Category: Desserts

White Chocolate Cherry Blondies

Utah cherries are my favorite! We have a giant, beautiful cherry tree at my house but it didn’t do well this year. I was so sad but got excited when I saw that fresh, local cherries were on sale at Lee’s Marketplace this week. I knew that cherries would be amazing in my go-to blondie recipe and love how it turned out! My son proclaimed this my “best Lee’s recipe so far!” With the pop of red from the cherries and the white chocolate chips, they are the perfect 4th of July dessert but you don’t need a holiday for an excuse to make them!

Items on sale for July 2-July 8: cherries, butter, brown sugar, eggs, almond extract, flour

This is a sponsored post for Lee’s Marketplace. My posts for them are usually only posted to my Instagram but I’ll be posting them on my blog as well now. I love working with them! It gets my creative juices flowing as I think of recipes based on their weekly sale ads! Even if you aren’t local, these are still great recipes that anyone can use!

White Chocolate Cherry Blondies

  • Servings: 12
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

1 cup butter, mostly melted and slightly cooled
2 cups brown sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon almond extract
2 cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup fresh dark cherries, pitted and cut in half

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare a 9×13 baking dish by lightly coating with nonstick cooking spray.

Mix together the butter and brown sugar then mix in the eggs, vanilla, and almond extract.

Add flour and salt then stir until everything is well combined. In a separate small bowl, toss cherries in 1 tablespoon flour until coated. Fold white chocolate chips and cherries into the batter.

Pour batter into baking dish and bake for 30-40 minutes or until edges just start to brown and center is set. (The top will have a shiny look to it and that is ok.) Let cool completely before cutting.

Charlotte Hancey3 Comments

Frozen Coconut Lime Pie

I’ve got another yummy dessert for y’all! I made my Frozen Coconut Lime Pie on ABC4’s Good Things Utah on Monday and had a blast. We were singing “You put the lime in the coconut…” all day! Ha! You can watch me make it here with the adorable Ali Monsen.

My mother-in-law made a version of this years ago and I fell in love! It quickly became my go-to summer dessert. One of my favorite flavor combos is coconut and lime so I started thinking of a way to incorporate coconut into the recipe. The crust! I decided to add coconut to the crust and it took this pie to another level! The coconut gets nice and toasty with the graham cracker crust in the oven. It adds the perfect amount of coconut!

The filling only has 3 ingredients! Three! Lime, sweetened condensed milk, and heavy whipping cream. This pie is incredibly easy but full of flavor. It will quickly become a favorite I promise!

Frozen Coconut Lime Pie

  • Servings: 8
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sweetened coconut flakes
2 tablespoons brown sugar
6 tablespoons butter, melted
5 limes
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
2 cups heavy whipping cream, divided
1/4 cup confectioners sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 375. Prepare pie crust by combining graham cracker crumbs, coconut, sugar, and butter in a bowl. Stir until moistened. Pour mixture into 9-inch pie plate and firmly press into bottom and up the sides. Bake crust 10 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Zest limes to make 1 tablespoon of zest. Juice limes to make 1/2 cup juice. In a large bowl, whisk together sweetened condensed milk, zest, and juice. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, beat 1 cup of whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Gently fold cream into lime mixture. Pour filling into cooled crust. Freeze at least 3 hours or until firm.

Beat remaining 1 cup whipping cream with 1/4 cup confectioners sugar until stiff peaks form. Use to garnish individual pie servings.

On the set of ABC4’s Good Things Utah!

Charlotte Hancey1 Comment

Root Beer Float Brownies

Need some inspiration for a Father’s Day dessert this weekend? Or just looking for a fun dessert to take to a BBQ? Look no further because these Root Beer Float Brownies are unique and delicious! I have been making them for years and have adapted them from a recipe I found on the Cookies and Cups blog.

I recently made this for my fun collaboration with Lee’s Marketplace and have gotten some comments like, “What? Chocolate and root beer?!? That sounds weird.” Trust me, the flavor combo is perfect! The root beer in the brownie batter gives them a rich, deep flavor. They turn out so thick and fudgy! The creamy root beer frosting is so ridiculously good too. Have I ever steered you wrong? Just. Trust. Me.

Because they turn out so thick, I cut them pretty small for serving. They also freeze really well! My husband is a huge root beer fan and absolutely loves these brownies! They are the perfect Father’s Day dessert and I hope you all love them as much as my family does!

