Category: Desserts

Blackberry Cornbread

This sweet Blackberry Cornbread is super easy to make. It makes a delicious breakfast, brunch or side dish. It’s so good served with Blackberry Honey Butter. I love baking my cornbread in a cast iron skillet. It gives the cornbread a crisp, rustic crust. You can also use a cake pan if you prefer. (The baking time may vary.) Make sure not to over bake your cornbread since overtaking will dry it out. Use fresh, ripe blackberries when they’re in season. You can also use frozen blackberries or fresh or frozen blueberries. Skip the macerating step if you’re using blueberries or frozen berries.

Print Recipe
 Blackberry Cornbread
Sweet cornbread studded with ripe blackberries
Course Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword blackberry, cornbread
Servings
Ingredients
Course Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword blackberry, cornbread
Servings
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease an 8” cast iron skillet* or an 8” round cake pan.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cornmeal, baking powder and salt.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, oil and melted butter until smooth. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture. Mix just until combined. A few lumps are okay. In a small bowl, gently toss one 1 cup (136g) of the blackberries with 1 tsp of flour. Gently fold the berries into the batter.
  4. Transfer the batter to the skillet. Top with the remaining blackberries. Bake until the top is golden brown and toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 35-43 min. Let cool in the pan 10 min. Serve with Blackberry Honey Butter** or honey if desired
Recipe Notes

*To find an 8-inch cast iron skillet, click here.  

**To find the Blackberry Honey Butter Recipe, click here.

 

Perfect Pumpkin Cake

Pumpkin Cake

This Perfect Pumpkin cake brings back memories. The tender, moist texture reminds me of the pumpkin cake bars I used to make in junior high. I got the treasured bar recipe from an old children’s cookbook. I lent the cookbook to a neighbor and never saw the book or the recipe again. Through trial and error, I came up with this perfectly spiced, soft fluffy cake, which I think is even better! It’s so delicious it doesn’t need frosting, but the classic pairing with cream cheese frosting takes it over the top.

Print Recipe
 Perfect Pumpkin Cake
Course Dessert
Keyword cake, pumpkin
Servings
Ingredients
Pumpkin Cake
Cream Cheese Frosting
Course Dessert
Keyword cake, pumpkin
Servings
Ingredients
Pumpkin Cake
Cream Cheese Frosting
Instructions
Pumpkin Cake
  1. Preheat the oven to 325ºF (165ºC). Line the bottom of an 8-inch round cake pan* with parchment paper**. Grease and flour the insides.
  2. In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg until well combined.
  3. In a large bowl, beat the sugar, oil, eggs, vanilla and pumpkin purée with an electric mixer or by hand with a whisk, until smooth and well blended. Stir in the flour mixture, just until combined.
  4. Transfer the batter to the prepared cake pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 38-43 minutes. Cool the cake in pan for 10 minutes. Remove the cake from pan and transfer to a cooling rack.
Cream Cheese Frosting
  1. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together with an electric mixer, until creamy. Beat in the vanilla extract and salt until well combined. On low speed, beat in the powdered sugar. Keeping the mixture at low speed, beat in the heavy cream a little at a time until your desired consistency is reached. Stir with a spatula to smooth out any bubbles.
Recipe Notes

*To find the cake pan I used, click here.

**To find the parchment rounds I used, click here.

Harry Potter Inspired Pumpkin Pasties

Pumpkin Pasties

Even though the weather is warm where I live at the moment, I’m dreaming about all the delicious fall treats I’ll be baking this year. Let’s look forward to cool, crisp weather, the smell of pumpkin or apples baking, and sipping a warm mug of something spicy while we wait for our bakes to come out of the oven.

Inevitably, every fall, the Harry Potter movies come on at my house and it’s nice to have some popcorn and sweet treats to enjoy while watching the movies. And these Harry Potter Inspired Pumpkin Pasties are perfect for that! If you’ve read the Harry Potter books, you may remember the Pumpkin Pasties being mentioned. There are many interpretations out there, but I imagined them to be crispy and flaky on the outside with a sweet pumpkin filling. I included a delicious flaky pie crust recipe here, but feel free to use store bought pie dough if you want to streamline the process. I sprinkled mine with raw turbinado sugar before baking which provides a sweet delicious crunch. You can also use maple sugar or sparkling sugar. To find the sugar I used, click here. And as a magical touch, I added some edible gold star glitter. To find the edible gold stars, click here.

