The texture is different, with the graham cracker “crust” on top in loose crumbs, but that doesn’t stop them from tasting awesome. You can add fruit preserves, or not. I’m not a huge fan of fruit with my cheesecake so I made these both ways. They were both great! You can also make the cheesecake portion ahead and add the preserves and crumbs when you’re ready to serve.

You can find the recipe over on Martha Stewart’s site and take a look at my photos below.

This little handheld delight was a bit of an accidental find. I was making Spanakopita Casserole (one of my favorite recipes) and had some leftover phyllo dough. Not wanting to throw it out, I decided to make phyllo cups and decide what to do with them later.

Also on hand, I had ricotta cheese, whipped cream cheese, and some Hershey’s Special Dark bars. After some experimentation, I came up with these cannoli cream cups. The filling is similar to what you might find in a cannoli, but less fluffy. I think the almond extract is really what takes these to the next level, but you can leave it out or try vanilla extract instead.

These would make great, small, party desserts. The best part? You can make this ahead – about 24 hours. It tastes better with a little time anyway, giving the flavors the opportunity to meld together.

To make phyllo cups, lay out several layers of phyllo dough on a workspace. Cut the dough into equal squares, about 3 x 3 inches. Gently set the squares in the wells of a standard muffin tin, then spritz each square with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 5 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on a cookie sheet, then either use immediately or store in an airtight container for up to 24 hours.

Ingredients:: 

• 3/4 c whipped cream cheese
• 3/4 c part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 2  bars (regular size) Hershey’s Special Dark chocolate, chopped
• sugar, to taste
• 8-10 phyllo cups, previously made

I love pop-tarts. Especially the strawberry kind. With frosting. And sprinkles.

Sure the ones out of the package are great – and original – but the homemade version? Wonderful. Also, I’m willing to bet that homemade pop-tarts become the next cupcake or whoopie pie in terms of small dessert trends.

These are grown-up, flaky, and have just the right amount of filling. Taking over for the frosting is powdered sugar, gracefully dusting the top. They pack well for picnics or movie nights in the park, and will be a crowd favorite among your friends and family.

Here are two options for your own homemade pop-tarts:

• Pick up the Toaster Pastry Press from Williams-Sonoma, and use the recipe included
• Do all the manual work yourself and use Bon Appetit’s recipe here

Some months ago, I came across a recipe for blue cheese sticks – as in breadsticks (or straws), not cheese sticks, string cheese, etc.

It should be noted right away that I hate blue cheese. I think it smells terrible, tastes awful, and looks unsightly. That’s right, unsightly! Ryan, on the other hand, loves it.

My solution to this minor marital disagreement is to buy it anyway, and let Ryan use it on salads or whatever else he wants, as long as I don’t have to touch it or smell it.

When Ryan asked me to make these blue cheese breadsticks for a “guy’s night” at our place, I agreed with inner hesitation. I had been wanting to make them because they seemed like such a good idea, but I didn’t like the blue cheese part.

Well…when I got home on Friday night, there was literally one stick left. I don’t know if no one wanted to eat the last one, or if they were distracted by the dry roasted peanuts, but whatever. They were obviously a hit!

I did taste one, and I liked them. Yes. But you won’t find me putting blue cheese on my salad anytime soon.

Blue cheese and chives are probably the only ingredients you don't have on hand.

Just the butter and flour at this point.

Pulse the mixture until it comes together, looking coarse.

Make sure the water you add here is super cold, like ice water.

Your dough might look green. Don't worry, it will bake out!

The size of the sticks will vary if your dough isn't rolled into a perfect rectangle. This is completely ok and looks kind of fun when the sticks are on display!

Bake them until they're golden brown, even more than in this photo.

For the record, the blue ribbon was removed for "guy's night."

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 c unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/4  c  chilled butter, cut into small pieces
• 1  c  crumbled blue cheese
• 1/3  c  finely chopped chives
• 1/4  tsp  salt
• 1/4  tsp black pepper
• 1  to 2 tablespoons cold water

Directions:

1. Spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and butter in a food processor; pulse to blend. Add cheese, chives, salt, and pepper; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Drizzle water into flour mixture until dough forms a ball. Roll dough into a 16 x 8-inch rectangle. Wrap dough in plastic wrap; refrigerate 4 hours or until firm.
2. Preheat oven to 350°.
3. Cut dough crosswise into thin slices. Place 1/2 inch apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Cool bread sticks completely on wire racks.

