Mini Key Lime Pie

I can officially announce that I have survived the outback, and by outback I mean the Outer Banks! My family visited the Outer Banks recently and while we were there we had such a relaxing and exciting vacation! We stayed at home most of the time and had various activities to choose from throughout the week to keep us occupied. We also celebrated my Grandparent's 45th wedding anniversary, they are an inspiring example of love! We swam in the pool, sat by the ocean, and even had a volleyball tournament one night. I made key lime pie the day before we left. Let me tell you if you don't already know, baking in a house that is not as readily equipped as your own is a bit challenging. There was no 8x8 pan that I was planning to use, so I had to use 2 smaller square pans. For reference, this pie is probably the size of my outstretched hand. This took like 15 mins to mix and 10 to bake. Next time I will plan ahead with my utensils! This is an easy less than 30 minute dessert recipe (besides chilling time, no one likes hot key lime pie). We ate both of these before we left, and I will be making it again!

Ingredients

Crust

2 cups graham crackers, crushed

5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Filling

3 egg yolks, room temp

Zest from 1 key lime

  1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

  2/3 cup key lime juice

pinch of salt

Whipped cream

1 cup heavy cream, cold

2-3 tbsps powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper. To make the crust, combine the crushed graham crackers and melted butter. Press into the pan and make sure to go up the sides a little. Bake the crust for 10 minutes. Remove and set aside while you make the filling. Beat the egg yolks and zest on high speed with the whisk attachment on an electric mixer until it seems mixed up good enough. Add the sweetened condensed milk and mix again on high speed for 1-2 minutes. It should have a somewhat whipped texture. Stir in the lime juice and salt with a spatula until combined. Pour the filling onto the crust and smooth out the top. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the center is mostly set, but with a slight jiggle. Remove from the oven and let the pie cool to room temperature before chilling in the fridge for at least 2 hours. To make the whipped cream add the heavy cream and powdered sugar to a mixing bowl. Mix on medium speed until cream starts to thicken. Continue mixing on medium to high speed until soft peaks form. Spoon the whipped cream onto the pie, top with a little more lime zest, and enjoy! Recipe from @loveviv on TikTok.

Here are some pictures from the trip...

Chillchilla on a plane

I had such a great time and I am already excited for vacation next year!

Strawberry Cookie Crumble Cake

My sweet tooth browsed TikTok today when I saw this recipe for a strawberry cheesecake cookie bar. I love anything strawberry and I love cheesecake. Basically anything sweet. So I set it as one of my tasks for the day to make this just as the lady on Tiktok did. Boy, was I HIGHLY confident in my creation before it went in the oven. After taking it out I realized that maybe I should have followed the instructions a little closer. It's messy and not as visually pleasing as I wanted it to be. I realized my bars would not come out as bars that are handheld, but as a cookie that should be eaten with a spoon. I thought about maybe calling it a strawberry cookie cobbler?? This is my mystery strawberry dessert that happens when "The measurements don't matter, it will turn out fine" (Peake, 2024). It is still delicious though. It also has a strawberry cream cheese frosting this is not pictured, I didn't want the pretty strawberries to be covered and I also did not want the frosting to melt on the cookie that was freshly out the oven. I was also excited to take a picture. I ate mine in a bowl topped with frosting. I have many baking recipes that I am excited to try, a few I will be making on my upcoming vacation (so excited)! Needless to say -- I will be making this again in the future.

Ingredients:

Cookie Dough

  3/4 cup melted butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

  1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp strawberry extract

1 large egg, 1 egg yolk

  2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

  1 1/2 tsps baking powder

  1/2 tsp baking soda

  1/4 tsp salt

Strawberry filling

  4-6 strawberries, diced

  1 tsps cornstarch

  1/2 tbsp strawberry jam

Cream Cheese Frosting

  1/4 cup butter, room temp

  4 oz cream cheese, room temp

  1 tsp vanilla extract

  1/2 tsp strawberry extract

  1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

  1/4-1/2 cup strawberry jam

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F and line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and BOTH granulated and powdered sugars. Add the egg, egg yolk, and extracts then Whisk until combined. Add baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir until combined. Add the all-purpose flour. I did it 1/2 cup at a time. When most of the flour is mixed in it will be harder to whisk, so I suggest just moving to kneading it with your hands. Flatten the cookie dough into the pan with a "well" in the middle. In a small bowl, mix together the strawberries, strawberry jam, and cornstarch. This is the step I did not follow. I wanted more than 6 strawberries which made the center super thin. Use your discretion when deciding how many strawberries to use. Place the strawberry mix in the well that you made with the dough. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the edges are slightly golden brown. After removing from oven, allow the cookie bars to cool in the pan before spreading the frosting. To make the frosting beat the unsalted butter and cream cheese in a stand mixer until light and creamy. Add in the strawberry extract and powdered sugar and mix again. Don't add to much powdered sugar at once or it will fly everywhere! Finally spread the frosting on top of the cooled bars! It is optional to add a layer of strawberry jam on top, but I chose not to. Thanks to @loveviv on TikTok, this recipe is delicious!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cookies are such fun little treats that are easy as a go to snack. I love to grab one on my way out the door. These Chocolate-Chip Cookies are easy and fun to make. I had a good time telling Caley not to eat them until I took a Picture. She did it anyways, hence the hole in one of the cookies! But it's ok. If Caley says they're good, then you know that they're good!

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 full sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 cups of milk-chocolate chocolate chips

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375° F. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually add in flour mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes.

If you try these cookies I hope you enjoy them!