Our Family Heirloom Lemon Bar Recipe

As many of you may know, the only way to get Grandma LaVallee's amazing lemon bar recipe in the past was with a box of my homegrown lemons. In honor of my lemon tree that sadly could not be moved, I've decided to share the coveted Lemon Bar recipe today. I'm not sure if I'll leave this post up indefinitely, so be sure to print yourself a copy. 

Without further adieu, here is the recipe for the best lemon bars I've ever tasted. 

Grandma LaVallee's Lemon Bars

crust:

1 c. butter

1/2 c. powdered sugar

2 c. flour

1/4 tsp. salt

Combine above ingredients in a bowl and press in the bottom of a 9"x13" pan.

Bake for 20 minutes at 325 degrees.

filling:

4 eggs beaten

2 c. sugar

4 Tablespoons flour

4 Tablespoons Lemon juice

Zest from lemons that you juiced. (yellow part of peel only)

Mix together above ingredients.  Pour over hot crust right after you take it out of the oven and return to oven at 325 degrees for an additional 20 minutes or until filling is set when you jiggle the pan.

Dust with powder sugar. Cool. Cut in squares and serve.

Please enjoy. This one is very special.


~The Lemonista

Two Great Pumpkin Recipes ~ Pumpkin White Chocolate Chunk Cookies & Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

If you are looking for some lip smackingly good pumpkin recipes--look no further! I've taste tested both of these fabulous recipes and either one of them will make you a pumpkin cookin' hero.


First up, a Pumpkin White Chocolate Chunk Cookie recipe from Foster's Market.
Moist and delicious with a butterscotch kick, these are a new neighborhood favorite.

And if the cookies aren't enough to satisfy your craving for pumpkin treats, be sure to give Martha Stewart's awesome Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Cream-Cheese Filling a whirl!


I gobbled these up with my morning coffee--DIVINE!

Enjoy!

~The Lemonista

Paradise Bakery's Oatmeal Raisin Cookies ~ My Copycat Recipe

I've been a long time fan of Paradise Bakery's Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.  At least once a year, I get a wild hair to try and make cookies that taste like the ones at Paradise Bakery, and at least once a year I make a decent oatmeal cookie that doesn't quite meet the bar.  After bringing the famous oatmeal cookies to a neighborhood get together, I decided to get serious about trying to duplicate the recipe once and for all.  It took rolling up my sleeves to suffer through several taste tests and literally dissecting one of the original cookies (yes, this is how I discovered the cereal and coconut) to finally come up with a recipe I'm proud to call, "my copycat."



Crispy around the edges, soft & chewy in the middle, these oatmeal cookies have a brown-sugar-buttery-goodness that could very well be the ultimate comfort food.
Trust me, you can't eat just one. 

Now wouldn't you just love a tall glass of cold milk to go with this plate?

The Lemonista's Copycat Recipe for
Paradise Bakery's Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup corn flakes
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1 1/2 cup raisins

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Add egg and vanilla; mix well.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture and mix well.

Stir in oats, then add corn flakes, coconut, and raisins. Shape into 1.5 inch balls and place 2 inches apart on parchment paper lined cookie sheets. Flatten each cookie dough ball with the bottom of a glass dipped lightly in flour.

Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on the cookie sheet.
Enjoy!

~The Lemonista

Marizpan Cookies ~ Frogs & Peas!

I've been making marzipan cookies since I was a little girl.  My mother would work with us for hours making all sorts of little fruits and vegetables with this cookie dough.  She would pack an assortment of our artistic cookie creations in a fancy box and send it to our teachers each year for Christmas.  Problem was that the cookies were so darling, no one could bring themselves to eat them!  But trust me, these are a delicious shortbread-like cookie with a wonderful bakery taste.

A few years back I sat scratching my head for a last minute New Years gift idea.  I had just finished a daily Play-Doh session with the kids and my mother's marzipan cookies popped into my head.  The kids loved the little frogs I made for them out of Play-Doh, so I thought, "Why not cookie dough."  Well, these were the result~





We passed these Happy New Year frogs out around the neighborhood and they were an instant hit.  I've been making them every year since.   Here's how:

Shape your dough into a lopsided ball.


Form frogs mouth on the rim of a glass.


roll two balls for feet.


Press feet on thicker side of frogs body.


Set your frog on a parchment lined cookie sheet and chill for 30 min.
Bake for 30 min at 300 degress and let cool completely.


Add pre-made royal icing eyes from Fancy Flours by attaching them with a dab of icing.
http://www.fancyflours.com/sugar-eyes-small.html
Or, make your own eyes by piping white icing dots with a black icing dot in the middle.





Time for the pink tongue.  I generally use a # 65 Ateco tip with pink icing to make the tongue, but tonight I thought I'd give it a try with a zip-lock back with the corner snipped off.  This method works well if you don't have cake decorating supplies.




When I finished, I let the icing dry and then boxed these little guys up in mini Chinese take-out containers that I bought at Hobby Lobby.





Just to show you the sky is the limit with what you can create with this dough, I also made some green peas.  Grin.


To make the peas, start with your pod.


Lay the pod on a parchment lined cookie sheet and roll three tiny peas.


