Small Batch Lemon Bars

 

I love lemon bars and since I had some lemons on hand the other day I decided to bake some and share the recipe here in case any of you are in the mood for a bit of sunshine in your life right about now.

We need to start with the crust layer of the bars and it is super simple. Just a mixture of butter, sugar, and flour that is mixed together and partially baked.

While the crust is in the oven we can make the filling. Again it is really simple sugar, flour, eggs, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt.

This is poured on the crust and all is baked together.

I have sized this recipe to fit a 9” by 5” glass loaf pan so it is perfect for the small household. I do feel it is absolutely necessary to line the loaf pan with some parchment paper to make it easier to get the bars out of the pan. They are very delicate and can be difficult without the parchment to use to lift them out. I also want to say you are going to want to use a glass pan for this not metal. The amount of lemon juice in this recipe can cause damage to some metal pans and also the metal pans can cause an “off” taste to occur in the filling.

When the bars first come out of the oven they is going to look very white and not very attractive. Once it cools a good dusting of powdered sugar will hide all of that.

Allow the baked mixture to cool on a wire rack in the pan until it is cooled to room temperature.

Once it has cooled you can lift it using the ends of the parchment paper. Then use a long knife (or a pizza cutter) to cut off the browned edges. These are known as the cook’s snack. Then cut the bars, I usually cut this size pan into 8 small squares because of how rich they are. If you want them slightly larger go with 6 bars.

Sprinkle with a good dusting of powdered sugar and enjoy a bit of sunshine no matter what the weather is doing outside.

Store the bars in the refrigerator.

You can find a downloadable/printable version of this recipe here.

Small Batch Lemon Bars

Crust:

2/3 cup flour

1/3 cup butter, softened

2 Tablespoons + 1 teaspoon sugar

 

 

Filling:

½ cup sugar

1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon flour

pinch of salt

1 whole egg

1 egg yolk

3 to 4 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

To serve:

Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350ºF

Line 9” by 5” glass loaf pan with parchment paper (to form a sling)

 

In a medium bowl combine the crust ingredients.

 

 

 

Press the crust into bottom of the lined loaf pan.

Bake at 350ºF for 15 to 20 minutes until firm and golden.

 

 

Meanwhile prepare the filling.

 

In a clean bowl whisk the sugar, flour, and pinch of salt together.

 

 

Whisk in the eggs until combined.

 

 

 

 Whisk in the lemon juice.

 

Carefully pour the liquid mixture over the partially baked crust. Return to the 350ºF oven and bake for 20 minutes.

 

Cool in pan on a wire rack until cooled to room temperature.

 

 

Carefully lift from pan using the parchment paper.

Cut off the crispy edges. Then cut into bars. Since these are fairly rich I usually cut mine in 8 squares, but if you want bigger pieces cut it into 6 pieces.

Dust with powdered sugar.

Store any leftover bars in the refrigerator.

Blackberry Pie for 2 (w/ Frozen Berries)

 

I have been looking for small pie pans that are about 6” in diameter for a while now. I finally found some although they are disposable foil ones to use for now. I found these on Temu, so they are very inexpensive also. Since I got them I have been on a trek of making pie, all the pies. So I decided I would share at least this one here with all of you. I love blackberry pie no matter what the time of year. By using frozen berries I can have it all winter long.

But before we get to the recipe I thought I would talk about why I have been searching for this size pie plate. For small batch baking the 6” pie is perfect for one or two people. You get 4 slices of pie from the finished pie so you feel like the work making the pie was worth the effort. But at the same time you don’t feel like you have the pie that never gets finished. I have some smaller, 4” pie pans and I find that to be an awkward size for most pies. For me its just a bit too big for one serving but not really satisfying when cut in half. I have several 8” and 9” pie pans from back when I was cooking for a large family and on the rare occasions I make a pie in either of those sizes as much as l love pie its just too much to get eaten in a timely manner. So the 6” pie pan hunt began.

