Meyer Lemon Bars



I-spy with my big eyes... lemons in my neighbor's backyard. Lotsa of them. I asked Brek to ask Ms. Leta for a few. At that time, none of the lemons were ripen. One day, Ms. Leta came over with too many lemons. They were huge. I assumed they must be meyer lemons.

I wanted some to make lemon cookies. Because they were naturally grown, I could use the lemon zest. And I did. I made so many sweets from Ms. Leta's meyer lemons: lemon cookies, lemon macarons, lemon curd cupcakes, and lemon custard cake. I mean, there were just too many lemons.

Remember that meyer lemons are huge. I decided to flip through cookbooks and see if I could come up with a recipe using lemons. William Sonoma's lemon curd squares looked easy to bake. The based of the bars was pie dough. Thinking about making the lemon bars even tastier, I decided to test the recipe with my lemon cookie dough.

The meyer lemon bars turned out better than I expected. Not too sweet and definitely lemony flavor. The crunch of the lemon cookie dough was a good balance to the soft, velvety curd. I was super happy with the lemon bars that I asked Brek to deliver some to Ms. Leta and Mr. Joe (her son and Brek's swim teacher). Even after we shared the lemon bars with our great neighbors, we still had plenty. And guess what, my kids and I ate them all up for afternoon snack, nighttime snack... even for breakfast. Hey, why not!!!

Feel free to substitute meyer lemons with regular lemons. Better yes, use lime juice with pulp to make lime bars.

Meyer Lemon Bars
adapted from William Sonoma's lemon curd squares
makes 9 - 16 bars

1 lemony cookie dough recipe
3 large eggs
3/4 cup (5.2 oz.) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (4 oz.) meyer lemon juice with pulp
3 Tablespoons (1.5 oz.) coconut cream
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

1. Preheat the oven to 350F degree. Line the 8-inch square pan with parchment paper then spray the inside with a cooking oil. Set aside.
2. Make the lemony cookie dough as directed.
3. Press the cookie dough into the prepared pan, making sure the dough goes up to all the sides.
4. Prick the cookie dough with a fork. NOTE: This method is to prevent the dough from puffing up during baking.
5. Bake in a preheated oven until the edges are slightly golden brown, about 10 minutes.
6. When done, take it out of the oven to let cool, about 15 minutes.
7. Lower the oven temperature to 325F degree.
8. Make the filling by whisking together all of the ingredients.
9. Pour the filling batter on to the cooled cookie.
10. Bake in a preheated oven until the filling is set, about 25 minutes.
11. Turn off the heat and open the oven door, leaving the meyer lemon bars sitting in the oven for another 15 minutes.
12. Take the pan out of the oven and set it on a wiring rack to cool completely.
13. Cut into 9 or 16 bars. Enjoy!!!

STORING: These meyer lemon bars taste best the day they are baked because the cookie crust is crunchy. But they can be kept in a container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Allergy Info: These meyer lemon bars are free from or can be make without dairy, corn, legumes (soy), nuts (not coconut), and fish.

Sweet Pecan Delights

For me, the main issue with the sweet recipes is to adapt them into dairy and legume free. These recipes are mainly used butter, heavy cream, or milk. Since I have to omit all of the cow's products from Brek's diet and legume ingredients from Camden's diet, I find that modifying sweet recipes can be a challenge. I can no longer bake with cheese cake.

I accidentally found Sweet Julia cooking show while I was flipping through channels. Her recipes were pretty easy to work with to make them dairy free. Her Graham Cracker Toffee looked delicious. I thought I might be able to make them using my own dairy free caramel recipe.

I tested it out and holy cow!!! They tasted gooey, sweet, and nutty. My kids luv pecans, so they asked for more. I asked Brek to name the bars, and he said, "how about Sweet Pecan Delights?" And that's how these bars got their name.

Sweet Pecans Delight
inspired from Sweet Julia's Graham Cracker Toffee
made small 12 bars

8 graham crackers
1/3 cup (3 oz.) coconut cream
3 Tablespoons (1.6 oz.) water
1 Tablespoon (2 oz.) maple syrup
1 cup (7 oz.) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup (3.75 oz.) raw pecans, roughly chopped
Cooking spray

1. Preheat the oven to 350F degree.
2. Line a 8 by 6 baking pan with a parchment paper. Spray the pan with a cooking oil.
3. Place the graham crackers to fit the base, making sure that they double up to the same thickness. Set it aside.
4. Place coconut cream, water, maple syrup, guar, and salt in a heavy-bottomed pot.
5. Heat the mixture in a medium low heat.
6. Bring the mixture to a boil and heat until the candy thermometer reads soft cracks (240F degree).
7. Add the chopped pecans and whisk quickly.
8. Slowly pour the pecan caramel over the graham crackers.
9. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.
10. Let cool in the wiring rack until cool to touch.
11. Turn the sweet pecan delights onto the cutting board and cut them into small squares.

