Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

He's done! Matt finished Chiropractic school about 2 weeks ago (real world here we come!) And of course that calls for a celebration. We had a little party, bbq-at Matt's request, and these cheesecake strawberries were a great option. Especially to counter all the chocolate. The best part about serving these to a large crowd is they are so so fast to prepare and you can make them the day before and store covered in the refrigerator.

Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

The Sweets Life

Ingredients:
1 lb large strawberries
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
3-4 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
graham cracker crumbs

Directions:

1. Rinse strawberries and cut around the top of the strawberry. Remove the top and clean out with a paring knife. Prep all strawberries and set aside.

2. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Add cream cheese mix to a piping bag or ziploc with the corner snipped off. Fill strawberries with cheesecake mixture. Once strawberries are filled, dip the top in graham cracker crumbs. If not serving immediately, refrigerate until serving.

Stuffed French Toast

I'm so glad it's strawberry season cause i've been on a huge berry kick lately. They had 2 lb. containers on sale for really cheap last week and I bought 4 of them (not all at once), and ate almost all of them by myself. Blackberries have also been on sale and i've been eating a ridiculous amount of those as well..to the point of making myself sick once.
I wanted to make breakfast on Easter and I also wanted to use some of our strawberries, and I thought stuffed french toast sounded perfect. Matt's usually the french toast maker in our house but I wanted to give it a try this time. This was really so easy to make and I loved it! You could use jam or fresh berries of your choice in the filling or a combo of them both, which is what I did. If you're not in the mood for fruit, you could try adding chopped nuts with the cream cheese instead.

Stuffed French Toast
seen on Tasty Kitchen see here for step by step photos



Ingredients:
1 loaf French Bread
3 Tablespoons Any Flavor Fruit Spread (You Can Also Use Jelly, Jam, Fresh Fruit, or a combo. of *fruit and jam- *if using fruit, use about 1/2 c. chopped mixed with 1 TBS. sugar)
½ packages Cream Cheese (4 Oz), At Room Temperature
2 whole Eggs
1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
½ cups Skim Milk

Directions:
Heat skillet or electric griddle to 325 to 350 degrees.
Cut french bread into 2-3 inch wide slices. Then, with a paring knife, go back and cut halfway into each slice, in the center, creating a ‘pocket’ that your fruit mixture can be stuffed into.
If using strawberries, slice and place in bowl with sugar; set aside.
In another bowl, place the room temperature cream cheese and three tablespoons of fruit spread of your choice and combine well.
In a separate bowl, break 2 eggs; add cinnamon and milk and combine well.
Now, take fruit mixture and stuff into the ‘pockets’ of your french bread slices. Place on a baking sheet.
When done stuffing each piece of bread, completely coat each piece in egg mixture. Make sure all sides are covered. Do all pieces before starting to fry.
Put 2 tbsp or less of butter into a hot skillet and melt completely. Add all of the bread to the skillet and cook roughly about 3-6 minutes on each side, until it reaches a nice golden brown. You want to make sure the cream cheese mixture heats through.
Serve with powdered sugar or syrup.

Fruit Tart

I'm in love with fruit tarts. Have I mentioned this before? Everytime we go to the grocery store I always have to resist getting one (you know, one of those little individual size ones). Half the time I can hold back, but the other half I usually just give in and get one. I've been waiting to make this recipe for a while now thinking I would need to wait until I had a group gathering to take this to.. but me and Matt finished over half of it in one sitting..as you can see in the picture. To me, the crust is the star of this. It tastes a little like a sugar cookie and is nice and sturdy, but not hard. I know i'll be making this one again!

