Treat Day Wednesday–Lemon Curd Cheesecake Bars

This might be a day late in posting but these treats were definitely on the counter when the girls got home from school yesterday.  This is also another treat made with what I had on hand in the fridge and pantry.  My favourite kind.

We, as you may know, are selling our house.  So baking and cleaning as you go bites.  I feel like you just can’t get into baking without making a mess.  Have you sold a house?  If so, then you know what I’m going through.  I mean I’m not a dirty person, lazy maybe, dirty no.  But when you have two hundred pounds of dogs, two kids and a husband; it all makes for an unreasonable amount of cleaning when there could be a showing at any moment. It’s also very stressful and when I’m stressed I bake and there you see my dilemma.  Good times indeed :)

I may not be blogging or baking cookies regularly but I wanted to keep the Wednesday treat day going for the girls.  Plus I happen to have an hour to sit down and write the blog post.  Yay me!

Here it goes!  Lemon Curd Cheesecake Bars

Crust

• one package graham crackers
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 4 tbsp melted butter

Cheesecake

• one 8oz package softened cream cheese
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
• zest of one lemon
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Lemon Curd

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 2 tsp lemon zest

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Pulse graham crackers and sugar until finely ground.
3. Add melted butter until they graham crackers come together.
4. Press into 8” square pan. Set aside
5. In a medium bowl, cream together the cheesecake ingredients.
6. Pour on top of graham cracker crust.  Bake for 17-20 minutes until cream cheese is set. Let cool.
7. In medium saucepan.  Whisk together the eggs, sugar and lemon juice.  Add the zest and butter.  Turn onto medium heat and cook.
8. Continually whisk until the mixture thickens.  Pour mixture through a mesh sieve to remove any larger bits.  Cover with plastic wrap and store in fridge until cool. 30-40 minutes.
9. Pour curd over cheesecake and chill for at least an hour.
10. Remove from fridge and cut into bars.
11. Enjoy!

Now these are some tasty little treats.  Little bars of sunshine. 

Whilst I don’t recommend living through the sale of a house if you are a baker but I do recommend these bars!

Thanks for looking!

Treat Day Wednesday–S’mores Brownies

You ever have one of those days?  I’m having one :( 

I woke up hoping I get more answers about my back and all I got were more questions, so I came hope and made these for my girls.  S’mores Brownies!

From where I come from, s’mores were things that you ate in the summer whilst camping, at least that’s what I thought.  Here in the US, y’all love them 365 days of there year and in all shapes and sizes.  Ok, I can work with that :)

Now my girls love graham crackers and marshmallows, but when we tried the traditional way of making s’mores they were a no go.  Then I thought I’d try a twist and use brownies.  Another one of their favourites and mine too!

So I made a graham cracker crust and pressed it into a 9’x13” pan and then poured the brownie mixture on to the top.  Baked for 30 minutes.  Once cooled I cut into bars and then put onto another baking sheet, topped with a marshmallow and toasted in oven until browned about 3 minutes.

Et voila a new twist on an old classic or for us a new twist on a new classic!

Graham Cracker Crust

• two packages graham crackers
• 1/2 cup melted butter

1. Crush crackers in food processor until fine crumbs.
2. Add butter.
3. Press into baking sheet.

Brownies

• 1 cup melted butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup good cocoa
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/3 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup chocolate chips

1. Melt butter and mix in sugar and cocoa.
2. Mix in eggs until completely combined
3. Add remaining ingredients until just mixed in.
4. Pour into baking dish, bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

Thanks for looking!

Treat Day Wednesday–S’mores Pops

It’s coming up on that time of year where everything on a stick is a summer staple.  The other staple is the fire pit standard of marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers.  So I thought of putting them together.

My girls love marshmallows as you know, however s’mores aren’t a fan favourite.  They like the idea of the trio combo but I’m thinking it’s a bit too much at once.  By just using the marshmallow as the main character and the chocolate and graham crackers as minor players, the combination becomes a winner!

They are super easy to do.  Crumble up some graham crackers, melt some chocolate and put marshmallows on sticks.  Dip into the chocolate and roll in crackers, et voila…S’mores pops!

So for a super easy afterschool snack or a party treat, give S’mores pops a try.  The kids will love you for it!

Thanks for looking!