32 | 52 Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Streusel Bars

I know, I know...

This name is way too long.

Maybe we should call this week's recipe LBCSB?

Or something like: The Perfect Summer Treat?

No, not very convincing...

But no matter its name - it's just pure yumminess.

It combines everything you love (or at least everything I love):

Lemon. Blueberries. Cheesecake. Streusel.

Summer. Freshness. Yum.

So give these a try. And do let me know if you come up with a good, short name.

Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Streusel Bars

From Inspired Taste

For the crust

9 graham cracker rectangles

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon lemon zest, grated

57 g (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For the filling

454 g (16 oz) cream cheese, room temperature

2 eggs

2 tablespoons lemon zest, grated

60 ml (1/4 cup) fresh lemon juice

100 g (1/2 cup) sugar

150 g (1 1/2 cups) fresh blueberries

For the topping

1 cup light brown sugar

100 g (3/4 cup) flour

85 g (3/4 stick) butter, cold

• Preheat oven to 160ºC (325ºF). 
• For the crust, place graham crackers, sugar, and lemon zest into your food processor and pulse until you have fine crumbs. Add melted butter and pulse again until crumbs are moistened. If you don't have a food processor, make crumbs the old-fashioned way: place crackers in a plastic bag and hit with a rolling pin (or the like) until you get crumbs. Place crumbs in a bowl together with the remaining crust ingredients and stir until crumbs are moistened. 
• Press crumb mix into your prepared square pan (23 cm / 9 in) and bake for 10 minutes. Cool for 10-15 minutes. 
• For the filling, mix together cream cheese, eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice, and sugar until smooth. Pour the filling over the crust and top with blueberries. 
• For the streusel topping, combine all ingredients with your hands until you have a (more or less) crumbly dough. Crumble over the filling. 
• Bake for 35-40 minutes. Cool 1 hour at room temperature, then at least 1 hour in the fridge before serving.

My modifications:

None.

The taste:

Delicious! It really combines so many good things that you can't go wrong with it. And it tastes like pure summer. Not light but still refreshing.

What's your favorite baked summer treat?

30 | 52 Mango Bars

Right now is not the time of overripe bananas.

But time of the overripe mango...

So I started browsing the mango dessert recipes on Pinterest and stumbled upon these Mango (Lemon) Bars that looked and sounded so good.

And they truly are:

Mango Bars

From Curried Cantaloupe

For the crust

113 g (1 stick) butter, melted

190 g (1 1/2 cups) flour

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

For the mango (lemon) curd

240 ml (1 cup) mango pulp

1 teaspoon lemon juice

200 g (1 cup) sugar

4 eggs

2 egg yolks

zest from one lemon

113 g (1 stick) butter

• Preheat oven to 17ºC (350ºF).
• Combine flour, lemon juice, sugar, and salt. Pour in melted butter and combine to form a dough with a spatula. Line a 20 x 20 cm / 8 x 8 in pan with parchment paper and press the dough evenly onto the bottom of the pan. Poke with a fork several times and bake for 10 minutes.
• While the crust is in the oven, whisk together eggs, yolks, and sugar. Add mango pulp, lemon juice and zest, and stir until smooth. Cook over low heat, stir constantly just until you notice that clumps are coming up from the bottom. Remove from heat and stir in butter.
• Pour over crust and bake for 10-15 minutes until edges are set.
• Cool in the fridge for at least 3 hours before serving. 

My modifications:

I pureed one mango and got a bit over 1 cup of pulp. So I thought I would just omit most of the lemon juice and just use a bit under 1 cup of mango pulp plus 1 teaspoon of lemon juice. It worked really well and I didn't miss any lemon taste. (The original recipe calls for 180 ml (3/4 cup) of mango pulp and 80 ml (1/3 cup) lemon juice.)

The taste:

If you like mangos, you will like these Mango Bars (duh). Another refreshing summer dessert that is a keeper.
Next time I might add a bit more lemon juice though (like the original recipe does) because it could have used a bit more kaboom. If you know what I mean.

Have you ever baked anything with mango? What was it and how did you like it?
 

17 | 52 Strawberry-Blueberry Crumb Bars

Fresh strawberries!

You just gotta do as much as you can using strawberries, while you can.

(Maybe in your part of the world you have fresh strawberries all year round but that's unfortunately not the case in Switzerland...)

And blueberries!

You just can't go wrong with blueberries.

Crumbs!

Yes! Always!

Sorry for the very boring pictures - I can't seem to shoot any good pictures before everything's eaten up lately...

