Mini Lemon Pies

 

These little mini lemon pies make a delightful dessert or sweet little snack any time. Made with lemon curd using fresh lemons from my cousin's Arizona backyard. 

Lemon curd is so easy to make and is the perfect balance of sweet and tart. Lemon curd can be stored in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 weeks.

There are many uses for lemon curd such as, filling for cupcakes and donuts, spread it between cake layers. Spread it on scones, crackers, pancakes, and waffles. 

I started by making the lemon curd. Using a double boiler I whisked together the sugar and egg yolks. Then, added the fresh lemon juice, zest of lemon, and butter. This requires continuous stirring. 

This finished lemon curd placed in a bowl to cool. The complete ingredients and direction for the lemon curd and the crust will be at the end of this post.

Next, I made the dough for the mini lemon pies. You can use a pie crust recipe or even buy the pie crust already made. I used the same recipe that I make for my Pecan Cup Cookies. 

This dough is really easy to make using cream cheese, flour, and butter. I rolled the dough into one-inch balls and pressed them into the mini muffin tin using my handy Tart Tamper.

After baking the mini pie cups I placed them on a rack to cool. When the cups were finally cooled and the lemon curd was chilled I filled each cup with a scoop of lemon curd using my #70 cookie scoop. About one tablespoon in each cup.

Mini Muffin Tin Lemon Pies

Lemon Curd Ingredients:

1 cup of white sugar

1/2 cup of lemon juice (4 to 5 lemons)

5 large egg yolks

1/2 cup salted butter (cold and cut into tablespoons)

The zest of 2 lemons

Lemon Curd Instructions:

1. Add some water to the double boiler and bring it to a boil.
2. Whisk together the sugar and egg yolks and begin to stir.
3. Add the lemon zest and lemon juice.
4. Continue to stir, the mixture will begin to thicken.
5. After 10 minutes remove from the heat.
6. Add the butter one tablespoon at a time, continue stirring until all the butter is melted and the curd is thick.
7. Transfer to a bowl and let it cool.

Pie cup Ingredients:

3 ounces Crean Cheese (Softened)

1/2 cup butter

1 cup all-purpose flour

Pie Cup Instructions:

1. Blend the cream cheese and butter until smooth.
2. Add flour and mix until dough forms.
3. Wrap and refrigerate to chill for 30 minutes.

I sprayed a mini muffin tin with Bakers Joy to prevent the cups from sticking. Roll the dough into one-inch balls and press up the sides of the muffin tin with the tart tamper. Tip: Have a little bowl of flour handy to coat the end of the tamper so the dough doesn't stick to it.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake the cups for 18 to 20 minutes until golden brown. After the cups have cooled fill each of them with a tablespoon of cooled lemon curd and enjoy.

I yielded 20 little pie cups for the dough recipe and after filling them I still had some lemon curd leftover. If you want to you can double the dough recipe.

You might also like my Fresh Lemon Hand Pies made with the same lemon curd.

As always thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy it.

Wilton Stainless Steel Small Cookie Scoop, SilverGood Cook 04029 Mini Non-Stick Muffin Pan, Steel, 1-7/8 in Dia x 14.6 in L x 9.3 in W x 6.8 in HFox Run Tart Tamper, Wood

 

Yummy Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

 

Everyone in my family knows that oatmeal raisin cookies are my favorite cookie. Many years ago Jamie made these yummy chewy oatmeal raisin cookies for me and I just couldn't stop eating them. These cookies for sure lived up to the name, yummy and chewy.

These were so good that I had to have the recipe. Jamie wrote it all down for me and I tucked away and never made them. After digging through some old recipes I came across this recipe and knew that I had to make these again.

Many people don't like raisins. Well, I happen to like them, especially in these soft chewy cookies. These cookies are made with brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. They are soft chewy and bursting with flavor.

The complete ingredients and instructions will be below, but the first thing to do is to make this mixture. Mix the eggs, vanilla, and raisins in a medium bowl. Cover and put this in the refrigerator for at least one hour.

