White Chocolate Almond Blueberry Blondies

Emily is a great food blogger who is taking it a step further than most. You’ll catch her once in awhile on one of the Food Network Challenges. Her blog is great and her recipes are always tasty. She just posted this recipe this week and I knew I had to make it. I had everything on hand, so why not? I shared these @ work and with friends here. Everyone liked them. Great twist on a dessert bar.

White Chocolate Almond Blueberry Blondies

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup finely chopped sliced almonds, toasted
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 large egg
4 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 1/4 cups blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 13x9-inch baking dish with foil; coat foil with cooking spray.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt; whisk in almonds. In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together butter and sugar until creamy - about 1 minute; beat in lemon zest and juice, almond extract and egg until combined - about 1 minute. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in flour mixture until combined; stir in white chocolate and blueberries until combined.

Spread batter into dish and bake 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely before lifting foil out of pan and slicing into bars.

Grilled Peaches with Honey & Goat Cheese

This recipe from Cara showed up in my Google Reader last month it looked so good we made it immediately. (Even if I can’t get around to blogging about it for a month or so) :) This is a great way to enjoy peaches with a meal you’re already grilling. And please, please don’t be scared of the goat cheese. I love goat cheese but for those who haven’t had it yet or are wierded out by it being with something sweet, trust me. It’s good.

Grilled Peaches with Honey & Goat Cheese

2 fresh summer peaches
a log of your favorite goat cheese
some honey
good quality cinnamon

Preheat the grill to medium-high heat, and spray with a nonstick grill spray or brush the grates with some oil (you'll be caramelizing right on the grates, so there's a good chance you'll get some stickage).

Cut the peaches in half and cut out the pits (you might want to cut around the pit, making a bigger hole, if you want to be able to fit more goat cheese in there!).

Sprinkle the cut halves with some sugar, then place cut side down on the grill for about 10-15 minutes. Turn them over, place some crumbled goat cheese in each peach and close the grill for another few minutes to warm the cheese.

Remove to a platter, drizzle with honey, and sprinkle with cinnamon. Cool for just a bit, but not too long

Strawberry Sorbet

With strawberries on sale this week & the 100 degree temps of a Texas June, this strawberry sorbet recipe form Annie’s blog was perfect. I didn’t have any kirsch on hand so I added 1 Tbsp of a white wine I had in the fridge. This was delicious on it’s own, but when topped with a little fat free whipped cream, it was even better.

Strawberry Sorbet

1 lb. fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. kirsch (optional)

1 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

Pinch of salt

Slice the strawberries and toss them in a medium bowl with the sugar and kirsch, if using, stirring until the sugar begins to dissolve.  Cover and let stand for 1 hour, stirring every so often.

Puree the strawberries and their liquid with the lemon juice and salt in a blender or food processor until smooth.  Press the mixture through a strainer to remove the seeds if you wish.

Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Source: The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

Bananaberry Walnut Bread

I had a few bananas that had ripened before I could get to them. So I decided to make banana bread. We also had chopped walnuts & dried blueberries on hand, so why not add them in too. J This recipe is based on this on that I found on BettyCrocker.com with my little additions. Simple enough, but it made it made the house smell delicious!!

Bananaberry Walnut Bread

1 1/4 Cups Sugar

1/2 Cup Butter, softened

2 eggs

1 1/2 Cups mashed very ripe bananas

1/2 Cup Buttermilk

1 Tsp Vanilla

2 1/2 Cups Flour

1 Tsp Baking Soda

1 Tsp salt

1 Cup chopped walnuts

1/2 Cup dried blueberries

 

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom & sides of 1 loaf pan

Mix sugar & butter in a large bowl. Stir in eggs until well blended. Add bananas, buttermilk, & vanilla. Beat until smooth. Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt, just until moistened. Mix in nuts & blueberries. Pour into your loaf pan.

Bake for about an hour and 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for at least 10 minutes before removing from pan and setting on a wire rack to cool completely (about 2 hours)

Avocado Shake

I had the most amazing avocado gelato the last time I was at Whole Foods. I’ve only had avocado before as something savory; never anything sweet. The gelato got me thinking that I could do a shake similar to it.

We always have avocado in the fridge and I had some non-fat sweetened condensed milk that I found in the pantry. So out of that, comes the lovely pale green avocado shake.

You’ve got to be brave. Cancy didn’t like it. He said it tasted it like grass. I, however thought it tasted almost just like the gelato from Whole Foods. Granted, we probably won’t make this very often but it was fun experiment.

Avocado Shake

1 medium ripe avocado

1 cup ice

1/2 cup non-fat sweetened condensed milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 to 1/2 cup skim milk

Scoop the avocado flesh into the blender. Add the ice, condensed milk, & vanilla. Add only 1/4 cup of the skim milk and begin blending. Add additional milk to reach the right consistency.