STORING: These sweet pecan delights keep well in an air tight container at a room temperature for up a week.

Allergy Info: These sweet pecan delights are free from or can be make without dairy, eggs, corn, legumes (soy), or fish.

Autumn Rice Puff Treats

Rice puff treats or rice crispy treats are super duper easy to make. Of course, the rice crispy treats recipes are mostly made with prepackaged marshmallows.

With this rice puff treats recipe, I use nut butter and rice syrup. No preservatives or additives. Now I can tell my kids to eat as much as they want. These treats travel quite well too. Bonus!!!

I wanted to try an Autumn flavor with cinnamon and dried cranberries. Using my go-to rice puff treats recipe, I added the ground cinnamon and dried cranberries. Just with these two ingredients, they added a big flavor and reminded me to Autumn.

Autumn Rice Puff Treats
makes 12 bars

1/2 cup (5.5 oz.) rice syrup
1/4 cup (2.3 oz.) nut butter
4 cups (4 oz.) rice puff or rice crispy (cereal)
1/4 cup (2 oz.) dried cranberries
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Line a 6 by 8 rectangular baking pan with parchment paper. Spray with cooking oil. Set aside.
2. In a heavy bottom pan, heat the rice syrup and nut butter in a medium low heat until bubbly.
3. While the nut butter syrup is heating up, mix together the rice puff, dried cranberries, and cinnamon.
4. Add the rice puff mixture to the bubbling nut butter syrup.
5. Mix until well combine.
6. Transfer the Autumn rice puff treats to the prepared pan, spreading out with a spatula.
7. Let the treats sit in a room temperature until set, about an hour.
8. Transfer to a cutting board and cut into 12 equal bars or desired shapes. Enjoy!!!

STORING: Keep these Autumn rice puff treats in a container in the fridge for up to 7 days. Bring the treats to a room temperature for at least 15 minutes to soften the texture.

Allergy Info: These Autumn rice puff treats are free from or can be made without dairy, eggs, corn, wheat, legumes (soy), and fish. For nut free, use sunflower butter.

Graham Cracker Blondies

Blondies are the non-chocolate version of brownies. I made the blondies before, but I never liked the taste of them. Simply too plain.

I subscribed New Morning's graham crackers via Amazon for many years because they were just cheaper than buying them at a local market. When I received the last order, the expiration date on each box was within six months. Listen, I luv graham crackers, but I honestly don't expect to eat 12 boxes of graham crackers within six months. That's just nuts!!!

I visited the New Morning's website to check for recipes. Let's face it. I could come up with a lot of recipes that used graham crackers. But to use up 12 boxes, I'd need more inspirations.

I came across their graham cracker blondies recipe, and it looked rather promising and easy to modify to dairy free. So I tested the recipe and was extremely happy with it. For the Fall flavors, I add about 1/4 cup of dried cranberry into the batter. They are easy to prepare, keep well in an air tight container, and travel well. Perfect for the lunchbox too.

Graham Cracker Blondies
adapted from Alltune Food's graham cracker blondies
makes 8 two-inch bars

2 large eggs
4 Tablespoon (2 oz) coconut oil or palm shortening
3/4 cup light brown sugar
18 full sheets graham crackers (2 packs from 3 pack box)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup raw almond, roughly chopped
1/2 cup chocolate chips
cooking oil

1. Preheat the oven to 350F degree. Line the bottom of 8-inch square pan with a parchment paper then lightly spray the pan with cooking oil. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, oil or shortening, and sugar.
3. Process the graham crackers in the food processor until finely ground. TIP: Place the graham crackers in a plastic bag and crush them until finely ground. This will be a time consuming process. Process the graham crackers ahead and freeze them for future baking. Be sure to label the freezable bag.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together the graham cracker flour, baking powder, almond slices, and chocolate chips.
5. Mix the graham cracker flour mixture to the egg mixture until just combine.
6. Transfer the batter into the prepared pan.
7. Bake in a preheated oven until the tooth pick inserted comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes.
8. Cool the blondies in a pan for 5 minutes then transfer them into a cutting board. Cut them into 8 or 16 equal bars. NOTE: Feel free to cut the blondies in any size. They will serve a big crowd.  