Fruit Tart
Baking Illustrated via. Annie's Eats


Ingredients:
For the tart dough:
1 large egg yolk
1 tbsp. heavy cream
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the work surface
2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
8 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

For the pastry cream:
2 cups half-and-half
1/2 cup sugar
Pinch salt
5 large egg yolks
3 tbsp. cornstarch
4 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the topping:
(whatever fruit you prefer, really)
2 large kiwis, peeled, halved lengthwise and sliced
6-9 oz. raspberries
1/2-1 cup blueberries
Apple jelly, for glazing

Directions:
To make the tart shell, whisk together the egg yolk, cream and vanilla in a small bowl; set aside. Place the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor. Process briefly to combine. Scatter the butter pieces over the flour mixture; process to cut the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about fifteen 1-second pulses. With the machine running, add the egg mixture and process until the dough just comes together, about 12 seconds. Turn the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and press into a 6-inch dish. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 48 hours.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator. (If refrigerated for more than an hour, let stand at room temperature until malleable.) Unwrap and roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to a 13-inch round. Transfer the dough to a 9-inch tart pan. Mold the dough to the sides of the tart pan and remove the excess off the top. Set the dough-lined tart pan on a large plate and freeze for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, adjust an oven rack to middle position. Preheat the oven to 375° F. Set the dough-lined tart pan on a baking sheet, press a 12-inch square of foil into the frozen shell and over the edge, and fill with pie weights. Bake for 30 minutes, rotating halfway through the baking time. Remove from the oven and carefully remove the foil and weights. Continue to bake until deep golden brown, 5-8 minutes longer. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

To make the pastry cream, heat the half-and-half, 6 tablespoons of the sugar, and the salt in a saucepan over medium-high heat until simmering, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar. Meanwhile, combine the egg yolks and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in a medium bowl and whisk until the sugar has begun to dissolve and the mixture is creamy, about 15 seconds. Whisk in the cornstarch until combined and the mixture is pale yellow and thick, about 30 seconds.
When the half-and-half mixture has reached a simmer, slowly add it to the egg yolk mixture to temper, whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the saucepan, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula. Return the mixture to a simmer over medium heat, whisking constantly, until a few bubbles burst on the surface and the mixture is thickened and glossy, about 30 seconds. Off the heat, whisk in the butter and vanilla. Strain the pastry cream through a fine mesh sieve set over a medium bowl. Press plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming and refrigerate until cold and set, at least 3 hours and up to 2 days.

To assemble the tart, spread the cold pastry cream evenly over the bottom of the tart shell. Arrange the fruit on top of the pastry cream as desired. Heat the jelly in the microwave for 20-30 seconds, just until slightly melted and easy to stir. Using a pastry brush, paint a light layer of jelly over the fresh fruit. Serve.

Chocolate Strawberry Tart and CSN Product Review

I'm excited to tell you about the products I ordered from CSN stores. I don't have a lot of kitchen gadgets so it's fun when I get something new even if I don't neccessarily "need" it. The first thing I ordered is this Magic Dough Non-slip Pastry Mat. So far i've used it to make biscuits and it made kneading and rolling so easy! Clean up was also super easy. Much better than trying to scrub dough off my counter or cutting board that I would have used. If you make breads or pastries often, this is a "must have." I mean, obviously you can still accomplish your goal whether you have the item or not, but having this makes the experience quicker and easier. I also like the handy measurment conversions on the sides as well as the ruler along the top and bottom for easy measuring.

The next thing on my list was a tart pan! So I got this one by Frieling. I'm in love with fruit tarts. For reals. Everytime we go to the grocery store I walk by them and usually end up getting a small (single serving size) one. They're one of the few non-chocolate desserts that I crave for (and often!) So naturally I wanted a tart pan to make my own at home. The pan is very lightweight and easy to clean. I've only used it once so far but I know i'll get good use out of it.


The first thing I made in my tart pan is this chocolate strawberry tart. I made some chocolate chocolate chip waffles for breakfast Valentine's Day. They were so good and Rylee of course devoured them, it was almost like chocolate cake..for breakfast! We decided to eat out for dinner. But we were smart and went early before it was crowded. Then I made this for dessert. As you probably know I abosolutely love chocolate and strawberries. In fact, our wedding cake was a big chocolate cake with chocolate covered strawberries on it. We both thought this dessert was good. The crust tasted like that of the chocolate banana cream pie I posted recently. I gotta say, as much as I like chocolate, I prefer regular crust to the chocolate. But sometimes a chocolate crust is more fitting. When I first put the dough into the pan it looked like there was no way it would be enough. It was though. It managed to stretch to fit the pan, but it seemed a little thin. When I removed the foil from the top after baking there was a small spot that was thin and the crust peeled up. Oops. Good thing there's toppings to go over it :) I didn't make the ganache topping because I didn't realize I was out of cream. Instead I just melted some semi sweet chocolate and graciously drizzled on top.

