Meyer Lemon Ricotta Cookies

These cookies have become our family favorites, especially during the holidays. The combination of the silver dragées, the sweet Meyer lemon frosting and the very slight hint of ricotta is craveable. They're pretty easy to make and even more fun to eat, especially if you make the mini's (my favorite). The recipe below yields 4 dozen regular or 7-8 dozen mini's. Enjoy!

HELPS
1. You may need to add more flour if the dough is too wet. The best dough is still slightly wet but not so wet that it sticks to your finger when forming the cookies.
2. Dragées may be hard to find. These are those small edible silver balls that you used to be able to buy from any supermarket. Because they contain trace amounts of metal, I think many stores have stopped selling them, however most specialty cooking stores still sell them.
3. If you don't have Meyer lemons, it's ok to use the more commo Eureka lemons, found in most supermarkets. However, if you can find Meyer lemons, these are preferred as they are more aromatic and sweeter. For a very informative blogpost about Meyer lemons, click here.

INGREDIENTS
Cookies
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
15 oz whole-milk Ricotta cheese
½ teaspoon lemon extract
3 tablespoons freshly grated Meyer lemon zest
1 tablespoon Meyer lemon juice
2 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Glaze
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
3-4 tablespoons Meyer lemon juice
Silver Dragées

DIRECTIONS
1.Preheat oven to 350 F and line baking sheets with parchment papers
2. Combine butter and sugar in a bowl; cream together until light and fluffy





















3. Add eggs, Ricotta, lemon extract, zest and juice; blend well





















4. Add 1 cup flour, baking powder and salt; blend to combine

















5. Add remaining flour in two parts, blending to combine between each, until a dough forms

















6. Drop dough by rounded tablespoon 2 inches apart (rounded teaspoon for mini’s) on baking sheets
































7. Bake until cookie edges are very light golden, about 12-15 minutes (10 for mini’s)
8. Let cookies rest on baking sheet for a few minutes and transfer to wire cooling rack

















9. While cookies cool, prepare glaze by creaming together butter and sugar





















10. Continue to mix, gradually adding juice until desired consistency

















11. Decorate cooled cookies, adding dragées before icing sets

Gourmet Cake Bites

For my recent birthday, my daughter gave me the book, "101 Gourmet Cake Bites" by Wendy Paul. Never having heard of a cake bite, I tried two of the recipes for her birthday. I'm wondering now if that's why she gave me the book! Cake bites, for those of you like me who had never tried them before, are simply a rounded ball of cake-like texture mixed with various flavorings, covered in melted chocolate. These did not disappoint and reminded me very much of the Hostess Ding Dongs I used to eat as a kid, minus the cream filling. The recipe below comes from this book and is the "Cookies and Cream" version. I made them small enough to yield 4 dozen. You may want to make more as they go very quickly! Enjoy!

HELPFUL HINTS

1. The chocolate buttercream recipe shown below makes twice as much as you need. Use the extra for your next batch or top an actual cake with it. Or, eat it right out of the bowl like I did.

2. I have found that buying already tempered chocolate is well worth the price. Buying non-tempered chocolate and trying to temper it yourself takes skill and time that sometimes you just don't have. Basically, tempered chocolate hardens quickly with a nice smooth sheen. Non tempered chocolate won't harden without help from a refrigerator and often leaves a dull sheen which is not as appetizing, plus it will melt at room temperature again whereas tempered chocolate will not.

INGREDIENTS

1 box chocolate cake mix

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

8 Tbs butter, room temperature

3 3/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1/3 cup cocoa, sifted

3 Tbs heavy cream

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup crushed chocolate sandwich cookies

Tempered chocolate, melted

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix together cake mix, eggs, milk and vanilla. Batter will be thick.

2. Pour into a greased 9x13 baking pan.

3. Bake at 350 F for 25-28 minutes or until cake springs back lightly when touched.

4. Remove from oven and cool completely.

5. While cooling, beat butter in a large mixing bowl for about 30 seconds.

6. Add sugar, cocoa, cream and vanilla.

7. Slowly beat together, increasing in speed until frosting is creamy. Add more cream if needed.

8. Set this chocolate buttercream mixture aside

9. Crumble cake into small, even pieces, placing crumbs in a large bowl.

10. Add 1 1/2 cups of buttercream and cookies.

11. Using the back of a spoon, mix ingredients together until a thick dough consistency forms.

12. Shape into evenly sized cake bites and cool 2 hours in the refrigerator or 30 minutes in the freezer.

13. Melt tempered chocolate on very low heat until smooth

14. Carefully dip cake bites into mixture, coating evenly and then topping with extra cookie crumbs.

Chocolate Angel Pie

Jeni recently bought me the "Lion House Pies" recipe book, filled with great recipes served at the Lion House in Salt Lake City, Utah. This was my first attempt at a recipe from the book and it has now become our favorite chocolate dessert. It is almost like a chocolate cream pie but it is thicker and more dense. I also loved the meringue nut crust which gave the entire pie a wonderful textural contrast. This one is a keeper for sure. The recipe below yields one 9 inch pie,  serving 6-8.

HELPFUL HINTS
1. If you find that the pie was not dark enough, add a mixture of additional melted chocolate and / or Hershey's syrup to give it a richer look.
2. Be very careful not to burn the meringue. I found that I needed to cut off 5-10 minutes of the cooking time, possibly due to the Utah high altitude?

INGREDIENTS
Meringue Shell
2 egg whites, room temperature
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup finely chopped nuts
1/2 tsp vanilla

Filling
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla
8 oz milk chocolate bar with almonds

DIRECTIONS
Meringue Shell
1. In a medium bowl, beat egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar until frothy.

















2. Gradually add sugar, beating until stiff peaks form.





















3. Fold in nuts and vanilla.

















4. Spread into a greased 9-inch pie pan, building up on sides of pan.
































5. Bake at 300 degrees F. for 50 minutes then cool completely.

















Filling
1. Whip cream with vanilla, then set aside.

















2. Break up three-fourths of the chocolate bar into pieces and met in top of a double broiler or microwave in a glass bowl.

















3. When chocolate is just lukewarm, fold into whipped cream and vanilla.
































4. Pile chocolate filling into cooled meringue shell.

















5. Grate remaining chocolate to garnish pie.

















6. Chill in refrigerator for two hours before serving.

Mango and Avocado Salsa

This delicious salsa is made with ripe mangoes, avocados, red onion, lime and cilantro. I have a very hard time eating just one bite! If you're serving this for a party you may want to make a double batch; one for the party and one for a midnight snack. I think this is my only one step recipe on this blog but I decided to include pictures of each ingredient being added. This recipe serves about 4. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS
2 avocados, halved, pitted, peeled and diced medium
2 ripe mangoes, peeled, pitted, and diced medium
1/2 red onion, diced small
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
4 Tbs fresh lime juice
2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp coarse salt

DIRECTIONS
1. Lightly mix all ingredients together in a bowl.