easy dessert |

Almond Nutella Pastry

March 14, 2013 · by Organizedisland · 31 Comments

Well my friend Sheryl at Lady Behind the Curtain is at it again. She is having another little recipe challenge. Sheryl picks a couple of ingredients and we have to develop an original recipe using the two main ingredients. You may remember the last one with cherries and chocolate?

This time Sheryl picked puff pastry (yay!) and almond paste (huh?) I have never cooked with almond paste, so this was kind of fun. Here is what I came up with:

Almond Nutella Pastries

1 package puff pastry sheets

2 oz almond paste

1/4 cup Nutella hazelnut spread

1 egg

2 tablespoons sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Thaw pastry sheets per package directions.

Using a grater, shred 2 ounces of the almond paste. Set aside.

Using a cookie cutter or a glass, cut circles out of the thawed pastry.

Place half of the circles on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Spread Nutella spread on each circle.

Sprinkle each circle with almond paste shavings

Top each pastry with a second circle.

Pinch sides together with a fork.

Brush each pastry with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.

Cut a little opening at the top of each pastry before setting in the oven.

Bake 15 -17 minutes . These were so good. I ate one before I finished writing this post. I will be using almond paste again.

Really soon.

Have you baked with Almond paste before? What have you made?

Be sure to check out the other recipes that are part of this challenge below:

Pumpkin Blondie Bites

November 9, 2012 · by Organizedisland · 25 Comments

Today I am sharing a recipe from my dear friend Katia. Katia and I have a lot of fun when we get together. I think our favorite thing is probably is hitting the outlet malls together (especially the shoe stores). But today’s post is about a fun pumpkin dessert that is easily made from a mix. Her daughter has food allergies, so she modifies ingredients for her.

This recipe is for Blondie bars with a Pumpkin twist. It starts with a Trader Joe’s Blondie Bar mix.

Pumpkin Blondies

1 pkg. Blondie Bar Mix
1 egg (or egg substitute)
1 stick butter (or butter substitute)
1/2 15 oz can pumpkin
Hershey’s chocolate syrup

Prepare mix in a bowl with egg and butter. Since Katia’s daughter is allergic to eggs and dairy, Egg Replacer and Earth balance “buttery” stick bars were used as substitutes for the eggs and the butter. Both of these substitutes work great in recipes.

Mix ingredients together and add half of a 15 oz can of Libby’s canned pumpkin.

Bake as directed in a 8 x 8 inch square pan.

Let cool and cut the bars into approximate 1″ squares and drizzle with Hershey’s chocolate sauce.

Do you use substitutes for food allergies when you bake?

Filed Under: Fall, Recipes · Tagged: blondies, dairy-free dessert, dessert, easy dessert, egg-free, fall snacks, pumpkin, pumpkin blondies

Strawberry Festival Inspired Crepes

May 22, 2012 · by Organizedisland · 11 Comments

This weekend my family were on our way to Santa Barbara and we happened to be near a Strawberry Festival in Oxnard. We decided spontaneously to check out the festival.

There were lots of craft booths, entertainment booths, game booths and of course lots and lots of strawberry food items.

They even had strawberry beer and wine!

We especially liked the chocolate covered strawberries – they were dipped in white, dark and milk chocolate and oh and they tasted so good!

I would recommend checking out the festival if you have an opportunity. Seeing all of the strawberries made me want to recreate some strawberry love at home so I decided to make some crepes. I am all about easy and these can be made in just a few minutes. I filled mine with fresh strawberries and whipped cream, but you can use any combination of fruit, ice cream, cheese, nuts, etc…

BASIC FRUIT CREPE RECIPE

1 1/2 cups fresh fruit

1 cup flour

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup water

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons melted butter.

Whipped cream (I used canned)

First wash and prepare fruit. Slice or chop fruit an set aside.

Mix flour and eggs until combined. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

Heat a smidge of butter in a nonstick pan over medium heat. When pan is warm, pour in batter to cover pan bottom. As pan heats, tilt pan so that batter is spread around and can set.

Cook about 1 1/2 minutes, then flip with a spatula and cook another 1 1/2 minutes. Flip out of pan and fill with fruit, whipped cream, nuts, whatever & enjoy! Makes about 4 good sized crepes.