Root Beer Float Brownies

  • Servings: 24
  • Difficulty: moderate
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Ingredients

For the brownies:
1 1/3 cup flour
1 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
12 oz semi sweet chocolate
6 oz white chocolate
8 tablespoons butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
6 eggs
16 oz root beer
4 teaspoons vanilla

For the frosting:
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/3 cup root beer
5 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon root beer extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 375. Grease a 9×13 pan with baking spray.
Combine flour, cocoa powder and salt in a bowl by whisking slightly, set aside.
Add butter, semi sweet and white chocolate to a microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 20-30 second increments until melted then stir to combine, set aside.
Using a mixer, mix eggs, white sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Slowly add chocolate mixture.
Add the flour mixture and root beer alternately to the mixer. Mix until just combined. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 30-40 minutes or until center is just set. Let cool completely before frosting.

To make frosting, beat butter and 1 cup of sugar at a time on medium speed until combined. Mix in root beer (slowly) and extract and continue mixing until frosting is smooth.

Charlotte HanceyLeave a comment

Raspberry Cream Pie

Berry season is here! I don’t know about y’all but I’ve never been more excited for summer. We planted raspberries last summer and it looks like we are going to have tons this year! I have already started experimenting with recipes in anticipation of all of the fresh raspberries coming my way.
Recently, I was in my favorite kitchen supply store, Kitchen Kneads, and saw that they had something called Red Berry Pie Tone. I asked what it was and found out that it was a pie thickener. They said that it was better than the Danish Dessert stuff that is usually used for fresh berry pies. It was also WAY less expensive. I had to give it a try and it was a great excuse to make this delicious dessert!
Now, you’re probably thinking, “I don’t live near Kitchen Kneads so where can I get this pie tone stuff?” Well, you’re in luck because you can order it from them online! This store is such a GEM! They’ve been in business for 46 years! They have so many specialty items and it’s where I go to find unique things like Red Berry Pie Tone. You can order it here!
I adapted this recipe from one that I got from my mother-in-law, who got it from her sister, who got it from who knows where. Ha! I hope you love it because it is a family favorite in my house!

Raspberry Cream Pie

  • Servings: 16 (2 pies)
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

2 pie shells (9”)
¾ cup Red Berry Pie Tone
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, room temperature
2 ¼ cups sugar, divided
16 oz Cool Whip, divided
3 cups fresh raspberries

Directions

Bake pie shells according to package instructions and set aside to cool.
Whisk pie tone with 1 cup water. In a medium saucepan, bring 3 cups water and 1 ¾ cup sugar to a boil. Let boil until sugar is dissolved. Add red berry mixture and bring to a boil again. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Using an electric hand mixer, mix cream cheese and sugar for 2-3 minutes. Fold in 1 cup Cool Whip and 3 tablespoons of pie tone mixture. Spread in bottom of pie shells.
Fold raspberries into the remaining pie tone mixture then spoon on top of cream cheese mixture. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Top with remaining Cool Whip when serving.

Charlotte Hancey2 Comments

Carrot Cake Trifle

Carrot cake is hands-down my favorite “non-chocolate” dessert. It’s one of those desserts that I can’t pass up if I see it on a restaurant menu. I love making trifles because they’re easy, delicious, beautiful desserts that feed a crowd. I make a chocolate/cherry one every year at Christmas and we love it! I was thinking about an Easter dessert to make for my April cooking segment on ABC4’s Good Things Utah and this idea came to me. I wanted to take something familiar and put my own spin on it. Adding real carrots, an extra egg, and replacing the oil with applesauce totally transforms the box cake mix. The pineapple layer is divine (hello yummy ice cream topping) and the whipped cream cheese is just dreamy. The Biscoff cookies add a flavorful crunch! This is the perfect Easter dessert! Watch me make it here!

Carrot Cake Trifle

  • Servings: 10-12
  • Difficulty: moderate
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Ingredients

For the cake:
1 box Betty Crocker Super Moist Carrot Cake Mix
1 cup water
2/3 cup applesauce
4 eggs
1 cup finely shredded carrots

For the pineapple layer:
1 (20 oz) can pineapple tidbits, undrained
2 tablespoons cornstarch
¼ cup brown sugar

For the cream layer:
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese
1 cup white sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream

6 Biscoff cookies, crushed

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 9×13 pan. Add dry cake mix to medium-sized mixing bowl. Add water, applesauce, and eggs. Beat for 2 minutes then fold in carrots. Add batter to prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely. Once cool, cut cake (while in the pan) into small squares.
While cake is baking, add pineapple to a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add cornstarch and brown sugar then mix well. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Once thickened (about 1-2 minutes), remove from heat and cool completely.
In a small bowl, beat heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
In a larger bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, salt, and vanilla until smooth. Fold whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture. Set in fridge until ready to use.
In a trifle bowl (or glass bowl), layer 1/3 of the cake cubes, 1/3 of the pineapple filling, then 1/3 of the cream. Repeat two more times ending in cream. Top with crushed cookies.
Refrigerate at least 3 hours before serving.
Ready for its close-up on the set of Good Things Utah!

Charlotte Hancey4 Comments