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14 Summer Desserts from Willow Bird Baking (plus some from other blogs!)

Check out 14 Refreshing Summer Desserts

by Julie Ruble at Foodie.com

Thanks, Foodie, for sponsoring this post.

Thank you so much for filling out my reader survey! If you haven’t yet, you can still do so here. I’m not surprised at all by how kind and thoughtful your comments were, but I do feel humbled by it. I seriously have the best readers in the world. One of the things I appreciated most was how many of you have made LOTS of recipes from the blog and how many of you love my stories. I can’t adequately put into words how much that means to me, since it’s been my dream since I was little to be a writer. I feel really blessed to share with you here.

Because I’m in total denial about school starting soon (I’m still going to sleep at 3 a.m. every night, so that should be fun to correct), here are some of my very favorite summer desserts from other bloggers (above) and 14 summer desserts from Willow Bird Baking (below). I only picked the absolute BEST EVER summer desserts, so make them ALL. And make them quickly to savor every second of the fading summer (Wahhhh.)

1. STRAWBERRY COBBLER WITH LEMON CREAM.

STRAWBERRY COBBLER WITH LEMON CREAM
cooking difficulty: easy

2. GOOEY BUTTER STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE.

GOOEY BUTTER STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE
cooking difficulty: easy

3. STRAWBERRY COCONUT CREAM PIE.

STRAWBERRY COCONUT CREAM PIE
cooking difficulty: intermediate

4. BROWN SUGAR POP-TART ICE CREAM SUNDAES.

BROWN SUGAR POP-TART ICE CREAM SUNDAES
cooking difficulty: easy

5. CARAMELIZED BANANA UPSIDE DOWN COCONUT CAKE WITH COCONUT WHIPPED CREAM.

CARAMELIZED BANANA UPSIDE DOWN COCONUT CAKE WITH COCONUT WHIPPED CREAM
cooking difficulty: easy

6. LEMON RASPBERRY SQUARES.

LEMON RASPBERRY SQUARES
cooking difficulty: easy

7. KEY LIME PIE CHEESECAKE WITH SKY-HIGH MERINGUE.

KEY LIME PIE CHEESECAKE WITH SKY-HIGH MERINGUE
cooking difficulty: advanced

8. FRUITY PEBBLE STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM SUNDAES.

FRUITY PEBBLE STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM SUNDAES
cooking difficulty: easy

9. END OF SUMMER BERRY COBBLER.

END OF SUMMER BERRY COBBLER
cooking difficulty: easy

10. STRAWBERRY LEMONADE CHEESECAKE BARS WITH A SHORTBREAD CRUST.

STRAWBERRY LEMONADE CHEESECAKE BARS WITH A SHORTBREAD CRUST
cooking difficulty: easy

11. HOT RASPBERRY CAKE WITH VANILLA ICE CREAM.

HOT RASPBERRY CAKE WITH VANILLA ICE CREAM
cooking difficulty: easy

12. LIMONCELLO-SPIKED SHORTBREAD ICEBOX CAKE.

LIMONCELLO-SPIKED SHORTBREAD ICEBOX CAKE
cooking difficulty: easy

13. RASPBERRY CHEESECAKE MORNING BUNS.

RASPBERRY CHEESECAKE MORNING BUNS
cooking difficulty: intermediate

14. LEMON RASPBERRY GOOEY BUTTER CAKE.

LEMON RASPBERRY GOOEY BUTTER CAKE
cooking difficulty: easy

Shortbreads with Dark Chocolate Frosting

Shortbreads with Dark Chocolate Frosting

Shortbreads with Dark Chocolate Frosting



Recipe by: Adapted from the shortbreads recipe by Baking Bites
Yield: 25 bars

What’s better than buttery, thick shortbread bars? Buttery, thick shortbread bars with rich dark chocolate frosting, of course!

Shortbread Ingredients:
3 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter (I use Plugrá), chilled

Frosting Ingredients:
7 tablespoons cocoa powder
7 tablespoons warm water
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 ounces dark chocolate chips (I use Ghirardelli 60% cacao chips), melted and cooled

Directions:
Make the shortbreads: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line an 8-inch square baking pan with a a foil sling (just fold 4 long sheets of aluminum foil in half and arrange them so two line the pan one way and two line the pan the other way. They’ll overlap and hang over the sides of the pan, which helps you pull the bars out at the end.)

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together flour, sugar, and salt. Add the chilled butter and process on low speed for a full minute. You want the butter to be very tiny and the dough to start to clump together. Pour this into your prepared pan and use the bottom of a glass or ramekin to press it firmly into the pan, creating a smooth top to your bars. Use a sharp knife to score the dough (5 rows in one direction, 5 in the other, making 25 bars) and a fork to dock the dough. Bake it for 30-35 minutes until it’s lightly browned. When you pull it out of the oven, use your sharp knife to cut the shortbread all the way through. Allow it to cool completely before gently lifting it out of the pan and breaking the pieces apart.

Make the frosting: In a small bowl, whisk together the cocoa and warm water. In a separate bowl, beat together butter, powdered sugar, and a pinch of salt until pale and fluffy. Gradually beat in the melted, cooled chocolate and the cocoa mixture. Let this sit for exactly 30 minutes (no really, exactly 30!) before you use it to obtain the perfect texture. You can just slather a big dollop of frosting on top of each bar if you’d like, but I thought it was cute to stuff the frosting in a piping bag and pipe a squiggle onto each bar with a 1M star tip. Store in an airtight container.