Print Recipe
 Pumpkin Pasties
Harry Potter inspired sweet pumpkin filled hand pies
Course Dessert
Keyword pastry
Servings
hand pies
Ingredients
Pie Crust
Pumpkin Filling
Assembly
Course Dessert
Keyword pastry
Servings
hand pies
Ingredients
Pie Crust
Pumpkin Filling
Assembly
Instructions
Pie Crust
  1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and salt. Work the shortening into the flour mixture with your fingertips until evenly dispersed throughout.
  2. Work the butter into the flour mixture with your fingertips, creating flat dime size pieces.
  3. Mix the ice water and vinegar together. Sprinkle over the flour mixture a little at a time, stirring until dough comes together. You may not need all of the water depending on your climate.
  4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Fold the dough over onto itself a few times. Do not overwork the dough! Form the dough into two disks. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least two hours or up to overnight.
Pumpkin Filling
  1. In a medium-size bowl, mix together the pumpkin purée, sugar, egg, heavy cream, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg until well combined.
Assembly
  1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut the dough into twelve 5-inch* rounds, re-rolling the scraps as needed. Place the dough rounds a couple of inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets.
  3. Place about 2 tablespoons of filling on each round, leaving a half-inch border. Apply egg wash to the edges of the rounds.
  4. Fold the dough over and press the edges together. Crimp the edges with a fork. If any filling oozes out, wipe it up with a paper towel or it will burn.
  5. Brush the pasties with egg wash. Cut a half-inch slit into the top of each pastie. Sprinkle with coarse sugar.
  6. Bake until golden brown, about 18-20 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack.
Recipe Notes

*To find a 5-inch round cutter, click here.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Mini Muffins

Pumpkin Cinnamon Mini Muffins

My mom had a cupboard in the kitchen containing a few old cookbooks that she rarely used. As a child, I used to enjoy perusing them and looking at the baked treats. Some of the cookbooks were so old, they had black and white photos or even just drawings of the food. The ones with drawings interested me because they often depicted smiling children enjoying the treats.

When I started learning to bake, I found a recipe for French Breakfast Puffs in one of those old books. The title sounded so fancy, but they were really just simple muffins dunked in butter and rolled in cinnamon sugar. I have no idea what the name of the cookbook was or what happened to it, but the delicious muffin recipe stuck around for a while. I’ve tweaked the recipe so many times over the years, and most recently, I added pumpkin to it. These Pumpkin Cinnamon Mini Muffins are one of the best versions I’ve created. The inside texture of the muffins is soft and moist and it contrasts nicely with the slight crunch you get from the cinnamon sugar on the outside. They look so cute too, like little pumpkins, and they definitely make children smile!

To watch the Instagram video of these mini muffins being made, click here.

Print Recipe
 Pumpkin Cinnamon Mini Muffins
Soft, tender pumpkin mini muffins rolled in cinnamon sugar
Course Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert
Keyword muffins, pumpkin, pumpkin spice
Servings
mini muffins
Ingredients
Muffins
Topping
Course Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert
Keyword muffins, pumpkin, pumpkin spice
Servings
mini muffins
Ingredients
Muffins
Topping
Instructions
Muffins
  1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Grease and flour a 24-serving mini muffin pan.* Do not use muffin liners. (The muffins need to form an outer crust. This prevents them from absorbing too much melted butter later in the recipe.)
  2. In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg until well combined.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, egg and pumpkin purée until smooth and well combined. Stir in the flour mixture just until combined. The batter will be thick.
  4. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, filling the muffin cups about 2/3 full. (I ended up with 22 muffins.)
  5. Bake until toothpick inserted into the muffins comes out clean, about 10-13 minutes. Do not over bake! Be diligent, since over baking can happen very quickly with mini muffins. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Turn the muffins out and place on a cooling rack.
Topping
  1. Whisk the sugar and cinnamon together in a shallow bowl until well combined.
  2. Briefly dunk the warm muffins in melted butter, then roll in cinnamon sugar.
Recipe Notes

To find the mini muffin pan I used, click here.

Blueberry Nectarine Cobbler

Many families have an old favorite recipe for cobbler. I’m sharing my dad’s recipe with you and it’s definitely comfort food. It took awhile to get the ingredient amounts right because he never measured them. He used whichever fruit was available and plopped the dough on top haphazardly with a big spoon. But it was always delicious and came from the heart and that’s what mattered.