Yummy Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Ingredients:

3 eggs beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup raisins

2-1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter (softened)

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 cups oatmeal

Instructions:

1. In a medium bowl beat the eggs, add the vanilla, and raisins cover, and refrigerate for one hour.
2. In another bowl, beat and cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar.
3. In a third bowl mix the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter and sugar mixture. Mix until all of the flour is absorbed.
5. Stir in the egg and raisin mixture, then add the 2 cups of oats.
6. The mixture will be stiff. Drop onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper with a tablespoon. I used a #70 cookie scoop for this.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes until cookies are brown around the edges.

Yummy chewy oatmeal raisin cookies ready for the oven. I'm so glad that I found this recipe, these are the best oatmeal raisin cookies that I've ever had. I yielded 60 cookies from this recipe. These are easy to freeze for a nice sweet treat any time. 

Find more of our Desserts, Cookies, and Candy here

As always thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy it!

Wilton Stainless Steel Small Cookie Scoop, SilverKitchenAid RRK150BK 5 Qt. Artisan Series Stand Mixer - Imperial Black (Renewed)Baking Sheet Set, 2-Piece Cookie Sheet Set with Silicone Handles, Steel Baking Pans Set, Durable Baking Sheets for Oven, BPA Free Cookie Sheets for Baking Nonstick Set, Sheet Pan - Black Baking Tray

 

Creamy Parmesan Lemon Risotto

 

This creamy parmesan lemon risotto is delightful. You would expect to find risotto in a fancy Italian restaurant. Or, you could make risotto yourself.

Risotto is a rice dish from Northern Italy and can be served as an appetizer, side dish, or even a main dish. It is made from short-grain starchy rice that you can buy at your local grocery store. 

We used Arborio Rice the starch in this rice gives the Risotto that creamy consistency. Risotto is cooked in broth and you can add all kinds of your favorites like mushrooms, and veggies.

Bobby prepared a saucepan and added six cups of chicken broth to simmer while I diced the onion. In a separate pan, we started to cook the onions using extra virgin olive oil and seasoned rice vinegar. you can use white wine in place of the vinegar.

After the broth has simmered and onions are tender add one cup of the rice to the onions and stir in the warm broth one cup at a time continually stirring until the broth is absorbed for each cup of broth you add. 

Creamy Parmesan Lemon Risotto Ingredients:

6 cups Chicken Broth

1/3 cup seasoned rice vinegar or white wine

2 teaspoons lemon juice plus zest of one lemon

1/2 of medium Spanish onion diced

1 cup Arborio Rice

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese plus 1/4 cup for garnish

Instructions:

1. Simmer the chicken broth in a saucepan. 
2. In a separate pan add the olive oil, butter, vinegar, and onions.
3. Stir and cook the onions until tender. If you are adding mushrooms or veggies add them now.
4. Add the rice to the onions and then add one cup of broth at a time.
5. Continue to stir until each cup of broth is absorbed before you add the next one.
6. Continue to stir and cook the risotto until soft on the outside but firm on the inside.

Note: You may not use all of the broth. We ended up using 4 cups of the broth before our risotto was finished. This takes a little time and work but is so well worth it in the end. We yielded four servings from this recipe.

As always thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy it.

Click here to find more of our favorite pasta recipes

 

Easy Cast Iron Skillet Pizza

 

We love cooking new things in our cast iron skillets and pizza is no exception. This easy cast iron skillet pizza turned out to be amazing and it disappeared in minutes. 

We spend several evenings baking cookies for the Holidays with our daughter and grandsons. On one of these evenings, we needed something quick to eat before we started baking our cookies.

Our grandson Bobby, showed up with pizza dough, sauce, and his favorite topping, olives. Bobby decided to use one of our cast iron skillets to make our pizza.

Ready for the oven

How to make Easy Cast Iron Skillet Pizza:

1. The first thing Bobby did was preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
2. Spread the dough on a floured surface to the size of the skillet, we used our 12-inch cast-iron skillet.
3. Place the cast-iron skillet in the 500-degree oven for 5 or 10 minutes.
4. Carefully remove the skillet from the oven using heavy potholders.
5. Place the shaped dough in the skillet and add your sauce, favorite toppings, and shredded mozzarella.
6. Place it back in the oven and bake for 10 minutes until the crust is golden brown.
7. Again carefully remove the skillet from the oven and using a spatula transfer the pizza to a cooling rack.
8. After a couple of minutes slide it onto a pizza pan slice it and enjoy.