STORING: Keep the graham cracker blondies in an air tight container at a room temperature for up to 3 days. During Fall or Winter, they can be kept at a room temperature for up to a week.

Allergy Info: These graham cracker blondies are free from or can be made without dairy, corn, legumes (soy), and fish. To make them nut free (but not from coconut nut or palm) omit the almonds. The nuts are just for the crunch. I bet they would taste good with seeds. Hmm... I'll have to test out with pumpkin seeds and cranberries for the Fall flavor.

Brownies + Cookies = Brookies

I was thinking of what I'd luv to have for something sweeter. I couldn't decide between chocolate and coffee. Many times on the cooking shows, I've often heard chefs said that adding coffee into the chocolate batter really brings out the chocolate flavor. That gets me thinking... what can I bake that would have the combination of my favorite ingredients: coffee and chocolate.

Brownies and cookies are pretty basic something sweeter that I luv to bake. They are super easy and have a long shelf life. Two years ago, I saw a dessert photograph of a brownie with chocolate chip cookie in the center, a brookster, at the William Sonoma's website. I was inspired by the idea of having both brownie and cookie in one bite. Using my own recipe, I created a version of this dessert and called it a brookie. They turned out perfect. I could taste the difference between the brownie and the cookie.

It's been awhile since I last baked the brookies. I decided to bake some for our afternoon's snack. At the same time, I kinda forgot what brookster looked like. After searching for a photograph of the brookster, I found out that it was originated from the bakery in Brooklyn called Baked. I watched the owners of Baked on Unique Sweets all the time. Their bakery was featured in one of the episode too. Their sweet treats are really unique and inspiring.

For my brookies, I added instant granulated coffee to the brownie batter. This is optional. Both batters were adapted from William Sonoma's recipes. You can use your own brownie and/or chocolate chip cookie batter. Either way, there will be plenty leftover from the chocolate chip cookie batter which can easily freeze up for a later baking day.

Brookies
inspired by Baked's brookster
makes about 8 brookies and 10 chocolate chip cookies

Brownie batter
1/2 cup (3 oz) chocolate chips
1/4 cup (2 oz) coconut oil or palm shortening
1 teaspoon granulated instant coffee
2 large eggs
1 cup (7 oz) granulated sugar
3/4 cup (3 oz) all-purpose flour

Chocolate chip cookie batter
1 large egg
1/4 cup (2 oz) coconut oil or palm shortening
1/3 cup (3 oz) firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup (2 oz) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup (7 oz) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, or combination of both

1. Preheat the oven to 350F degree. Spray the 12 cavity muffin pan (round brookies) or 12 cavity brownie pan (square brookies). Set aside.
2. Place the chocolate chips in a medium microwavable bowl.
3. Microwave the chocolate chips on High at 15 seconds interval until melted.
4. Whisk in the coconut oil, eggs, and sugar until creamy.
5. Mix in the flour just combine. Set aside.
6. In large bowl, whisk together the egg, coconut oil, sugar, and vanilla extract until creamy.
7. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder.
8. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and mix until combine.
9. Fold in the chocolate chips and/or chunks.
10. Using a large scoop, scoop the brownie batter into the prepared pan.
11. Measure out the chocolate chip cookie batter by using the medium scoop.
12. Roll the cookie dough into a ball.
13. Place the dough into the center of the brownie batter.
14. Repeat step 10-13 until all the cookie dough are placed into the brownie batter.
15. Bake the brookies in the preheated oven until the tooth pick inserted into the brownie comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes. NOTE: Don't over baked or brownies will be dry.
16. Let the brookies cool in the pan for five minutes.
17. Using the small frosting spatula, remove the brownies to the cooling rack. Enjoy them while they are still warm or wait until they come to a room temperature. Keep them in the air tight container for up to 5 days.

Allergy Info: These brookies are free from or can be made without dairy, corn, legumes (soy), nuts (not coconut), and fish.

Chocolate Frosting (dairy free)

How do I make a dairy free chocolate frosting? This has been one of my biggest challenge in my world of baking. I tried and tested so many recipes, using coconut oil. Fail!!! The frostings just didn't have the smooth texture I wanted to achieve.

While grocery shopping, I spotted the palm shortening many times. Never thought the need of using it. But I decided to bring a tub home for recipe testing.

