Looking for an irresistible summer dessert? Search no more. These blueberry pie bars from Trisha Yearwood will meet all of your requirements. Fresh, juicy blueberries tucked between a tender crust and crisp, buttery topping are the perfect combination.
To make this recipe lactose free, I used vegan butter and lactose free sour cream. I use both of these indispensable products in many of my recipes.
The dough for the crust is pressed into the foil-lined baking pan.
The filling for this recipe is what distinguishes these from other blueberry bars. A mixture of sour cream, egg, sugar, cinnamon and a generous amount of lemon juice are combined with a portion of the blueberries which are then poured over the crust. Trisha refers to the filling as a custard.
A handful of reserved blueberries are scattered over the filling before adding the crust topping.
The topping emerges from the oven beautifully browned and the blueberries beneath are delightfully jammy.
These blueberry pie bars are irresistible. I love everything about them. Eat them while they are slightly warm or at room temperature.
1/2 cup (113g) Buttery Sticks, chilled (or unsalted butter)
3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups (180g) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of kosher salt
Filling
1 large egg
1/2 heaping cup (125g) Green Valley lactose free sour cream (or regular sour cream)
1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
4 teaspoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups (296g) fresh blueberries, rinsed and drained well
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8×8-inch baking pan with foil that reaches the top sides of the pan.
In a bowl of a food processor, combine the Buttery Sticks, sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt. Process until the mixture begins to clump together, 40-60 seconds or so. Remove 1 cup and reserve; press the remaining crust mixture evenly into the prepared baking pan. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg, sour cream, sugar, lemon juice, flour, cornstarch, vanilla extract and cinnamon until smooth. Mix in 1 cup of the blueberries. Pour filling mixture over the crust, shaking the pan gently to settle the custard and berries. Scatter remaining 1 cup blueberries over the top, spreading them evenly.
Sprinkle the reserved crust mixture over the berries. Squeeze mixture with hands to encourage large lumps.
Bake 1 hour. Let cool on wire rack. Lift foil from pan and transfer to a cutting board. Slice blueberry pie bars into 16 squares, or larger pieces if you prefer.
Notes
Leftover blueberry pie bars can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Freezing is not recommended as the filling can become a bit soggy when defrosted.
There are countless versions of fried rice. It can be a stand-alone meal or a splendid side dish. Some of my favorites are ramen fried rice and kimchi and Spam fried rice. Quick and inexpensive, this particular version couldn’t be easier to make. Leftover brown rice with wilted kale makes for a healthy meal. I make it regularly and I don’t think I’ll ever tire of it.
Don’t skip the turmeric. It’s what gives this dish a slightly earthy flavor and a gorgeous color.
Once the rice is warmed and crisped, handfuls of kale get tossed into the pan until wilted. If your pan is hot enough, some of the kale will get a bit charred. This adds another level of flavor to the fried rice.
The garlic is cut into thin slices then lightly browned until the edges are crisp. Fresh ginger and green onions are stir-fried with the garlic before adding the turmeric and eggs.
You’ll end up with a gorgeous pan of fried rice that is healthy and delicious.
I like to serve the fried rice with sriracha sauce which adds the perfect kick to this meal. Sprinkle sliced green onions and squeeze fresh lime juice over the rice just before serving.
6 green onions, thinly sliced (set aside a tablespoon for serving)
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil, divided (or another mild flavored oil such as canola)
2 cups cooked short grain brown rice (day old is best)
1 small bunch Tuscan kale, ribs and stems removed, leaves torn (about 2-3 ounces)
2 small garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled ginger
¾ teaspoon ground turmeric
2 large eggs
lime wedges for serving
Preparation
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add rice, breaking up any lumps. Pat down into an even layer and cook, undisturbed until beginning to crisp, about 3 minutes. Toss and continue to cook, adding kale by the handfuls and letting wilt slightly before adding more. Toss occasionally, until rice is heated through and all the kale is wilted, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and transfer to a plate.
Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in same skillet over medium-low heat. Add garlic, ginger, and green onions, stirring often until garlic is lightly browned (careful not to burn) around the edges, about 1-2 minutes. Turn heat up to medium sprinkle turmeric over, then stir in eggs. Using a pair of chopsticks or a heatproof spatula, blend whites and yolks with garlic, ginger, and green onions until the eggs are barely set. Return rice and kale to the skillet, tossing occasionally until hot, adjusting heat as necessary. Divide fried rice between two plates and top with reserved green onions. Serve with sriracha sauce.
I had every intention of posting this in August when mangos were abundant, yet here it is, February…. It looks as though it will be a good mango season this year. All the trees in the neighborhood are full of flowers and keiki fruits right now. So when the time comes and you have a few pounds of mangos and want an easy to assemble dessert, this mango galette is the perfect choice. It is a beautiful dessert to bring to the table after dinner or to serve with your morning coffee.
Between the two types of mango trees we have, the White Pirie is the one I use most often for making jams and preserves as well as for baking. With its sweet, intense, mango flavor and relatively firm texture, it holds up well when chopped or sliced for recipes such as mango bread, cake, streusel muffins, and this galette.
The wonderful thing about a galette is its free-form shape. Roll it out, add your ingredients then tuck up the sides. You will use the entire piece of pie dough since there’s no need to trim the edges of the crust.
Serve a slice all by itself, or top it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.
1 stick (8 tablespoons, 4 ounces, 113g) frozen Earth Balance Buttery Sticks cut into about 16 pieces (if using regular unsalted butter increase salt to ½ teaspoon)
¼ cup ice water
Filling:
⅓ cup (heaping) granulated sugar
2 tablespoons corn starch
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cups (about 2½ pounds) mangos, peeled, seeded, and cut into ⅓-1/2-inch-thick slices
mango jam for glaze (can substitute with apricot jam)
Preparation
Dough: Put the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times to blend. Scatter the pieces of butter over the dry ingredients and pulse until the butter is cut into the flour. The mixture will look like coarse meal. Continue to pulse until you get small flake-size pieces and some larger pea-size pieces. Add a little of the ice water and pulse, add some more, pulse and continue until all of the water is in. Now work in longer pulses, stopping to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl if needed, until you have a dough that forms nice bumpy curds that hold together when you pinch them. Heads up. Just before you reach this clumpy stage, the sound of the machine working the dough will change.
Gather the dough into a ball, flatten it into a disk and put it between two large pieces of parchment paper. Roll the dough into a circle about 12 inches in diameter. Don’t worry about getting the exact size or about having the edges be perfect.
Slide the rolled-out dough, still between the parchment papers onto a baking sheet and freeze for about 15 minutes or refrigerate for 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Remove chilled dough from freezer or refrigerator while you prepare the fruit. The dough should still be cold but pliable and not prone to cracking.
Filling: Place sliced mangos in a large, wide bowl. Combine sugar, corn starch, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle sugar mixture over mangos and toss gently with a wide spatula.
Remove top layer of parchment paper from dough round. Starting 1½ to 2-inches from the edge of the round, arrange the mangoes in a single layer in concentric circles, creating overlapping folds as you work around the perimeter. If your mangos are extra juicy, leave the extra juice in the bowl so the filling does note overflow in the oven. Gently lift the border of the dough up and around the filling, making pleats as you go. Brush the border with half & half or milk. Sprinkle with turbinado or coarse sparkling sugar. This is optional but makes for an attractive and crispy crust.
Bake on the parchment lined baking sheet for 45 - 50 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbling. Remove the galette from the oven and brush the fruit with warmed mango jam. Let cool on the baking sheet on a wire rack. Cut into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.
Summer is long gone yet surprisingly our mango trees continue to provide us with fruit. Is it global warming that has confused our magic mango trees? Who knows how long this will continue, but for now, we are thrilled to have mangos all year long. Which brings me to this wonderful mango cake. The original recipe from Ina Garten features fresh peaches. I just switched them out with mangos and what a delightful version it turned out to be.
Our Pirie mangos are very sweet and the perfect choice for this cake: like peaches they hold up well in baking. I also prefer them when making Maui mango bread loaves.
I made the cake lactose free since this is the best option for me, but feel free to use regular dairy products if you try the recipe.
Lots of cinnamon sugar makes for a tasty topping.