The set of these I got from Temu had 20 foil pans for around $5.50, so a good price and I have found I can wash them out at least a couple of times and re-use them so they don’t get sent to the landfill quite so fast as they otherwise would. Since they are designed to be disposable they are very thin and floppy. I find if I double them up and use two at a time they work much better. They don’t bend too much while I am filling them and the pie bakes much more evenly. Since I am using them multiple times this isn’t as wasteful as it would be if I was tossing them after a single use.

To begin with you will need some pie crust, I’m not including that recipe today but if there is interest I would be happy to pop my recipe up in the future. Just let me know. To make a 6” two-crust pie you will need the amount of dough that would normally make a 9” single crust pie. So half a normal 9” pie crust recipe or a single sheet out of a box of refrigerated pie crust. You will most likely have some left over but that is much better than running short and having to make your crust too thin.

For the filling I adapted the berry pie recipe my mom taught me many years ago. I love this one because it goes to together really fast. Growing up on the farm we always had tons of blackberries fresh in season and then in the freezer all the rest of the year since we had several big berry bushes around.

The filling recipe only takes 4 main ingredients: sugar, flour, cinnamon, and the frozen berries. Then a bit of butter just before the top crust goes on. It is important to start while the berries are frozen to avoid them turning into a mush as you try to mix the filling. Also be sure to check the ingredients list if you purchased the berries. If they have sugar added cut the sugar called for in the recipe in half.

To create the filling gently combine the filling ingredients in a bowl coating the berries. Then allow the berries to thaw at room temperature giving the mixture a couple of gentle stirs as the berries thaw. Be careful to not break up the berries as you stir.

Once the berries are thawed most of the way line the bottom of the 6” pie pan with a layer of crust, add the filling then add a bit of butter cut into small pieces then cover with the top crust.

Bake the pie, it is best served slightly warm.

You can find a downloadable/printable version of this recipe here.

Blackberry Pie for 2

(w/ Frozen Berries)

pie crust of your choice, either enough for a single 9” pie or a recipe for a 6” 2-crust pie

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 Tablespoons flour

small pinch of cinnamon

1 ½ cups frozen blackberries (un-sweetened see note below)**

½ Tablespoon butter cut in small pieces

 

Combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a bowl. Add the frozen blackberries and gently stir to combine. Allow the berries to thaw at room temperature. Gently stir the mixture a couple of times while the berries are thawing. 

 

 

Be very gentle so you don’t break up the berries.

Once the berries are thawed pre-heat the oven to 425°F.

 

 

 

 

 

Roll half the crust out and use it to line a 6” pie pan.

 

 

 

 

Add the berry mixture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dot with the butter.

 

 

 

Add the top crust crimping around the edge.

Trim even with edge of pan.

Cut a couple of slits in the top crust to allow steam to escape while baking.

Place pie pan on a foil covered sheet pan (in case of drips)

Bake in 425°F oven 35 to 45 minutes. You will know it is baked when the crust has developed a nice light brown color and the juices are bubbling through the slits in the top crust.

 

 

Allow pie to cool before cutting.

Yield: I- 6” pie, 4 slices.

** note if your blackberries are sweetened only use half the amount of sugar called for in the filling.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

I used to make a very similar cookie when my kids were growing up and I have bee trying to replicate them in a small batch recipe off and on for a couple of years. For whatever reason I had a lot of trouble getting this one to scale down to a dozen or less cookies and keep the both the texture and the taste I was after. I have finally arrived at what I believe is the closest to those I used to make (about 5 dozen per batch back then) in a small batch.

Because I use a dark cocoa my cookies are a very dark chocolate. You can use whatever cocoa you wish keeping in mind that the richness of the cookie will be determined by the cocoa. I typically use Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa because I love a dark slightly bitter chocolate. If you do also and haven’t tried this variety of cocoa I do recommend you give it a try. I can find it in almost every grocery store I have looked. One big advantage (besides the taste) is that it is usually the same price as the regular Hershey’s Cocoa but with so much more flavor.

