Categories
Desserts Recipes

How to Make Mini Fruit Pizza Cookies

This mini fruit pizza cookie recipe is fun for any occasion. It’s fun to get creative with fruit. The best part is they are so delicious you will not have to worry about leftovers. These cookies are tasty with any fruit toppings you choose.

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What tools do you need to make mini fruit pizza cookies?

Ingredients:

  • Sugar cookies, store bought or homemade

Cream cheese frosting ingredients:

  • 16 ounces of cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Fruit toppings

  • Cantaloupe
  • Honeydew
  • Strawberries
  • Blueberries
  • Raspberries
  • Kiwi
  • Mandarin oranges, fresh or canned
  • Pineapple
  • Grapes
  • Apples
  • Lychee – for Halloween eyeballs

Other optional toppings

How to make mini fruit pizza cookies

Start by baking your sugar cookies. Use your favorite recipe, buy store bought sugar cookies, or use frozen sugar cookie dough.

baked sugar cookies

Make the frosting:

Use a hand mixer to blend the cream cheese sugar and vanilla until smooth.

Prepare the fruit:

Wash, peel and slice the fruits you choose to use.

Assemble the pizzas

Frost the cookies, and top with fruit of your choice.

Fruit Pizza cookie

Halloween Fruit Pizza Cookie Ideas:

Halloween Mini Fruit Pizza Cookies

Mandarin Orange pumpkin cookies

orange pumpkin cookie

Peel a mandarin orange, Slice it into three slices. Use the top and bottom to make the pumpkin cookies. Add a slice of honeydew for the stem.

I used the center slice to create the clown pumpkin pictured in the bottom right above. Just added eyeballs a blueberry nose and a strawberry mouth.

Spider web fruit pizza cookies

First pipe on the frosting in the shape of a spider web. I used a #4 tip. Next slice a black seedless grape in half and use one half for the body. Add a large blueberry for the head. Slice another grape for the legs. Add frosting eyes, topped with red gel.

Fruit Candy Corn Cookie

For the candy corn fruit pizza cookie I used thin slices of pineapple, cantaloupe and banana for the yellow bottom, orange middle and white top. Pictured on the tray above.

Fruit Eyeball Cookies

Stuff a blueberry inside the hole of a Lychee fruit, then add a candy eyeball if desired. Get creative, add eyeballs to any fruit you wish. I added them to sliced black grapes and kiwi above.

Ghost or Mummy Cookies

To make a banana ghost, slice off the top 2 inches of the peeled banana. Slice the 2 inch piece lengthwise. Place the banana flat side down on the cookie. Add 2 drops of melted chocolate for the eyes and a larger drop for the mouth. Alternatively you could use mini chocolate chips for the eyes and a regular chocolate chip for the mouth.

To make the banana mummy, first make the ghost, then pipe on the frosting with a #4 tip.

To make the honeydew ghost, start with a thin slice of honeydew melon. Cut a section from the ring. Use a metal straw to make two eye holes and a mouth hole.

To make the strawberry creature, add some eye balls to the strawberry and cut some black grapes for antennae.

Apple Lips Fruit Pizza Cookies

To make the creepy apple lips, first quarter an apple. Use a paring knife to remove the remaining core and seeds, then carve out a mouth. Insert pumpkin seeds for the teeth. Add a slice of strawberry for the tongue.

Barfing Pumpkin Cookie

Barfing pumpkin cookie

To make the barfing cantaloupe pumpkin cookie, start with a thin slice of cantaloupe. Use a small champagne glass to cut a circle. Cut eyes with a metal straw and carve out a mouth with a pairing knife. Next, add some frosting and a variety of small fruit scraps.

Patriotic Mini Fruit Pizza Cookies

These patriotic mini fruit pizza cookies are great for Fourth of July, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Flag Day, Veteran’s Day, or any other patriotic event.

Patriotic mini fruit pizza cookies

Two make these patriotic fruit pizzas, simply add 4 small blueberries to the upper left corner, then add strawberry slices for the stripes.

More Great Party Snacks:

Check out these amazing appetizers for your next event:

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Categories
Desserts Recipes

The Secret to Homemade Whipped Cream

Are you frustrated with runny homemade whipped cream? Do you just want to give up and buy store bought whipped cream? Don’t give up! Here is the secret to homemade whipped cream.

