Roasted Banana Bars with Browned Butter Frosting

See those fluffy clouds? This is what heaven looks like.  I know you're thinking, "If this is heaven, what are those nuts on the clouds?" I don't have an answer for that.  All I know is that this has easily become one of my top five dessert recipes. In the word of Barney Stinson, it's Legend wait for it.....

DARY! (Legendary for those who do not watch How I Met Your Mother).

 Your next question is probably "why did you take this picture?" and "where's the inside?".  The sad truth is that I underbaked these. So much so that they were nearly raw in the middle.  I checked it (using the tooth pick method), and they looked baked to me, but sadly, they were not. I had already frosted them before I realized they were underbaked.  So what did we do? We ate every last bite of the baked parts, and some of the unbaked parts.  It was that delicious.  I seriously cannot wait until I have another opportunity to make these, they were that good. If you're a fan of browned butter, you will notice it in the frosting.  I would use this frosting on anything and everything. 


As of today's post forty-two people gave this a five out of five!!!!!!


All I know is that my friends better have some good summer parties lined up so I can bring these.


Recipe by Lindsay Weiss, Overland Park, KS, Cooking Light, January 2009

• YIELD: 2 dozen (serving size: 1 bar)
• COURSE: Desserts, Cookies

Ingredients

• Bars:
• 2 cups sliced ripe banana (about 3 medium)
• 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
• 9 ounces cake flour (about 2 1/4 cups)
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup nonfat buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• Baking spray with flour
• Frosting:
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup (3 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Preparation

• 1. Preheat oven to 400°.
• 2. To prepare bars, combine banana, brown sugar, and 1 tablespoon butter in an 8-inch square baking dish. Bake at 400° for 35 minutes, stirring after 17 minutes. Cool slightly.
• 3. Reduce the oven temperature to 375°.
• 4. Weigh or lightly spoon cake flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 9 ounces (about 2 1/4 cups) flour, soda, and baking powder in a medium bowl. Combine banana mixture, buttermilk, and 1 teaspoon vanilla in another medium bowl. Place 1/2 cup butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add eggs to granulated sugar mixture; mix well. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternating with banana mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
• 5. Pour batter into a 13 x 9–inch baking pan coated with baking spray. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
• 6. To prepare frosting, melt 1/4 cup butter in a small saucepan over medium heat; cook 4 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool slightly. Combine browned butter, powdered sugar, cream cheese, and 1 teaspoon vanilla in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer until smooth. Spread frosting over cooled bars. Sprinkle with pecans.

Nutritional Information

---

• Amount per serving
• Calories: 221
• Calories from fat: 0.0%
• Fat: 8.4g
• Saturated fat: 4.7g
• Monounsaturated fat: 2.3g
• Polyunsaturated fat: 0.6g
• Protein: 2.3g
• Carbohydrate: 35.1g
• Fiber: 0.6g
• Cholesterol: 39mg
• Iron: 1mg
• Sodium: 117mg
• Calcium: 23mg

Banana-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I bought a bunch of bananas with the goal of making two different banana recipes this week. I couldn't decide which one I wanted to make and had enough bananas to make both. In Greece, they would say this is my destiny.  


I also came to the realization that homemade cookies are way better than store-bought cookies.  OK with the caveat that Oreos are the exception because let's be honest with ourselves, they are the end-all be-all of cookies.  We had the Keebler rainbow M&M's cookies (the ones with exactly 3 M&M's per cookie) and they tasted like cardboard.  That's when I realized I wanted to make these cookies and put the calories toward something much more delicious (and probably nutritious).  


Enter super ripe bananas. This recipe came together so quickly--mix all together and bake.  I didn't make any  modifications to this recipe except to underbake the second and third batches in the oven. I like my cookies a little underbaked and soft.  


They were delicious. Chewy, soft and flavorful--everything I had hoped for.  The good news is that these also freeze well, so you can pull one out of the freezer as you want it.  It's the self control that is the difficult part. :)


As of today's post, 37 people gave this an average rating of four out of five stars.  