The cake batter and mangos are layered, ending with mangos, pecans, and cinnamon sugar on the top.
The cake is moist from the two layers of mangos and the top has a light crunch to it from the pecans and cinnamon sugar. Fresh mango cake in January is such a treat.
1 stick (4 ounces, 113g) Miyoko's unsalted butter (or regular unsalted butter), at room temperature
1½ cups sugar, divided (7 ounces, 198g = 1 cup and 3½ ounces, 99g = ½ cup)
2 large or extra large eggs (2.2 ounces, 63g each) (Ina calls for extra large eggs. If you don't have them handy, use large eggs. I find that some brands such as Eggland's Best large eggs are heavier than others so I use these instead of extra large).
1 cup (8 ounces, 227g) Green Valley lactose free sour cream (or regular sour cream) at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups (8½ ounces, 240g) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2½ pounds ripe but firm mangos, peeled, pitted and sliced
½ cup (2 ounces, 57g) chopped pecans
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or large bowl and hand mixer), beat butter and 1 cup of sugar for 3 minutes on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, add the eggs one at a time, then the sour cream and vanilla. Mix until the batter is smooth. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. With the mixture on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the batter and mix until just combined. In a small bowl, combine the remaining ½ cup sugar and cinnamon.
Spread half of the batter evenly in the pan. Use an offset spatula if you have one. Top with half of the mango slices, then sprinkle with two-thirds (about 5 tablespoons) of the sugar mixture. Spread the remaining batter on top, arrange the rest of the mangos on the batter and sprinkle with the remaining sugar mixture and the pecans.
Bake the cake for about 55 minutes (check at 50 minutes), or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature. Any leftover cake can be frozen for a few months.
A few years ago I tried my hand at making bagels. I experimented with several different recipes but none stood out enough to make again. They were often beautiful bagels and we ate them all but I found some to be generally too chewy. So I put bagel making aside until a few months ago when I took up the challenge again. Good bagels are in a class of their own but they are hard to come by in the Islands. Since there is nothing better than homemade bread which we make with considerable success, why not homemade bagels?
Making the dough is actually quite simple. Bagel dough is very stiff so a heavy duty stand mixer is a must for this recipe. After shaping the bagels, they go into the refrigerator to proof overnight then are boiled and baked the following day.
After testing different methods for boiling the bagels I found that the longer you boil them, the chewier they become once they have finished baking. Many recipes call for boiling bagels for a minute on each side. My preference is to boil bagels for 10-15 seconds per side. They puff up nicely and you’ll end up with bagels that have a perfectly soft yet chewy texture.
My “almost everything bagels” are generously coated on both sides with rehydrated dried minced onion, poppy seeds, sesame seeds and flaky Maldon salt. Rehydrating the onions in hot water for a half hour keeps the onions from burning when the bagels are baking.
Be generous with your toppings because inevitably, a few of the seeds will fall off when you slice the bagels.
Bagels are superb served with smoked salmon, ham and cheese, avocado, pimento cheese or just butter. According to bagel purists, toasting a bagel is verboten and that bagels should be eaten warm as they come out of the oven. They are best eaten the day they are made. So in my case, I freeze most of the bagels since there’s no way I can eat a dozen in a day. When I am ready to have one, I take it out of the freezer to defrost, slice, and toast my bagel. Then it’s ready for whatever toppings I want to add. Sometimes just a few pats of butter does the trick.
1½ teaspoons instant yeast (recommend SAF Red Instant Yeast, proofing is not necessary)
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
2 teaspoons diastatic malt powder (available from Amazon)
1½ cups (12 ounces) water
1 tablespoon barley malt syrup (available from Amazon or local health food stores)
1 tablespoon baking soda
egg white wash whisked until frothy
toppings of your choice
Preparation
Special equipment: Heavy duty stand mixer, kitchen scale, parchment paper, 2 large sheet pans, diastatic malt powder, barley malt syrup, wide flat slotted spoon, kitchen timer, small pastry brush (silicone works great)
Note: I use a half sheet pan and a quarter sheet pan to bake all 12 bagels at the same time on the center rack. If you use 2 large sheet pans, boil and bake 6 bagels at a time. Then continue with the second batch after the first 6 bagels have baked. It is a good idea to leave space between the bagels and not crowd them so they bake up nice and brown on all sides.