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. I earn commission at no additional cost to you.

What tools do you need to make homemade whipped cream?

Homemade whipped cream recipe:

Ingredients:

  • 2 Cups Heavy Cream or Whipping Cream
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:

Make sure you read the tips below before you start.

Place all of the ingredients into the chilled bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment. Whip for approximately 3-4 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape the sides of the bowl and check for peaks. Once the whipped cream forms peaks, stop whipping. Do not over whip.

What are the secrets to making the best whipped cream?

Chill the bowl

This trick alone will help you make the best homemade whipped cream. Just put the bowl of your stand mixer in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. Remove it right before adding your ingredients.

Use the right tools:

You can use a whisk or a hand held mixer with whisk attachments, but for best results use a stand mixer with a whisk attachment. If you insist on using a handheld mixer, use a chilled metal bowl. If you use an immersion blender with a whisk attachment, it is very easy to over mix, if you do you will end up with butter instead of whipped cream.

How do you store homemade whipped cream?

Homemade whipped cream is best used immediately, but it can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours in an airtight container. If you store it longer it may become soupy. If your whipped cream gets soupy, simply rewhip it. Just add the whipped cream to the chilled bowl of your stand mixer and use the whisk attachment to whip it for a minute or two. Do not over whip.

What can you use homemade whipped cream for?

Strawberry Shortcake

Peach Blueberry Pie

Apple Pie

Homemade whipped Cream Printable Recipe

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Categories
Desserts Recipes sourdough recipes

Sourdough Discard Pumpkin Spice Bread Recipe

Fall is the perfect season for this sourdough discard pumpkin spice bread recipe. Although any season will do.

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What tools do you need to make pumpkin spice bread?

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup melted butter
  • 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1.5 cups pumpkin puree
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 sourdough discard
  • 1.5 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

How to make sourdough discard pumpkin spice bread

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl mix together the melted butter, both sugars and the pumpkin puree until well blended.

pumpkin puree with sugar and butter

Allow this mixture to cool slightly while you mix together the dry ingredients. In a second mixing bowl sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice.

Dry ingredients

Add the eggs, vanilla, and sourdough starter to the pumpkin mixture. Mix well. Then fold in the flour mixture until incorporated. Do not over mix.

Pumpkin bread batter

Grease a 9×5 loaf pan and pour the batter in.

Batter ready to bake

Bake the bread for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the bread to cool in the pan for about an hour before turning it out onto a cooling rack. Slice and enjoy!

Printable Recipe

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Recipe By Kristin
Course: Dessert Cusine:American Difficulty:Easy

Servings

12 minutes

Preparing Time

15 minutes

Cooking Time

60 minutes

Calories

kcal

INGREDIENTS

  1. 1/2 cup melted butter

  2. 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

  3. 1/3 cup sugar

  4. 1.5 cups pumpkin puree

  5. 2 large eggs

  6. 1/2 sourdough discard

  7. 1.5 teaspoons vanilla

  8. 2 cups all-purpose flour

  9. 1 teaspoon baking soda

  10. 2 teaspoons baking powder

  11. 1 teaspoon salt

  12. 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

DIRECTION

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl mix together the melted butter, both sugars and the pumpkin puree until well blended. Allow this mixture to cool slightly while you mix together the dry ingredients.<br>In a second mixing bowl sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice. Add the eggs, vanilla, and sourdough starter to the pumpkin mixture. Mix well. Then fold in the flour mixture until incorporated. Do not over mix.<br>Grease a 9×5 loaf pan and pour the batter in. Bake the bread for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the bread to cool in the pan for about an hour before turning it out onto a cooling rack.<br>

NOTES

Categories
Desserts Recipes sourdough recipes Traeger Recipes

Best Sourdough Discard Strawberry Shortcake Recipe

This sourdough discard strawberry shortcake is to die for! So flaky and delicious. The perfect mix of sweet and sour. You will not want to make it any other way. Included below you will find directions for making the shortcakes, strawberry topping, and homemade whipped cream. You can also use Redi whip if you prefer. As always, I do not like to turn on the oven in the summer, so I’ve included directions for baking the shortcakes on the Traeger.

