Simple Banana Coconut Bars

Moist and cake-like, Simple Banana Coconut Bars are perfect when you want banana bread with a little more.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 medium very ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 3 egg whites
• 1/2 cup pecan pieces
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, omit if using salted butter

Heat oven to 350ºF.  Grease 8x8x2-inch pan with cold butter.

Mix sugar, bananas, melted butter, and eggs in large bowl with spoon.  Stir in pecans and coconut.  Stir in the remaining dry ingredients all at once.

Spread batter in pan.  Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Carefully invert pan onto cake plate and allow it to cool upside down, until cake naturally falls out of pan onto plate.  If it doesn't fall out naturally, tap the bottom of the pan until it loosens.   Allow it to cool completely and quickly in the refrigerator before adding frosting.  Cooling in the refrigerator helps it to retain the cake's moisture.  It only takes 20 minutes or so.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 tablespoon real Maple syrup
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups powdered sugar

Mix cream cheese and Maple syrup in a medium bowl.  Gradually stir in powdered sugar with a fork until smooth and spreadable.

Keep leftover bars refrigerated, if they're frosted with cream cheese frosting.

Texas Peach Pie

JUST LOOK at these golden sweet Texas peach slices.  They don't grow them like this in the grocery store.  You'll only find these sugary juicy wonders around the farmers' markets of East Texas from late-June to mid-August.  I couldn't help but make a Texas size pie when I brought them home from my own local farmers' market.  And instead of a pie plate, I pulled out the 13-inch by 9-inch casserole dish and went to town.

I made the pie crust from scratch and it wasn't hard at all.  I don't know why 'they' make it sound so mysterious like it can only be made by the masters of baking.  Whatever.  I've watched the Barefoot Contessa and America's Test Kitchen make it enough, I just went for it.  It turned out just like a pie crust should.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

Pie Crust

• 1 cup or 2 sticks COLD butter, cut into tablespoon slices
• 2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt, (if you use salted butter, then do not add this extra salt)
• 7 to 8 tablespoons ice cold water

In a food processor, pulse and cut butter into flour and salt until mixture makes small pea size crumbs.  With the processor on, add ice cold water through the top until all the flour is moistened and pastry almost cleans the side of the bowl.

Gather pastry into a ball; shape into flattened round. Wrap in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.  When you're ready to assemble the pie, then divide dough in half.  Roll out each half onto a lightly floured surface to the size of your baking dish.  Lay the pressed dough over the rolling pin to help pick up and move the dough to the buttered dish.

Texas Peach filling

• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 6 to 8 cups fresh sliced peaches (about 7 to 10 peaches)
• 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons butter

HEAT OVEN 425ºF.

After slicing all those peaches, make sure there will be enough to fill the casserole dish before prepping the dish for baking.  You may need extra peaches or you may have too many, it's good to check before going further.

Mix the sugar, flour, cinnamon and vanilla.  Stir in the measured peaches and lemon juice.

Prepare bottom layer of pastry and lay into bottom of the buttered 13-inch by 9-inch casserole dish. Don't worry about it being pretty, no one will notice the bottom.

Pour peach mixture into pastry-lined dish. Dot with 3 tablespoons of butter.  Cover with top crust that has slits cut in it; seal and decorate to your fancy.

Seen here sprinkled with cinnamon-sugar and hearts smeared with softened butter.

Bake 35 to 45 minutes, until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust.  Allow to cool so the peach filling has time to solidify, otherwise it will run out and fall apart as you try to move it to your plate.  Trust me on this one.

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I made this big casserole size pie thinking it would be the dessert for the weekend.  Well, after sharing about two-thirds of it with dear friends and neighbors, my own family DEVOURED the remaining portion in one day.  So much for the weekend.

Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Cookies

Close your eyes and have a bite.  Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Cookies WILL satisfy those sweet chocolate cravings.  They're lighter in appearance because the recipe calls for white sugar instead of brown sugar, and the sour cream helps, too.  Are you worried that you may be eating sour cookies?  Don't be.  We ate the dough unbaked and baked and NO ONE knew about the sour cream, until I told them.