Recipe by Cathy Brixen, Phoenix, Arizona, Cooking Light, July 2009

• YIELD: 2 dozen (serving size: 1 cookie)
• 
  

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (about 1 medium)
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 5 3/5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 1/4 cups)
• 2 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• Cooking spray

Preparation

• 1. Preheat oven to 350°.
• 2. Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Add egg; beat well.
• 3. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, oats, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add flour mixture to banana mixture in bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips.
• 4. Drop batter by heaping tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 18 minutes or until golden. Cool on pans 2 minutes. Remove cookies from pans; cool completely on wire racks.

Nutritional Information

---

• Amount per serving
• Calories: 115
• Fat: 3.6g
• Saturated fat: 2g
• Monounsaturated fat: 1.1g
• Polyunsaturated fat: 0.3g
• Protein: 2g
• Carbohydrate: 19.1g
• Fiber: 1.2g
• Cholesterol: 14mg
• Iron: 0.9mg
• Sodium: 121mg
• Calcium: 10mg

Salted Caramel Ice Cream

Yes, I am a freak of nature.  I am the person who makes ice cream during winter. I am that person you see outside wearing flip flops when it's 20 degree out, making you think, 'does that idiot realize she is wearing flip flops?!'  I've accepted it.

And it's totally worth it when you have this salted caramel ice cream.  On the last night of our honeymoon, the Paris leg, we searched for a restaurant that had french onion soup and creme brulee (how touristy is that).  Our concierge called a few places and found one close by that had both!  So we walked to the restaurant and saw that their menu did not have french onion soup. The waiters were outside ushering people in and asked us to come in. We asked (in English) 'do you have french onion soup?' And they replied, 'Oh you must be the people from the Victoria Palace hotel.' Silly American tourists.  This story has a point, and I'm getting there...eventually. Anyway, we went in and ate a delicious dinner, including french onion soup.  My husband was there for the creme brulee but as soon as I laid my eyes on a certain dessert, I knew it would be mine.  The dessert was a chocolate ganache cake with SALTED CARAMEL ICE CREAM!  I had heard about salted caramel ice cream from a famous foodie and world-renown dessert expert who I follow on twitter, David Lebovitz.  This guy is a genius.  So I tried the salted caramel ice cream in Paris and it was divine! I could not wait to have more.  So I gave this recipe a shot.

If you're one of those people who likes the salty and sweet combined, this ice cream is for you. It tastes a bit like caramel corn without the popcorn.  I made this up in a jif using my awesome Kitchen Aid ice cream maker! 

I have to be honest about one thing that made me a little sad.  This ice cream did not freeze completely.  We're talking like a more solid version of soft-serve.  I don't know enough about the chemistry of ice cream (surprising, I know), to know whether the salt influences this or the production of caramel in the custard phase affects the freezing point. Who knows.  All I know is that it is delicious.  I didn't serve it with chocolate, like my experience in Paris.  I must say that was a stupid thing to do.  It has to be a dark chocolate, with a thick consistency, to stand up to the flavor of this ice cream.  Ah well, can't win 'em all.

Five people rated this a five, and it's definitely a five.

Recipe by Julianna Grimes, Cooking Light, May 2010

Yield: 10 servings

Ingredients

• 3 1/2  cups  2% reduced-fat milk
• 3  large egg yolks
• 1 1/4  cups  packed brown sugar
• 1/4  cup  heavy cream
• 1  tablespoon  butter
• 1/2  teaspoon  sea salt
• 1/2  teaspoon  flake salt

Preparation

1. Place milk in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Heat to 180° or until tiny bubbles form around edge of pan (do not boil). Place egg yolks in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Gradually add half of hot milk to yolks, stirring constantly. Return yolk mixture to pan.
2. Combine sugar, cream, and butter in a large saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil, stirring until sugar melts. Cook 3 minutes without stirring. Remove from heat; stir in sea salt. Gradually add caramel mixture to yolk mixture, stirring constantly. Return pan to low heat; cook until a thermometer registers 160°. Place pan in a large ice-filled bowl until completely cooled, stirring occasionally. Pour mixture into the freezer can of an ice-cream freezer; freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Drain ice water from freezer bucket; repack with salt and ice. Cover with kitchen towels, and let stand 1 hour or until firm. Scoop about 1/2 cup ice cream into each of 10 dishes; sprinkle evenly with flake salt.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 241