Chocolate Strawberry Tart
From Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours, via: Taste and Tell


Chocolate Shortbread Tart Dough
Ingredients:
1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 c. powdered sugar
1/4 t. salt
1 stick plus 1 T. (9 T) very cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg yolk

Directions:
Put the flour, cocoa powder powdered sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse to combine. Scatter the pieces of butter over the dry ingredients and pulse until the butter is coarsely cut in. Stir the yolk, just to break it up, and add it a little at a time, pulsing after each addition. When the egg is in, process in long pulses until the dough, which will look granular soon after the egg is added, forms clumps and curds. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and very lightly knead the dough just to incorporate any dry ingredients that might have escaped mixing. Press the dough into the pan. Freeze the crust for at least 30 min. before baking. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Butter the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil and fit the foil, buttered side down, tightly against the crust. Put the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake the crust for 25 min. Carefully remove the foil. If the crust has puffed, press it down gently with the back of a spoon.

Vanilla Pastry Cream
Ingredients:
2 c. whole milk
6 large egg yolks
1/2 c. sugar
1/3 c. cornstarch, sifted
1 1/2 t. pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 T. unsalted butter, cut into bits at room temperature

Directions:
Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan. Meanwhile, in a medium heavy bottomed saucepan, whisk the yolks together with the sugar and cornstarch until thick and well blended. Still whisking, drizzle in about 1/4 cup of the hot milk to temper. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remainder or the milk. Put the pan over medium heat and, whisking vigorously, constantly and thoroughly, bring the mixture to a boil. Keep at a boil, still whisking, for 1 to 2 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat. Whisk in the vanilla extract. Let sit for 5 minutes, then whisk in the bits of butter, stirring until they are fully incorporated and the pastry cream is smooth and silky. Scrape the cream into a bowl. You can press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the cream to create an airtight seal and refrigerate the pastry cream until cold, or if you want to cool it quickly, put the bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice cubes and cold water, and stir the pastry cream occasionally until it is thoroughly chilled, about 20 minutes.

Chocolate Ganache Glaze
Ingredients:
4 oz chocolate, chopped finely
1/2 c. heavy cream
2 T. sugar
2 T. water

Directions:
Put the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Bring the cream, sugar and water to a full boil, then pour the liquid over the chocolate and let it sit for 30 seconds. Working with a whisk or rubber spatula, gently stir the chocolate and cream together.

Assembly:
Pour cooled pastry cream into cooled tart shell then top with strawberries. Drizzle glaze over top.

*Linked to Sweets For A Saturday

Baked Apple Chips

The best way to slice the apples would be to use a mandoline to get thin, uniform slices. I didn't have one and really wanted to try making these, so I hand sliced them as best I could. I'm not sure if I didn't bake them long enough or what, because mine stayed soft and didn't get crispy. I still wanted to share this recipe though because they were good and maybe it was just something that I did that they didn't get crispy. These smelled really good while they baked. I fit 2 apples one 1 large cooling rack.

Baked Apple Chips

From Apples to Zucchini

Ingredients:

Apples, washed but not peeled, sliced thin
juice of one lemon
about 5 c. water
cinnamon and sugar - about 1 tablespoon each, mixed together for dusting (optional)

Directions:
Slice your apples to about 1/8 inch in thickness - the slices need to be as even as possible for baking purposes.
Place lemon juice and water in a bowl and dip the slices into the solution and shake off the excess liquid . Place the slices on a cooling rack on a cookie sheet.
Sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar, if desired. Bake at 250 degrees for 45-60 minutes, flip over the slices and bake for 45-60 minutes more, or until crisp
please note: the slices may still feel a little pliable while warm but should crisp up when fully cooled
store the chips in an airtight container for up to three months or longer