HERE'S ALL THERE'S TO IT

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 egg

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups mini-chocolate chips.

Heat oven to 350ºF.

Beat sugar, sour cream, butter, vanilla and egg in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix by hand.  Stir in flour, baking soda, salt and chocolate chips.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto greased cookie sheet.  Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until set and just beginning to brown.  Cool 1 to 2 minutes before removing.  Transfer to a wire rack for complete cooling.

All you need now is a glass of milk or a scoop of vanilla ice cream

Simple Blackberry Cobbler

I apologize that there's not a photograph for this recipe.  You'll have to trust me that it makes a beautiful dessert and it's absolutely worth the time to bake it up.  I served this recipe in a cooking demonstration at our Main Street Farmers' Market and the crowd went ga-ga for it.  It helps to make sure the blackberries are sweet on their own without the need to add sugar.  If you happen to buy tart blackberries, wait a day, they'll sweeten up on their own.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

To make 6 servings

• 4 cups fresh blackberries
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 6 tablespoons melted butter

HEAT oven to 375ºF.
Grease 8-inch square pan.  Layer berries in pan and sprinkle with fresh lemon juice.  In a medium bowl, stir together egg, sugar and flour until it resembles a course meal.  Sprinkle over fruit.  Drizzle butter over the top.
BAKE 35 minutes, until lightly brown & bubbly.  Allow to cool 10 minutes then serve warm with whipped cream.

TEXAS SIZE BLACKBERRY COBBLER

To make 24 servings

• 16 cups fresh blackberries
• 4 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 4 large egg
• 4 cup sugar
• 4 cup all purpose flour
• 3 sticks or 1 1/2 cups melted butter

HEAT oven to 375ºF.
Grease 12-inch by 17-inch half sheet pan.  Layer berries in pan and sprinkle with fresh lemon juice.  In a large bowl, stir together egg, sugar and flour until it resembles a course meal.  Sprinkle over fruit.  Drizzle butter over the top.
BAKE 35 minutes, until lightly brown & bubbly.  Allow to cool 10 minutes then serve warm with whipped cream.

Simple Zucchini Bars

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, softened 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 egg
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 small zucchini, shredded and drained (1 cup)
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Heat oven to 350ºF. Grease square pan, 8x8x2 or 9x9x2 inches.  Mix brown sugar, butter , vanilla and egg in large bowl.  Stir in flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves.  Stir in zucchini and nuts.

Spread batter in pan.  Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool completely.  Frost with Clove-Spiced Frosting.  Cut 6 row b;y 4 rows.  Yields 24 bars.

Clove-Spiced Frosting

• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter, softened
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 3 to 4 teaspoon milk

Mix all ingredients until smooth and spreadable.

Simple Pumpkin Yogurt, Breakfast or Dessert

Have you ever heard of pumpkin yogurt?  It's a first for me.  I'll tell ya, at first taste, my mind had to do quite a bit of undoing to all it associates with pumpkin and yogurt.  But the two are very good together, especially when they've had time to get it on after a long night in the frig.

Now, I didn't make this recipe up.  Kim invited me to a local cooking class put on by the Texas Ag Extension office.  This was one of the treats I tasted and thought, "Hmm, how could I make this better?"

HERE'S ALL YOU NEED

• 2 cups nonfat French vanilla yogurt (I prefer Stonyfield Farm Organic, it's not overly sweet)
• 3/4 cup pumpkin from the can
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice

• crumbled granola bar for topping

Homemade Whipped Topping

• 1 cup cold heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

First, get out a medium bowl, mesh strainer, and a cheesecloth or tea towel. Line the strainer with the cloth and set on top of the bowl.  Place the yogurt in the cloth, cover and refrigerate 3 hours or overnight.

Place the thickened yogurt into a medium bowl and add the pumpkin, sugar and spice.  Stir well and allow the flavors to come together at least an hour or better, overnight.

Now, you can stop right here. Sprinkle the pumpkin yogurt with granola and have a lovely, healthy snack or holiday breakfast treat.

OR you can keep going and make a creamy dessert?

Using an electric mixer to whip up the heavy cream on a high speed until it starts to thicken, add in sugar and vanilla.  Continue to whip until soft peaks form.