Strawberry-Blueberry Crumb Bars

Adapted from the baker upstairs

200 g (1 cup) sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

375 g (3 cups) flour

227 g (1 cup) cold butter, cut into pieces

1 egg, beaten

400 g (2 cups) fresh strawberries

200 g (2 cups) fresh blueberries

100 g (1/2 cup) sugar

4 teaspoons corn starch

• Preheat oven to 190ºC (375ºF).
• Whisk together sugar, baking powder, salt, and flour. Add cold butter and mix in with your hands. Add the egg and make a crumbly dough. 
• Press half of the dough onto the bottom of the prepared pan (23cm x 33xm / 9in x 13in). 
• Wash your strawberries, chop off the green part and cut into quarters. Mix all berries with the 1/2 cup sugar and corn starch, then spread them on top of the dough in the pan. Crumble the remaining dough evenly over the berry layer. 
• Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let cool.

My modifications:

None. Except for mixing strawberries and blueberries. The original recipe is for either one but not combined.

The taste:

Very good! Moist from the berries and very summery!

I stored it in the fridge and it actually tasted better the day after baking...

What's your favorite summer bake (with or without fruit)?

12 | 52 Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Cheesecake Bars

Phew. I mean. Could this name be any longer???

But it all boils down to this:

Peanut butter - yes, please! 

Chocolate Chip Cookie - always!

Cheesecake - yum!

Any more questions?

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Cheesecake Bars

From A Pinch of Yum

114 g (1 stick) butter, room temperature

100 g (1/2 cup) white sugar

70 g (1/3 cup) packed brown sugar

130 g (1/2 cup) peanut butter

1 egg

140 g (1 cup) flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teapsoon salt

50 g (1/2 cup) rolled oats

230 g (2 cups) chocolate chips

230 g (8 oz) cream cheese

70 g (1/3 cup) sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

• Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F).
• For the cookie dough, beat together butter, sugars, and peanut putter until smooth. 
• Add egg and beat to incorporate. In a small bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt, and slowly add it to the butter mix. Stir in oats and chocolate chips.
• For the cheesecake filling, cream together cream cheese, egg, sugar, and vanilla.
• Put half (or a bit more) of the cookie dough in your pan (square 22 cm / 9 in) and press to the bottom. Pour the filling on top of it. Crumble remaining cookie dough over the filling.
• Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 20 minutes.
• Serve warm or cold. Store leftovers in the fridge.

My modifications:

I had to change some things because I didn't have everything at home.

I used 60 g coconut oil (1/2 cup) instead of the butter. I reduced the white sugar to 75 g (1/3 cup) in the dough and 55 g (1/4 cup) in the cheesecake filling. I only used 200 g of chocolate chips (and even that is quite a lot!). 

The taste:

What can I say. It's as finger lickin' good as you would think it is. Definitely a keeper!

And my cookie bottom and top even tasted a bit more like cookie dough (unbaked), which I love. But that might just be because of my modifications. 

What's your favorite recipe with a long (or complicated) name?

8 | 52 Monkey Squares

It happens a couple of times per year. The search for recipes that involve ripe bananas.

Because for some reason, the poor bananas already turned brown because nobody ate them...
Sound familiar?

This brown-banana-time around, I decided to try Monkey Squares.
Because there is a browned butter frosting involved. How can you say no to that?!

Monkey Squares

From The Girl Who Ate Everything

For the Banana Bread Bars:

300 g (1 1/2 cups) sugar

200 g (1 cup) sour cream

113 g (1/2 cup) butter, softened

3-4 ripe bananas, mashed

2 teaspoons vanilla

250 g (2 cups) flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

For the Browned Butter Frosting:

113 g (1/2 cup) butter

440 g (4 cups) powdered sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons milk

• Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F). Beat sugar, sour cream, butter, and eggs until creamy. Add bananas and vanilla. Blend in dry ingredients. Spread into prepared pan (about 25x35 cm / 10x15 in) and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly.
• For the frosting, heat butter over medium heat until it is boiling and a delicate brown. Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients immediately. Frost the still warm banana bread bars right away.

My modifications:

None.

The taste:

Good. And that frosting is as good as it sounds but VERY sweet! No wonder with that amount of powdered sugar... I would also reduce the amount of vanilla in the frosting to 1/2 teaspoon next time. The taste was a bit overpowering in the frosting.

What's your favorite Banana Bread recipe? I'd love to know!

6 | 52 Apple Cinnamon Streusel Bars

Quick & easy. But still yummy.

Sometimes that's just what I need. And I'm sure you do, too.

I know, I know... This is the time to present you with a Valetine's Day recipe. 

