Category Archives: Desserts

Russian Tea Cakes

14 Replies

Russian Tea Cakes aka snowballs or Mexican Wedding Cakes (or Dust Balls as we called them. These are my favorite Christmas cookies. Super easy and they melt in your mouth.

Who doesn’t love a Christmas Cookie Exchange?

Find several great Christmas cookie recipes and link up your own Christmas cookie recipe!

We would like to share with you some of our favorite Christmas cookies!  We can’t give you the actual cookie, but we can give you the recipes!  You can see one of my favorite Christmas cookie recipes below, and then find links to several other great Christmas cookie recipes at the bottom of this post.   We have also provided a linky on the bottom for you to link up your favorite Christmas cookies!  Come participate in our Online Christmas Cookie Exchange!

Here’s my recipe:

So only the recipe card says Russian Tea Cakes. The name we actually growing up calling this fabulous little cookies by? No, not snowball cookies like the rest of the world. Our name was a little more unique. We called them Dust Balls. That’s actually the name I still call them. But for some reason, I don’t think a cookie recipe called Dust Balls would go over well to the rest of the world so I’m calling them Russian Tea Cakes once again for the sake of this post.  What name do you use for these cookies? I know others who call them Mexican Wedding Cakes too.

Now that we got the name out of the way, let me tell you that I LOVE these cookies. They are easily in my top 3 Christmas cookies to make each year. They are delicate – like little balls of shortbread rolled in powdered sugar. I also love that they aren’t overly sweet.

Do yourself a favor and make a double batch while you are at it! The 24 cookies will be gone in no time – they are that addicting. They keep well in the freezer as well.

The nuts in this recipe are optional in my book. We do it both ways. Growing up, a lot of us kids didn’t like nuts messing with our desserts but now walnuts and pecans are some of my favorite things. Do what will make your family happy.

5.0 from 3 reviews
Print
Russian Tea Cakes
Serves: 24 cookies
 
Ingredients
  • 1 cup butter, room temperature
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • ½ cup powdered sugar
  • 2¼ cups flour
  • ¾ cup chopped nuts
  • additional powdered sugar
Instructions
  1. Cream butter and sugar.
  2. Sift flour and salt. Add to butter mixture.
  3. Blend in vanilla and nuts.
  4. Form in 1 inch balls.
  5. Bake at 350 degrees for 14 minutes.
  6. While warm roll in powdered sugar.

 

Russian Tea Cakes aka snowballs or Mexican Wedding Cakes (or Dust Balls as we called them. These are my favorite Christmas cookies. Super easy and they melt in your mouth.

You can go to the following blogs to see their Christmas cookie recipes.  These recipes are also first on the linky below.  

Creative K Kids — Santa’s Surprises
 Simple Hacks Living — Candy Cane Snowballs
Gypsy Road — Incense & Peppermint
My Life Abundant — My Favorite Cookie with Ernest T. Bass
Home Garden Joy — Christmas Cookie Recipe Fudge Ecstasy Cookies
Barbara Vogelgesang — 12 Days of Christmas Cookies – Rainbow Cookies
From this Kitchen Table — Russian Tea Cakes – The Best Christmas Cookie Ever
Baking With Mom — Christmas Cut Out Sugar Cookies
Back Home Again — Nutella Cookies
Surviving Toddlerhood — Almond Joy Cookie Bites {Grain Free, Refined Sugar Free, Egg Free}
Creative Pink Butterfly — Coconut Macaroon Recipe
The Southern Fried Bride — Peppermint Wonderland Bars
One Hoolie Mama — 5 Ingredient Christmas Cookies
Snapshots and Snippets — Snowmen Cookies

You can also follow our Online Exchange Christmas Cookie Pinterest Board HERE to see all the  posts that are linked up below plus some other great Christmas posts that we find!

Follow our Online Christmas Cookie Exchange Board on Pinterest!

We would love it if you grabbed our button so that others can find this linky!

Creative K Kids

Link up your Christmas cookie recipes, and they will be seen on all the hosts’ blogs!

Linking up to these fun parties!

Caramel Apple Bars

21 Replies

The most amazing caramel apple bars! I love these better than pie and crisp - it's that good. Perfect dessert for any meal and you can make the day before. Yum!

Caramel and apples make a perfect match and putting the two together in bar form is no exception. Did you hear that? Bar form! Yes, that means you can pick these up and take a bite out of them. You can’t do that with apple crisp or apple pie! If you want to dress this dessert up even more, place it on a plate and top with some vanilla ice cream and dig in with a fork, but you don’t have to (unlike that pesky pie and crisp that everyone seems to think needs either ice cream or whipped cream)!