For a light creamy touch, just add a dollop of whipped cream to the top of your yogurt.

For full on I don't care about the fat calories, line the bottom of your serving dish with whipped cream, layer on the pumpkin yogurt, top with a dollop of whip, then finish with sprinkling granola on top.

Simple Apple Squares

Simple Apple Squares are so moist and addictive, it's a good thing they're easy to make again and again.

This dessert is just the beginning of a looong list of dessert recipes that have fallen into my hands...
Mwah ha ha ha ha haaa (that's my sinister laugh).

My neighbor loaned me a stack of OOOOOLLLLLD recipe books loaded with recipes our grandmothers fretted over. I have compiled a list of really good AND simple desserts that we can all enjoy either now, or over the coming holidays.

Now like I told my email subscribers, I'm NOT playin' that low cal-low fat song & dance here. HOWEVER, I'm NOT interested in my butt getting any bigger either.  So, I chose recipes that are reasonable, simple in ingredients and fairly easy to bring together. If you want to go off and slim'em down, then GO FOR IT and share it with the rest of us how you did it. Please add your changes in the comment boxes provided, so others can follow suit. If you love the recipe how it is, then let others know that.

Ok, let's bake these Simple Apple Squares.

HERE'S ALL YOU NEED

• 3 large apples, peeled & diced (I had an assortment of red apples on hand.)
• 1 cup pecans, roughly chopped

• 2 cups flour (I used 1/2 whole wheat, 1/2 all purpose flour)
• 1 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup canola oil or natural applesauce
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350ºF degrees.

Prep the apples and pecans, set aside. In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, soda, cinnamon and salt together. Make a well, pour in eggs, oil, and vanilla. STIR BY HAND. The batter becomes very thick. Fold in the apples and pecans until well mixed. Pour into a well greased pan. There's enough batter to fill one 9 x 13 inch pan.

Just so you know: I didn't have my 9x13 available so I filled one 8 x 8 inch pan and one 4 x 8 inch loaf pan. I imagined them to equal my 9x13 pan and made sure the batter was the same depth in both pans. It worked out just fine.

Bake for 40 minutes.

Allow to cool completely before removing from pan.

Divide up and serve, 1/2 for yourself, 1/2 for everyone else... teeheehee

Don't you wish this was a scratch and sniff food blog?

If you get tempted to eat these hot, I'll tell ya right now, it won't be the same as when you eat them cooled down. They become really moist after the first hour. Then, they are really, really moist after the third hour. You know how banana bread gets moist and yummy after day two? That's how this acts after the third hour. I'm not kidding!

Ok, go make a batch and report back here. I'll be waiting for you.

Sweet Potato Oat Bars

Ok children, today we're going to learn about birthing a new recipe. Oh I can here y'all already.

"But Miz Scarlett, I don't know nuttin'bout birthin' no recipes!!"
To tell you to truth, me neither! But it's not going to stop me from trying and trying and trying.

I had five small sweet potatoes and I only know one way to eat them - baked with marshmallows. I felt like eating a dessert involving oats and cinnamon. I really wanted the crust from my Creamy Lemon Oat Bars. So, I put the two recipes together and got a delicious hybrid (sorry, it's my horticulture background) of a sweet wholesome dessert.

It was good after it cooled, but it was WAY BETTER the next day! I highly recommend making this a day ahead.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

Filling

• 2 average size sweet potatoes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Crunchy crust & crumble topping

• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup pecans
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Peel and cut up sweet potatoes into 1 inch chunks. Place in medium saucepan, cover with water, add the salt. Bring to a boil then lower heat to simmer for 15-20 minutes. Cook until their tender enough to pierce with a fork.

Meanwhile, prepare crust.
Heat oven to 375F degrees. Coat 8×8 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Mix crunchy crust ingredients in a food processor until crumbly. Press half of the crumbly mixture in pan; bake about 10 minutes or until set. Remove from oven, set aside. Do not turn off the oven.

