Creamy Brown Butter Yogurt Apple Pie

So much happened this weekend.

Thursday, I attended a #BlogKC/#KCBloggerMeetup event at Sak’s Off 5th Avenue.  I didn’t know what to expect and when I walked in, I was a little overwhelmed.  I was given a $25 gift card and a name tag at the front and then we all got to do some major shopping for 2 hours.  In between the exhausting shopping (such a tough job) snacks were provided – brownies, savory tarts, cream puffs, and sangria – and more gift cards were given out.  I walked out with a new shirt and some fellow blogger friends.  Pretty successful if you ask me.

Friday, I had dinner with Kellen and a few friends at P.F. Changs.  We were gettin’ our noodles in to prepare for the Color Run the next morning.

I’m sure you can guess that Saturday I ran the color run with some friends.  Ohhh my gosh they aren’t kidding when they say it’s the “happiest 5k on earth.”  It was so fun!  Every kilometer, volunteers squirt you with paint.  It’s like chalk and they put it in ketchup/mustard containers and you can get as colorful or not colorful as you want.  There were 30,000 people who signed up for this color run… isn’t that CRAZY?  It was a really awesome experience and the race went by so quickly.  Easily the most fun 5k I’ve ever run.

Afterward, I spent the day hanging out with my some of favorite people.  Perfect weekend.

Nothing can top off a good weekend like a HUGE slice of pie.  So if you had a good weekend, make this pie and finish yours off well, too.  If you didn’t have a good weekend, then you should still try this pie… it’ll make it better.

Have you heard of the color run?  I had never heard of it until about 6 months ago.

Creamy Brown Butter Yogurt Apple Pie
Adapted from: Food.com

Ingredients:

Pie:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ¼ cup plain yogurt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 5 cups apples (5-7 medium)
• 1 unbaked pie shell

Streusel:

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup firm butter

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 400°F. In 1-quart saucepan, cook 1/4 cup butter over medium heat, stirring constantly, until melted and lightly browned. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.
2. In a mixer, beat 1/2 cup granulated sugar and the egg until light and fluffy. Beat in 2 tablespoons flour, vanilla, and cinnamon. Beat in cooled butter and yogurt. Gently stir in apples. Pour into crust-lined pan.
3. In medium bowl, stir together all streusel ingredients except butter. With pastry blender or fork, cut in 1/4 cup butter until mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over apples. Place pie on cookie sheet in oven.
4. Bake 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F and cover edge of crust with strips of foil to prevent excessive browning. Bake 40 to 50 minutes longer or until apples are tender and crust is golden brown. Let cool and eat!

 

Avocado Basil Pesto

When I was in 3rd grade, I got 3rd place in a spelling bee contest.  I remember, I lost on the word “calendar.”  I spelled it with an e instead of an a: “calender.”

I cried.  Isn’t that silly?  I should have been happy that I got 3rd place, but I cried.  I didn’t feel so bad anymore, though, when the boy who got 2nd ran to the corner of the gym and started bawling.

I guess the moral of this story is…well, I’m a pretty good speller but there are a few words that trip me up.  Avocado, for example.  I want to spell it “avacado” every. single. time.  Those vowels man, I tell you what.

Anyway, I just felt it necessary that I tell you guys that story.

I don’t care how you spell avocado, all I know is that you should make this pesto.  It seriously takes 5 minutes to make, and if you put it on pasta, you’ll have a healthy and delicious dinner served up in 20 minutes flat.  Do it.

What words do you have trouble spelling?

 

Avocado Basil Pesto
From: A Cozy Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh basil leaves
• 2 teaspoons garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon sliced almonds
• 1 lemon, for zest and juice
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 medium avocado

Directions:

1. In a food processor or blender, add the basil, garlic salt, almonds, zest from 1/2 of the lemon, juice from the whole lemon, salt and pepper.
2. Blend until chopped, scraping down the sides, if need be.
3. With the blender running, slowly add the olive oil and blend until smooth.
4. Add the avocado and blend once more. If the mixture is a bit too thick (mine was), add a few tablespoons of water and blend one last time.

Creamy Corn Soup

I’m so glad everyone loved Rach’s post as much as I did.

To keep it savory, I’m giving you a delicccious creamy corn soup recipe.  Creamed corn is delicious.  Probably because it’s the bad-for-you form of regular corn.  I’m okay with that.