Like a lot of cookie recipes we start by creaming the butter and sugar together. Make sure your butter is at room temperature before you start this process. In this recipe I am using equal amounts of white granulated sugar and dark brown sugar. This gives a chewy rich cookie with a with a slightly crisp exterior. You could use a light brown sugar but the baked cookie will not be as rich or as chewy as intended.

 

Once you have a well creamed mixture add the vanilla, salt and egg yolk. I typically use Kosher salt because I like the tiny slightly salty bits in the baked cookie. If you use a fine salt be very careful of adding too much. Beat the mixture to combine everything very well.

Now in a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda and cocoa powder until well combined. When making larger batches of cookies this was step I often skipped but for the small batches like this one it is really important to have the dry ingredients combined before you add them to the butter mixture. If you skip this you run risk of over beating the cookie mixture, resulting in a tough cookie.

 

 

Gently combine the dry ingredients with the butter mixture just until well mixed.

 

 

Now gently stir in the chocolate chips and the chopped nuts. Again being careful to not over mix.

Once everything is combined move the dough the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. This is a must for this recipe otherwise the cookies will spread way too much.

 

Once well chilled use a cookie scoop to form equal size balls of the cookie dough. Roll them into balls, flatten slightly and bake at 350° F for about 9 minutes. Watch these carefully and pull them out when the outer edge of the cookies begins to set. They should be slightly puffed but not set in the middle.

 

Allow the cookies to remain on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before moving them to a wire cooling rack.

You should get around 1 dozen cookies.

You can find a downloadable/printable version of this recipe here.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

¼ cup butter, room temperature

¼ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup dark brown sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla

¼ teaspoon Kosher salt

1 egg yolk

¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ cup all purpose flour

2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

½ cup chocolate chips

¼ cup chopped nuts

In a medium mixing bowl beat the butter and sugars together until well combined and fluffy. Add the vanilla, salt and egg yolk and mix to combine well.

In a separate small bowl combine the baking soda, flour, and cocoa powder until well mixed.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix just until well combined.

Gently stir in the chocolate chips and chopped nuts.

Chi ill the dough for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F

Once the dough is chilled use a cookie scoop to scoop out the dough then using your hands roll each portion into a ball.

Place on an un-greased cookie sheet and bake at 350°F for 8 to 10 minutes. Mine usually take right about 9 minutes. Watch them carefully, because of the chocolate dough it is really easy to burn these. You want to remove when they are just starting to set around the edges.

Cool on pan for 10 minutes.

Move to a cooling rack to completely cool.

Yield 10-12 cookies.

 

Hot Cocoa Cupcakes

 

Winter weather just seems to call for hot cocoa to be on hand and I decided to turn it into a cupcake recipe to share this week.

And since there seems to be a divide between people as to which is more appropriate to top the hot cocoa marshmallows or whipped cream I decided that rather than choose just one why not feature both in these decadent cupcakes.

So here we have a hot cocoa cupcake with a marshmallow filling topped with my favorite whipped cream frosting. These are so perfect for a special dessert at the end of a cold day.

Remember this is a small batch/small family blog so we are only making about 8 cupcakes.

For the cupcake base we are starting out with a third of a standard box of a chocolate cake mix. I give the details on how to divide the box in my blog post you can find with this link. It is really easy and I try to have a variety of flavors of mix divided and ready to work with in my pantry all the time. For today’s cupcakes I used a Devil’s Food but use your favorite chocolate version.

We are making a few changes to the normal mix of ingredients for this batch. In place of the water called for on the box I used some chocolate milk. And if you have read any of my cupcake blog posts before you might already know I always add a bit of vanilla to take away a bit of the “mix” flavor.

This time we also are going to need 2 regular size marshmallows for each cupcake. We’ll talk about that in a moment.

 

 

 

So start combining the wet ingredients for the cupcake (chocolate milk, egg, oil, and vanilla) beat these together to combine them. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now add your portioned cake mix and using a mixer combine it beating for no more than one and a half minutes. I usually stop at just over a minute. This is the key to having the best rise in the small batch.

