Mini Lemon Tarts

 

I made these last year as a snacky dessert for a Christmas Eve party. They were an instant hit. They weren't easy, but they were so enjoyed it made the time they took all worth it. I think I'm getting an itch for something lemony!

 

 

Mini Lemon Tarts

serving size: 24

 

lemon curd:

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (4 to 5 lemons)

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

4 large eggs plus 1 large yolk

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon size slices

 

Whisk together the granulated sugar, lemon juice, salt and eggs in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan (off the stove). Once the mixture is blended, place over medium heat and cook while stirring, until the curd is thick. This will take about 8 minutes. Whisk in the butter piece by piece; it will loosen up slightly. Pour curd into a large measuring cup and refrigerate to allow to thicken.

 

tart crust:

1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup fine granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, cold

2 egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2-3 teaspoons cold water

 

Sift flour, sugar and salt into mixing bowl. Cut chilled butter into pieces into the bowl. Using your fingertips, quickly rub the butter and dry ingredients together until the mixture resembles coarse meal. You can also use a pastry knife as I hate having sticky fingers...uck!

 

Stir egg yolks, vanilla and water together and add to the flour-butter mixture and blend in using a fork. Shape dough into a ball.

 

Place the ball of dough on a pastry board. Knead. Or as Mama put it so eloquently "With the heel of your hand, smear about 1/4 cup of dough away from you into a 6-8 inch smear; repeat until all the dough has been dealt with." Scrape dough together; reform into a disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for about 2 hours.

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a 24-cup mini muffin tin with cooking spray well so the crusts will not stick to the pan. Roll the dough out between 2 sheets of wax paper. Taking a small portion of the dough create a small 2" disc and tuck the dough into muffin cups, pressing with your fingertips so that the dough comes up the sides of the cup.

 

Using a fork prick the bottoms of each dough cup. Then cut 3″ squares of foil and press them into the inside of the dough cups. Use pie weights, beans or rice or even pennies to weigh down the foil (I did not do this the first time and I wish I did). 

 

Bake the crusts for about 10 minutes. Remove them from the oven and take out the foil and pie weights and then return the crusts to the oven for another 5-9 minutes until the crusts are lightly golden on the edges. Everyone’s oven is different so you really have to keep an eye on the crusts. Too much and it will be dry and crumbly.

 

put it together:

 Remove the crusts from the oven  and allow to cool  and remove and place on serving tray. Now, carefully add the lemon curd. Use a spoon to guide the curd from the measuring cup and into the crusts. Fill tarts. (Some people opt to bake @350f for 10 minutes, if so, fill below the brim)

 

For a garnish I used raspberries, mint leaves and candied lemon slices. They were a hit!

 

 

For the original recipe for this lemon curd go to Food Network w/ Jamie Deen

For the original recipe for the lemon tart crust go to Mama's Gotta Bake

Peanut Butter Balls

These are Jon's favorite! Last year I had to make two batches, one to give away to neighbors, family and friends and one batch just for his personal consumption. I have to admit they are pretty good. Enjoy this traditional favorite.

Peanut Butter Balls

2 cups of powdered sugar

1/4 cup of butter

1 cup of chunky peanut butter

1 cup of chopped walnuts

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 package of semi sweet chocolate chips

 

Mix all the above ingredients together except the chocolate chips. It may appear to be slightly crumbly. This is normal.

 

Melt chocolate chips in a bowl in the microwave (probably don't want it to be metal). I did increments of 1 minute stirring in between. It took a total of 3 minutes to melt. You can also use a double boiler if you would like to be fancy about it. Also, if you would like to add paraffin to your chocolate this will help them set up (harden) faster.

 

 

Now roll you peanut butter mixture into little balls. Roll them to be about the size of a small bouncy ball ( I know, odd reference). Then dip the balls using a spoon into the melted chocolate. Roll the peanut butter ball against the side of the bowl with the spoon ensuring the entire thing is coated with chocolate. Now, remove the ball from the chocolate bowl and place on wax or parchment paper. If you would like, feel free to top them with something fun. To half the batch I added some white chocolate peppermint candies. Now that they're pretty let them sit for an hour to become hardened. Then, eat your heart out!