Toasted Pecan Shortbread with Spiked Toffee Sauce

Toasted Pecan Shortbread with Spiked Toffee Sauce

Toasted Pecan Shortbread with Spiked Toffee Sauce



Recipe by: Adapted from Ina Garten
Yield: around 20 shortbread cookies

The butteriest! These buttery shortbread cookies boast toasty pecans throughout, and the buttery rum-spiked toffee is the perfect complement. You’re gonna love these.

Cookie Ingredients:
3/4 pound (1 1/2 cups) unsalted Plugrá butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans*

Toffee Ingredients:
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup Plugrá butter
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup dark rum

Directions:
*To toast pecans: spread pecans on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for around 6-7 minutes, tossing occasionally, until fragrant. Chop while still warm.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. In a separate, large bowl, cream the softened butter and sugar together for 1-2 minutes. Add in the vanilla extract. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until combined. Pulverize the toasted pecans in a food processor for a few pulses (or crush by hand) until very fine, and then stir into the dough by hand. Turn the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap, form into a thick rectangle, and refrigerate 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and cover three baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to a rectangle of 1/2-inch thickness. Cut the dough into 1-inch by 3-inch rectangles and place these on a cookie sheet (position them 2 inches apart because they will spread slightly). Bake the cookies for around 20 minutes, rotating and switching positions of baking sheets once partway through baking. Remove the cookies when they’re just slightly colored on the edges and let them cool completely on their baking sheets.

To make the toffee sauce, bring the brown sugar, butter, heavy whipping cream, and rum to a boil in a heavy saucepan over high heat, whisking frequently. Once the mixture boils, turn the heat down slightly to medium-high heat and whisk constantly for 8 minutes, until the mixture is thickened. Pour the mixture into a serving bowl. Serve it smeared on cooled shortbread cookies. Store any extra cookies and toffee sauce in airtight containers, heating up the toffee sauce in the microwave to refresh as needed.

Gooey Carmelitas

Gooey Carmelitas


Recipe by: Adapted from Our Best Bites
Yield: 20 carmelitas

These are gooey, chocolatey, caramelly, and amazing! They’re quick and simple to make, and served warm with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, they’re to die for.

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 3/4 cups packed brown sugar
1/4 cups packed dark brown sugar (or you can use all light)
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
1 Ghirardelli dark chocolate bar (I used 86%)
1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans (optional)
store-bought caramel sauce, warmed according to package directions

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with parchment paper, leaving an overhang that will help you to pull the bars out later. Spray the paper a little with cooking spray.

Beat butter in a large mixing bowl until fluffy. Add brown sugars and cream until fluffy, 2-3 minutes, scraping down the bowl as needed. Beat in eggs, vanilla extract, baking soda, and salt. Add the flour slowly, mixing until just combined, and then stir in the oats. Press about 2/3 of the dough into your prepared pan, covering the bottom. Sprinkle chocolate chips, pieces of the chocolate bar, and nuts (if using) over the top. Pour caramel sauce over top just until the bars are all nice and drizzles (you probably won’t use the whole jar).

Take pinches of the rest of your oat mixture and flatten them into “shingles” in your hands, laying them over top of your chocolate and caramel filling until it’s roughly covered. Bake the bars for 22-25 minutes or until top is light brown. Don’t overbake them. Let the bars cool in the dish until they are room temperature. Lift them out and onto a cutting board and slice (I like to drizzle them with melted chocolate at this point). You can store them in an airtight container until you’re ready to serve them — and at that point, I recommend heating them up and adding a big scoop of vanilla bean ice cream!

Strawberry Lemonade Cheesecake Bars with a Shortbread Crust

Strawberry Lemonade Cheesecake Bars with a Shortbread Crust



Recipe by: Adapted from King Arthur Flour (crust) and Shared Sugar (cheesecake)
Yields: about 18 bars

These cheesecake bars are the perfect summer treat: sweet, creamy, tangy, buttery, and easy to prepare!

Crust Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar

Cheesecake Layer Ingredients:
32 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
4 eggs
5-6 tablespoons lemon juice, depending on how tart you usually like your lemonade!
lemon zest from one lemon (reserve a little to sprinkle on top)
1 cup sugar
strawberries, quartered*
powdered sugar for topping
*Note: I probably bought 2 pints of strawberries but didn’t quite use them all. I didn’t quarter mine because I thought they’d be pretty whole, but they were a bit hard to eat and I’ll quarter them next time I make this recipe!

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Prepare a 9 x 13 in. baking dish with a parchment paper sling. Cut the butter into the flour and confectioners’ sugar and press into the baking dish (I used a food processor to cut the fat into the flour, and then the bottom of a dish to press the mixture into the pan). Bake 20 minutes or until light brown. Let cool on wire rack.

In a bowl with an electric mixer, add the cream cheese, eggs, lemon juice, lemon zest, and sugar. Mix until the ingredients are creamy and the cream cheese is fully incorporated. Pour into the pan with the cooled crust. Then evenly distribute the strawberries.

Bake 30-35 minutes or until filling is set. Remove from the oven and cool completely. Then refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Remove the cheesecake from the pan using the parchment paper. Cut into bars and sprinkle with powdered sugar and/or lemon zest.

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