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. I earn commission at no additional cost to you.

Sourdough discard shortcake ingredients:

  • 2 cups All-Purpose flour
  • 1 Tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) of cold butter
  • 1/3 cup sourdough starter discard (straight from the fridge)
  • 1/3 cup milk

Shortcake directions

Mix the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl. Use a cheese grater to grate approximately half of the butter into the flour mixture. Tip: use the butter wrapper to hold onto one end of the butter while grating. Mix the grated butter into the flour mixture.

grated butter in shortcake dough

Melt the other half of the butter. Add the discard, milk and melted butter to the dry ingredients and mix until dough forms.

Shape the dough into 6 shortcakes. Place the cakes on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

shortcakes ready to bake

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Bake the cakes for 17-18 minutes or until lightly browned.

Allow the shortcakes to cool if desired.

Strawberry Topping Ingredients:

  • 2 pounds fresh strawberries
  • 1/4 cup sugar

Strawberry topping directions:

Wash the strawberries, and remove the stems. Slice the strawberries into bite size pieces. Place the berries in a bowl. Add the sugar and mix. This mixture can be added to the shortcakes right away, or if you prefer softer strawberries with more syrup, wait a couple of hours before serving.

Homemade whipped cream ingredients

  • 2 cups heavy cream or whipping cream
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Homemade whipped cream directions

Mix the ingredients together in a bowl. Whip with a hand held mixer or stand mixer with a whisk attachment until peaks begin to form about 3-4 minutes. Do not over whip!

Homemade whipped cream is best used right away, although it can be stored for up to 24 hours in the refrigerator. If you choose to pipe your whipped topping onto the strawberry shortcake, I recommend the Wilton 8B tip. Otherwise, it tastes great if you just spoon it on!

How to assemble the strawberry shortcakes

Cut the shortcake in half. Place the bottom half in a bowl, layer with strawberries, then whipped cream then the top half then whipped cream then more strawberries. Yummy!

sourdough discard strawberry shortcake

Can you bake strawberry shortcake on the Traeger?

Yes you can! Preheat the Traeger to 425 degrees F. Place the parchment lined cookie sheet with shortcakes on the Traeger. Bake/smoke for 17-18 minuets or until lightly browned.

Printable recipe

More Desserts:

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Recipe By Kristin
Course: Dessert Cusine:American Difficulty:Easy

Servings

6 minutes

Preparing Time

5 minutes

Cooking Time

18 minutes

Calories

kcal

INGREDIENTS

  1. 2 cups All-Purpose flour

  2. 1 Tablespoon baking powder

  3. 1/2 teaspoon salt

  4. 3 tablespoon sugar

  5. 1/2 cup (1 stick) of cold butter

  6. 1/3 cup sourdough starter discard (straight from the fridge)

  7. 1/3 cup milk

  8. Strawberry topping

  9. Whipped cream

DIRECTION

  1. Mix the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl. Use a cheese grater to grate approximately half of the butter into the flour mixture. Tip: use the butter wrapper to hold onto one end of the butter while grating. Mix the grated butter into the flour mixture. Melt the other half of the butter. Add the discard, milk and melted butter to the dry ingredients and mix until dough forms.<br>

  2. Shape the dough into 6 shortcakes. Place the cakes on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
  3. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Bake the cakes for 17-18 minutes or until lightly browned. <br>Allow the shortcakes to cool, if desired.
  4. Top with strawberries and whipped cream.

NOTES

Categories
Breakfast recipes Desserts Recipes

Easy Morning Glory Muffins Recipe

These morning glory muffins are a favorite in my home. It’s best to make them on the weekend, that way you will have easy breakfast all week. They are loaded with heathy ingredients. Plenty of nuts, seeds, fruits and vegetables to start your day out right.

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Morning Glory Muffin Ingredients:

  • 1 cup Craisins
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups carrots, peeled and grated
  • 2 medium apples, cored and grated
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
  • 3/4 cup chopped pecans
  • 1/3 cup pumpkin or sunflower seeds
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2/3 cup vegetable or canola oil
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup orange juice or juice of one orange

Morning glory muffin instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease three 6-cup muffin tins.