If I can make an excuse to turn it into soup and make it into an acceptable meal, I will…and I did.

This is so good, especially with sweet cornbread (if you click on this link, please excuse the terrible pictures.) If you’re looking for a quick, but yummy meal, this is the one for you.

Creamy Corn Soup
All Recipes

Ingredients

• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon garlic salt
• 1 tablespoon margarine
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 (12 ounce) cans whole kernel corn
• 2 1/2 tablespoons cream cheese
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• ground cayenne pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a large pot over medium heat, combine the onion, garlic, parsley and butter or margarine. Saute for about 5 minutes, or until onions are tender.
2. Add the flour, stirring well, to make a pasty mixture. Whisk in the milk and the broth. Add the corn and the cream cheese and allow to heat through. Add the garlic salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper to taste. Stir together and serve.

Gooey Butter Bars

I’m taking a Public Relations class and I love it.  The people in it are awesome and so is my teacher.  Everyone gets along really well and it’s the class that I wake up on Tuesdays and Thursdays looking forward to.

We have to come up with a fundraiser for an organization, so last class we spent the period coming up with ideas. We were to see what people think of our ideas.  So far, this is what we have:

Movie Night

Adult Spelling Bee

Potty Protection Insurance

3 on 3 tourney
Bake Sale

Canned Food Drive

Improv Show

Tupperware Fundraiser

Talent Show

Cheesecake Calendar

Dance Off

School Carnival

Walk a thon

Wii Dance off

Clean Yards

Recycle Printer Cartridges/Cell Phones

Big Brothers/Big Sisters

Slow Pitch Softball

Orange Juice Pong

Pie Eating Contest

50/50 Raffle

Bachelor/Bachelorette

BBQ Contest

Board Game/ Card Game

Butler Auction

Karaoke Night

Trivia Night

Fun Night

Haunted House in April

Dodgeball Tournament 

I’m personally favoring the eating contest and bake sale.  I would really like to hear your guys’ input!  What do you think people would like?

If we’re going to have a bake sale, I figure that I need to be baking more… ya know, for practice.  So my goal is to bake more often.  (If that’s even possible.) Starting now, with these Gooey Butter Bars…


Have you guys ever had Gooey Butter Cake before?  I hadn’t, but I had always heard that it was really good.  I saw the recipe for these bars on Jessica’s blog and thought they looked really good, but I wasn’t really planning on making them.  But then I was brainstorming at work with my friends about what to bake to pass out at the store and my friend Roxie was explaining something she had tried at a restaurant before and it sounded just like this recipe.  I got really excited and made it and oh wow… they’re creamy on the inside and they’ve got sort of a caramelized top layer and a soft and chewy bottom crust.  I had 3, Kellen (who doesn’t like sweets, remember) had 2 and then I brought them to work and Roxie had 3, too.   Then, one of my other friends asked if he could take the rest home with him. Yeah, they’re pretty good.


I know I always tell you guys to make stuff, but… make these!!


P.S. I saw this healthy vegan fudge over at Chocolate Covered Katie and really wanted to try it, but I don’t have any coconut butter.. but then I saw that she’s giving coconut butter away.  Isn’t that crazy?? So I entered to win… send me good luck!! 🙂


P.P.S. I didn’t get a finished product picture. 😦  They were eaten too quickly.

 Mix dry ingredients for crust.

 Add the wet ingredients.

 Have your helper press the crust into a pan. 🙂

 Mix the filling…

 …until creamy.

 Okay, so it’s really ugly… but the taste completely picks up what the looks lack.

Gooey Butter Bars (from scratch version)
Jessica- How Sweet Eats 

• FOR THE CRUST:
• 2 cups sugar
• 2-½ cups All-purpose Flour
• 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• 1 stick Unsalted Butter, melted
• 1 whole Egg
• 1/4 cup milk

• FOR THE FILLING:
• 8 ounces, weight Cream Cheese, At Room Temperature
• 2 whole Eggs
• 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1 stick Unsalted Butter, melted
• 3-¾ cups Confectioner’s Sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Prepare crust first. In a large mixing bowl, combine the crust ingredients with a wooden spoon until moist. Transfer to a 13″x9″ ungreased baking pan and spread evenly over the bottom of the pan. Set aside.
3.  Next, prepare the filling. In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add the eggs, vanilla, and melted butter, and continue to mix. Next, add the confectioner’s sugar one cup at a time until all sugar is mixed in. Pour filling over the crust, and spread evenly with a spatula.
4.  Bake gooey butter cake for 40-45 minutes until it is browned, but the center is still jiggles when the pan is shaken. Cool for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with additional confectioner’s sugar and serve.