This recipe is so easy and versatile. Feel free to use peaches instead or use the berries of your choice. Make sure to enjoy it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Print Recipe
 Blueberry Nectarine Cobbler
Vintage fruit cobbler
Course Brunch, Dessert
Keyword blueberry nectarine, cobbler
Servings
Ingredients
Course Brunch, Dessert
Keyword blueberry nectarine, cobbler
Servings
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). Grease a 2 quart baking dish.
  2. In a large bowl, toss the nectarines with the lemon juice. Add the vanilla, brown sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon. Stir gently to combine. Fold in the blueberries.
  3. Transfer the fruit mixture to the prepared baking dish. Bake for 10 minutes.
  4. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt. Work the butter into the flour mixture with your fingertips or with a pastry blender until pea size pieces from. Stir in the sour cream and milk just until a shaggy dough forms.
  5. Remove the baking dish from the oven. Top the fruit with 2-tablespoon size portions of dough. Sprinkle the dough with coarse sugar.
  6. Return the baking dish to the oven and continue baking until the topping is deep golden brown, about 25 minutes. Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving, to allow the sauce to thicken.

Chocolate Turtle Drop Cookies

A chocolate turtle is a confection made with caramel and pecans. The shape resembles a turtle, which is how it got the name. This is my version of a turtle cookie, loaded with plenty of delicious add-ins.

Print Recipe
 Chocolate Turtle Drop Cookies
Chocolate cookies loaded with chopped chocolate, caramel chips, and toffee bits, topped with pecans.
Course Dessert
Keyword chocolate, cookies
Servings
cookies
Ingredients
Course Dessert
Keyword chocolate, cookies
Servings
cookies
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
  3. In a separate large bowl, cream the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar together with an electric mixer at medium speed, until light and fluffy.
  4. Beat in the eggs and vanilla in three separate additions, making sure each addition is incorporated before adding the next. Beat in the flour mixture just until combined.
  5. Set aside 20 chunks of the chopped chocolate. Fold the remaining chopped chocolate, the caramel chips and the toffee bits into the dough.
  6. Place twenty 2-inch size portions of dough about 2-inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets. (I used a #24 portion scoop*)
  7. Top each cookie with a chunk of the reserved chocolate and a pecan half. Bake until the surface of the cookies is set, about 10-11 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheet for 1 minute then transfer to a cooling rack.
Recipe Notes

To find the portion scoop I used, click here.

Peaches and Cream Loaf Cake

Every peach season, I get excited by the abundance of peaches at my local farmers market and I end up buying way too many. So if you’re like me and you have ripe peaches sitting on your counter, turn them into peach purée. I love adding peach purée to my iced tea or adding it to desserts like this moist, tender cake. This is one of my most popular cake recipes on social media, and for good reason. It does not disappoint! To watch the TikTok video, click here.

Print Recipe
 Peaches and Cream Loaf Cake
Moist, tender peach cake with peach cream cheese icing
Course Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert
Keyword cake, peach
Servings
loaf
Ingredients
Cake
Icing
Course Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert
Keyword cake, peach
Servings
loaf
Ingredients
Cake
Icing
Instructions
Cake
  1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line the bottom of an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan with parchment paper. Grease and flour the sides.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
  3. Set aside 2 tablespoons peach purée for icing.
  4. In a large bowl, beat sugar, oil, eggs, remaining peach purée and extracts until smooth.
  5. Add flour mixture and beat just until combined.
  6. Transfer batter to prepared baking pan. Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 38-45 minutes.
  7. Let cake cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack to cool completely. Spread icing on cooled cake.
Icing
  1. In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth.
  2. Add powdered sugar, salt, vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon of peach purée. Beat until smooth. Add additional peach purée, if needed, until desired consistency is reached. Fold in diced peaches.

Cherry Cutie Pies

Cherry Cutie Pies

Cherry season is highly anticipated at my house. We love enjoying a bowl of fresh cherries during the summer. We also love fresh cherry desserts. These cute little hand pies are a family favorite. They have the most delicious fresh cherry filling, surrounded with buttery, flaky crust and topped with vanilla icing. The small size makes them perfect for sharing or taking them along in a picnic lunch. I like to make the crust and the filling the day before, which makes them come together quicker on baking day. I decorated mine with bright red maraschino cherries for the photo, but my favorite cherries to top them with are Italian-style maraschino cherries.