In a small bowl soak the craisins in hot water. Set aside.

Grate the carrots and apples in a food processor.

In a large bowl mix the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and seasonings. Then stir in carrots, apples, coconut, nuts, and seeds.

In a separate bowl beat together the wet ingredients: eggs, oil, juice, and vanilla.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mixt until well combined.

Drain the water from the craisins and stir them in.

Morning glory batter

Fill the muffin cups all the way to the top. You should be able to fill 12-16 cups.

Filling muffin cups with morning glory batter

Bake for 25-28 minutes or until a fork comes out clear.

Remove from the oven and allow them to cool for about 5 minutes, then finish cooling on a cooling rack.

Morning glory muffins baked

Store in an airtight container for a few days, or freeze for longer storage.

Morning glory muffins make a great breakfast

Morning glory muffin served with yogurt and fruit

Recipe By Kristin
Course: breakfast Cusine:American Difficulty:Easy

Servings

14 minutes

Preparing Time

15 minutes

Cooking Time

25 minutes

Calories

kcal

INGREDIENTS

  1. 1 cup Craisins

  2. 2 cups flour

  3. 1 cup packed light brown sugar

  4. 1 teaspoon baking soda

  5. 2 teaspoons cinnamon

  6. 1/2 teaspoon ginger

  7. 1/2 teaspoon salt

  8. 2 cups carrots, peeled and grated

  9. 2 medium apples, cored and grated

  10. 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

  11. 3/4 cup chopped pecans

  12. 1/3 cup pumpkin or sunflower seeds

  13. 3 large eggs

  14. 2/3 cup vegetable or canola oil

  15. 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

  16. 1/4 cup orange juice or juice of one orange

DIRECTION

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease three 6-cup muffin tins.

  2. In a small bowl soak the craisins in hot water. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl mix the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and seasonings. Then stir in carrots, apples, coconut, nuts, and seeds.
  4. In a separate bowl beat together the wet ingredients: eggs, oil, juice, and vanilla.
  5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mixt until well combined.
  6. Drain the water from the craisins and stir them in.
  7. Fill the muffin cups all the way to the top. You should be able to fill 12-16 cups.
  8. Bake for 25-28 minutes or until a fork comes out clear. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool for about 5 minutes, then finish cooling on a cooling rack. Store in an air tight container for a few days, or freeze for longer storage.

NOTES

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Categories
Desserts Recipes

Easy Apple Pie Recipe

I have been scrambling to use up the abundant supply of apples from my 2 apple trees. Good things do come to those who wait. The first few years didn’t provide many, but now it’s almost a chore to use up all the apples 2 trees provide. So, it seems like a great time to share my easy apple pie recipe. Sure to please! Especially if made with my best pie crust recipe, which also happens to be very easy!

Which apple variety is best for apple pie?

Honestly any variety of apple will make a delicious apple pie, except maybe red delicious which I personally think tastes like Styrofoam. My mom always likes to use McIntosh for pies because they are softer and quite tart. I actually prefer the apples stay a little more firm in my pie, so I prefer to use Gala, Honeycrisp, or Fuji.

Easy Apple Pie Filling:

  • 6 cups of peeled and sliced apples
  • 2 tablespoons tapioca
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • 2 tablespoons of butter

Best Pie Crust Ingredients:

  • 2 Cups + 2 tablespoons flour
  • 2/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • pinch or salt

Easy Apple Pie assembly:

Mix all of the ingredients in the apple pie filling above, except the butter. I’ll admit that I often use more than 6 cups of apples.

Prepare the bottom crust and place it in your Pyrex pie dish. Add the filling mixture. Top with the butter.

Top with the crust, add some slits, and crimp the edges as desired. See my best pie crust recipe for more instructions. Cover the edges with foil. Bake at 425 degrees F for 30 min, then remove the foil and bake for another 10 min. Remove from the oven and allow it to cool before serving.

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Categories
Desserts Recipes Traeger Recipes

Peach Blueberry Pie on the Traeger

This pie is a family favorite. It is requested in place of birthday cake for two of my family members. It can also be baked in an oven, but peach season is in August, obviously a terrible time to heat up the house. I prefer to bake Peach Blueberry Pie on my Traeger Silverton 620 pellet grill.