Big Apple Baked Pancake for 2

I made this pancake for breakfast before school yesterday and let me tell you..it was very good! It was simple to make, a lot less work than regular pancakes and was the perfect size for the 2 of us. I gave some to Rylee and she also enjoyed it. I also realized while eating this (nothing to do with the pancake), but I don't think i've ever had real maple syrup. I always buy the stuff that's only a couple bucks, and if you look at the ingredients on the bottle it contains "imitation maple flavor." Next time I buy syrup i'm for sure going to try the real thing, even if it is more expensive!
Big Apple Baked Pancake for 2
recipe girl

Ingredients:

1/2 stick unsalted butter

1 large sweet apple (Gala or Golden Delicious), peeled, cored & cut into 1/4-inch-wide wedges

1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

4 large eggs

3 Tbs white granulated sugar

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

powdered sugar for dusting

Directions:
1. Place oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat oven to 450°F.
2. Melt butter in 10 to 11-inch ovenproof skillet over moderate heat, then transfer 2 Tbsp. of the butter to a blender. Add apple wedges to skillet and cook, turning over once, until beginning to soften, 3 to 5 minutes.
3. While apple is cooking, add milk, flour, eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt to butter in blender and blend until smooth.
4. Pour batter over apple and transfer skillet to oven. Bake until pancake is puffed and golden, about 15 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar and serve immediately.
Servings: 2

*Pancake will puff up while in oven then sink down when taken out.

Tomatoes!! and Lemon Cheesecake Bars!

I know I make a lot of sweets, but other than that I try to make most our meals healthy so we can splurge on desserts :) We have a couple of roma tomatoes plants in our garden (or what's left of it..) and they are producing like crazy! The other day I picked 33 of them! I'm pretty amazed at all these tomatoes. Soo I made some tomato sauce! We'll be eating it for the next few days..good thing it turned out good. I know, a little off topic but I just wanted to share that real quick, to show that we do in fact eat real food :) Also, notice I added an index.. it was a lot of work but I know flipping through tons of posts to find something is a lot of work!

Now, Matt says he's not into lemon, or lime things, such as lemon bars, so I don't really ever make that kind of stuff. So I made these cheesecake lemon bars for his club at school. I thought they were reallly good! Matt even liked them! I think maybe what happens with him is he tries things when he was little and hasn't had them since because he remembers he doesn't like them..now suddenly he's trying them again like 10 yrs. later and his taste is different. Because he's told me he doesn't like a lot of things but when I feed it to him he actually does like it (and no, he's not just saying that!) It's not a strong, noticeable cheesecake flavor, but just adds a little creamy goodness to the bars.
Lemon Cheesecake Bars

wives with knives

Lemon Cheesecake Bars
Crust:
1 stick butter, softened
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
Cream Cheese Filling:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
Lemon Curd:
4 egg yolks
1 tablespoon corn starch
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons lemon zest
2 tablespoons butter

Directions:
To make crust: Cream butter and sugar in medium sized bowl. Add flour and vanilla and mix until well blended.
Press dough evenly onto the bottom of an 8"x8" baking pan. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
Prick shortbread crust with a fork and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until pastry turns a golden brown.
Cool on rack to room temperature.
To make filling: Beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add egg and lemon zest and beat until light and smooth. Cover and refrigerate.
To make lemon curd: Blend egg yolks with the cornstarch and sugar in a medium saucepan. Place over low heat and slowly whisk in water and lemon juice. Increase heat to medium, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and add lemon zest and butter. Cool for 10 minutes.
To assemble: Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over crust. Spread lemon curd over cream cheese filling.
Bake for approximately 30 minutes at 350 degrees or until edges begin to turn a golden brown. Cool to room temperature on a rack and then refrigerate for a hour before cutting. Dust top with powdered sugar if desired.

Angel Food Cupcakes

I wanted to make a light treat to take to lunch with some friends so I went to the store and saw that strawberries were on sale. I decided these cupcakes would be perfect. It worked great since everything is already portioned out, no need to take the cake, whipped cream and berries seperately.

Angel Food Cupcakes

Annie's Eats

Yield: 24 cupcakes (I had a little more than 24)

Ingredients:

1 cup cake flour

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

12 large egg whites

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

Directions:

Adjust oven racks to the two lowest positions. Preheat the oven to 375° F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners.