Print Recipe
 Cherry Cutie Pies
3-inch cherry hand pies with flaky crust, topped with vanilla icing
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword cherry, pastry, pie
Servings
hand pies
Ingredients
Pie Crust
Cherry Filling
Icing
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword cherry, pastry, pie
Servings
hand pies
Ingredients
Pie Crust
Cherry Filling
Icing
Instructions
Pie Crust
  1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and salt. Work the shortening into the flour with your fingertips until it's evenly dispersed throughout. Work the butter into the flour mixture, creating flat dime size pieces.
  2. In a glass measuring cup, mix the ice water and vinegar together. Sprinkle the liquid over the flour mixture a little at a time, stirring until the dough comes together. You may not need all of the liquid depending on your climate.
  3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Fold the dough over onto itself a couple of times. Do not overwork the dough. Divide the dough into 2 equal portions and form into disks. Wrap them in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours or up to overnight.
Cherry Filling
  1. In a medium-size saucepan, combine the cherries, sugar and cornstarch. Simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the cherries start to soften and the juices are thickened, about 5 minutes. Transfer the cherries to a bowl. Stir in the almond extract. Set aside to cool completely.
Icing
  1. In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, meringue powder, 1 1/2 tablespoons (22ml) of milk, the salt and the vanilla extract. Add additional milk as needed to achieve the desired consistency. (If you decide to omit the meringue powder, you'll need less milk.)
Assembly
  1. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to about 1/8-inch (.3cm) thickness. Cut out 20-22 3-inch (7.6cm) rounds. Transfer half of the rounds to a baking sheet, placing them about 2 inches (5cm) apart. Using a slotted spoon, place the filling onto rounds to within 1/2-inch (1.3cm) of the edges. Using a small pastry brush or your finger, apply egg wash to the edges. Top with the remaining rounds. Press the edges to seal & crimp with a fork. Brush the pies with egg wash. Cut a small x in the top of each pie.
  3. Bake until golden, about 18-24 min. Transfer the pies to a cooling rack to cool completely. Brush icing on the cooled pies with a pastry brush. When the icing is almost set, top the pies with pitted cherries if desired.

Little Strawberry Charlotte

Little Strawberry Charlotte

Meet Little Strawberry Charlotte. She brings romance with her wherever she goes. Whether it’s a tea party, a birthday celebration or a romantic dinner, you’ll gaze at her beauty and sigh. This lovely Charlotte has luscious strawberry mascarpone cream filling layered with lady fingers and topped with fresh strawberries. I used store bought lady fingers to make life easier but you can certainly bake your own if you wish. I typically make this in spring or summer when the weather is warm and strawberries are plentiful. But since my local stores start carrying an abundance of strawberries around Valentine’s Day, I thought it would be a perfect time to make this pretty little Charlotte.

Print Recipe
 Little Strawberry Charlotte
A pretty no-bake dessert layered with strawberry mascarpone cream filling and lady fingers and topped with fresh strawberries.
Course Dessert
Keyword cake, strawberry
Servings
Ingredients
Simple Syrup
Strawberry Charlottte
Course Dessert
Keyword cake, strawberry
Servings
Ingredients
Simple Syrup
Strawberry Charlottte
Instructions
Simple Syrup
  1. Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Heat and stir until sugar is dissolved. Do not boil.
  2. Remove from heat and transfer to a small shallow bowl or dish wide enough to dip the ladyfingers. Stir in the extract.
Strawberry Charlotte
  1. In a blender or food processor, purée the strawberries. Pass through a mesh sieve to strain out the seeds.
  2. In a medium-size saucepan, combine the strawberry puree and sugar. Cook over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved, about 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat. Set aside two tablespoons of the strawberry purée mixture then cover it and refrigerate until ready to use.
  3. Place the water in a small bowl and sprinkle with gelatin powder. Whisk together and let sit until dissolved, about 5 minutes. Add the gelatin mixture to the warm strawberry purée mixture and whisk until thoroughly combined. Set aside to cool.
  4. In a large bowl, beat the mascarpone cheese with an electric mixer on low speed, until smooth. Add the strawberry purée mixture and the extracts. Beat just until well combined.
  5. In a separate large bowl, whip the heavy cream with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until medium peaks form, being careful not to over whip. Fold the whipped cream into mascarpone mixture.
  6. Slice one round end off of 16 ladyfingers. Dunk them briefly in the simple syrup then line them up along the inner sides of a 7-inch by 3 inch deep springform pan.* Typically you would line them smooth side in facing the filling, but I placed mine smooth side out which gives a smooth look on the outside and it makes removal from the pan easier. (You can also line the bottom of the pan with a cake board** if you don't want to serve the dessert from the base.)
  7. Line the bottom snuggly with ladyfingers, cutting to fit where necessary. Top with half of the filling, about 2 cups. Then top with a layer of ladyfingers, cutting to fit. Top with the remaining filling. Smooth the top with a small offset spatula. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator at least 4 hours.
  8. Carefully remove the springform pan ring from the base. Separate the base from the cake board, if using. Garnish with fresh strawberries. Brush the strawberries with reserved strawberry purée mixture. Tie the ribbon around the finished Charlotte.
Recipe Notes

