Fruit Pizza

This dessert reminds me of my childhood.  My mom would make this every summer and I still love it to this day. There are no rules about what types of fruit to put on top.  Whatever is in season . . . whatever your family loves!

 

Fruit Pizza

Sugar Cookie Crust: makes 2 crusts

1 cup margarine or butter

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

3 cups flour

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1/2 tsp salt

Cream Filling: for 1 crust

 8 oz softened cream cheese

1 cup powdered sugar

1 Tbsp lemon juice

2 tsp vanilla

8 oz cool whip

For the crust, combine all ingredients.  Spread out onto pizza pan and bake for 20 minutes at 350.

Combine all ingredients for filling and spread onto baked/cooled crust.  Top with fruit.  Serve or keep chilled until served.

Fruit in a Cloud

This salad is a crowd pleaser and most often it's the first bowl emptied at get togethers.  The recipe comes from my husband's family.  It's so fresh, yet sweet and creamy it almost doubles as a dessert!

 While I'm sure you could do many variations on this salad, my tried and true fruits are: strawberries, bananas, kiwi, and peaches.  I use canned peaches and pat them with a paper towel so they don't make the salad runny.  The secret ingredient I've added to the faves is huckleberries.  But I realize most of you don't have access to those, so they weren't included in my original fruit pic.

Start by combining the yogurt with the dry pudding mix.  Blend with a hand mixer for a minute or so until pudding is dissolved.  Stir the cool whip into the yogurt mixture.  Then toss in fresh fruit.

 

 Gently fold fruit into "cloud" mixture.  Serve immediately or you can chill for an hour or two. 

Fruit in a Cloud

1 large carton vanilla yogurt

1 large box vanilla pudding mix

1 8-oz cool whip

1 lb strawberries

2 bananas

2 kiwi

1 peach

Beat yogurt and dry pudding mix together for 1 minute.  Stir in cool whip.  Cut up all fruit into bite size pieces, then fold into yogurt mixture.  Serve immediately or you can chill and serve later.

Peachy

It's peach season--well, near the end of. What are your favorite peach recipes?

I love peaches straight up. They're also good with coconut milk or canned milk over the top. And then there's pies, cobblers, and freezer jam! This year I bottled a few cookers of peaches.

And I froze 5 one-gallon bags of peaches. This family loves fruit shakes all year long. Recipes for those coming up, too.

How about a peach parfait? Delicious to look at and to eat!

Peach Parfait
4-6 peaches peeled, washed, and diced
1 package vanilla pudding (make according to pkg directions)
cool whip

Layer peaches with pudding and top with cool whip. Refrigerate. Makes 2-4 servings.



The great thing about parfaits is there's a million ways to make them and it's something my kids can help with. They think it's such a special dessert when served in these glasses. I picked these up at a local restaurant store for about $2 each and we use them often. We've done strawberries layered with vanilla yogurt and a drizzle of chocolate sauce with a bit of grated chocolate on top for garnish. We also love banana cream parfaits with either yogurt or banana cream pudding.

Blueberry Muffins

Blueberry muffins with a crunchy top while the inside is soft, cake-like, and moist. They are great for breakfast, brunch, or a treat. I sometimes take them to neighbors instead of homemade bread or cookies.

Blueberry Muffins
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 cups flour (divided 1 3/4 cups and 1/4 cup)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)
white sugar for sprinkling

Beat together butter, sugar, and salt until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time.

Mix together the flour with the baking powder. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk into the batter (alternating makes a more tender cake). Mix just until incorporated.

Toss 1/4 cup remaining flour with blueberries. Fold coated blueberries into batter. Divide batter into 12 muffin cups. Use cupcake liners as the batter is sticky.

Sprinkle a pinch of white sugar over the top of each muffin. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.