How do you bake on a pellet grill?

Baking on a pellet grill is basically the same a baking in an oven, as long as your pellet grill has a bake feature and is able to maintain a consistent temperature. Just preheat the grill to the same temperature the recipe calls for in the oven. This peach blueberry pie is baked at 400 degrees, which is a little higher than most baked recipes. Pyrex is rated to 425 degrees, but I never go higher than 400 degrees when I use a Pyrex pie dish on my Traeger Silverton 620 because the temperature does fluctuate + or – 10 degrees.

Pellet Grill Cooking Methods Infographic.  How to bake, smoke, grill, roast and braise on a pellet grill.

Peach Blueberry Pie Recipe

Ingredients:

Best Pie Crust

5 Cups of peeled and thinly sliced peaches

2 Cups of fresh blueberries

1 cup of sugar

3 tablespoons of lemon juice

1/4 cup tapioca

1/8 teaspoon of salt

2 tablespoons of butter

Directions:

Prepare a pie crust. Find my Best Pie Crust recipe here.

Preheat the Traeger to 400 degrees F.

Peel and thinly slice peaches. Add peaches, blueberries, sugar, lemon juice, tapioca, and salt to a large mixing bowl. Mix well.

Peach Blueberry Pie filling
Peach Blueberry pie filling in bottom crust

Pour into a prepared Pyrex pie dish. Top with slices of butter. Cover with top crust. Pinch the edges together. I use the handle of a butter knife to make a decorative edge, and the blade to make a few slits.

Peach Blueberry Pie ready to bake
Peach Blueberry Pie ready to bake

Cover the pie edges with foil so the crust doesn’t brown too quickly, and place in the center of the grill.

Peach Blueberry pie with foil covering edges
Peach blueberry pie with foil covering edges on the Traeger grill

Bake for 30 minutes, then remove the foil.

Peach Blueberry Pie on the Traeger.

Continue to bake for another 20 minutes or until the crust is slightly browned.

Best Pie Crust
Peach Blueberry pie with Best Pie Crust

Alternate baking directions for the oven.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cover the edges of the crust with foil, so the crust doesn’t brown too quickly, and bake for 35 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes or until the crust is lightly browned.

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Categories
Desserts Recipes

Best Pie Crust

I have been using this recipe for over 30 years. I have not tasted another crust I like better. It can be used for both sweet and savory pies. I love it so much that I have never even tried making a different one. It’s so easy, just 3 main ingredients and a dash of salt. I always get compliments on my crust, that’s how I know it is the best pie crust. Now I can just share this post when others ask me for my recipe.

Recipe

Ingredients:

2 Cups and 2 tablespoons of All Purpose Flour

1/3 Cup Milk

2/3 Cup Vegetable Oil

1/8 teaspoon of salt

Directions:

Mix all 4 ingredients in a mixing bowl until a dough ball forms. Divide the pie dough in half. Alternatively, you can make one dough ball slightly larger for the bottom crust.

Pie crust dough ready to be rolled out

How to roll it out

For the bottom crust, roll half of the dough out between 2 pieces of parchment paper or wax paper. This step is very important. You must roll this crust out between two pieces of parchment or wax paper.

pie crust rolled out between 2 pieces of parchment paper
Pie Crust rolled out between 2 pieces of parchment paper.

Remove the upper piece of paper and after that use the bottom piece to dump the rolled out crust into the Pyrex pie dish. This step is also very important. This crust is too fragile to transfer without using the paper for support.

bottom pie crust flipped into the pie dish
Bottom crust flipped into the pie dish using the bottom layer of the parchment paper.

Remove the paper from the bottom crust and pinch evenly into the pie dish.

pie crust ready for filling
Pie crust ready for filling.

Add your desired filling. I added peach blueberry filling, find it here.

pie crust with peach blueberry pie filling
Best Pie Crust filled with Peach Blueberry Pie Filling.

Repeat the process for the top crust. Pinch the edges shut.

pie crust ready to bake
Best Pie Crust Ready to bake.

I use the handle of a butter knife to make a nice edge, but you could also use a fork. Bake as directed for your favorite pie recipe.

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