 

 

 

Now line 8 cups in a cupcake/muffin pan with double layered liners. I found out by accident that this small step makes these cupcakes so much easier to get out of the pan after baking. I had a couple of liners that had stuck together and got two by mistake for a couple of my cupcakes. These came out of the pan so much easier. The others came out okay but I was so much happier with the double layered ones.

 

 

Fill the liners up a bit less than you normally would. So since I normally get 6 or seven cupcakes from my batches I got 8 this time.

 

 

 

 

 

Once you have the batter placed add a single marshmallow to each one. This marshmallow is
going to do two things I is going to melt into the surrounding cupcake batter as it bakes giving a wonderful flavor. It is also going to give us a place to put the second marshmallow once the cupcakes are baked.

 

 

 

 

 

Bake the cupcakes for the normal time. You will have to judge the doneness on just the rim of the cupcake since there is no batter in the middle. You should have a gooey marshmallow crater like this in each cupcake.

 

 

 

 

 

Once baked remove from the oven and immediately add a new marshmallow to each cupcake. Then put them back in the oven for 2 more minutes to help melt the marshmallows.

 

 

 

 

 

Remove from the oven and allow to sit in the pan for 10 minutes then move to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

 

 

Let’s talk about the frosting now, I love this recipe and use it all the time. The secret I have found is that I need to make sure the cream cheese is at room temperature when I make the frosting. So my normal thing to do is remove the cream cheese from the fridge when I put the cupcakes in the oven. Then it can sit at room temperature until I am ready to use it. If I skip this step and don’t let it come all the way to room temperature I find the cream cheese flavor is much stronger. If it is room temperature it is not really noticeable in the finished frosting. Since I want this frosting to taste like whipped cream for these cupcakes that is really an important step.

 

 

 

When you are ready to frost your cup cakes beat the cream cheese until it is fluffy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then add the powdered sugar and beat until combined and fluffy again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now add the vanilla to the heavy cream and add this slowly to the cream cheese mixture beating on low until you have it all added. Scrap the bowl often during this process and take your time.

 

 

 

 

 

Once the cream is all added beat on high until stiff peaks form. This will take a couple of minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now you are ready to pipe the frosting onto the tops of your cupcakes.

 

 

 

 

I added a just a sprinkle of baking cocoa to the top.

The cupcakes will need to be stored in the refrigerator but I think they taste better and are much better if allowed to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before serving. This way both the frosting and the marshmallows become a bit softer.

You can find a downloadable/printable version of this recipe here.

Hot Cocoa Cupcakes

 

⅓ of a box of chocolate cake mix

⅓ cup chocolate milk

1 egg

3 ½ Tablespoons vegetable oil

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

about 16 regular size marshmallows

 

 

Start by preheating your oven to the temperature your box of cake mix calls for, mine was 350°F. Line your cupcake pan with 2 paper liners in each spot or grease really well.

Combine the chocolate milk, egg, oil and vanilla in a mixing bowl and combine well.

Add the cake mix and beat for up to 90 seconds.

Portion into cupcake pan adding just a little less than you normally would.

Add 1 marshmallow to each cupcake and bake according to instructions on your cake mix. Mine was baked at 350°F for about 18 minutes.

Remove from the oven and place another marshmallow into each cupcake and return to the oven for 2 minutes to slightly melt the marshmallows.

Cool in pan for 10 minutes then move to a cooling rack and cool completely.

Whipped Cream Frosting

 

3 oz cream cheese (the kind in the block not the tub) softened at room temperature

⅓ cup powdered sugar

¾ cup heavy whipping cream

¼ to ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

 

 

 

Begin by beating the cream cheese with a mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and beat on medium again until smooth, scrapping the bowl and beaters often with a spatula.

Add the vanilla to the heavy cream. With the mixer on low very slowly add the cream/vanilla mixture until all is incorporated. Scrape the bowl and the beaters often during this process so it is all combined evenly.

Turn the mixer up to high and beat until stiff peaks form.

Be sure to store any leftover frosting in the refrigerator.

I dusted the tops of my cupcakes with a bit of baking cocoa as a garnish.

Although these cupcakes need to be refrigerated they are best served after sitting at room temperature for about 30 minutes.