Fat: 7.9g (sat 4.5g,mono 2.5g,poly 0.5g)

Protein: 4.7g

Carbohydrate: 39g

Fiber: 0.0g

Cholesterol: 99mg

Iron: 0.9mg

Sodium: 370mg

Calcium: 173mg

Vanilla Buttermilk Pound Cakes with Kahlua Fudge Sauce

This is part of our New Year's Eve dinner.  Why am I posting it before the actual NYE dinner? Because we made it early and served it to our friend Kirsten, our faithful cat sitter.  Without Kirsten we would not be able to visit our families over the holidays or to have taken a two week honeymoon.  So we made her a delicious dinner of the previous two postings (fruit and walnut-stuffed pork loin with new potatoes and roasted garlic vinaigrette) and this for dessert, to thank her.

The pound cake is one of those recipes that I've wanted to make as long as I could remember.  I'm not usually a huge pound cake person, it's just a bit dense for me.  But this one spoke to me for some reason so I figured this was as good a time as any to make it.  We've made the Kahlua fudge sauce before (and I think we may have even served it with a store-bought pound cake) and it is delicious.

The result? AWESOME.  This is the best pound cake I've ever had.  The buttermilk makes it so moist and chewy that you will want more.  The best part is that this makes a lot, but you can freeze it for up to a few months if wrapped well.

As of this post, 15 people gave the pound cakes an average rating of 4 out of 5.  I think it's a five.  Two reviewers gave the Kahlua fudge sauce a 5 out of 5. 

Vanilla Buttermilk Pound Cakes

Recipe by Marcia Whyte Smart, Cooking Light, November 2008

Yield: 5 loaves, 6 servings per loaf (serving size: 1 slice)

Ingredients

• 13.5  ounces  all-purpose flour (about 3 cups)
• 1  teaspoon  baking powder
• 1/2  teaspoon  baking soda
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 2  cups  sugar
• 3/4  cup  butter, softened
• 1  teaspoon  vanilla extract
• 3  large eggs
• 1 1/3  cups  low-fat buttermilk
• Cooking spray

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients (through salt); stir with a whisk. Place sugar, butter, and vanilla in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture and buttermilk to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
3. Spoon batter into 5 (5 3/4 x 3 3/4–inch) loaf pans coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes on a wire rack. Remove from pans. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 144 (32% from fat)

Fat: 5.1g (sat 3.1g,mono 1.4g,poly 0.2g)

Protein: 2.2g

Carbohydrate: 22.3g

Fiber: 0.3g

Cholesterol: 34mg

Iron: 0.7mg

Sodium: 95mg

Calcium: 25mg

 

Kahlua Fudge Sauce

Recipe by Cooking Light, July 1999

Yield: 1 3/4 cups (serving size: 1 tablespoon)

Ingredients

• 1  (14-ounce) can low-fat sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2  cup  boiling water
• 6  tablespoons  unsweetened cocoa
• 1  teaspoon  instant espresso or 2 teaspoons instant coffee granules
• 3  tablespoons  Kahlúa (coffee-flavored liqueur)

Preparation

Place milk in a small saucepan; cook 5 minutes over low heat. Combine water, cocoa, and espresso in a small bowl, stirring until granules dissolve. Stir cocoa mixture into milk; cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in liqueur; cook 1 minute. Remove from heat. Serve warm or chilled.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 52 (12% from fat)

Fat: 0.7g (sat 0.5g,mono 0.2g,poly 0.0g)

Protein: 1.4g

Carbohydrate: 9.7g

Fiber: 0.0g

Cholesterol: 2mg

Iron: 0.2mg

Sodium: 15mg

Calcium: 38mg

Brown Sugar Cheesecake with Cherry Compote

This looks delish right?? It's soooooo delicious!!!  I've been dying to make this ever since I saw it in my CL and I finally had a chance! We hosted a dinner party around the holidays and this was the perfect opportunity to make this cheesecake.  The gingersnap crust is so tasty and it was great to use up the leftover gingersnaps I had from the apple crisp.

