Spring Desserts

Jordan Gaddis

With its fruity flavors and colorful desserts, Spring is a great time to break out your baking supplies and try out some new recipes. Here are three different desserts to help you spring into our break.

Sally’s Baking Recipes has a great recipe for homemade lemon bars. This sweet and sour treat is a great way to get into the Spring mood. Here is what you will need…

Ingredients:

Butter: Melted
Sugar
Flour: 2 cups, but an extra 2 Tablespoons really helps solidify the foundation of the lemon bars.
Vanilla Extract: 2 teaspoons
Salt
Eggs
Lemon Juice: fresh lemon juice is preferred

Steps:

Prepare the crust: Mix all of the shortbread crust ingredients together, then press firmly into a 9×13 inch baking pan. Interested in a smaller batch? See my recipe note.
Pre-bake: Pre-baking the crust guarantees it will hold up under the lemon layer.
Prepare the filling: Whisk all of the filling ingredients together. No cooking on the stove!
Bake: Pour the filling on the warm pre-baked crust, then bake for around 20 minutes or until the center is just about set. I slightly increased the baking temperature from my cookbook version. Either temperatures work, but 325°F is preferred.
Cool: I usually cool the lemon bars for about 1 hour at room temperature, then stick the whole pan in the refrigerator for 1-2 more hours until relatively chilled. They’re wonderful cold and with a dusting of confectioners’ sugar on top!

Watch this video for more in depth instructions! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCU_iNowIUw

If you are not a fan of tart desserts, this banana bread recipe from Simply Recipes is perfect for you! Here are the ingredients…

Ingredients:

2 to 3 medium (7″ to 7-7/8″ long) ripe bananas peeled (about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups mashed)
1/3 cup (76g) butter, unsalted or salted, melted
1/2 teaspoon baking soda (not baking powder)
1 pinch salt
3/4 cup (150g) sugar (1/2 cup if you would like it less sweet, 1 cup if more sweet)
1 large egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (205g) all-purpose flour

Steps:

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C): Butter an 8×4-inch loaf pan.

Mash the bananas and add the butter: In a mixing bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork until completely smooth. Stir the melted butter into the mashed bananas.

Mix in the remaining ingredients: Mix in the baking soda and salt. Stir in the sugar, beaten egg, and vanilla extract. Mix in the flour

Bake the bread: Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan. Bake for 55 to 65 minutes at 350°F (175°C), or until a toothpick or wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. A few dry crumbs are okay; streaks of wet batter are not. If the outside of the loaf is browned but the center is still wet, loosely tent the loaf with foil and continue baking until the loaf is fully baked.

Cool and serve: Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for a few minutes. Then remove the banana bread from the pan and let cool completely before serving. Slice and serve. (A bread knife helps to make slices that aren’t crumbly.) Wrapped well, the banana bread will keep at room temperature for 4 days. For longer storage, refrigerate the loaf up to 5 days, or freeze it.

The last dessert I am going to share is a classic, peach cobbler. If you want to make this recipe from Tastes Better From Scratch, here is what you will need…

Ingredients:

5 peaches , peeled, cored and sliced (about 4 cups)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
ground cinnamon

Steps:

1. Add the sliced peaches, sugar and salt to a saucepan and stir to combine.  (If using canned peaches, skip steps 1 & 2 and follow the directions starting at step 3

2. Cook on medium heat for just a few minutes, until the sugar is dissolved and helps to bring out juices from the peaches. Remove from heat and set aside.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Slice butter into pieces and add to a 9×13 inch baking dish. Place the pan in the oven while it preheats, to allow the butter to melt. Once melted, remove the pan from the oven.

4. In a large bowl mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the milk, just until combined. Pour the mixture into the pan, over the melted butter and smooth it into an even layer.

5. Spoon the peaches and juice (or canned peaches, if using) over the batter. Sprinkle cinnamon generously over the top.

6. Bake at 350 degrees for about 38-40 minutes. Serve warm, with a scoop of ice cream, if desired.

I hope you try out these delicious Spring recipes and share them with your loved ones.