrots, grated
• OPTIONAL: 3/4 cup chopped walnuts

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, softened
• 4 ounces (1/2 brick) cream cheese, softened
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions:

Make the Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan. Dust with flour; tap out excess. In a small bowl, mix together the flours, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Whisk thoroughly.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the beater attachment, beat together and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, making sure each one is combined before adding another. On low speed, add in flour mixture and milk into butter mixture and mix until combined. Stir in carrots and walnuts, if using. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Turn cake out onto rack to cool completely.

Make the Frosting: Beat together the butter and cream cheese on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla extract until combined.

Place cake on a serving plate or cake stand. Spread cream cheese frosting over the top and sides.

By the time October rolls around, I’ve got my freezer well-stocked with homemade pie crust and my compilation of pie recipes at the ready. And out of all the pies I make, lemon meringue pie has got the be my favorite. It’s tart lemon curd filling topped with fluffy, sweet meringue create a lovely blend of intense flavors. And if you’ve got a flaky, buttery crust underneath all that, it’s the ultimate dessert. 

While it’s really easy to make a delicious and beautiful lemon meringue pie, there are two common mistakes that should be avoided.

Over-boiling the lemon curd: If you boil the lemon curd for too long, the cornstarch will lose its ability to thicken, leaving you with an overly-runny lemon curd. To avoid boiling the curd for too long, get all of the ingredients out before you start.

Not spreading the meringue to the edges: If you don’t seal the pie with meringue, the meringue will shrink on top of the pie. This results in a not-so-pretty lemon meringue pie. To avoid this, simply spread the meringue to the crust to seal it.

As long as you seal the pie with the meringue topping and remember to not over-boil the lemon curd, you will get a perfectly elegant and delicious lemon meringue pie every time. 

You’re going to love this easy lemon meringue pie! I’ve tried multiple recipes, but this is the best I’ve ever had. It’s so easy and you can’t beat the taste.

Easy Lemon Meringue Pie

Makes 1 (9 inch) pie

Ingredients:

• 1 (9 inch) pie crust, preferably homemade

Lemon Curd:

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup pure cane sugar
• 1/2 cup lemon juice 
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons salted butter
• 4 egg yolks, beaten

Meringue Topping:

• 4 egg whites
• 6 tablespoons pure cane sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Roll the pie crust into 10-inch circle on a floured surface. Transfer it to 9-inch pie pan and crimp the edges. Cover the crust with foil and pour pie weights or dry beans on top. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil with weights/beans and bake for another 10 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

Meringue: In a small bowl, whisk together sugar and cornstarch. In a large mixing bowl with whisk attachment, beat egg whites until foamy. Then slowly add sugar mixture one tablespoon at a time and continue to beat on medium high speed until stiff peaks form. Set aside.

Filling: In a medium saucepan, mix together water, lemon juice, sugar, cornstarch, flour, lemon zest and salt. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. To temper egg yolks, add about half cup of lemon curd mixture into the egg yolks and stir vigorously. Return the egg mixture back to the saucepan. Continue cooking for 3-5 minutes, continuously stirring. Throw in the butter.

While butter is melting in the filling, briefly whisk the egg whites for a minute. Transfer the hot filling into pre-baked pie crust and immediately spread the meringue over the filling making sure to seal the edges. Bake the pie for 8-10 minutes, or until meringue is golden brown.

Recipe barely adapted from Sweet and Savory by Shinee

Acorn Squash Honey Custard 

Summer is coming to a close and as much as I hate to admit it, I am beginning to look forward to the cooler days of fall. I am a warm weather person through and through, but the humidity and bugs of North Carolina in August have exhausted their welcome and I am ready for a change.

With the season change comes a change in flavors. All summer we have enjoyed the sweetness of strawberries, watermelons and peaches, we have had our pick of juicy tomatoes, crisp cucumbers and overwhelming quantities of zucchini, but with those crops on their way out we welcome the foods meant to get us through the winter, nutrient dense greens and lots and lots of squash.

Obviously, pumpkin tends to be the star squash of the season, but there are so many other options to pick from and so many unique ways to enjoy them. When I was thinking about creating this recipe, I researched a lot of different preparations for various squash types and I was surprised that acorn squash was almost always used in savory dishes. With a consistency similar to pumpkin, acorn squash is small and much easier to prepare than larger types of squash and has a flavor that is much lighter than pumpkin or butternut squash, making it incredibly versatile and perfect for desserts.

This recipe perfectly highlights the subtle flavor of the squash while creating a simple and unique dish that is sure to impress your friends and family at any fall get together or holiday meal this year. To top it all off this recipe is egg free, refined sugar free, grain free, gluten free, and dairy free so it is a dessert everyone will be able to enjoy!

 Acorn Squash Honey Custard 

(Serves 4) 

Ingredients:

2 cups of acorn squash (approx. 2 squash)

¾ cup of coconut milk

Pinch of salt

1 TBS of grass-fed beef gelatin

2 tsp Tapioca starch

1/8 cup of boiling water

½ tsp cinnamon

¾ tsp ginger

1/2 cup of honey

Directions:

1. Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds
2. Place your squash in a baking pan with a small amount of water and bake until tender (approx. 30-40 mins)
3. Scrape out the flesh of the squash and add it to your food processor, blend until smooth.
4. Add in the rest of your ingredients except the gelatin and water and blend.
5. Pour your puree into a saucepan and bring to simmer stirring often. Simmer for 10 mins.
6. Pour 1/8 cup of boiling water into a bowl, sprinkle 1 TBS of gelatin over the hot water and let dissolve completely. Stir out any clumps if needed.
7. Pour the hot pumpkin mixture into the food processor again along with the gelatin mixture. Blend for 30 seconds. Slowly pour into ramikin custard cups and refrigerate until cool or overnight.