What makes this so easy is you can pick up fresh pizza dough at your local grocery store and have fresh hot pizza in 20 minutes.

If you prefer to make your own dough try my All-purpose dough recipe here. This recipe will make 3 nice sized pizzas, so if you're only making one pizza divide the ingredients accordingly.

As always thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy it.

Try some of our other pizza recipes

Cast Iron Skillet Deep Dish PizzaHomemade Mozzarella Tomato and Basil Pizza

 

Find all of your Cast Iron Skillet needs here: 

Lodge Cast Iron Baker’s SkilletLodge Cast Iron Skillet with Red Silicone Hot Handle Holder, 12-inchLodge Seasoned Cast Iron 3 Skillet Bundle. 12 inches and 10.25 inches with 8 inch Set of 3 Cast Iron Frying Pans

 

Arugula Pizza with Balsamic Glaze

 Now that the weather is a little cooler it's time to turn on the oven for some homemade pizza. This Arugula Pizza with Balsamic Glaze was the highlight of the day.

Pizza is just so versatile, you can top it with whatever you like. I started the morning by making two batches of pizza dough. I used Fleischmann's RapidRise Instant Yeast, with the rapid rise yeast your dough will be ready in about 30 minutes.

Ingredients for the Pizza Dough:

2 packages of RapidRise Yeast

6 to 7 cups all-purpose flour

2-1/2 cups lukewarm water

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons of light olive oil

To mix the dough I used my KitchenAid Stand Mixer with the dough hook. Add the water, yeast, salt, and oil into the mixing bowl. Begin adding the flour one cup at a time. Continue mixing until the dough forms. Then, Roll out on a floured surface, cover with a kitchen towel for about 30 minutes. This recipe will easily make three pizzas.

Lightly grease the pizza pan and roll out the dough. I made several tomato pizzas and Jamie made this Arugula Pizza with fresh tomatoes and balsamic glaze.

Start with spreading olive oil over the top of the rolled out dough. Add fresh oregano leaves, Italian seasoning, one clove of minced garlic, and some shredded mozzarella cheese. The fresh oregano is from Jamie's herb garden.

Now, add fresh sliced tomatoes and fresh arugula. You can slice the tomatoes to your liking thick or thin. Add some more shredded mozzarella cheese over top and bake at 450 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes until the crust is golden brown.

Remove the pizza from the oven and drizzle the top with Cento Italian Glaze. This is a sweet and tart glaze made from balsamic vinegar and works well with meat, roasted vegetables, cheese plates, and fruits. Now, it's time to slice and enjoy your pizza.

As always thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy it!

Norpro Wood Pastry/Pizza RollerKitchenAid Gourmet Pizza Wheel, One Size, Matte Red

 

Fresh Tomato Cucumber Salad

This is the time of year that we all enjoy the beautiful harvest form our gardens. This year Jamie planted a container garden with tomatoes, cucumbers, banana peppers, and fresh herbs. We are enjoying the harvest with this fresh tomato-cucumber salad.

We started by slicing eight banana peppers. You can also use bell peppers for this salad it really doesn't matter. If I were to use bell peppers I would have sliced them into squares.

We peeled and sliced two nice sized cucumbers. We Sliced them about 1/4-inch thick or more and then cut them into fours.

Five medium-sized tomatoes cubed. Now we have banana peppers, cucumbers, and tomatoes all together in a medium-sized bowl. Oh, wait I forgot to tell you about the garlic, we chopped up four cloves of garlic and added it to the salad.

Mixing the Fresh Salad:

8 banana peppers sliced

2 cucumbers sliced 1/4-inch and then cut into fours

5 medium tomatoes cubed

4 cloves of garlic chopped

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup light olive oil

Chopped fresh basil (Add to your taste)

Italian Seasoning, Salt, and Pepper (Add to your taste)

Mix everything together well, cover, and place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to let all of the flavors meld together.

This is a perfect salad to serve with any meal. I always like having some fresh Italian bread handy to dip in the juices. Oh! that is so good!

As always thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy it.