You'll get it next week - I promise. V-Day will be over then but it will come around again next year. 

And isn't it nicer to surprise your special someone on a different day anyway?

So, for right now: a recipe that couldn't be any quicker & easier. But yummy nonetheless.

Apple Cinnamon Streusel Bars

From GiveRecipe

256 g (2 cups) flour

200 g (1 cup) sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 small or 2 big apples (peeled, cored, and diced)

125 g (4oz) butter, melted

1 egg

powdered sugar for dusting

• Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
• Combine flour, sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl. Add diced apples. Add melted butter and stir to combine. Add egg and combine.
• Put crumbled dough into prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes or until golden brown.
• Dust with powedered sugar, if you wish.

My modifications:

None.

But next time I would reduce the sugar by half, maybe add a bit more apple dices and about 60 g (2 oz) butter. It would be less sweet (obviously) and a bit more moist/less dense. I think I'd like it even better then.

The taste:

Very yummy! Comfort food category, I would say. And you can never go wrong with Streusel. Or apple. Or cinnamon. Right?

But - it was a bit too sweet (any a tiny bit too dense) for my taste - hence my suggestions above.

What's your favorite quick & easy (baking) recipe?

3 | 52 Peanut Butter & Jam Bars

Peanut butter and jam. A match made in culinary heaven.

I don't even know what else to say. PB&J doesn't need many words, I think.

Make these PB&J bars at your own risk: the amount of peanut butter in these is insane.

Insane.

Peanut Butter & Jam Bars

From Ina Garden (via julie's eats and treats)

227 g (1 cup) butter, at room temperature

300 g (1 1/2 cups) sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 large eggs, at room temperature

450 g (2 cups) creamy peanut butter

380 g (3 cups) flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

325 g (1 1/2 cups) jam (of your choice)

85 g (2/3 cup) salted peanuts, coarsely chopped (optional)

• Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a 33x22 cm / 13x9 inch baking pan with parchment paper. 
• Mix together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. 
• Add eggs, vanilla and peanut butter and mix until combined. 
• Add flour and baking powder and mix until all is well combined. 
• Spread 2/3 of the dough onto the bottom of the pan. Spread jam on top of it. Drop the remaining dough over the jam with a teaspoon. 
• Bake for about 25-30 minutes until the edges start to brown. Remove from oven and let cool. 

My modifications:

As I already said above, the amount of peanut butter in these is insane. I noticed this because one entire jar (at least the standard small size you can buy in Europe) was not enough... Thankfully, I had another big (American size) jar in the pantry. It was the crunchy kind but that was totally fine. In the end, I think I used 2/3 creamy PB and 1/3 crunchy PB.

I would definitely make it like this again to add a little texture/crunch without having to worry about chopping those optional peanuts...

And I used raspberry jam (my favorite with PB - next to apple jelly).

The taste:

Well. It's the full load of PB&J. Actually, more of PB. One bar easily replaces an entire meal. But that's okay. It's PB&J, after all.

Which flavor combination do you find unbeatable? 

Which combo do you despise and why?

9*52 Strawberry-Lemon-Bars

Remember, right after Valentine's Day I told you that I had planned to bake something pink and heart-shaped but then was too sick?

I couldn't get the recipe for that pink and heart-shaped something out of my head so I made it now.
Just not heart-shaped. But pink. And full of summer flavors. Lemon and strawberry.
What could be better? Not much, I think.

Strawberry-Lemon-Bars

Adapted from Backbube

300 g (0.7 lb) strawberries, frozen

300 g (1 1/2 cups) sugar

300 ml (1 1/4 cups) lemon juice (about 6 lemons)

150 g (1 1/8 cups) flour

50 g (1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon) powdered sugar

2 x 75 g (2 x 1/3 cup) butter

pinch of salt

6 egg yolks

75 g (1/2 cup) corn starch

• Defrost strawberries.
• For the crust, combine flour, powdered sugar, salt, 2 tablespoons cold water and half the cold butter (in pieces) and knead until combined to a nice shortcrust dough.
• Distribute dough evenly on the bottom of a prepared square spring form. Let cool in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F). Using a fork, poke some holes into the crust and bake for 20 minutes.
• Blend together strawberries and lemon juice until smooth and without fruit pieces. Add sugar and remaining butter and bring to a boil in a saucepan. 
• Mix starch with 7 tablespoons water and stir well to avoid clumps. Add to the strawberry mix, let boil for 1 minute, stir constantly. 
• Take pan off the heat. In a small bowl, mix egg yolks with 2 tablespoons of the strawberry 'jam', then put back into the saucepan to combine with all the strawberry 'jam'. Pour on top of the crust and bake for 20 minutes.
• Let cool. Cut into squares or bars.

