Fruit Dessert Pizza Recipe

Here’s a yummy summer dessert idea I tried a while back for the teacher appreciation lunch at Gabe’s school. It must have been popular, because there were no leftovers to bring home that afternoon! I combined two recipes found on Pinterest to create this recipe: I followed the directions for this Summer Dessert Pizza, except instead of making the crust from scratch I used pre-made cookie dough, as suggested in this Fruit Pizza Recipe.

Ingredients:

CRUST:
1 -18 oz package refrigerated sugar cookie dough

GLAZE:
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup orange juice

TOPPING:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 cup whipped topping
1 firm banana, sliced
1 cup sliced fresh strawberries
1 can (8 ounces) mandarin oranges, drained
2 kiwifruit, peeled and thinly sliced
1/3 cup fresh blueberries

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
• For crust, cut cookie dough into slices and arrange on a 12-inch pizza pan, coated with non-stick spray. Press slices together to form a solid crust. Bake 12 to 15 minutes until golden. Crust is done when edges begin to brown.
• For glaze, combine sugar and cornstarch in a small saucepan. Stir in the water and orange juice until smooth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
• For topping, in a small bowl, beat cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Add whipped topping; mix well. Spread over cooled crust. Arrange fruit on top.
• Brush glaze over fruit. Store in the refrigerator. Yield: 12-16 servings.

Shamrock Rice Krispies Treats!

Shamrock Rice Krispies Treats for St. Patrick’s Day

Looking for a fun snack idea for St. Patrick’s Day? Here’s a cute shamrock rice crispy treat I made for the kids the other day :)!

Shamrock Rice Krispies Treat Ingredients:
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 package (10 oz., about 40) regular marshmallows
- OR -
4 cups miniature marshmallows
6 cups Kellogg’s® Rice Krispies® cereal
Green food coloring (oopsie – forgot to show this in the pic)
Green and white confetti sprinkles (optional)

Following the directions on the Rice Krispies site (found here), I made a batch of Rice Krispies treats, adding a few drops of green food coloring and green and white confetti sprinkles before spreading the treats into a pan lined with waxed or parchment paper. After allowing the treats to cool, I used a small heart-shaped cookie-cutter to cut out three heart shapes for each shamrock treat. TIP: if you line the pan with waxed or parchment paper, it will be easier to “pop” the shapes out after cutting them out with the cookie cutter, by pressing up from under the paper. Lastly, I arranged the three green Rice Krispies treat “shamrock leaves” around a pretzel stick stem. Easy and fun!

Have you made any fun St. Paddy’s Day snacks? If so, please link up, I’d love to see them :)! For more great St. Patrick’s Day ideas, check out my St. Patrick’s Day pin board on Pinterest!

Apple Bundles Recipe

Here’s a yummy treat we made at least three times this fall! A few friends have asked for the recipe, so I’ve included it at the end of this post :).

We get to use our super fun “Apple Peeler/Corer/Slicer” by The Pampered Chef when we make these!

The recipe is by The Pampered Chef, but I make it a little more simple – I’ve added my changes to the original recipe below :).

Apple Bundles

Source: The Pampered Chef

2 large Granny Smith apples
1 (235 g) package refrigerated crescent rolls
1 medium orange (I just use orange juice instead)
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup cinnamon ice cream or frozen whipped topping, thawed (I use vanilla ice cream)

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Peel, core, and slice apples using Apple Peeler/Corer/Slicer. Cut slices in half.

Unroll dough; separate into 8 triangles strips. Cut each in half to make 16 triangles strips. Place 3 or 4 apple slices at wide end of each strip and roll up. Arrange bundles in Deep Dish Baker (I use the oval baker).

Zest 1 teaspoon orange zest; set aside. (I skip this part)

Juice orange. Put into Deep Dish Baker, but not over bundles. Drizzle bundles with butter. (I just pour some orange juice in the bottom before adding the apple bundles)

Mix zest, sugar and cinnamon; spoon over bundles. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve with ice cream or whipped topping, if desired.

Strawberry Muffin Recipe

I made these muffins a couple of days ago. I had forgotten all about this recipe until I had a special request to share it here – this one’s just for you, Stephanie :)!

Strawberry Muffins

3/4 c. sugar
2 c. flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 egg
1 1/2 c. mashed strawberries (drained if frozen)
2 tbsp. melted butter
1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional)

Sift dry ingredients, add nuts to dry mix. Beat egg, and add butter and strawberries. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Stir only until blended. Pour into greased muffin tins. Bake at 425 degrees for 18-20 minutes. Makes 1 dozen. I found this recipe at cooks.com.

Tip for pretty muffin tops: A few minutes after the muffins are out of the oven, lightly spray the tops with cooking spray and sprinkle on some sugar. It gives them a bit of sparkle and a little more sweetness too!

Cranberry-Banana Bread

I am a big fan of yummy breads like this one I made for the first time the other day. I thought I’d share the recipe with you, which I found in the American Heartland cookbook, by Beatrice Ojakangas.

Cranberry-Banana Bread

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

2 eggs

1 cup mashed ripe bananas

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup dried cranberries or raisins

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts

Preheat oven to 350F (175C). Grease a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan. Beat sugar, butter and eggs in a large bowl until smooth and light. Stir in bananas and lemon juice.

Mix flour, baking powder, soda and salt in a small bowl. Stir dry ingredients into creamed mixture just until blended; do not overmix. Fold in cranberries and nuts.

Pour into greased pan and bake 50 to 60 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from pan; cool on a wire rack.

Makes 1 loaf.

And here is a Julia pic, just because ;). She still looks like a pretty baby girl, even with the blue toy and blanket, doesn’t she?