Giantex Raised Garden Bed, Wooden Planter w/Drainage Holes, Rectangular Plant Box for Vegetables Flowers Herbs Fruit Growing, Raised Container for Garden Patio Balcony, Easy AssemblyBest Choice Products 6x3x2ft Outdoor Metal Raised Garden Bed, Deep Root Box Planter for Vegetables, Flowers, Herbs, and Succulents w/ 269 Gallon Capacity - Gray

 

Fresh Blueberry Hand Pies

 These fresh blueberry hand pies are a sure crowd-pleaser. A friend of ours came to visit last week and brought us a boatload of fresh blueberries.

I wanted to make something quick with these fresh blueberries so I decided on these hand pies. The first thing I did was make my pie crust. 

Pie Crust Ingredients:

2-2/3 cups of all-purpose flour

1 cup Crisco (Chilled)

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 to 10 tablespoons ice water

1. In a medium mixing bowl, add the flour and salt
2. Cut the chilled Crisco into smaller pieces and add to the bowl. I used my KitchenAid Stand Mixer.
3. Using the dough hook turn the mixer at low speed.
4. Begin adding the ice water one tablespoon at a time.
5. Continue on low speed until a ball of dough forms. If you have to use more water that's okay.
6. Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Wrap each with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes or more.

While the pie crust was in the refrigerator it was time to make the blueberry filling. This filling was so easy to make and can be used for pie filling also. I had some of the filling leftover and our grandson loved it on his waffles.

Blueberry Filling Ingredients:

4 cups of fresh blueberries (Divided)

3/4 cups sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup cold water

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1. In a medium saucepan, add the sugar, cornstarch, water, and salt.
2. Over medium heat stir until all is combined.
3. Add 3 cups of blueberries and continue to stir.
4. Bring this to a boil and cook for 2 to 3 minutes Until the filling thickens.
5. Remove from the heat and add 1 cup of blueberries, butter, and lemon juice.
6. Stir until all is combined and let the filling cool.

Now it's time to roll out the pie crust. I rolled the pie crust between two pieces of wax paper to about 1/8-inch thick. Use a cookie cutter to cut 4-inch circles. Place one tablespoon of the blueberry filling in the middle, fold it over and crimp the edges with a fork.

Next, press a fork in the middle of each hand pie to create venting. Place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Before baking, beat two egg whites and brush over the top of each one. Then, sprinkle sugar over the top.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and bake on center rack for 20 to 25 minutes until they are golden brown.

These little treats a perfect for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or just an anytime snack.

You might also like these Fresh Lemon Hand Pies

As always thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy it!

Charcoal Grilled Chicken Breasts

I treasure the times when our whole family can get together. It has been a difficult year for gatherings. This year for Father's Day we had everybody together.

So, it was time to celebrate with some charcoal-grilled chicken breasts. There is no doubt that the best grilling is done over charcoal. Well, that's my opinion anyway.

I picked up 8 large bone-in chicken breasts at our local grocery store. The first step was to marinate the chicken. We marinated the chicken breasts overnight in Chiavetta's Barbeque Marinade. This is a great marinade for both flavor and tenderizing the meat. 

Charcoal Grilled Chicken Breasts

We fired up the charcoal in the Weber Charcoal Chimney. To me, using the chimney is the best way to fire up your charcoal. There is no chance of getting that charcoal fluid after taste on your food.

 While the charcoal was heating up I seasoned the chicken breasts with Penzeys Galena Street Rib and Chicken Rub. This is a traditional southern-style barbeque rub.

I seasoned the breast meat by lifting up the skin on the chicken breasts and pouring in the seasoning with a small spoon. Then I worked the seasoning onto the meat with my finger. 

Then, I rubbed the seasoning all over the top and bottom of the chicken breasts. As you can see these beauties are now ready for the grill.

I grilled these for 7 to 8 minutes per side flipping them twice in the process for a total of 30 minutes. The cooking time may vary based on the size of the chicken breasts. These were large breasts with the ribs.

 I grilled them until the internal temperature was 165 degrees. It's best to have an instant-read thermometer on hand so you know when they are cooked.

As always thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy it!

You might also like these chicken recipes

Smoked Bone-in Chicken BreastsGrilled Southwestern Chicken Breasts