Lemon Bars

Serves: About 20

We halved the lemon juice from the original recipe so it is not very tangy.

Ingredients

Crust:
2 cups Flour
1/2 cup Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Salt
2 sticks (1 Cup) Salted Butter, Cut Into Small Cubes

Filling:
1-1/2 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Flour
4 whole Large Eggs
Zest (optional) and Juice of 2 Medium Lemons ( or approximately 6 Tbsp of Lemon Juice)

Powdered Sugar, For Sifting

Preparation

For the crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-by-13-inch pan with butter.

Stir together the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the butter to the bowl and use a pastry cutter to cut it all together until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Press into the bottom of the prepared pan and bake until golden around the edges, about 20 minutes.

For the filling: Stir together the sugar and flour. Crack in the eggs and whisk to combine. Add the lemon zest and juice and mix until combined. Pour over the crust and bake about 20 minutes.

Allow to cool in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours, then sift powdered sugar over the top before cutting into squares.

(Use an 8 x 10 pan if you'd like the layers to be a little thicker.)

Vanilla Cupcakes

Simply Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes
Prep time: 30 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 50 mins
Serves: 2 dozen cupcakes

These Vanilla Cupcakes will be your absolute Favorite! So Fluffy, with an Intense Vanilla Flavor and Buttery Richness. They have a Fine, Even Crumb, and a Perfect Dome on top! They are Sturdy enough to stand up to all sorts of Fillings and Frostings, but I've kept it Simple with a Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream. You'll reach for this Recipe again and again!

Ingredients

For the Cupcakes:

1½ cup cake flour

1½ cup all-purpose flour

1¾ cups granulated sugar

2½ teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, cut into small cubes

4 eggs

1 cup milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

For the Buttercream:

3 egg whites

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened but cool

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste




Instructions

Make the Cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl and stir to combine.

Add the butter and mix on low speed, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs (2-3 minutes).

Add the eggs, one at a time, and scrape the bottom of the bowl to make sure all the ingredients are well-combined.

Combine the milk and vanilla in a measuring cup. Beat half this mixture into the flour/butter/eggs.

Beat on medium speed for 1½ minutes, scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, add the remaining milk mixture, and beat for another 30 seconds.

Fill paper liners ⅔ full with batter, and bake for 20 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

Cool completely before topping with buttercream.

Make the Buttercream:

Place the egg whites and sugar in a mixing bowl. Set over a pot of simmering water, and whisk continuously, until the mixture is hot, opaque, and the sugar is completely dissolved (should not feel gritty between your fingers), about 5 minutes.

Whip the mixture on high speed, until stiff peaks form and it has completely cooled.

Add the butter, a tablespoon at a time, whipping well after each addition. If it begins to look curdled, continue to beat until it comes back together, before adding the remaining butter.

Mix in the vanilla until well blended.

Super Moist Chocolate Cake

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon espresso powder - optional
1 cup milk
½ cup vegetable or canola oil
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350º F. Prepare two 9-inch cake pans by spraying with baking spray or buttering and lightly flouring.
For the cake:
Add flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder to a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk flour mixture until combined well.
Add milk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla to flour mixture and mix together on medium speed until well combined. Reduce speed and carefully add boiling water to the cake batter. Beat on high speed for about 1 minute to add air to the batter.

Note - The cake batter will be very thin after adding the boiling water. This is correct and is what makes it so moist.
Distribute cake batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes, remove from the pan and cool completely.
Frost cake.

Fluffy Overnight Biscuits

Makes 12 biscuits

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons shortening or lard
1 cup buttermilk, chilled

Directions:
Make sure all of your ingredients are really cold.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using your fingertips, rub butter and shortening into dry ingredients until mixture looks like crumbs. (The faster the better, you don't want the fats to melt.) Make a well in the center and pour in the chilled buttermilk. Stir just until the dough comes together. The dough will be very sticky.

Turn dough onto floured surface, dust top with flour and gently fold dough over on itself 5 or 6 times. Press into a 1-inch thick square. Use a knife and cut the dough into 12 squares. Place on the cookie sheet and put in the oven.

Bake until biscuits are tall and light gold on top, 15 to 20 minutes.

To make these overnight biscuits, combine the dry ingredients, butter, and shortening in a bowl and put in the refrigerator. In the morning add the buttermilk and finish making them.