Whisk flour, yeast, sugar, salt, and barley malt powder in the bowl of a stand mixer. Pour in water. With mixer on low speed (#2 on my KitchenAid), mix until dough starts to come together, about 4-5 minutes. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides to ensure all of the flour gets mixed in well. Bagel dough is very stiff, however, if the dough seems too dry, add a teaspoon of water.
Increase the speed (#3 on my KitchenAid) and set a timer for 5 minutes and knead dough until it is cohesive and smooth. Remove dough and weigh it. Then divide it into 12 equal portions for small bagels, 10 for larger bagels. As you work, cover the dough pieces with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel to prevent drying. Working with 1 piece at a time, shape the dough into a smooth ball. Pinch the dough together on the bottom of the ball. Again, cover with plastic wrap to prevent drying and continue with the rest of the dough. Let the dough balls rest for 5 minutes, covered.
To shape the dough, place dough round on the counter, push your index finger into the center of each dough round so that it goes all the way through. Twirl the dough between your two index fingers to create a hole about 1½-inches wide. Place shaped bagels on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper that has been lightly oiled. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Preheat oven to 500 degrees with rack in center.
Have ready: A thick layer of paper towels on the counter to place the boiled bagels on and a large piece of parchment paper for transferring bagels once dry (they will stick on paper towels if left too long). Have a second sheet pan lined with parchment paper ready and all of your toppings (if using) plus egg wash. Remove bagels from the refrigerator.
Fill a large wide pot or Dutch oven with at least 6-inches of water. Bring water to a boil. Add barley malt syrup and baking soda. Give it a quick stir, skim off most of the foam. Working with 2-3 bagels at a time, gently place bagels in boiling water and set timer for 20 seconds. After 10 seconds have passed, gently flip bagels over for another 10 seconds. Immediately transfer bagels to paper towels using a wide, flat slotted spoon. Then transfer to parchment paper. Continue with the rest of the bagels.
If you are adding toppings to your bagels, brush bottom side of bagel first with egg wash. Sprinkle toppings over the dough, flip bagel and repeat the process. Transfer to the parchment lined baking sheet. Continue with the rest of the bagels. You may choose to leave some of the bagels plain or simply coat with sesame seeds or other toppings of your choice. Place bagels in oven and reduce heat to 450 degrees. Bake bagels (rotate pan halfway through) for about 14 minutes or until bagels are nicely browned. Let bagels cool a bit before slicing.
Not long ago, my sister gave me an excellent bag of locally made granola. I wondered what would be the best way to make it shine. At first, I thought about just sprinkling it over yogurt for breakfast but then decided that granola muffins would be much more exciting. This simple recipe turns out some mighty tasty muffins.
I love the name of Deb’s baked in Hawaii granola. Besides the more common ingredients such as oats and almonds that you might find in many granolas, this one includes rich and buttery macadamia nuts and coconut chips that get nice and toasty when sprinkled over the top of the muffins.
Besides the granola in the batter, you’ll want to sprinkle more granola over the top of each muffin before baking. This lends a very tasty and crispy texture to each bite.
1 cup (99g) granola + ¾ cup (74g) for muffin topping
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
⅓ cup (67g) canola oil
1½ cups (340g) lactose free buttermilk
(To make lactose free buttermilk add 1½ tablespoons of white vinegar to a 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Pour lactose free whole or 2% milk over the vinegar to measure 1½ cups. Allow the milk to sit for 5-10 minutes to thicken a bit).
Preparation
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease the cups of a standard muffin pan.
Whisk together all of the dry ingredients including 1 cup of granola.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the vanilla, canola oil and lactose free buttermilk. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients, stirring just to combine. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling nearly full. Sprinkle the remaining ¾ cup of granola over the tops of the muffins.
Bake the muffins for 16-18 minutes. Test for doneness by inserting a toothpick in the middle of one of the muffins. The toothpick should come out clean.
Remove the muffins from the oven and set pan on a cooling rack for at least 5-10 minutes. When they are cool enough to handle, remove muffins from pan and cool on a rack. Muffins freeze well for a few months.