We didn't make any changes to this recipe but you should know--it's tough to make 16 servings, so we had about 10.

The compote made a lot more than you need for the cheesecake. I would suggest using the leftovers on meat (save it for your turkey perhaps??), or put it atop of ice cream (this gal would recommend the oatmeal raisin homemade ice cream a la David Lebovitz).  

As of today's post, 4 people gave this an average rating of 5 out of 5.  I would give it a 5 as well.

Definitely going in the recipe book!

Recipe by Bruce Weinstein, Cooking Light, December 2009

Yield: 16 servings (serving size: 1 slice cheesecake and about 2 tablespoons compote)

Ingredients

• Cheesecake:
• 1 3/4  cups  gingersnap crumbs (about 30 cookies, finely crushed)
• 2  tablespoons  butter, melted
• 1  tablespoon  fat-free milk
• Cooking spray
• 2  cups  (1 pound) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
• 1  cup  (8 ounces) fat-free cream cheese
• 1/2  cup  packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4  cup  granulated sugar
• 1.3  ounces  cake flour (about 1/3 cup)
• 2  large eggs
• 1/2  cup  reduced-fat sour cream
• 2  tablespoons  maple syrup
• 1  tablespoon  vanilla extract
• Compote:
• 2  cups  fresh cranberries (about 8 ounces)
• 1  cup  shredded peeled ripe pear (1 medium)
• 1/2  cup  packed dark brown sugar
• 3/4  cup  fresh orange juice (about 3 oranges)
• 1/4  teaspoon  ground cinnamon

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. To prepare cheesecake, combine gingersnap crumbs, butter, and milk in a medium bowl; stir with a fork. Firmly press mixture into bottom of a 9-inch springform pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 3 minutes; cool on a wire rack. Reduce oven temperature to 325°.
3. Place cheeses in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until smooth. Add sugars, beating until well combined. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Add flour to cheese mixture; beat well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add sour cream, syrup, and vanilla; beat well. Pour cheese mixture into crust. Bake at 325° for 40 minutes or until cheesecake center barely moves when pan is touched. Turn oven off. Remove cheesecake; run a knife around outside edge. Return cheesecake to oven, and partially open oven door. Cool cheesecake 1 hour in oven. Remove from oven; cool completely on a wire rack. Cover and chill at least 8 hours.
4. To prepare compote, combine cranberries and remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or until the cranberries pop, stirring frequently. Cool to room temperature, and serve over cheesecake.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 272

Fat:10.6g (sat 6.2g,mono 3.1g,poly 0.5g)

Protein: 7.4g

Carbohydrate:37.2g

Fiber: 1.4g

Cholesterol: 55mg

Iron: 1.5mg

Sodium: 320mg

Calcium: 92mg

Spicy Autumn Crisp

I was looking through myrecipes at their 5 star recipe section and found this recipe during the month of October.  The ingredients sounded interesting--pear, granny smith apples, pitted dates and molasses.

Let me tell you this is GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD. I would make it every week if I had a rabbit metabolism. It is just that good.

I didn't make any changes to this recipe, oh wait I did. I used allspice instead of ground cloves because I didn't have any ground cloves.

Only 5 people gave this an average rating of 5 out of 5 but if you try it, trust me, you'll like it.

The only issue is that I had to buy a whole box of gingersnaps to make this. However, to remedy this, we're having friends over for dinner this week and I'm making brown sugar cheesecake with cranberry compote.

YUUUUM, I wish I had more right now.