I want to know who said Thanksgiving dessert has to be pie? I think Caramel Apple Bars would be the perfect ending to the big turkey dinner. Save yourself the hassle of rolling crusts this year. 🙂

I use my yummy homemade caramel sauce. You’ll have about 1/2 cup leftover to top ice cream, drizzle into apple cider, or I suppose you could even drizzle each serving of these bars with even more caramel.

(And remember that fabulous apple pie ice cream recipe I posted a while back? You could easily substitute these bars for the pie!)

4.5 from 4 reviews
Print
Caramel Apple Bars
 
Ingredients
  • 1¾ cups flour
  • 1⅔ cups rolled oats
  • 1½ cups brown sugar
  • 14 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup caramel sauce
  • 3 cups of diced peeled apples
Instructions
  1. Combine oats, flour, sugar, soda, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. Mix. Add in softened butter and stir until mixture comes together.
  2. Press a little over half (around 2½ cups) of the mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan.
  3. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
  4. Remove from oven and spread diced apples over the crust. Drizzle apples with caramel sauce and top with remaining oat mixture.
  5. Bake for 25 more minutes.
  6. Cool and cut into squares.
Notes
I use my homemade caramel sauce. You could also use jarred.

  The most amazing caramel apple bars! I love these better than pie and crisp - it's that good. Perfect dessert for any meal and you can make the day before. Yum!

For another great fall dessert, check out this Pumpkin Cheesecake:

Layered Pumpkin Cheesecake. The perfect dessert to finish any meal. Uses a pie pan too - no special pan necessary!

Linking up to these fun parties!

Homemade Apple Pie Ice Cream

7 Replies

Oh my goodness! This homemade apple pie ice cream is incredible - all time favorite for our entire family. MUST make. (Plan for extra pie this Thanksgiving!)

Vanilla ice cream and apple pie, also known as my husband’s favorite dessert. Combine the two together and you have perfection. Creamy vanilla ice cream with a touch of cinnamon and real apple pie bites mixed in and you have the perfect fall dessert. Ice cream is the ideal ending to any meal, even as the outdoor temperatures cool down and this recipe proves it.

I have an addiction to homemade ice cream. In fact, my automatic ice cream maker is my favorite kitchen appliance.

After months of thinking about it, we finally experimented and made Homemade Apple Pie Ice Cream. Let me tell you, it should have happened a long time ago. This recipe is a winner. My husband declared the ice cream exceptional and a good friend said it was her favorite ice cream of the many I’ve made so far!

I made this ice cream lightly sweetened because I knew the apple pie was going to be added and we all thought it was perfect. You can make the pie from scratch or purchase one.

Also, if you have an immediate ice cream craving and don’t want to take the time to cook  and cool the ice cream, simply combine all the ingredients (making sure the cream and milk are thoroughly chilled – if you just bought it from the store, it won’t be cold enough) excluding the pie in the blender (or use beaters and a bowl) and combine well and pour into the ice cream maker. (If you don’t like eating raw eggs, you can leave the yolks out.) Freeze according to machine instructions and mix in pie at the end.

Don’t forget to check out my tips for using your automatic ice cream maker!

Oh my goodness! This homemade apple pie ice cream is incredible - all time favorite for our entire family. MUST make. (Plan for extra pie this Thanksgiving!)Plan to have extra apple pie after your Thanksgiving dinner this year, you won’t regret it!

5.0 from 1 reviews
Print
Apple Pie Ice Cream
 
Ingredients
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1½ cups whole milk
  • 2 egg yolks
  • ¼ -1/2 cup honey (or ½-1 cup white sugar)
  • dash salt
  • 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder (or cornstarch)
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • ¼ of an apple pie
Instructions
  1. Put dairy, honey, arrowroot powder, cinnamon and a dash of salt in a pan over low heat. Use a whisk to stir as mixture heats.
  2. Combine egg yolks and honey in a small bowl.
  3. Slowly add ½-1 cup of the of heated cream to the egg yolks (stirring constantly). Then slowly add the egg mixture to the pan of cream, whisking constantly.
  4. Heat the ice cream mixture gently until it thickens slightly. (Don't let it come to a boil.) It will take around 5 minutes.
  5. Remove from heat and add vanilla.
  6. As the ice cream mixture cools, stir it occasionally to keep a skim from forming on the top.
  7. Put ice cream into the refrigerator and chill at least 6 hours.
  8. Put mixture into ice cream maker and freeze according to your ice cream maker instructions.
  9. Chop apple pie into bite sized pieces and stir into the frozen ice cream.
  10. Serve immediately or put in freezer to have a more solid ice cream.
Notes
I used the ¼ cup of honey since the apple pie adds additional sweetness. If you like things sweeter, use the larger amount!