*To find a 7-inch springform pan, click here.

**To find a 7-inch cake board, click here.

Lavender Shortbread Sandwich Cookies with Honey Buttercream

Lavender Shortbread Sandwich Cookies with Honey Buttercream

Lavender and honey go so well together. Bees know it, fairies know it, princesses know it. The flavor combination is so delightful in these cookies, that I decided to share them with you. In addition to delicious, compatible flavors, these cookies have a divine texture combination. The shortbread cookies have a tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture. Together with the silky, smooth honey buttercream, they’ll make you feel fancy and regal. You’ll hold your head up higher, ring for your tea and declare that you do indeed deserve fine things!

Some people are nervous about baking with lavender because they don’t want their baked goods to taste like soap or perfume. That can be a concern if the lavender flavor is too pronounced. However, if you don’t use enough you won’t be able to taste it at all. There’s a fine balance. If you use the right amount, it will taste pleasant and have sweet undertones. I used two teaspoons of culinary lavender in these cookies, but you can adjust the amount to your tastes. You can start out with one teaspoon, bake a small sample of dough and taste it, to customize the flavor.

Speaking of tasting, my grandmother always said, “taste as you go.” This is also helpful when making the honey buttercream. Typically, when making other flavors of buttercream, you add more powdered sugar if your buttercream is too thin. In this case, adding more powdered sugar can make the buttercream too sweet. Once you have added the amount of honey that tastes good to you, you can add a little cornstarch if you need to stiffen it up a bit.

Print Recipe
 Lavender Shortbread Sandwich Cookies with Honey Buttercream
Tender lavender scented cookies with silky honey buttercream filling
Keyword cookies
Servings
Ingredients
Lavender Shortbread Cookies
Honey Buttercream
Keyword cookies
Servings
Ingredients
Lavender Shortbread Cookies
Honey Buttercream
Instructions
Lavender Shortbread Cookie
  1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar and salt.
  2. In a separate large bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer until smooth. Mix in the lavender. Beat in the flour mixture on low speed, just until combined.
  3. Divide the dough into two discs. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, but not more than 8 hours.
  4. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut into 2-inch circles. Place two inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. Refrigerate cut cookies for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
  5. Preheat oven to 325ºF (165ºC). Bake cookies until the bottom edges are light golden brown, about 12-14 minutes.
  6. Transfer cookies to a cooking rack to cool completely.
  7. Pipe or spread about 1/2 tablespoon of buttercream on the bottom of half of the cookies. Top with remaining cookies.
Honey Buttercream
  1. In a medium bowl, beat butter and sugar together until smooth. Add honey, one tablespoon at a time until desired sweetness and consistency is reached.
  2. Mix in a pinch of salt to taste.
  3. Mix in cornstarch, if necessary, to firm up buttercream. *See notes below.
Recipe Notes

*The addition of cornstarch helps to firm up buttercream without adding additional sweetness.

To find culinary lavender, click here.

Lemon Blueberry Cloud Cookies

Once, some time ago, I made some soft, melt-in-your mouth cookies and posted them on the internet. A viewer got triggered and insisted that cookies must be crunchy. I have to disagree! Cookies can be crunchy, crisp, soft, chewy, sandy or anything your heart desires. These soft, pillowy cookies are light and airy like little clouds. They could almost be called little cakes. The texture is similar to whoopee pies, but not as sticky. They’re delightfully delicious and have been well-loved by my family for two generations. They’re perfect for a spring teatime treat or alongside a glass of lemonade at a picnic.