I think I might be aching for summer. My dessert choices lately have all reflected warmer days and cool treats. Remember the strawberry tart last week? And coming up, we’ll have key lime cookies.

Yet another case in point: Mint Oreo Pie.

This isn’t your normal, run-of-the-mill oreo pie. This is dense, creamy, minty oreo pie. The kind you can’t get enough of.

It was 46 degrees when I left to walk to the Metro this morning. Until it gets be 80, I’ll be eating this and dreaming of Florida.

First, you want to get all your ingredients together. Pretty simple: sugar, whipped cream, cream cheese, mint oreos, and a ready-made pie chocolate pie crust (not pictured).

Crush up the oreos in a food processor. Alternatively, you can release all your life frustrations by placing the cookies in a heavy-duty freezer bag and crushing them up with a rolling pin, meat tenderizer, or other heavy object of choice. I like to leave mine a bit chunky. This way, as you eat the pie, you’ll find heavenly surprises of cookie chunks.

Next, use a stand mixer or hand mixer to blend the whipped cream, cream cheese, and sugar together. This will look like glue. Seriously. Gently mix in your crushed oreos.

Pour the pie filling into the pie crust and smooth it out. Put the pie in the freezer for at least a couple hours. I left mine in overnight.

Let it thaw for about 20 minutes before serving. When you’re ready to showcase your amazingness, top the pie with oreos in whatever fashion you want.

Make your friends very happy.

Ingredients::

• 1 ready-made chocolate pie crust
• 16 mint oreo-type cookies
• 8 oz. 1/3 less fat cream cheese
• 1 tub lite cool whip
• 1/4 c. sugar

Instructions::

1. Pulse oreos in food processor until roughly chopped.
2. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, blend cream cheese, sugar, and cool whip on medium-low until well mixed and smooth.
3. Gently fold in crushed cookies. Pour cream mixture into pie crust, spreading evenly over crust.
4. Freeze for at least 2 hours or until chilled through and frozen. Thaw for about 20 minutes before serving.

It’s true, kids. The official taste tester, Mr. Ryan Misner has proposed.

Yes, to me.

Last Saturday, among a throng of tourists and America’s most honest man – Abraham Lincoln – Ryan got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I think I said yes. It all kind of became a blur, honestly.

I will get back to blogging soon enough. But for now, I wanted to make sure you knew what was going on in this little corner of Sugar & Butter.

Much love,

Heather

Sigh…

There are only about 4 weeks left in the regular football season. Or at least that’s what Ryan tells me. I suppose it could be a hoax, but let’s face it. Ignorance is bliss. No need to google for the truth. This week’s football snack revolves around a seasonal item: pumpkin. 

You may have carved a pumpkin in the last week. And if so, well I hope you saved the seeds. Much like the ancient civilizations did, you can use every part of the pumpkin for something. By the way, this is a hoax. I’m hoping you’ll think I’m smarter than I really am. But really, you should roast those pumpkin seeds. They are a mighty fine snack and really easy to make. Herman thinks you should. This is Herman. He has a snaggletooth::  

Anyway, here is how you make roasted pumpkin seeds. 

Ingredients:: 

• seeds from one large pumpkin
• 3 TBS olive oil
• salt
• Cajun spice mix

Directions:: 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Bring about a quart of water in a medium saucepan over high heat. Add the pumpkin seeds, boil for 10 minutes. Rinse the seeds in a colander. 
2. Spread pumpkin seeds onto a large baking sheet. Drizzle olive oil over seeds, mixing with hands to coat. Ensure that the seeds are in a thin layer on the sheet, with not many overlapping. Sprinkle seeds with a generous amount of salt and Cajun mix, to taste. 
3. Roast seeds for 25-30 minutes or until all seeds are golden brown and no longer translucent. 

By the way, you want them more baked then these above. See the translucent ones in the middle? Cook the seeds longer to achieve the toasted look like the ones on the side. My oven is 30 years old by the way. 

