Chocolate Chip Cherry Bars

Cherry season has begun here in Washington!  Yipee!  We love our Washington cherries.  Nate's co-worker does some picking on the side for extra money and brought us our first batch of cherries from a local orchard.  So...I thought it was time to try some new recipes!  Here's my first cherry recipe of the season for you, and it is so good!

Chocolate Chip Cherry Bars 


1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted (1 stick)
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt, optional
3/4 to 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup cherries (or combination of raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries; fresh or frozen)

Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8-by-8-inch pan with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray; set aside.

In a medium microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter, about 60 seconds.  To the melted butter, add the brown sugar and stir to combine.

Add the egg, vanilla, and stir to combine. Add the flour, salt, and stir until just combined, taking care not to over mix or the blondies will be tough.

Fold in chocolate chips, fruit (I don't halve the cherries: I like them chunky and big), and pour batter into prepared pan, smoothing it lightly with a spatula or offset knife if necessary.

Bake for 27 to 32 minutes, or until edges begin to slightly pull away from sides of pan and center is set. Baking time will vary based on types of fruit used, fresh, frozen, and the moisture content of the fruit; and how gooey you like your blondies. A toothpick inserted into the middle may not come out clean due to the chocolate chips or juicy fruit. Allow bars to cool for at least 1 hour before slicing and serving. Blondies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 3 months.

Recipe Source:  Averie Cooks

Cherry Chocolate Spinach Smoothie

Being an adult means getting excited about things like....GRASS!  We are so happy to finally have a yard in!  We are the only family on our block right now, and therefore are just surrounded by lots and lots of dirt.  To make matters worse, we live in a crazy windy area.  Every window/sliding glass door in this house always has plenty of dirt in it that has blown in from the crazy daily winds.  It makes me sad living in a windy area, because I love the look of fresh mulch in planter beds, but instead we have to have rock or all that pretty mulch would blow away :(  But nonetheless, the yard basics are in and we couldn't be more thrilled!  

Today I am going to share with you one of my favorite smoothies that I have a few times a week and have just been neglecting to post it for a long while.  We stock up BIG TIME in the summer months on fresh fruit and use it all year.  The frozen cherries have grown to be my fav.  They are my fav probably because of this one smoothie, which depletes our year's worth of cherries in itself.  Smoothies are one of the ways I can actually get the hubby to eat fruit on a normal basis...he's not big into grabbing a piece of fruit for a snack by any means!  So this is perfect :)  One serving if made as written below packs in about 345 calories...not bad for breakfast.  Enjoy :)

Cherry Chocolate Spinach Smoothie

1 c. pitted, frozen Bing cherries (sometimes I do half frozen blueberries)
3/4-1c. fresh spinach leaves
1 c. milk (I used 1%, use more or less to get desired consistency)
1 Tbsp. hershey's chocolate syrup
1 Tbsp. chia seeds
  

Blend all ingredients together until smooth.

Recipe: Me :)

Cherry Cannoli Pie

I miss living in Ohio.  We lived so close to so many cool "Big" cities to visit.  On one of our visits, we traveled to Pittsburgh to watch a Pirates game and explore the city.  In our exploration, we went to the little Italian District, where we ate our first Primanti Brothers sandwich, got ice cream, and got some delicious biscotti and cannolis.  This pie reminded me so much of that trip.

This recipe comes from the lovely Food Network Magazine, which I've had a subscription to for the last few years and just love it!  I saw this and with cherry season beginning, this went on my short list to make!!

It turned out fantastic, and with the chocolate layer between the crust and the cherries, there was no soggy pie a few days down the road!  The pistachios are a MUST in this recipe, gives the perfect little crunch this pie needs to make it perfect :) Not to mention, this pie is just pretty and represents all the colors of the Italian flag ;)

Cherry Cannoli Pie

Spread 3 ounces melted chocolate in a 9-inch graham cracker crust; chill until set. Cook 12 ounces pitted cherries with 3 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla in a skillet over medium heat until tender, 5 minutes. Whisk 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 3 tablespoons water; stir into the cherries and cook until thickened, 3 minutes. Let cool, then pour into the crust. Puree 1 cup ricotta, 1/2 cup each pistachios, cream cheese and confectioners' sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1/4 teaspoon almond extract; spread over the cherries. Top with chopped pistachios and candied orange peel. Refrigerate until set, about 1 hour.

Recipe Source:  Food Network Magazine