In a small mixing bowl, sift together the flour, 3/4 cup of the sugar and the salt; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites with the vanilla and cream of tartar on medium-high speed until soft-medium peaks form. Gradually add the remaining 3/4 cup sugar, continuing to beat until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in the dry ingredients using a rubber spatula, being careful not to deflate the batter.
Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners and bake for 12-15 minutes or until light golden. Let cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Serve with whipped cream and fresh berries.

Strawberry Hand Pies

Remember those little packaged pies that came in like every flavor..cherry, lemon, chocolate..well here's a homemade version. I've seen these things on several blogs. It's funny how most of the same food pops up on like every blog.. Anyway, I used the recipe from Annie's Eats. These turned out really good. A little more work than a regular pie I think since you do these individually, even though they were super easy and pretty quicker than I thought. But a lot cuter than a regular pie since they're handheld. Mine didn't turn out as visually appealing as they could have since I was trying to put as much filling as I could fit in them and then they didn't seal as nicely..didn't want to waste any. Even though I still had a little bit of filling left over. You could also fill these with whatever you want (blueberries, raspberries, etc.).

I made a half batch and ended up with 6 pies.

Strawberry Hand Pies

Ingredients:
For the pie dough:
½ tsp. vanilla extract
6-8 tbsp. cold buttermilk
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. sugar
½ tsp. salt
2 tsp. lemon zest
2 sticks (1 cup) cold butter, cut into ¼” pieces
powdered sugar, for dusting

For the filling:
4 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
4 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

For finishing:
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
turbinado sugar for sprinkling (optional)

Directions:
To make the pie dough, in a small bowl, combine vanilla and buttermilk. Stir to combine and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, sugar, salt and lemon zest. Mix to combine. Add in butter and mix on low speed until the mixture resembles coarse meal and pieces are less than pea sized. Add buttermilk mixture and stir until the dough comes together. Transfer the dough to a powdered sugar-covered surface and shape into a flat disk. Wrap the disk tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.
In a medium bowl combine the strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice. Mix well and set aside. Meanwhile, place the pie dough onto a powdered sugar-covered surface. Cut the disk into 12 equal sized pieces. Gently form each section into a small disk. Roll out disks into 6-inch circles, about 1/8” thick.
Preheat oven to 400°. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. (Do not use wax paper, they will stick to the pies!) Place a dough round onto a prepared baking sheet. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of the strawberry mixture into the center. Using a pastry brush, brush the edge of half of the dough round with the beaten egg. Fold the dry edge onto the egg-brushed edge forming a semi-circle shape. Press the edges together to seal with the tines of a fork. Repeat with the remaining dough rounds and strawberry filling. Brush the tops of the pies with the egg mixture and sprinkle with sugar, if using. Use a small knife to make a 1-inch slit in the top of each pie to allow the steam to escape.
Bake in the preheated oven until the tops begin to turn golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let cool on baking sheets 7-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely

Apple Fritters

I made these apply fritters a couple of weeks ago and let me tell you...they were d-licious! If you don't know what an apple fritter is, it's kind of like a donut (doughnut?) Or more like a donut/doughnut hole really but with little chunks of apple in them. I've only made apple fritters once or twice before and I think I was in middle school. So it's been a while. I didn't take a picture (sorry) it was like 9:30pm when I made these bad boys and didn't waste any time attacking them hot out of the oil. Which I don't advise doing unless you want to dance around waving your hands in front of your face because your mouth is burning. There's also a glaze recipe included that looks amazing but I went the powdered sugar route. Next time.
P.S. if you want a photo..or several..visit the original recipe from The Pioneer Woman.