Recipe by Cooking Light, October 2000

Yield: 9 servings

Ingredients

• Topping:
• 9  gingersnap cookies (such as Nabisco)
• 1/4  cup  granulated sugar
• 1/4  cup  packed light brown sugar
• 2  tablespoons  all-purpose flour
• 1/4  cup  chilled butter or stick margarine, cut into small pieces
• Filling:
• 3 1/2  cups  chopped peeled Granny Smith apple (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 3 1/2  cups  coarsely chopped peeled Bartlett pear (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 1/2  cup  chopped pitted dates or golden raisins
• 1/4  cup  molasses
• 3/4  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
• 1/2  teaspoon  ground ginger
• 1/8  teaspoon  ground nutmeg
• 1/8  teaspoon  ground cloves

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°.
To prepare topping, place cookies in a food processor; pulse 10 times or until coarse crumbs form to measure 1/2 cup. Combine cookie crumbs, sugars, and flour in a medium bowl; cut in the butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture is crumbly.
To prepare filling, combine apple and remaining ingredients in a large bowl; toss well. Spoon apple mixture into an 8-inch square baking dish or a 1 1/2-quart casserole. Sprinkle with topping. Bake at 375° for 45 minutes or until bubbly.

Nutritional Information

Calories:246 (25% from fat)

Fat: 6.9g (sat 3.6g,mono 2.1g,poly 0.6g)

Protein: 1.3g

Carbohydrate:47.9g

Fiber: 2.7g

Cholesterol: 17mg

Iron: 1.4mg

Sodium: 69mg

Calcium: 54mg

Pumpkin Pie Shake

Two disappointments in one week, can it be???

YES.

I've been dying to make this recipe ever since I saw it on myrecipes.com.  Unfortunately, it was another bomb. I felt like I was just eating canned pumpkin, which doesn't taste very good to me.  It's true that I do not have the cool whip on top like they recommend in the recipe but, I don't think that would save this recipe. I can't believe how people have raved about it in the reviews. 

This is another one that I feel like I could tweak, but who has time for that (certainly not this girl). I'd rather spend my time making the eggnog recipe in this month's magazine (which we will make in December)! 

I'll let you decide for yourself. Maybe you really like this and i'm the only weirdo out there who doesn't. To each their own, right?

As of today's post, thirteen people gave this an average rating of 5 out of 5.  For some reason my 3 stars must not be factored into this rating. :)

Recipe by Vivian Levine, Cooking Light, January 2006

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 2  cups  vanilla reduced-fat ice cream (such as Healthy Choice), softened
• 1  cup  fat-free milk
• 2/3  cup  canned pumpkin
• 1/4  cup  packed brown sugar
• 3/4  teaspoon  pumpkin-pie spice
• 3  tablespoons  frozen fat-free whipped topping, thawed
• Pumpkin-pie spice (optional)

Preparation

Combine first 5 ingredients in a blender; process until smooth. Pour 3/4 cup ice cream mixture into each of 4 glasses. Top each with about 2 teaspoons whipped topping; sprinkle with the additional pumpkin-pie spice, if desired.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 198 (13% from fat)

Fat: 2.8g (sat 1.8g,mono 0.6g,poly 0.1g)

Protein: 6.1g

Carbohydrate: 38g

Fiber: 1.4g

Cholesterol: 18mg

Iron: 1.3mg

Sodium: 180mg

Calcium: 157mg

 

Bananas Foster Bread

Who likes bananas coated in rum??? I DO! Cooking Light had so many good looking bread recipes in their last issue, if only we had time to make them all!  I decided to make the bananas foster bread after I ended up with two uneaten, black bananas.  This recipe came together so quickly! I made the rum/banana/sugar mixture while we were making dinner (I think it was the same night as the Salmon and caramelized leek night).  After dinner I threw it all together and baked it in the toaster oven.  The bread tasted more like regular banana bread, but it did have a hint of that bananas foster flavor.  The glaze for this also calls for rum, and quite frankly, tastes like a shot of sugary icing when you mix it together. This is boozy! I will say though that after one day with the glaze you couldn't even taste the booze anymore.  Which I think for me set the taste back a bit. I liked the combination of fresh glaze and bread; for me it really tasted like bananas foster.

This recipe calls for flaxseed. I got mine at trader joe's whole and ground it in the mini prep food processor.

This recipe is probably not recommended if you have little humans running around, I don't think they are supposed to have alcohol. Translation: you can make this, just don't feed it to your kids. :)

As of today's post, 17 people gave it an average rating of 5 out of 5! 