 

Linking up to these fun parties!

 

Frozen Grapes The Easiest Snack Ever

39 Replies

Frozen Grapes! Such a genius idea and they make the easiest snack ever. Plus, they are Whole30 approved!

I can’t be the only one. I’m sure we’ve all had times we’ve tried to cut back on sweeteners (even honey and maple syrup). Other times wheat or dairy.  We are in the middle of a Whole30 right now, so that means we are doing without all of those.

Sure, things like ice cream and popcorn aren’t a necessary part of our diets but sometimes I just want something cold and refreshing or a snack I can sit down in front of a movie with to munch on. Dried fruit, fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts. All great options but none really have that special snack edge that ice cream does. 🙂

I remember discovering this super tasty way to eat grapes years ago when I was in high school and have used it every since. You need to try it! It might sound weird, but it’s sooo good and frozen grapes make the easiest snack ever. (Plus, they are Whole30 approved.)

Here’s your super easy instructions:

  1. When grapes go on sale, stock up! Buy pounds of them.
  2. Pick the grapes off the stem and place in a colander. Rinse well and then dump on a towel to dry.
  3. Then simply pour them onto rimmed baking sheets in a single layer and stick in the freezer.
  4. Once frozen, put in a zipped freezer bag and they’ll be sitting in the freezer waiting for you to fill up a bowl to munch on.

Unlike most fruit, you can eat these straight out of the freezer. No thawing necessary. They are the perfect texture. My husband says they taste like a slushy. 🙂

What’s your favorite frozen fruit? Have you had frozen grapes before?

5.0 from 3 reviews
Print
Frozen Grapes - The Easiest Snack Ever
 
Ingredients
  • Grapes
Instructions
  1. Pick grapes off the stem and put in colander.
  2. Rinse well and pour onto a towel to dry.
  3. Put grapes on rimmed baking sheets in a single layer and place in the freezer.
  4. Once frozen (give it several hours), transfer to zipped storage bags or containers.
  5. Eat directly out of the freezer.

 

Linking up to these fun parties!

 

Frozen Yogurt Pops

6 Replies

Frozen Yogurt Pops - Blueberry or orange from the 100 Days of Real Food Cookbook! They are so good!

Homemade Popsicles are a favorite in our house! They make the perfect sized afternoon snack (even breakfast at times) for my 3 year old. I typically don’t use a recipe, but instead just dump things in the blender and let it whirl away.

A couple weeks ago I talked about one of my new favorite cookbooks, 100 Days of Read Food (you can buy the book on Amazon – affiliate link). The post got long enough I didn’t have a chance to share one of the recipes I tried from it.

Frozen Yogurt Pops - Blueberry or orange from the 100 Days of Real Food Cookbook! They are so good!

My daughter chose what we would make first. She selected these Frozen Yogurt Pops. No Surprise considering she loves the color purple. She helped measure the ingredients, dump them in the blender, and hold the button down. Definitely an easy recipe for the young chef.

This is a snapshot of what a page looks like in the book (there is also a picture that goes with the recipe, such as the one on the top of this post):

Frozen Yogurt Pops - Blueberry or orange from the 100 Days of Real Food Cookbook! They are so good!

Of course we chose the purple option and used all blueberries since that’s what we had and decreased the maple syrup slightly. The half batch filled our 6 little blue Ikea popsicle molds.

The verdict? My daughter voted them a winner! She thoroughly enjoyed them.

Print
Frozen Yogurt Pops - Orange Cream and Mixed Berry
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
 
Ingredients
Orange Cream
  • 2 cups plain yogurt
  • 1 cup orange juice
  • ⅓ cup maple syrup
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Mixed Berry
  • 2 cups plain yogurt
  • 1 cup frozen mixed berries
  • ½ cup maple syrup
Instructions
For the Orange Cream:
  1. Whisk together all the ingredients in a bowl. Pour into popsicle molds and insert sticks. Freeze completely - 4-5 hours or overnight.
For the Mixed Berry:
  1. Place all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Pour into popsicle molds and insert sticks. Freeze completely - 4-5 hours or overnight.

What’s your favorite popsicle combination?

Linking up to these fun parties!