The first time I spooned out the shortening, I was super happy with the smooth texture. One morning, Brek asked me if we could have chocolate cake for afternoon snack. While I was baking us the cake, I thought of testing out a frosting for the cake. This time I replaced the coconut oil with the palm shortening.

WOW!!! I believe I found my go-to chocolate frosting. Not too sweet. Very creamy. And I dare say... "chocolate frosting shots". Yeah, baby!!! It's that good!!!

Chocolate Frosting
makes about 1 cup (enough to frost 6 cupcakes)

1/2 cup (3 oz) chocolate chips
1/2 cup (4 oz) shortening, divided
4 Tablespoons (1 oz) powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Place the chocolate chips in a large microwavable bowl.
2. Microwave them on High for 30 seconds then whisk.
3. Microwave them again for 10 seconds then whisk.
4. Add a tablespoon of shortening and repeat step 3 until chocolate chips are melted. TIP: Be patient when melting chocolate chips so they won't burn.
5. Shift the powdered sugar on to the melted chocolate.
6. Using a hand mixer, mix on a low speed until the powdered sugar is no longer visible.
7. Add the rest of the shortening and vanilla extract.
8. Mix on a low speed until the mixture is smooth.
9. The chocolate frosting is ready for use or keep in an airtight container at a room temperature for up to a week. NOTE: Keep in mind that in winter, the chocolate frosting may harden. If so, microwave the frosting for 10 seconds then whisk. Repeat until the frosting is smooth again.

Allergy Info: This chocolate frosting is free from or can be made without dairy, eggs, corn, legumes (soy), wheat, nuts (not palm), or fish.

Brek's Better Brownies (2014 New Year's Resolution)

I never liked New Year's resolutions. It was like setting up for a failure for me. Then I realized that if I really wanted to accomplish something and took a whole year to do... then why not.

For this year, I decided to focus on eating healthier. I need to eat more veggies and fruits. Last year, I was always achy, and it had nothing to do with old age. Well, maybe just a little bit. My mom and my husband kept telling me that I needed to exercise. Seriously, my workout is still doing chores and walking up and down stairs.

Anyway, this year, my blog will be full of recipes that include veggies and fruits. I want to go vegan but that would set me up as a failure. I will stick with a (semi) vegetarian diet. Veggies will be my main dish and some sort of meat on the side. I hope for great success and lose a few pounds too.

While I searched and played with the healthier version of something sweeter recipes, I gave Brek's Better Brownies a try. I helped Brek with making a healthier version of a regular brownies for his school project. He told me that his friends loved them and couldn't understand why it was called Better Brownies. They were surprised when Brek told them the secret ingredients were banana and spinach.

Take it the next level and make Mississippi mud brownies by topping the brownies with my homemade marshmallow fluff and melted chocolate. Now ask yourself this, does anybody care that there is banana, spinach, flax seeds, or cranberries in the brownies? Nah!!!

Brek's Better Brownies
modified from William Sonoma's Brownies
make 8 inch square pan

3 oz. (1/2 cup) non-dairy chocolate chips

3 Tablespoons (1.5 oz) coconut oil, divided

1/3 cup (3 oz.) granulated sugar

2 large eggs

half of 1 large banana (1.5 - 2 oz), mashed

3 - 4 Tablespoons (0.6 oz) raw baby spinach leaves, minced

3/4 cup (3 oz) all-purpose flour

1 Tablespoon (0.3 oz) grounded flax seeds

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup (1.5 oz) non-dairy chocolate chunks

1/8 cup (1 oz) dried cranberries, finely chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F degrees.
2. Spray the 8-inch square pan and line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
3. Place chocolate chips in a large microwavable bowl with 1 tablespoon of coconut oil. 
4. Microwave for 30 seconds.
5. Stir and microwave in 9 seconds interval until chocolate chips are melted.
6. Add the rest of coconut oil, sugar and eggs.
7. Whisk until the batter is fluffy, about 30 seconds.
8. Add the mashed banana and minced spinach into the batter.
9. Whisk until just combine.
10. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, flax seeds, baking powder, and baking soda.
11. Add the flour mixture into the batter.
12. Whisk until just combine. Do not over mix.
13. Fold in chocolate chips and cranberries.
14. Bake in the preheated oven until the toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 15-20 minutes.
15. Cool the brownies in the pan. Then cut into desired slices. Enjoy! 

Allergy Info: Brek's Better Brownies are free from or can be made without dairy, corn, legumes (soy), nuts (not coconut), and fish. To make the brownies gluten free, substitute all-purpose flour with gluten free flour.