You will need this. Trust me. This little recipe (thank you Martha Stewart) with only 4 ingredients will become the base of many desserts I plan on bestowing upon you during the upcoming holiday season. In fact, later this week I will kick off the Holiday Desserts series. 

Don’t pretend you’re not excited. 

Memorize this recipe. Say it out loud 50 times if you have to. Make flashcards. Keep a 3×5 up on the mirror in the bathroom. Whatever you need to do to learn it, do it…this guy is your holiday dessert weapon. 

Plus, it’s quite tasty. 

You can make the dough in a food processor, but it’s risky unless you really know what you’re doing. I do mine by hand and just cut in the butter with a pastry blender. 

Makes enough for one double-crust or two single-crust 9-inch pies

Ingredients:: 

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces
• 1/4 cup ice water, plus more if needed

Directions:: 

1. In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Add the butter, and cut in butter by hand with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some larger pieces remaining. 
2. Add the ice water and continuing to use the pastry blender, mix it in gently, just until the dough holds together without being wet or sticky. Do not over blend. Test by squeezing a small amount of the dough together; if it is still too crumbly, add a little more water, 1 TBS at a time. 
3. Turn out the dough onto a clean work surface. Divide in half, and place each half on a piece of plastic wrap. Shape into flattened disks. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight. The dough can be frozen up to one month. Thaw overnight in the fridge before using. 

Alright, alright. I know. Fruit? The men are saying, “What the heck is this stuff on my plate?” However boys, all’s fair in love and football.

Football season coincides with holiday season. While this may a be a food dream for some, it is a jeans nightmare for others. So I created this little accompaniment to go along with all that meat. And cheese. And salt.

Bananas, apples, and strawberries. Lime juice. Sugar. That’s it! I love, love, love the way that bananas deconstruct and become a little gooey mixed with citrus juice and the juices from the other fruits. Lime or lemon juice also keeps the apples and bananas from oxidizing (turning brown and becoming gross) and adds a punch of vitamin C. I personally like lime juice because it’s different and fun.

This is a real fruit salad. None of that crazy jello/whipped cream add in stuff. Feel free to mix and match your fruits. I also may or may not have used Splenda (but I’ll never tell).

Makes about 8 servings

Ingredients::

• 2 apples, cored, and cut into 1 inch pieces
• 3 bananas, peeled and sliced into 1 inch pieces
• 1/2 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced in half or quarters
• 1 oz. lime juice
• 2 TBS sugar

Directions::

1. Combine cut fruit in medium bowl. Gently stir in lime juice and sugar. Refrigerate until chilled or serve at room temperature.
    

You read correctly kids.

As in Reese’s. As in a lovely chocolate shell. As in a melt-in-your-mouth peanut butter center.

This is the real deal.

I made these over Labor Day weekend at my family’s house outside of Nashville, TN. While the men were getting their football fulfillment upstairs, my sister, mom, and I cooked.

Um, kind of a lot. I’m actually a bit ashamed.

Well, whatever.

I made the big size (a lot larger than you can buy in the store), but you could definitely make mini ones too. You’ll need to get yourself whatever size muffin tin liners you want to use.

Refrigerate these until  you’re ready to eat them, then pull ‘em out to bring to an edible temperature. They’re kind of hard right out of the fridge, but some people like them that way!

Makes about 15 large cups

Ingredients::

• 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 cup peanut butter (not natural style)
• 1 stick unsalted butter (1/2 cup), softened
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 18 oz. semisweet or dark chocolate chips

Directions::

1. Line a standard size (12) muffin tin pan with liners. Set aside.
2. With an electric mixer, mix the sugar, peanut butter, butter, and vanilla on medium speed for about 2 minutes or until ingredients are combined and mixture looks crumbly. Set aside.
3. Melt chocolate in the microwave in 30 second increments in heat proof bowl, stirring in between each time. Using a spoon, put about 2 TBS of melted chocolate in the bottom of each muffin liner.
4. Using your hands, form tablespoon size balls of the peanut butter mixture. Then, flatten balls into disc shapes so that they are roughly half the size (in diameter) of the chocolate cups. Place one disc in each chocolate cup, pressing down to submerge in chocolate.
5. Finally, spoon a small amount of remaining melted chocolate over the peanut butter discs to cover completely. Refrigerate to set.