Lemon Crisp Cookies



I made these cookies for a cookie exchange during the holidays.  I’m a firm believer that lemon is a great taste any time of year!

This is one of those recipes that has only 5 ingredients and you can prep them in about 5 minutes, making them a go-to cookie for me.  They’re also easy for my children to mix up, and who doesn’t love baking with Mom?

Lemon Crisp Cookies
Ingredients:
1 lemon cake mix 1 cup crisp rice or puffed rice cereal 1/2 cup butter, melted 1 egg, beaten 2 tsp. grated lemon peel In a large bowl, combine all ingredients until well mixed.  (The dough will be crumbly.)  Shape into 1 inch balls and place 2 inches apart on baking sheets.  Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until set.  Cool for 1 minute before moving cookies to cooling racks.  Cool completely before serving.

Note:  My balls are usually a little bigger than one inch around, and a batch yields 2 dozen cookies for me.

IMG_6441 (Large)

I hope you’ll try them.  Enjoy!

Hopeful Homemaker

Cherry Tart



I did manage to make something fabulous with our cherries before we froze and dehydrated all that we hadn’t eaten fresh.  It’s a new recipe, and most definitely a keeper.  It wasn’t difficult to make but had great flavor.  It was gone so quickly that I only got a picture of the last slice!

Fresh Cherry Tart (adapted from a Southern Living recipe) 2 cups graham cracker crumbs 4 Tb. sugar 1/2 cup plus 1 Tb. melted butter 3 1/4 cups fresh cherries, pitted 1/2 cup sugar 4 1/2 Tb. corn starch 4 1/2 Tb. water 2/3 cup orange marmalade, divided 2 Tb. butter 8 oz cream cheese, softened 1/3 cup sugar For the crust:

Crush graham crackers into crumbs until crumbs measure 2 cups.  Add sugar and stir.  Melt butter in separate bowl and pour into graham cracker mixture.  Mix until combined.  Press into 10 inch round tart pan and bake at 375 for 6 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool completely.

In heavy sauce pan, combine cherries, 1/2 cup sugar, corn starch and water.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly.  Bring to boil and cook for 1 minute or until thickened and bubbly.  Remove from heat.  Stir in 1/3 cup orange marmalade and 2 Tb. butter.  Cover and chill for 2 hours.

While cherries chill and crust cools, mix cream cheese, 1/3 cup sugar and remaining 1/3 cup orange marmalade together in medium bowl.

To assemble tart, spread cream cheese mixture on bottom of tart crust.  Cover with cherry mixture.  Chill if desired or serve immediately.  Enjoy!

Heart Shaped English Toffee



It’s becoming a tradition for me to make a batch of English toffee for my husband every Valentine’s Day.  He loves English toffee, but I don’t make it very often so it’s a thoughtful gift.  This year I wanted to try something other than broken shards of toffee in a bag or tin, so I sprayed some non-stick spray in some heart shaped metal pans and poured the hot toffee in them.


I then sprinkled the hot toffee with chocolate chips, let them melt a little, then spread the chocolate and pressed chopped pistachios into the cooling chocolate.  I worried that the toffee might be difficult to release from the pans, but they came out very easily and none of them broke.


I don’t think my husband cares what shape the toffee comes in, but I enjoyed trying something new.   Sometimes the best treats are common things in a new shape.

If you’re wondering, this is the toffee recipe I use:

English Toffee
Ingredients:
2 cups butter 2 cups sugar 1/4 tsp. salt 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips 1 cup finely chopped nuts (I used pistachios) In a large heavy bottomed saucepan, combine butter, sugar and salt.  Cook over medium heat, stirring until the butter is melted.  Allow to come to a boil, and cook until mixture becomes a dark amber color and the temperature has reached 285 degrees F.  (My recipe says to stir occasionally, but I’ve found that if I don’t stir pretty frequently the bottom sometimes burns.)

Line baking pan with aluminum foil or spray with non-stick spray.

When toffee reaches proper temperature, pour onto prepared pan.  Sprinkle chocolate chips over the top and let set a minute or two to soften.  Spread chocolate into thin even layer.  Sprinkle nuts over chocolate and press in slightly.

Place toffee in refrigerator, if desired, to speed setting.  Break into pieces and store in an airtight container.

Enjoy!


Hopeful Homemaker

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