Bake It and Make It with Beth

Thursday, May 30, 2013

May 31st is National Macaroon Day!

Wow, this week is full of fun holidays! On Sunday, I celebrated National Blueberry Cheesecake Day with blueberry cheesecake bars. Tomorrow, I'm celebrating National Macaroon Day AND Greg's 40th birthday with some coconut macaroons. The coconut macaroons are one of Greg's favorite treats (and mine too). Will you be celebrating National Macaroon Day too? If you weren't planning on it, I think you need to reconsider...

You can try the coconut macaroons with almonds and chocolate.

Or you can try the best coconut macaroons ever.

Both recipes are super easy to make and they do not use any egg! I think you need to celebrate this fabulous day and make a batch of coconut macaroons. Enjoy!

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Carrot Pancakes with Raisins

I have never been a big breakfast person. I would like to be a better breakfast person, especially since "they" are saying that a well-balanced breakfast is the key to better overall health. It is so difficult to fit breakfast into the morning rush, as I'm trying to get ready, workout, and find my keys (I can never find my keys)! Usually a good breakfast is passed by during the weekdays and I make up for it on the weekends. One thing I barely ever make for breakfast is pancakes, but I recently came across a recipe for lemon ricotta pancakes and I thought they sounded amazing. I set out to make the lemon ricotta pancakes last weekend. However, when I went to the kitchen to make them I came to find out that - you guessed it - I didn't have any lemons! Ergh! I really need to stock up on those things. Well, I was set on making pancakes, so I decided to make carrot pancakes. I told Greg about my plan and he said it sounded weird, but I told him to trust me on it (even though I wasn't so sure about it myself)! I used the lemon ricotta pancake recipe as a guide, and I made the carrot pancakes. They were pretty delicious & they definitely weren't weird at all. I'll be making them again very soon - but it'll probably have to wait until the weekend. Hopefully you are better at breakfast than I am! Enjoy.

*A few months ago, I realized that I was wasting a lot of pulp from vegetables and fruit when I juiced. This recipe uses a little of the pulp from juicing carrots. If you don't have a juicer, substitute 3 Tbsp. of grated carrots for the carrot pulp and carrot juice.*

Carrot Pancakes with Raisins

INGREDIENTS:
3/4 cup of all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp. of baking powder
1/2 tsp. of cinnamon
A dash of nutmeg
1 Tbsp. of granulated sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp. of dark brown sugar
1/4 tsp. of salt
1/3 cup of nonfat plain Greek yogurt
1 1/2 ounces of cream cheese, slightly softened
2/3 cup of milk (I used 2%)
2 eggs
1 Tbsp. of carrot juice
! Tbsp. of carrot pulp
1/2 cup of raisins
Butter or butter spread for the griddle

DIRECTIONS:
Juice carrots according to your juicer directions. Set aside 1 Tbsp. of the juice and 1 Tbsp. of the pulp from juicing. If you don't have a juicer, grate carrots until you have 3 Tbsp. of grated carrots. You can use this in the recipe.
In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, granulated sugar, dark brown sugar, and salt. In a large bowl, beat together the Greek yogurt, cream cheese, milk, eggs, carrot juice, and carrot pulp until well incorporated. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until combined. Stir in the raisins.
Heat 1/2 Tbsp. of butter or butter spread in a griddle set over medium-low to medium heat. Once butter melts, use a measuring cup to scoop 1/3 cup of the batter onto the hot griddle. Cook until the edges come together, about 1 - 3 minutes. Use a spatula and carefully flip to cook the other side for an additional 1 - 3 minutes. Continue this process until all the pancakes are made. Serve with butter and maple syrup, if desired.

Recipe makes approximately 10 pancakes.

Recipe inspired by Lemon Ricotta Pancakes on the Food Network

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Blueberry Cheesecake Bars (It's National Blueberry Cheesecake Day)!

Did you know that today is National Blueberry Cheesecake Day? Well, it is! May 26th is a day that is dedicated to eating blueberry cheesecake. I found out about it this past week while I was out on the boat reading Self Magazine. I made a mental note to myself to remember to make blueberry cheesecake this weekend so I could celebrate such a joyous occasion.

Instead of making a cheesecake, I decided that cheesecake bars would be a better choice. They are easier to make than a cheesecake AND they have less calories (but still lots of yummy yummy goodness). I made the bars last night to serve for dessert, but we ended up eating them as a mid-day snack before dinner. Greg ate two large bars & said he really liked them, which is good, because earlier in the day he had said we didn't need to eat dessert. And obviously he didn't know that we really did NEED the blueberry cheesecake bars, otherwise, we'd be ignoring a national holiday!

Hope everyone has a wonderful blueberry cheesecake day & Memorial Day. Enjoy!

Recipe for Blueberry Cheesecake Bars with Lemon

INGREDIENTS:
For the crust
1 1/2 cup of graham cracker crumbs
2 1/2 Tbsp. of granulated sugar
A pinch of lemon zest
4 1/2 Tbsp. of unsalted butter, melted

For the cheesecake filling
2 8-ounce packages of cream cheese, softened at room temperature
1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp. of granulated sugar
Zest of 1 large lemon
Juice from the large lemon

A dash of ground nutmeg (what is a dash)?
2 eggs

For the blueberry topping
2 cups of fresh blueberries
1/2 tsp. of freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 tsp. of granulated sugar
A pinch of ground nutmeg

DIRECTIONS:
Make the crust. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease the bottom of a 9 x 9 pan with butter. Put the graham cracker crumbs, granulated sugar, lemon zest, and melted butter into a bowl. Use a spoon to mix ingredients together. Spoon mixture into the prepared pan and use your hands to evenly press crumbs down so they cover the bottom of the pan. Put pan into the oven and cook for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.
While the crust is cooling, make the filling. Put the cream cheese, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and nutmeg into a large bowl. Use an electric hand mixer set on medium speed to beat together until well incorporated. Add in the eggs. Beat again with the hand mixer on medium-high speed until the mixture is smooth, about 4 minutes.
Rinse the blueberries and pat dry. Put them into a smallish bowl. Add the lemon juice, sugar, and nutmeg to the blueberries and toss to coat.
Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly on top of the crust. Use a spoon to drop the blueberries evenly on top of the cream cheese mixture. Place in oven and cook for 40 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool completely, and then place in the fridge for 4 hours before serving. When ready to serve, use a sharp knife to cut into 12 - 16 bars. Enjoy!

Each bar has approximately 210 - 275 calories (one slice of cheesecake has about 600 calories)!

Recipe Adapted from the Food Network

Saturday, May 25, 2013

My Favorite Summertime Recipes

Blackberry Limeade

Well, it's almost summer! I can't believe it's less than a month away. I'll be off of work for two months & I can't wait! Of course I will be taking 9 credits, but they are all online, so it shouldn't be too bad. At least I won't have to worry about having to write a paper at the end of a work day during the summer months!

So yes, I'm very excited about summer & I have been counting down the days for quite some time. Not only am I excited about having time off, I'm also excited about spending time out on the Chesapeake Bay AND I'm excited about all of the delicious summer foods I am going to make.

Here are some of my favorite summer-time meals, drinks, and desserts. What are your favorites?