Add your peas to the pod.






Fold up the sides of your pod and pinch the ends into points.


Place your finished peas into the frig for 30 minutes and then Bake for 30 min at 300 degrees.
Let cool completely.  I packed these in cute mini pink Chinese take-out boxes. 


Marzipan Cookies

1 cup salted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. Almond Extract
1/4 tsp. Vanilla Extract

Cream butter and sugar.  Mix in extracts.  Gradually mix in flour. 
Make dough desired color with food coloring.  Keep in mind that you can separate dough and make a couple different colors.

Shape dough into desired shapes.  (If you can work with Play-Doh, you can work with cookie dough)
Chill shapes on a cookie sheet for 30 minutes.  Bake at 300 degrees at 30 min.
Allow cookies to cool completely before decorating.
Makes around 4 dozen cookies.

Happy New Year!
~ The Lemonista

Easy, No-Bake, Nutter Butter Snowman Cookies

The kids and I made these cute snowman cookies yesterday to pass out as treat for our neighbors!
Thank you to Julie for this fun idea!

You will need

Melt chocolate.  (do not overheat or the chocolate will be ruined.)
Dip Nutter Butter Cookie in Chocolate and lay on parchment lined cookie sheet.

While chocolate is wet, add Tic Tac nose

and Mini chocolate chip eyes and buttons

*optional* add edible glitter to look like sparkling snow

Allow chocolate to set.  (I pop them in the frig for a few minutes)


Add your frosting scarf.  I did red and green for Christmas.  However, you could switch the colors to pink, aqua, yellow or whatever and make them for happy New Year treats!  I also bought cookie frosting to make this project quick and easy, but you can make your own frosting or use store bought frosting.  Put it in a zip lock bag and snip off a tiny corner to draw.


Allow frosting to set and then pack in cute containers.  I found these little treat boxes at Cost Plus for 50% off!  I think little Chinese take-out boxes would be cute too!




Now I just need to add our card and a ribbon and these are all ready to deliver to a friend.

Holiday Oreo Cookie Pops & More Festive Bento

These Oreo Cookie Pops are no big secret but they sure make an adorable handmade holiday favor!  I did these last year for Elyse's preschool class and they were such a hit, I decided to do them for her Kindergarten party today.  I wanted mine to look like little Christmas ornaments, but only your imagination holds the limit as to how you could decorate these.  They could be made any color and adorned with nuts, shredded coconut, colored sugar or sprinkles.  Even crushed candy canes would be great (thanks for the idea, Jen).  Just be creative and have fun!

*I bought this vintage looking snowman at Cost Plus for $14.99 ~love him!

Separate desired amount of Double Stuff Oreo cookies, being careful not to break the cookie. ( Have a cup of milk handy to dip and eat any poor broken souls..)


Gently insert a lollipop stick into the icing side of the cookie.


Add a dab of melted chocolate (Wilton's Chocolate Melts in any color)


Place the other half of the cookie on top and apply slight pressure (again being careful not to break the cookie).   Put the cookies in the frig a few minutes to allow the chocolate to set.


Spoon or dip cookie pop in melted chocolate, being careful to cover all sides and then lightly tap cookie on the side of the bowl to remove extra chocolate.
*Important tip*  Do not get the chocolate too hot!  It will lump up and there is no fix.  Place the melts in a microwave save bowl and microwave for 20 secs, then stir like crazy, then microwave for 10 secs more, then stir like crazy.  Continue microwaving in 10 sec intervals until the chocolate is smooth and melted, touching with your finger to be sure it never feels more than WARM to the touch.


While chocolate is wet, apply your decorations.


Lay on a parchment or foil lined cookie sheet and refrigerate just until set.


Once set, wrap with lollipop bag and twist tie.


I added gift tags to the pops, wrapped an empty box like a present, and then poked the sticks threw the top to display the pops for her class. 


Oreo Cookie Pops

Double Stuff Oreo Cookies
Wilton Melts, one bag does around 15 pops
 http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E310A5F-475A-BAC0-513EBB4AAC195A7E
Desired decoration:  sprinkles, nuts, etc..
Lollipop sticks, bags and twist ties
http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E31032B-475A-BAC0-5E6F8E3A02BDC865&killnav=1
I used these bags and ties but longer sticks.

For a quick holiday Bento Lunch today, I've made a simple cheese sandwich, cut it in triangles, and then arranged in a leaf lettuce lined rectangular Bento box (I think this is my favorite shape box for Bento--very versatile). Next I sprinkled the sandwiches with edible glitter and decorated with cute royal icing characters from Fancy Flours.


For a veggie/fruit side, I made good 'ol ants on a log.  Grin.  These celery logs are filled with fresh honey roasted peanut butter from Safeway's peanut butter bar.  Instead of raisins, I've used dried currants here.  They look, smell and taste like raisins but they are tiny.  My kids call them baby raisins but today we call them ants.


Throw in a Santa straw for the juice box (found at Target) and a cute festive holiday napkin by Paperchase (found at Borders Books) and we have a cute lunch. 


All right, I'm off to work on Christmas cards!!! Sakes alive--I need to get those suckers in the mail!