Browsing Tag

lemon

Lavender Lemon Cupcakes

 

Granola Girl Bakes Lavender Lemon cupcakes 8This baking spree was somewhat of a work assignment for me…. does it get much better than being able to bake cupcakes for work?! 🙂  Moist Lemon Pound Cake, Lemon Cream cheese-buttercream frosting, and a touch of edible Lavender on top of this cupcake for a beautiful presentation and burst of flavor! I chose to naturally color the icing as I wanted more of an organic “lavender” color. I simply heated 1/2 cup frozen blueberries and then pressed firmly to release juices. The blueberry juice added the loveliest color purple to the frosting! These cupcakes are sure to be a favorite. Give them a try! 🙂

Yields approximately 24 delightfully delicious cupcakes!

For the Cupcake
  1. 3/4 cup butter, room temperature
  2. 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
  3. 1 1/2 cups sugar
  4. 3 large eggs
  5. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  6. 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  7. 1 teaspoon salt
  8. The zest and juice 1 lemon
For the Frosting
  1. 1 stick butter, room temperature
  2. 4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
  3. 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  4. 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  5. Juice of 1 lemon
  6. 3-4 cups powder sugar
  7. Edible Lavender (OPTIONAL)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin trays with liners!
  2. With an electric mixer, beat butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar; beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in vanilla and lemon juice and zest. With mixer on low, add flour and salt in two additions, beating until just combined.
  3. Scoop 1/4 cup batter into each muffin cup. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out almost clean, 13-17 minutes.
  4. Cool completely.
  5. Meanwhile prepare the frosting!
  6. Cream together butter, cream, vanilla, and almond extract. Add powder sugar 1 cup at a time until icing reaches the right consistency.
  7. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes and enjoy!

Granola Girl Bakes Lavender Lemon cupcakes 4

Granola Girl Bakes Lavender Lemon cupcakes 12

Granola Girls Bakes Lavender Lemon cupcakes

Granola Girl bakes Lavender Lemon cupcakes 3

2 Comments

Lemon Cream Crumb Bars

Lemon Crumb Bars || Granola Girl Bakes-1

 

Well, hello July! 🙂 Summer is officially here and really nothing goes better with summer than citrus! Sunday rolled around and I wanted to bake{with my schedule baking has become randomly non-existent}. I was making a Clam Alfredo over Angle Hair for dinner and I instantly thought, “lemon bars!!!” But not just any lemon bar, Lemon Cream Crumb Bars{recipe adapted this recipe from Williams Sonoma}. They were a hit! Citrusy lemon with a creamy twist and just add crumb for the perfect summer dessert! 🙂

Yields 16 bars

Ingredients:

For the crust

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 stick{8 TBS} cold butter {cubed!}

For the filling:

  • 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3 TBS flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 5 eggs
  • 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice{or bottled!}
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream

For the crumb:

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 Stick {8 TBS} cold butter {cubed!}

 

Directions:

  1. Preheat an oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 9×13 inch pyrex and line with parchment.
  2. In a food processor, combine the flour, granulated sugar, & salt. Add the butter and pulse until the dough forms moist crumbs and sticks together when pinched{30 seconds-1 minute}. There should be no trace of dryness. Press the dough into the bottom of the prepared baking dish, lightly flouring your fingertips if necessary to prevent them from sticking. Bake the crust until pale golden, 20 to 22 minutes. Cool slightly!
  3. To make the filling, in a bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar, flour, and salt. Add the eggs, lemon juice and cream and whisk until just blended. Carefully pour the mixture over the baked crust. Bake for 14 minutes.
  4. Meanwhile, prepare the crumb! In a food processor, combine the flour, granulated sugar, cinnamon & salt. Add the butter and pulse until the dough forms moist crumbs and sticks together when pinched{30 seconds-1 minute}. There should be no trace of dryness. Crumble over slightly cooked bars and return bars to oven for 7-10 minutes or until crumb topping is lightly browned!
  5. Cool completely. Cut into 12 small rectangles. Using a spatula, carefully remove the bars from the dish. Just before serving, sift a dusting of confectioners sugar over the bars.
  6. ENJOY!!!