My modifications:

None.

Except for not cutting out hearts. Just plain old squares/bars.

Oh, and I changed the name. Backbube called them 'Pink Lemon Hearts' but I think 'Strawberry-Lemon-Bars' is more fitting (especially since I didn't make hearts).

The taste:

You usually have me at 'strawberry'. And this is no exception. These bars are so so so so good! I could really bathe in them. 

The strawberry puree/jam/topping was a bit wobbly and gooey and I am not really sure if it is supposed to be like that. But it was so very tasty nonetheless. I might try a little less starch next time, that might do the trick.

What fruit do you love, especially in or on cake?

41/52 Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

There's no denying it. Fall is here. 

But that's not a problem - at least not for me - as I love fall. 

The colors, the fresh crisp air, cozy evenings with lit candles... 

And pumpkins. Let's not forget pumpkins. 

Until a couple of years ago, I loved the look of them but not the taste. 

I'm really glad this changed and pumpkins have become a big part of my autumnal cuisine.
Hence, today's choice of baking...

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

Adapted from Bake at 350

300 g (2 cups) flour

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon allspice

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

227 g (2 sticks) butter, room temperature

275 g (1 1/4 cups) sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup canned pumpkin

200 g (8 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips

• Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F).
• Combine flour, spices, baking soda, and salt.
• Whisk together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. 
• Add the egg and vanilla and combine well. 
• Add pumpkin. 
• Fold in the flour mix until just combined. 
• Stir in the chocolate chips.
• Pour batter into prepared pan (about 20x30 cm or 13x9 in) and bake for about 35 minutes. Let cool and cut into bars.

My modifications:

Since I had it at home, I used pumpkin pie spice which made it a bit easier. Use about 2.5-3 teaspoons if you wanna do the same.

I "only" used 200 g (8 oz.) of chocolate chips instead of the suggested 12 oz. (340 g). I love chocolate but that was definitely enough.

In Germany, we don't really know or eat canned pumpkin. There is only pickled pumpkin so I gave it a try. Of course I drained the pumpkin before adding it to the batter but what I didn't consider is that the butter could still curdle. And it did. But I just processed the batter with my hand blender and it was all good. So to all my readers in Germany: pickled pumpkin works well, don't worry about the possible curdling and just blend away...

The taste:

Autumnally going on Christmassy which means totally yummy (at least in my terms). I felt that the pumpkin flavor came out better on the second day so make it one day ahead if you can.

What do you love about the fall season?

26/52 Lemon Bars

I feel bad for sounding lazy again, but hey - it's summer (yay!). And it's hot.
And I really do want to bake. Just nothing complicated. And not for hours.

But Lemon Bars sounded summery, quick and easy enough so I thought I would give them a try.

The good thing about only baking new recipes for this blog is that I get to choose and try so many new cakes, cookies, and the like. But on the other hand, I just never know if I will end up with something yummy or not. This week it was more of the latter... But read more about that at the end of the post...

Lemon Bars

Adapted from allrecipes.com

Crust:

225 g (1 cup) butter, softened

100 g (1/2 cup) white sugar

250 g (2 cups) all-purpose flour

Topping:

4 eggs

300 g (1 1/2 cups) white sugar

30 g (1/4 cup) all-purpose flour

(2/3 cup) lemon juice

• Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F). 
• For the crust, mix together softened butter, sugar, and flour. Press into an ungreased pan of about 20 x 30 cm (9 x 13 in).
• Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden. 

• Whisk together the ingredients for the topping and pour over the baked crust.
• Bake for another 20 minutes.

•  Let cool and cut into small squares.

My modifications:

According to some comments on the recipe, I used 2/3 cup of lemon juice (the original recipe called for the juice of 2 lemons which is less).

The taste:

As already mentioned above, this was not one of those recipes that deserve 5 stars. When I tasted the first small piece I was completely disappointed. It tasted like a lemon-omelette. I honestly could only taste the egg. A day later I had a friend visiting and she felt the same. Another day later, I wanted to give it a try again, and it actually tasted more like lemon, very good indeed and like I originally expected. 

Now, I am not sure why that is. Maybe it gets better (= more lemony, less eggy) the longer it sits in the fridge, or the egg didn't distribute evenly in the pan and the one side that I tried first got more egg. I'm not sure. So I leave it up to you if you want to take the chance or not. Just don't say I haven't warned you :)

Did anything you ever baked turn out different than you expected?