Use Up the Last of Your Summer Peaches

I was lucky enough to have a friend give me a box of Palisade peaches... they are the best! I of course ate a bunch, but wanted to use the rest up before I left for a trip. I scoured by recipe books for the perfect dessert and settled on a peach cobbler from one of my favorite cookbooks, The Fosters Market, by Sarah Foster.

This was such a fun dessert to make and invite friends over to enjoy!

Recipe:
(From Sarah Foster)

The Filling:
8 cups peaches (about 10 peaches) - peeled, pittted and sliced. To see how to pouch and peel watch this video
1 cup sugar
3 T flour
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

Crust:
12 T (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted, melted butter
2 1/2 cups four
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
2 t baking power
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease a 9x13 baking dish with 2 tablespoons of the butter, set aside.

For the filling toss together the peaches, sugar, flour and lemon (juice and zest) in a large bowl. Set aside for up to 4 hours until use (don't worry if you don't plan ahead that much... just do this first and it will have enough time while you make the crust).

For the crust mix together the flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking power, baking soda and salt. Slowly add the buttermilk to form a dough. Simple dough right?! Next, flour your dough and roll out to a 12 to 14 inch round, about 1/4 inch thick.

Now for the lattice topping, just take a pizza cutter and make even strips of dough. Pour the peaches into the pan and then weave your dough strips accross to make a lattice topping (see picture below). Brush the top of the strips with melted butter to ensure a golden brown topping.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the top is golden and the fruit is bubbling. Feast!

Sweet & Salty Gorp

Are you ready for the perfect snack recipe that you will not be able to put down? If you are from or have lived in the midwest you may have had gorp as your sweet and salty snack. My friend Katie always made this for us during college and we made it again today on our girls weekend in San Diego!

Below is a recipe... definitely make this for your friends, family or coworkers. It will be a hit!

Recipe (Makes two 11x9 inch pan)
Dry Ingredients: Mix the following in one large bowl.

• 8 cups Corn Chex cereal
• 1/2 bag of stick pretzels, crushed 
• 1 bag of M&Ms (we used peanut butter M&Ms... it was amazing)
• Optional ingredients: Cheerios, peanuts, raisins, etc.

Wet Ingredients: Melt & mix the following in a separate large bowl

• 2 sticks of butter
• 2 10 oz bags of marshmallows
• 2/3 cups peanut butter (add in after stirring the melted butter & marshmallows together)

Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and spread evenly into two 9x11 inch pans. Let the mixture harden and cut into bars. Enjoy!

Double Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

Well these may be the most delicious cookies that I've ever made (and my Dad seconds that claim!). I had a craving for peanut butter cookies, then I decided that I must add oatmeal because that just makes them seem slightly healthy right?! :). To top that off I remembered that I had a bag of the Reese's peanut butter chips to add a special twist to a great cookie recipe that I got from a cute blog, Pink Parsley.

I hope you make these soon and tell me what you think, they will for sure be a regular in my house!

Recipe
(Adapted from Pink Parsley)

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 Tablespoons unsalted butter,at room temperature
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cup quick-cooking oats
• 2 handfuls of Reese's Peanut Butter Chips

Directions

Throw all of the wet ingredients (butter, peanut butter, sugars, egg, vanilla) in a bowl and mix together with a standing mixer or hand mixer. Add the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt) and mix together thoroughly. Next stir in the oats with a spatula. Lastly add the chips and work them through the dough with your hands. Roll into balls and bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until light golden brown (I like to leave them a little doughy).

Berry Crumble

Crumbles may be my all time favorite dessert. I love that you can make them all year round with different types of fruits depending on the season...berry crumbles in the summer, apple crumbles in the fall, etc.

I started using Ina Garten's (aka the Barefoot Contessa) crumble recipe a few years ago and while I've tried a few others this is still my favorite. I modify it a bit depending on what ingredients I have handy and really just what I feel like throwing in the mix :).

The one I am showing below I made using frozen berries. If I see these on sale I usually try to stock up to use in crumbles or smoothies.

Recipe
(Adapted from Barefoot Contessa's Plum Raspberry Crumble)

Ingredients
3 160z bags of frozen berries (I used 2 bags of frozen mixed berries and 1 bag of frozen strawberries)
2/3 cup granulated sugar, divided
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
2 tablespoons orange juice (you can use a little more if you want more citrus flavor)
1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup sliced almonds, plus extra for sprinkling


Directions Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the frozen berries, 1/3 cup of the granulated sugar, 1/4 cup of the flour, and the orange juice and toss well. Pour into a 9 by 12 by 2-inch baking dish.

For the topping, place the remaining 1 cup of flour, the remaining 1/3 cup of granulated sugar, the brown sugar, and the salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade (you can also use a hand mixer) and pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the butter is the size of peas. Pour the mixture into a bowl, add the oats, and work it with your hands until it's in large crumbles. Add 1/2 cup of the almonds and mix well. Spread the topping evenly over the plums, making sure the fruit is covered. Sprinkle with some extra almonds.




Bake for 40 minutes, or until the fruit is tender and bubbly and the topping is golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Peanut Butter Cups + Brownies = Perfection

There are times when I want to make a fancy, gourmet dessert and there are other times that I want something fast and simple especially after a big, filling dinner. In my mind there is no better combo than chocolate and peanut butter. It helps that I LOVE peanut butter (it's probably my favorite food) and who doesn't love chocolate? I saw this dessert while browsing Katie Lee's site and love how simple yet decadent it is.

All you need is your favorite box brownie mix (with any ingredients that it calls for... usually oil, eggs and water) and peanut butter cups (I used Reese's). I have made this dessert for a dinner party with the girls as well as for my Dad's birthday dinner. Serve warm, with ice cream and your guests will love it!

Peanut Butter Cup Brownies Recipe
(from Katie Lee)

1 box brownie mix
16 peanut-butter cups (like Reese's)

Prepare brownie-mix batter according to package instructions. Pour half of the brownie batter into a 9-inch by 9-inch baking dish.

Top with peanut butter cups (see picture below). Spread the remaining half of the brownie batter evenly over peanut-butter cups. Bake according to package instructions. Let cool completely, and then cut into squares.