Lemon Crumb Bars || Granola Girl Bakes-3

4 Comments

Raspberry Swirl Cupcakes {Video}

Raspberry Swirl cupcakes 10

Okay, so I have a bit of an obsession with cupcakes… does it show? 🙂 And I have been dreaming up this cupcake the last week… tart raspberry, lemon, a bit of orange, all baked into a sweet pound cake base and topped of cream cheese frosting. Yes, I know what your thinking, “wow, that sounds rich!” but the flavors kept on going through my mind and I knew I had to give it a try!  It is quite strange for a dessert to sound good to me that doesn’t contain a large amount of chocolate but this one did! So, with a few kidlets by my side, I set out to concoct the dream cupcake yesterday! 😉 It was well worth the time and effort and the Raspberry Swirl Cupcake has now taken 1st place on my “favorite cupcakes” list! A decadent moist cake with a punch of summer flavor!

Side note: If you not a huge raspberry fan, leave it our! The younger crowd wasn’t too fond of the idea of raspberry so I didn’t put it in their cupcakes!

Yields 24-30 delightful cupcakes

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) salted butter{softened}
  • 1 bar (8 ounces) cream cheese{softened}
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 5 large eggs
  • 1 tbs pure vanilla extract
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp salt
  • The zest of 1 orange
  •  The zest and juice of 3 lemons
  • Raspberry Preserves

Icing

  • 2 sticks butter{softened}
  • 1 pkg cream cheese{softened}
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 tsp almond extract
  • 1tbs pure vanilla extract
  • 6-8 cups powder sugar

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With an electric mixer, beat butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar; beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in vanilla, lemon juice, and zest. With mixer on low, add flour and salt in two additions, beating until just combined.
  2. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners or lightly butter and flour tins to prevent sticking! Scoop a mounding 1/4 cup batter into each cup, dollop about a tbs raspberry preserves per cupcake and swirl with a knife!
  3. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out almost clean, 15-18 minutes.
  4. Cool 10 minutes in the pan. Then cool completely on a wire rack.
  5. In the mean time prepare the icing! Beat butter, cream cheese, milk, almond extract, & vanilla until combined. Slowly but surely add in the powdersugar
  6. Once the cupcakes are completely cooled, pipe icing on thick and finish up with a small dollop of raspberry preserves.
  7. Enjoy! 🙂

[vimeo 69923418 w=620 h=348]
Raspberry Swirl cupcakes 9Raspberry Swirl cupcakes 1

Raspberry Swirl cupcakes 4
Raspberry Swirl cupcakes 8
11 Comments

Lemon Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Sunday dinners are always followed by a Sunday dessert at my house. This Sunday happened to be very warm in my part of the country and nothing sounded better than Lemon Pound Cake with fresh Strawberries and freshly whipped cream! I spent an entire hour looking for a Lemon Pound Cake recipe that DIDN’T take pudding mix or lemon extract but couldn’t find one that looked like it would be a success. So I  finally decided to add lemon zest and juice to my favorite Pound Cake recipe. The cakes turned out moist and very delicious!

Yields 2 loaves

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 bar (8 ounces) cream cheese, room temperature
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 6 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  •  The zest and juice of 3 lemons

Glaze

  • 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • The juice of 1 lemon
  • 1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
  • 2 tablespoons milk

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With an electric mixer, beat butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar; beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in vanilla, lemon juice, and zest. With mixer on low, add flour and salt in two additions, beating until just combined.
  2. Generously coat two 8 1/2-by-4 1/2- by-2 1/2-inch loaf pans (1 1/2 quarts each) with butter and dust with flour; immediately pour in batter (pan will seem full). Tap pans on work surface to eliminate any large air bubbles.
  3. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out almost clean, 50 to 75 minutes (if the tops begin to brown too quickly, tent with aluminum foil).
  4. Cool 10 minutes in the pan. Turn out the cakes; cool completely, with top sides up, on a wire rack.
  5. Enjoy!
18 Comments
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