Recipe by Maureen Callahan, Cooking Light, October 2010

Yield: 16 servings (serving size: 1 slice)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2  cups  mashed ripe banana
• 1  cup  packed brown sugar, divided
• 6  tablespoons  butter, melted and divided
• 1/4  cup  cognac or dark rum, divided
• 1/3  cup  plain fat-free yogurt
• 2  large eggs
• 6.75  ounces  all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1/4  cup  ground flaxseed
• 3/4  teaspoon  baking soda
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 1/2  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
• 1/8  teaspoon  ground allspice
• Cooking spray
• 1/3  cup  powdered sugar

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Combine banana, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 5 tablespoons butter, and 3 tablespoons cognac in a nonstick skillet. Cook over medium heat until mixture begins to bubble. Remove from heat; cool. Place banana mixture in a large bowl. Add yogurt, remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar, and eggs. Beat with a mixer at medium speed.
3. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through allspice) in a small bowl. Add flour mixture to banana mixture; beat just until blended. Pour batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Remove bread from pan; place on wire rack.
4. Combine remaining 1 tablespoon melted butter, remaining 1 tablespoon cognac, and powdered sugar; stir until well blended. Drizzle over the warm bread.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 194

Fat: 5.8g (sat 3g,mono 1.5g,poly 0.9g)

Protein: 2.9g

Carbohydrate: 31.1g

Fiber: 1.5g

Cholesterol: 34mg

Iron: 1.1mg

Sodium: 181mg

Calcium: 32mg

Butter Crunch Lemon-Cheese Bars

I never realized this about myself...I really like lemon desserts.  Today's is no exception.  I was looking for a recipe to take to a friend's house in Philly and I wanted to make something 1) portable and 2) that felt summer-y and 3) that used up the cottage cheese I needed for another recipe. I hate cottage cheese so it was great to be able to use it in something instead of wasting it.  It didn't hurt that 19 people also gave this an average rating of 5 out of 5 (I seem to be finding highly rated recipes lately).  

I was worried about the crust; when I baked this (in the toaster oven) the crust came out really hard and brown. I tried a piece and thought it was really dry.  But then I thought since the finished product sits overnight that some of the moisture must be soaked up by the crust. I was right!

I used nutmeg instead of mace given the reviewers' comments and I used fat-free cottage cheese which I had instead of 1% cottage cheese. Other than those two changes, we made no other changes to this recipe. I also got to use my new microplane which is freaking incredible at zesting lemon (THANK YOU CARY)!

I had a hard time getting the bars out of the pan once they chilled overnight and I left some knife marks in my pan. So next time, I may do like another reviewer recommended and put parchment paper at the bottom of the pan.  Be sure to keep 'em chilled.

Please make this--you won't regret it!

Recipe by Greg Patent, Cooking Light, January 2001

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 1 bar)

Ingredients

• CRUST:
• 1/3  cup  butter, softened
• 1/4  cup  packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  ground mace or nutmeg
• 1  cup  all-purpose flour
• Cooking spray
• 
  FILLING:
• 1  cup  1% low-fat cottage cheese
• 1  cup  granulated sugar
• 2  tablespoons  all-purpose flour
• 1  tablespoon  grated lemon rind
• 3 1/2  tablespoons  fresh lemon juice
• 1/4  teaspoon  baking powder
• 1  large egg
• 1  large egg white

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare crust, place first 4 ingredients in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Lightly spoon 1 cup flour into a dry measuring cup, and level with a knife. Add 1 cup flour to butter mixture, and beat at low speed until well-blended. Press crust into an 8-inch square baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes.

To prepare filling, place cottage cheese in a food processor; process 2 minutes or until smooth, scraping sides of bowl once. Add 1 cup granulated sugar and remaining ingredients, and process until well-blended. Pour filling over crust. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until set (the edges will get lightly browned), and cool. Cover and chill for 8 hours.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

281 (29% from fat)

Fat:

9g (sat 5.2g,mono 2.6g,poly 0.6g)

Protein:

6.7g

Carbohydrate:

44.5g

Fiber:

0.5g

Cholesterol:

49mg

Iron:

1.1mg

Sodium:

298mg

Calcium:

40mg