 

 

Like this recipe? Try my other holiday favorites :) like SANTA THUMBPRINTS, BETTY CROCKER LEMON BARS, or BRE'S CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES!

 

Santa Thumprints

We meet again for my favorite holiday cookie of  them all...the Santa Thumbprints! I love these guys. They are like an oatmeal cookies (my favorite kind) rolled in chopped walnuts (I like those too) and filled with jam (what a combination).

Santa Thumbprints

 

1 1/2 cups of butter Crisco (I used 3/4 cup of butter and 3/4 cup of shortening)

1 cup of firmly packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 tablespoon of vanilla

2 1/2 cups of uncooked oats

2 cups of flour

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 cup of chopped nuts (I used walnuts)

2/3 cup of fruit preserve

 

Heat oven to 350f. In a large bowl cream together the Crisco and brown sugar.

 

 

Then add the egg, vanilla and salt.

 

 

 Once combined add the flour and oatmeal. It will be easier if you add it in parts instead of adding it all and trying to stir it all at once. It can get a little messy.

 

 

Roll into small balls. They rise a little, but not much. Put the chopped walnuts in bowl. Roll the balls into the chopped walnuts and place on a cookie sheet . Put a piece of parchment paper on the cookie sheet. This will save you some scrubbing and speed up your time between batches. Once cookies are on the sheet press down with your thumb in the middle of each ball making a crater (I should of took a photo). Now fill the crater with fruit preserve.

 

 

Bake for 12-15 minutes (mine took 14 minutes)

As a little girl we would go blackberry picking every summer. Our freezer would be full of bags of frozen blackberries and on special occasions we would even make blackberry jam. If you would really like to make these special try using some homemade jam. Those years we used homemade blackberry jam I couldn't keep my paws away from them.

Love these? Try some other holiday goodies like Bre's chocolate chip cookies, Betty Crocker lemon bars or peanut butter balls.

Bre's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Today is our wild card folks! This recipe is from Bre's kitchen, a dear friend from college. I have to be honest. It has been over a year since I have talked to her. Have you ever noticed whenever someone seems to cross your mind you somehow connect with them. Just today I recieved a facebook from her. What a joy it was to receive. Without further explantion, here it is, Bre's best!

Bre's Chocolate Chip Cookies:

 

2 sticks of butter

3/4 cups of brown sugar

3/4 cups of white sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp of vanilla

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 1/2 cups of flour

1 bag of chocolate chips (2 cups)

Heat oven to 375 F (if you have stoneware to cook with put it in the oven now)

Cream together butter, vanilla, eggs and sugars. Sift together salt, soda and flour. Add to wet ingredients in three parts. It will make the stirring process a whole lot easier and a lot less messy. Once well combined add chips and stir.

Drop (2 tablespoon sized) balls onto the cookie sheet using your hands or a spoon. These will spread so make sure they are two inches apart. They will take 8-10 minutes to cook. Mine were perfect at 9 minutes. They will be thin. If you prefer them to be thicker you can add more flour.

Enjoy!

A Cookie a Day Keeps the Sweet Tooth at Bay

Stay faithful yee warriors of wee ones! I had to keep reminding myself of this daily during the month of November. Poor baby girl is teething once again and her sleep is very disrupted which means Momma Bear's (yes, Megan and Ashley I did say it this time) sleep is very disrupted. I feel like I've been transported back into college and lived the dreaded finals week over 4 times in a row.

But, I have my fingers crossed that things are getting better. I'm encouraged to be here again with you and find refuge in sharing the things in life that make me tick like good food, crafty projects, great people and Jesus.

The theme for this week, " A cookie a day keeps the sweet tooth at bay" or at least some of us would like to think so :) This week I will be drummin' up some of my families Christmas favorites. Fond memories flood my senses when I smell any one of these tasty treats brewin'. For kicks I threw in one wild card, a recipe I received from a dear friend in college. Her mom was a fabulous baker and she definitely passed down the talent to her sweet daughter.

Betty Crocker Lemon Bars
Santa Thumbprints
Peanut Butter Balls
Bre's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Stick with me. This week will be fabulous as we get ready for the holiday season and I share a treat a day from my families kitchen a bestow it upon yours.