Apple Fritters
The Pioneer Woman

Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 10 Minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Servings: 8

Ingredients
FRITTERS
2 cups All-purpose Flour
½ cups Sugar
3 Tablespoons Sugar
2-¼ teaspoons Baking Powder
1-¼ teaspoon Salt
2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
2 whole Large Eggs
¾ cups Whole Milk
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
2 Tablespoons Melted Butter
2 whole Granny Smith Apples, Peeled And Diced
Powdered Sugar (optional, For Dusting)

GLAZE (optional)
1-½ cup Powdered Sugar
¼ teaspoons Salt
¼ teaspoons Vanilla
¼ cups Milk

Directions:
In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with a fork, then add milk, melted butter, and vanilla.
Gently fold dry and wet ingredients together until just combined (do not overmix.) Fold in apples. Add enough apples to make a very chunky batter. You want the apples to shine though!
Heat a couple of inches of canola oil over medium to medium-low heat. When it gets hot, drop a little drop of batter into the oil. If it sizzles immediately and rises to the top, the oil is ready; if it burns quickly, turn down the heat.
Drop teaspoons of batter into the hot oil, six or eight at a time. Sometimes they’ll flip over by themselves; sometimes you have to flip them. Just watch them and make sure they don’t get too brown, but cook them long enough to make sure the batter’s cooked through, about 2 to 2 1/2 minutes total.
Remove and drain on a paper towel. Dust very generously with powdered sugar, or dip fritters in a light doughnut glaze (mix all glaze ingredients together, then dunk warm fritters).
Serve warm!

May be heated the next day in a 350 degree oven for 8 minutes.

Blackberry Cobbler

We found blackberries and raspberries on sale today and snagged them So we made a cobbler, of course. We used 1/2 blackberries and 1/2 raspberries and had berries left over. I like cobblers because they taste the same as a pie to me but a lot quicker and easier to make. So here's a great recipe we tried out, i'll be keeping this one!

Blackberry Cobbler

Serves 6 Prep: 15 min. Bake: 25 min

1-½ cup All-purpose Flour
1 cup Sugar, Divided
1-½ teaspoon Baking Powder
½ teaspoons Salt
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
9 Tablespoons Cold Butter, Cut In Cubes
⅓ cups Boiling Water
2 Tablespoons Corn Starch
¼ cups Cold Water
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
4 cups Fresh Blackberries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
For the dough, mix the flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Cut in the butter until you have a coarse, crumbly mixture. Pour in the boiling water and stir together well so that all of the dough is wet. Set aside.

For the berries, dissolve the cornstarch in the cold water in a medium bowl. Add the lemon juice, berries, and remaining sugar. Mix together well. Transfer berries to a 10-inch cast iron pan.

Heat mixture over medium heat until boiling, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.
Drop spoonfuls of dough over the berry mixture and place the cast iron pan on a foil-lined cookie sheet and place in the oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the dough is golden brown and the berries are thick and bubbly.
(If you don’t have a cast iron pan, bring to a boil in a sauce pan and bake in a 9×9 baking dish.)

Sugar Cookie Fruit Tarts

So my neighbor gave us some of these a couple months ago. We thought these were really good and I wanted to try them out. I took these and a double batch of smore's cookie bars to Matt's sisters house for Father's Day and they both got all eaten! Everyone really loved these. I didn't get an exact recipe but here's what I did. They looked perfect for the 4th of July since I used strawberries and Blueberries these were red, white and blue. I didn't get a picture of these but it's pretty easy to imagine what they look like.

Sugar Cookie Fruit Tarts

2 rolls of sugar cookie dough (I used Pillsbury, or you could just make a batch or two homemade but this way it's a lot easier)
1 8 oz. package cream cheese
1 tub Cool Whip (or make your own whipped cream)
1/4 c.-1 c. powdered sugar (depending on how thick and sweet you want it to be, I probably did about 1/2 c.)
1/2 t. vanilla
Fruit of your choice- I used strawberries, blueberries, and kiwi-but had to take the kiwis off since they weren't ripe enough yet. Raspberries/Blackberries would be great too.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Grease 9x13 in. baking dish. Press cookie dough into bottom of pan. Bake until toothpick inserted comes out clean. They won't look really white like sugar cookies sometimes do, they'll be fairly browned, however they'll still be moist and chewy inside. Cool completely.
In a medium bowl, mix cream cheese, cool whip and vanilla until well blended. Add powdered sugar gradually until desired consistency is reached and until well blended and somewhat fluffy. Spread on top of sugar cookie layer and top with fruit. Eat right away or Store in refrigerator. Easy!