Back to the sweet potatoes.
Drain off all water and move potatoes to the food processor. Add in brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg and blend until smooth. Spread potato mixture evenly onto baked crust. Sprinkle remaining crumbly mixture over the sweet potato mixture, press down gently. Bake about 20 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool completely. Chill in refrigerator over night. Cut 4 rows by 4 rows.

We really liked it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Who wouldn't!?!

Sweet Moist Banana Bread

The best banana bread I've ever made EVER!

It's so moist & flavorful on the first day, it tastes like it was baked yesterday.

HERE'S ALL YOU NEED...

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Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

One of my husband's favorite cakes is carrot cake. Seeing as we McKeever's like to celebrate for days, I turned his favorite cake into cupcakes. He loved this, because it didn't limit him on how many he could eat.

Charlie says, "A slice of cake visually says this is all you get. However, a cupcake is so small.  You can treat yourself to two!"  I can't help but agree.

Now comes the part where I tell you how I made these tasty delights. Well for those of you who like to bake from scratch, move along, there's nothing to see here. After studying over a complex recipes with ingredients I would never use again, I bought a box of Betty Crocker's Super Moist Carrot Cake Mix. On the back of the box there was a recipe for Ultimate Carrot Cake. It called for the extra bits like shredded carrot, crushed pineapple, nuts, raisins and coconut. Perfect! I had most of that at home, I just needed cream cheese for the frosting and I was set.

My daughter helped me in the kitchen. She totally grooved on making her daddy's cupcakes. She especially loved sneaking her finger in the icing bowl every chance I turned my back!

So for the cake, just pick up the box. As for the icing, that came from somewhere else.

HERE'S A GOOD CREAM CHEESE FROSTING RECIPE

• 1 (8oz) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 16 oz. powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Blend the soft butter, cream cheese, and vanilla together with a electric mixer. Slowly add in powdered sugar until smooth. Frost cupcakes after they have fully cooled.

Oh yeah, they're good!

Creamy Lemon Oat Bars

You may as well double this recipe when you make these creamy morsels of goodness.

Notice that crunchy, granola crust on the bottom? See that soft, crumbly, granola topping clinging on to the lemony cream center? I'm telling you right now, double up, because these creamy lemon oat bars won't last long.

The original recipe comes out of a Betty Crocker Cookie book.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 375ºF degrees. Coat 8x8 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray. Mix milk, lemon zest and lemon juice in medium bowl until thickened; set aside. Mix remaining ingredients in medium bowl until crumbly.

Press half of the crumbly mixture in pan; bake about 10 minutes or until set.

Spread lemon milk mixture over baked crust. Sprinkle remaining crumbly mixture over the lemon milk mixture, press down gently. Bake about 20 minutes or until edges are golden brown and center is set but soft. Cool completely. Cut 4 rows by 4 rows.

This dessert is mildly sweet and the lemon is just right; not too lemony. The little bit of salt in the recipe makes for a sweet and salty flavor that makes you want to eat another one. That's why they don't last long. Try making a batch over the weekend and see for yourself.

Harvest Apple Crisp

Let me tell you from personal experience,

THIS APPLE CRISP IS AWESOME!!!
This recipe is so quick to throw together with no fuss. You could make it a day ahead, but you would have to hide it from your family.

Do not leave this dessert unsupervised before serving, the crunchy topping will start to disappear. If you see holes in the corners of the dessert, check the corners of your husband's lips. OH! And be sure to have vanilla ice cream on hand, it tastes great melting next to this warm dessert.

HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED

• 6 large apples, peeled, cored, sliced 1/2 inch wedges
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1 cup oats
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Heat oven to 375ºF. Arrange apples in greased 13x9x2 dish. Mix remaining ingredients; sprinkle over apples. Bake until apples are tender, about 30 minutes. It's that simple!

For outstanding flavor, make sure your ground spices are fresh. If you cannot remember how long it's been since you bought a spice, chances are, it's time to buy a new jar.

ONE FINAL NOTE

This crisp is a wonderful treat with a good cup of coffee, in the afternoon while the kids are napping.

NEXT TIME I BAKE THIS CRISP

This apple crisp is already awesome. However, next time I'll try toasting the oats, along with chopped pecans, in the oven and mix them into the topping.