Gooey Butter Bars

I’m taking a Public Relations class and I love it.  The people in it are awesome and so is my teacher.  Everyone gets along really well and it’s the class that I wake up on Tuesdays and Thursdays looking forward to.

We have to come up with a fundraiser for an organization, so last class we spent the period coming up with ideas. We were to see what people think of our ideas.  So far, this is what we have:

Movie Night

Adult Spelling Bee

Potty Protection Insurance

3 on 3 tourney
Bake Sale

Canned Food Drive

Improv Show

Tupperware Fundraiser

Talent Show

Cheesecake Calendar

Dance Off

School Carnival

Walk a thon

Wii Dance off

Clean Yards

Recycle Printer Cartridges/Cell Phones

Big Brothers/Big Sisters

Slow Pitch Softball

Orange Juice Pong

Pie Eating Contest

50/50 Raffle

Bachelor/Bachelorette

BBQ Contest

Board Game/ Card Game

Butler Auction

Karaoke Night

Trivia Night

Fun Night

Haunted House in April

Dodgeball Tournament 

I’m personally favoring the eating contest and bake sale.  I would really like to hear your guys’ input!  What do you think people would like?

If we’re going to have a bake sale, I figure that I need to be baking more… ya know, for practice.  So my goal is to bake more often.  (If that’s even possible.) Starting now, with these Gooey Butter Bars…


Have you guys ever had Gooey Butter Cake before?  I hadn’t, but I had always heard that it was really good.  I saw the recipe for these bars on Jessica’s blog and thought they looked really good, but I wasn’t really planning on making them.  But then I was brainstorming at work with my friends about what to bake to pass out at the store and my friend Roxie was explaining something she had tried at a restaurant before and it sounded just like this recipe.  I got really excited and made it and oh wow… they’re creamy on the inside and they’ve got sort of a caramelized top layer and a soft and chewy bottom crust.  I had 3, Kellen (who doesn’t like sweets, remember) had 2 and then I brought them to work and Roxie had 3, too.   Then, one of my other friends asked if he could take the rest home with him. Yeah, they’re pretty good.


I know I always tell you guys to make stuff, but… make these!!


P.S. I saw this healthy vegan fudge over at Chocolate Covered Katie and really wanted to try it, but I don’t have any coconut butter.. but then I saw that she’s giving coconut butter away.  Isn’t that crazy?? So I entered to win… send me good luck!! 🙂


P.P.S. I didn’t get a finished product picture. 😦  They were eaten too quickly.

 Mix dry ingredients for crust.

 Add the wet ingredients.

 Have your helper press the crust into a pan. 🙂

 Mix the filling…

 …until creamy.

 Okay, so it’s really ugly… but the taste completely picks up what the looks lack.

Gooey Butter Bars (from scratch version)
Jessica- How Sweet Eats 

• FOR THE CRUST:
• 2 cups sugar
• 2-½ cups All-purpose Flour
• 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• 1 stick Unsalted Butter, melted
• 1 whole Egg
• 1/4 cup milk

• FOR THE FILLING:
• 8 ounces, weight Cream Cheese, At Room Temperature
• 2 whole Eggs
• 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1 stick Unsalted Butter, melted
• 3-¾ cups Confectioner’s Sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Prepare crust first. In a large mixing bowl, combine the crust ingredients with a wooden spoon until moist. Transfer to a 13″x9″ ungreased baking pan and spread evenly over the bottom of the pan. Set aside.
3.  Next, prepare the filling. In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add the eggs, vanilla, and melted butter, and continue to mix. Next, add the confectioner’s sugar one cup at a time until all sugar is mixed in. Pour filling over the crust, and spread evenly with a spatula.
4.  Bake gooey butter cake for 40-45 minutes until it is browned, but the center is still jiggles when the pan is shaken. Cool for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with additional confectioner’s sugar and serve.