Print Recipe
 Lemon Blueberry Cloud Cookies
Soft, pillowy cookies made with ricotta cheese and fresh blueberries, topped with a tangy lemon icing
Course Dessert
Keyword cookies, lemon blueberry
Servings
cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
Icing
Course Dessert
Keyword cookies, lemon blueberry
Servings
cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
Icing
Instructions
Cookies
  1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt until well combined.
  3. In a large bowl, beat the butter, with an electric mixer on medium speed, until smooth Add the ricotta cheese, sugar and lemon zest. Beat until well combined. Beat in the egg and vanilla until incorporated. On low speed, gradually mix in the flour mixture, just until combined. Fold in the blueberries.
  4. Place rounded tablespoon-size portions of dough about 2 inches apart onto the cookie sheets. Top the cookies with additional blueberries. (If your cookie dough is sticky and hard to work with, refrigerate it just until it's easier to work with, about 30 minutes to 1 hour.)
  5. Bake until the bottom edges of the cookies are lightly browned, about 11-13 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack. Top the cooled cookies with icing. Best eaten the day they're made.
Icing
  1. In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, melted butter, salt and 1 tablespoon (15ml) of lemon juice until well combined. Add additional lemon juice as needed to achieve the desired consistency. Whisk until smooth.

Blackberry Oatmeal Cookies

Blackberry Oatmeal Cookies by Brownie Mischief

We’ve all heard our parents telling their childhood stories of walking miles to school and suffering worse hardships than we ever had to. My mom used to tell me stories like that, but she had a sense of humor, so her stories were always fun to listen to. She used to tell me about her friend’s mother, who would make big, delicious oatmeal cookies. My mom would trade her baloney sandwich nearly every day to get one of those cookies from her friend. She reminisced about those cookies so much, that I set out to make her some when I learned to bake. She and my grandmother would taste test batch after batch of my cookies over the years. I have probably baked enough oatmeal cookies to circle the earth. Okay that’s an exaggeration, but seriously I have baked quite a few. Of all the oatmeal cookies I’ve baked, these are one of my favorites!

Most of the time when you see fruit added to an oatmeal cookie, it’s dried fruit, like raisins or cranberries. That’s mostly because if you just dump fruit into your cookie dough, the fruit releases water, leaving soggy spots in your cookies. To solve that issue, for this recipe, I macerate the blackberries before baking. The purple blackberry juice that’s released from the berries is used to make a beautiful lilac icing to drizzle over the cookies.

Print Recipe
 Blackberry Oatmeal Cookies
Course Dessert
Keyword blackberry, cookies
Servings
cookies
Ingredients
Brown Butter
Macerated Berries
Oatmeal Cookies
Icing
Course Dessert
Keyword blackberry, cookies
Servings
cookies
Ingredients
Brown Butter
Macerated Berries
Oatmeal Cookies
Icing
Instructions
  1. In a small, light colored saucepan, melt 1/2 cup (4 oz or 113g) of butter over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until deep golden and fragrant. Keep a close eye on it. It can go from toasted to burned very quickly. When you see brown particles form, remove from heat and immediately transfer the butter, including the particles, to a small bowl. Refrigerate until solid, about one hour.
  2. Place the blackberries in a medium-size bowl. Sprinkle with granulated sugar and toss to coat. Let sit for 30 minutes until the berries release their juices.
  3. Drain the blackberries and reserve the juices.
  4. Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  5. In a separate medium-size bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
  6. In a large bowl, beat the brown butter, softened butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
  7. Add the eggs and vanilla extract in three separate additions and beat until well combined.
  8. Stir in the flour mixture just until combined. Stir in the oats just until combined. Gently fold in the blackberries.
  9. Scoop 1/4 cup sized portions of dough, about 2 inches apart, onto the prepared cookie sheets. *I used a #16 2-ounce scoop.
  10. Bake until the cookie tops are set and the edges are golden brown, about 13-15 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely.
  11. Pass reserved blackberry juice through a sieve to remove the seeds.
  12. In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, heavy cream and one tablespoon of the reserved blackberry juice until smooth. Add more blackberry juice, a little at a time, until the desired consistency is reached. Drizzle the icing over the cooled cookies.
Recipe Notes

*To find the portion scoop I used, click here.